ANGER IS A KILLER (3RD IN SERIES)(How to handle it without letting I handle you)

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Slow down. It won’t be a miraculous cure for all your anger woes, but if you take more time to consider problems you will spend less time trying to solve new problems.

Almost forty years ago, my Tucky and I bicycled 550 miles across Europe with 55 young people.
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It was not as fast as a tour bus but oh how much more revealing and fun.


We really saw things - the landscape wasn’t a blur.

We went through villages slow enough to smile at the townspeople and be welcomed by their smiles in return; slow enough to smell the all the goodies being baked in the local pastry shop.

On this trip, we obviously weren’t a bunch of impatient Americans in such a rush to get to the next place that we didn’t properly enjoy where we were.


If you are of the mind that only the impatient get things done, consider these stories.

The great missionary William Carey had great goals when he went to India in 1834. Like all ministers in their younger years, he knew he had a truth and he believed they would flock to his preaching. In reality, he labored 7 years before his first convert.

But when he died, at age 73, it was written of him, “Taking his life as a whole, it is not too much to say that he was the greatest and most versatile Christian missionary sent out in modern times.”

He had, among many other things, been instrumental in opening India to missionaries, and had founded a college.

Patient and persistent, that was William Carey and that is how he is remembered. How will you be remembered? How will I be remembered?

The patience Abraham Lincoln exhibited during the Civil War, and toward those who insulted him, was monumental.

John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist Church, was a stubborn man. He was no less so as a child. Once, his mother figured she had had to tell him to do something 20 times before he finally did it. “I marvel at your patience,” John’s father commented.

“Ah,” she responded, “If I hadn’t been patient, look at the 19 times I would have wasted.”

I wish I could say that I am always a patient person, but unfortunately, I can’t.

Actually, with the help of the Lord I am still in the process of becoming a patient impatient man

However, I did pursue the publication of one of my books with persistent patience.

My wife would sometimes ask me, “When are you going to give up on it?” and I would reply, “The day I die. I will then have just run out of time.” Actually, it only took 20 years and 77 letters of rejections before it finally found an international publisher.

And of course, the most patient man who ever lived was Jesus …the Son of God.

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To view an abundance of unusual stories and comments by Neil Wyrick go to Neil’s other blog ONE A DAY, YOUR SPIRITUAL VITAMINS

Click on the following URL

http://oneadayyourspiritualvitamins.blogspot.com/

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RUST ON MY SOUL (40th 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.

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Evening

Fraud! Terrible, damnable fraud! Either God or me, or both of us. Is He a liar who can’t produce or am I a liar who’s to let Him?

I wept today. Not easily, but rather, stubbornly. The tears pushed from the back of my eyes, looking for a weak place to break through. There’s a mindless terror when seven hundred resume go out and nothing comes back.

Where is my arrogance now? Confidence is a tenuous thing. A shout in the crowd with my name on it. I feel as if there is a scarlet “R” branded on my forehead for Rejected.

“We will give you a good recommendation. It’s just that mathematically the income and the outgo have caught up with us.”

I keep hearing the tedious echo of that phrase. At least I was fired by a voice Another human being took the effort to tell me face to face I was not wanted anymore. It was better than a pink slip. But seven weeks without work. Seven weeks!

Damn you, God! But why do I blame God! He didn’t fire me. My thoughts are out of tune They play off-key.


Afternoon

Nancy majors in depression these days. I don’t expect her to sing songs but must she act like a disciple of Schopenhauer, the king of depression philosophers. And the kids are as confused as we are. How do they reply when their friends ask why I’m home all day? I haven’t the nerve to ask.

 

I wish I knew what I was looking for. Besides, a new job. I only know it has the hope of healing it it. I know all the accepted tags, God, Jesus, Heavenly Father, Creator, Holy Spirit, but I am having trouble finding, let alone cementing the relationship.

 

To be continued 
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BELOW IS A QUOTE FROM A NEW SERIES…

 

A HEAVENLY CONSTRUCTION PROGRAM(1st in series) (on this Wyrck’s Writing blog)

“I have always been intrigued by a question God put to Adam, “Where are you?” Why did He ask that? What is the meaning behind this? It wasn’t a geographical question, for certainly God knew the answer to that one.

It was a spiritual question to which God also had the answer. Then why ask it? For Adam’s sake, and all the Adams and Eves yet to come. For you and me in these 21st century days.

“Where are we? And where do we want to go? What do we want to be? And how much, or how little?” And we must never stop trying to answer God’s question as we try to get off a treadmill and aim toward a proper direction.

