Author: Ian Bothwell

Ephesians 1 verse 3 Paul says something intriguing.  God “has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.”  Surely inherent in this promise is a consideration of our maturity.  Some of us are spiritual babes in understanding and others among us are teens or adults in grasping the ideas of God.  As a responsible parent God would only give what could be safely used.  When my sons were boys I did not give them sharp knives nor keys to the car.  With gifts come preparation and responsibility.  Note that Paul says “in the heavenly realms.”  Might that be that each of us has a safety deposit box containing every possible blessing and as we are ready we receive?  Could that mean even after being there a thousand years there will yet be more gifts waiting for our maturity?

Paul is expressing to us the lavishness of our Father and nothing we can handle is withheld.  We can never say, “But God you didn’t tell me or help me when I needed.”  He pours onto and into us everything which we can understand and with which we can cope. What we receive is for our good and the good of those about us.  Jesus said, “If we as humans know how to give good gifts to our children how much more does our heavenly Father know how to give His children good gifts.”

Even now that my sons are mature responsible men, I would not give them a car with a thousand horse power unless I also took them to the salt flats in Utah.  No one needs a thousand horse power car to use on I-95, not even the winner of the Daytona 500.

Written by Roger Bothwell on February 12, 2015

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

Rogerbothwell.org

 

Amid the varied chords and arpeggios coming from my car radio I found myself humming Beautiful Dreamer by Stephen Foster.  Somewhere buried in the almost cacophonic jazz was that familiar melody.  I was fascinated that amidst all of the notes being played the tread of a familiar tune could still be discerned.  It is so much like our lives.  Each of us plays our own variation of the same song we call being human.  Our stories are unique and yet the same.  We are born, we age, we marry, we have children, we die.  Somewhere in the midst of that same song there are a billion variations.

We could even use Stephen Foster’s title for our common tune.  Each of us is a beautiful dreamer.  Every little girl and boy dreams of what their life will be.  Rarely does reality match the fantasy.   For some it is better and for others not so good.

Surely the ultimate Beautiful Dreamer is our Creator.  He put the perfect man with the perfect woman in the almost perfect environment.  It was perfect in all ways except for that tree. It was just enough of a choice factor to turn dreams into nightmares for millions of God’s children.  However, that did not stop God from continuing to dream for us.  He sent Jesus.  It ended in the most horrible nightmare.  Yet, God continues to dream for us.  Out of Calvary comes the possibility for all of us to realize our dreams.  Sometimes Christians are accused of being out of this world dreamers with our stories of heaven.  That’s okay.  Let non-believers call us whatever names they may.  Their names will never interfere with the ultimate Beautiful Dreamer making our dreams come true.

Written by Roger Bothwell on February 11, 2015

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

Rogerbothwell.org

 

If you live in Florida you might never know the truth about the postman.  He or she does not come when the snow gets deep.  I know this must come as a blow.  It is like hearing for the first time as a child that Santa isn’t.  “Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds” just isn’t so.  Our mailman did not come last week during a blizzard.

Another favorite that isn’t so is “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.”  Thousands who got to Ellis Island never got any closer to the golden shore.  If they did not look well they were sent back.  I cannot imagine the heartache of those who spent all they had for passage only to be sent back penniless and homeless. They even got to see the promised land but New York’s door was shut.  This was a hard one for me to learn.  I was devastated. What else can go wrong? Next we are going to discover that George Washington told a lie?

Psalm 146:12 says it quite accurately.  “Do not put your trust in princes, in human beings, who cannot save.”  The good news is verse 6.  It says, “He is the Maker of heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them– he remains faithful forever.”   “Faithful forever” sounds so good.  His promises are reliable and not just for this week or this year.  Forever is a long time.  In Malachi 3 God tells us that He doesn’t change.  So if you are looking for some consistency in your life we can safely say He is forever faithful.  And that is the unchangeable truth.

Written by Roger Bothwell on February 10, 2015

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

Rogerbothwell.org

 

We have almost three feet of snow in our yard with another foot coming tonight and tomorrow.  That does not take into account the ten foot high mountain of snow at the end of the driveway pushed there by a nice man with a pickup truck.  The path from the driveway to a front door of the house is only as wide as our snow blower.  I traced a way in and then backed the blower out.   The problem is the dog.  The only place available to her needs is that narrow path.  The sides of the path are higher than she is tall.  Her problem is if she cares for her needs facing away from the house she can’t get back.   Her mess blocks her out because she will not tread over it to return home.

