Thursday, November 28, 2013
A NATION CALLED GREED...A NATION CALLED...
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There are two Nations
below...read about both of them.
There is a force let loose in the world that was
made in hell. While God was creating a wonderful place for men to live in, the
Devil was fashioning this evil force for men to live by.
It is called
Materialism and it is not the owning of things but rather the being owned by
things.
This nation does not have the usual kind of geographical
limitations. Its boundaries are the souls of men. Each soul it captures
enlarges its boundaries. Each heart it hardens increases its strength. Each life
it captures destroys that much hope of “peace on earth, good will toward
men.
Who are its people?
The national flag is a
sight to behold. It is a great white “I” against a fiery red background.
There is no thanksgiving in
such a creed, no joy, no on going otherness.
It does not
say prayers at mealtime on arising or readying for the blessed gift of sleep.
But there is another Nation and it does have a creed and
it is a joy to recite…and it does have a flag and it is a contentment to
see it waving in the wind…
And in this nation of Otherness there is love
and it is good…much love and compassion and concern…and it is good.
And
yes…it is as you might have imagined a Nation Called
Thanksgiving…
To view an abundance of unusual stories by Neil Wyrick go
to his other blog ONE A DAY, YOUR SPIRITUAL VITAMINS
http://oneadayyourspiritualvitamins.blogspot.com/
Tuesday, November 26, 2013
RUST ON MY SOUL (33rd in Series)
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***********************************
RUST
ON MY SOUL (A Novel) (Published by Bridge Press in 1985 & Distributed
Internationally)
***********************************
INTRODUCTION
(Repeated for those new to the series)
In an
old loose leaf notebook, Thomas Kettering wrote when there was a cry from
his heart. He wrote when his inner longing spilled over into the reality of his
days. He did not write every day, only when he felt he must. How often he wrote
or when is not important. The journey is what counts, for it is a diary about
all of us, to all of us. “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single
step,” and even a stumble is a step.
Late afternoon
Interviewing
people for the vacancy in the warehouse today was depressing. The applicants all had diplomas that implied they have an
education; in reality for many it was only an attendance record.
What
had they learned? Not much, as far as I could tell. My dad had a dog who used to go to the old one-room
schoolhouse with him and lay just inside the door through many an hour of
tutoring, but they never gave the dog a
diploma.
One young man took as
long to fill out his application as O. Henry probably took to complete one of
his short stories. He’d bring the same inefficiency to a bill of lading.
If we hired him we’d drive him and ourselves crazy requiring more than he was
able to deliver.
So I didn’t hire him and he remains another
unemployment statistic. I’m sorry he had teacher who couldn’t teach or parents
who didn’t motivate him but that doesn’t excuse him for being a student who
wouldn’t learn.
I don’t highly recommend a school system that
graduates ever boy and then ask the business community to employ the illiterate
and the ill prepared
Afternoon
I was flattered. He remembered me
and it’s been thirty years. I remember him. He was one of the few preachers who
made sense to me. Yet in my college days even that never got me to church too
often.
I reminisced how he used to
call his sermons Trade Routes.
“Still do. You can’t get anywhere without a route,”
he said.
He’s
hardly changed. The eyes are a little tired, but still rainy-day grey, almost
hidden by heavy lids. His face still shows leanness though age has made it a
little less firm.
It was a chance meeting. We had bumped shoulders
while reaching for the same book in the library. I’d read of his appointment on
the church page. I’d even considered giving him a call. Most like I wouldn’t
have.
“I’ll
have to come hear you preach.” It was just a polite phrase and he knew
it.
“Hopefully, Tom. Hopefully.”
There’s been a hiatus
on home building for quite some while, but nowhere near as long as the building
repairs needed for my
soul.
***********************************
TO
BE CONTINUED
A new Series on
PRAYER has begun
There will be a continuation of the
Serialization of his Internationally distributed novel RUST ON MY SOUL.
To view an
abundance of unusual stories by Neil Wyrick go to his other blog ONE A DAY, YOUR
SPIRITUAL VITAMINS
Click on the following URL
************************************
“Hopefully, Tom. Hopefully.”
***********************************
Sunday, November 24, 2013
PRAYER, AN AVENUE TO GOD (1st in Series on Prayer)
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***********************************
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.”
