Wednesday, December 26, 2012

A COMPLIMENT THAT MAY NOT BE AS GOOD AS IT SOUNDS


These One A Days are added to daily.  There are over 1100 stories and commentaries on this blog began Nov. 24, 2009.  It is added to daily.

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              Click on http://wyrickswritings.blogspot.com to read selected Sermons from over 50 years of Rev. Wyrick's ministry. (STARTING NOV 1 "HOW MUCH DOES A PRAYER WEIGH)  Below...other recent Sermon Titles


       To view Rev. Wyrick in 4 of his highly acclaimed One Man Dramas  ABRAHAM LINCOLN, BEN FRANKLIN CHARLES WESLEY, MARTIN LUTHER (NBC Special) click on the link below

                   http://www.speakerneil.com/

        Below the thoughts below read a quote from Rev. Wyrick's applauded 9th book THE SPIRITUAL ARAHAM LINCOLN

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       There is a favorite compliment that is bantered around on a regular basis.  It usually sounds like the following, "Why (your name) you haven't changed a bit."

       I imagine Anthony must certainly have crafted the equivalent of this praise to Cleopatra when she returned to the fertile valley of the Nile.

       And David quite likely spoke the same kind of wording to Bathsheba.

       And every Joe and Jane passes across America this same phrase 'round every street or country lane.

       I am well aware of what the compliment means but I got to thinking...if you think about it deep enough you may come to the conclusion that it is no compliment at all.

       For to live day after day without any change, refusing to learn from experience, becoming an unmoving emotioanl physical, spiritual fence post is an insult to both intelligence and moral integrity.

       Someone once said that when Rip Van Winkle went to sleep, the sign over his favorite Inn read GEORGE III and when he awoke it read GEORGE WASHINGTON.

       It isn't hard to let time pass you by and in the process learn nothing and a lot of nothing at that.  It isn't hard but it also certainly isn't very smart.

       For yes...there is a demolition of good sense any time someone rewrites the old hymn to read, "Take my life and let it be...just like it was yesterdee."

       And if and when anyone does this they are on the way to making their road of life a road to oblivion.

       Think on it...to live and not have grown a little better, given a little more, learned how to love your fellowman to at least some greater extent...and certainly your God a lot more..it is an indictment to have  such a life dedicated to an extension of the status quo.

       When I meet a friend from my yesteryears who has not seen me for a number of years I want him to be able to say,

       "You have changed. You are more mature; mentally, emotionally and spiritually.  You are more patient.  You are more kind.  Your chin may be sagging but I see from your deeds your soul is definitely more upright and firm with steady resolve. 

       I don't want to have the unbridled arrogance I had at 21. I wasn't perfect then. I'm certainly not perfect now.  But even if it is two steps forward and one step backward....I want to be... when a day comes to a close... a man who has grown and not worshiped at the altar of subtraction."

       The Lord has offered me, as he offers you... special power.  I want to be blessed by its affect.

       I don't want to stand around admiring the Lord...I want to... with special effort,,, be following His commandments and embracing his desires.

       Tomorrow I want to be able to better face the challenges of life, the facts of possible poor health, the fact of death and I want to do it with courage and conviction.  I want to be spiritually competent in these areas because I am not trying to go it alone.

       Have you ever stopped to think that every time you complain about this old world you are sticking your foot in your mouth if you are not doing something to improve it.

       Back in 1932 there was a cartoon that showed a group of men at one end of a boat frantically bailing to throw out as much water as was pouring in through a large leak.

       At the other end of the boat three individuals high and dry kept commenting, "I'm glad the leak isn't at our end of the boat."

       But the boat called earth has a lot of leaks and no matter where we are we need to change in the direction of more compassion and action to plug the leaks.

       Change the world by beginning with self...is really what I am saying.

       Not long ago was Halloween and there is a lesson there...for all of us to learn.

       Little children dress up as pirates or skeletons or monsters or whatever is the going choice.  They mimic and in it is no reality.

       And that is some of us sometimes...rather than really change...we put on masks...and there is no real change...and the change we talk about and want to take place...it becomes nothing more than make believe...

       Yes...instead of really changing...just put on a different mask.

       Deity or dust?  A link with the eternal.  A relationship with heaven and the creator of the Universe of which we are apart.

        Not just a mortal body but an immortal soul.

       Certainly more to us than a jug of water, a loaf of fat, and a hunk of various chemicals from phosphorous through sulphur to lime.

       And with and from that link a responsibility to the world and to ourselves to demonstrate this link by how we live.

       You know... you could walk up to a crocodile put out a friendly hand and say, "Will you be my friend.  Will you be decent and loving and kindly and peace loving?
       And he would probably reply by biting off your appendage.  He's a crocodile for heaven's sake and he's not going to change.

       But you're not a crocodile.  You and me, we are children of a living God and we have a teacher savior that told us and tells us to be born again, to become a new man or woman...to give up old ways that are bad and put in their place new ways that are good.
       To not deny the fact of our heritage.
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QUOTES ON CHANGING FOR THE BETTER

       “A year from now you will wish you had started today.” -Karen Lamb

       “It doesn’t matter where you are, you are nowhere compared to where you can go.” -Bob Proctor

       “Never too old, never too bad, never too late, never too sick to start from scratch once again.” -Bikram Choudhury.

