Sunday, February 28, 2010

A PLACE WHERE INDEPENDENCE SEEKS DEPENDENCE

This is a continuation of a series of Lenten thoughts appropriate to the remembering our Christ with all the awe He truly deserves.. Please consider sharing these Lenten thoughts with a host of your friends.

THESE THOUGHT ARE ADDED TO EACH SUNDAY, TUESDAY AND THURSDAY

(Scroll down to read previous thoughts)
(Use in your personal or church newsletters)

FOR THE NEXT few postings MY THOUGHTS WILL BE AIMED AT SPEAKING OF AND TRYING TO GIVE SOME SOMETIMES NEW INSIGHTS INTO PRAYER.

To view my other blog “One A Day, Your Spiritual Vitamins”
CLICK ON THE FOLLOWING URL
http://oneadayyourspiritualvitamins.blogspot.com/

Think the word prayer and most often you probably think petition. And that’s just what Christ was talking about in Luke 11:9-10.

So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.

When we petition God what should our attitude be?

Well, the phrase hallowed be thy name is not in the Lord’s Prayer by accident.

How was it that Jesus put it, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and soul and strength and mind.” You can’t get much more hallowed than that.

Hallowed? It is a litmus test for how we feel about the God to whom we are praying. Hallow, not shallow. Adoration, not relationship with amendments.

Prayer? It is the one place our independence seeks dependence. Whether we are thanking God or pleading our case before His throne of mercy, we are in essence saying, “Here am I, Lord, take me.”

SOME RECENT POSTINGS ON MY OTHER BLOG “ONE A DAY YOUR SPIRITUAL VITAMINS”…To view them go to “Google Search” type in “Neil Spiritual Vitamins” Or type in the URL
http://oneadayyourspiritualvitamins.blogspot.com/

BE A WARMER! (FEB 5)
A SIX DAY SERIES ON ANGER BEGINNING ON FRIDAY (JAN 15)
WHOEVER SAID FUSSING AND FUMING WAS BEST? (Jan 8)
HE COULD HAVE KILLED HIM BUT HE DIDN’T (Dec 28)
JUST AN ORDINARY INSECT (Dec 25)
ARE YOU WRITING HAPPINESS WITH FADING INK? (Dec 23)
HAVE YOU GONE BLIND OR IS IT THAT YOU JUST HAVEN’T OPENED YOUR EYES (DEC 11)
THE IMPORTANCE OF UNDERSTANDING IMPORTANCE (Dec 10)
DON’T LOSE YOUR PRAYER WHILE PRAYING (DEC 9)

And, yes, if this site or the One A Day site has met any of your needs share it with a friend. Just have them go to “Google Search” and type in “Wyrick’s Writings”
Or type in the URL
http://wyrickswritings.blogspot.com/


And, yes, maybe they will back track a few weeks to read other of my musings.

DO YOU HAVE A BLOG OR FACEBOOK? IF YOU ENJOY THESE WRITINGS COULD YOU
CALL ATTENTION TO THIS BLOG? IF YOU DO, THANKS IN ADVANCE

CLICK ON THE TO RIGHT SIDE TOP OF THIS SCREEN WHERE IT READS “CLICK HERE TO WATCH NEIL AS WESLEY, LUTHER, FRANKLIN & LINCOLN”…His presentations have been called equal to Hal Holbrook and were presented all over the world.

Thursday, February 25, 2010

WOW! WHAT A TRIP!

This is a continuation of a series of Lenten thoughts appropriate to the remembering our Christ with all the awe He truly deserves.. Please consider sharing these Lenten thoughts with a host of your friends.

THESE THOUGHT ARE ADDED TO EACH SUNDAY, TUESDAY AND THURSDAY

(Scroll down to read previous thoughts)
(Use in your personal or church newsletters)

CHECK OUT JANUARY 15TH I STARTED A SIX DAY SERIES ON ANGER ON MY OTHER BLOG. SEE BELOW FOR MORE DETAILS.

“I am the Resurrection and the Life.”Powerful words. Words to heal when the hurting time of death comes to call.

Words that can make cemeteries cathedrals, because when you believe that the reason there was an empty tomb was because there was a risen Lord, death remains a wrenching sadness, but no longer a bitter finality.

Christ did not come only to preach a gospel, but to be a gospel.” That’s the way A. M. Ramsey put it in his book The Resurrection of Christ.

And when Jesus rose from the dead, He was the good news shouting an affirmative answer to an age-old question asked by Job, “If a man die shall he live again?” (Job 14:14) For Paul the answer was, “For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. (Phil 1:21)

We must never forget that this life is a trip on the way to a destination. Mortality on the way to immortality. Earthly doors opening and closing and opening and closing, until one day a heavenly gate opens and we enter into a place called Forever.

SOME RECENT POSTINGS ON MY OTHER BLOG “ONE A DAY YOUR SPIRITUAL VITAMINS”…To view them go to “Google Search” type in “Neil Spiritual Vitamins”
OR CLICK ON THE FOLLOWING URL http://oneadayyourspiritualvitamins.blogspot.com/

BE A WARMER! (FEB 5)
A SIX DAY SERIES ON ANGER BEGINNING ON FRIDAY (JAN 15)
WHOEVER SAID FUSSING AND FUMING WAS BEST? (Jan 8)
HE COULD HAVE KILLED HIM BUT HE DIDN’T (Dec 28)
JUST AN ORDINARY INSECT (Dec 25)
ARE YOU WRITING HAPPINESS WITH FADING INK? (Dec 23)
HAVE YOU GONE BLIND OR IS IT THAT YOU JUST HAVEN’T OPENED YOUR EYES (DEC 11)
THE IMPORTANCE OF UNDERSTANDING IMPORTANCE (Dec 10)
DON’T LOSE YOUR PRAYER WHILE PRAYING (DEC 9)

And, yes, if this site or the One A Day site has met any of your needs share it with a friend. Just have them go to “Google Search” and type in “Wyrick’s Writings”

Or CLICK ON THE FOLLOWING URL http://wyrickswritings.blogspot.com/

And, yes, maybe they will back track a few weeks to read other of my musings.

