Month: February 2020

While going through old papers, one of our friends in California came across a forty-seven-year-old newspaper from Andrews University.  Thoughtfully she mailed it to me thinking I might be interested since my picture was on the front page. I doubt if anyone in my present circle of friends would recognize me if my name wasn’t also there.  If it is true that we totally exchange all our cells every seven years or so that means I have had almost seven different bodies since that picture was taken.   Since I have in the past year or so gotten a new knee and a new hip that brings the score up to eight for those parts.  That person in the picture was me but isn’t me.  So the question arises who are we or what are we.  If that was me but isn’t me who is me?

For all of us, “Who am I” is one of life’s great questions.  I am my mind. But what is that and how does it differ from my brain?  Perhaps my brain is a house where my mind lives. Am I but a collection of memories, attitudes, ideas and a temperament?  Are these what God saves when this mortal shell stops breathing?  If I read 1 Corinthians 15 correctly Paul says we are but a seed to be buried that will yield an incredible being as unlike the seed as a big red juicy watermelon is different from the black watermelon seeds we spit into the grass on a hot summer afternoon.  It does appear that resurrection is really recreation.  Or should I say creation, since what appears is not like what died?

When I was 22 and a graduate of the seminary I had answers.  No more.  Now I wait for the God, who promises to do far more than I can imagine, to give me the real answers.  See Ephesians 3:20.

Written by Roger Bothwell on February 19, 2010

Spring of Life Ministry, PO Box 124, St. Helena, CA 94574

Rogerbothwell.org

 

Unlike our 50.6 degree evening right now, on one 15.2 degree evening this last weekend my lab and I were out enjoying the crispest and clearest of winter nights.  The sky was so deeply black I am sure one could have seen a 7th magnitude star though we are only supposed to see 6th magnitude stars with our unaided eye.   But this night we were stunned by Sirius.  Even having once lived on the equator in a land with no light pollution, I have never seen it brighter.  Normally Sirius is -1.46 magnitude but this night it must have been brighter.  It is our 6th closest neighboring sun at 8.6 light-years distance.  If the moon had not been at half, I think Sirius would have cast a perceptible shadow.  The light that filled our eyes this night in 2011, left Sirius in September, 2002.   It might have exploded last year and no longer be there but we will not know that until 2019!

I find myself thinking if God turns on the light and the heat it must be for some creature’s benefit other than us.  To think God made the stars for us is about the most egocentric thing we could think in our self-conceit.  My do we ever think WE are important!   Yet, I have actually heard that from a pulpit.

Hebrews 1:2 is one of my favorite verses about Jesus.  It says, “In these last days (God has) spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds; . . .”   Our Jesus, our creator, the one who took responsibility for us after we disappointed all heaven, made Sirius.  If that was all He made He would be worthy of our worship.  But He also made the other 100 trillion suns in our medium size galaxy

Written by Roger Bothwell on February 18, 2011

Spring of Life Ministry, PO Box 124, St. Helena, CA 94574

Rogerbothwell.org

It’s about time to hang the buckets on the sugar maples.  When the temperature during the day goes above freezing and at night drops below freezing, the trees become gigantic pumps pushing gallons of leaf-making sap upward into the branches.  Soon I will see my wife drilling holes in our trees. (I don’t do it. She’s the Little Red Hen and I’m the one who eats from all her labor.)  She will boil down the sap on our woodstove. The house smells so wonderful when this is happening.  The essence of maple permeates everything.  I have had my students tell me they can smell it on my clothes.

In 2 Corinthians 2 Paul wrote, “Thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and manifests through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place.”  I love the imagery of Christians being a sweet aroma in our homes, our workplaces and our communities.  When I was a boy I lived close to Hershey, Pennsylvania.  It was always such a treat to drive through town and smell chocolate in the air.  We also had a large bread factory near our home.  I loved it when we would drive past it with the windows down.  If you did not salivate something was wrong with you.

Someone ran over a skunk last night close to our neighborhood.  From a distance (a long distance) the smell is almost sweet.  It is only when you get too much that it becomes offensive.   This is just like a Christian who gently and meekly radiates a Christ-filled life.  It’s great.  But, when you get too much, when the person becomes pushy, trying to force ideas, then they become pretty offensive.

Written by Roger Bothwell on February 17, 2010

Spring of Life Ministry, PO Box 124, St. Helena, CA 94574

Rogerbothwell.org

 

I found myself having a very pleasant conversation with a good friend. Suddenly I saw someone enter the room who I deemed to be more important. Quickly I terminated the conversation so I could associate with the more important person.  It was not until later in the day that I pondered what I had done and I was filled with remorse.  It sounds so very crass when I tell you about it.  But the truth is consciously I did not think, “That person is more important than this one.”  It was a subconscious social reaction whose meaning did not surface until later.  I just did it without thinking.