       “Man cannot discover new oceans unless he has the courage to lose sight of the shore.” -Andre Gide

       You miss 100 percent of the shots you never take.” -Wayne Gretzy

       “May the bridges I burn light the way.” Author Unknown

       “Someone was hurt before you, wronged before you, hungry before you, frightened before you, beaten before you, humiliated before you, raped before you… yet, someone survived… You can do anything you choose to do.” –Maya Angelou

       “Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending.” -Maria Robinson

       “By changing nothing, nothing changes.” -Tony Robbins

 

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TO GO TO COLUMNS WRITTEN ON go60.us  BY NEIL...CLICK ON THE URL BELOW

                                                http://go60.us/

          THEN CLICK ON "VOICE" AT THE TOP OF THE PAGE...THEN CLICK ON "MEET OUR WRITERS."

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Below is a quote from Rev. Wyrick's 9th book THE SPIRITUAL ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

      It is little wonder that once the war was over, wretched memories fed anger loud and long.  Neither side could be proud of some things that happened during the war or at their many prison camps.  The meanness in some men had multiplied.  They felt their uniforms allowed it.

Andersonville, or Camp Sumter as it was officially known, in southwest Georgia is remembered as one of the worst. 

By the end of the war, it had held 50,000 prisoners on a piece of land no larger than twenty-six acres. 

Some men had called pits in the ground their home.  During its short fourteen-month existence, 13,000 soldiers who had survived in battle died in captivity under the most terrible conditions. 

When the war was over the superintendent was hanged.

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      WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING ABOUT THE BOOK

       "Positive, powerful utterances...skillfully enhancing our understanding and appreciation of Lincoln while revealing the Divine source of his strength."

       Lt. Colonel C.A. Olsen (Ret.) Asbury College (Professor Ret.)

       "The Spiritual Abraham Lincoln is an extremely well written book that investigates what might be termed the spiritual side of President Lincoln. It's both scholarly and very readable. I came away impressed at Mr. Wyrick's portrayal of the President and with an altered and enlarged vision of the man:'

       William Hoffman, Award winning fiction writer; author of Blood and Guile, and Wild Thorn

       "Wyrick has authored a wonderful examination of the spirituality of one of American history's most devoutly religious leaders...a pleasant and readable book that has a rich depth of information."

              Maynard Pittendreigh Presbyterian minister

        "When it comes to invoking religion in support of any of their decisions, politicians need to sit at the feet of Abraham Lincoln. Reinhold Niebuhr once called him 'America's greatest theologian.' Why so great? Because he invariably distinguished between human works and the works of the Almighty. As Wyrick says, 'He wore the mantle of humility easily: because he was more impressed with what God was doing in the world than with what he, president of the United States in the midst of an awful crisis, was doing. That is why in his last major speech he distinguished between both human causes in the Civil War and the Almighty's 'own purposes.' Lincoln would have agreed that it is better to leave God-talk out of politics than to decorate human proposals with divinity. This is a book for our American time. Through his careful study of Lincoln's career, Wyrick compels us to remember that piety belongs in politics only when piety transcends politics."

       Dr. Donald W. Shriver

       Emeritus professor at Union Theological Seminary in New York. Author of An Ethic for Enemies: Forgiveness in Politics

        "V. Neil Wyrick's fine work allows the reader to appreciate Abraham Lincoln's Christian commitment and his prophetic role in American history. Should have a wide readership."

       James H. Smylie Professor of Church History (Ret.) Union Theological Seminary, Richmond, Virginia

       "Neil Wyrick's The Spiritual Abraham Lincoln should be read by anyone attempting to understand the man who was probably the most complex person to ever hold the office of president of the United States. Dr. Wyrick is intent on demonstrating that the spirituality so often expressed in Lincoln's writings and speeches was not merely lip service to a Deity, but rather expressions of a profound faith in a real God. It was this faith that provided the wisdom, compassion, insight and sometimes steel that Lincoln would need in full measure as he led the United States through the Civil War. Dr. Wyrick's clear and unpretentious style of presentation is very much in keeping with the character ofhis subject, and in so doing, Wyrick makes his point very well that Lincoln, his beliefs, and the faith that formed them, are as relevant to a troubled America in 2004 as they were in 1863."

       Daniel Allen Butler, author of "Unsinkable"; The Full Story of the RMS Titanic, The Lusitania and The Age o f Cunard

       

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      Neil also writes for go60.us to check out his writings...

            CLICK ON  www.go60.us   IT WILL TAKE YOU A NEW WEBSITE FOR SENIORS....

       click on "Voice" on the home page and then on the list of authors click on Neil Wyrick

Recent articles Rev. Wyrick has written for this web site are:  REFLECTIONS


·         Here Comes Summer (July 2012)

·         Spring (May 2012)

·         Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow (April 2012)

·         Wayward and Windy (April 2012)

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      Some of the sermon titles posted recently on Wyrick's Writings


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BELOW ARE MORE QUOTES FROM NEIL'S RECENTLY POSTED SERMONS on Wyrick's Writings

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A QUOTE FROM THOUGHTS POSTED ON MY OTHER BLOG WYRICK'S WRITINGS ON SUNDAY APRIL 15. ENTITILED

 

       Two stores faced each other across a very busy street.  Their owners were in constant competition with each other.  One day, the owner of one store put out a sign that read – If you want it, we have it!

Almost immediately the other owner put out a sign –If we don’t have it, you don’t need it!

 

      

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      Click on the URL below to WATCH NEIL IN HIS WORLD FAMOUS ONE MAN DRAMATIZATIONS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN, BEN FRANKLIN, CHARLES WESLEY AND MARTIN LUTHER


       To Order and Read Neil's 9th book THE SPIRITUAL ABRAHAM LINCOLN

       GO TO amazon.com

       QUOTES ABOUT THIS WONDERFUL INSPIRING INFORMATIVE book

       STILL RECEIVING RAVE REVIEWS 8 YEARS AFTER IT'S PUBLICATION.

      

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