Month: June 2021

I am fairly sure there are days God doesn’t like me.  I know He loves me but loving and liking are two very different things.  I officiated at a marriage several years ago where it was evident the couple didn’t like each other.  So why would they want to get married and why would I participate?  It was complicated as are most relationships but it was evident they loved each other.  I was hoping they would grow to like each other.  It didn’t work out.  I should not have been so hopeful.  Without the liking the love eroded away.

I don’t think Jesus much liked the religious establishment that governed Israel.  His comments in Matthew 23 are extremely harsh and certainly are not used for persons we like. Yet He sat outside the city on the Mount of Olives and wept over them. I think He liked the woman who bathed his feet with her tears.  He certainly came to her defense when she was criticized.  There must have been something special about Zaccheaus other than his height.  It was obvious that Jesus liked him.  Jesus invited Himself home for dinner.  Liking someone is wanting to spend time with them and desiring to get to know them better.

Have you ever met someone for the very first time and didn’t like them?  Sure you have.  We all have.  Usually it is because they remind us of someone else that we don’t like and the new person is cashing in our dislike of the other.  The days God doesn’t like me are the days when I am very much unlike what He wants me to be.  Hopefully those days are not coming as frequently as in the past.  That’s what it is all about.  It’s about growing.

Written by Roger Bothwell on May 25, 2011

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

Rogerbothwell.org

 

 

It was one of those days.  I was standing still and was sweating.  I could have turned on the air conditioner in the house but my wife says I’m cheap.  I prefer to call it frugal.  So we did the next best thing.  We got into the air-conditioned car and drove to the air-conditioned mall for a slice of pizza.

After the pizza and an hour of roaming two levels of stores I realized there was not one thing in Macy’s, Sears, Penny’s and all the other stores that I wanted or needed.  You could turn me loose with a hundred dollar bill and it would be safely returned to you an hour later.  This is a bit disturbing.  How can it be?  Is it because I already have everything a human could possibly need?  Could it be that I have grown old and products are designed for younger people’s tastes?  Could it be I think just about everything I saw was overpriced?  Could it be I am more than a bit put off by a super-consumptive culture?  Could it be that I think 90% of what is in that mall is not needed by anyone?  Probably the answer is a combination of all of the above.

When I was little heaven was described to me as a place full of things that would make me happy.  I loved Christmas because I would get things.  I used to watch The Price is Right because of all the things people won.   When we watch the people in some places in the world being so grateful just to be alive and have their loved ones and watch those who no longer have their loved ones, we understand life isn’t at all about things.  Life is about loving people and being loved.

Written by Roger Bothwell on May 31, 2011

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

Rogerbothwell.org

 

There are things we see and learn that we really don’t want to know.  Many years ago when I was a pastor I pulled up alongside a car being driven by one of my church elders.  He was thoroughly enjoying a huge cigar; something on our no-no list.  Before he saw me see him I turned my head to the left as if concentrating on oncoming traffic. I didn’t want him to know I saw.  (There were times I would not have wanted him to see me.)  Recently my wife was reading the local police blotter in the newspaper and spotted the name of one of our students.  Ouch.  I wish she didn’t read that thing. Now I know something I didn’t want to know and I don’t want him to know I know. Or should I quietly and gently take him aside for a concerned man to man talk?  What is my responsibility to the school administration?  Do I need to tell them?  It could further complicate his life and jeopardize his education.  We have often heard that ignorance is bliss.  Often times it is.  Does knowledge obligate us to respond?

Adam and Eve were carefully and thoroughly instructed regarding the forbidden tree.  Lucifer via the serpent told them the truth when he told them if they ate the fruit they would learn things God didn’t want them to know.  They ate.  They learned all about death, loss, suffering, betrayal, selfishness and jealousy. While it is true that inquiring minds want to know there are many occasions when we should choose not to know.  I have on occasion felt sorry for God.  He knows all our dirt. How fortunate we are that He is willing and able to forget it should we only ask.

Written by Roger Bothwell on June 1, 2011

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

Rogerbothwell.org

She has a black wet nose.  She wants to please.  There are certain things she does understand.  She sits.  She speaks.  She finds her toy.  She gets the newspaper.  She wants to do more but there is so much she does not understand.  When talked to she sits and listens attentively.  She cocks her head and looks quizzically saying, “Can’t you bark that to me?”  But there is a barrier.