It’s called purpose, and…”
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BELOW IS A QUOTE FROM A NEW SERIES entitled ANGER IS A KILLER.

 

“Do you enjoy visiting friends? More than likely you’re thinking, Preacher, of course, I do.

Now let me ask the other side of the coin - Do you enjoy visiting enemies? No?

 

Well, I know you must enjoy visiting at least one enemy because, like myself, you probably visit this one quite often. Unfortunately, we all …visit this enemy…whose name is anger.

 

Some visit anger seldom . Some on a regular basis. And during those visits, some spew and others stew.”
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The book RUST ON MY SOUL being Serialized is available on amazon.com for purchase.

******************************************

To view an abundance of unusual stories and comments by Neil Wyrick go to Neil’s other blog ONE A DAY, YOUR SPIRITUAL VITAMINS

Click on the following URL http://oneadayyourspiritualvitamins.blogspot.com/


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A HEAVENLY CONSTRUCTION PROGRAM (3RD IN SERIES)

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HANDS

Faith is not an academic exercise.

Look down at your hands. Now raise them up. Now ball them in a fist and we all know what fists can do. Now put them together in prayer. Now extend one of your hands to your neighbor in an act of fellowship. Now hold your hands in your lap as if you reading a book.Eight fingers and two thumbs: so describes your hands, which are really history books on review.


Look at them and let them remind you of all that they have done in your lifetime or left undone.

 
For yes, they have been servants of your thoughts and beliefs translated into action.


Now, still looking, ask yourself, how many have they helped? How many have they hurt?


When, and where and why? When you have extended them in acts of fellowship they were a blessing. When they have been extended in acts of major or minor violence they have been a curse.


Have they been giving hands? Or stealing hands? Hands that have held books of inspiration or books of filth? Have they written notes of thanksgiving to give joy or poison pen letters to destroy?


A surgeon’s hand holds a knife to heal. A murderer’s hand holding a knife to kill.


Hands tell us so much about a person. Clasping and unclasping, not at ease. Lying quietly, at peace with the world and God. Blasting a horn, giving a finger, sometimes much too angry.
There is a tinge of paint on the hands – an artist and the world is seen as a place of beauty.


He washes his hands over and over and over again. His name is Pilate and he cannot seem to ever wash them enough. For him, the world is a place of overwhelming guilt.


His hands are steady, persistent, patient, as he holds the sextant. Look closely for these are the hands of Christopher Columbus.


This hand pens a large, bold signature; large enough for fat King Charles to read without his glasses on. It is John Hancock’s hand signing the Declaration of Independence, and then passing on this great document for other hands to sign.


During World War II, Sir Winston Churchill raised two fingers to form a V for victory. And on the battlefields of that war, as done by countless generations before, so many hands were placed together in the sacred act of prayer.


Hands, they are our gift from God. We must make them a gift to God.
As legend tells it, many years ago in a certain church, on a very particular day, all the people were asked to bring great gifts to lay upon the altar.


All had been told that the greatest gift would cause a miracle. That at that moment a heavenly choir would burst forth with song.


And so they came, bringing boxes of gold, silver, jewels, and spices. All kind of wealth. A long line of hope and yet nothing happened. Silence. Unrelenting silence.
Then, slowly there came walking down the aisle a peasant girl. Her tattered clothes hung loose.


Her pale fingers almost luminescent as she moved toward the towering piles of magnificent offerings. Kneeling, she reached forward and put down…. her hands. . . and left them there.


For a long time she moved them not, offering them to God. They were all she had, and she gave them.


Then softly, at first no louder than a whisper, came the sound of a celestial chorus, building to a crescendo. The very walls reverberated with angel voices of acclamation. For yes, her gift was the greatest, the most wondrous; the gift of self.


Someone once wrote, “God takes a hand wherever He can find it. Here, the hand of a mother to guide her child; there, the hand of a neighbor to be a friend. The hands of those who believe.”


Why such emphasis on service? Because service is the rent we pay for the space we occupy.

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BELOW are QUOTES FROM THE Rust on my Soul Serialization 


“I want to do more than just live. I want to be alive. I want to sometimes stand on that mountaintop. I want a song in my heart that makes my own personal Hit Parade.

I want contentment that is more than satisfied nerve endings. I want to feel the stretch of eternity in my bones.


This may indeed be more than I will ever find, but “a man’s reach should exceed his grasp, or what’s a heaven for?”