And if
you say to me, “I try to pray, really I do, but I just can’t concentrate on
anything for very long, even God,” I would reply, “Don’t try to conquer a
mountain until you have learned how to climb a hill.” Work on it a moment, just
one moment, before you extend to a minute, and when you have mastered that then
try two minutes – you get the picture. To enlarge
your capacity for things of the spirit you must learn to decrease the time you
spend thinking on things less worthy of your thoughts.
And do
not fear to turn your life over to God. . Another way of putting it, “Be as bold in prayer as the first person to ever eat an
oyster.” (rewrite of a quote by Shirley Grisholm)
I like to call what I am talking about “The Building of a
Prayer Fence” A prayer fence to protect ourselves from our worst selves.
We usually know our own particular weaknesses; the
places where we have far less control than we would like. Places where we speak
before we think and act before we consider what is wise or prudent. So, visualize a fence, this prayer fence that will keep
in your best and keep out your worst. But just how do you build a fence that
works?
By holy redundancy.
Constant repetition, repeating your needs and the needs of the world ad
infinitum. Believing that if something is worth praying for once, it is worth
praying for again and again. Jesus makes no
bones about this holy truth. He actually tells us to set up the habit of
repeated prayers. “Pray without ceasing.”
An
early Greek theologian, Clement of Alexandria, put it this way,
“Prayer is keeping company with God.” Let me add a word –
keeping CONSTANT company with God.
Prayer should be spontaneous but that does not mean it is not a good idea to think through the structure of what you have prayed.
***************************************
When you prayed, first did you listen? Some people take the scripture that reads “Speak Lord, for thy servant heareth” and rewrite it to read, “Listen Lord, thy servant speaketh.”
(1 Samuel 3:10)
****************************************
Could what you prayed for be considered a Christian
prayer? Remember …if you end your prayer with the words “In Jesus name”
you certainly want to have prayed a prayer he would
approve.
Was it a prayer you really wanted to be answered,
something you really wanted to take place, an improvement in your person you
were really committed to following through on. A half hearted prayer is a wasted
opportunity.
Promise what you will do to help make the prayer
come true. You have prayed for help with your business? Have you promised to
work longer and harder? You have asked for better
health? Are you committed to better a better diet and more exercise?
Pray your prayer and then be patient. You really don’t have to remind God about the prayer you just prayed two minutes ago. He heard you. He will answer your prayer in his own way in his own time. In short, don’t make your prayer an anxiety center.
*************************************
QUOTE FROM RUST ON MY SOUL (A Series)
“I was flattered. He remembered me and it’s been
thirty years. I remember him. He was one of the few
preachers who made sense to me. Yet in my college days even that never
got me to church too often.
I reminisced how he
used to call his sermons Trade Routes.
“Still do. You can’t get
anywhere without a route,” he said.”
*************************************
To view an abundance of unusual
stories by Neil Wyrick go to his other blog ONE A DAY, YOUR SPIRITUAL
VITAMINS
Click on the following URL
http://oneadayyourspiritualvitamins.blogspot.com/
*************************************
Thursday, November 21, 2013
THERE IS A STORY TOLD
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There is a story told about Leonardo de Vinci, the great creator of the magnificent painting THE LAST SUPPSER.
Just before he began his epic work in the Sistine chapel, he had a violent quarrel with a fellow painter. In a rage he decided to take revenge by making the face of this painter the model for the face of Judas.
He did so and everyone could easily recognize the likeness.
But then it happened.
As he sought to paint the face of Christ he couldn’t.
Try as he might, each stroke was one more stroke of waste and each effort as effort in vain.
Finally, he got the message.
The only way to capture the countenance of Christ was to paint out the face of Judas.
As soon as he did he was able to produce the masterpiece that endures to this day..This is you and I, my friends.
You cannot mirror the life of Christ if you hate another human being, for you are his keeper and you have been commanded to love him.
*************************************
A New Series on PAIN AND PROBLEMS
began on this blog “Wyrick’s Writings”
and will continue until finished.
Then a new Series on PRAYER will begin..
