Insightful Musings on the New Testament
by
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 is following, and an archive of all his daily devotional writings for 2010.

|  Daily Reading Guide  |  2010 Devotion Archives  |
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16 Oct 10
            Good morning, dear persons.
            7:23am. Cold, clear, and dry.  I think I’ll forego the jog again and go right to work.  Much to do before it gets dark again.
            In view of the fact that some may not be able to visualize my sawmill machine, I’m sticking on a photo.  This one shows Thano at the controls on a recent job in Sherwood.
            Have a great day doing whatever you need to do…even if what you need to do does not seem great.
                        Love, Dad/Ray
 
16 October 2010
Passage: 1 Timothy 2
Focus: “I want men everywhere to lift up holy hands in prayer, without anger or disputing.” 1 Timothy 2:8.
            I want to offer some further comments on paraphrase Bible translations.  I don’t have a problem with them—as long as they are not in conflict with our best understanding of the original texts.  In fact, I think they are good and helpful.  Furthermore, I believe that every believer is required to do paraphrases of their own.  That is, they are called upon to take the essential meaning of the revealed word of God and paraphrase it into practical application by their thinking and acting.  I think this approach is entirely compatible with the dictionary definition of “paraphrase”—“A restatement of a text or passage in another form or other words, often to clarify meaning.”  The way I see it, your Christian life is a paraphrased version of the Bible. Can you imagine how confusing and conflicting things could be if we were caught up with assigning versions to our Christian lives?  “I do my Christian living in KJV.  What’s your version?”  “I used to do it in ASV, then I shifted over to NIV.”  “Well, I start the day doing an AMPLIFIED Christian life, but by evening I’m back doing the LIVING BIBLE.”  Good grief!  Give me a break!
            Anyway—I want to attempt a paraphrase of this focus verse and its context as I understand it.  I believe Paul is essentially saying, “My main objective as an appointed herald and apostle of this Gospel is to inspire, challenge, and help people everywhere to hook up to the life-changing flow and power of God so as to become people who are truly holy (i.e., set apart for God’s purpose and pleasure) and able to worship God in spirit and in truth, free of anger and argumentation with God or man.”  That is certainly not a bad quest.  And it is certainly not just Paul’s individual quest.  It is also God’s (and should be ours) as stated in verses 3 and 4: “This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth” (which results in holiness).
            Let’s be reminded that holiness is not optional.  It was a recent reading in Hebrews that presented a similar message.  “Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord” (Hebrews 11:14).  You and I both know that this is no snap and simple matter.  But still it’s NOT OPTIONAL.  Get it straight—there is only one way it can be achieved—“Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27).
            “Consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am the LORD your God.  Keep my decrees and follow them.  I am the LORD, who makes you holy” (Leviticus 20:7-8).
            “You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness” (Ephesians 4:22-24).
            Do you agree?—this is important!
 
            “Watching Hollywood portray Biblical Christianity is like listening to a gangster lecture on honesty.”