There is more than one thing wrong here.  First, I did it without thinking. Big mistake.  We should think before we do.  Second, there is no such thing as one person being more important than another.  Rank is a mythical social construction that implies one person has more value than another.  It reminded me of taking a cruise and being told there would be no place in the lifeboats for the men until women and children were safely cared for.  I was rudely reminded that an undereducated eighty-year-old woman would have more value than a fifty-year-old male Nobel Prize winning brain surgeon.

Perhaps it is the cross of Jesus that puts this into some perspective.  The creator of the universe died so we can live.  He took our place so we can take His place.  No, I’m sorry.  This isn’t working for me.  I don’t get it. There is no possible way this logically works.  That sacrifice is totally out of proportion.  When I see Him face to face I will be even more confounded.

Written by Roger Bothwell on February 16, 2010

Spring of Life Ministry, PO Box 124, St. Helena, CA 94574

Rogerbothwell.org

 

So many organizations rushed to Haiti to supply free medical help to victims of the earthquake that already established hospitals and clinics have gone bankrupt for lack of paying patients. In Africa free American food is rushed to famine stricken nations only to have farmers, who have labored all year to produce their crops, have the price fall out from under them because of our help.  Helping people can be a serious challenge.  How do you help someone without harming another or harming the very person you are helping?  There are times I see opportunities to help a student pass a class only to realize I have enabled their indolence and have reinforced bad habits.  While supplying grace to one situation I have contributed to an attitude that one need not really work hard and learn.

And so it is with grace. How can I steel myself against sin when I know that God will always forgive?  I can guess what you are thinking.  God knows our hearts and knows we are working the system; therefore, we will not get the grace we need.  But there is forgiveness for willful sin.  We can deliberately do wrong only to discover the consequences were much worse than we had anticipated and thus enter into a genuine repentant state.  Yeah.  We can.

The quest to be genuinely Christ-like and to always do the right thing for the right motive is an immense challenge I have been questing for all my life.  When I am totally honest with myself I know I need grace, lots of grace.  So how can God help us without harming us?  In His wisdom He does it very carefully because He understands our hearts are amazingly deceitful – deceiving ourselves.

Written by Roger Bothwell on February 10, 2011

Spring of Life Ministry, PO Box 124, St. Helena, CA 94574

Rogerbothwell.org

 

Life is full of wonders.  Today I had a new one.  I love teaching.  Students never cease to do something new.  Today in my human development class, which spans the twelve o’clock hour, a young lady got up and left the room. That happens all the time.  What followed does not.  About ten minutes later she returned with her dinner.  She had gone to the cafeteria and now sat down in class to eat her meal.  I was so taken back I didn’t know what to say.  My wife, an experienced elementary teacher, had the right comment.  But having never taught third grade I didn’t know I was to say, “Did you bring enough for everyone?”

Now Jesus would have had an even better comment.  He would have said, “Bring it to me.”  After blessing it He would have passed it out to everyone and then collected the leftovers for them to take back to the dorms.  The feeding of the crowd must have been very satisfying to Jesus; so much so He did it twice, once in Galilee and again east of the Jordan.  It brings joy to be able to meet genuine needs.

Ephesians 2:10 says, “We are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.”  To do good works is the purpose for our being. There is no real joy in those who constantly feed their own selfish nature.  Real joy permeates us when we discover a meaningful task, have the means to meet it and then do it.  When we do, the miracle of the feeding happens anew.  Resources are multiplied and we achieve our fullest potential.  That’s a grand experience.

Written by Roger Bothwell on February 9, 2011

Spring of Life Ministry, PO Box 124, St. Helena, CA 94574

Rogerbothwell.org

We were having breakfast at Denny’s this morning with friends when I recognized a semi-famous film star eating in the booth next to us.  It took my brain just a few seconds of running through its Rolodex files to identify him.  Later when I looked up his bio on the Internet I discovered we are just weeks apart in age.  It’s amazing what a really good face job and well dyed hair can do.   I definitely show more wear and tear than he.

I wonder what it is like to be semi-famous; always the co-star and never the protagonist.  Surely it has its advantages.   The pay should be very good and yet he can eat a quiet breakfast at Denny’s without having people pester him for an autograph.  But does he ever wish that just once he could have top billing?