*****************************************
To view an abundance of unusual stories by Neil Wyrick go to his other blog ONE A DAY, YOUR SPIRITUAL VITAMINS
Click on the following URL
http://oneadayyourspiritualvitamins.blogspot.com/
*****************************************
TO SEND THIS DAYS BLOG TO A FRIEND
JUST CLICK AT THE BOTTOM
OF THIS BLOG ON “TELL A FRIeND”
For Neil's "One a Day Your Spiritual Vitamins"
Click on the following URL
********************************
There is a story told about Leonardo de Vinci, the great creator of the magnificent painting THE LAST SUPPSER.
Just before he began his epic work in the Sistine chapel, he had a violent quarrel with a fellow painter. In a rage he decided to take revenge by making the face of this painter the model for the face of Judas.
He did so and everyone could easily recognize the likeness.
But then it happened.
As he sought to paint the face of Christ he couldn’t.
Try as he might, each stroke was one more stroke of waste and each effort as effort in vain.
Finally, he got the message.
The only way to capture the countenance of Christ was to paint out the face of Judas.
As soon as he did he was able to produce the masterpiece that endures to this day..This is you and I, my friends.
You cannot mirror the life of Christ if you hate another human being, for you are his keeper and you have been commanded to love him.
*************************************
A New Series on PAIN AND PROBLEMS
began on this blog “Wyrick’s Writings”
and will continue until finished.
Then a new Series on PRAYER will begin..
*****************************************
To view an abundance of unusual stories by Neil Wyrick go to his other blog ONE A DAY, YOUR SPIRITUAL VITAMINS
Click on the following URL
http://oneadayyourspiritualvitamins.blogspot.com/
*****************************************
Tuesday, November 19, 2013
RUST ON MY SOUL (32ND IN SERIES)
*************************************
TO SEND THIS DAYS BLOG TO A FRIEND
*************************************
RUST ON MY SOUL (A Novel) (Published by Bridge Press in 1985 & Distributed Internationally)
*************************************
INTRODUCTION (Repeated for those new to the series)
In an old loose leaf notebook, Thomas Kettering wrote when there was a cry from his heart. He wrote when his inner longing spilled over into the reality of his days. He did not write every day, only when he felt he must. How often he wrote or when is not important. The journey is what counts, for it is a diary about all of us, to all of us. “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step,” and even a stumble is a step.
*****************************************
Morning
Beads of green explode daily; another spring has come, soft and gentle. Sun-washed shadows lay across the yard from a sky so blue and bright it hurts my winter eyes. But inside , my false brightness has turned grey and dingy.
When I was a little boy I did things I didn’t like because I wanted to be one of the gang. When I grew to be a man I didn’t put away these childish things. I may have fooled others, but I’m tired of trying to fool myself.
All my life I’ve been playing shadow to other people’s codes of conduct. I wonder what it would be like to make up my own mind for a change ---In the business world, at the club. What if I pulled the plug and shouted, “Conformity be damned!”
When I stand in the shadow of my own last day what will I have done to make the world better?” I can’t earn my way to heaven, I know that. But I can bring some heaven to earth, if I will. Honesty, trust, kindness are attributes I haven’t had much time for in quite a while.
Afternoon
I sang in church yesterday, “Come into my heart, Lord Jesus.” I don’t even know where the door is.
In the rough spots of living I can’t get it all together. I hear the Word on Sunday, and I suppose I believe it on Sunday, but then comes Monday through Friday and it all gets bent and out of shape.
My grandfather lived on a farm. He met God every morning when he woke at dawn to begin his chores. In a small country church he thanked God for the cold mountain stream that furnished him water to drink, that cooled the milk, that when heated, boiled the potatoes from his field. It was easier for him to treat God as a partner.
I get water from the tap, potatoes from the super market and milk from the Farm Store. My bounty of life makes its way through so many hands it’s easy to forget it was God’s hands that made it all possible.
I wonder if David would have written the Twenty third Psalm if he’d been an executive in the rat race…
I wonder…
***************************************
TO BE CONTINUED
GO BACK AND CATCH UP
****************************************
QUOTES FROM THURSDAY NOV 18 BLOG entitled THERE IS A STORY TOLD
“There is a story told about Leonardo de Vinci, the great creator of the magnificent painting THE LAST SUPPSER.
