(These thoughts are added to each Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday)
Will your Church, in coming years, shrink or grow? As you will. As you will.
Why? Because you may not have a golden tongue but you can be a jewel to life. The world’s watching. It never ceases to listen.
What are you giving it to hear? Your pulpit is your personality. If you are sour, you do your Saviors cause no good. If you mouth is foul and those who hear you know you attend church you destroy its dignity by such representation. If you practice prejudice, can’t be trusted with the truth, steal at the drop of an opportunity, then, your sermon is of the Devil and your honorarium is from Hell.
Do not tell me you cannot teach. You teach every day. You teach sacrifice or laziness or spiritual truths or compassion or unconcern by what you do or leave undone. Your class is everywhere.
Dr. Emil Brunner put his finger on the root of the problem when he said, “As the early church sought security in offices, sacrament and formal creeds, it lost its revolutionary power…it ceased to be a new life…it became a mere cult society…”
Vance Havner tells of an experience in a small western town where he had gone to preach. It seems that down in the lobby of the hotel where he stayed, was a poster listing all the local civic attractions: industry, schools, the library, the business section…and the churches. He says that it just set him to wondering what that said about the churches, because back in early church history, Christians and their meeting place were never listed as community assets.
And why? Because they were such a disturbance, a conscience…oh yes, they were not bland.
A young man speaking to this wrote,
I had walked life’s way with an easy tread,
Had followed where comforts and pleasure led,
Until one day in a quiet place
I met the Master face to face.
With station, and fame and wealth for my goal,
Much thought for my body and none for my soul
I had entered to win in life’s big race,
When I met the Master face to face.
I met Him and knew Him and blushed to see,
That His eyes full of sorrow were fixed on me,
I faltered and fell at His feet that day,
While my castles melted and vanished away.
Melted and vanished and in their place,
Naught else did I see but the Master’s face.
And I cried aloud, “Oh, make me meet
To follow the steps of Thy wounded feet.”
My thought is now for the souls of men.
I have lost my life to find it again.
Ere since one day in a quiet place
I met the Master face to face.
Down through the years, I have been inspired by church members who have taken a stand and lost a bundle. Men and women who have spoken out, and been called fanatics because of it. Children who were more mature than their parents. Lay men and women who have been ministers even though never officially ordained. And it is such as these who have truly kept the church alive.
Have a friend visit my ONE A DAY YOUR SPIRITUAL VITAMINS site. Have them go to Google and where it says “Google Search” type in “Neil Spiritual Vitamins”
And, yes, if this 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”
And, yes, maybe they will back track a few weeks to read other of my musings.
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Sunday, September 27, 2009
THE MEEK AND THE MIGHTY
(These thoughts are added to each Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday)
Matthew 5:5-6
“Blessed are the meek for they will inherit the earth.”
Some portions of the Bible are very clear. This one is not. The word meek and macho just don’t seem to go together, and at least for the male of our species, the very idea of meekdom sends chills up his collective spine.
But., you know, to really understand a word it helps to chase it down through several languages. Start with Hebrew, the native language of the Old Testament. It translates meek to mean God molded. Greek, the language of the New Testament deciphers the word meekness to mean good will toward man, and reverence toward God. The French translate it, as only the French would, “Blessed are the debonair.”
Don’t gag, because a French theologian would go on to explain that this kind of God-meekness puts a practicing believer above all others. With this kind of meekness he can throw off anger, jealousy, fear, insults… anything. He is above rancor. He is God’s own.
Have you ever heard of “The Order of the Sacred Meek?” Probably not, because I made it up. It isn’t that it never existed before. It is just that many people haven’t known that they were members.
They automatically enroll for membership all the time…when they write letters to the editor and then sign their complaint anonymous. Never speak for or against an issue unless they are sure they are in safe company. Never dare to voice a Christian opinion that might cause them to be labeled a religious fanatic or a pious prude.
In trying to practice proper meekness, the biggest battle is with time. As people get older they get tired. They want security, comforts and friends. They don’t want to run around making enemies for morality’s sake or salvation’s sake or even God’s sake. Things that once they fought, they just let slide by. It is called, ”I’m good for a mile of highway but can hold up for no more than ten feet in a swamp.”
In the 84th Psalm you can read, “Passing through the valley of weeping, they make it a place of springs.” That is what practicing meekness before God brings to pass. Not meekness before God every now and then…when it is convenient…when it is easy…when it requires no effort, because “You cannot be a noble person by being noble sometimes any more than you can possess learning by reading every now and then.”
Be meek before God and one does not claim privileges. One seek duties. One not demand of God that He let you do what you want. Rather you will ask, “What would You have me do?’ You will not pray for comfort but instead pray to be filled with heavenly concern. You will be mighty with a godly meekness. You will be a giant among moral midgets.
On a television program I watched many years ago entitled, “Once Upon A Tractor,” the hero asked the heroine, “Who are you? What’s your name?” She replied, “Who am I? What’s my name? Which do you want? They’re entirely different.”
So who are you? Well, you are more than the name you have on your mailbox or business card or in someone’s address book. You are what people think about you when they think your name. You are what you are meek before.
Thomas Paine in bolstering the soldiers in the cold of Valley Forge during our Revolutionary War wrote, “be more than sunshine soldiers and summer patriots.” And I think that is what Jesus is telling us over and over again. That we must “live above the rabble with their thumb-worn creeds.” (anonymous)
Can such commitment be inconvenient, wearying, relentless, time consuming? Yep. Indeed, it can be. But consider its lack, as one poet wrote,
I never cut my neighbor’s throat.
My neighbor’s gold I never stole.
I never spoiled his house and land.
But God have mercy on my soul!
For I am haunted night and day
By all the deeds I have not done.
O un-attempted unsought goals,
O costly valor never won.
(rewrite of unknown authors poem)
In the 19th chapter of John, the 38th verse, there is the following quote, “Joseph of Arimathea, a disciple of Jesus, but secretly.” And that is the problem, now isn’t it? That secret society again of 21st century Christians, who make little or no impact on the community, by either word or deed.
Today, too many people want the good life delivered to their door with the morning paper. Delivered is the keyword. They want other people to do what they have never done, and be what they have never been and what unfortunately many will never do.
Secretly goodness and godliness and strength of character has their vote. Secretly.
