Author: Ian Bothwell

In preparation for an accrediting visit for our college we have to locate and report on the whereabouts and successes of our graduates.  No one in our department knew the whereabouts of one of last year’s psychology graduates.  We started pulling out all the stops to find him.  We asked in classes from other students.  We did computer searches.  We finally found him.  He is working in our college library.  Our psychology department is in the library basement.  His desk is immediately above mine on the first floor.  During the day he sits about five feet above me.  He was lost!  We didn’t know where he was!

His proximity to me reminds me of students who tell me they have no or little contact with God.  They go about their daily routines sealed in their own little cocoons not aware that God is so very near.  And unlike our student who was not trying to get our attention, God, who is self-revealing, has been trying to get those students attention.  This week He has painted the sugar maples on campus with luscious reds and yellows.  He has wafted 70 degree zephyrs through their hair.  He has whispered to them via lectures from Christian professors and yet they don’t perceive His wooing.

In Romans 1 Paul mentions that we are without excuse because the invisible characteristics of God are evident in the visible things He has provided us.  In the Psalms there is a wonderful verse that says, “Though I ascend to the heavens thou art there. Though I make my bed in Hell thou art there.”  Psalm 139.   How is it that someone can be so close and yet so far away?  It’s amazing!

Written by Roger Bothwell on October 25, 2010

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

Rogerbothwell.org

It seemed like such a long journey.  A strong headwind added another hour to our trip from Boston to San Francisco.  As we all know food on airlines has become an endangered commodity and my complimentary bag of peanuts just didn’t do it for me.  It was about four hours into the flight when I heard the rustle of cellophane.  Glancing left I watched a lady remove a bag of licorice twists from her carryon.  The fragrance of licorice wafted across the narrow isle.  Longingly I watched as she grasped the end of a twist and slowly pulled it from the cellophane bag.   She didn’t just bite it, she savored it.  She slowly pushed it past her lips as my stomach began to groan with desire. I felt like the ancient mariner who said, “Licorice, licorice everywhere and not a twist to eat.”  I think that’s what he said.I want to tell you I gained a whole new appreciation for Psalm 23:5, “Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of my enemies.”  This time I was the enemy.   The food was on someone else’s table.

Even as a boy I was concerned over what I perceived to be smugness on my part with God caring for me and not for another.  Yet I understood the blessings for those who make God our shepherd.  What a difference Jesus made.  He changed everything. Jesus helped us understand our role is never to be smug but instead to be caring for everyone.  “If your enemy is hungry, feed him.  If he is thirsty, give him a drink.  For in so doing you will heap coals of fire on his head.  Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”  Romans 12.

Written by Roger Bothwell on July 12, 2010

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

Rogerbothwell.org

 

It was one of those hot summer days when I had no control over the car.  As we drove past the Dairy Queen the lovely female voice of my GPS said, “Turning right and stopping.”  Well, there we were parked in front of a dazzling display of tempting posters.  Who was I to argue?  I fell prey to the one flaunting a Peanut Buster Blizzard.  One of D.Q.’s marketing tactics is to give you a half an inch higher than the edge of the cup.  That works fine on normal days.  Today was just plain hot and the instant the fans in the car blew over that half inch bonanza, I was in trouble.  Before I could even stick out my tongue to catch the now melting ice cream I had a spray of it all over my hands, my shirt, my pants and there was no way the napkin could catch it.  What a glorious mess and it just wouldn’t stop.  It kept getting worse and worse.

I now bring new meaning to “my cup runneth over.”  Abundance which comes quickly without proper preparation can often turn disastrous.  Our lore is filled with stories of lottery winners who quickly go from poverty to wealth to poverty in a very short time.  How often have we prayed for wealth?   How often have we promised God we would give huge amounts to His cause if He would only rig circumstances in our favor?  God is not a rigger.  He is a wise father who will supply our needs and sometimes add a little extra.

The Old Testament finishes with a very serious promise.  Jesus tells us if we are faithful, He will be faithful.  If we show ourselves wise stewards of a little, enough will come our way.  One thing we must always remember.  He is the God of Enough.

Written by Roger Bothwell on July 22, 2010

Spring of Life Ministry, PO Box124, St. Helena, CA 94574

Rogerbothwell.org

 

Today was a sleepy day in New England.  It rained most of the day and the temp never went above the mid fifties.  As hard as I tried I couldn’t keep my students awake.  They settled into their chairs and within a few minutes their eyelids were settled.  I tried almost everything.  To begin class I read a fabulous passage from Romans. Only half of them seemed aware of my presence.  I walked over and called some by name.  They roused for a few minutes but soon were back in dreamland. There was a temptation to be miffed except for the fact that just yesterday I was in a faculty meeting and was in the same stupored condition.