DO YOU HAVE A BLOG OR FACEBOOK? IF YOU ENJOY THESE WRITINGS COULD YOU
CALL ATTENTION TO THIS BLOG? IF YOU DO, THANKS IN ADVANCE

CLICK ON THE TO RIGHT SIDE TOP OF THIS SCREEN WHERE IT READS “CLICK HERE TO WATCH NEIL AS WESLEY, LUTHER, FRANKLIN & LINCOLN”…His presentations have been called equal to Hal Holbrook and were presented all over the world.

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

HERE COMES MARGARET

This is a continuation of a series of Lenten thoughts appropriate to the remembering our Christ with all the awe He truly deserves.. Please consider sharing these Lenten thoughts with a host of your friends.

THESE THOUGHT ARE ADDED TO EACH SUNDAY, TUESDAY AND THURSDAY

(Scroll down to read previous thoughts)
(Use in your personal or church newsletters)

CHECK OUT JANUARY 15TH I STARTED A SIX DAY SERIES ON ANGER ON MY OTHER BLOG. SEE BELOW FOR MORE DETAILS.

I share with you now the words of a husband relating what happened to him when he walked out into their garden in the early morning after his much loved wife had died. It seemed as if time were suspended for just a little while, and a touch of eternal heavens peeked through.

“Margaret had so loved the out-of-doors, along with music and birds,” he said. “How can I try to describe to you my experience of that dawn? All I can say is that she was there.

And I, at a little distance, was there observing it all.

I had been a naval officer during the war and I found myself thinking of an Admiral being piped aboard a ship. It was as if the boundaries between earth and heaven were obliterated and Margaret was being piped aboard. She was entering her heavenly home in a blaze of glory with the birds singing that morning as I have never heard them sing before, or since. It was as if ten thousand angels were crying, “Joy! Joy! Here comes Margaret. Everybody out. Everybody out. Here comes Margaret!

“Strangely, my dominant emotion was not grief, but a thankfulness that I had had her for 19 years and a fierce uncontrollable pride in having been her husband. Only one word can describe my mood at the time – exultation.” (from the book by Catherine Marshall, “To Live Again”)

And then there are the two ministerial friends of mine, who stepped briefly into the valley of the shadow of death and told me how it was looking down on their earthly bodies and feeling strangely detached from them. And how good they felt. How contented. How fulfilled. This is not something I just read about in a book. These two men looked me in the eye and simply said, “Neil, this is how it was.”

SOME RECENT POSTINGS ON MY OTHER BLOG “ONE A DAY YOUR SPIRITUAL VITAMINS”…To view them go to “Google Search” type in “Neil Spiritual Vitamins” Or CLICK ON the FOLLOWING URL http://oneadayyourspiritualvitamins.blogspot.com/

BE A WARMER! (FEB 5)
A SIX DAY SERIES ON ANGER BEGINNING ON FRIDAY (JAN 15)
WHOEVER SAID FUSSING AND FUMING WAS BEST? (Jan 8)
HE COULD HAVE KILLED HIM BUT HE DIDN’T (Dec 28)
JUST AN ORDINARY INSECT (Dec 25)
ARE YOU WRITING HAPPINESS WITH FADING INK? (Dec 23)
HAVE YOU GONE BLIND OR IS IT THAT YOU JUST HAVEN’T OPENED YOUR EYES (DEC 11)
THE IMPORTANCE OF UNDERSTANDING IMPORTANCE (Dec 10)
DON’T LOSE YOUR PRAYER WHILE PRAYING (DEC 9)

And, yes, if this site or the One A Day site has met any of your needs share it with a friend. Just have them go to “Google Search” and type in “Wyrick’s Writings”
Or CLICK ON THE FOLLOWING the URL http://wyrickswritings.blogspot.com/

And, yes, maybe they will back track a few weeks to read other of my musings.

DO YOU HAVE A BLOG OR FACEBOOK? IF YOU ENJOY THESE WRITINGS COULD YOU
CALL ATTENTION TO THIS BLOG? IF YOU DO, THANKS IN ADVANCE

CLICK ON THE TO RIGHT SIDE TOP OF THIS SCREEN WHERE IT READS “CLICK HERE TO WATCH NEIL AS WESLEY, LUTHER, FRANKLIN & LINCOLN”…His presentations have been called equal to Hal Holbrook and were presented all over the world.

Sunday, February 21, 2010

THE TYRANNY OF I DON'T WANNA!

This is a continuation of a series of Lenten thoughts appropriate to the remembering our Christ with all the awe He truly deserves.. Please consider sharing these Lenten thoughts with a host of your friends.

THESE THOUGHT ARE ADDED TO EACH SUNDAY, TUESDAY AND THURSDAY
(Scroll down to read previous thoughts)
(Use in your personal or church newsletters)

It is more than a story that I am about to embellish. It is a history lesson. And as someone once said, “Those who do not learn from history are condemned to repeat it.”

A man named Peter huddled against a wall and shivered as he pulled his cloak more tightly around his shoulders. Not far away guards gathered round a fire too tiny to ward off the cold of a dark and moonless night.

It was 4 A.M. and grumbling members of the Grand Sanhedrin were arriving at the Temple. They were hardly happy at being awakened at such an ungodly hour.

However, they all agreed it was worth the inconvenience because it was time to be rid of this thorn in their side. This man from Nazareth who acted as if he had come from heaven itself.