Matthew 5:5-6
“Blessed are the meek for they will inherit the earth.”
Have a friend visit my ONE A DAY YOUR SPIRITUAL VITAMINS site. Have them go to Google and where it says “Google Search” type in “Neil Spiritual Vitamins”
And, yes, if this 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”
And, yes, maybe they will back track a few weeks to read other of my musings.
May we suggest you consider viewing Neil in one of his One Man Dramas. These four inspirational approaches to the lives of these great men are designed to entertain, educate, motivate and inspire.
Just click on the characters named at the upper right hand portion of this page.
Matthew 5:5-6
“Blessed are the meek for they will inherit the earth.”
Some portions of the Bible are very clear. This one is not. The word meek and macho just don’t seem to go together, and at least for the male of our species, the very idea of meekdom sends chills up his collective spine.
But., you know, to really understand a word it helps to chase it down through several languages. Start with Hebrew, the native language of the Old Testament. It translates meek to mean God molded. Greek, the language of the New Testament deciphers the word meekness to mean good will toward man, and reverence toward God. The French translate it, as only the French would, “Blessed are the debonair.”
Don’t gag, because a French theologian would go on to explain that this kind of God-meekness puts a practicing believer above all others. With this kind of meekness he can throw off anger, jealousy, fear, insults… anything. He is above rancor. He is God’s own.
Have you ever heard of “The Order of the Sacred Meek?” Probably not, because I made it up. It isn’t that it never existed before. It is just that many people haven’t known that they were members.
They automatically enroll for membership all the time…when they write letters to the editor and then sign their complaint anonymous. Never speak for or against an issue unless they are sure they are in safe company. Never dare to voice a Christian opinion that might cause them to be labeled a religious fanatic or a pious prude.
In trying to practice proper meekness, the biggest battle is with time. As people get older they get tired. They want security, comforts and friends. They don’t want to run around making enemies for morality’s sake or salvation’s sake or even God’s sake. Things that once they fought, they just let slide by. It is called, ”I’m good for a mile of highway but can hold up for no more than ten feet in a swamp.”
In the 84th Psalm you can read, “Passing through the valley of weeping, they make it a place of springs.” That is what practicing meekness before God brings to pass. Not meekness before God every now and then…when it is convenient…when it is easy…when it requires no effort, because “You cannot be a noble person by being noble sometimes any more than you can possess learning by reading every now and then.”
Be meek before God and one does not claim privileges. One seek duties. One not demand of God that He let you do what you want. Rather you will ask, “What would You have me do?’ You will not pray for comfort but instead pray to be filled with heavenly concern. You will be mighty with a godly meekness. You will be a giant among moral midgets.
On a television program I watched many years ago entitled, “Once Upon A Tractor,” the hero asked the heroine, “Who are you? What’s your name?” She replied, “Who am I? What’s my name? Which do you want? They’re entirely different.”
So who are you? Well, you are more than the name you have on your mailbox or business card or in someone’s address book. You are what people think about you when they think your name. You are what you are meek before.
Thomas Paine in bolstering the soldiers in the cold of Valley Forge during our Revolutionary War wrote, “be more than sunshine soldiers and summer patriots.” And I think that is what Jesus is telling us over and over again. That we must “live above the rabble with their thumb-worn creeds.” (anonymous)
Can such commitment be inconvenient, wearying, relentless, time consuming? Yep. Indeed, it can be. But consider its lack, as one poet wrote,
I never cut my neighbor’s throat.
My neighbor’s gold I never stole.
I never spoiled his house and land.
But God have mercy on my soul!
For I am haunted night and day
By all the deeds I have not done.
O un-attempted unsought goals,
O costly valor never won.
(rewrite of unknown authors poem)
In the 19th chapter of John, the 38th verse, there is the following quote, “Joseph of Arimathea, a disciple of Jesus, but secretly.” And that is the problem, now isn’t it? That secret society again of 21st century Christians, who make little or no impact on the community, by either word or deed.
Today, too many people want the good life delivered to their door with the morning paper. Delivered is the keyword. They want other people to do what they have never done, and be what they have never been and what unfortunately many will never do.
Secretly goodness and godliness and strength of character has their vote. Secretly.
Matthew 5:5-6
“Blessed are the meek for they will inherit the earth.”
Have a friend visit my ONE A DAY YOUR SPIRITUAL VITAMINS site. Have them go to Google and where it says “Google Search” type in “Neil Spiritual Vitamins”
And, yes, if this 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”
And, yes, maybe they will back track a few weeks to read other of my musings.
May we suggest you consider viewing Neil in one of his One Man Dramas. These four inspirational approaches to the lives of these great men are designed to entertain, educate, motivate and inspire.
Just click on the characters named at the upper right hand portion of this page.
Thursday, September 24, 2009
THE ETERNAL PROMISE OF AN UNDAUNTED DAWN
(These thoughts are added to each Sun, Mon and Tues)
I don’t remember how it was the day I took my first baby steps, but I am sure it was an overwhelmingly wonderful experience.
Then one day, I learned that trees were for climbing, for lifting me up and giving me a higher perspective. And it was an overwhelmingly wonderful experience.
And one day I learned to fly, piloted a plane all by myself up above the clouds, and it was an overwhelmingly wonderful experience.
All these new dimensions did not diminish what had come before even though each new lifting up was bright and new and beautiful. So it will be the day I die - another expansion of perspective, a new transforming, and I am sure I will at that time hear my Lord saying, “Peace be with you.” And that will be the most overwhelmingly wonderful experience of all.
And at that timeless moment I will know, what I have already known for such a very long, long time – that life is stronger than death. That eternity laughs in the face of clocks and calendars and that because Jesus still lives, I am never very far away from my heavenly home.
So, Shalom to you. Walk with confidence. Shalom. Walk with Joy. Shalom. Walk with the Resurrection-spirit pulsing in your breast. Walk unafraid because even in your darkest hour there is always the proven promise of the dawn.
“For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Roman 8:38-39
Have a friend visit my ONE A DAY YOUR SPIRITUAL VITAMINS site. Have them go to Google and where it says “Google Search” type in “Neil Spiritual Vitamins”
And, yes, if this 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”
And, yes, maybe they will back track a few weeks to read other of my musings.
