Author: Ian Bothwell

One of the great mysteries of life is how do we understand our very own minds.  The process of trying to do so is called metacognition or to put it simply, thinking about thinking.  Metacognition enables us to understand our values, where do they come from and why are they valid.  This is in opposition to accepting ideas merely because some authority has declared something to be so.  I am reminded of a bumper sticker that reads “God said it so I believe it.”  That could mean “God said it so it’s true.”  That is a very economical way of thinking that requires the consumption of very few calories.  But how about asking ourselves, “Why did God say it?”  Now we have ramped up the burn.  Serious thinking enhances weight loss.

Does God saying it make it true or does God say it because it is true?  In Titus 1:2 Paul says something that is translated in the King James Version as, “God cannot lie.”  But in the New International Version Paul is translated as, “God does not lie.”  A word for word translation of the Greek says, “the unlying God.”   This leaves it viable for either idea.  I personally like the New International’s idea because it makes God a moral being with choice and not the KJV’s idea  that denies omnipotence.

It is important to know that God tells the truth because it is the truth.  He tells us not to steal because stealing harms us and others.  He tells us He loves us not because He has to love us, which would then not be love, but because He chooses to do so.  God is loving and moral because it is, has been, and always will be the right thing to do and be.

Written by Roger Bothwell on February 22, 2016

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Psychiatrists, psychologists, priests, pastors and counselors (sorry counselors doesn’t start with a P) have known for over a century how healing it is for one to express, either verbally or in writing, one’s feelings about stressful things.  There is something very therapeutic about putting our feelings into words.  It seems to focus our ruminations allowing us to place them aside so we can focus on other things – hopefully things more positive. Hundreds of studies collaborate on the benefits of finding a method of expression where one can be honest regarding inner things.

Surely prayer (another P word) is the most superior form of self-expression; not memorized recitings but deep reflections of one’s needs and wants.  It is the most trusted place we can go.  Our secrets will never be told unless we want them told.  The one who listens isn’t a billion light-years away but One inside us that loves us dearly.  Praying puts words into feelings and words become pictures for the mind to artistically arrange on the walls of the museums of our minds.  Some we want to place in a prominent spot so we will think of them every day.  Others are hung in places of lesser importance and some we can totally trash never to see them again.

Jesus, the greatest psychologist ever, told us we cannot have our sins forgiven until we forgive.  It wasn’t that He was being harsh with requirements for forgiveness.  He, who created our minds, knew that peace cannot come until we let go of hurts done by others.  To sleep well is to not toss and turn with hate in our hearts.  When we forgive others we do more for ourselves than the other.  We destroy the hurtful picture and replace it with something beautiful and healing.  It is the heart of the abundant life.

Written by Roger Bothwell on February 19, 2016

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The worst ever combination of two words is “if only.”  When my mom was in a nursing home I visited her each afternoon on my way home from school.  During those visits I passed an uncounted number of people sitting in the hallways.  On occasions two or three of them would be having a spirited conversation and over and over I heard those two words, “If only.”  “If only I had finished school.”  “If only I had married him instead of whom I ended up with.”  “If only I had gotten that job.”  “If only I had been a better mom, maybe my children would have done better.”   We could go on and on with this dismal discourse. And a dismal discourse it is because it is pointless.  What’s done is done.  We cannot go back and redo.

What pales in comparison to the above scenarios would be someone having to say “If only” because they never accepted God’s gift of grace and they had to personally cover the cost of their sins.  The Parable of the Ten Virgins closes with these solemn words, “The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut. Later the others also came. ‘Lord, Lord,’ they said, ‘open the door for us!’  But he replied, ‘Truly I tell you, I don’t know you.’ Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.”

We don’t want to violate the rules of Biblical interpretation by drawing a lesson that was not intended.  Jesus did not mean He will not know these people. The lesson is about “If only.”  The lost will indeed utter those words.  But the saddest picture of all will be Jesus weeping and saying, “If only they would have gotten ready by accepting the gift.”

