Author: Ian Bothwell

While in college I participated in a few oratorical contests and thus have an appreciation for the anxiety of standing on stage, knowing that you did your best, and fearing you will hear your name as the person who didn’t make it.

Through the years I have known many Christians filled with anxiety and fear about their eternal destiny.  It is like standing before God’s throne waiting for the horrible news that you did not make it.  When you ask them if they are saved they respond with “I hope so.”  Somewhere along the way they have confused assurance of salvation with spiritual pride and they want to be humble.  Assurance of salvation has nothing to do with self but has everything to do with Jesus.  To live and rejoice in the promises of Jesus is all about praise to Him and not ourselves.

Paul wrote, “I know in whom I have believed and He is able.” II Timothy 1:12.  We might be tempted to think, “Well, that was Paul and he was special.”   We need to remind ourselves that God doesn’t play favorites.  Acts 10:34.  What was good for Paul, Peter and even Jesus is good for us.  Both in Galatians and Romans Paul assures us that we are co-heirs with Jesus Himself.  That is so beyond belief; if it were not in Scripture I would say it was totally crazy.  Chase away the anxiety and fear and live in the luxury of God’s Fatherhood.  Accept the promises of Jesus and know that should you so choose you are a winner and will never hear that you have to cease singing.  Live we shall.  Inherit we shall.  Sing we shall.

Written by Roger Bothwell on March 14, 2013

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

Rogerbothwell.org

 

Because I was not at the top of my game I stayed in the car while my wife got groceries.  My eye caught a couple very engaged in conversation; so much so they pushed their cart of groceries into the parking lot shopping cart bin leaving all their food behind.  As they drove away I tooted my horn; but, to no avail.  They were gone. I was sure they would be back so I would be a really good guy and guard their things until they returned.  Not five minutes passed and they were back.  It’s a standard human response to laugh when one is embarrassed.  They laughed.

Not wanting to paint myself as wonderful because I really didn’t do anything but toot and that was too late, I did think about having someone to watch over us.  There are times we too become very engaged in something; so much so we also forget important things.  Life can be most engrossing and full of things; so much so that we neglect the important thing of remembering to maintain our relationship with God.  I don’t want to say that’s okay.  However, He is very understanding and He doesn’t go away.  He waits and watches and knows when we regain reality we will be back.  What I love about this is He doesn’t toss us out when this occurs.  He’s a good Father and though we don’t always act like it we are still in the family.

In the meantime He “sends His angels to keep us in all our ways.”  Psalm 91:11.   I wish that meant nothing bad would ever happen to us.  Alas, we live in a world where bad things do happen to good people. But it does mean He will always make it right.

Written by Roger Bothwell on March 16, 2012

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

Rogerbothwell.org

 

 

On our way into a Friendly’s I held the door for a family on their way out.  As a little guy passed me I heard him say to his dad, “I want to come back here again.”  Too bad Friendly’s didn’t have that on camera.  It would be a great ad.   I found myself wishing we could figure out how to get the same reaction from our youth regarding coming to church.  During church we have a children’s story and a mob of little kids flood the front pews.  But where are the teens?  Something happens during adolescence and we rarely hear, “I want to come back here again.”

I realize it does have something to do with being a teen.  After all 4000 teens start smoking each day.  That says a lot about their cognition.  The truth is we are competing with media productions that spend hundreds of millions of dollars to capture their attention.  It’s pretty hard to preach an eye and ear catching sermon without the visual fade ins and outs, the finely tuned music and the built-in laugh track.  Lest I sound totally pessimistic I do want to point out we do have something on our side the other side doesn’t have.  God promises to send His spirit to attend us.  Should we be wise enough to seek that help,  we will have something on our side no amount of clever, eye-catching media production can ever match.

One of the things every one of us needs to understand is “preaching” at them and “exhorting” just doesn’t work.  They react to it like it was smallpox.  Telling people not to do something usually elicits just the opposite response.  Inspiration is the key.  We must inspire them.  We must make them want to do what is best for them and love is the magic potent.

Written by Roger Bothwell on March 15, 2012

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

Rogerbothwell.org

 

 

While waiting for my wife to come and get me I sat on a rock at the side of a parking area watching the world go by.  It was warm and breezy – perfect.  Just then a woman came across the parking area toward her car.  She was carrying a good sized framed picture.  What followed should have been part of an old-time Abbott and Costello movie.  The breeze was just enough to turn the picture into a sail.  I kid you not.  She was blown from one side of the lot to the other twirling in the breeze.  At one point she needed to pull her dress down but that would require letting go of the painting which she would not do.  I should have rushed to her defense but I do have to admit, insensitive as I am, I was having way too much fun watching.  Only when she finally got to her car did I think that I should have videoed her with my cell phone.