I don’t remember how it was the day I took my first baby steps, but I am sure it was an overwhelmingly wonderful experience.
Then one day, I learned that trees were for climbing, for lifting me up and giving me a higher perspective. And it was an overwhelmingly wonderful experience.
And one day I learned to fly, piloted a plane all by myself up above the clouds, and it was an overwhelmingly wonderful experience.
All these new dimensions did not diminish what had come before even though each new lifting up was bright and new and beautiful. So it will be the day I die - another expansion of perspective, a new transforming, and I am sure I will at that time hear my Lord saying, “Peace be with you.” And that will be the most overwhelmingly wonderful experience of all.
And at that timeless moment I will know, what I have already known for such a very long, long time – that life is stronger than death. That eternity laughs in the face of clocks and calendars and that because Jesus still lives, I am never very far away from my heavenly home.
So, Shalom to you. Walk with confidence. Shalom. Walk with Joy. Shalom. Walk with the Resurrection-spirit pulsing in your breast. Walk unafraid because even in your darkest hour there is always the proven promise of the dawn.
“For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Roman 8:38-39
Have a friend visit my ONE A DAY YOUR SPIRITUAL VITAMINS site. Have them go to Google and where it says “Google Search” type in “Neil Spiritual Vitamins”
And, yes, if this 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”
And, yes, maybe they will back track a few weeks to read other of my musings.
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
A HOUSE NOT MADE WITH HANDS
(These One A Days are added to each day)
One Sunday morn as a minister was preaching on life after death, he looked out at his congregation and said, “What would heaven be like without my Willie?” His Willie, nine years old, all boy and rushing toward manhood, had been killed just the month before. And this man of God was hurting because…
…all the faith in the world will not stop us from hurting when someone we love is thrust from their earthly existence by death.
It is a wrenching, terrible, torturous moment. And because it is so terrible we are allowed at that time to feel frustration, anger, despair - but we are also allowed to believe in the Resurrection, that wondrous heavenly promise that can turn cemeteries into cathedrals.
For yes, knowing it is not the end but a new beginning makes all the difference in the world.
Think on this…to live again is no more miraculous than the life we are experiencing at this moment.
Paul tells us that after death we will have a new body. Do you find this difficult to comprehend? Why? Was not your present body miraculously created from a tiny sperm and egg into one or two hundred pounds of complexity?
And cannot God who made a body suitable for earth make yet another one equally suitable for heaven? I have held many funerals but in so doing I have buried a body, not a life. I have buried a remnant, but not a soul. The personality lives on.
And if you would get scientific on me - good. There is an axiom of science that says no material object in the universe can be destroyed. That that which disappears in one form reappears in another.
Reward yourself with the truth that if even matter has a form of immortality, it stands to reason that man’s soul, infinitely more important, must have the same capability.
Sometimes the Bible could be clearer, but you can’t find much greater clarity than when you read Paul’s words in II Corinthians 5:1. “We know that if the earthly house of our tabernacle be dissolved, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal, in the heavens.”
Have a friend visit my ONE A DAY YOUR SPIRITUAL VITAMINS site. Have them go to Google and where it says “Google Search” type in “Neil Spiritual Vitamins”
And, yes, if this 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”
And, yes, maybe they will back track a few weeks to read other of my musings.
May we suggest you consider viewing Neil in one of his One Man Dramas. These four inspirational approaches to the lives of these great men are designed to entertain, educate, motivate and inspire.
Just click on the characters named at the upper right hand portion of this page.
One Sunday morn as a minister was preaching on life after death, he looked out at his congregation and said, “What would heaven be like without my Willie?” His Willie, nine years old, all boy and rushing toward manhood, had been killed just the month before. And this man of God was hurting because…
…all the faith in the world will not stop us from hurting when someone we love is thrust from their earthly existence by death.
It is a wrenching, terrible, torturous moment. And because it is so terrible we are allowed at that time to feel frustration, anger, despair - but we are also allowed to believe in the Resurrection, that wondrous heavenly promise that can turn cemeteries into cathedrals.
For yes, knowing it is not the end but a new beginning makes all the difference in the world.
Think on this…to live again is no more miraculous than the life we are experiencing at this moment.
Paul tells us that after death we will have a new body. Do you find this difficult to comprehend? Why? Was not your present body miraculously created from a tiny sperm and egg into one or two hundred pounds of complexity?
And cannot God who made a body suitable for earth make yet another one equally suitable for heaven? I have held many funerals but in so doing I have buried a body, not a life. I have buried a remnant, but not a soul. The personality lives on.
And if you would get scientific on me - good. There is an axiom of science that says no material object in the universe can be destroyed. That that which disappears in one form reappears in another.
Reward yourself with the truth that if even matter has a form of immortality, it stands to reason that man’s soul, infinitely more important, must have the same capability.
Sometimes the Bible could be clearer, but you can’t find much greater clarity than when you read Paul’s words in II Corinthians 5:1. “We know that if the earthly house of our tabernacle be dissolved, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal, in the heavens.”
Have a friend visit my ONE A DAY YOUR SPIRITUAL VITAMINS site. Have them go to Google and where it says “Google Search” type in “Neil Spiritual Vitamins”
And, yes, if this 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”
And, yes, maybe they will back track a few weeks to read other of my musings.
May we suggest you consider viewing Neil in one of his One Man Dramas. These four inspirational approaches to the lives of these great men are designed to entertain, educate, motivate and inspire.
Just click on the characters named at the upper right hand portion of this page.
Sunday, September 20, 2009
A DIALOGUE...NOT A MONOLOGUE
Do you ever keep interrupting people when they are talking to you so you never really hear what they are saying? Well, it is possible to do the same thing with prayer. Remember how the scripture reads, “Speak, Lord, for Thy servant heareth.” Don’t rewrite it to read, “Listen, Lord, for thy servant speaketh.”
A prayer should be a dialogue, not a monologue. And if one of the two parties at a time of prayer listens more and talks less, I think it should be you and I, for there is no doubt that what God has to say is far wiser.
Have a friend visit my ONE A DAY YOUR SPIRITUAL VITAMINS site. Have them go to Google and where it says “Google Search” type in “Neil Spiritual Vitamins”
And, yes, if this 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”
And, yes, maybe they will back track a few weeks to read other of my musings.
