Author: Ian Bothwell

In yesterday’s mail I received a book that I had given to one of my African students more than forty years ago.  Somehow that book found its way back to America and into the hands of an old friend in Illinois who posted it to me.  It feels good to hold it in my hands.  It is like being united with an old friend.  Inside the cover is my father-in-law’s name in his handwriting.  I found notes in the margins that I had written.  Unlike what we were taught when we were still illiterate, books are made to write in.  The margins are there for us to dialogue with the author.  What saddened me was no one else had added anything in forty years.  There were no underlinings nor comments that I had not made.  The book is entitled Christ’s Object Lessons.

It is a grand book about the parables of Jesus.  It must have wondered why no one was talking with it. Perhaps it thought everyone knew what it had to say and that it no longer had purpose.  I want to dispel that erroneous thought.  Tonight I shall read a few chapters and add fresh notes to the margins.  I will restore its sense of self-worth and value, for it contains an extremely valuable message.

Books are useless if all they do is decorate our homes. But if we open them and allow them to speak to us they become alive.  They integrate with our thoughts and give us fresh perspectives on life and life’s challenges. My book will be happy this evening as it realizes it is feeding me again and revitalizing my understanding of Jesus’ parables.  I wish it could tell me how it got back to America and into the hands of one of my old friends who cared enough to send it to me.

Written by Roger Bothwell on March 26, 2014

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

Rogerbothwell.org

This afternoon we passed a helping agency with a large sign reading, “Elder Services.”   That was the top line.  Below in equal sized letters, “Energy Services.”  Wow  That is my kind of place.  I need to stop and see how they supplement my energy level.  After a visit perhaps I can hike the Appalachian Trail or ride my bicycle across the country.   When I was young and full of energy I used to think Isaiah 40:31 was literal.  “Those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.”   Now I am more inclined to think of it as a metaphor.   One of my classes is on the fourth floor and while there is an elevator I choose to use the stairs.  I confess I feel a bit smug when I see younger men than I coming out of the elevator.  Sometimes it feels good to be smug.  Is that so wrong?  Can’t I have at least one vice?

We live in an energy conscious world and the Gospel of Jesus is loaded with energy.  The New Testament word for “power” has the same root as the word “dynamite.”  In Romans 1 Paul wrote, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes.”

It takes a lot of power to change a life.  But nothing is too difficult for God.  He has the power to turn the focus of our hearts from self to others.  That alone is huge.  It took incredible amounts of power for Jesus to continue to choose to go through Gethsemane to the cross.  Perhaps I should reconsider regarding Isaiah 40.  Maybe it’s not a metaphor.

Written by Roger Bothwell on March 25, 2014

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

Rogerbothwell.org

 

Yesterday we received in the mail an amazing offer from Discover Card.  They offered us 0.85% if we would open a savings account with them.  The fabulous increase in our wealth would be 85 cents a year (or a candy bar or 1/4th a gallon of gas) for each 100 dollars we put in our account.  Considering they will then lend out our 100 dollars at 19.95% makes them $19.10 profit on each 100 dollars.  Not a bad business to be in.  In downtown Boston they call that loan sharking.

If you are looking for an excellent return on an investment find an aspiring young person who needs an education.  When we enable someone to grow and enhance their life we are making an investment in our community and our nation.  We are making life better not only for them but for all of us.  The return on an enhanced life eclipses any amount of monetary return.

God invests in us.  He gives us life.  He gives us talents.  He gives us opportunities.  God is an investor.  Nothing satisfies Him more than to see us prosper and I am not talking about checking accounts.  Prosperity comes in many forms and the best prosperity is that of a happy life with a solid philosophical and spiritual foundation.  Some television preachers preach the “Prosperity Gospel.”  What that usually means is send them money and then wait for God to put it back in your bank.

The “Prosperity Gospel” is real.  But it isn’t about cash.  It’s about great relationships with people around you.  It’s about knowing with certainty that you have already begun to live forever because you have accepted the promises of Jesus.  Forget Discover Card and invest your life with Jesus.  The returns are out of this world.

Written by Roger Bothwell on March 24, 2014

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

Rogerbothwell.org

 

Each evening after the network news comes a half an hour of pure drivel about popular people, some whose only reason to be famous is that they are famous.  Some are actually talented and we reward them with our adoration and dollars.  The latest absurdity I have seen is Shaquille O’Neal’s willingness to follow us on Instagram for $500 or for the well-heeled, one can have breakfast with Mr. O’Neal at his home for $15,000.

