Insightful Musings on the Scripturesby
Ray Sparre, NU class of '67
Ray has a wealth of experience as a Husband, Father, Pastor, Missionary, and student of the Word. He believes and practices his faith where the rubber meets the road. You'll find his writings to be practical, insightful, and grounded in a truly Christ-centered world view.
Below are links to a printable daily Bible reading guide which Ray has followed, and an archive of all his daily devotional writings for 2010 and 2011.
| Sparre Home Page | Daily Reading Guide | 2011 Devotion Archives | 2010 Devotion Archives |
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15 May 11
Good afternoon, dear nice people.
I’ve already got up from bed at 4:40am, did my devotional routine, did NOT do a jog (phooey!...it was pouring rain), went to our Gospel Sing appointment at Country Meadows in Woodburn, ate lunch, got in a little nap, and now need to get this off before we run to another Gospel Sing session at Pheasant Pointe in Molalla at 3pm. It’s presently 3:46pm.
What did you do today?
Time to go…
Have a great rest of your day. Love, Dad/Ray.
15 May 2011
Psalm 14
Focus: “The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God.’ They are corrupt, their deeds are vile.” Psalm 14:1.
Interesting. As my Bible lays open, the entirety of Psalm 14 is on the left page. My eyes scan across to the opposite page and notice a verse I underlined with red from a previous reading—Psalm 16:8. It occurs to me that these two verses represent the two opposite and extreme classifications of people in general insofar as Biblical faith is concerned. They are like the maximum points of a swinging pendulum. On one side we have the THEORETICAL ATHEIST who argues that “There is no God.” On the other side we have David representing the AUTHENTIC BELIEVER who says, “I have set the LORD always before me. Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken” (16:8).
Let’s pause here for a moment and pick up on this swinging pendulum idea. We’ve already identified the extremes, but what about all that space in between? How do we classify people who are between those extremes? There are, no doubt, more, but I will suggest just two categories: (1) PRACTICAL ATHEISTS. Somewhere in my past, the point was made that one does not necessarily need a detailed argument against belief in God to be an ATHEIST. That would be the THEORETICAL ATHEIST. A person who may claim some religious orientation, yet lives their life as though there was no God—no accountability to God—that person can be appropriately called a PRACTICAL ATHEIST. This person may not argue atheism, but they practice atheism. May I also suggest that this is the most dangerous form of atheism available?
(2) SUPERFICIAL CHRISTIANITY is also in that space between the two extremes. You know—that’s where the Christian hypocrites live. They are skilled at “talking the talk—but don’t walk the walk.” WARNING: Before we allow ourselves a lot of comfort talking about all “those hypocrites,” be aware that hypocrites don’t normally know or believe that they are hypocrites. Anyway, if you are seeing things the way I am, through the lens of Biblical revelation, we recognize that there really isn’t a lot of difference between numbers one and two—they’re quite similar in their behavior and moral values when no one is looking—even identical insofar as their eternal outcome is concerned.
I don’t need to get more “preachy” here. You know where you are in relation to this swinging pendulum. You know that the safest position to pursue is to be as far RIGHT as possible. And you also have to know that no one occupies that position by accident—because that lifestyle is definitely not natural. While none of us knows absolutely where lines are drawn, my best hunch is that those on the LEFT of the RIGHT will be left.
“The three great apostles of practical atheism that make converts without persecuting, and retain them without preaching, are health, wealth, and power.” - Charles Caleb Colton