As these Hebrew leaders swept past, a servant girl suddenly looked at the hooded Peter and cried out, “Are you not a disciple of this one called Jesus?”

A look of fear and then anger swept across his eyes as he hissed back in reply, “Away with you woman? You speak foolishness and would get me in trouble.”

At that moment an ancient door creaked open. Peter looked toward the sound, toward the house of Annas, toward the staircase that led down into the Courtyard. Toward Caiaphas who walked ahead of the soldiers. Toward the face of his Master, lighted by a lantern’s flickering flame. It was against the law to hold a criminal trial in darkness, but no one came forward to cry out, “Hold now!” No one.

An hour later, when the trial was well underway, a man standing close to Peter turned and staring hard into his face accused, “I know you. I have seen you more than once walking with this man now on trial. You are one of his disciples.” Peter blanched. Every part of his being called out for him to stand tall and faithful.

To be courageous rather than cowardly. Instead, softly now, for there was a great weariness in him…. no longer defiance… softly now, he almost whispered, “I have no idea what you are talking about.” The words burned in his throat and took away his breath.

To one of the guards overhearing the exchange, the man commented, “No matter what he says, that man is a disciple.”

“I am not…I am not…I am not,” Peter vehemently denied. And as he spoke a rooster, not far away, stretched himself, flapped his wings, raised his head and crowed.

It is not that he was unaware of what he ought to say and do. It was just that his fear was greater than his faith and so he was for a time ruled by the tyranny of “I don’t wanna.”

When Peter finally let Christ help him get his act together he didn’t rush toward safety anymore. Rather he roamed far and wide with Christ-like bravery. With Christian courage. With an ear finely tuned to an awakening conscience and a soul tuned into I oughta, rather than I don’t wanna.
Finally, this man Peter, who in a courtyard in Jerusalem had showed his favorite color was yellow and that it ran all the way up his back, went from I don’t wanna to I will!

SOME RECENT POSTINGS ON MY OTHER BLOG “ONE A DAY YOUR SPIRITUAL VITAMINS”…To view them go to “Google Search” type in “Neil Spiritual Vitamins” Or type in the URL http://oneadayyourspiritualvitamins.blogspot.com/

A SIX DAY SERIES ON ANGER BEGINNING ON FRIDAY (JAN 15)
WHOEVER SAID FUSSING AND FUMING WAS BEST? (Jan 8)
HE COULD HAVE KILLED HIM BUT HE DIDN’T (Dec 28)
JUST AN ORDINARY INSECT (Dec 25)
ARE YOU WRITING HAPPINESS WITH FADING INK? (Dec 23)
HAVE YOU GONE BLIND OR IS IT THAT YOU JUST HAVEN’T OPENED YOUR EYES (DEC 11)
THE IMPORTANCE OF UNDERSTANDING IMPORTANCE (Dec 10)
DON’T LOSE YOUR PRAYER WHILE PRAYING (DEC 9)

And, yes, if this site or the One A Day site has met any of your needs share it with a friend. Just have them go to “Google Search” and type in “Wyrick’s Writings”
Or type in the URL http://wyrickswritings.blogspot.com/

And, yes, maybe they will back track a few weeks to read other of my musings.

DO YOU HAVE A BLOG OR FACEBOOK? IF YOU ENJOY THESE WRITINGS COULD YOU
CALL ATTENTION TO THIS BLOG? IF YOU DO, THANKS IN ADVANCE

CLICK ON THE TO RIGHT SIDE TOP OF THIS SCREEN WHERE IT READS “CLICK HERE TO WATCH NEIL AS WESLEY, LUTHER, FRANKLIN & LINCOLN”…His presentations have been called equal to Hal Holbrook and were presented all over the world.

Thursday, February 18, 2010

NOT AN END BUT A BEGINNING or A PLACE CALLED FOREVER

From this day until Easter Day will be a series of Lenten thoughts appropriate to the remembering our Christ with all the awe He truly deserves.. Please consider sharing these Lenten thoughts with a host of your friends.

THESE THOUGHT ARE ADDED TO EACH SUNDAY, TUESDAY AND THURSDAY

(Scroll down to read previous thoughts)
(Use in your personal or church newsletters)

CHECK OUT JANUARY 15TH I STARTED A SIX DAY SERIES ON ANGER ON MY OTHER BLOG. SEE BELOW FOR MORE DETAILS.

Matthew 28:1-6

“If Christ had not been raised,” says Paul, “Then our preaching is in vain, and your faith is in vain.”

In short, Jesus didn’t just talk a great game, He did a great deed. He didn’t just talk about life after death, He did it.

All the triumph that was present as He entered Jerusalem would have gone down the drain without the Resurrection. It wasn’t until the empty tomb that things went from worse to wonderful. Without it, the references to immortality are little more than a madman’s mouthings. With it, the grave becomes an open door and not a dead end street.

Feel your heart beating? When it stops beating the message of Christ has the strength of forever in it. And what a gospel this is that promises a new life waiting, that looks at our flesh and reminds us that it is but a mortal covering for our immortal soul. “Fear not” is the call of the Masters message because the truth of eternity is there ready to come breaking through.

But dying is so final,” argue some. And I have to reply, “Final? Final to what? To money in the bank? I agree – we can’t take it with us. To a body most often grown aging and old? I agree. Or to a body withered by sickness or maimed by accident? I agree. To cars and clothes and all things physical as we know them? I agree.

But I also agree, with great joy, the heavenly underlined words of your Jesus and mine, “I am the Resurrection and the Life.”