May we also suggest you consider viewing Neil in one of his One Man Dramas on your computer. (No chg) These four inspirational approaches to the lives of these great men are designed to entertain, educate, motivate and inspire.
Just click on one of the characters at the upper right part of this page.
A prayer should be a dialogue, not a monologue. And if one of the two parties at a time of prayer listens more and talks less, I think it should be you and I, for there is no doubt that what God has to say is far wiser.
Have a friend visit my ONE A DAY YOUR SPIRITUAL VITAMINS site. Have them go to Google and where it says “Google Search” type in “Neil Spiritual Vitamins”
And, yes, if this 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”
And, yes, maybe they will back track a few weeks to read other of my musings.
May we also suggest you consider viewing Neil in one of his One Man Dramas on your computer. (No chg) These four inspirational approaches to the lives of these great men are designed to entertain, educate, motivate and inspire.
Just click on one of the characters at the upper right part of this page.
Thursday, September 17, 2009
WRITE YOUR CHOICES ON LIFE'S BILLBOARD
(These thoughts are added to each Sun, Mon and Tues)
His name was Judas Iscariot and he made many decisions during his lifetime. The one he is best, or worst, remembered for is all about thirty pieces of silver. He was given a gift called Time and he blew it.
His name was Zachaeus and one day he climbed down from a tree limb, to pay real close attention to what a man named Jesus was saying. While he was still up in the air and even before that, he was a very greedy little man. Afterwards, he wasn’t greedy anymore. He was given a gift called Time and after that monumental meeting he began to make the most of it.
Interesting, isn’t it, how so many work harder to improve their fortunes than they do to improve their lives. Maybe one day we will wake up and stop continuing to make millions of laws to try to enforce the 10 commandments.
Have a friend visit my ONE A DAY YOUR SPIRITUAL VITAMINS site. Have them go to Google and where it says “Google Search” type in “Neil Spiritual Vitamins”
And, yes, if this 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”
And, yes, maybe they will back track a few weeks to read other of my musings.
His name was Judas Iscariot and he made many decisions during his lifetime. The one he is best, or worst, remembered for is all about thirty pieces of silver. He was given a gift called Time and he blew it.
His name was Zachaeus and one day he climbed down from a tree limb, to pay real close attention to what a man named Jesus was saying. While he was still up in the air and even before that, he was a very greedy little man. Afterwards, he wasn’t greedy anymore. He was given a gift called Time and after that monumental meeting he began to make the most of it.
Interesting, isn’t it, how so many work harder to improve their fortunes than they do to improve their lives. Maybe one day we will wake up and stop continuing to make millions of laws to try to enforce the 10 commandments.
Have a friend visit my ONE A DAY YOUR SPIRITUAL VITAMINS site. Have them go to Google and where it says “Google Search” type in “Neil Spiritual Vitamins”
And, yes, if this 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”
And, yes, maybe they will back track a few weeks to read other of my musings.
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
THE ALWAYS POWER OF CHRISTMAS
(These thoughts are added to each Mon, Tues and Sun)
Who was this Christ child, so long ago, this namesake for our dreams of peace on earth, good will toward men? “He was the word made flesh and He dwelt among us.” And, yes, he rose from the dead and that moment made a mockery of time.
Who was this Christ child we should celebrate in such a way that every day is Christmas? He was and is law when it is decent and men are at their best. He is the kind of love that smothers hate and makes the devil and his children very angry when they lose a soul. He is God’s gift and man’s choice.
The novelist Margaret Lee Runbeck tells how Christmas came early one year, a good number of days before the official calendar date. She writes,
“I knocked at the door…then I heard a dear, dark voice which all of us in this house called love, calling out from her window. ‘Jes one minute…wait’ll I get on mah wrapper. Who is you down there anyway, honey?’
“I chucked to myself,” Mrs. Runbeck writes. “Lillian didn’t know who it was, but she was sure whoever it was, was ‘honey.’
You see, it’s not that hard to do, Christmas come winter, summer, spring or fall. It can and does come anytime we refuse to shout out anger or pettiness or any other of this miserable breed; shut down our worst and with our best cry out “I don’t know who you are, but as far as I’m concerned, you’re honey.
We may be acting like vinegar, raising Cain, causing war, making good people lonely and bitter with all our ability to causestrife, but God made us to be honey, so he is going to call us honey whether we are acting like it or not.” That’s what this love of God is really all about.
Christmas is a crossroad where the Fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man meet. It is you lighting candles of faith in a world of darkness. It is you when you are more concerned with giving than getting.
Christmas is too good to be restrained within one 24 hour period. It is a tiny golden curl clipped from a tousled head, put in a jewel box and given with a note that reads, “I made this for you myself.”
Christmas is a little boy giving blood to save his sister and then asking, “Doctor, when will I die?” Having believed he was not just giving some of his blood but rather all of his blood.
What was it the angels sung echoing beneath that overwhelming star? “Do not fear!” But there is so much fear in the world today. Terrorists seem to be everywhere, and so is anxiety. But the Bethlehem-moment, the Christmas cry is still, “Do not fear!” Oh, how we need Christmas in August and July and June and May and September and…. every month of the year. Oh, how we need it.
What was it St. John wrote? “Love has been perfected among us in this, that we may have boldness on the Day of Judgment, because as He is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love, for perfect love casts out fear.”
The poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote and there must have been a song in is heart when he wrote it, “Hate is strong and mocks the song of peace on earth, good will to men. Then pealed the bells more loud and deep; God is not dead, nor doth he sleep; The wrong shall fail, the right prevail. With peace on earth good will to men.”
Have a friend visit my ONE A DAY YOUR SPIRITUAL VITAMINS site. Have them go to Google and where it says “Google Search” type in “Neil Spiritual Vitamins”
And, yes, if this 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”
And, yes, maybe they will back track a few weeks to read other of my musings.
Who was this Christ child, so long ago, this namesake for our dreams of peace on earth, good will toward men? “He was the word made flesh and He dwelt among us.” And, yes, he rose from the dead and that moment made a mockery of time.
Who was this Christ child we should celebrate in such a way that every day is Christmas? He was and is law when it is decent and men are at their best. He is the kind of love that smothers hate and makes the devil and his children very angry when they lose a soul. He is God’s gift and man’s choice.