Written by Roger Bothwell on February 18, 2016

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As I pushed the rusty vine covered gate open enough to let me pass I could have been in a Faulkner novel approaching a southern gothic house uncared for since the Civil War.  Bric-a-brac still clung to the eaves cloaking human secrets behind webbed windows. The sagging wooden steps creaked as I mounted the porch guarded by an old cat quite unhappy to have me trespass into his vermin infested world.   A Dickensian door knocker snarled at me as I rapped once then twice before a raspy voice called, “It ain’t locked.”  The heavy door pushed back as I put my shoulder to it only to be greeted by an ungodly stench.  To the left of the once elegant vestibule a door opened to something from a Stephen King novel.  A skin-covered skeleton of a man lay on a sheetless filth encrusted pad.  Water stained wallpaper hung by who knows what from the ceiling and walls.  Carefully I kicked beer cans out of the way and reticently accepted his invitation to sit on a filthy chair by his cot.

For the next hour we spoke of wives, children, jobs and unfulfilled dreams.  Upon his insistence I mixed rubbing alcohol into what appeared to be a glass quarter-filled with water.  I literally gasped as he downed it with a gulp.  The intervening years have dulled my memory of his name but not his dark blood-filled eyes.  I still gag as I remember the smell more rank than any outhouse.  Though I tried to visit again he would not see me.  I guess I wasn’t the best of company.

I was wondering about his salvation and I remembered Hebrews 7:25.  “He is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.”  I wonder if in the eyes of a holy God if I am much different.

Written by Roger Bothwell on February 16, 2016

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Romans 11 is one of the most poignant chapters in all Scripture.  In it Paul pines for his people.  He cannot imagine God’s family being whole without Israel.  Jesus wept for His people.  On the cross Jesus begs God to forgive them.  God cannot let them go and He arranged for the leadership to hear the logic of the cross from Peter and John.  In Acts 4 Peter and John are arrested and hauled in before the Sanhedrin.  God keeps trying.  Paul, himself yanked from tradition, wrote, ‘“And this is my covenant with them when I take away their sins.’ As far as the gospel is concerned, they are enemies for your sake; but as far as election is concerned, they are loved on account of the patriarchs, for God’s gifts and his call are irrevocable.”

It seems inconceivable to us that they can be saved.  To them it is inconceivable that we gentiles can be saved.  It is human nature.  It is our selfishness that makes us jealous and wanting to be so very special in God’s eyes that only we can be saved.  So Paul wrote to us, “Just as you who were at one time disobedient to God have now received mercy as a result of their disobedience, so they too have now become disobedient in order that they too may now receive mercy as a result of God’s mercy to you.”

How do we explain this extravagant mercy?  We can’t.  Paul knew this would confuse us and perhaps even make us a bit resentful so he wrote, “Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God!  How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out!”

How do we justify this in light of our insistence that others become like us in order to be saved?  We can’t.  But God can!!

Written by Roger Bothwell on February 15, 2016

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If you have not looked at your 401K this week, don’t.  I would like to propose that the problem is our GPSs.  Because of our GPSs we now arrive at our destinations without wandering about like we used to do.  We did all that wandering because we did not want to ask for directions from another guy.  We are using so much less gasoline there is now an oil glut in the world and the floor dropped out on the price of oil.  Because of the price of oil, investors on Wall Street think the global economy has slowed down because industry is not using as much energy.  This is a good time to invest for when investors catch on the glut is because of our GPSs stocks will rebound.

I love my GPS and the best sound in the world is that ever so pleasant unflappable feminine voice that says, “You have arrived at your destination.”   And I arrived using so much less gasoline!

I am looking forward to hearing “You have arrived at your destination” from the angel who has been with me from my beginning. In Revelation 21 we read, “And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.’”  That’s the destination we long for.  That is where the sweetest words of all time will be uttered, “You have arrived at your destination.”

Written by Roger Bothwell on February 12, 2016

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I overheard an argument this week where one of the parties said to the other, “Live with it.”  Having heard that expression many times I Googled it and got 591,000,000 hits.  Obviously the expression is used a lot.  There are a lot of books entitled “Live with ….”   Often something negative is going on and people are told to “Live with it.”  I personally don’t recall ever having said it to anyone so I decided to try it on you.  Here goes.