SOME RECENT POSTINGS ON MY OTHER BLOG “ONE A DAY YOUR SPIRITUAL VITAMINS”…To view them go to “Google Search” type in “Neil Spiritual Vitamins” Or type in the URL http://oneadayyourspiritualvitamins.blogspot.com/

A BE A WARMER! (FEB 5)
SIX DAY SERIES ON ANGER BEGINNING ON FRIDAY (JAN 15)
WHOEVER SAID FUSSING AND FUMING WAS BEST? (Jan 8)
HE COULD HAVE KILLED HIM BUT HE DIDN’T (Dec 28)
JUST AN ORDINARY INSECT (Dec 25)
ARE YOU WRITING HAPPINESS WITH FADING INK? (Dec 23)
HAVE YOU GONE BLIND OR IS IT THAT YOU JUST HAVEN’T OPENED YOUR EYES (DEC 11)
THE IMPORTANCE OF UNDERSTANDING IMPORTANCE (Dec 10)
DON’T LOSE YOUR PRAYER WHILE PRAYING (DEC 9)

And, yes, if this site or the One A Day site has met any of your needs share it with a friend. Just have them go to “Google Search” and type in “Wyrick’s Writings”
Or type in the URL http://wyrickswritings.blogspot.com/

And, yes, maybe they will back track a few weeks to read other of my musings.

DO YOU HAVE A BLOG OR FACEBOOK? IF YOU ENJOY THESE WRITINGS COULD YOU
CALL ATTENTION TO THIS BLOG? IF YOU DO, THANKS IN ADVANCE

CLICK ON THE TO RIGHT SIDE TOP OF THIS SCREEN WHERE IT READS “CLICK HERE TO WATCH NEIL AS WESLEY, LUTHER, FRANKLIN & LINCOLN”…His presentations have been called equal to Hal Holbrook and were presented all over the world.

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

A LETTER FROM TEDDY ROOSEVELT

THESE THOUGHT ARE ADDED TO EACH SUNDAY, TUESDAY AND THURSDAY

(Scroll down to read previous thoughts)
(Use in your personal or church newsletters)

On JANUARY 15TH I STARTED A SIX DAY SERIES ON HOW TO HANDLE ANGER on my other blog. SEE BELOW FOR MORE DETAILS.

Dear America:

As 26th President of the United States let me offer a few insights on your 21st century problems.

Let me remind you that we had Robber Barons in my day, just as you have now.

They had different names, of course, J.P. Morgan, John D. Rockefeller, and Edward H. Harriman , but their attitudes were the same.

They wanted to build fiefdoms and if they had to do it on the dry bones of fired or underpaid employees, so be it.

So what should you do now almost one hundred years later?

Well, for openers stop making speeches and start doing the kind of things I did.

I sued forty-three corporations who were out of line.

Set up a Bureau of Corporations with powers to inspect the books of all businesses engaged in interstate commerce. Revived the all but forgotten Sherman Anti-Trust Act.

Indeed, it’s time to make more of those guilty of white collar crimes wear prison gray.

Your problem is your leadership pays too much attention to polls. There is no doubt that I had a big mouth, and used it. That I believed in the bully pulpit and would today make it loud and clear that business leadership will not be allowed to sup at the public trough whenever and however they please.

I call on your 21st century Americans to find some old fashion ethics, and go after those who are breaking them. I did.

Went after some judges bribed by a man named Jay Gould. Though I gave it my all I still lost, but did that stop me next time around? Not in a thousand years. Because in losing, I made it clear that when you did wrong Teddy Roosevelt would soon be banging on your front door.

Remember the Armour Meat Packing Company. Well, one day its founder and owner P. D. Armour, because his employees in a certain department had done such a wonderful job, decided he would offer each of them a new suit. In order to take advantage of such a generous offer, one young man ordered a suit costing $150, a very healthy sum at this particular point in history.

Receiving the bill, Mr. Armour called for the clerk to have him vouch for its accuracy. Finding that the billing was correct he assured the young man it would be paid. However, as the clerk was leaving Mr. Armour said, "I wish to say to you that I have processed a great many hogs in my time, but this is the first time I have ever dressed one."

I have noted that those guilty of playing accounting games constantly assert they have not broken any laws or changed the rules, but rather have only abided by that which is currently right and legal.

Nonsense!

As Billy Sunday said in my time, "When a man starts arguing that stealing is not a sin, don’t argue with him… search him."

I was watching a movie on your television the other day and the actor gave an impassioned speech underlining the importance of greed. "Greed," he said, "is good. Greed is right. Greed works. Greed clarifies. Greed will save the United States."

Really?

The rich getting richer while the poor get poorer will save our country? A CEO with millions in the bank and thousands of employees in the poor house? Salvation from stinginess?

Come on.

Sincerely,

Theodore Roosevelt

SOME RECENT POSTINGS ON MY OTHER BLOG “ONE A DAY YOUR SPIRITUAL VITAMINS”…To view them go to “Google Search” type in “Neil Spiritual Vitamins” Or type in the URL http://oneadayyourspiritualvitamins.blogspot.com/

BE A WARMER! (FEB 5)
A SIX DAY SERIES ON ANGER BEGINNING ON FRIDAY (JAN 15)
WHOEVER SAID FUSSING AND FUMING WAS BEST? (Jan 8)
HE COULD HAVE KILLED HIM BUT HE DIDN’T (Dec 28)
JUST AN ORDINARY INSECT (Dec 25)
ARE YOU WRITING HAPPINESS WITH FADING INK? (Dec 23)
HAVE YOU GONE BLIND OR IS IT THAT YOU JUST HAVEN’T OPENED YOUR EYES (DEC 11)
THE IMPORTANCE OF UNDERSTANDING IMPORTANCE (Dec 10)
DON’T LOSE YOUR PRAYER WHILE PRAYING (DEC 9)

And, yes, if this site or the One A Day site has met any of your needs share it with a friend. Just have them go to “Google Search” and type in “Wyrick’s Writings”
Or type in the URL http://wyrickswritings.blogspot.com/

And, yes, maybe they will back track a few weeks to read other of my musings.

