Insightful Musings on the Scriptures
by
Raymond P. Sparre
Northwest University class of '67
Good evening, dear ones.
We did it last night—took the boys up to the snow to do what SKI BOWL calls Cosmic Tubing. I came to regard it as an $81 cosmic rip-off. Although Thano, Kaden, and Nicholas succeeded at making it through the huge disgruntled crowd to get in about 5 runs down a track of about 75 yards, the whole deal was inefficient and chaotic from beginning to end—including the line for getting the tickets. We opted for this in favor of making memories for Christmas rather than giving stuff. I guess we succeeded at making memories. The Subway sandwiches we had on the way home were terrific. Incidentally, once the boys were set up with the tubing scene, I took off for about 45 minutes or so on skis and did a few runs—since I can now ski free. That helped to compensate for the rip off.
I had a good conversation with a fellow I rode with on the chairlift. He was a captive audience—with nowhere to go. It was a long way down. He actually thanked me for talking about things important.
I’ll end with revising an idea I heard today: More important than keeping Christ in Christmas is keeping Christ in Christians.
Have a great night.
Love, Dad/Ray.
Have you ever wondered why world history reveals so much intense hatred for Jews? Have you ever wondered how it is that the Jewish Nation has even survived over time to remain a distinct people group in the wake of all that hatred? I am convinced that explanations for these historical phenomena cannot be done in purely objective and reasonable terms—it can only be explained spiritually. Based on the Biblical premise that there are only two spiritual powers (kingdoms) in the universe, I have to draw these two fundamental conclusions:
- Satan hates the Jewish people and wants to destroy them (as well as those who embrace the promised Jewish Messiah).
- God loves the Jewish people and has promised to preserve them (as well as those who embrace the promised Jewish Messiah).
This chapter presents a dramatized symbolic overview of this reality. God seems to love theater and puts on a real show for John! But without attempting to unravel and interpret all the data and details, I want to focus on the bottom line that sustains God’s people as contained in verse 11 “They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so as to shrink back from death.”
The reason I refer to this as “the bottom line” is because I believe the same recipe for overcoming that characterizes this group of Jewish believers from the tribulation period, is the same recipe for our own victory. Let me summarize this way:
- Personal salvation—“by the blood of the Lamb.”
- Evangelistic testimony—“by the word of their testimony.”
- Fearless faith—"they did not love their lives so as to shrink from death.”