Wednesday, July 29, 2015

THE SECRET SOCIETY

These One A Days are added to daily.
 
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       There are over 900 stories and commentaries on this blog. It is added to daily. 
 
Click on http://wyrickswritings.blogspot.com to read selected Sermons from over 50 years of Rev. Wyrick's ministry.
I'd rather see a sermon than hear one any day;
I'd rather one should walk with me than merely show the way.
 
The eye's a better pupil and more willing than the ear;
Fine counsel is confusing, but examples always clear;
And the best of all the preachers are men who live their creeds,
 
For to see good put in action is what everybody needs.
 
       I soon can learn to do it if you'll let me see it done;
I can watch your hands in action, but your tongue too fast may run.
 
And the lecture you deliver may be very wise and true,
But I'd rather get my lessons by observing what you do;
For I might misunderstand you and the high advice you give,
 
But there's no misunderstanding how you act ad how you live. (Edgar A Guest, 1881)
 
       The first question in the Westminister Catechism is "What is the chief end of man?"  The answer that follows reads, "To glorify God and enjoy him forever."
 
       In "The Shoes of Happiness" by Edwin Markham Conrad the cobbler dreams that Jesus will be coming to his shop as a guest.  So vivid is the dream that on awakening he sweeps and cleans his shop with special care.
 
       He buys food and plans that when Jesus comes he will wash the Master's feet, kiss his hands where the driven nails have torn and they sit down and sup together.
 
       The day gathers time and no one come, but then there is a knock.  It is only a beggar, but the cobbler with kindness gives him some shoes and sends him on his way.
 
       Not long after, there is another knock, but it is still not the Master; it is only an old woman with a heavy load of fire wood for sale.  He makes no purchases, but bids her rest awhile and gives her food.
 
       Late in the afternoon, there is a crying at the door.  A little child afraid and lost is cradled in the shadows.  The cobbler dries her tears. 
 
       Then darkness comes and the day has come to an end...His dream has been only a foolish dream.  His heart is heavy.  But closing, Markham writes:
 
       Then soft in the silence a Voice he heard,
"Lift up your heart, for I've kept My word.
Three ties my shadow was on your floor,
I was the beggar with the bruised feet;
I was the woman you gave to eat;
I was the homeless child in the street." 
 
       The little girl came rushing toward her mother's arms.  She had just come from her first Sunday School class and she cried out, "Oh mother," she bubbled, "My teacher today told me about the best way of living I've ever heard."
 
       In the 19th Chapter of John, the 18th verse, there is the following quote, "Joseph of Arimathea, a disciple of Jesus, but secretly."
 
       And therein lies the challenge or the problem.  Christians acting like it to such a degree the world cannot help but notice.
 
       "I am the way." (John 14:6) says Jesus.  And in Mark 2:14 "Follow me."
 
       And that's what it is all about.  "Walk" not "jsut talk."  "Do" not "just discuss."  The word is "conviction" not "just committee meetings."
 
       James Vance wrote, "What the world needs is not eagerness to get, but willingness to give; not a mastery of natural forces, but a ision of spiritual values; not a lust for power, but a passion for service; not a erch in the sun, but a cross on a hill."
 
       The bulletin on Sunday morning list all the officers and that is good...it allows you to know who to talk to if you want information about how to join or serve the church...
 
       but I got to thinking...suppose the officers so stood out as Christians their names didn't have to be listed...it would be that obvious.
 
       Is that a stretch...most likely...but the truth of the matter is that officers or officers or not...Christians do have an opportunity to stand out...to live sun crowned above the crowd.
 
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       “God loves with a great love the man whose heart is bursting with a passion for the impossible.” ~ William Booth (A British Methodist Preacher and founder of the Salvation Army)

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QUOTES BELOW ARE FROM WYRICK'S WRITINGS...CLICK ON THE FOLLOWING TO TAKE YOU THERE... http://wyrickswritings.blogspot.com
(These are selected sermons from over 50 years of ministry and as a worldwide evangelist have been preached all over the world)

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