DO YOU HAVE A BLOG OR FACEBOOK? IF YOU ENJOY THESE WRITINGS COULD YOU
CALL ATTENTION TO THIS BLOG? IF YOU DO, THANKS IN ADVANCE

CLICK ON THE TO RIGHT SIDE TOP OF THIS SCREEN WHERE IT READS “CLICK HERE TO WATCH NEIL AS WESLEY, LUTHER, FRANKLIN & LINCOLN”…His presentations have been called equal to Hal Holbrook and were presented all over the world.

Sunday, February 14, 2010

WHO WANTS INADEQUATE INADEQUACY?

THESE THOUGHT ARE ADDED TO EACH SUNDAY, TUESDAY AND THURSDAY

These thoughts are added to each Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday)
(Scroll down to read previous thoughts)
(Use in your personal or church newsletters)

CHECK OUT JANUARY 15TH I STARTED A SIX DAY SERIES ON ANGER ON MY OTHER BLOG. SEE BELOW FOR MORE DETAILS.

“Lord, please help bad people to be good and help good people to be nice,” prayed the little girl.

And boy, did she hit the problem smack dab in the middle of our souls and psyches.

Oh, we Christians carry a banner that by the very nature of our choosing says, “If we’re not nice, at least we try harder,” but the problem is some Christians don’t try harder.

And their banner looks as if it has been through a war…because it has been.

They have heard the message, but they haven’t gotten their compassionate motor up and running.

Unfortunately, they are as mean and ornery as some non Christians.

Here are a few very practical questions you need to ask yourself about what you say to people and how:

Do you share or lecture?

Do you follow up your words of wisdom with something rude or snide or sarcastic?

Have you ever said to someone, “Did I make myself clear?” Or, “Are you listening?” Does it make a difference? Is this a loaded question?

Are there some other practical ideas that can be applied to becoming a nicer person?

Well, for openers…I have always found that not blaming other people for my problems is a good way to begin. Otherwise, a constant mad-on takes place and takes over.
AND..when the other person, whoever that is, is being a pain…stop and think that maybe it is because their life at the moment is full to overflowing with some pain or problem. Maybe they aren’t handling it well but will your impatience make it better for the both of you?

Practice the destiny of little things…such as not interrupting everyone when they are talking because you think you have something more important to say…hold a door open for someone whether they are elderly or not…this is called going the extra mile and it certainly isn’t going to ruin the day.

Compliment folk. Only compliment if it is true because they will know it…but get in the habit of saying nice things. Sunshine is better than showers any day.

Sharpen the art of asking questions. It is better than you always giving answers. It respects other people, opens up conversations and keeps you from being a babbling bore.

SOME RECENT POSTINGS ON MY OTHER BLOG “ONE A DAY YOUR SPIRITUAL VITAMINS”…To view them go to “Google Search” type in “Neil Spiritual Vitamins” Or type in the URL http://oneadayyourspiritualvitamins.blogspot.com/
BE A WARMER! (FEB 5)
A SIX DAY SERIES ON ANGER BEGINNING ON FRIDAY (JAN 15)
WHOEVER SAID FUSSING AND FUMING WAS BEST? (Jan 8)
HE COULD HAVE KILLED HIM BUT HE DIDN’T (Dec 28)
JUST AN ORDINARY INSECT (Dec 25)
ARE YOU WRITING HAPPINESS WITH FADING INK? (Dec 23)
HAVE YOU GONE BLIND OR IS IT THAT YOU JUST HAVEN’T OPENED YOUR EYES (DEC 11)
THE IMPORTANCE OF UNDERSTANDING IMPORTANCE (Dec 10)
DON’T LOSE YOUR PRAYER WHILE PRAYING (DEC 9)

And, yes, if this site or the One A Day site has met any of your needs share it with a friend. Just have them go to “Google Search” and type in “Wyrick’s Writings”
Or type in the URL http://wyrickswritings.blogspot.com/

And, yes, maybe they will back track a few weeks to read other of my musings.

DO YOU HAVE A BLOG OR FACEBOOK? IF YOU ENJOY THESE WRITINGS COULD YOU
CALL ATTENTION TO THIS BLOG? IF YOU DO, THANKS IN ADVANCE

CLICK ON THE TO RIGHT SIDE TOP OF THIS SCREEN WHERE IT READS “CLICK HERE TO WATCH NEIL AS WESLEY, LUTHER, FRANKLIN & LINCOLN”…His presentations have been called equal to Hal Holbrook and were presented all over the world.

Thursday, February 11, 2010

PRODS TO THE EQUIVALENT OF NOWHERE

THESE THOUGHT ARE ADDED TO EACH SUNDAY, TUESDAY AND THURSDAY

(Scroll down to read previous thoughts)
(Use in your personal or church newsletters)

CHECK OUT JANUARY 15TH I STARTED A SIX DAY SERIES ON ANGER ON MY OTHER BLOG. SEE BELOW FOR MORE DETAILS.

Do you want to know what one of the big problems in America today is?

Check out each year’s commencement addresses. They used to be about courage and persistence and honor and selflessness. The spirit of the words that President Kennedy quoted in his Inaugural Address, “Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country.”

By way of example, the American University class of 2002 heard actress Goldie Hawn tell her audience that it was time for them to attend the “college of you.”

Several years ago, Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist Anna Quindlen told graduates of Mt. Holyoke to “set aside” the expectations, demands and requirements imposed by others. Instead, she urged her audience to do what they thought was best for them.

In other words to set up a banquet table for me, myself and I.

No wonder the world is going to the dogs - too many people today really are barking up the wrong tree.

“Find yourself” is the overwhelming theme. And having found yourself, put yourself ahead of everyone else.

But all is not lost. There are pockets of selflessness rather than selfishness alive and well. I remember hearing on the news several years ago of a problem in Minnesota.

