Author: Ian Bothwell

My Popular Mechanics came today and I just finished reading about making concrete furniture.  I wondered why.  Not why I read it but why anyone would want concrete furniture.  I tried to think of the pluses and came up with a. It might deter one from becoming a couch potato.  b. It would most likely keep one’s wife from continually rearranging the room.  c. It would never go out of style since it never was in style. d. It would generate discussions with guests during a lull in a conversation. e. No one could accuse us of living a soft cushy life. f. I can’t think of an f.

Mark 8:34 has always concerned me. Jesus said, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.”  I don’t believe I have chosen to be a cushy Christian, but I have never once felt that being a Christian lessened the quality of my life.  As the years have gone by and my walk with Jesus has deepened the rewards keep flowing.  When I read stories of people who are persecuted for their faith I begin to feel pangs of guilt.  It has never occurred for me.

Jesus suffered.  Paul suffered.  Many early church fathers suffered.  I read about lions eating Christians in the Roman arenas and wonder if I would have the courage to be faithful.  It is true that many of those who died in the arenas actually went looking for it because they sought martyrdom.  And some people today go looking for trouble. I don’t think that is what Jesus meant for us to do.  Unless something drastically changes I will live my life as a cushy Christian not having to sit on a concrete sofa.

Written by Roger Bothwell on January 9, 2014

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

Rogerbothwell.org

There is a traditional view of people showing up at heaven’s gate only to be turned away.  Peter or some cosmic being sits at a desk with a large book and a pen in hand.  It is a moment of being accepted or rejected by a judge.  While this picture is metaphorical there is an essence of truth.  There is a judge and there will be rejection. In John 12:47-48 Jesus said, “If anyone hears my words but does not keep them, I do not judge that person. For I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world. There is a judge for the one who rejects me and does not accept my words; the very words I have spoken will condemn them at the last day.”

According to Jesus He never has nor ever will reject anyone.  His responsibility in the plan of redemption is to save the world.  Please note He said, “The world.”  That’s everyone.  But we know not everyone will be saved.  So who then does the rejecting?   The answer isn’t a “who” but a “what.”  It is the words of Jesus.  They are the standard.  If there is a “who” involved it is the lost themselves.  They perish because of their decision not to pay any attention to what Jesus said.

This is what judgment is all about.  All of our lives Jesus woos us.  “Come unto me” He calls out.  “Let my righteousness be yours.”  Being lost is a matter of personal choice and not an edict from on high.  We are not rejected by another.  We are the rejecters.  We are not cast out.  We turned and walked out.  It’s a horrible realization. It is hell.

Written by Roger Bothwell on January 15, 2014

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

Rogerbothwell.org

During the winter Olympics we watch the best of the best compete for the glory of the gold medal and the few moments on the stand listening to their national anthem.  Most of us are drawn to excellence and will at least once, if only momentarily, wonder what it would feel like to have the joy and satisfaction of being the winner after a lifetime of dedicated training.  Paul thought about it and makes reference to the Olympics in Philippians 3.   While Paul was sure of his salvation there was yet another goal that he pressed forward to attain.  He wanted to know Jesus and be as much like Jesus as possible.  He wrote, “Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”

His calling, his goal, was to be like Jesus. This is what Christianity is all about.  Salvation is step one and is then followed by challenges to character growth.  Salvation is a gift.  Character growth is work.  We will always be saved by the righteousness of Jesus.  Then with the Holy Spirit abiding in us, we are called to grow and then grow some more and then grow yet ever more.  Like Olympians it is a life of dedicated purpose.  It is the goal of an eternal life.

Written by Roger Bothwell on January 14, 2014

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

Rogerbothwell.org

 

Life is very much like a football game without any timeouts.  There is no whistle to stop the aggressors from coming after us.  Sometimes the future appears to be blocked by a line of 300 pound 6 feet 6 inch tall bruisers with bulging muscles.   If you are in school there are lectures and exams.  If you are busy with a career there are growth goals and competition from colleagues.  If you are parenting there are the joys of having your sweet children becoming adolescents.  The list of challenges just keeps going.

