Insightful Musings on the Scriptures

by

Raymond P. Sparre
Northwest University class of '67

Good morning, dear people.

Brrr. It’s cold here. Their thermometer registered 35 degrees this morning. Little wonder there was shivering and snuggling in the unheated RV trailer this morning…kind of like visiting New Zealand in July with only summer clothing. After getting up I was able to figure out how to fire up the little furnace.

Today is the big day…the main celebration of Dave’s and Dolores’ 50th anniversary. The main event will be at a city park in Kalispell. Lots yet to do to set up. I may go out right now and try on a little jog…and hope I don’t meet a grizzly. I’m not really worried about that in this area, but a local resident that lives nearby who has spent time up on the mountainside that looms in front of us said there are large numbers of grizzlies, cougars, and wolves up there…which is messing up the population of deer and elk.

Blessings on the day before you. Keep quoting Romans 14:17.

Love, Dad/Ray.

There is obviously a huge spectrum of perspective, opinion, and bias within the Body of Christ. In dealing with it all, we face a huge challenge. Sorting out all the differences between ESSENTIAL and NONESSENTIAL is not easy. But the difficulty is minimized by our grasping and understanding the BOTTOM LINE ESSENTIALS of the Kingdom of God. Paul clearly states them here for us. Don’t let this get by you. It can serve as a valuable filter for processing just about every conflict that arises within the Church.

I’m going to attempt my own expanded paraphrase of this verse: “Those who truly get to participate in the full benefits of God’s plans and purposes do so, not because of their great opinions and preferences, because of their Christian DOING, or even because they have developed a wonderfully accurate theology—but because of their Christian BEING—a HEART AFTER GOD that reveals itself in attitudes and behavior—the same way that the specie and quality of a tree is demonstrated and confirmed by its fruit. The essential fruit of God’s Kingdom begins with RIGHTEOUSNESS (right relationship with God by loving Him, right relationship with others by loving them, right response to His Word by obeying and seeking). This status will yield the accompanying benefits of PEACE (a calm of heart, truly trusting in the Sovereign Lord) and JOY (such an internal delight and excitement in the awesome privilege of this relationship that it permeates every part of one’s life and cannot be hidden). These are not the products of shear human effort, but, in fact, results of the inner workings of God’s Holy Spirit.”

May I suggest that, in personal and practical terms, you need give careful attention to your own paraphrase of this verse. However you slice it, please accept it for what it claims to be—a BOTTOM LINE ESSENTIAL of the Kingdom of God.