Month: September 2021

I spent a quiet weekend with Isaiah.  The imagery of his prose is powerful.  As I read I realized how proper we have become in our puritanical church vocabulary.  English provides us with ample synonyms that we might soften the prophet’s language with acceptable verbiage.  If I ever preached with the harshly descriptive words of Isaiah and the other prophets I am sure I would never be asked back again, that is if I was even allowed to finish just one sermon.  Depending upon which translation one uses one comes across words that I would not use in this devotional.  But the meaning of Isaiah’s message was and still is overwhelming with his sincerity and passion.

Isaiah 53, the suffering servant chapter, is most likely the best known of his writings.  But there is plenty more there for the interested reader.  Chapter one reeks of his disgust for God’s people’s immorality.  There is barely any sin he does not cover in his blanket condemnation.  And yet in chapter one there is also one of the most gracious of all verses of Scripture.  “Come now, let us settle the matter,” says the LORD. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool. If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the good things of the land; . .”

Isaiah is so vastly different from the stories of the Gospels and the theology/philosophy of Paul.  The scope of Scripture and its diversity of styles and themes has something for everyone.  If today you are hungry for poetry there are the Psalms.  If tomorrow you are hungry for intellectual challenge there is Romans.

Written by Roger Bothwell on September 10, 2012

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

Rogerbothwell.org

 

Can you spell “chionablepsia?”  How about “schwanoma?”  Now you can because you can see the word.   However in a National Spelling Bee you do not have the luxury of seeing them.  You would only hear the words from an official pronouncer.  The first word means snow blindness and the second means a benign nerve sheath tumor.

However, one soon learns the quest is rewarding but never satisfied.  Solomon wrote, “My child, let me give you some further advice: Be careful, for writing books is endless, and much study wears you out.”  There needs to be balance in our lives.  Study and play, worship and exercise, sleep and family time, work and vacation are all needed for a good life.  Furthermore, we need to remember we have eternity to study.  Sometime in the far flung eons of time you and I will be reading and writing essays that will make Einstein’s work kindergarten material.

Our goal right now is to be sure to seize the opportunity for such a future.  Be sure to accept the gift offered to us by Jesus and the vastness of space and time and knowledge will be ours.  The incredible Teddy Roosevelt, multi-learned man, wrote, “A thorough knowledge of the Bible is worth more than a college education.” He wasn’t putting down on college.  He was reminding us not to forget the best.

Written by Roger Bothwell on June 4, 2012

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

Rogerbothwell.org

 

I was fascinated today when I asked an extremely well educated man to read a few sentences from John Dewey, twentieth century American philosopher and educational reformer from the university of Chicago and Columbia.  Before reading the passage he asked, “Who is John Dewey?”  I was startled for a moment and then realized just how focused one can become.  His many years of education were obviously not in liberal studies but very honed in the sciences.  I was also impressed that he did not hesitate to ask what he did not know instead of faking it.

When other people do not think as we or see the same things as we, often we are quick to think less of them. However, life is so very full of things to learn and we have but a short time in which to do so.  Some people are amazingly informed and bright about a few things, while some of us know a little about a lot of things.  I am one of the latter.  There is no area in which I can claim to be an expert.  But I do so enjoy having a nodding acquaintance with a broad spectrum of things.

When I was a pastor I soon learned my congregations were filled with people who knew enormous amounts of things about topics I barely knew existed.  It is why when I talk to young pastors I counsel them to do a lot of fact checking before they say something from the pulpit.  People do not think less of you when you acknowledge you do not know something.  But you can lose a lot of face by pretending to know when you don’t know.

Jesus has always fascinated me in that as God He knew all.  But He sacrificed all that to be human.  Luke 2:52 speaks of His growing in wisdom.  When He took on humanity He took on beginnings as we.  So often when we speak of Jesus’ sacrifice we think only of the cross.  It was so much more than that.

 

Written by Roger Bothwell on September 7, 2012

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

Rogerbothwell.org

 

A special tribute to my dear Jazz who closed her eyes for the last time today.  See you and Roger in heaven.  By Ian on September 7, 2021

Happy Birthday to my dog who keeps me safe from rabbits, skunks and foremost the mailman.  She is 49 dog years old today making her menopausal, but we fixed that a few years ago, so her temperament is as predictable as sunrise.  Her super hearing and her sense of smell give me a sense of comfort when I awaken during the night as I hear her softly moving through the house.  Should the marauding raccoons cruise through our nighttime yard she warns them and alerts me with a very low ever so deep rumbling sound.  She makes me feel welcome when I come home from school, sometimes even when I am only returning from the mailbox.