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To view an abundance of unusual stories and comments by Neil Wyrick go to Neil’s other blog ONE A DAY, YOUR SPIRITUAL VITAMINS
Click on the following URL http://oneadayyourspiritualvitamins.blogspot.com/

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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

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NEIL’S 9TH BOOK “THE SPIRITUAL ABRAHAM LINCOLN” IS AVAILABLE ON Amazon.com’s KINDLE READER

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ANGER IS A KILLER (some ways to handle it without letting it handle you) (2nd in series)

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 TO SEND THIS DAYS BLOG TO A FRIEND
 

JUST CLICK AT THE BOTTOM

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Indignant but hardly righteous. That describes what we are angry about more times than often. 


Let me share three true stories of this kind of temporary insanity to make my point. 

Over 100 years ago, 116 to be exact, 107 buildings in the city of Boston burned to the ground.

That was a tragedy, I am sure you will agree, but why it happened is an even greater tragedy. 

You see, in the spring of that year, 1894; the Baltimore Orioles had traveled to Boston to play a routine baseball game.

Unfortunately what happened was hardly routine.

John McGraw, the manager of the Baltimore Orioles, got into an argument with the Boston third baseman.

Almost instantly all the players from both teams emptied out onto the field and words soon erupted into fist fights and wrestling matches.

Within minutes the war fare spread to the stands and now it was one big battlefield.

Somehow in the melee the bleachers were set on fire and before the evening was over, the ballpark had been completely destroyed. 

From there the fire spread…and yes…you guessed it… That is how those 107 other Boston buildings burned to the ground.

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Then, there is the account of John Hunter, a great surgeon who pioneered many new surgical techniques. 

This brilliant 18th century British physician did however have a terrible, uncontrollable temper.  

And he was well aware of it, for he often lamented that, “My life is at the mercy of any scoundrel who chooses to put me in a passion.”
He had literally prophesied his own death, for one day, during a meeting of the Board of St. George’s Hospital, he got into a heated argument with another Board Member.


Red faced and totally out of control, he stormed from the meeting and moments later dropped dead in the next room. 

And now the last in this trilogy on anger:

A lady once came to the great evangelist Billy Sunday and tried to rationalize her angry outbursts.

“There’s nothing wrong with losing my temper,” she said, “I blow up, and then it’s all over.”

“So does a shot gun,” replied Billy.
So, what to do to temper our temper? 

First, try to remember and apply what my principal in high school used to say several dozen times during the course of a school year, “Words fitly spoken are like apples of gold in pitchers of silver.”

In short, check out our vocabulary.
Learn how to disagree without being disagreeable. 

If, when we are at odds with someone we let anger take over, common sense and control go out the window and we just become sarcastic and argumentative.

Second, reconcile it. This is what Jesus did with Peter.

After Peter’s denial, Christ reconciled with him. Certainly was more than willing to love and forgive him.

And therein lays a way of handling anger that is wonderful in its consequence. 


It simply says, “You said something that hurt me and now I forgive you…we are reconciled.”

Admitting our humanity, we can become friends again….or a loving husband and wife again….or…
Put it this way. We have a Biblical responsibility to handle conflict truthfully and without rancor. To practice the love Christ talks about when we are on the edge, or over the edge.

No, it is not easy, but it is what we are called on to do. And it is doable - by finding more humility and less pride.


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To view an abundance of unusual stories and comments by Neil Wyrick go to his other blog ONE A DAY, YOUR SPIRITUAL VITAMINS
Click on the following URL

 http://oneadayyourspiritualvitamins.blogspot.com/

**************************************

RUST ON MY SOUL (39th IN SERIES)

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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"

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http://oneadayyourspiritualvitamins

 

************************************

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.

Night

 

I picked up a nickel this morning when I went out for the newspaper. It reminded me of all the times I chided the kids about not stopping to pick up a penny.

I spent the morning at the table drawing black circles in the classified section and after calling the companies drawing black x’s through the circles.

 

By lunchtime I was exhausted. Interviews are a begging when you speak from a point of weakness. That’s what unemployment definitely is. A point of weakness.

 

I keep telling myself that something will turn up. I really do believe it, but the unemployed are ships adrift.

Evening

“Don’t go to the store in that old grey sweater. It makes you look like you buy your clothes at the Salvation Army.”

“I wish you’d shave off that silly moustache.”

Nancy dribbles her complaints in a never-ending staccato.