A delightful problem called Minnesota Nice. It seems that authorities have had trouble distributing flue vaccine. Everyone has been saying, “No, I want to be sure those who really need it are getting it.”

. When I graduated from both college and seminary, the speakers spoke on altruism, otherness - God first, then family and country and me last.

In writing about Abraham Lincoln, Carl Sandberg said, “He lived in a divided house but he never had any doubt as to what he must do. He knew who he was.”

SOME RECENT POSTINGS ON MY OTHER BLOG “ONE A DAY YOUR SPIRITUAL VITAMINS”…To view them go to “Google Search” type in “Neil Spiritual Vitamins” Or type in the URL http://oneadayyourspiritualvitamins.blogspot.com/

BE A WARMER! (FEB 5)
A SIX DAY SERIES ON ANGER BEGINNING ON FRIDAY (JAN 15)
WHOEVER SAID FUSSING AND FUMING WAS BEST? (Jan 8)
HE COULD HAVE KILLED HIM BUT HE DIDN’T (Dec 28)
JUST AN ORDINARY INSECT (Dec 25)
ARE YOU WRITING HAPPINESS WITH FADING INK? (Dec 23)
HAVE YOU GONE BLIND OR IS IT THAT YOU JUST HAVEN’T OPENED YOUR EYES (DEC 11)
THE IMPORTANCE OF UNDERSTANDING IMPORTANCE (Dec 10)
DON’T LOSE YOUR PRAYER WHILE PRAYING (DEC 9)

And, yes, if this site or the One A Day site has met any of your needs share it with a friend. Just have them go to “Google Search” and type in “Wyrick’s Writings”
Or type in the URL http://wyrickswritings.blogspot.com/

And, yes, maybe they will back track a few weeks to read other of my musings.

DO YOU HAVE A BLOG OR FACEBOOK? IF YOU ENJOY THESE WRITINGS COULD YOU
CALL ATTENTION TO THIS BLOG? IF YOU DO, THANKS IN ADVANCE

CLICK ON THE TO RIGHT SIDE TOP OF THIS SCREEN WHERE IT READS “CLICK HERE TO WATCH NEIL AS WESLEY, LUTHER, FRANKLIN & LINCOLN”…His presentations have been presented all over the world.

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

DON'T BE OVERCOME BY UNDERCOME

THESE THOUGHT ARE ADDED TO EACH SUNDAY, TUESDAY AND THURSDAY

(Scroll down to read previous thoughts)
(Use in your personal or church newsletters)
CHECK OUT JANUARY 15TH I STARTED A SIX DAY SERIES ON ANGER ON MY OTHER BLOG. SEE BELOW FOR MORE DETAILS.

If you had carried through with every promise you ever made, every dream you ever had, every truth you understood; what kind of a person would you be today?

Would it have made any difference, that mistake you could have rectified but didn’t?

That fear you could have tried to overcome but passed the opportunity by? The faith that cried out for better feeding but which you have too often starved a bit?

We are all a trinity of creation – mind, body and spirit and what we do with each of the three is not just God-given choices, but ongoing life-changing decisions.

However, there are a tremendous number of people who, if you were to ask them if they ever consider this, would reply that eat, drink and be merry is the trinity they choose.

The mind? Ask some folk to think and they refuse, claiming it makes their head hurt.

Study God’s way and will – study? The very thought gives them a headache.

Yet what we think about, what we give ourselves to, whether or not we accept responsibility for helping others or are only concerned with helping ourselves, these are life changing or life threatening decisions. They really are.

The body?

It may be what we only temporarily inhabit, but it needs our constant attention. Feed it poorly, exercise it little and it will attack you. Everyone knows that if you do not exercise the muscles grow weaker and that if you do exercise them they grow stronger, but not everyone works at it.. Do physical exercise to strengthen this temple of the soul?

Well, it’s an old joke that really isn’t funny. If I lie down and close my eyes maybe the thought will go away, or better still not come at all.

The soul? That is who we are, but to many the suggestion that having Christ in one’s heart and spirit makes all the difference in the world seems an over simplification. An oversimplification? Not really! Not at all!

There is an old joke that really isn’t funny. “If I lie down and close my eyes maybe the thought will go away, or better still not come at all.”

There is an old adage - life is a grindstone, it either grinds you down or polishes you up. It depends on the stuff you are made of.

And there is an old truth. We are shaped by our friends so be careful who we chose to emulate. And think before you speak because if you are not careful you will but become living proof that fools never know when to shut up.

Chose love as a way of living. Hate is a ragged wound that rips and tears at the interior of your being and wrecks a terrible personal kind of havoc.

Be patient with others when they will not follow your every lead or agree with your every thought. They are, after all, like you individual who appreciate being treated as such.

Where you love, you live.

This is what it is all about. A wise old philosopher of yesteryear whose name escapes me but not the gist of his thoughts once wrote “Gaze carefully at your thought for they soon become the words that are escaping your lips and the actions that are helping or ruining the lives of those around you. And worst of all, anything repeated often enough becomes a habit that ends of up shaping our character. And in the end, it has all become our destiny.”

SOME RECENT POSTINGS ON MY OTHER BLOG “ONE A DAY YOUR SPIRITUAL VITAMINS”…To view them go to “Google Search” type in “Neil Spiritual Vitamins” Or type in the URL http://oneadayyourspiritualvitamins.blogspot.com/
BE A WARMER! (FEB 5)
A SIX DAY SERIES ON ANGER BEGINNING ON FRIDAY (JAN 15)
WHOEVER SAID FUSSING AND FUMING WAS BEST? (Jan 8)
HE COULD HAVE KILLED HIM BUT HE DIDN’T (Dec 28)
JUST AN ORDINARY INSECT (Dec 25)
ARE YOU WRITING HAPPINESS WITH FADING INK? (Dec 23)
HAVE YOU GONE BLIND OR IS IT THAT YOU JUST HAVEN’T OPENED YOUR EYES (DEC 11)
THE IMPORTANCE OF UNDERSTANDING IMPORTANCE (Dec 10)
DON’T LOSE YOUR PRAYER WHILE PRAYING (DEC 9)

And, yes, if this site or the One A Day site has met any of your needs share it with a friend. Just have them go to “Google Search” and type in “Wyrick’s Writings”
Or type in the URL http://wyrickswritings.blogspot.com/

And, yes, maybe they will back track a few weeks to read other of my musings.