As I watch her dilemma from the front window I think of Adam and Eve blocked from the Garden entrance by the mess they made.  Just as they could see the Garden, my dog can see the house but the way is blocked.  It’s a common life theme.  People lose out on something good because of something they have done.   Jobs are lost.  Marriages are ruined.  Relationships are spoiled.  The list is as long as history.

I can intervene.  I can go out with a shovel and help my dog come home.  As for mankind the only way home was for God to intervene.  Because of the magnitude of the crisis the solution was much worse than my getting a shovel.  Jesus came and rescued us by way of the cross, which is by far the worst mess ever made by mankind and the best ever rescue by God.

Written by Roger Bothwell on February 9, 2015

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

Rogerbothwell.org

 

 

The Self-Help book section at Barnes and Noble is impressive.  There is everything there to help us transform ourselves from wimps to giants.  No matter what deficiency we think we have, there is a book to help us conquer.  We can develop seven healthy habits or work through twelve steps.  We can forget the negative thoughts and realize the power of positive thinking.  It is all there.

I even saw one entitled “Live to Be a Hundred.”  Honestly I thought that was pretty puny.  Only a hundred?   I realize there is something called the Hayflick Limit that which tells us cell replication is limited to 40 to 60 times and then senescence occurs bringing mitosis to a grinding halt.  This puts a cap on human life somewhere in the area of 135 if everything else functioned optimally.   But, in spite of this, 135 is pretty paltry when we consider what Jesus offers.  Barnes and Noble should have a section called, “How to Live Forever.”   It should be an array of various translations of the Bible, the best, the most incredible, the most promising, the most fabulous book ever written.

Just think of the wonder of Jesus’ promises.  In John 3:16 He said, “Whosoever . . . (That’s you and me.  We are the whosever.) believes in Him shall have everlasting life.”  In John 5 Jesus said, “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.”  Recently I heard a preacher declare that we all had to face judgment someday.  Apparently he failed to read John 5.

I realize in a way this isn’t self-help.  It is Jesus help.  But we do have to accept the gift.  That is the ultimate self-help.

Written by Roger Bothwell on February 3, 2015

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

Rogerbothwell.org

 

John 14:1-3 was probably the second memory verse I ever learned.  As a child I always thought of it in a literal sense.   Jesus was a contractor and the angels were the carpenters and plumbers.  They were busy constructing fabulous mansions for us.  Each home was uniquely constructed to the particular desires of the future inhabitants.  This was not a cookie-cutter subdivision.  So you can imagine my delight when one day I learned to think of mansions as a metaphor.  All kinds of doors opened up.

Mansions were houses filled with different families.  There was a Lutheran family, a Baptist family, a Catholic family and an Adventist family.  There were mansions for those saved by Jesus, who had never heard of Jesus.  They were saved by Him and His sacrifice for them.  They just didn’t know it until He got the opportunity to tell them face to face.

Just yesterday I was thinking of I Corinthians 6:19, “Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God?”  I suddenly realized the most fabulous mansion of all is where God dwells.  If He is dwelling in you, you are a fabulous mansion.  I looked around the room I was in and saw a hundred mansions walking about interacting with each other.  “In my Father’s house are many mansions” took on a whole new excitement.

Now I have to admit many of these mansions are in various stages of disrepair.  Just like my current house they are aging and need attention.  I need a new roof on my current house just as once I needed a new hip and knee in me.   Surely the promise “Behold I make all things new” applies to us.  Each of us will be the best looking mansion on the block.

Written by Roger Bothwell on February 7, 2016

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

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We have all seen them and we all really dislike them.  I’m talking about the student who continually sucks up to the teacher.  As a teacher I have to confess that it takes me a bit to realize what is going on and then I really dislike the student doing so.   It takes me a while because I love all the nice things they say.  But really after a while it goes over the top and then the light bulb goes on.

How many times in church listening to the morning prayers do we hear people sucking up to God.  It usually goes something like this.  “Oh mighty Father, King of Kings, Ruler of the vast universe, patient one, loving one, and on and on.”    You get the idea.  Now don’t get me wrong; I think praise is fine.  The Psalms are full of praise.  It’s just that I get the idea that in the back of our minds we are thinking we want to make Him feel good before we ask for something.  I even sat through a prayer seminar once where I was taught we must always begin our prayers with a praise section. Really?  Let’s remember we are talking to the one who can read our minds.  He knows what we really think.  He knows the truth.