Surely Paul would have enjoyed it with me and included it in Ephesians 4.   “Henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, . . .”  Almost every day I get emails filled with some ridiculous twisted thinking and they often end by demeaning either my loyalty to Jesus or my patriotism to my country if I don’t pass it on. I’m not concerned about that.  I am concerned about my friends believing the incredible stuff anyone can so freely disseminate on the web.

A really good policy to follow is to believe that others are as trustworthy and reasonable as we, until they prove themselves otherwise.  If ever, this is a great time to follow Jesus’ Golden Rule.

Written by Roger Bothwell on March 15, 2012

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

Rogerbothwell.org

 

I spent a lion’s share of the day connected to bottles and needles being filled with lots of interestingly expensive stuff.  Because it was 72 degrees when I came home I sat outside enjoying the warmth.  A mosquito landed on my arm and I watched her drink. (What’s one more needle?)  As she tanked up it occurred to me that she was getting far more than she thought she was getting.  Along with the blood she also tanked up on all the other stuff that was put in this morning.  I wonder how she will respond to her exotic meal.  The mosquito will be altered because she bit me.

In the midst of my ridiculous musings I remembered Eve.  She bit and she got ever so much more than she thought she was getting.  Satan did not lie when he told her she would learn much.  She did.  She learned about death, disease, hatred, etc.  When a teen decides to start smoking they too will get much more than they think they are getting.  They are getting bad breath, stained teeth, tarred up lungs, premature wrinkles and finally an early death.  Sin is that way.  It looks good.  Often it starts out nice but once past the sweet part comes the payment.

If only we could trust God and understand He always has our best interest at heart.  God has a reason for the don’ts.  I have a grandson who once stood in front of our woodstove.  Long he stared and then he did it.  He touched it.  He got so much more than he had imagined.

Written by Roger Bothwell on March 13, 2012

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

Rogerbothwell.org

 

Elementary school teachers tell me they know when the weather is about to change.  They don’t need a barometer because the children get fidgety.   I wonder if that is also true with dogs.  Our weatherman is telling us a large storm is heading our way and today our dog has been fidgety.  Every little sound created an explosion of raised hair and ear piercing barking.   If the volume of ruckus roused had anything to do with it when the mailman came, one would have thought he was a terrorist.  While channel surfing I paused for a few moments on the end of Family Feud.  When the correct answer came up on the board there was a ding.  I do admit that it sounded like our doorbell and you can guess what happened.

Through the years I have known people who must have been aware that the weather was changing.  Every war, every earthquake, every natural disaster made them start barking that the end is near.  Our fervent desire for the second coming of Jesus sometimes clouds our better judgment.  The continual “wolf wolf at the door” has a dulling effect on our young people.   Soon they turn us off and discount everything we have to say regarding faith.   Our so very relevant message for vibrant living isn’t heard because of our not paying attention to Jesus Himself.  He said, “You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come.”

It’s popular for preachers to focus on end time events because they get lots of rave comments at the door after church.  It’s an easy sermon prep.  All they need do is recap the week’s news.  But let’s beware we don’t become fidgety barking dogs.  Be pastors and care for the flock which so often need to be reminded that Jesus loves them.

Written by Roger Bothwell on March 6, 2013

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

Rogerbothwell.org

 

Daniel is the only significant Bible character for whom we have no mention of his personal failures.   Then I remember that it was Daniel who wrote the book of Daniel.  Perhaps his failure to mention any personal fault was his personal fault.  However, I should be careful and not sit in judgment.  It is easy and wrong to judge persons in different times and different cultures by our cultural standards and values.  We do have the tremendous value of hindsight.  We are inundated with and privy to information, scientific research and knowledge of God Himself that was not available to those who preceded us.

The revelation of God’s nature and character wasn’t clear until Jesus came.  Paul wrote, “The Son is the image of the invisible God.”  Colossians 1.  The advent of Jesus was the most dramatic presentation of deity ever given to man.  Jesus said, “If you have seen me you have seen the Father.” John 14.   We have been so blessed but with that blessing comes great responsibility.  “From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; andfrom the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.”  Luke 12

A small child today, hearing the stories of Jesus, has more information regarding God than did the Bible greats.  I sometimes forget that Old Testament characters were not Christians. I do them and myself a disservice to read their stories looking through today’s glasses. Jesus was so right when He admonished us not to judge others.  We only know what we know and we do not have the right to judge others by the abundance of our light and also by the limitations of our light.  Surely we are not as smart as we think we are.