Just before he began his epic work in the Sistine chapel, he had a violent quarrel with a fellow painter. In a rage he decided to take revenge by making the face of this painter the model for the face of Judas.
He did so and everyone could easily recognize the likeness.
But then it happened.”
**************************************
A New Series on PAIN AND PROBLEMS
began on this blog “Wyrick’s Writings”
and will continue until finished.
Then a new Series on PRAYER will begin..
There is a continuation of the Serialization of his Internationally distributed novel RUST ON MY SOUL.
To view an abundance of unusual stories by Neil Wyrick go to his other blog ONE A DAY, YOUR SPIRITUAL VITAMINS
Click on the following URL
http://oneadayyourspiritualvitamins.blogspot.com/
**************************************
TO SEND THIS DAYS BLOG TO A FRIEND
JUST CLICK AT THE BOTTOM
OF THIS BLOG ON “TELL A FRIeND”
For Neil's "One a Day Your Spiritual Vitamins"
Click on the following URL
*************************************
RUST ON MY SOUL (A Novel) (Published by Bridge Press in 1985 & Distributed Internationally)
*************************************
INTRODUCTION (Repeated for those new to the series)
In an old loose leaf notebook, Thomas Kettering wrote when there was a cry from his heart. He wrote when his inner longing spilled over into the reality of his days. He did not write every day, only when he felt he must. How often he wrote or when is not important. The journey is what counts, for it is a diary about all of us, to all of us. “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step,” and even a stumble is a step.
*****************************************
Morning
Beads of green explode daily; another spring has come, soft and gentle. Sun-washed shadows lay across the yard from a sky so blue and bright it hurts my winter eyes. But inside , my false brightness has turned grey and dingy.
When I was a little boy I did things I didn’t like because I wanted to be one of the gang. When I grew to be a man I didn’t put away these childish things. I may have fooled others, but I’m tired of trying to fool myself.
All my life I’ve been playing shadow to other people’s codes of conduct. I wonder what it would be like to make up my own mind for a change ---In the business world, at the club. What if I pulled the plug and shouted, “Conformity be damned!”
When I stand in the shadow of my own last day what will I have done to make the world better?” I can’t earn my way to heaven, I know that. But I can bring some heaven to earth, if I will. Honesty, trust, kindness are attributes I haven’t had much time for in quite a while.
Afternoon
I sang in church yesterday, “Come into my heart, Lord Jesus.” I don’t even know where the door is.
In the rough spots of living I can’t get it all together. I hear the Word on Sunday, and I suppose I believe it on Sunday, but then comes Monday through Friday and it all gets bent and out of shape.
My grandfather lived on a farm. He met God every morning when he woke at dawn to begin his chores. In a small country church he thanked God for the cold mountain stream that furnished him water to drink, that cooled the milk, that when heated, boiled the potatoes from his field. It was easier for him to treat God as a partner.
I get water from the tap, potatoes from the super market and milk from the Farm Store. My bounty of life makes its way through so many hands it’s easy to forget it was God’s hands that made it all possible.
I wonder if David would have written the Twenty third Psalm if he’d been an executive in the rat race…
I wonder…
***************************************
TO BE CONTINUED
GO BACK AND CATCH UP
****************************************
QUOTES FROM THURSDAY NOV 18 BLOG entitled THERE IS A STORY TOLD
“There is a story told about Leonardo de Vinci, the great creator of the magnificent painting THE LAST SUPPSER.
Just before he began his epic work in the Sistine chapel, he had a violent quarrel with a fellow painter. In a rage he decided to take revenge by making the face of this painter the model for the face of Judas.
He did so and everyone could easily recognize the likeness.
But then it happened.”
**************************************
A New Series on PAIN AND PROBLEMS
began on this blog “Wyrick’s Writings”
and will continue until finished.
Then a new Series on PRAYER will begin..
There is a continuation of the Serialization of his Internationally distributed novel RUST ON MY SOUL.