The best possible praise we can render to God is not a lot of trite, flowery phrases but a life of service.  What we do is so much more important than what we say.

Just as I am insulted when I catch on that a student is sucking up to me so we insult God when we suck up to Him.   Don’t do it.  Only say nice things to Him when you mean it.

Written by Roger Bothwell on February 6, 2015

Spring of Life, PO Box 124, St. Helena, CA 93574

Rogerbothwell.org

Hebrews 4:15 is one of the most amazing and almost preposterous statements of all time.  Speaking of Jesus it reads, “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are–yet he did not sin.”  Sinning and being human are basically synonyms.  Yet we have this one spectacular exception.  Of all the billions of humans who have breathed earth’s atmosphere there is Jesus of Nazareth, a poor man by human standards. He was 100% human.  He was tempted in every way as we are.  And He never yielded!!

Therefore unlike us, He never felt remorse.  He never had to say, “I’m sorry.”  He never had to repent.  He never shed tears as He contemplated His behavior.  He suffered like us but not for His own failures.  Yet, like us there were times when He needed reassurance.  At His baptism the Father tells Him how pleased He is with Him.  On the Mountain of Transfiguration He is reinforced.  Tuesday afternoon prior to the cross the Father once again spoke to Him giving Him the confidence to continue on.  He must have, like us, experienced moments of self-doubt.

He was a moral miracle. This is not mentioned in the lists of His miracles.  It should be at the top.  This is greater than feeding the multitudes or even greater than raising Lazarus from the dead.  This Jesus of Nazareth is the only man ever who could have divided history into before and after. Now He says to us, “Come and follow me.”  He said, “I am the way.”  The way where?  Into eternity.

 

Written by Roger Bothwell on Feb. 5, 2015

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

Rogerbothwell.org

 

One did not need to see today’s installment of horror from the Middle East to be repulsed at the repugnant savage barbaric nature of men.  Our imaginations can vividly supply the smell of gasoline and fire and the screams coming from the cage. I am on the verge of being ashamed for being a human being.  Is not God disgusted?  Surely these animals are doomed for no regime so evil can long endure.  Are not their fellows ashamed and when will they rise up and say, “No more”?

I wanted to say at this point that I have never been ashamed for being a Christian.  But that is not so.  So called Christians have appeared at the graveside services of our fallen soldiers with terrible signs spewing hatred.  So I am going to say with Paul, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes.” (Romans 1)  I could never be ashamed of a message that denounces hatred and the promotion of pain upon others.  How sad that sometimes we have to make a distinction between “the Gospel” and “Christianity.”  But we do not have to do that if we are talking about “Real Christianity.”  Anything that varies from Jesus’ message of our heavenly Father’s love is a blatant counterfeit and easy to identify as such.

Jesus is so different from every other religion in the world.  Edwin Markham’s famous words put it so well.

“He drew a circle that shut me out-

Heretic, rebel, a thing to flout.

But love and I had the wit to win:

We drew a circle and took him In !

Of that I could never be ashamed.

Written by Roger Bothwell on February 24, 2015

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

Rogerbothwell.org

 

In Acts 10:38 Peter makes a wonderful statement about Jesus.  “He went about doing good.”  We call ourselves Christians which we all know means Christ-like.  That must mean that we go about doing good.   I wish.  I can only imagine what the world would be like now if during the past 2000 years Christians went about doing good.  I wonder what our environment would be like if we went about doing good.  What if each day we purposed to do at least one good thing?

The entire verse reads, “God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him.”  I am not going to even think about applying the entire verse to us because healing is something quite different.

If one of us had the real gift of healing chaos would result.  The media rush, the stampedes of the ill, the devastation to our hospital system and the unemployment that would result as nurses and doctors lost their livelihood would be horrific.  So I am going to concentrate on the “doing good” part of the verse.

In 1965 Dionne Warwick sang to us Burt Bacharach’s song, “What the world needs now is love, sweet love. It’s the only thing there’s just too little of.”  That is still true 50 years later.   Real love, sweet love, would bear the fruit of “doing good.”  If there’s someone out there who’s not your favorite person be creative and do something good for them.  Who knows?  You just might become their favorite person.  Now wouldn’t that be something?

Written by Roger Bothwell on February 3, 2015

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

Rogerbothwell.org