Written by Roger Bothwell on March 11, 2013

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

Rogerbothwell.org

 

My wife came home with the words that every man wants to hear.  “The car is making a strange noise when I turn.”   Now being male, (just by genetic endowments all men immediately know what is wrong with a car) I headed for the garage to check the power steering fluid level.  To my disappointment it was fine.  So the next thing was to drive it so I could hear the noise and then make my instant diagnosis.  Men are good at that.  However, I turned this way and that and could hear nothing wrong.  So she rode with me and said, “There.  Don’t you hear it?”  Only then did I hear a slight creaking sound.  It was not what I was listening for.  I was so predisposed with my analysis without evidence I could not hear what she heard.  I was listening for something else.

So there it was.  I was like the rest of humanity.  I allowed my preconceived ideas to interfere with reality.  We do it all the time.  We come away from a situation and say, “Did you hear the nasty thing she said?”  And our partner says, “No.  I never heard that at all.”  We run our religion and our politics and our relationships with others through our biased filter.  We hear the things we want to hear and are deaf to what we don’t want to hear.  If we don’t hear what we want we alter the truth to make it correspond to our preconceived notions.

I have had people accuse me of saying things in a sermon I know I never said.  But they were so sure.  They heard with their own ears.  But I still never said it.  When Jesus said, “Let him who has ears hear.”  I think He was talking about dispensing with the filter.

Written by Roger Bothwell on Masrch 7, 2013

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

Rogerbothwell.org

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I have never been to the Holy Land.  Through the years I have resisted the urging of friends to accompany them on a tour of walking where Jesus walked.  It is a desire to allow my imagined vision of Galilee and Jerusalem to remain intact.  Bible stories have been a part of me for as long as I can remember.  I have elaborate mental pictures of Jesus in the temple, on the sea, dining with His friend Lazarus, walking amid the street vendors and tax collectors.  I don’t want them replaced with Jerusalem’s present day McDonalds and Kentucky Fried Chicken fast food outlets.  I don’t want to see the building that is now atop the stable in Bethlehem nor see Fords, VWs or Mercedes traveling the streets where Jesus walked.  I am aware that I can be accused of living in a fantasy world that denies reality but I like my fantasy and do not desire to have it polluted with modernity.

Imagination is one of the greatest gifts God has given us.  We are made in His image and His entire creation is the fruit of His imagination.  Before there was anything there was Idea culminating in “Let us make man in our image.”  Birds, fish, and mammals with their great displays of variety must have given Him great joy to bring His fantasies into reality.  Alas, His dream quickly turned into a nightmare but He was not caught unaware.  Even this He had imagined and He quickly made provision for His new human family to come back.

Crucifixions were common in the Roman Empire.  How many times did Jesus walk past men nailed to crosses?  Surely His imagination chilled His spine and elicited the prayer, “Father, help me.”

Written by Roger Bothwell on March 8, 2013

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

Rogerbothwell.org

Can you believe it?  I was ten miles away from home and I threw away my car keys.  I had not eaten since breakfast.  No, it wasn’t 9:30 A.M.  It was 3 P.M.  I was driving past the Taco Bell where we usually ate lunch when teaching at Atlantic Union College, so I stopped.  I put my car keys on my tray and unwrapped my burrito.  Not thinking about the keys I unconsciously covered them with paper wrappings and napkins.  The next time I thought about keys I was in the parking lot.  While going through the ritual of checking every pocket I realized what had happened.  I groaned as I thought about going back to the trash bin and sorting through half-eaten burritos, smashed tacos, yucky chicken bones (It is also a KFC.) and cups of soda that had been dumped.  This wasn’t going to be pretty.  Can you imagine the electronic key being saturated with diet Pepsi?

While digging deep into other people’s trash I thought about Jesus doing this on a daily basis.  In the yuck of earth He and the Holy Spirit continually rummage about seeking lost souls.  This is so much more important than me looking for lost keys.  Actually they weren’t lost.  I knew where they were.  I just had to soil my hands to retrieve them.  It’s the same way with Jesus.  People aren’t really lost.  He always knows where they are.  He just has to convince them there is a better life waiting for them.

I like the idea that no one is ever lost.  God isn’t careless.  In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus speaks of His Father knowing about the death of a small bird.  How much more does He know where we are.  Always!!

Written by Roger Bothwell on March 8, 2012

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

Rogerbothwell.org