“Meet my frau, the bossy cow.” I don’t know which of us would be more shocked if one day I introduced her that way. I won’t, but such a temptation –

 

I remember when we were both younger and nicer. I remember how she always propped me up when my confidence sagged. I remember when all that we could afford was hamburgers, but she served them by candlelight. I remember when there was romance in our kisses. But now I’ve about reached the end of my rope. Is it too late to tie a knot called God? My grip is loosening and below is much to near.

 

To be continued
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BELOW IS A QUOTE FROM A NEW SERIES…

 

A HEAVENLY CONSTRUCTION PROGRAM(1st in series) (on this Wyrck’s Writing blog)

“I have always been intrigued by a question God put to Adam, “Where are you?” Why did He ask that? What is the meaning behind this? It wasn’t a geographical question, for certainly God knew the answer to that one.

 

It was a spiritual question to which God also had the answer. Then why ask it? For Adam’s sake, and all the Adams and Eves yet to come. For you and me in these 21st century days.

 

“Where are we? And where do we want to go? What do we want to be? And how much, or how little?” And we must never stop trying to answer God’s question as we try to get off a treadmill and aim toward a proper direction.

 

It’s called purpose, and…”

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BELOW IS A QUOTE FROM A NEW SERIES entitled ANGER IS A KILLER.

 

 

“Do you enjoy visiting friends? More than likely you’re thinking, Preacher, of course, I do.
Now let me ask the other side of the coin - Do you enjoy visiting enemies? No?

Well, I know you must enjoy visiting at least one enemy because, like myself, you probably visit this one quite often. Unfortunately, we all …visit this enemy…whose name is anger.

 

Some visit anger seldom . Some on a regular basis. And during those visits, some spew and others stew.”
**************************************

The book RUST ON MY SOUL being Serialized is available on amazon.com for purchase.

******************************************

To view an abundance of unusual stories and comments by Neil Wyrick go to Neil’s other blog ONE A DAY, YOUR SPIRITUAL VITAMINS

 

Click on the following URL

 

http://oneadayyourspiritualvitamins.blogspot.com/

********************************************

A HEAVENLY CONSTRUCTION PROGRAM(2nd in Series 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

http://oneadayyourspiritualvitamins

  
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He was just a little boy and he had stopped by the neighborhood store and asked the owner if he could use his telephone.


The owner could help overhearing the conversation and that Jimmy had changed the sound of his voice, “Mrs. Brown? I was just wondering if you would like someone to mow your lawn…oh, you already have someone?...well, may I ask how he is doing?...he’s doing a good job…well, I guess you won’t be needing me. Thanks anyway.”

The owner couldn’t help but comment, “Sorry you didn’t get the job Jimmy.”


Oh,” responded Jimmy, “I already mow the lawn for Mrs. Brown. I was checking up to see whether she thought I was doing a good job.”


Were our actions this last week good or bad? And how did we perform them? And why did we perform them? The why being more important than the what. Of course, I am talking about self-examination, and that is sometimes about as pleasant as a trip to the dentist.


Do you ever consider what you are worth? And worth to whom, and why, and when? We get hung up on the word worth and get in all kind of trouble because of it.


A man buys a Cadillac and thinks it gives him more worth.

Another man adds up one college degree after another and thinks they give him more worth.

A job title. A star in sports. Popularity.


But as a sub text…many people eventually get around to believing and accepting full blast, “My greatest worth is that I was made by God.”


Over and over again the Bible underlines this real worth. From the very beginning in Genesis (1:1, 26-28) In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.


Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness…." So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female, he created them. God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number…."


"Through him all things were made; without Him nothing was made that has been made."(John 1:3, NIV)

And quoting Paul, he said in Acts 17:25: …for he himself [God] gives all men life and breath and everything else. And in 17:28-29: For in God we live and move and have our being.
And again, in 1 John 3:1, 2: “How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God”
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A quote from the blog entitled “ANGER IS A KILLER” (1st in Series) (on this Wyrick's Writings)
“Do you enjoy visiting friends? More than likely you’re thinking, Preacher, of course, I do.

Now let me ask the other side of the coin - Do you enjoy visiting enemies? No?
Well, I know you must enjoy visiting at least one enemy because, like myself, you probably visit this one quite often. Unfortunately, we all …visit this enemy…whose name is anger.
Some visit anger seldom . Some on a regular basis. And during those visits, some spew and others stew…”

******************************************Neil Wyrick’s book RUST ON MY SOUL is available on amazon.com
To view an abundance of unusual stories and comments by Neil Wyrick go to Neil’s other blog ONE A DAY, YOUR SPIRITUAL VITAMINS
Click on the following URL http://oneadayyourspiritualvitamins.blogspot.com/

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