Jesus had a similar problem with His disciples that horrible night in the garden.  But He did acknowledge their human nature.  Sometimes we just can’t stay awake. He understands His sleeping church.  We can take comfort that He never condemned the ten young women for sleeping while waiting for the groom to come to the wedding.  It is not natural to stay in a state of excitement constantly waiting for anything, let alone something we have been told for decades is at the door.

Perhaps the best thing is not to hype ourselves up every time there is an earthquake or some other horror.  The best thing is not to be event watching or studying someone’s fabricated time chart but instead establish a living, breathing, eating, walking, talking, and sleeping relationship with Jesus that is so real it doesn’t matter when He returns.  Our goal should be to be so involved with Jesus that going to heaven will merely be a change of address.

Written by Roger Bothwell on October 7, 2010

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

Rogerbothwell.org

If it has been a while since you have read Psalm 103 I would like to recommend it for your devotion today.  Read it slowly. This has to be one of the richest lists of blessings we can find anywhere.  Allow me to list some of them.

Verse 2 – Forget not His benefits.  In order to not forget, one has to know them.  We receive so many benefits every day that we don’t even know about.  How often does our angel intervene to protect us?

Verse 3 – He heals our diseases.  Ah, I wish that were always true.  How often have we had loved ones die an early death.  This must be referring to our resurrected bodies spoken of in I Corinthians 15.

Verse 4 – He redeems us from eternal destruction.  He crowns us with mercy and loving kindness.

Verse 5 – He fills our mouths with good things.  He renews our youth like eagles.  I’m not sure what that means.  But it’s a nice sounding metaphor.

Verse 6 – He executes judgment for the oppressed.  Obviously this happens in heaven because a lot of good people get bad deals.

Verses 7 through 10 – He is merciful and slow to anger and doesn’t pay us what our sins have earned.

Verse 11 – His mercy is as high as heaven is above earth.  Wow.

Verse 12 – He puts our sins as far from us as the east is from the west.  Glad it doesn’t say north from south since they meet at the poles.It is obvious the psalmist didn’t write this as a theological treatise but as a song for us to enjoy and to fill our days with happiness as we contemplate how fortunate we are to have such a loving God.

Written by Roger Bothwell on October 22, 2010

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

Rogerbothwell.org

 

In one of my psych classes today we confronted the issue of our human tendency not to accept blame even in the face of our failures.  Noble Adam was quick to blame both God and Eve for his failure.  “The woman, you gave me, she made me do it.”  Last evening our phone rang at 11:30 pm.  It was someone from our college who had dialed our number instead of the number he wanted.  The number he wanted was one line below our number on his card.  Upon realizing he had the wrong person he immediately blamed the person who printed the card by saying they had the numbers inverted.  They did not.  The error was his but being human he immediately blamed someone else.  He never did apologize for calling at that hour.  Aren’t people wonderful?  Aren’t you happy to be one?

Actually I am happy to be a human.  Not only are we the top of the food chain but we are amazing creatures, who for no cause of our own, are loved by our Creator.  When He finished making us He said, “That’s very good.”   What is astonishing about Him is not only doesn’t He blame others for His mistakes (He doesn’t make any.) He accepts responsibilities for ours.  Notice I didn’t say He accepted the blame for our sins.  What I did say is He accepted the responsibility for our sins.  There is a huge difference.  He can’t be blamed other than that He gave us free choice.  It is how we use that free choice that was and is the problem.

But He did accept responsibility. He did it on the cross.  He paid for our sins and by grace we get a brand new start every day until we no longer need one.

Written by Roger Bothwell on October 19, 2010

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

Rogerbothwell.org

 

One of my students from Jamaica cannot pronounce my name.  As hard as she tries she can’t get her tongue between her teeth at the necessary instant.  When we are born we can learn any language and any sound but as the years wane so does our ability to form sounds.  In Judges 12 there is a fascinating story where Jephthath required people to say the word Shibboleth in order to cross the Jordan.  The men who could not make the sh sound were slaughtered, a gruesome story. I promise not to slay my student because she cannot get my name right.

Obviously passwords are not something new.  Yet in this twenty-first century we live in an age of passwords. I have so many different passwords for so many different computer accounts I have to keep a file of them that requires a password to open. I was wondering today, if there were a password, what password God might require to enter heaven’s gates.  I don’t think there is one but if there was I think I have come up with the perfect password.  “Thank you.”