The novelist Margaret Lee Runbeck tells how Christmas came early one year, a good number of days before the official calendar date. She writes,
“I knocked at the door…then I heard a dear, dark voice which all of us in this house called love, calling out from her window. ‘Jes one minute…wait’ll I get on mah wrapper. Who is you down there anyway, honey?’
“I chucked to myself,” Mrs. Runbeck writes. “Lillian didn’t know who it was, but she was sure whoever it was, was ‘honey.’
You see, it’s not that hard to do, Christmas come winter, summer, spring or fall. It can and does come anytime we refuse to shout out anger or pettiness or any other of this miserable breed; shut down our worst and with our best cry out “I don’t know who you are, but as far as I’m concerned, you’re honey.
We may be acting like vinegar, raising Cain, causing war, making good people lonely and bitter with all our ability to causestrife, but God made us to be honey, so he is going to call us honey whether we are acting like it or not.” That’s what this love of God is really all about.
Christmas is a crossroad where the Fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man meet. It is you lighting candles of faith in a world of darkness. It is you when you are more concerned with giving than getting.
Christmas is too good to be restrained within one 24 hour period. It is a tiny golden curl clipped from a tousled head, put in a jewel box and given with a note that reads, “I made this for you myself.”
Christmas is a little boy giving blood to save his sister and then asking, “Doctor, when will I die?” Having believed he was not just giving some of his blood but rather all of his blood.
What was it the angels sung echoing beneath that overwhelming star? “Do not fear!” But there is so much fear in the world today. Terrorists seem to be everywhere, and so is anxiety. But the Bethlehem-moment, the Christmas cry is still, “Do not fear!” Oh, how we need Christmas in August and July and June and May and September and…. every month of the year. Oh, how we need it.
What was it St. John wrote? “Love has been perfected among us in this, that we may have boldness on the Day of Judgment, because as He is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love, for perfect love casts out fear.”
The poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote and there must have been a song in is heart when he wrote it, “Hate is strong and mocks the song of peace on earth, good will to men. Then pealed the bells more loud and deep; God is not dead, nor doth he sleep; The wrong shall fail, the right prevail. With peace on earth good will to men.”
Have a friend visit my ONE A DAY YOUR SPIRITUAL VITAMINS site. Have them go to Google and where it says “Google Search” type in “Neil Spiritual Vitamins”
And, yes, if this 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”
And, yes, maybe they will back track a few weeks to read other of my musings.
Sunday, September 13, 2009
CAN ANXIETY BE BANISHED OR AT LEAST MADE WANE AND WEAKER
(These thoughts are added to each Sun, Mon and Tues)
Can anxiety be banished, never to return again? ’Fraid not. Can it be managed so that it becomes a weight you can live with? Sure can.
We all will agree that anxiety does exactly what the Greek translation in the New Testament says it does – it strangles the living daylights out of us.
Indeed, when too much fear-factor takes over, it runs around in circles wearing holes in our brains. It creates ulcers in our stomachs and makes our emotions go to pieces. When we are overly anxious, we think crooked rather than straight and promptly make more problems than we had in the first place.
Fear, of course, can be healthy. It can lead you to drink milk rather than poison, stop at stoplights and go see a doctor when you don’t feel well. But anxiety, and there is a difference, is a spiritual polio that paralyzes mind, body and spirit.
Its essential ingredient is numbness. It makes people afraid of high places, close quarters and unknown tomorrows. It curdles. It crumples. It cripples mind, body and spirit. We only have so much time and energy and it wastes both.
So then, is there a cure? Where can a pound of fortitude be found to control a pound of fear before it becomes a ton of anxiety?
I like the way one little old lady, almost ninety, put it. She lived all by herself far out in the country. When asked if she was ever afraid she simply replied, “Why should I be? Faith closes the door at night and Mercy opens it in the morning.”
It was said of John Wesley, founder of the Methodist Church, who arose each morning at four A.M., preached over 40,000 times and traveled over 250,000 miles on horseback; that he never hurried, he never worried and he never let foolish anxieties wear him down.
Or, as one of the field hands in my first rural pastorate often mused, “When I work, I work hard. When I sit, I sit loose. And when I start to worry, I just go to sleep.”
If there is an answer on how to handle the art of living rather than letting it handle us, it would seem to me that we must first and foremost learn how to cooperate with the inevitable.
We make an appointment and our watch stops. We go fishing and the only things we catch is a bad cold in a rainstorm. The inevitable is always with us, even though it is not always kind.
It is why I pray often, “Lord, if I cannot like it, let me learn from it. At least then, it will not be a total waste of time.”
Once there was an oyster
whose story now I tell,
And about a grain of sand
that worked beneath his shell.
Just one little grain, but oh such pain
For yes, oysters do have feelings,
even though they’re definitely so plain.
This oyster, however, didn’t curse the heavens
for such a deplorable state.
Nor berate the government
Or call for an election,
Or demand the sea
give him immediate protection.
No, he just lay down on a rocky shelf
And talked again and again
to his irritated self.
Saying, “If I cannot remove it,
I’ll try to improve it.”
Then the years rolled by,
as years always do,
And he came to his ultimate destiny,
in a hot restaurant stew;
And in place of the sand
That had bothered him so
Was a beautiful shining pearl all richly aglow.
The tale you have heard has a moral, now isn’t that grand.
What wonderful things oysters can do with only a morsel of sand.
What couldn’t we do, if we’d only begin
With all the things that get under our skin.
Have a friend visit my ONE A DAY YOUR SPIRITUAL VITAMINS site. Have them go to Google and where it says “Google Search” type in “Neil Spiritual Vitamins”
And, yes, if this 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”
And, yes, maybe they will back track a few weeks to read other of my musings.
Can anxiety be banished, never to return again? ’Fraid not. Can it be managed so that it becomes a weight you can live with? Sure can.
We all will agree that anxiety does exactly what the Greek translation in the New Testament says it does – it strangles the living daylights out of us.
Indeed, when too much fear-factor takes over, it runs around in circles wearing holes in our brains. It creates ulcers in our stomachs and makes our emotions go to pieces. When we are overly anxious, we think crooked rather than straight and promptly make more problems than we had in the first place.