To view an abundance of unusual stories by Neil Wyrick go to his other blog ONE A DAY, YOUR SPIRITUAL VITAMINS
Click on the following URL
http://oneadayyourspiritualvitamins.blogspot.com/
**************************************
Sunday, November 17, 2013
PAIN AND PROBLEMS (10TH AND FINAL IN SERIES)
********************************
TO
SEND THIS DAYS BLOG TO A FRIEND
JUST
CLICK AT THE BOTTOM
OF
THIS BLOG ON “TELL A FRIeND”
For
Neil's "One a Day Your Spiritual Vitamins"
Click on the
following URL
********************************
One day, a scientist discovered a large ant hill in his
kitchen garden.
Propelled by his usual curiosity and interest in
these tiny creatures, he bent down to examine them more closely. But he found it
very difficult. Every time he moved closer, his shadow spread across them and
the little ants fled in terror.
“I stepped back,” the scientist wrote in his diary,
“and sat down on the grass to think out the situation. I had only good will
toward the ants and did not wish to harm a one of them. But how could I make the ants aware of my good will.
My
imagination began to play with the problem.
To these tiny ants, I was
an all-powerful creature “somewhere up there” whose thoughts they could not
guess, whose ways and intentions they could not know.
If only I could communicate. But even that would not be enough. Even then, I would be a gigantic being to the ants, and they would never believe that I understood their problems – the minute organization of the hill, their struggles for good, and their battles with other ants.
Only one thing could give them complete confidence. That is, if by some
alchemy, I could for a time…become an ant…”
Do you doubt
a loving Father? Who was Jesus? Come to give us complete confidence. By divine
and compassionate heavenly alchemy become man and dwell among us.
He left a
throne room where He was high and lifted up and went to a place where he would
eventually suffer and die upon a cross.
He did not just peer down
and shout through the pearly gates, “I feel your
pain.”
No…He came down to this
little oblate spheroid called earth and healed the sick and the poor and the
hurting.
He
did this because He was part of an eternal plan. He did this so that we could be
reminded that He our God does cares and that He truly understands.
He did this that we would know that God loves us.
**************************
"Behold
what manner of Love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called
the sons of God." (1 John 3:1)
We have the title…it is a gift and with such a
title comes He who gave it to us.
*************************************
A
New Series on PAIN AND PROBLEMS
began on this blog
“Wyrick’s Writings”
and will continue until finished.
Then a new
Series on PRAYER will begin..
To view an abundance
of unusual stories by Neil Wyrick go to his other blog ONE A DAY, YOUR SPIRITUAL
VITAMINS
Click on the following URL
http://oneadayyourspiritualvitamins.blogspot.com/
*****************************
Thursday, November 14, 2013
LIVIN AND GIVIN
*******************************
TO SEND THIS DAYS BLOG TO A FRIEND
JUST CLICK AT THE BOTTOM
OF THIS BLOG ON “TELL A FRIeND”
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Click on the following URL
*******************************
Most folk have a favorite poem, a favorite story. The following is certainly near the top of my list. I no longer remember who wrote it.
“If you don’t like life, maybe it’s the way you’re livin.
May you should try a little less take and a little more givin’
A little less hate and a little more lovin’
A little more help and not so mujch shovin’
A little more smile and not so much strife,
And soon, you will again be in love with life.”
May you should try a little less take and a little more givin’
A little less hate and a little more lovin’
A little more help and not so mujch shovin’
A little more smile and not so much strife,
And soon, you will again be in love with life.”
What is good and gracious godly living?
Well, here are some seeds of thought to which I am sure you can add many more.
It is a wife putting her drunken husband to sleep on a clean bed.
It is a father silently clasping the hands of his boy through the bars of a jail cell.
It is Jesus washing the feet of Judas.
It is a mother praying for a murderer of her teenage daughter.
It is a child writing letters of compassion to a mother who never knew the meaning of the word.
It is love given for hate received, understanding offered for cruelty endured.
It is that wonderful enlightened miracle time when some angel dust settles on a human soul.
*******************************************
A New Series on PAIN AND PROBLEMS
*******************************************
A New Series on PAIN AND PROBLEMS
began on this blog “Wyrick’s Writings”
and will continue until finished.
Then a new Series on PRAYER will begin..
To view an abundance of unusual stories by Neil Wyrick go to his other blog ONE A DAY, YOUR SPIRITUAL VITAMINS
Click on the following URL
****************************************
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