Monday, October 5, 2015

DO YOU WANT TO BE CALLED STUPID?

These One A Days are added to daily.  A thank you to all of you who have gone back and read all of the posts since the beginning.
 
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       There are over 1100 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.

   The answer is obviously "NO!" AND CERTAINLY TO LIVE A LIFE OPEN TO FULFILLMENT REQUIRES THAT WE FILL OUR MINDS WITH GOOD THOUGHTS...WHICH BEGIN WITH FILLING THEM AT ALL.

Back in the time of the early church, a Roman poet, Juvenal, stated “You should pray for a sound mind in a sound body.”

   And in search of a sound mind...and I am assuming that is one of your goals.  What TV programs do you watch?  I'm not saying you have to have a steady diet of "The History Channel" "Discovery" and Charlie Ross for examples.  But if you concentrate on a steady diet of ?????????? is this what you would recommend.

   Note, I have not named any particular programs to earn this designation but by whatever mind food you most often consume of such is your mind shaped.

What I am talking about is a healthy consciousness.  "Take me to your leader" reads the old joke but it is no joke if who or what is leading you is leading you astray.

Take the Prodigal son for example.  It is doubtful he was an idiot.  He was simply what a host of us have been in our youthful exuberance.  More shout than sense.  More nonsense than nimble common sense conclusions.  Too often in our youth gross or close to this abominable description rather than grown up.

   Getting an education.  Using an education...be it spiritual, technical or whatever there is a right way to do things and there is a wrong way and the longer it takes us to grow up and make the right choices the longer we are going to be unhappy campers.

As for myself, I was already convinced I was capable of grown up thinking even before I was 12.  When I reached Boy Scout age I still did not understand what "Being Prepared" really meant.  Fortunately, I grew up reasonably early and put to practice the principles the church and my parents had laid before me.  (I am, of course, still in the process of growing up)

   2 Timothy 1:7 "God did not give us a spirit of fear, but a spirit of power and love and a sound mind."

But we have to accept the gift and work toward improving the gift...it is called commitment rather than dreaming on a star.  It is calling kneeling before the throne of grace rather than running away.  It's called acting like we really do have a sound mind.

Soon after I arrived at college I gathered with 276 other graduate hopefuls.  It was 1946, World War II had come to an end and a new and wonderful future lay before us.

Then the Dean Wilson stood and spoke the following words.  "This is not an easy college to graduate from.  75% of you will not graduate.  Only those who truly want to have a sound mind will succeed."  And so I committed myself to doing what was required to not be a part of that 75%.  If a sound mind was required to succeed and a less than sound mind offered failure it was an easy choice to make.

   Psalm 119:105
Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.

And some words are certainly not that and never have been.

The mind is like a TV set that when it goes blank, it's a good idea to turn off the sound."  Would the world be a better place if you were turned off or is it a better place because you are turned on.

       “Let this mind be in you, which was also is in Christ Jesus.”  Not the mind of your friend Josh or Jane.  Not like any old mind you come in contact with in your daily living.  But a top of the line mind...a Son of God mind...

       Every once in awhile I come upon a statement that sings to my heart.  The following is one of those  "A mind that seeks to become enlightened
for the sake of others is a mind of enlightenment ."

       Think straight.  That's the crux of it.

       Do you wish to think less crooked.  Rid yourself of your prejudicial thoughts. 

       They distort.

        They argue that 2 plus 2 is five. 

       They trigger poor judgment. 

       They compare that which cannot be compared.

       They ignore options as if they were the plague. 

       They worship at the altar of the overly emotional. 

       They refuse to face the reality they may be destroyed by their own backfire. 

       They look for bandwagons to join for they are not secure in themselves. 

       They see bias in other people but are unable to see it in themselves. 

              They are a kind of cognitive insanity.

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Reading without reflecting is like eating without digesting. ~Edmund Burke

       No matter where you go or what you do, you live your entire life within the confines of your head. ~Terry Josephson

       Did you ever stop to think, and forget to start again? ~Winnie the Pooh

       People demand freedom of speech as a compensation for the freedom of thought which they seldom use. ~Soren Kierkegaard

       Too often we... enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought. ~John F. Kennedy

       The trouble with most people is that they think with their hopes or fears or wishes rather than with their minds. ~Will Durant 

          ANOTHER WAY TO SHARE THESE ONE A DAYS WITH FREIENDS...CLICK ON "MORE" AT TOP LEFT OF THIS BLOG PAGE AND  FROM THERE IT SHOULD BE EASY

       CHURCH BOOK CLUBS ARE USING REV. WYRICK'S 9TH BOOK "The Spiritual Abraham Lincoln." 

       It is available on amazon.com, Barnes & Noble and many other book sites.

     A new quote Rev. Wyrick's 9th book THE SPIRITUAL ABRAHAM LINCOLN (read the rave reviews below the quote)

 If Mary had not instigated another of her famous feuds the assassination might never have happened, at least at this time in this way. 

She had raised the ire of the wife of Ulysses S. Grant and so Julia Grant refused to attend the play at Ford Theater in her company. 

Had the General been present that evening, there might have been more guards. 

Instead, the Lincoln’s sat alone enjoying “Our American Cousin,” until John Wilkes Booth put a bullet in his head. 

It placed him in a coma and pushed the nation further toward chaos. 

The time was 10:15. 

       "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

QUOTE BELOW IS FROM WYRICK'S WRITINGS

          There is no other organization in the world like the church.  It is a breed unto itself.  It is a congregation of sinners, not a country club for saints.  To become a member you have to profess your unworthiness. 

CLICK ON THE FOLLOWING TO TAKE YOU THERE


      (These are selected sermons from over 50 years of ministry and as a worldwide evangelist Rev. Wyrick preached them all the United States and all over the world)

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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 THURSDAY MARCH 29th THOUGHTS 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.

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