Author: Ian Bothwell

I recently heard someone say, “Space is nothing.”  If that is so then nothing is something because space is God’s Studio.  From the center of it all He conceives, plans and executes magnificent artwork.  If you have a friend with a telescope, ask her to show you the Andromeda Galaxy.  It is our twin galaxy with which we will merge 5 billion years from now to make one even more gigantic.  Space is a place.

Empty places are opportunities.  Ask an interior designer about empty rooms.  Ask an artist standing before a blank canvas.  Ask a writer with a blank piece of paper.  Opportunities abound where there is space.  Nothing is something.

Then there is silence. Silence is profundity.  I am often disappointed in church when after a magnificent performance some people break out in applause.  The applause cheapens the performance.  It defiles the profundity.   When the mind is struck with awe, the mouth drops open but does not speak.  When one of my friends achieves something great all I want to do is stand by and admire with both of us soaking up his experience.  There is an interesting verse in Revelation that says, “Heaven was silent.”  Some have said it was silent because it was empty.  I believe it is full and silent because of the aweness of some amazing event.   When Jesus died upon the cross heaven was silent. The Creator had been slain by His creations.  How could it have come to this?

I would that God could empty me of biases, prejudices, preconceived ideas, habits and selfishness and use the opportunity to fill the space with the character of Jesus. Someday.  Someday “this mortal shall put on immortality and this corruption incorruption.”  I Corinthians 15.

Written by Roger Bothwell on July 14, 2014

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

Rogerbothwell.org

 

Having gone for a walk in the forest this afternoon we all had to detick when we got home. It’s very difficult to walk in the forest without harvesting a crop that is ready to eat you.  The coyotes and bears move away from you but the ticks just love a warm meal.  You are that meal.  It wouldn’t be so bad if it was just the bite but some of them, the really tiny ones, can leave you with a variety of nasty diseases.

This is like spending a day in the workplace.  It’s tough doing so without picking up some pretty nasty sins. Jesus is the only person I know of that could mingle with such as us and not come away contaminated.  Yet even He felt the need for prayerful reinforcement and thus would spend nights in prayer.  I wish I understood what that meant.  So often we think of prayer as talking to God but I don’t know how to do that without being repetitious.  Just listen to the prayers in church.  Each week they are basically the same.  The clichés and metaphors are the same no matter who is praying.   They are just rearranged and put in a different order.  Often times when someone prays for a long time they are usually saying the same thing over and over just using different words.   So I am intrigued when I read Luke 6:12, “One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God.”

One thing He did not have to do is “detick.”  But He did need those hours in prayer so He did not need to “detick.”  Meaningful prayer is a fascinating topic most of us need to spend more time pondering

Written by Roger Bothwell on July 9, 2015

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

Rogerbothwell.org

Perhaps in an attempt to make the world a better place, if only in our fantasies, we have filled our culture with a host of fictional super heroes.  Summer movies, comic books, novels, television series entertain us with good guys, often existentially conflicted, fighting evil. It is not just little boys who long for super powers to right wrong. As fictional as it all is there was a super hero who walked among us.  He could have jumped off a tall building, He chose not to.  He never punched anyone though He was struck over and over.  His only episodes of rage occurred when He saw political and religious powers abusing the poor and even then He never struck anyone.  He used extraordinary power to restore sight to the blind, hearing to the deaf and life to the dead.  He maintained remarkable self-composure by not calling angels to come to His rescue. He did psychological battle with His arch foe.  He allowed that foe the privilege of literally grinding Him into dirt in a battle over His and our futures.

If Charles Dickens had written of the cross surely he would have used his famous passage from “The Tale of Two Cities” for Jesus instead of Sydney Carton. “It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to than I have ever known.”   And where is Jesus now?  According to Hebrews 1, He is sitting on the throne of glory.  And what is He doing?  He is trying His best to woo us into His love.  Jesus is the ultimate super hero.  There is none even closely like Him.

