Author: Ian Bothwell

I’m sitting here looking at the current issue of Popular Mechanics.  The cover “grab your attention headline” is 20 Bold Ideas that will change the world; quake proof buildings, cheap solar power, finding water on the moon, curing cancer with laser, cars that drive themselves.  Technology is changing our world so rapidly I’m afraid to buy anything lest it be antiqued before I get it home.  There is no doubt this is the most interesting ever time to be alive.  I don’t want to get any older not because I’m afraid of dying.  Jesus has taken that fear away.  I don’t want to die because I don’t want to miss what’s coming next.

If the afternoon judge programs on TV are a valid sample of our general population, I hope not but fear they are, then something becomes extremely clear.  All the wonders of technology aren’t doing a thing to change human nature.  We are still as bright and stupid, noble and selfish, nice and vicious as we have ever been.  We can read Bible stories and understand them because the people then were the same as people now.  It doesn’t matter if a man rides one horse or drives in a car powered by 400 horses it is still the same man.  It’s exciting to be human but there are times it is very discouraging.

Isn’t it absolutely amazing that God became one of us?  Sometimes I think God is a bit crazy.  Crazy with love for us.

Written by Roger Bothwell on October 13, 2010

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

Rogerbothwell.org

I received a telephone call today from an office that said I owed them money.  When I told the lady I had sent the check I sounded like the old “the check is in the mail” story.   But I had and I could tell her the date and the check number.  “Oh,” she said, “I’ll keep looking.”  Upon disconnecting I thought this is an old routine that Satan loves to use on us.  The price for our salvation was paid, but he tries to discourage us by telling us it wasn’t and if it was it isn’t valid for us.  We are just too bad.  Or because we grew up knowing the Gospel our indiscretions are worse than other people’s because we knew better.  We need to claim the promises and inform him that the price for our sins was indeed paid.  The check is not in the mail.  It has been cashed.

When we get to thinking we are just too bad we need to remember Hebrews 7:25.  “He is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him.”  I enjoy rewording that to say “to the guttermost.”  The meaning is the same.  As uncomfortable as it might make us we have to adjust to the idea that Hitler could be our next door neighbor in heaven.  I agree that it is most improbable, but we don’t know what his frame of mind was when he died.  That is totally between him and God and God is full of grace and is in the business of saving people.  It even seems distasteful to me to even think it.  But perhaps there are people who think it distasteful that I should be saved.

Written by Roger Bothwell on October 12, 2010

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

Rogerbothwell.org

One of the very first sets of books I ever read was Bedtime Stories by Uncle Arthur Maxwell; five books filled with character building stories for little people. When I was learning to read my father sold those books door to door.  Well, that was what he was supposed to do but he was the principal of an elementary school and instead of going door to door he got his colleagues to put them in their school libraries.  Never did I dream in a thousand years that as an adult one of our best friends would be Arthur Maxwell’s son.  Today the stories are very outdated but the moral lessons are eternal.  Good morals never go out of date; only the cultural details change with time.

This afternoon my sister went to a u-pick apple orchard and was laughing at people trying to get just one or two more apples to balance on top of the baskets they purchased to fill.  Inevitably the balanced apples tumbled to the ground before they got to their cars.  When she told me about it I immediately remembered one of Uncle Arthur Maxwell’s stories about their family sitting around the table and one of the boys always made sure he got the biggest pie or apple or whatever, just so it was the biggest.   Then one day the biggest pie was hollow and the biggest apple had a bad center.

It is part of our nature to want to get the biggest and the most but so often in life the biggest isn’t the best.  True happiness in life comes from service to others.  Real happiness comes from helping others get the best.  Life’s greatest rewards are the fruit of unselfishness and from putting apples in another’s basket.

