Saturday, August 8, 2015

WHO AND WHAT IS MAN?

These One A Days are 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.

      Some philosophers and theologians refer to man as a world in miniature because he is a specimen of the power, wisdom and goodness of God.

       The Bible reads, "For he has made him a little lower than the angels." (Hebrew 2:7)

       One thing is for sure, in our constant search for understanding miracles the miracle of self is enough to stagger the human mind.

       What a quest it is, the answer to the question in the title of this piece.

       And some make no such quest at all.  Puffed up with pride there is no praise and little or no searching and finding and bowing down in prayer; the world is too much with them.

       And some created by God "a little lower than the angels" began, because of their discoveries, to feel equal to and even on a level with God himself.

       A deluded poet of not that many years ago, Swineburge wrote, "The seal of man's knowledge is sure; the truth and his spirit is wed...Glory to Man in the highest, for man is the master of things."

       Who and what is man?

       He is spiritual wisdom or a physical backdrop against which he suffers delusions of grandeur.

       And one of the reasons this happens?  One day a man was asked if he thought ignorance and apathy played a part in the condition of our culture today. He responded, “I don’t know and don’t care.”

       But we must care.  We can't allow ourselves to be subject to the force of drift.

       According to Webster, to be proactive is "…acting in anticipation of future problems, needs, or changes."  It certainly isn't allowing ourselves to be addicted to drift.

              Max Lucado says that one day his wife brought home a monkey.

       His daughters were thrilled but he wasn't; he had all kinds of questions.

       Where was the monkey going to eat? His wife said that it was going to sit at the table and eat with them, just like the rest of the family.

       Then he asked her where it was going to sleep? And she told him it was going to sleep in their bed.

        Then he asked, "But what about the smell?" And she said, "Oh, he'll get used to you, I did."

       Man?  Man is intemperate when it comes to finding fault with his fellowman.  And rushing or drifting toward ongoing animosity enlarges differences and fights wars and arrogantly demands agreement and listens not well at all...

       And as Christians...we have to be a different kind of person...a love others as we love ourselves person.

              And not an ongoing emotional Olympics in which we just keep on keeping on the process of casting stones.

       The Civil War had left its scars. The city of Richmond displayed them wherever you looked.  Some of the scars could not be seen but they could be felt.

       And so it was that on a Sunday morn a congregation gathered for worship and communion.  When communion time came they walked down the aisle and began to celebrate the crucifixion and resurrection of their Lord.

       After several rows of worshipers had moved forward and returned to their pews...a single black man began to walk down the aisle.

       Alone.

       For no one joined him in his solitary journey.

       At the front of the church the black man started to kneel alone.

       Then, another single figure rose his pew and made his way to the front of the church and reaching where the black man had just knelt kneeled by his side.

       Together they then took communion.

       The man's name was General Robert E. Lee.

       What and who is man?  He is who he or she chooses to be in coordination with their God.

       There are three kinds of people in the world’
-those who make things happen
-those who watch things happen
-those who say, "What happened?"

       Which are you?  Which am I?  And does it make a difference?

       What and who is man?  He is who he or she chooses to be in coordination with their God.

       It's called self-discovery and we should be busily engaged in this important mode of living for the whole of our life.
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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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      A new quote  (posted Aug 6) below from Rev. Wyrick's 9th book THE SPIRITUAL ABRAHAM LINCOLN...available on amazon.com, barnes and noble and many other book sites) (read the rave reviews below)

Many were quite willing to see him permanently gone, not just to Washington but from this earth. 

       Hate letters assailed on a regular basis.  Finally a plot to assassinate him in Baltimore was uncovered, and by repeatedly reminding him, “You can hardly be a good President if you are a dead President,” his friends were able to convince him to secretly depart Harrisburg. 

       Accompanied by Alan Pinkerton and W. H. Laman in one lone car pulled by a single locomotive, no lights and telegraph lines cut, he came through Baltimore at 3:30 A.M. dressed in disguise. 

       Many other lonely middle-of-the-night times lay ahead.

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            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)

Just remember that “the pain of discipline will cost you pennies, whereas the pain of regret will cost you millions.”

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How can we keep our faith from being a weak and fruitless thing?  How can we not be foolish little men and women groveling in the dark shadows of overeager egos. 

          Well, first we must do more than just pray.  We must believe in our own prayers.

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Anxiety out of proportion makes us become like a centipede trying to put his best foot forward.

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        It's an old joke, I went to the doctor and I said, “Doc, when I do this, it hurts.” And the doctor said, “Then don't do that.”

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        How many things have you been anxious about that were things which you knew before you got into them were probably going to create some problems for you?  And if you asked your doctor, or your minister, or common sense and your God, all of them would have said, “Don’t do that.”

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        To buy into the community of accountability we have to realize that like bikers we are divided into two categories.  Those who have fallen and those who will fall for anything. None of us are perfect.
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          Think on it this way, some philosopher of old wrote it and it endures because there is so much truth in it… every right implies a responsibility; every opportunity, an obligation; every possession, a duty

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      Some of the sermon titles posted recently
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Before you decide to purchase or not purchase his book THE SPIRITUAL ABRAHAM LINCOLN.... view his Award Winning One Man Dramatization of Lincoln (since he wrote the script for this drama it will give you an insight into what you will find in the book itself)

Available on Amazon.com in printed form and on Amazon Kindle Books. and at many other sites

TO VIEW THE LINCOLN One Man DRAMA and 3 other dramas; Ben Franklin, Martin Luther & Charles Wesley

click on the following URL

http://www.speakerneil.com/
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BELOW ARE MORE QUOTES FROM NEIL'S RECENTLY POSTED SERMONS

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A QUOTE FROM THOUGHTS POSTED ON MY OTHER BLOG WYRICK'S WRITINGS ENTITLED


       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!


A QUOTE FROM THOUGHTS POSTED ON MY OTHER BLOG WYRICK'S WRITINGS ENTITLED

WHO ARE YOU?

NO…WHOSE ARE YOU?

       Who are you?  Whose are you?

You influence and are influenced according to the answer you give.     

Are you are the flavor of the month because you are determined to be like everyone else no matter what?  If so, consider being more independent in our thinking and actions...because God wants you to grow up.

It may be easier being someone's shadow but wouldn't you really rather be a sun. 


       QUOTE FROM THOUGHTS  POSTED ON WYRICK'S WRITINGS ENTITLED "Who Are You?  Whose Are You?"

       This is an old quote, and a romantic one as well but, nevertheless, can anyone say of you, “I love you not because of who you are, but because of who I am when I am with you.

            QUOTE FROM THOUGHT PIECE POSTED ON WYRICK'S WRITINGS ENTITLED

" WHEN A NATION STRAYS TOO FAR FROM BEING MORAL IT IS WELL ON IT'S WAY TO BECOMING A MESS

        James 4:17

To him therefore who knows to do good, and doesn’t do it, to him it is sin.

        Someone once said: “A belief is what you hold, a conviction is what holds you!”

        So what holds you, constructs you, leads you with a push when needed?

       Quotes POSTED ON WYRICK'S WRITING ENTITLED WHO ARE YOU?

NO…WHOSE ARE YOU?

        In a Peanuts cartoon strip Peppermint Patty is shown talking to Charlie Brown.

“Guess what, Chuck? It’s the first day of school and I got sent to the principal’s office.

And it’s your fault!”

Charlie Brown responds, “My fault? How could it be my fault? Why do you say everything is my fault?”

To which she declares, “You’re my friend, aren’t you, Chuck? You should have been a better influence on me.”

In the comics, it’s funny… but in real life it’s much more complicated.

       Would you like to read the entire thought piece?  Then... TO TAKE YOU TO THE WYRICK'S WRITING'S SITE

                   click on the following


          Yes, God loves you the way you are but he loves you too much to let you stay that way.

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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.

       "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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