Written by Roger Bothwell on July 13, 2015

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

Rogerbothwell.org

 

This afternoon I stood in front of a glass box containing a manikin fortune teller.  For a dollar I could put my hand on the glass and the seer would read my palm by comparing my life line, etc. to a preprogrammed template.  Obviously I kept my dollar safely tucked in my wallet.  I need it for the children’s offering in church this coming weekend.  Anyway, I already know my future.  I a going to live a long, long, long time.  Actually I am going to live forever.  I am going to be extremely wealthy.  Jesus promises in John 14 that He has a place prepared for me. I am going on a long journey to the center of the universe.  I am going to be extremely healthy with a new body.  See I Corinthians 15.   My future is already planned out so I don’t need the swami in the glass box nor any other pretender.

If you would like I can read your future.  If you make Jesus the Lord of your life you will have already crossed over from death to life.  See John 5.  “Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life.”   And if you have not made Jesus the Lord of your life I am sorry to say I also know your future and it isn’t very bright.

If you would also like to join me in being a fortune teller feel free to do so.  It is not a private club.  It is just a matter of reading and accepting the promises from a loving Father who always keeps His promises.

Written by Roger Bothwell on July 10, 2015

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

Rogerbothwell.org

In a recent research study it was found that when students were told a particular textbook was of vital importance they consistently over estimated how much it physically weighed.  Just the opposite result occurred when told a book was irrelevant. Our minds do interesting things.  Reading about this made me wonder about books of the Bible.  Are some more relevant than others and if so which ones?

I used to work for one of my college professors who was an Old Testament chronologist.  He loved the Kings and the Chronicles.  I have some preacher friends who are convinced the most relevant book of the Bible is Revelation.  They know all about the Seven Trumpets and the Last Plagues.  I know an English teacher who most values the Psalms. My theologian friends think Romans is the crown jewel.  When I was little I must have been mentally ill because I thought the gore of Judges was fascinating.  When the sermons got boring out came Judges.  If those stories had been in any other book other than the Bible my parents would have been horrified that I was reading them.  Thankfully as I matured my ideas also matured.  For a long time I thought the Gospel of John was the best.  Now I find Ephesians to be my favorite.

It would be an interesting study to correlate the ages, occupations, genders and hobbies of people with their favorite book of the Bible.  Surely we would find some interesting psychological traits matching their selections.  I am tempted to ask you to respond and tell me which book or passage is the most vital.  I would have to promise not to make psychological assumptions about you.   Instead, perhaps we can all agree that the most vital passage is John 3:16.

Written by Roger Bothwell on July 10, 2014

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

Rogerbothwell.org

 

I had banana cream pie for breakfast.  It was quite nutritious.  The banana was full of potassium and other goodies.  The crust had grains.  The pudding had dairy and carbohydrates.  I love being an adult.  I can eat whatever whenever.  One night when I was about 4 or 5 years old my dad came home with three pints of ice cream.  Ice cream came in small containers because refrigerators didn’t have freezers.  They only had a small place in the upper inside corner for ice cube trays. My mom, sisters and I each got a half a pint.  My dad got a whole pint!  I thought that was awesome.  Right there I purposed that someday I would be a man and eat a whole pint of ice cream at one sitting.

And now that I am an adult I had banana cream pie for breakfast.  Don’t get me wrong.  Being an adult isn’t a license for debauchery.  I didn’t eat the whole pie.  I was quite temperate.  Being an adult is being responsible.  It’s about not blaming others for everything.  Often one of the great faults of therapy is finding someone like mom or dad to blame for our poor choices.  Life is about choices.  Life is about making responsible choices and if they don’t go the way we hoped, we man-up and determine to do better the next time.

One of the important things to understand about the plan of salvation is that while Jesus paid the price for our sins, He did not accept the blame.  The blame is ours.  We are just amazingly blessed to have a loving God who says, “Okay.  I forgive you. I will accept the penalty.”   That’s what confession is about.  It is accepting the blame.

Written by Roger Bothwell on July 9, 2014

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

Rogerbothwell.org

 

She was 90 if she was a day.  She tried to stand tall and walk straight but the telltale hump was there.  The slight off balance in her stride was there. She had home colored her hair that gracefully flowed onto her shoulders.  When one uses a home kit it is all one color.  Her face had been carefully painted on.  She had penciled in eyebrows, mascara, bright red lips and overly rouged cheeks.  Her neck was a giveaway. She should have worn a scarf.  But going to Denny’s for the evening is not fine dining.