Oh, but the mobs are fickle. In Mark 1 we read of the results of Jesus’ healing a leper, “Instead he went out and began to talk freely, spreading the news. As a result, Jesus could no longer enter a town openly but stayed outside in lonely places. Yet the people still came to him from everywhere.”  So where were the crowds on that Thursday night in Gethsemane when He was alone?   Actually the religious leadership wanted to get Him on the cross early in the day lest the crowds did riot in His favor.   They did their evil in the darkness of night.

I was wondering how much I would be willing to pay to have breakfast with one of Jesus’ disciples or Paul.  The reason I did not say Jesus is because we already have an invitation to sup with Him.  And we don’t have to go to His house.  He will come to us.  “I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.”   Jesus does not require a check.  “. . . will He (God) not also with Him freely give us all things? …”  Romans 8:32.  This Jesus of ours is amazing.  He really deserves our adoration.

Written by Roger Bothwell on March 20, 2014

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

Rogerbothwell.org

I was an adult before I realized what the story of the three bears was all about.  I mistakenly thought it was about a little blond girl that got lost in the woods.  It’s about compromise. It’s a good thing I didn’t understand this when I was a child because I went to church with people that thought “compromise” was a dirty word.  They taught me that once one takes a position one should dig in and recognize that any argument that refutes one’s position is a crafty ploy from Satan.  Logic should be spurned in lieu of faith, faith being a code word for stubbornness.

Then one day I read Luke 10.  “On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” “What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?” He answered, “?‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ “You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.”  This is followed by the story of the Good Samaritan.  And how do I love God?   Jesus said, “If you did it unto the least of them you did it unto me.”

It isn’t about my side and your side.  It’s about our side.  It’s about making life work because we are able to love enough to understand the other’s point of view.  I am not talking about surrendering principles, because there really is only one eternal principle.  Everything else is too hard or too soft, too cold or too hot.   Love finds the “just right” position.  When I was a pastor I loved my conservatives and my liberals because when they talked we got good things done.

Written by Roger Bothwell on March 21, 2014

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

Rogerbothwell.org

 

 

I’m still trying to figure it out.  My black lab was sleeping by my chair in our front room.  Suddenly she exploded.  She was on all fours, intensely alert, hair on her back that would have made a Ridgeback proud.  Fiercely she barked and ran to the back of the house.  Wanting to know what this was about I accompanied her but without all the bluster.  I saw nothing unusual.  There was no disturbance of the fresh layer of snow.  It was as smooth as if it had just landed.   Then I saw it.  A beautiful deer was standing at the edge of our woods.  But how did she know?  It had not been in the yard nor near the house.  We had been in the front of the house with music playing.

It is obvious that she has enhanced senses of which I am totally ignorant.  I wish I had thought of a Bible text but instead I could hear Hamlet saying, “There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.”  There are times that we are tempted to think the only things that exist are what we have seen or heard or felt.  And then there are occasions like this when I am reminded of just how limited we are.   There are times when walking with her that she has found something really great to smell.  When I tell her it is time to go she looks at me as if to say, “Let’s linger.  This is great.  What’s wrong with you?  Can’t you appreciate it?”  Actually I am glad I can’t.

I was thinking of angels.  I have never seen one. (At least that I know of.)  Yet the Bible is very clear about their reality.  See Hebrews 1:14.

Written by Roger Bothwell on March 31, 2013

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

Rogerbothwell.org

 

If I had a pill that would guarantee one would add seven years to their life I would soon be a wealthy man.  It would be a big seller.  For most of us life is precious and we would pay a lot of money for such a pill.  But since I don’t have such a pill I will, for free, share what research says adds seven years to our lives.   Join a church and attend once a week.  Really.  That’s it.  Research shows that such persons live seven years longer than people with no faith affiliation.  And if you do volunteer work for your church you will add even more years.  Some of the factors that surely contribute to this phenomena are the security of the group which reduces stress and one is less likely to indulge in alcohol and drugs and other risky behaviors.

Now we might be tempted to think, “Yes, but how dull is that?”   It is only dull if we remain passive and come late and leave early.  But should we become active and become involved, our talents are stimulated and we soon find ourselves doing things we never thought we could do.  There resides in each of us unused gifts; gifts that would never have been discovered if we didn’t become an active part of a community.