We are tempted to blame it on modernity but it isn’t new.  Two thousand years ago Jesus said, “”Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”  People have always found ways to fill their days with endless activity.  All our electronics have not lessened our workloads.  Instead they have raised expectations that we will get even more done.  Children used to play Hide and Go Seek or Tag.   Now they play soccer, take martial arts classes, take dance lessons, play basketball games.  The need is for a second car and a full time driver getting the children from appointment to appointment.

It makes one tired just thinking about the stress.  I have never heard anyone say they are taking their children to “How to be Relaxed and Quiet” classes.   So many of us long for our children to be successful so we push them.  C’s in school used to be average.  No longer.  Anything less than an A is a source of disappointment.  Often teachers will give a B student an A just because it isn’t worth the grief they will receive from eager parents.

When it all gets overwhelming remember there is place of quiet rest.

Written by Roger Bothwell on January 13, 2014

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

Rogerbothwell.org

At one time our son’s office was in a high-rise in southern Connecticut looking down on I-95.  One day on our way to Philadelphia my wife texted him that we would be coming by his building in a few minutes.   As we came in sight of his glass structure we opened the sunroof and my wife started to wave.   A few seconds later she received the text, “Saw you waving.”   Not much of a visit as we whizzed by a wee bit over 65 mph.

I used to think that God watched us from above.  As a little guy I learned a song about God looking down in tender love.  Only instead of catching just a glimpse He got to watch everything all the time.  Later in life I read Galatians 2:20, “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.”   This certainly changes everything.  God is not watching from above.  He is inside!  We have no secrets. Now comes the amazing part.  He still loves us.   How can this be?  I don’t even pretend to know.  I just take Him at His word. “The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”  That’s the rest of Galatians 2:20.

We are invited to participate in a very intimate relationship.  Not only is He aware of our thoughts, He longs to share His thoughts with us.  James 1:5 says, “If you need wisdom—if you want to know what God wants you to do—ask Him, and He will gladly tell you. He will not resent your asking.”  This is so much better than waving out the top of a sunroof.

Written by Roger Bothwell on January 16, 2013

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

Rogerbothwell.org

 

My barber startled me today.  She said, “I’ve been praying for you.”  Though she has been cutting my hair for years I really don’t know her other than her name and the usual niceties of conversation.  However, other than shaking hands with people, she is one of the few people who touch me.  Today she touched me in a different way.  Instead of merely touching my head, her expression of care touched my heart.

Touch is important.  We know that babies who are not touched do not thrive.  Yet, we live in a culture that discourages touching.  Teachers are fearful of touching students lest they be unfairly accused.  Yet, we all know there are times when a crying child needs someone to hold them.  Many years ago I was the pastor of a church with a daycare.  One morning I saw a little guy sitting on the floor silently weeping.  As I sat down beside him he said, “I want my mommy.”  I spent most of the morning with him on my lap.

In the first chapter of Mark Jesus healed a leper.  But first Jesus touched him.  It was an outrageous act of love.  Nobody touched lepers.  Jesus did.  Jesus was so sensitive to our need when a woman touched the hem of his garment He stopped and said, “Who touched me.”  Both the leper and the woman left totally and completely well.  On resurrection Sunday Jesus said to Mary, “You have to let go of me.  I haven’t yet been to my Father.”  The King James says, “Don’t touch me.”  But the Greek, in which the story was originally written, says, “Let me go.”

If we want to do real evangelism let’s learn about individuals and imaginatively and uniquely do something designed to touch them.

Written by Roger Bothwell on January 10, 2014

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

Rogerbothwell.org

 

I heard someone say God speaks and things come into being.  They used Psalm 33:6, “By the word of the Lord were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth.”  It is a beautiful text written in marvelous poetic style.  As the person went on, he inferred that God was some kind of magician, who merely spoke and the worlds were made.  Albert Einstein once said, “God is a scientist not a magician.”  Einstein and Jeremiah shared a similar thought.  Jeremiah wrote in 10:12, “God made the earth by his power; he founded the world by his wisdom and stretched out the heavens by his understanding.”

God does not casually sprinkle magic dust nor does He speak secret cryptic combinations of words to bring about order and life.  Our world and we are the product of His thoughts. The complexity of our environment and the wonder of our eyes, minds and hands are the fruit of careful design.  When He announced that He was going to make creatures in His own image He had pondered every aspect of our being and spared no detail that would  keep us from continual growth.  He was, is, will be ever giving.  He is not parsimonious but prodigal with His gifts.  Each gift is specifically designed to be beneficial.