Fighting the age-battle is universal.  Well, actually no.  I should say earthly.  We do it in many ways.  We see lots of doctors, take vitamins and exercise all in a quest to stay young.  However, no matter how much we try or how many natural herbs and supplements we consume the Grim Reaper gets us all.  Vegans and carnivores all eventually push up daises.  I’m requesting my ashes be sprinkled at the base of an apple tree so I can become a pie.

Really, there is only one way to victoriously fight the age-battle.  The cure for aging is personified in Jesus Christ.  He alone is the resurrection and the life.  He alone will honor His promises to us.  If we believe we cross over from death to life.  See John 5.

So, should we not bother trying to stay young?   We should try because by doing so we add quality to the days we have here.  The old lady made me smile.  I was not laughing at her.  I was pleased that she had the dignity and self-respect to do her best. Good for her. I should be so good in my nineties.

Written by Roger Bothwell on July 8, 2014

Spring of Life, PO Box 124, St. Helena, CA 94547

Rogerbothwell.org

Our house is full of grandchildren for the week.  I think my wife’s face is going to crack from smiling so much.  Five of six are here.  The sixth, the oldest, has joined the world of work.  Alas, the end of her childhood has come.  I can imagine God’s house filled with us, His children.  There will be so much noise and chatter as we share with each other the joys of eternal life.  I do so hope God’s face doesn’t crack from smiling so much.  He will most likely be in danger of such for His happiness at the end of sin and our final redemption will be over the top. It is something He has waited for since that sad day described in Revelation 12. “Then war broke out in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven. The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.”

We will not fill the empty places left behind.  As anyone who has ever lost a child knows, nothing fills the void.  However, another child fills a new room in our hearts.  We will fill new places that Jesus has prepared for us.  John 14.   And once again the universe will be “at one ment,” a great break down of the word “atonement.”

Heaven isn’t about streets of gold.  It is about love and family and knowing those we love are safe.  I do hope my wife’s face doesn’t break this week.

Written by Roger Bothwell on July 7, 2015

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

Rogerbothwell.org

Laura Bassett and her English soccer team were on their way to the final game of the 2015 World Cup when the ultimate nightmare became a reality.  In an attempt to clear the ball from the area near her net she inadvertently kicked the ball into her own net giving the Japanese team their ticket to the final game in Vancouver against the United States.  It is difficult to imagine her self loathing and remorse.  She has become the poster child for all of us who have time and again not only failed at something important but actually destroyed our own dreams.

Often I have heard people speak about Satan tempting them.  I would like to take the stance that all Satan has to do to defeat us is to be patient.  It is merely a matter of time until we score one for the enemy.  We don’t need anything other than our own human nature.

Paul, who was so ardent to be Christ-like, wrote in Romans 7, “Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me.  For in my inner being I delight in God’s law;  but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. What a wretched man I am!”

Dear Laura, welcome to the human race.  The only difference between you and the rest of us is the world was watching when you became one of us.  We know you will mentally play and replay that fateful moment over and over for years to come.  But please forgive yourself; one of the hardest things to do.  If anyone doesn’t understand that only means they are afraid of the truth about themselves.

Written by Roger Bothwell on July 6, 2015

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

Rogerbothwell.org

 

Surely people are the most interesting thing God has created.  We come in an infinite array of shapes, colors, weights, ages and intelligences. This afternoon I watched a wisp of an elderly lady dine.  Her dyed hair did not disguise her life experience.  What amazed me were her three trips back to a soup bar, her three large bread sticks, a full sized cheese burger and fries and two large colas.  I’m sure I weigh twice what she does and I could never have handled all that food.

People watching is so much more interesting than bird watching or any other kind of watching.  Stars are predictable but people can be most surprising.  Someone asked me what I thought we would do for eternity and my response was people watching, angel watching, alien watching, etc.  There will be so many beings to interview.

I’m sure for the disciples Jesus watching was filled with surprises.  When they expected Him to chase away children instead He invited them to come to Him.  When they expected Him to shun lepers instead He touched them.  When they thought He would snub the woman at the well, she was the first person to whom He revealed His true identity.  When they thought He would foster the favor of the religious establishment instead He indicted them for hypocrisy.   Jesus watching will also be incredible for us because according to Hebrews , “The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.”   That is definitely worth watching.

Written by Roger Bothwell on July 3, 2015

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

Rogerbothwell.org