 Sometimes our noses are wet.  We want to please.  There are certain things we do understand.  We sit.  We speak.  We find toys.  We can read the paper.  We want to do more but there is so much we do not understand.  When God talks to us we sit and listen attentively.  We too cock our heads and look quizzically through the pages of the Bible saying, “Can’t you speak more plainly to us?” But there is a barrier.

Hopefully as my dog grows older she will understand more.  Hopefully as we grow older we will understand more.  For now we see as through a dark glass.  We catch glimmers of movement on the other side.  There is hope.  In 1 Corinthians 13:12 we read, “For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.

 Perhaps my dog will never understand, but we will. 

 Written by Roger Bothwell on March 25, 2002

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

Rogerbothwell.org

During this evening’s walk in the forest we eavesdropped on a long distance conversation between two barred owls.  One was close but the other seemed to be in the next valley.  I wish I knew if they were telling jokes, commenting on the day or making a date for later this night.  I wish I had been privy to the conversation.

There is so much we don’t know.  I want to know the names of all the trees, the spring flowers hiding under last year’s leaves and where the animals live.  One pays a price for exploring the forest.  As I sit here and itch I don’t know if what I am scratching was caused by the mosquitoes, the black flies or this year’s poison ivy that is decorating the forest floor with shiny leaves.  I think it’s a combination of all three.

How grand it would be to be as knowledgeable as Adam.  “Out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the air, and brought them to Adam to see what he would call them. And whatever Adam called each living creature, that was its name.”  Was he whimsical or systematic?  Did he name a bird or flower after one of his daughters?

“God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good. So the evening and the morning were the sixth day.”

Written by Roger Bothwell on May 27, 2008

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

Rogerbothwell.org

It is easy to mistake sanctification with senescence.  Young men commit the majority of crimes and as we age our inclination toward violence decreases. Aging is a continuous process of hormonal changes, which affects our thoughts and passions.  Often our improved civil behavior has little to do with a growing relationship with God but has more to do with lack of energy and the growth of common sense.

We could easily jump to the conclusion that it is then easier for God to save older people because of the decreased tendency to do wrong things. However, older people are not more like God.  It is just that their sins become internalized.   Pride, cynicism and selfishness are still there, but are more craftily disguised as concern for one’s community.  Our bigotry becomes a concern to keep up the quality of the neighborhood.  Our egotism and conceit that our faith is better than another’s is lauded as dedication and commitment to the ideals and values of our founding fathers.  Often conversion comes more difficult to the older people because they believe they already know because they have been around the barn a few times.

How very fortunate we are that salvation is not based upon outward behavior or inner holiness.  Salvation is a gift of God’s mercy that covers the sins of our youth and the frightening judgmentalness of our old age.  I write this not to maintain there is no growth for the person with a genuine relationship with God that would deny the transforming power of the Holy Spirit.  I just don’t want us to confuse it with something else.  Please see Romans 6:23.

Written by Roger Bothwell on May 28, 2008

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

Rogerbothwell.org

While we were in Philly this week the wonderful man who takes care of our dog took her to the Disneyland of the dog world.  He took her to Petco.  What an amazing place filled with so many new smells.  There were birds, reptiles, ferrets and fish. It filled her with wonder and gave her a whole new repertoire of things to dream about.    Now I have a problem.  What can I do to top that?  It is a hard act to follow.

Many years ago I was given the privilege of becoming the senior pastor where the former senior pastor was one of the world’s premier preachers.  No one in their right mind except an egotist would say yes to that offer. Fortunately for me the pastoral search process took over a year.  By the time I arrived the congregation was ready for almost anything.  It was a hard act to follow but people’s memories fade.

There is an interesting story in Matthew about a rich young man coming to Jesus and then leaving.  The story says his departure was filled with sorrow.  It is no wonder.  Once you really know Jesus, His care and His love, there is no good act to follow.  Jesus is not just a hard act to follow.  He is an impossible act to follow.  Who would sanely give up a life of grace for a life of works with all its insecurities?  Who would sanely say, “No thanks Jesus.  I’ll do it on my own.”