Fear, of course, can be healthy. It can lead you to drink milk rather than poison, stop at stoplights and go see a doctor when you don’t feel well. But anxiety, and there is a difference, is a spiritual polio that paralyzes mind, body and spirit.
Its essential ingredient is numbness. It makes people afraid of high places, close quarters and unknown tomorrows. It curdles. It crumples. It cripples mind, body and spirit. We only have so much time and energy and it wastes both.
So then, is there a cure? Where can a pound of fortitude be found to control a pound of fear before it becomes a ton of anxiety?
I like the way one little old lady, almost ninety, put it. She lived all by herself far out in the country. When asked if she was ever afraid she simply replied, “Why should I be? Faith closes the door at night and Mercy opens it in the morning.”
It was said of John Wesley, founder of the Methodist Church, who arose each morning at four A.M., preached over 40,000 times and traveled over 250,000 miles on horseback; that he never hurried, he never worried and he never let foolish anxieties wear him down.
Or, as one of the field hands in my first rural pastorate often mused, “When I work, I work hard. When I sit, I sit loose. And when I start to worry, I just go to sleep.”
If there is an answer on how to handle the art of living rather than letting it handle us, it would seem to me that we must first and foremost learn how to cooperate with the inevitable.
We make an appointment and our watch stops. We go fishing and the only things we catch is a bad cold in a rainstorm. The inevitable is always with us, even though it is not always kind.
It is why I pray often, “Lord, if I cannot like it, let me learn from it. At least then, it will not be a total waste of time.”
Once there was an oyster
whose story now I tell,
And about a grain of sand
that worked beneath his shell.
Just one little grain, but oh such pain
For yes, oysters do have feelings,
even though they’re definitely so plain.
This oyster, however, didn’t curse the heavens
for such a deplorable state.
Nor berate the government
Or call for an election,
Or demand the sea
give him immediate protection.
No, he just lay down on a rocky shelf
And talked again and again
to his irritated self.
Saying, “If I cannot remove it,
I’ll try to improve it.”
Then the years rolled by,
as years always do,
And he came to his ultimate destiny,
in a hot restaurant stew;
And in place of the sand
That had bothered him so
Was a beautiful shining pearl all richly aglow.
The tale you have heard has a moral, now isn’t that grand.
What wonderful things oysters can do with only a morsel of sand.
What couldn’t we do, if we’d only begin
With all the things that get under our skin.
Have a friend visit my ONE A DAY YOUR SPIRITUAL VITAMINS site. Have them go to Google and where it says “Google Search” type in “Neil Spiritual Vitamins”
And, yes, if this 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”
And, yes, maybe they will back track a few weeks to read other of my musings.
Thursday, September 10, 2009
LIVE LIKE AN EAGLE
(These thoughts are added to each Sun, Mon and Tues)
Did you know that an eagle knows when a storm is approaching long before it arrives? Because of this, the eagle simply flies to a spot high in the sky and waits for the winds to come. When the storm hits, it sets its wings so that the wind will pick it up and lift it high above the storm. Therefore while below there are angry winds and floods and destruction is king, the eagle is soaring above it all.
Would you fulfill your destiny to its finest? Then do not make excuses that the storms of life have beat you down as well they might.
Rather as Isaiah taught, “Renew your strength and soar on wings like eagles.” (Isaiah 40:31) Earthbound it can seem hopeless. Heaven bound the storms still exist but you do not see them the same.
When you think of roses, do you think of romance? I hope so but also consider the following.
It is only a tiny rosebud
A flower of God’s design,
But I cannot unfold the petals
With these clumsy hands of mine.
The secret of unfolding flowers
Is not known to such as I.
God opens this flower so easily,
But in my hands they die.
If I cannot unfold a rosebud,
This flower of God’s design,
Then how can I have the wisdom
To unfold this life of mine?
So I’ll trust in God for leading
Each moment of my day,
I will look to God for guidance
Each step along the way.
Have a friend visit my ONE A DAY YOUR SPIRITUAL VITAMINS site. Have them go to Google and where it says “Google Search” type in “Neil Spiritual Vitamins”
And, yes, if this 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”
And, yes, maybe they will back track a few weeks to read other of my musings.
Did you know that an eagle knows when a storm is approaching long before it arrives? Because of this, the eagle simply flies to a spot high in the sky and waits for the winds to come. When the storm hits, it sets its wings so that the wind will pick it up and lift it high above the storm. Therefore while below there are angry winds and floods and destruction is king, the eagle is soaring above it all.
Would you fulfill your destiny to its finest? Then do not make excuses that the storms of life have beat you down as well they might.
Rather as Isaiah taught, “Renew your strength and soar on wings like eagles.” (Isaiah 40:31) Earthbound it can seem hopeless. Heaven bound the storms still exist but you do not see them the same.
When you think of roses, do you think of romance? I hope so but also consider the following.
It is only a tiny rosebud
A flower of God’s design,
But I cannot unfold the petals
With these clumsy hands of mine.
The secret of unfolding flowers
Is not known to such as I.
God opens this flower so easily,
But in my hands they die.
If I cannot unfold a rosebud,
This flower of God’s design,
Then how can I have the wisdom
To unfold this life of mine?
So I’ll trust in God for leading
Each moment of my day,
I will look to God for guidance
Each step along the way.
Have a friend visit my ONE A DAY YOUR SPIRITUAL VITAMINS site. Have them go to Google and where it says “Google Search” type in “Neil Spiritual Vitamins”
And, yes, if this 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”
And, yes, maybe they will back track a few weeks to read other of my musings.
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
THE ALIEN WITHIN: DEPRESSION
Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called sons of God.
Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Matthew 5:1-10
Let me word it this way - blessed are they who are well adjusted…unburdened by excessive negativity…able to focus on sunshine rather than shadows…brightness rather than darkness…beauty rather than ugliness… love rather than hate…patience rather than anger.
Fall heir to the thought that negativity does not just steal time, it warps it. There is such wisdom in this insight.
Of course, no one is always happy, but some are a great deal more unhappy, and unhappier for longer periods of time, than they have to be. Be not one of them.
Now I am not going to tell you that in the next few words I will solve all your problems for you. Nor can I guarantee to give you a permanent happy face. But I will offer some ideas, that if you practice even just one of them, you will be the better off for it and so will everyone who lives with and around you.