Written by Roger Bothwell on October 11, 2010

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

Rogerbothwell.org

I witnessed a tiny piece of history today.  I heard a lot of banging in my workspace which is in the basement of our college library.  I found students carrying microfiche machines to the dumpster.  It is the end of an era.  For decades we have used microfiche machines to retrieve data from old newspapers and other documents.   Now that everything is digitized and on computers, microfiche machines are merely dust collectors.  They have gone the way of typewriters, of which some of my college students have never used!

Recently I had a student try to convince me that God’s law had become a dust collector and only had historical value.  His logic went something like this.   Because Jesus died on the cross and we are now saved by grace the law lost its purpose.   He was partially correct.  Jesus did die for us and we are saved by grace.  And while the purpose of the law was often misconstrued by some as a means of salvation, the real purpose of the law has been eternal.  It is a fence.  It protects us from the fruit of stupid behavior.  If I lie about someone I am setting myself up for lies to be told about me or a libel suit.  Each of the commandments protects us from disastrous reprisals by others plus the deterioration of our own characters.

The very idea that God’s law is a dust collector and a relic from the past displays a tremendous lack of understanding.  God’s law is based on the two principles that are the ultimate standard for daily living.  A prescription for happiness is to enjoy the gift of salvation while keeping God’s law.  If you do you will never be sorry.

Written by Roger Bothwell on October 8, 2010

Spring of Life Ministry, PO Box 124, 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 shut.  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

 

 

In one of the texts I use in my Philosophy of Education class there is the following sentence.  “As a means of intellectual training, the Bible is more effective than any other book, or all other books combined.”  Last week I mentioned Will Durant’s list of 100 books we need to read and how ignorant I felt having only read eight of them. So I must say this sentence jumped off the page at me.  How could it be?  Durant’s list contained the works of Aristotle, Shakespeare, Whitman, Thoreau and Emerson.  How could it possibly be that the Bible is not only better than any one of them but all of them combined?

Granted Moses was a brilliantly educated man.   Solomon was given the gift of wisdom.  Paul was extremely well learned.  But Peter and John had minimal schooling.  Most of the Old Testament prophets were simple men.  Then of course the answer came.  “For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.”  II Peter 1:21.   While God did not whisper words in their ears He did inspire them with ideas.  Each wrote out of the culture and background that made them who they were, yet they were filled with insights that God wanted so much to share with us.

When we spend time studying Scripture we are not reading the masterful sentences of Shakespeare or the philosophies of the ancient Greeks.  We are instead feeding our minds from the fountainhead of all truth.  The very same Spirit that attended the writers of Scripture attends us.  When we struggle with a passage He is there to infuse our minds with knowledge far beyond that of mortal men, no matter how brilliant they were.

Written by Roger Bothwell on October 5, 2010

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

Rogerbothwell.org

 

It’s October and it’s time to get the firewood in the garage.  Today has been a beautiful day of sawing, splitting and stacking.  I really enjoy it.  There is something primal about putting up wood for winter.  While it is not nearly as efficient as getting the basement fuel oil tanks filled  it is so much more satisfying.  It makes me feel tied to my ancestors.  I guess now I need to go out and shoot a turkey for Thanksgiving.  Yuk!

I have gotten to a part of my woodpile that has been there for three years.  I would have used it sooner but two winters ago we had a terrific ice storm that brought down so much wood I left the woodpile for another year.  Some of the wood has rusted and gotten soft.  It will not last long in the woodstove.  As I was looking at the deterioration I thought of I Peter 1.  It’s an absolutely fabulous passage.  Peter wrote, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fades not away, reserved in heaven for you, . .”   There is no rust and no rot.

In the paraphrase The Message it reads, “What a God we have!  And how fortunate we are to have him, . .”  Peter knew what he was talking about.  He knew Jesus so very well and he knew that since he had seen Jesus he had seen the Father.  Jesus told him so and Peter had no doubts.  Regarding this he wrote, “This is no cunningly devised fable.  We saw it with our own eyes.”