While it is true there are many acts in life that are hard to follow, when it comes to Jesus there is no act that can follow.  All that could possibly follow would be insanity.

Written by Roger Bothwell on June 14, 2013

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

Rogerbothwell.org

I really like the AT&T commercials with the man sitting on the floor with four children where he asks them such questions as, “Is it better to be fast or slow?” or “Is it better to do two things at once or just one?”  The children’s answers seem so spontaneous and delightful. If they are acting they should get Oscar nominations.  Acting comes fairly easy for children because they have great imaginations and not much self-consciousness.  Of course that changes as the years go by and they become adults.  As adults we are not nearly as wonderful as we were when we were small.

One of the greatest gifts God has given us is imagination.  Our minds alter things that are and invent things that are not.  Without imaginations we would still be riding horses to get from A to B. Without imaginations there would be very little interesting reading.  On Sixty Minutes this weekend they featured robot arms and hands that are controlled by the imaginations of the amputees.  It is stunning to see someone think about picking up an object and then watching the robot arm pick it up.  We are on the cusp of medical revolutions all because our Creator made us in His image.  When we look at the Universe we realize His is the greatest imagination of all.

When Jesus was a boy and passed crucified people hanging by the roadsides I am sure His imagination sent horror chills down His spine.  This was His Father’s business.  This was the plan.  Thankfully His imagination carried Him past the cross to “the joy that lay before Him.”  Hebrews 12:2.  In His imagination He sees you being with Him for eternity. Fabulous!

Written by Roger Bothwell on June 3, 2013

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

Rogerbothwell.org

 

I am shattered.  I have been married for over 50 years and today I witnessed my wife’s downfall.  All these years I thought she was perfect in every way. But, the bloom is off the rose for I was sitting white-knuckled with beads of anxious perspiration on my forehead as she blazed down the street at a terrifying 30 miles an hour.  This heinous crime must not go unavenged.  Justice must be served for behind her were the blue lights of a courageous patrolman doing his faithful duty to “serve and protect.”  I will rest easy tonight knowing he is there keeping scofflaws off the streets of our fair city.  Grandmas should not be permitted to turn our gentle streets into the mean streets of a mighty metropolis.

Now some of you might be thinking, “An infraction is an infraction.”  And you would be correct.  For Eve it was a bite of fruit.  For Moses it was hitting a rock with a stick.  Both of them and we, as a result, have suffered the consequences of those infractions.  Little things do matter.  A lie can be told with the arching of an eyebrow.  Things left unsaid are often more dangerous than what is actually spoken.  How many times on committees have I heard, when discussing a name for a job, “Well, I am not free to discuss this.  But if you knew what I know.”  That was it.  The job went to another without any real accusation or evidence.  Evil comes in many forms. It is most heinous when it dresses up in a robe of sanctimonious care.  Jesus said it so well, “Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves.”  Be careful out there.

Written by Roger Bothwell on May 30, 2013

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

Rogerbothwell.org

 

 

Over the course of the past two years I have lost 50 pounds and still weigh more than I did when I got married.  I must have been a skinny kid. Yesterday I went to pick up a 50 pound bag of wild bird seed and was amazed. I can’t imagine that for a decade or so I carried that weight around everywhere I went.  My heart, blood pressure and joints should be thanking me for making life so much easier for them.

Unfortunately, our physical weight isn’t the only burden we often bear.  There is the responsibility of mortgages, insurance payments, taxes, utility bills and for many there is tuition.  That would be okay if that was all there was.  But so often we also carry psychological burdens and the worst burden of all is guilt. It takes the bloom off of life. We kick ourselves each time we remember what we did wrong and wish we could go back and have a second try.  Rarely does life allow us second tries.   The good news is God is much more gracious than people.  People have long memories and often would like us to suffer for our wrongs. However, our God isn’t that way at all. He promises immediate relief from the burden of our guilt.  He is like parents who wait for Christmas to arrive so their children can open the packages.

“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us and cleanse us from all unrighteous.”  The only way for that verse to be better would be if John had included the word “quick.”

It’s time for us to travel light.  Lay it down and stomp on it.  Crush that guilt under foot because we have a Jesus who loves it when we do so.

Written by Roger Bothwell on May 29, 2013

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

Rogerbothwell.org