“Thank you” is what we say when we receive a gift. Since eternal life is a gift what could be more appropriate?  Our entire life is a stream of gifts.  We began with the gift of birth.  We certainly didn’t have anything to do with that.  It continues on and on.  Each day right now I am so thankful I live in New England.  It is mid October and everywhere I look I have to say, “Thank you” for the stunning beauty. Each time I eat I say, “Thank you.”  My list could go on and on.  Yes, I think “Thank you” is the perfect password for heaven.

Written by Roger Bothwell on October 20, 2010.

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

Rogerbothwell.org

 

Last evening my wife and I went for supper at a place that features local musicians.   When we entered there was a small group performing that included a female singer.  She had a terrific voice but was a bit difficult to watch.  Her facial expressions looked like she was in pain but what came out of her mouth was anything but painful.  I noticed an old guy sitting in a back corner by himself.  I wondered if he came in just to be somewhere.  He looked scruffy and I completely misjudged him.  When it was time for the next group of musicians to take front and center the scruffy old guy worked his way to the piano.  Oh, my!  It was beyond amazing.  With not a single piece of written music, for the next thirty minutes he dazzled us with music that came from deep inside. It just flowed out.  So much for thinking he was just some old guy in the corner.  I kid you not.  I would have remortgaged my house to pay someone to teach me to do what he was doing.

It is no wonder that Jesus told us not to judge other people.  We really don’t have the abilities to make good judgments about others.  So often we make assessments using the wrong indicators.  I know the Bible says by their fruits we will know them.  But, rarely do we spend the necessary time needed to be good fruit inspectors.  We make snap judgments based on the flimsiest of details.

I didn’t shave today and have gray stubble that makes me look like a cheap version of Freddy the Freeloader.  I really wouldn’t want someone evaluating me on such scratchy evidence.

Written by Roger Bothwell on October 18, 2010

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

Rogerbothwell.org

 

By now I’m sure many of you have seen Alex Trebek selling Colonial Penn Life Insurance.   In small print at the bottom of the screen are the words “Compensated Endorser.”  “That’s me,” I thought.  “Compensated Endorser.”  For over twenty years I have been attempting to write at least five devotionals each week endorsing Jesus.   Some weeks, like last week, I don’t make it.  What an amazing privilege it is to be an endorser for Jesus and I must say the compensation is amazing.   It has to be far better than anything Alex Trebek gets from Colonial Penn.  All they can give him is money.  Jesus gives me forgiveness of sins, cleansing of guilt, peace of mind and best of all eternal citizenship in God’s magnificent kingdom.  I am most assuredly the best compensated endorser in the history of promotion.

Paul certainly caught on to this.   He started out as a persecutor of those who followed Jesus and when the light came on Paul became the world’s most famous traveling salesman for the very product he had hated.  He wrote, “I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.”   2 Timothy 1.    He even speaks of never being ashamed of his product.  It was the finest anyone ever had to present to any customer.

I want to recruit you to join Paul and me and the host of others who have come to know that Jesus offers something literally out of this world. “Compensated Endorser”  I like the sound of that.  I especially like what it means.

Written by Roger Bothwell on July 19, 2010

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

Rogerbothwell.org

It’s fantastic to live in a community with people who care.  This evening we were unaware that the thunderstorm heading our way housed a tornado.   That is we were unaware until friends south of us who were watching television saw the threat to us.  Our phone rang and a caring voice said, “Turn on your television you are in a tornado warning zone.”   Thank you, Paul.

The next few minutes were filled with getting birds into the basement and in general preparing for the worst.  Thankfully after much thunderous noise and lots of water the storm moved east.  Hopefully those people also had someone to call them.

In I Peter 5:7 we read that God cares for us.  If we are to be imitators of Christ, as we are urged to do in Philippians, we must indeed be watchful to see need and to be quick to offer and supply what is needed.  Thankfully, I not only have people who call me I also have people who enable us to quickly reach out when we perceive problems.   Just last week I overheard one of my grad students say quietly to another student, “I don’t know how I am going to feed my four children lunch.  I don’t have any food or money.”   Needless to say because so many of you on occasion send offerings to our Spring of Life ministry her problem was cared for immediately.

It is very rewarding to be a part of something much bigger than ourselves.  God gives to us that we might be streams of blessings.  And when we are a stream, we are the ones with the biggest smile.

Written by Roger Bothwell on July 20, 2010

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

Rogerbothwell.org