Written by Roger Bothwell on October 4, 2010

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

Rogerbothwell.org

 

One of my favorite books when I was a boy was Secret of the Cave by Uncle Arthur Maxwell.  It was about some boys who used a cave as a base from which they secretly did good deeds for their community.  I used to fantasize how very neat that would be.  Now the story has been reversed on me.  My electric lawn mower ceased to do its job.  The electric motor would whir but the blade did not go around. Unbeknownst to me my very observant engineer neighbor absconded with, repaired, cleaned, sharpened the blade and then returned my mower.  It appears to be brand new.  Now how’s that for living in a great neighborhood? While I would like very much to do something for him as repayment, I have come to realize that would devalue his gift.  Sometimes the finest thing we can do is to allow another to help us. We do not have to respond in kind when a “Thank You” will be just fine.

And then there is the following problem.   There is a memorable line from the musical “Annie, Get Your Gun.”  It says, “Anything you can do, I can do better; I can do anything better than you.”   In my situation the words would be “Anything I can do; he can do better.  He can do anything better than I.”   I’m not trying to be modest. He really can.  He is a gifted engineer.

Sometimes it is difficult for us to sit back and allow another to give.  But that is an important part of life.  If we were not gracious receivers when would the gracious givers have an opportunity to shine?   See Luke 10.

Written by Roger Bothwell on July 23, 2010

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

Rogerbothwell.org

I have friends who are completely enamored with Romans 1 through 8.  And I have to agree with them that it is the finest theological treatise ever written.  Perhaps it’s because I teach some of the psychology classes at our little college that I think Romans 12 through 15 cannot be excelled by anyone.   Paul is so very practical.  If we applied his counsel to our daily lives we would surely be the most psychologically healthy people in the world.  I am amazed at the expanse of Paul’s knowledge regarding personal relationships and how to mind our own business and grow in the Lord.

But then again I should not be amazed.  Not only did Paul have the best education of his time both in Hebrew topics but also in occidental topics.  Paul was no slouch when it came to Aristotle, Plato and Socrates.  The best part of all was his daily connection with Jesus.  His works are not the mere product of a human mind.  They are the product of a great human mind united to divinity.  His works are inspired by the One who knows all things.

How about chapter 12:19 and on? “Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God’s wrath.”   Has someone harmed you?  Do you want to harm them back?  If you are a normal human the answer is yes.  But the wise person who wants genuine peace will forgive and know that we have a heavenly father who knows how to give good gifts to us.  If there is something to be revenged He will do it ever so much more skillfully than any of us ever could.  Trust Him.  It’s a sure prescription for a great life.

Written by Roger Bothwell on September 30, 2010

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

Rogerbothwell.org

 

We were waiting for a green light in two lanes that merged into one on the other side of the intersection.  Since it is on my way to school often I am stopped there.  After the light turns green people usually perform as taught in kindergarten, they take turns merging.  However, this morning the driver beside me decided to hug the bumper of the car in front of her not allowing anyone to merge between her and the car ahead of her.  In the line of cars she had gained one car length.  Once we had gained speed I did a brief calculation and guessed she had gained one tenth of a second by her rudeness.

One tenth of a second is gone before we can say it.  I realize that is a very important amount of time at the Olympic Games.  Actually one hundredth of a second often determines the difference between winning the gold or the silver medal.  But, this was not the Olympic Games.  This was people going to work.  Surely a tenth of a second did not matter even if she did have to punch a time clock.

How often in life do we push our way to the front?  How often are we rude?  And for what?   Perhaps it might matter if we were starving and there was just so much food to be passed out. But what would happen to us if we took Jesus’ counsel seriously about the first being last and the last first, or Paul’s counsel to prefer others above ourselves? Matthew 19:30 and Romans 12:10   Knowing that Jesus and Paul were great psychologists, I am convinced we would discover life is richer and more fulfilling than had we acted otherwise.

Written by Roger Bothwell on September 28, 2010

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

Rogerbothwell.org