He said to Jeremiah, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”   Jeremiah was no more special than you or me.  God has plans for us far beyond our dreams. We are not an accident nor are we an act of magic.  We are specially designed for special tasks.  We are the wisdom of His thoughts.

Written by Roger Bothwell on January 10, 2013

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

Rogerbothwell.org

Some of my favorite things are afternoon shadows on snow.  Gray imitations of the real are cast upon the snow accentuating the whiteness of the ground cover.  Shadows like all things come in many forms.  Some shadows are depressing as they hide reality.  Some shadows artistically reveal an impressionistic view of the real.  Sometimes we forget that shade, so welcome on a hot afternoon, is but a shadow protecting us from the sometimes harshness of direct sun and heat.  “He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.” Psalm 91:1

Shadows so often are depicted as harbingers of the night but they also herald the dawn as day moves across our place in the world.  As nice as they are in summer there is something special in winter as they lie upon the snow.  They make paths which draw our eyes to the trees or better yet to a person we love who is standing in the snow.

The “shelter of the Almighty” mentioned above promises us security and comfort from the challenges of our daily routines.  We can step in the shadow and know there is someone very real with us.  We are not alone.  And when we walk through the valley of the shadow of death we have nothing to fear.  God has invested decades in growing us. He will not waste the time, energy and effort He devoted to our becoming like Him.  Just as a great artist would not trash the work of a lifetime neither will our Creator waste the care, the tears and the laughter He has poured into us.  We are way too expensive to ignore.

Written by Roger Bothwell on January 9, 2013

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

Rogerbothwell.org

When Abraham Lincoln was a young man he feared there was nothing left on “the field of glory”.  Washington, Jefferson, Madison and the others had done the great work of establishing our nation and the rest of us will spend our days doing lesser things.  How ironic that he was the one who saved that very Union.  In Ephesians 2:10 Paul wrote, “We are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”  It appears we need not fear that all the great things have been done.  Before we were born God knew us and prepared very special projects for us; projects sure to bring their share of glory when we follow His will for our lives.

It is tempting to think we don’t matter much in the great scheme of things.  Satan would love to have us resign ourselves to a mundane life of merely logging years.  But should we begin each day with reference to the old United States Army slogan, “Father, this day help me be all that I can be” we might not come to the end of the day with a “Wow, I was spectacular today” but we will indeed, most likely unknowingly, contribute something highly significant in the building of God’s Kingdom.

We are not the product of a random meeting of egg and sperm.  We have been planned for.  We are the product of a heavenly Father who needs us.   Like a human father who has dreams of glory for his children so does God have dreams for us.  There are yet a multitude of honors left on “the Field of Glory” and at least one of them has engraved on a golden name plate your name.

Written by Roger Bothwell on January 7, 2014

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

Rogerbothwell.org

Our dog tries to be a good dog.  When there is food in the room, she patiently waits.  Often she gives us that tilted head sad-eyed look pretending to be a poor starving waif.  It works.  It has to be tough to be a dog.  Humans eat really good things, but they eat sitting at a table and all a dog can do is smell the goodies. It’s tough not to salivate on the floor.  Humans don’t like that.  If you are fortunate they will have just the right amount of leftovers.  The desired amount is enough to taste great but not too much because then the humans will put them in the fridge for another meal.  But sometimes humans leave really good things on the counter and leave the room and the temptation is overwhelming.

Last week my wife made a great, I mean really great, apple pie and left it to cool on the back of the stove.  Remember I Corinthians 10:13, “God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that you are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that you may be able to bear it.”  That text is definitely for humans and not for dogs.  Our good dog just couldn’t resist.  We heard a noise and when we entered the kitchen her nose was right down in it.   Oh, the shame!  She obviously knew who made the pie because she hid behind me for the rest of the evening.

Remember that great verse in Psalm 23, “He prepares a table for me.”   There are no leftovers on that table.  We are not dogs.  We are sons and daughters.  We eat at the table.  How grand!

Written by Roger Bothwell on January 7, 2013

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

Rogerbothwell.org