What first would I have you consider? Pull out one or more of your baby pictures. Look at that innocent, wide-eyed face, the you in your beginning who was so excited about everything you saw and were experiencing. And then really consider, “Has the world become less interesting or have I become less interested?”
Then begin to pray often each passing day, “Lord, give me back the eyes of a child. Send me in search of that which will save me from being a cynic. Don’t let me take all the fun out of a magic show, or go to a circus and find I can no longer laugh when all those little people keep pouring out of that little car. Let me still be enthralled when the lion tamer puts his head in the lion’s mouth.”
Or filled with wonderment by the moon that continues steadily to move across the sky. Let me do something foolish like putting my ear to the ground as if I could hear the grass grow or make up a new language and then use it to ask directions. Read the dictionary upside down and then look for hidden meanings.
Continue to pray, “Give me back who I was before I left Middle School and picked up being blasé in High School. Let me feel free to sing in the shower, even if the shower is from heaven and I am walking down the street. Let me find joy that once I found from just wiggling my toes in the mud. Let me…”
There is so much happening in this old world to grab your attention: art and music, baseball, the upcoming Dolphin and Miami Hurricane football games (or the football teams of where you live or soccer or…). And have you been watching…?
Oh, the list of all the things God offers us to get excited about is endless. So get creative. Pick and choose and make up your own list.
These kind of thing aren’t a solution. There is a profundity in their simplicity and yes there is some silliness too. But too much somberness can overload bad hair days as well.
Yes, much of these thoughts are really only a band-aide, but band-aides have their place too in the healing of wounds. Well, actually some of the suggestions you may well do and probably some you will not do at all but perhaps you got a laugh at just the suggestions, and laughter is a healer.
Have a friend visit my ONE A DAY YOUR SPIRITUAL VITAMINS site. Have them go to Google and where it says “Google Search” type in “Neil Spiritual Vitamins”
And, yes, if this 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”
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called sons of God.
Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Matthew 5:1-10
Let me word it this way - blessed are they who are well adjusted…unburdened by excessive negativity…able to focus on sunshine rather than shadows…brightness rather than darkness…beauty rather than ugliness… love rather than hate…patience rather than anger.
Fall heir to the thought that negativity does not just steal time, it warps it. There is such wisdom in this insight.
Of course, no one is always happy, but some are a great deal more unhappy, and unhappier for longer periods of time, than they have to be. Be not one of them.
Now I am not going to tell you that in the next few words I will solve all your problems for you. Nor can I guarantee to give you a permanent happy face. But I will offer some ideas, that if you practice even just one of them, you will be the better off for it and so will everyone who lives with and around you.
What first would I have you consider? Pull out one or more of your baby pictures. Look at that innocent, wide-eyed face, the you in your beginning who was so excited about everything you saw and were experiencing. And then really consider, “Has the world become less interesting or have I become less interested?”
Then begin to pray often each passing day, “Lord, give me back the eyes of a child. Send me in search of that which will save me from being a cynic. Don’t let me take all the fun out of a magic show, or go to a circus and find I can no longer laugh when all those little people keep pouring out of that little car. Let me still be enthralled when the lion tamer puts his head in the lion’s mouth.”
Or filled with wonderment by the moon that continues steadily to move across the sky. Let me do something foolish like putting my ear to the ground as if I could hear the grass grow or make up a new language and then use it to ask directions. Read the dictionary upside down and then look for hidden meanings.
Continue to pray, “Give me back who I was before I left Middle School and picked up being blasé in High School. Let me feel free to sing in the shower, even if the shower is from heaven and I am walking down the street. Let me find joy that once I found from just wiggling my toes in the mud. Let me…”
There is so much happening in this old world to grab your attention: art and music, baseball, the upcoming Dolphin and Miami Hurricane football games (or the football teams of where you live or soccer or…). And have you been watching…?
Oh, the list of all the things God offers us to get excited about is endless. So get creative. Pick and choose and make up your own list.
These kind of thing aren’t a solution. There is a profundity in their simplicity and yes there is some silliness too. But too much somberness can overload bad hair days as well.
Yes, much of these thoughts are really only a band-aide, but band-aides have their place too in the healing of wounds. Well, actually some of the suggestions you may well do and probably some you will not do at all but perhaps you got a laugh at just the suggestions, and laughter is a healer.
Have a friend visit my ONE A DAY YOUR SPIRITUAL VITAMINS site. Have them go to Google and where it says “Google Search” type in “Neil Spiritual Vitamins”
And, yes, if this 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”
Sunday, September 6, 2009
A JOURNEY WORTH TAKING
(Added to each Sun, Tues and Thurs)
In your mind’s eye, allow your imagination to transport you from your air-conditioned 21st century comfort to journey along the Via Dolorosa to a rocky knob called Golgotha.
Bring with you whatever tyranny of pettiness and pouting you may have allowed to take over your thinking. If there is bitterness within you, bring that, too.
Stand at the foot of the cross with me and repeat the word, “agape…agape… agape.” As our words echo off the hardened cypress now stained with our Savior’s blood let the meaning sink in - agape love…agape forgiveness…agape the building of bridges instead of making splinters. From time to time, look up and see the nails.
And if there is someone you do not love or have trouble even liking, or cannot forgive, tell Jesus.
Spill out the venom that these emotions elicit. Scald the ground with your hurts and hates.
Mix them with the anger of the gathered crowd who voted him there with their loud voices in the Court of Pilate.
Bring your worst to this place of perfection and ask your Savior to cleanse you and make your soul well and whole.
Have a friend visit my ONE A DAY YOUR SPIRITUAL VITAMINS site. Have them go to Google and where it says “Google Search” type in “Neil Spiritual Vitamins”
And, yes, if this 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”
And, yes, maybe they will back track a few weeks to read other of my musings.
In your mind’s eye, allow your imagination to transport you from your air-conditioned 21st century comfort to journey along the Via Dolorosa to a rocky knob called Golgotha.
Bring with you whatever tyranny of pettiness and pouting you may have allowed to take over your thinking. If there is bitterness within you, bring that, too.
Stand at the foot of the cross with me and repeat the word, “agape…agape… agape.” As our words echo off the hardened cypress now stained with our Savior’s blood let the meaning sink in - agape love…agape forgiveness…agape the building of bridges instead of making splinters. From time to time, look up and see the nails.