DO YOU HAVE A BLOG OR FACEBOOK? IF YOU ENJOY THESE WRITINGS COULD YOU
CALL ATTENTION TO THIS BLOG? IF YOU DO, THANKS IN ADVANCE

CLICK ON THE TO RIGHT SIDE TOP OF THIS SCREEN WHERE IT READS “CLICK HERE TO WATCH NEIL AS WESLEY, LUTHER, FRANKLIN & LINCOLN”…His presentations have been called equal to Hal Holbrook and were presented all over the world.

Sunday, February 7, 2010

MAN...THAT'S REALLY LIVING!!!

THESE THOUGHT ARE ADDED TO EACH SUNDAY, TUESDAY AND THURSDAY

(Scroll down to read previous thoughts)
(Use in your personal or church newsletters)

STARTING ON FRIDAY JANUARY 15TH A SIX DAY SERIES ON ANGER ON MY OTHER BLOG. SEE BELOW FOR MORE DETAILS.

A long time ago, as man records time, there was a man named Matthew and as we might say in modern vernacular Matthew had it made.

He had a first class social security plan.

As an official tax collector for the Roman government it was a guarantee that his purse would always be heavy with gold. The people paid their taxes and he got a rake-off. Some, looking at the life of Matthew, might surely have said, “Man, that’s really living.”

Then, there was that man named Saul, a member of the tribe of Benjamin, which in his day was the same as being a member of the 400 set.

He came from wealth and position and after the crucifixion, he ran with the majority whose agreed-upon-opinion at that moment was to persecute the Christians.
“Don’t mind if I do,” said Saul and became one of the best at persecution

. Some, looking at him and his lifestyle, might well have said, “Man, that’s really living.”

It all seems pretty cut and dried, doesn’t it? Some have it. Some don’t. Count your blessings and the devil take the hindmost.

But then something happened. A man named Jesus appeared on the scene. Walking up to Matthew He said, “Follow me.” And he followed.

One day on the road to Damascus Christ appeared to Saul and Saul changed - both his lifestyle and his name.

And then, beyond the shadow of a doubt, it could finally be said about both of these men and their new way of being, “Man, that’s really living.”

But what is living?

The doctor says you haven’t got it if you haven’t got a pulse. The preacher says you aren’t doing it if you deny your soul.

However, after living there comes the dying part, and therefore another question.
When you are buried, what symbol would best describe your living before this final day?

A knife in your hand? Symbolic of all the times you stabbed other people in the back.

Buried with an oversized soft pillow beneath your head to symbolize all the times you spent relaxing when the world was in such need of those willing to serve?

Or, a Bible in your hand? Symbolic of all the times you sought your God.

There was a man named Blutcher who as he walked through the City of London exclaimed, “What a city to loot!” Another man, a great Christian minister named Booth walked the same streets and commented, “What a city to save.”

Life, for each of us, is a wheel and every wheel has a hub. That hub is what we know and what we believe in. It is what gives direction to where we are going while the wheels are turning.

Would you make your life worthwhile? Then “Give it to something that will outlast you.” (William James) Jesus succinctly put it, “He who looseth his life for Me shall find it.”

SOME RECENT POSTINGS ON MY OTHER BLOG “ONE A DAY YOUR SPIRITUAL VITAMINS”…To view them go to “Google Search” type in “Neil Spiritual Vitamins” Or type in the URL http://oneadayyourspiritualvitamins.blogspot.com/
BE A WARMER! (FEB 5)
A SIX DAY SERIES ON ANGER BEGINNING ON FRIDAY (JAN 15)
WHOEVER SAID FUSSING AND FUMING WAS BEST? (Jan 8)
HE COULD HAVE KILLED HIM BUT HE DIDN’T (Dec 28)
JUST AN ORDINARY INSECT (Dec 25)
ARE YOU WRITING HAPPINESS WITH FADING INK? (Dec 23)
HAVE YOU GONE BLIND OR IS IT THAT YOU JUST HAVEN’T OPENED YOUR EYES (DEC 11)
THE IMPORTANCE OF UNDERSTANDING IMPORTANCE (Dec 10)
DON’T LOSE YOUR PRAYER WHILE PRAYING (DEC 9)

And, yes, if this site or the One A Day site has met any of your needs share it with a friend. Just have them go to “Google Search” and type in “Wyrick’s Writings”
Or type in the URL http://wyrickswritings.blogspot.com/

And, yes, maybe they will back track a few weeks to read other of my musings.

DO YOU HAVE A BLOG OR FACEBOOK? IF YOU ENJOY THESE WRITINGS COULD YOU
CALL ATTENTION TO THIS BLOG? IF YOU DO, THANKS IN ADVANCE

CLICK ON THE TO RIGHT SIDE TOP OF THIS SCREEN WHERE IT READS “CLICK HERE TO WATCH NEIL AS WESLEY, LUTHER, FRANKLIN & LINCOLN”…His presentations have been called equal to Hal Holbrook and were presented all over the world.

Thursday, February 4, 2010

BE A LITTLE MAD!