I have a friend who quotes Revelation 22:15 to remind me that I better get my fill of dogs now because there will be no dogs in heaven.  My friend thinks God is a “cat person.”  Obviously this verse is a solid argument against Biblical literalism.

I cannot remember never having a dog.  Jazz, my current canine, is my number twelve.  While I do not believe Jesus died on the cross for animals, I do believe Jesus wants to personalize heaven for us by making my home better than yours and yours better than mine.  Therefore, because of God’s great love for us He will do all He can to make heaven the best place ever for us.  Thus, I await opening the front door of my heavenly home and being besieged by a dozen dogs so happy to see me because I returned from going outside to get the mail.  (There will be no junk mail in heaven.)

So Happy Birthday Jazz.  We are off to Burger King to get you a Whopper.

Written on June 8, 2016 by Roger Bothwell

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

Rogerbothwell.org

 

Very often we hear parents say they want to do well so they can give their children the things they, the parents, did not have.  Usually when said they are referring to material items they want for their children and the struggles of life they wish to keep from their children.  Yet wise men tell us that the law of growth is struggle, stress and storms.  No pain – no gain.  Body builders know that repetitions and making muscles burn is what makes them stronger.  Material things do not grow character.  Joseph was sold as a slave. For forty years Moses fled Pharoah’s wrath.  Jacob wrestled with the angel.  Daniel was taken from his family to a conquerer’s land.  Each mountain to climb is an opportunity to be a better person. The history of our world is the history of struggle.

How ironic this is so often the very thing we want to keep from our children.  Love is not pampering.  Love is doing that which will make our children better people.  There are very few, if any, pleasures or satisfactions more gratifying than accomplishment.  To do that which is hard and to learn to do it well is why we are here.  Adam and Eve were to tend the garden.  They did not have angels coming to be their gardeners.

Heaven is not a place where we will instantly do all things well.  Heaven is the time it takes to learn, to practice, to struggle, to press our limits no matter how many centuries it might take.  God is glorified when His children accomplish, just as we applaud like crazy when our eight-year-old little leaguer finally gets a hit.

Written by Roger Bothwell on September 6, 2012

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

Rogerbothwell.org

 

I begin with a quote from Shakespeare instead of Jesus or Paul.  It is from Romeo and Juliet whose families saw only wrong in each other.  “A plague on both your houses.”

This is the season for half-truths.  Could the speakers, defenders and promoters of their political views really believe the rest of us are so stupid we cannot see through their feeble intellectual attempts to manipulate us?  Perhaps that is what upsets me.  My vanity is at stake when I am taken to be a fool. Perhaps twelve years from now when my mental faculties have waned will I be taken in by the transparent foolish grabbing for power?  But not this time around.

But as Solomon said, “There is nothing new under the sun.”  This has been going on for thousands of years. The two most powerful contending political parties in Jesus’ time were the Pharisees and the Sadducees.  One positive thing about the ministry of Jesus was He brought unity to the Sanhedrin.  Both sides hated Him.  He stomped on both sets of egos.  If you want some very interesting reading try out Matthew 23 before going to bed this evening.  Jesus was neither meek nor mild.  And just as now the underlining issues were financial.  Jesus cleansed the temple twice during Passovers.  He cost them huge sums in lost revenue.

How grand it is to know that our real leader, our Heavenly Father, will never lie to us nor try to feed us half-truths.  Hebrews 6:18 tells us that “it was impossible for God to lie.” By His very nature He is the Truth.   It is Satan who is the father of lies. John 8:44.

Written by Roger Bothwell on September 5, 2012

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

Rogerbothwell.org

 

 

“A huge crowd kept following him wherever he went, because they saw his miraculous signs as he healed the sick.” John 6:2.  So they asked him, “What miraculous sign then will you give that we may see it and believe you? What will you do?”  John 6:30.  In John 11 He raised a man back to life who had been dead for four days.  Did they believe?  No.  Miracles really don’t work.  They are in some fashion a show that can easily be fraudulently duplicated by charlatans, magicians and false prophets. Miracles never have been the proof of someone in whom we should believe.

The power of Jesus was His message.  It was truth about His Father and their nature.  The authorities did not crucify Jesus because He performed miracles.  They crucified Him because of what He was saying.  The authorities were not stupid men.  They quickly saw the implications of Jesus telling us to call God, Our Father, and to go into our closets to pray.  With a single sentence Jesus eliminated the middle man.  Each person became their own priest.  An entire economy built around the priesthood, sacrifices and pilgrimages was jeopardized.  God was not a divinity to be bought off with gifts.  He was a personal friend who cared for the poor just as much as the rich.

