Insightful Musings on the Scriptures

by

Raymond P. Sparre
Northwest University class of '67

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March 6, 2010
    Good morning to my special family and friends.
    Our dog, Daisy, kind of made a bed for herself in our field last evening.  I fed her there and even covered her with a blanket before I retired.  But then this morning while still in bed it occurred to me that I totally failed to consider coyotes.  I went out at 5am and found her not far from where I left her.  She was fine.  I coaxed her into the house where she lay down for a time.  She's a miserable dog.  I spoke with a vet assistant yesterday morning and I think her hunch is correct--a snapped/broken ACL tendon.  There is no way we can go for several thousand dollars in surgery.  We'll just do our best to help her survive as a cripple.
    My good friend, Elvin Huston, who receives these devotional blips, also posts and archives them on a website for  60's alumni of Northwest University.  He's given me the webpage link.  For whatever it's worth, here it is: http://nc60salumni.com/sparre/sparre.html.
    I'd better get on with some design work before meeting a spokesperson at 10am for doing another "Welcome to Molalla" city sign.  Then I'll try to do some Spring cleanup around the place.  Looks like a gorgeous day for it.
    Blessings.
        Ray

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6 March 2010
Passage: Acts 14
Focus: “We too are only men, human like you.”  Acts 14:15.

            Paul and Barnabas spoke correctly to the crowd at Lystra when they tried to prevent the people from making sacrifices to them following the healing of the cripple.  “Men, why are you doing this?  We too are ONLY MEN, human like you.”  We know what they meant.  But on the other hand, in a technical Biblical sense, their words were not altogether accurate.  By this angle, Paul and Barnabas were NOT ONLY MEN.  They were men born again, called of God, and filled with the Holy Spirit.  There is a profound difference.  ONLY MEN don’t experience new life in Christ.  ONLY MEN don’t produce the fruit of the Spirit.  ONLY MEN don’t take seriously the “Great Commission” and become missionaries.  ONLY MEN don’t take a stand of non-conformity to their cultural environment and make themselves vulnerable to the hatred of men while serving in the love of Christ.  What’s more, ONLY MEN don’t go to heaven.
            The simple point I’m making is that you and I cannot afford to be ONLY MEN.  We need to be people who respond to and move in the plans and purposes of God.