THESE THOUGHT ARE ADDED TO EACH SUNDAY, TUESDAY AND THURSDAY
(Scroll down to read previous thoughts)
(Use in your personal or church newsletters)

STARTING ON FRIDAY JANUARY 15TH A SIX DAY SERIES ON ANGER ON MY OTHER BLOG. SEE BELOW FOR MORE DETAILS.

Most churches have signs that say WELCOME in capital letters and often the same message is in the bulletin in bold print.

And then after the worship service, church members and regular visitors get busy greeting old friends or taking care of other business or fortified with shyness, give welcome in lower-case-actions, or not at all.

To be perfectly honest, I don’t know how many of you speak to visitors regularly, but I know how many of you should.

Some people are so lonely and alone, so insecure, that when you ignore them, passing them by to speak with friends, it hurts them so. It really does.

There is great healing in hospitality so welcome strangers and old friends and members on Sunday mornings so all can experience the wonderful, exhilarating, warming healing of Christian love.

Someone told me one time, that a man was thinking of leaving the church because I preached on love too often. “He’s driving me crazy,” I was told he said. And when I heard it, I completely understood where he was coming from because the kind of love Jesus preached really is divine madness.

It really is.

So let’s just admit it, and then go out and, on a regular basis, be a little mad.
SOME RECENT POSTINGS ON MY OTHER BLOG “ONE A DAY YOUR SPIRITUAL VITAMINS”…To view them go to “Google Search” type in “Neil Spiritual Vitamins” Or type in the URL http://oneadayyourspiritualvitamins.blogspot.com/

A SIX DAY SERIES ON ANGER BEGINNING ON FRIDAY (JAN 15)
TOO MUCH, TOO LITTLE AND SOMEWHERE IN BETWEEN (Jan 26)
WHOEVER SAID FUSSING AND FUMING WAS BEST? (Jan 8)
HE COULD HAVE KILLED HIM BUT HE DIDN’T (Dec 28)
JUST AN ORDINARY INSECT (Dec 25)
ARE YOU WRITING HAPPINESS WITH FADING INK? (Dec 23)
HAVE YOU GONE BLIND OR IS IT THAT YOU JUST HAVEN’T OPENED YOUR EYES (DEC 11)
THE IMPORTANCE OF UNDERSTANDING IMPORTANCE (Dec 10)
DON’T LOSE YOUR PRAYER WHILE PRAYING (DEC 9)

And, yes, if this site or the One A Day site has met any of your needs share it with a friend. Just have them go to “Google Search” and type in “Wyrick’s Writings”
Or type in the URL http://wyrickswritings.blogspot.com/

And, yes, maybe they will back track a few weeks to read other of my musings.

DO YOU HAVE A BLOG OR FACEBOOK? IF YOU ENJOY THESE WRITINGS COULD YOU
CALL ATTENTION TO THIS BLOG? IF YOU DO, THANKS IN ADVANCE

CLICK ON THE TO RIGHT SIDE TOP OF THIS SCREEN WHERE IT READS “CLICK HERE TO WATCH NEIL AS WESLEY, LUTHER, FRANKLIN & LINCOLN”…His presentations have been called equal to Hal Holbrook and were presented all over the world.

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

CAN YOU SPELL LOVE?

These thoughts are added to each Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday)
(Scroll down to read previous thoughts)
(Use in your personal or church newsletters)

A little boy once said, “If learning how to love is like learning how to spell, I don’t want to learn. It’s too hard and it takes too long.”

Perhaps that is why so many people fail to forgive, strike-out when trying to love the unlovely. While Christ may command us to love, they argue it is too much work, and for them, impossible. They find the whole Christian commandment to love a concept too big, and choke on it.

Love can indeed be work, or at least can be troublesome. That’s right, because love makes you care about other people. Keeps you awake in the middle of the night praying for them. Makes you think up ways to keep them happy - which takes time and energy. Yes, love is trouble and three cheers for the trouble it brings.

Mark Twain once observed about the music of Wagner that “It’s better than it sounds.” This is certainly true of Christian love. It sounds good, and when practiced on a regular basis, it is truly even better than it sounds.

SOME RECENT POSTINGS ON MY OTHER BLOG “ONE A DAY YOUR SPIRITUAL VITAMINS”…To view them go to “Google Search” type in “Neil Spiritual Vitamins” Or type in the URL http://oneadayyourspiritualvitamins.blogspot.com/

A SIX DAY SERIES ON ANGER BEGINNING ON FRIDAY (JAN 15)
WHOEVER SAID FUSSING AND FUMING WAS BEST? (Jan 8)
HE COULD HAVE KILLED HIM BUT HE DIDN’T (Dec 28)
JUST AN ORDINARY INSECT (Dec 25)
ARE YOU WRITING HAPPINESS WITH FADING INK? (Dec 23)
HAVE YOU GONE BLIND OR IS IT THAT YOU JUST HAVEN’T OPENED YOUR EYES (DEC 11)
THE IMPORTANCE OF UNDERSTANDING IMPORTANCE (Dec 10)
DON’T LOSE YOUR PRAYER WHILE PRAYING (DEC 9)

And, yes, if this site or the One A Day site has met any of your needs share it with a friend. Just have them go to “Google Search” and type in “Wyrick’s Writings”
Or type in the URL http://wyrickswritings.blogspot.com/

And, yes, maybe they will back track a few weeks to read other of my musings.

DO YOU HAVE A BLOG OR FACEBOOK? IF YOU ENJOY THESE WRITINGS COULD YOU
CALL ATTENTION TO THIS BLOG? IF YOU DO, THANKS IN ADVANCE

CLICK ON THE TO RIGHT SIDE TOP OF THIS SCREEN WHERE IT READS “CLICK HERE TO WATCH NEIL AS WESLEY, LUTHER, FRANKLIN & LINCOLN”…His presentations have been called equal to Hal Holbrook and were presented all over the world.