Author: Ian Bothwell

Our yard is one vast nursery.   We have a cardinal nest, a robin nest, a chickadee nest, a catbird nest and a phoebe nest. There is a squirrel nest, a chipmunk nest and a rabbit nest.  I’m sure there are more but those are the ones I know for sure.  How grand it must have been on days five and six of creation week.  Moses wrote, “So God created great sea creatures and every living thing that moves, with which the waters abounded, according to their kind, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. And God blessed them, saying, ‘Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.’”   What great joy it must have been for God to design such wonders.

The variety and extravagant use of color on the birds gives us a glimpse into the artistic mind of God.   I have a friend who is a” bugologist.”  He tells me there are thousands of kinds of bugs still to be discovered and named.  I asked him if he could name a bug after me.  “Sure,” he said. “We’ll find a really nasty looking fellow just for you.”  That shouldn’t be difficult because we all have seen some really ugly bugs, which makes me wonder about God’s sense of humor especially since Genesis 1 closes with “God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good.” But beauty is in the eye of the beholder and I am sure those ugly male bugs find the ugly female counterpart to be stunningly beautiful.

Cecil Alexander said it so well when he wrote, “All things bright and beautiful.”

Written by Roger Bothwell on May 13, 2009

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

rogerbothwell.org

I listened to a radio preacher today tell his listeners, “Sin is sin because God said so.”   I kept waiting for him to answer the question, “Why did Godsay so?”   He never did.  I was reminded of a small child asking his parent why he had to do something and receiving the very unsatisfactory answer, “Because I said so.”  Parents usually have good reasons for their requests but sometimes don’t have the time and energy to get the small child to understand.  God is not like that.   He has a reason for every single command and He wants us to explore with Him the reason why.  God is honored when we question Him.  It gives Him an opportunity to display His good sense and love for us.

There is not a single commandment that does not benefit us to obey.  God is not some twisted psychopath who plays with us.  He does not give us rules just to see if we will comply.  He gives direction because in His infinite wisdom He knows what is best for us.  Don’t be content with a “Because I told you so” answer.   As adults we deserve to know the reason and our heavenly Father is delighted to comply.  He knows once we understand we will appreciate and love Him ever so much more because He always has our best interest at heart.

Isaiah 1:18 “Come now, let us reason together,” says the LORD.

Written by Roger Bothwell on April 13, 2009

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

rogerbothwell.org

Some of my undergrads asked me if I have any clothes other than blue shirts and khaki pants.  And if I do, why don’t I wear them?  Well, I don’t.  I have no problem getting dressed in the morning.  I don’t stand there and say, “Humm, shall I wear this blue shirt or that blue shirt.”  I grab the one that’s closest.  It is kind of boring, but it works.

This morning I read Colossians 3 and came across a marvelous verse.  Paul wrote, “Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.”  Please note this is not getting up in the morning and deciding which of these we will wear today. We don’t say, “On Monday I will wear compassion, on Tuesday kindness, on Wednesday humility.”  Oh no.  Every day we wear them all.  Every day we are gentle and patient. What is amazing about this wardrobe is it never gets boring.  Undergrads are not going to ask if I have any other clothes.  Compassion and kindness always work.  They never go out of style.  Humility and gentleness never get threadbare.  Patience never loses its buttons.  This is one great wardrobe.

Paul even adds some more to it.  He wrote, “Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another.  Forgive as the Lord forgave you.  And over all these virtues put on love.”  Well there it is, the all purpose coat that covers the rest of the wardrobe.  It’s love.  Love is stylish and expensive. When it is worn we look marvelous.  I have never ever in all my decades seen someone who loves not look like a million dollars.

Written by Roger Bothwell on July 16, 2009

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

rogerbothwell.org

I enjoy watching new buildings getting higher and higher.  It isn’t long before the building is higher than the highest crane.  However that is no problem.  The workmen put together a new crane on top of what has already been built and so the building goes higher and higher.  It is the same with building information. Children know lots more about science than their parents.  It isn’t because the children are smarter.  It is because they are building on top of what was discovered by those who have gone before.  We build on the shoulders of giants thus rising higher and higher.