1. God loves you very much so “Live with it.”
2. Jesus died for you so “Live with it.”
3. Upon your request God will forgive all your sins and treat you as if you had never sinned so “Live with it.”
4. You can be a temple of the living God by inviting the Holy Spirit to abide in your mind so “Live with it.”
5. You can live a stress reduced life by not worrying about your future so “Live with it.”
6. Your self-esteem can be elevated by understanding you are a prince or princess of the universe so “Live with it.”
7. Make Jesus the Lord of your life and “live with it.”

Hey, that felt really good.  I think I am going to start a new habit in life by telling people to “Live with it.” Actually, when one pauses for a moment to contemplate the alternative it is the best counsel we can give people.  The alternative is a real downer.  The alternative is one has to bear the cost for their sins and with Jesus we don’t have to.  So bear with me here while I say it one more time.  “Live with it.”  Forever!!

Written by Roger Bothwell on February 11, 2016

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Have you ever wondered about that pyramid and eye on the back of a dollar bill?  It harkens to secret societies, orders and clubs where grownups enjoy playing childish games that make us feel like we belong to something unique and special.  Secret handshakes and code words feed a human hunger to feel good about oneself because we know something others don’t know, even if it is stuff we made up.  It is the child taunting with “I know a secret.”

These groups have been around for thousands of years.  Paul was aware of them and had little use for them.  In Colossians 2 he wrote, “See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces of this world rather than on Christ.”

If you are wanting to know the secrets of the universe and have the mysteries of life opened to you, Paul wrote, “My goal is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.”

There are no deep dark secrets of the universe that God does not want us to know.  He longs for us to be like Him and as we grow closer He opens to us the treasures of wisdom found in Christ.  He knows that the more we know the more we will be like Him because the more we know the more we will understand the logic underlying the cross and the sacrifice. The more we do that the more we will detest the evil that brought so much heartache to His very good universe.

Written by Roger Bothwell on February 10, 2016

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Romans 12 is a treasure house of practical suggestions for Christian living.  In this amazing chapter Paul, the theologian, becomes Paul, the psychologist.   Randomly I put my finger on the page and found, “Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves.” (NIV)  If one were looking for a topic for a presentation there are at least five in these two verses.  I was curious how they were paraphrased by Eugene Petersen in The Message and found the following, “Love from the center of who you are; don’t fake it. Run for dear life from evil; hold on for dear life to good. Be good friends who love deeply; practice playing second fiddle.”

That first idea about loving from your center and not faking is often a serious challenge because everyone we meet is not lovable.  Fortunately Paul doesn’t tell us to like everyone.  Liking and loving are very different.  Liking is enjoying another’s company.  Loving is wanting the best for them.  We can always want the best for someone even though they are obnoxious and unpleasant.

It is the last idea that fascinates me.  “Practice playing second fiddle.”  How often do we not mind another excelling just as long as we excel just a little bit more than they do?  How often do we wait for someone to take a breath so we can jump in with a bigger “fish” story?  Paul hits me in the solar plexus with this one.  I love telling stories and I am my favorite topic.  However, I must add here that in II Corinthians 11 Paul doesn’t seem to mind regaling us with a litany of his adventures.  Only Jesus was and is perfect.

Written by Roger Bothwell on February 9, 2016

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When I was very small I dug a large hole in our backyard.  It was large to me.  Most likely it was very small.  When my Dad asked why, I explained that I was digging my way to China because there were hungry children there and I wanted to drop food to them.  Being very kind to me and being the school teacher that he was, he took me inside where we had a globe.  (I still have it.)  He very carefully showed me that my hole would not come out in China but instead in the southern Indian Ocean.  I immediately realized I must stop digging or all the water in the Indian Ocean would fall into my hole and flood Pennsylvania.

Often I hear people speak with great authority about the nature of God.  I have even been told where heaven is. I hear how old the earth is and what happened to the dinosaurs.  I hear explanations for human behavior and am amazed at the certainty of the speaker.  And yet often I cannot explain my own behavior.  Perhaps it makes people feel secure and good about themselves if they can claim to be an authority in some area.

I am suspicious that most of us are like a little boy digging a hole in the backyard.  We think we have it all worked out and we could not be more wrong.  But, lest I leave you with the impression that I am totally ignorant I would like to claim a sure knowledge of something shared with me by Paul.  I want to join Paul in saying, “I know in whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him until that day.”  II Timothy 1:12.    That is security.

Written by Roger Bothwell on February 4, 2016

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