Research reveals that this is the best way to live and to live long.  Someone once asked me if I would be disappointed if after 70 years of living the Christian life I learned it was a sham.  The obvious answer is absolutely yes.  However, upon looking back over those 7 decades I would see that it was the best way to live.  It might not be flashy but it is certainly fulfilling.

Written by Roger Bothwell on March 20, 2013

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

Rogerbothwell.org

 

 

I started wearing glasses when I started going to school.  They not only enabled me to clearly see the blackboard but were also an instant cure for my headaches.  It is estimated that about 64% of Americans wear glasses and 11% wear contacts.  If we add to that number the over 5 million that have had Lasik surgery, we can deduce that only a small percentage of people naturally have excellent vision.  It leaves us wondering how different history might have been if ancient kings, queens and warriors had worn glasses.

Occasionally I misplace my glasses and I bumble about the house searching for them.  I wish they were like my cell phone.  When I misplace it I merely have my wife call me and soon I hear it ringing from under the couch or some other such obscure place.  If only I could call my glasses and have them ring.

In terms of people understanding the true nature of God, the birth of Jesus was like heaven sending us glasses.  Never before had we ever had such a clear picture of His loving care, His grace and His concern for us.  Before Jesus came God was blamed for all manner of bad human behavior.  There was the idea that if one was successful in something then it had been God’s will.  The Old Testament is filled with stories of evil being blamed on God.  It must have delighted Lucifer to no end.  But Jesus opened our eyes, cleared our vision, took away the blurriness and said, “If you have seen me you have seen the Father.”  Lucifer can still try and blame God for bad things but now we know better.

Written by Roger Bothwell on March 19, 2013

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

Rogerbothwell.org

 

For Christmas my grandchildren gave me a spray bottle of Polo after-shave.  Instead of using it for after-shave I have it on my desk and spritz myself.  It’s nice to know I am not offensive, at least scent wise and it reminds me of my grandchildren.  There are many other ways to be offensive, as we all know.   Being that I have a propensity to want to express my opinion about things, I have had to work at listening instead of spouting.  People don’t like braggarts.   It is difficult to contain oneself and not brag about being a Christian.  Christianity is very unique from all the other religions of the world.  It is the only religion that offers salvation as a gift of God’s grace.  All other religions have complex rules and regulations and acts of penitence to gain God’s favor.  Christ’s message is we are God’s children and God loves to shower gifts of grace on His children.

There are some flavors of Christianity that have added acts of penance and many other do’s and do not’s.  Once they have done so they cease to be Christians.  They just don’t realize they become the same as pagans.  Alas, the Bible is so plain and clear.  Ephesians 2, “It is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.”   Our prayer should be for us to be able to speak of this wonder without being offensive. We will be a sweet incense to God.  “Everywhere we go, people breathe in the exquisite fragrance. Because of Christ, we give off a sweet scent rising to God, which is recognized by those on the way of salvation an aroma redolent with life.”  II Corinthians 2 in The Message

Written by Roger Bothwell on March 18, 2014

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

Rogerbothwell.org

 

I’m sitting here watching a bunny gobble down some carrots my wife tossed out onto the snow.  He is very alert.  As he munches away he is constantly watching, ready to run for safety.  He needs to be alert.  There are hawks overhead, coyotes and weasels in the bushes.  Actually the weasels will tunnel under the snow and pop up and grab them.  I am so thankful to be at the top of the food chain.  Though we have bears in the neighborhood they run from us.  The most dangerous animals we need to fear are other people.

Many years ago when my boys were small we drove across the grasslands in Uganda to see some lions that were spending the afternoon in a tree.  Unfortunately, I backed into a hole and had to get out of the car to push.  While doing so the lions perked up a bit and watched my every move.  I wasn’t feeling very sure that I was at the top of the food chain.  I thought I heard one of them whisper, “Please pass the A-1 Sauce.”

It was a remarkable day when God said, “Let us make man in our image.”  We have a Creator who not only brought us into being but wants for us to ascend with Him to heights unimaginable to us in our present state of mind.  In Ephesians 2 we read, “God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.”  Talk about being at the top of the food chain.  We will spend eternity being showered with gifts of intellect and power.

Written by Roger Bothwell on March 17, 2014

Spring of Life, PO Box 12, St. Helena, CA 94574

Rogerbothwell.org