It is the same with our knowledge of God.  Moses and David would have loved to have known as much about God as we know.  It isn’t that we are smarter. It is because we have Matthew and John and Paul.  Those great men stood on the shoulders of the prophets of old and gave us an ever growing clearer picture of God.  We stand on the shoulders of Paul and see even more.  It isn’t that we are smarter than they.  It isn’t because God loves us more than them. We start from a different position.  This is the way it is supposed to be. Proverbs 4:18 says, “But the path of the just is as the shining light, that shines more and more unto the perfect day.”   The God of the Old Testament is the same God as in the New Testament.  However the writers of the New had the advantage of seeing Jesus, who said, “If you have seen me you have seen the Father.” In the Old Testament God got blamed for a lot of bad stuff that He didn’t do.  One of Jesus’ tasks was to show us the truth about His Father, our Father.

Written by Roger Bothwell on March 17, 2009

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

rogerbothwell.org

 

All the recent rain left some serious road damage on our way home.  Today they were patched.  Patching works but it isn’t the same as new.  As I bounced across one of them I immediately thought of Matthew 9:16.  Jesus said, “No one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; for the patch pulls away from the garment, and the tear is made worse.”   I remembered being a little boy and watching my mother patch my school pants and darn the holes in my socks.  Does anyone darn any more?   While the repaired socks never really felt right I sort of liked the patches on my pants, especially if they were colorful patches.

The context of Jesus’ comments seems to indicate He wasn’t overly enthused about people trying to patch up their broken lives.  He seemed to be more in favor of starting all over with something completely new.  His comments to Nicodemus in John 3 are about a new birth.  Apparently an alteration here and there just isn’t going to do it.  We need a fresh start.  That’s what baptism is all about.  You bury the old man under the water and a new one comes to life.

That is great symbolism and easy to say.  However, I fear most of us have had the unfortunate experience of having the old man resurrect.  He’s like a zombie that refuses to stay in its tomb.  That is a yucky thought.  The old man causes us to commit yucky deeds.  The symbolism of baptism is great but unfortunately it is applied to flawed beings.  Does that mean we shouldn’t bother?  Oh, no.  It just means we need to pay attention and as Paul says we should put him down every time he pops up.  Jesus helps.  Just ask.

Written by Roger Bothwell on July 10, 2009

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

rogerbothwell.org

I opened a drawer this afternoon and discovered it jam-packed with out-of-date computer STUFF.   There was a tangle of cables and mouses (mice).  We got our first computer in the early 1980’s.  It was a Radio Shack TRS-80 and had huge internal memory of four K.  As I looked in that drawer I realized I could or should toss it all because it will never be useful again.  But some of it still works in a primitive way like that fifty pound screen that takes up an entire desk.  I will most likely keep it in the corner for another twenty years before I finally dispose of it.

Getting rid of old things can be very difficult.  Even though we haven’t used them in years we think there is a chance we just might need them.  Old habits are hard to break.  Even when we realize they aren’t just filling up brain space but are actually harmful, we just don’t want to let them go.  There is comfort in “this is the way I have always done this.”

When I read Romans 7 I wonder what “old man” things Paul was trying to get rid of.  He said he did things he didn’t want to do and didn’t do the things he did want to do.  Paul had been Saul, the perfect Pharisee.  He lived by the letter of the law.  He did not have to give up a life of carousing.  So what was he talking about?  Could it be that sometimes the Gospel seemed just too good to be true and he fell back into law-keeping?  The Gospel is pretty amazing.  No other religion in the world is so radical. It is difficult to quit trying to do it ourselves.

Written by Roger Bothwell on July 9, 2009

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

rogerbothwell.org

When I was a young man I learned Joel 2:28 which talks about old men dreaming.  I used to wonder what old men dreamed about.   The context of Joel referred to the Holy Spirit and prophecy.  Now that I am officially an old man (I receive Social Security) I now dream old-man dreams.  For me they aren’t prophetic and not worth telling others.  As a matter of fact I am usually put off when people want to tell me about their dreams.  So I will not put you off by telling you of mine other than they are wonderful because I often see and hear my boys when they were small.   I hear their little boy voices, not their man voices.  Sometimes my parents appear.   When night comes I am anxious to know who I will visit in my dreams before the dawn comes.

The human mind is a wonderful treasure chest of places and people.  It is sad that often when we are awake we have difficulty recalling people and events.  It is all there.  All the places, people and things we have seen and done are housed in that amazing piece of gray matter.   It is no wonder Scripture tells us to think about good things.  If we read good things, watch good things, listen to good things we fill our minds with treasures. Our minds are better than photo albums because they store action and sound.