There is a wonderful verse in Revelation 3 that says, “He that overcomes, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels.”  Just imagine the Creator of the universe personally presenting your name before His heavenly Father.  This is top billing.  This is being famous where it counts.  This is so much better than having a Wikipedia page, an Oscar, an Emmy, a Grammy or whatever fleeting human award one could receive. It’s truly grand to have friends in high places and this is as high as it gets. Never forget John 15:14.  “Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.”   And what has He commanded?  “A new command I give you: love one another. As I have loved you . . .” John 13:34

Written by Roger Bothwell on February 7, 2011

Spring of Life Ministry, PO Box 124, St. Helena, CA 94574

Rogerbothwell.org

 

At least six times each week I use a back road into our college.  Today I saw a new “No Passing Zone” sign.  I asked my wife how long it has been there.  “Years” was her response.  “Years!!!”  So much for being observant.  At least I am not alone.  One of the psychology texts I use explains how our minds protect themselves from being over-stimulated.  Our senses are continually feeding our brains billions of bits of data.  To avoid overload our brains subconsciously sort out what to notice.  We can see something hundreds of times and our brains reject any input–visual, auditory, etc.  No two people see the same event.  Everything is filtered.

I have some friends who see God working continually in their lives.  I have other friends who are just the opposite.  For these folk God isn’t much interested in them.  The difference isn’t with God.  He is the same today, yesterday and tomorrow.  The difference is our personal filter.  He is there whether we see Him or not.   Psalm 138 says it so well, “If I ascend into heaven, You are there; if I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there.  If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there Your hand shall lead me, and Your right hand shall hold me.”

There is a great old song that goes like this.  “Open my eyes that I might see glimpses of truth thou hast for me. . . Open my eyes, illumine me.” Paul assures us we do not yet see things clearly.   In I Corinthians 13 he tells us we are looking into a steamy mirror.  However, the Good News is little by little the steam evaporates.

Written by Roger Bothwell on February 12, 2010

Spring of Life Ministry, PO Box 124, St. Helena, CA 94574

Rogerbothwell.org

 

I live in Massachusetts, the land of the patriots.  No, I’m not talking about those guys who didn’t get to the Super Bowl this year.  I mean the real patriots who defied King George and his Redcoats.   One cannot spend much time anywhere near Boston without coming across some monument describing some heroic act.  No matter where one lives in America you will have heard of Sam Adams and John Hancock.  But what about Elisha Brown?

It seems the British had a nasty habit of quartering their troops with the local populace.  Without any choice people had to feed and house and often give up their beds to the Redcoats, who were very tough guys.  When you realize they marched in full gear from Boston to Concord (roughly 40 miles round trip) and back again, you have to admire their strength.  Well back to Elisha Brown.  He was not about to quarter a Redcoat.  So he bought a year’s worth of groceries and water and locked his windows and barred his door.  He settled in for a siege.  After about two weeks the Redcoats decided he was a crazy old coot, went away and left him alone.  Hooray for Elisha.

Was it courage or stubbornness?  I have often wondered how many people really do stand for truth, for love of God, for principle or are they just the kind of people who resist having anyone tell them what they can and cannot do.  Does it make a difference?  Absolutely yes, it does.  Never forget I Corinthians 13 where Paul says though I give my body to be burned if I do not do it for love it is worth nothing.  Scary.

Written by Roger Bothwell on February 11, 2010

Spring of Life Ministry, PO Box 124, St. Helena, CA 94574

Rogerbothwell.org

According to the dictionary the word “junkie” does not have to have negative connotations.  The second and third given meanings are “a person with an insatiable craving for something: and an enthusiastic follower: fan; devotee: a baseball junkie.”  Therefore, I have come to realize I am a junkie.  I am a good news junkie.  I like to hear about good things that happen to people.  I am also a Good News junkie.  I can’t get enough of the story of Jesus.  The hymn “Tell Me the Story of Jesus” is one of my favorites.

Hebrews 1:1-4 is all about Jesus.  It begins talking about Him right from the start.  “God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets,  has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become so much better than the angels, as He has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.”

Jesus is the “express image of His person.”   One of the reasons Jesus came was to show us what God is really like.  Those “various ways” in the past were the beginning of the revelation of God.  Jesus was the consummate revelation.  He made us rethink all the ideas we used to have about the Father.  The Father wasn’t just some super form of an Old Testament god but was the kindest, most caring, most concerned, most sacrificing and most loving God anyone could ever imagine.

Written by Roger Bothwell on February 10, 2010

Spring of Life Ministry, PO Box 124, St. Helena, CA 94574

Rogerbothwell.org