And if there is someone you do not love or have trouble even liking, or cannot forgive, tell Jesus.
Spill out the venom that these emotions elicit. Scald the ground with your hurts and hates.
Mix them with the anger of the gathered crowd who voted him there with their loud voices in the Court of Pilate.
Bring your worst to this place of perfection and ask your Savior to cleanse you and make your soul well and whole.
Have a friend visit my ONE A DAY YOUR SPIRITUAL VITAMINS site. Have them go to Google and where it says “Google Search” type in “Neil Spiritual Vitamins”
And, yes, if this 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”
And, yes, maybe they will back track a few weeks to read other of my musings.
Thursday, September 3, 2009
IT HAS ALREADY HAPPENED
(These thoughts are added to each Sun, Tues and Thurs)
What do you think would happen if a Virginia politician today wanted references about God inserted in an important piece of legislation, or urged that the Fourth of July be made into a quasi-religious holiday? The answer is obvious. “Separation of church and State!” would be shouted from a million rooftops. The ACLU would have an attack of apoplexy.
Of course, it has already happened. It was over 200 years ago, but it happened. Thomas Jefferson wanted God stuck into the Declaration of Independence and his request was unanimously accepted on July 4, 1776. And it was Jefferson’s eventual good friend, John Adams, who thought the Fourth of July should be an occasion of joy… and worship.
Indeed, George Washington once wrote, “It is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favor.”
Nor should it be forgotten that John Adams wrote, “Statesmen may plan and speculate for liberty, but it is religion and morality alone which can establish the principles upon which freedom can securely stand.”
Separation of church and state? It is interesting to note that the actual wording was “a wall of separation between Church and State.” And why the phrase was used is even more interesting. A group of Baptists in Connecticut had been complaining that the Congregationalists of that State were trying to make their Christian denomination the official religion for the State of Connecticut, and persecute and discriminate against the Baptists.
Back those 200 plus years ago, the question Would the United States adopt a single Christian denomination as the official religion of the U.S.? was constantly being bantered about. And Jefferson’s phrase, “Wall of Separation,” referred to that and that only. Pure and simple, he was saying only that the Congregationalists could not install themselves as an official religion in that state.
He had already made the same kind of statement as regarded Virginia’s Constitution where Episcopalians held sway.
Was there a question in his mind that this was not to be a Judeo-Christian nation with laws to be based on the Ten Commandments? Not in a million years. The courts and many politicians today say otherwise, but they are dead wrong and if they were historians, they would know it.
Visit my One A Day Your Spiritual Vitamins site. Go to google and type in where it reads google search “Neil Spiritual Vitamins”
What do you think would happen if a Virginia politician today wanted references about God inserted in an important piece of legislation, or urged that the Fourth of July be made into a quasi-religious holiday? The answer is obvious. “Separation of church and State!” would be shouted from a million rooftops. The ACLU would have an attack of apoplexy.
Of course, it has already happened. It was over 200 years ago, but it happened. Thomas Jefferson wanted God stuck into the Declaration of Independence and his request was unanimously accepted on July 4, 1776. And it was Jefferson’s eventual good friend, John Adams, who thought the Fourth of July should be an occasion of joy… and worship.
Indeed, George Washington once wrote, “It is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favor.”
Nor should it be forgotten that John Adams wrote, “Statesmen may plan and speculate for liberty, but it is religion and morality alone which can establish the principles upon which freedom can securely stand.”
Separation of church and state? It is interesting to note that the actual wording was “a wall of separation between Church and State.” And why the phrase was used is even more interesting. A group of Baptists in Connecticut had been complaining that the Congregationalists of that State were trying to make their Christian denomination the official religion for the State of Connecticut, and persecute and discriminate against the Baptists.
Back those 200 plus years ago, the question Would the United States adopt a single Christian denomination as the official religion of the U.S.? was constantly being bantered about. And Jefferson’s phrase, “Wall of Separation,” referred to that and that only. Pure and simple, he was saying only that the Congregationalists could not install themselves as an official religion in that state.
He had already made the same kind of statement as regarded Virginia’s Constitution where Episcopalians held sway.
Was there a question in his mind that this was not to be a Judeo-Christian nation with laws to be based on the Ten Commandments? Not in a million years. The courts and many politicians today say otherwise, but they are dead wrong and if they were historians, they would know it.
Visit my One A Day Your Spiritual Vitamins site. Go to google and type in where it reads google search “Neil Spiritual Vitamins”
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
THE GIFT OF BEYONDNESS
A man or woman of real vision…what sets them apart? There is a beyondness in them. They see beyond the rough talk on the street corners, and the smell and stink of greed in some corporate boardrooms. They see the possibility of redemptive change in the most unlikely of God’s creatures. They have an attitude.
They have the attitude of the Psalmist about them because they have burned his words into their hearts, “Whither shall I go from thy spirit? Or whither shall I flee from thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there; if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea: even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me.”
The last time you saw someone you hadn’t seen in a long time, did they say to you, “You haven’t changed a bit”? I hope not. Because I hope you have changed, as I hope I have changed. That each new day there is an added spiritual sparkle in our eyes which only time and prayer can bring. A new confidence that only Christ can give. A new spiritual awareness that shows.
Have you visited my ONE A DAY YOUR SPIRITUAL VITAMINS site. Go to Google and where it says “Google Search” type in “Neil Spiritual Vitamins” or type in at the URL site oneadayyourspiritualvitamins.blogspot.com
And, yes, if this site has met any of your needs please share it with a friend.
They have the attitude of the Psalmist about them because they have burned his words into their hearts, “Whither shall I go from thy spirit? Or whither shall I flee from thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there; if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea: even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me.”
The last time you saw someone you hadn’t seen in a long time, did they say to you, “You haven’t changed a bit”? I hope not. Because I hope you have changed, as I hope I have changed. That each new day there is an added spiritual sparkle in our eyes which only time and prayer can bring. A new confidence that only Christ can give. A new spiritual awareness that shows.
Have you visited my ONE A DAY YOUR SPIRITUAL VITAMINS site. Go to Google and where it says “Google Search” type in “Neil Spiritual Vitamins” or type in at the URL site oneadayyourspiritualvitamins.blogspot.com
And, yes, if this site has met any of your needs please share it with a friend.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
