It was the Jewish year 3790 and the Son of God was coming. Heaven sent. Bethlehem born. And things began to happen.
To some shepherds on the side of a hill the event would be announced by a host of angels singing their glorious message. A message that would echo with timeless joy down through centuries yet to come. And once it sunk in they went crazy.
Overwhelmed, they rushed into town to find the special manger about which they had been told. It was belief time. Action tine.
To three wise men it was time for a journey to a special somewhere. For Caspar, Belthazar and Melchior to bring gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh to the feet of a Jesus child. It was belief time. Action time.
And then one day, many, many years later, in a city named Miami
there is a man named Neil Wyrick and he has been to the manger, has
stood at the foot of the cross, has looked into an empty tomb and has
bowed in awe before the resurrection. And he believes. And there is each of you, what do you believe? It should be belief time. It should be action time.
Because
you see, whether life offers fences or boulders or simply
embarrassment, it does make a difference whether in our run down the
hill of life existence we go it alone or run not just with the wind but
with our Master by our side.
I believe. Without these words. Without this spiritual emotion. Without this divine essence stirring our souls, the church is nothing. Without belief it is a hunk oaf concrete encircling some very nice people on a Sunday morning. Without believe all this is little more than a club house gathering. The food of fellowship amply served, but nothing else.
“Where you love, you live.” That is what faith is. It is laying your heart on the line, the thrust and pulse of your being before something or someone. And when that someone is God, you no longer run with the pack or drift with the tide. Now you no longer stand for anything, because now you stand for the ultimate something.
And it does make a different. Because it is not enough to just be afraid of hell. You have to be in love with heaven. Otherwise
religion can easily become no more than a hobby. The picking up of a
little religious tidbit here and a little religious tidbit there, but no
substance.
Yes, all of us, at times, exhibit various shades of sin and silliness. And all of us ask forgiveness before the throne of grace, not because we deserve it but because our Lord has made us deserving.
All of us, at times, if we are not careful, can theologically obfuscate. Like
an older minister who at an ecclesiastic assembly some years ago asked a
young minister, “Do you believe that Jesus Christ was very God of the
very God, begotten and not made, co-eternal and co-substantial with the
Father?’
And three cheers and a holy hurrah for the young man’s spunk in his reply. And
even more for his insight for he readily answered, “I would no more
think of explaining with such words what Christ means to me, than I
would think of describing man as an appendage, featherless biped of the
genus Homo that manipulates in an upright manner by an alternate,
lateral, progressive movement of the pedal extremities.”
I
enjoyed theology , the study of God, during my days in seminary, but I
also decided that often some theologians tie themselves up in
theological knots by making the incomprehensible even more so. In short, I learned a lot of the fancy, dancy theological terms and terminology that I seldom use. Because I believe in what I call theological K.I.S.S.; keep it simple stupid.
Jesus Christ was the Son of God. The Lord loves me and forgive me. I need it. The Lord wants me to love and forgive my fellowman. We both need it. End of chapter. End of verse.
TO
VISIT Neil’s other blog WYRICK’S WRITING (A variety of serializations; a
novel on Sunday and Tuesday and Thursday varying subjects) (3 times a
week added to)
CLICK ON THE FOLLOWING URL
****************************
To
view his One Man Dramas on film (see by millions, live and on film and
on video)(Martin Luther, Ben Franklin, Charles Wesley, Abraham Lincoln)
CLICK ON THE FOLLOWING
********************************
To access info his other book’s and get some great used book prices, go to Amazon.com (books) and type in Neil Wyrick.
BOUNDARIES
UNLIMITED, RUST ON MY SOUL, POOR RICHARD’S ALMANAC, I AM SIXTY PLUS AND
NOT HOLDING, THE ABC’S OF PARENTING AND GRANDPARENTING, LETTERS TO
AMERICA…
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment