Month: May 2025

We are far removed from the contested battles over what letters should be included in the New Testament canon.  We open our Bibles and give little thought that the book of James was contested not just for centuries but for over a millennium.  It was not until Council of Trent in 1545 to 1563 that the issue was settled for the western church.  Martin Luther (1483 -1546) would have been very happy to exclude this “epistle of straw.”  Luther objected because he did not feel it was strong enough in presenting Jesus as our Savior.  James presents the law as a “law of freedom” in contrast to Paul calling it a “law of slavery, wrath and death.”  See James 1:25, 2:12 and Romans 4:15, 7:10.

It is fascinating to think of both James and Paul being correct.  If one is seeking God’s favor the law falls far short because we fall far short.  When Paul was Saul, he was a law keeper’s law keeper and found no joy only condemnation at his personal failures to measure up. When he became Paul, he discovered the gift of grace and the happiness of knowing eternal life was not to be earned but accepted.

However, for those of us who live in a nation of “freedom under the law” we understand an umbrella of law provides us with the freedom to live reasonably safely from those who do not have the law “written on their hearts.”  If everyone were like Paul filled with the Holy Spirit we would not need black and white cars with blue lights. Paul understood grace.  James understood that even with the Holy Spirit in us we often need the guidance of written law for our behavior.

Written by Roger Bothwell on June 26, 2012

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We were talking about the National Spelling Bee and uncommon words so I thought “dystopia” is a word we should know.  We all know “utopia” an imaginary place where everything is perfect.  “Dystopia” is just the opposite.  It is an imaginary place where everything is dysfunctional like Lucifer’s kingdom.

I was tempted to say that this world is dystopia.  If I focus on the world and local news things don’t look very good.  If I listen to the politicians trying to get our votes, things seem horrible. And of course each one is the solution if we believe what they say. But there is another side to our world. There are flowers, warblers, vistas and a whole array of truly beautiful things to capture our attention. This is my Father’s world.

And there is the dilemma.  Is this my Father’s world or is this Dystopia?  It seems that it can be either depending upon our focus.  This is a world filled with suicide bombers and missile-laden drones firing out of the sky like lightning.  The world is filled with good people who daily sacrifice for the benefit of others.  The world is filled with sadistic psychotics. It would be easy to go on listing examples of the dichotomy in which we live.  That would be useless because we know both are here.  Whatever we look for we will find.  There is a plethora of either.  Jesus knew very much of what He spoke when He said, “Seek and you will find.”  The quality of our lives is the fruit of our choices.  If one wishes to live in a dystopia, it’s here.  If one wishes to live in our Father’s world. It too is here.

Written by Roger Bothwell on June 5, 2012

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Yesterday was idyllic.  In the ides of the afternoon we found ourselves sitting by a city pond watching swans, geese and one particularly loudmouthed white duck.  Across the pond was a gazebo occupied by a couple much more fascinated with each other than where they were. Behind us was a sign, “Please do not feed the geese.”  In front of us was an eighty-year-old lady feeding the geese.  I was fascinated by her blatant action.  She must have reasoned, “What can they do to me if I am caught?”  The answer would be very little.  Authorities are not going to put her in jail.  They could fine her but she could refuse to pay it.  They are not going to put her in stocks which could have occurred here in Massachusetts three hundred years ago.

Basically she was immune. Which raises the question, “Why do we obey laws?”  Is it merely because we fear we will be punished or could it be possible that we are more noble than that?   Might we be responsible enough to inquire as to why the law?  What are the reasons for not feeding the geese?  There are many.  The consequences of feeding the geese have health, civic and environmental results.  Is it possible that as humans we might see the larger cause beyond our own immediate gratification, punishment or lack of?

In the 18th Century Immanuel Kant proposed that he could not morally act in any way that would not be permissible for all to act.  True morality is the foundation for universal behavior.  Thus the old lady was a great offender because catastrophe would ensue if everyone came and fed the geese. Her action was selfish and destructive.  Alas, great-granny was/is a sinner.

Written by Roger Bothwell on September 17, 2012

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Charles Spurgeon, the great 19th century English preacher, once used the following wonderful story.  It seems a particularly loud-mouthed know-it-all boarded a ship.  After a few days at sea with the obnoxious one telling everyone, even the captain, what to do, a severe storm arose.  The captain was very busy trying to keep everyone safe when the unbearable man started getting in the captain’s way.  The captain took him to the front of the deck, handed him the end of a rope and instructed him to hold very tightly and to talk to no one.   After the storm subsided and all were safe the man stepped forward expecting to be hailed a hero for saving the ship.  As he insisted on recognition for his great feat, he forced the captain to speak.  The captain then revealed the other end of the rope the man clutched was not attached to anything.

Spurgeon’s point was all who think they will earn heaven by their wondrous feats and righteous lives will someday discover they were only holding a rope connected to nothing.  If we long for salvation there is only one way.  We have to trust our Captain.  Jesus and only Jesus will be able to take us safely to the other side.  Paul put it so well in Ephesians 2. “Saving is all his idea, and all his work. All we do is trust him enough to let him do it. It’s God’s gift from start to finish! We don’t play the major role. If we did, we’d probably go around bragging that we’d done the whole thing! No, we neither make nor save ourselves. God does both the making and saving.”  The Message Paraphrase.

Written by Roger Bothwell on July 16, 2012

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Long I stood in the pet store trying to find the chameleon.  I felt pretty stupid considering it was in a glass enclosure that wasn’t overly large.  Finally I saw it, but only after it moved.   As I examined how well it blended in I remembered the first time I ever saw one.  When I was a little boy someone brought one to church.  I remember being told how evil it would be if we blended into our culture and people couldn’t tell we were Christians.  They quoted Romans 12:2 and made a real impression on me.

Years later when I was a teen all I wanted to do was to blend in.  It is a common characteristic of early teens.  They have so many changes happening to them physically and mentally they don’t want to look or act weird.  Even as we age, to be reasonably fashionable is not something to shun.  To be modestly dressed in the manner of the day is not wrong.  One of the best advertisements for a product is to be appealing and we would not make Christianity very appealing if we were a gazing stock noted for our bizarre clothing. The Amish people are a wonderful people noted for their honesty, but we certainly don’t see people flocking to join them.

The best way to not blend in and to be different from others is to be the kindest, most caring, and most unselfish person in our circle.  How grand it would be if we were noted for never being a gossip and being the one person in the crowd who always had something nice to say about others.  That is a nice kind of weird.

Written by Roger Bothwell on August 16, 2011

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If I thought he was crotchety you should have seen her; gray, hunched over and making those shuffle steps unique with the aged.  What happened next was wonderful.  He opened the truck door for her as she crawled into the passenger’s seat.  Using the truck for balance and support he went around to the driver’s side and mounted himself behind the steering wheel of a bright red Dodge Ram 1500 with a Hemi.  The hood was scooped and ready to suck air.  The special mufflers rumbled as he pulled away leaving me a view of his chrome pipes.  It was magnificent!

Life only stops when we decide it is over.  I have known people in their fifties who pretty much stopped.  Obviously it wasn’t this elderly, I will not call them old, couple. I wondered if they were heading home for an evening of romance.  I wouldn’t doubt it.  Maybe it was a first date or perhaps a 5000th!

Life is a wonderful mystery that takes place in our minds.  As our senses pour data into its library we classify, sort and decide just what we are going to do with the data.  Some use it to reinforce bad memories and others use it to springboard ahead for the next adventure.  In John 10:10 Jesus told us He came to give us the abundant life.  That’s for now and the future.  He shares the secret of that abundance.  It is service and being inventive in hospitality.  The more ways we conceive for helping others are more ways for blessings to come our way.  Blessings are like tide.  They go out and shortly thereafter they come flooding back.  It’s a great system designed by the One who is Himself the source of all blessings.

Written by Roger Bothwell on July 25, 2011

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The more we understand each other the more we live in harmony.  Nothing causes more difficulty than one group wanting everyone to be like them.  I have noted similar problems when reading the Bible.  We sometimes err by thinking the writers of the Bible were like us when nothing could be further from the truth.  Not only do we have the cultural differences of various groups of people but horrendous differences in chronology.  Just as our great grandparents would suffer culture shock if they could resurrect now, so we think far differently than people that lived two and three thousand years ago.

Often we err by looking at the Bible as one book written at one place in one time.  There are over 1500 years between Moses and John.  Also it is easy to project Christian values upon Old Testament characters.  But to do that falsely colors the stories.  Abraham and company were not Christians.  They weren’t even Jews.  The Jews were the descendants of Judah, the grandson of Abraham.  There is the issue of the occidental mind and the eastern mind.  Paul was an extremely unique individual educated in both arenas of thought.  His letters are an amalgamation of two worlds, two cultures, two philosophies and one very special way to salvation.

How fascinating that God chose to reveal Himself to us via shepherds, politicians, fishermen, farmers, tax collectors, historians, warriors, a philosopher, a physician and a scholar.  And the sum of it is an amazing story of God’s love for all cultures, all people and not just our little group.

Written by Roger Bothwell on February 8, 2012

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In 2013 Nik Wallenda crossed the little Colorado River Gorge on a tight rope.  In an interview on NPR he spoke of the balance that comes from a lifetime of practice.  He spoke not just physical balance on a wire but of personal balance in his life.  He spoke of a lifetime of ordering one’s priorities if one is to live a full life.  It is easy to become absorbed in one facet of life and let things shift out of balance.  We have all seen people who major in their diet and others who major in going to church; if the results are not vibrant health and being a loving person than something is out of balance.

Much too some people’s surprise Jesus was not overly religious, at least by the then community standards.  He rarely attended religious services and when He did it didn’t always end up very nicely.  He had harsh words regarding the religious leadership.  He kept bad company and yet He spent entire nights in prayer.  He liked boat trips on the Sea of Galilee and beach trips to the Mediterranean. He didn’t talk like the priests.  He told stories about real life.

I don’t consider myself to be a religious person and yet after performing weddings I often disappear early on in the reception party because I know people are more comfortable celebrating if “the preacher” isn’t there.  Most of the people Jesus made uncomfortable were the religious ones.

Balance comes from a lifetime of experience.  Eating, socializing, studying, playing, resting, praying, working, telling stories, laughing, and being with family are just a few of the important things we balance in our lives that we might live an abundant life.

Written by Roger Bothwell on July 1, 2013

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When I think of Wells Fargo, I think of stage coaches rocking and bouncing their way over dusty roads only to arrive in town with pretty ladies getting out without a hair out of place nor having a speck of dust on their flowing dresses.  I think of horsemen with handkerchiefs over their faces robbing the stage and taking the strong box.  On a lighter note I think of a song from the musical “The Music Man”.  “Oh, the Wells Fargo wagon is a’coming down the street.  Oh, please let it be for me.” But now a new picture comes to mind.  It seems that Well Fargo has become the robber.  Alas, another childhood image dashed.   Don’t get me started on Columbus.

Psalm 146:3 wisely says, “Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help.”  I can promise you the only person never to let you down, never to be dashed to pieces by revelations of immorality, never to be sullied with tales of misconduct is Jesus.  Guilt by association is the worst thing they could say about Him.  He did run around with an unsavory lot.  He would even have had dinner with you and me.  How about that?  It seems that God has no taste in people.  He loves all of us.

Read the following from Hebrews 4:15 and be amazed. “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are–yet he did not sin.”  When He says, “Trust me” we really can.

 

Written by Roger Bothwell on October 13, 2016

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I think I was about five years old the first time I heard Romans 10:13, “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”   It made a great impression on me.  I recall associating it with a picture of Peter drowning in the stormy sea because he had taken his eyes off Jesus.   He called and Jesus grabbed his hand and together they walked over to the boat.  I am awed by this now, let alone the impression it made on me at five.  I determined right there that I would always be ready to call to Jesus.  It wasn’t until I went to an academy (high school) in Bible classes that I unlearned Romans 10:13.   What I mean by unlearning is my Bible teacher added a lot of “buts” to the promise.  According to him, while it was true I was saved by calling out to Jesus I then had a list of do’s and don’ts if I was going to stay saved.  It was most depressing.  I almost gave up on the whole thing.  Sadly to say many of my classmates did give up.

Fortunately, I went on to college and I am so grateful that once again I relearned Romans 10:13 along with some accompanying verses like verse 9.  “If thou shall confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shall believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shall be saved.”   I also learned that Paul wrote in Galatians that the moment anyone adds a ‘but’ he has negated the cross. I think some people fear this will lead people to live a self-centered life of sin.  But it is just the opposite.  Because I have been given such a gift I don’t want to sin.  I want to be like my hero – Jesus.  That’s the way it works.

Written by Roger Bothwell on September 17, 2009

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