I know people who take very good care of their bodies.  They take vitamins. They exercise.  They eat right.  But they are careless with their brains. They dump all manner of trash into them.  Somehow that doesn’t make sense. There is an old saying that we are what we eat.   I think we are what we behold.

Written by Roger Bothwell on May 19, 2009

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

rogerbothwell.org

 

I wonder if I have found a flaw in our nation’s airline security system. Once on the east coast and once on the west coast I went through the magnetic detectors without triggering an alarm.  The reason for my concern is I have a metal knee which contains a significant amount of chrome and cobalt.  What I am hoping is the system did recognize its presence but is programmed to ignore artificial joints.

It reminded me of Jesus’ comment in the Sermon on the Mount about wolves in sheep’s clothing.  The exterior hides the interior.  The interior is something other than what we think is there.   This of course depends on what we think we see.   After a family visited in our home they went away telling others I was not what they thought I was.  After viewing the books in my library they were concerned that my reading diet was not as conservative as they had expected.  They thought I was a wolf in sheep garb. Alas.  The truth is people are able to disguise their persona.  I have seen both men and woman awaken to the fact the person they married was not what they thought they were getting.

Evil often comes to us in robes of light.  When in the wilderness after His baptism Jesus did not recognize Lucifer by his appearance but by what he was saying. What concerns me is the reality that often we deceive ourselves. Rarely do we understand the real motives behind our behaviors.  We rationalize and justify all manner of wrong thinking by dressing it up in what we think are plausible reasons.  Perhaps the most dangerous wolf of all is the one that resides within.

Written by Roger Bothwell on June 11, 2009

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

rogerbothwell.org

 

The only times I can remember not being owned by a dog were my years at school living in a dormitory.  Dogs have been essential to my wholeness.  One of my friends told me it was indicative of a need to be worshiped.  I hope he was wrong.  But if one has to be honest, it is marvelous coming home and finding a dog on the other side of the door seeming to say, “Now I can start living again.  You are home.”   I have this picture of my grandson throwing sticks in the water for my black lab.  It’s one of my favorites.  Perhaps it reminds me of coming home from school and heading for the woods with my dearest friend running circles in the fields that led up to the forest.

When God told Adam it was not good for him to be alone I believe God was speaking of more than Eve.  While she was the main object of that sentence we must note it comes in the midst of an Eden where Adam was surrounded by a plethora of tame life.  I wanted to say “wildlife” but they weren’t.  The wild came later.

We were made in God’s image.  Most likely more intellectually and spiritually than physically; therefore, neither does God want to be alone.  He has this amazing universe filled with so many stars only He can count them.  Surely there must be an inhabited world for every sun (star).   Why turn on the lights and the heat unless there is someone to light up and warm?  To think the stars were made for our benefit is beyond egocentrism.  There isn’t a word for that kind of conceit.  To get a glimpse of an idea of the creatures He has made read Revelation 4.  It’s a feast.

Written by Roger Bothwell on August 19, 2009

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

rogerbothwell.org

 

With great joy this afternoon I looked out my office window and watched a father helping his five (?) year-old little boy learn to ride a bicycle.  With his helmet securely in place he mounted up ready to go.  Sitting up straight the little guy started across the parking lot with dad right behind holding on to the back of the seat.  Not once in the fifteen minutes or so, before the little guy was on his own, did I see the father knock him down. The father never yelled at him.   He never aimed him at the curb.  Quite to the contrary, dad was ever so close behind to grab him as he was falling.

Jesus once said, “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!”   Matthew 7:11.

If I had seen the father deliberately tip over the bicycle I’m sure I would have immediately called social services.   This child did not need to be in the care of such a father.  So why is it so often we attribute horrible things to our heavenly Father?  Probably not a week goes by that I do not hear someone in a back-handed kind of way blame God for some tragic event.  We live in a world where bad things happen to everyone.   We have a twenty-year-old student who just discovered she has leukemia.  Do we really think this is God’s will?  Surely a billion things a day happen on earth that are not God’s will.   This world can be a rough place.  What we do have is a Father who cares and hurts with us when we crash and fall.

Written by Roger Bothwell on October 27, 2009

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

rogerbothwell.org