No one in history had ever spoken the truths for personal living that Jesus outlined in the Sermon on the Mount. He revolutionized religion.  No longer were we unclean because of what went into our mouths but because of what came out.  It is the vomit of the heart that fouls us.  Look not for miracles.  Look for truth and you will find it in Jesus’ words.  He is the Word.

Written by Roger Bothwell on September 4, 2012

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

Rogerbothwell.org

 

I had never seen a “Code I” before last week.  I was in a first grade observing a student teacher when suddenly over the intercom came the words, “Code I.”  Instantly the teacher hurried to lock the classroom door and turn off the light.  As she hastened to pull down all the window shades the children scurried to a pre-assigned place where huddled together on the floor so they could not be seen from the window in the door.  For over five minutes they made not a sound, even when someone came and rattled the door.  I soon figured out the “I” stood for intruder.  When the all clear was given one little guy came up to me and said, “Did you hide?”  I assured him that I had.

This was a 21st century equivalent to the “H-Bomb Drill” we did when I was a little guy.  I remember thinking how stupid it was to be under my desk for surely such a weapon would just vaporize me.  But then I realized it depended how far one was from the center of the blast and hiding under the desk could protect us from flying glass.

Alas, the human condition is indeed one of fear and insecurity.   It has been this way since Cain struck Abel.  The world is and always has been filled with danger and death.  Recently someone lamented to me how bad the world has become.  “Become,” I asked.  If we think it is worse now than ever it is only because we were asleep in history class.  Those of us who are blessed to look in the mirror and see wrinkles and gray hair are blessed.  We are survivors.  The only way it will ever get better is for Jesus to keep His promise and come again.

Written by Roger Bothwell on February 21, 2011

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

Rogerbothwell.org

 

In order to put a new timing belt in my car the mechanic had to remove the front bumper assembly.  Upon putting it back in place it is now necessary to drive it sixty or so miles before the onboard computers can calibrate distances required for the proper operation of the front radar sensors.  Since I only live ten miles from our little college it will be two or three days for things to work as designed.

I had to remind myself of a time in my experience when I allowed my daily devotions to lapse.  Life just seemed to unconsciously take over before I realized what had occurred.  It was not a deliberate act.  It was so easy to lapse.  What fascinated me was when I realized what had happened and I began anew I had to bring myself back up to speed.  I had to recalibrate my orientation to my walk with God.  How fascinating it was that I could not just pick up where I left off.  If you don’t use it you lose it.

Paul must have understood this because he wrote to the Romans (12:2), “Be not conformed to the world.”  It was paraphrased by J. B. Phillips, “Don’t let the world squeeze you into its mold.”  It is so easy to lose precious ground by the distractions around us.  When I think about having to recalibrate it is like most everything in life.  If we stop practicing the piano we have to recover.  If I am out of the classroom for a week, I have to spend a bit of time getting back into a rhythm.  Maybe it’s just me but I am suspicious it is the same for all of us.

Written by Roger Bothwell on March 2, 2011

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

Rogerbothwell.org

I feel like I’m adding to Art Linkletter’s “Kids Say the Darndest Things” when I tell you what happened to me in a first grade classroom today.  While supervising a student teacher a little girl approached me and asked, “How old are you?”   I told her and she seemed satisfied for about five minutes.   Upon returning she said, “You look like my mother’s boyfriend.”   “Hum,” I thought.  Either her mother is dating a very old man or I’m looking “good.”   I prefer the latter explanation.   On the way out I laughingly mentioned it to the room teacher and she told me that yesterday a little girl came up to her and put her hand on the teacher’s tummy and said, “When are you going to start birthing children?”

You just have to love little children.  It is no wonder Jesus’ loved to have them come to Him.  I’m sure He must have a litany of wonderful things children have said to Him through the centuries.   It will make a great afternoon of listening and laughing while Jesus tells us about them.   I don’t want to miss the matinee program. Since He knows everything He can fill in great details.

Years ago someone tried to convince me that Jesus never laughed because His mission on earth was just too serious to have time for levity.  To which I have to respond, “Nonsense.”  It was Jesus Himself who created us to laugh.  He knows how healing it is.  “A cheerful heart is good medicine.”  And a good laugh relieves so much stress and tension that is so destructive to us mentally and physically.   It is true that life is serious but really “recess” is good for everyone.  Balance in life is a tremendous quality.

Written by Roger Bothwell on March 3, 2011

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

Rogerbothwell.org