Author: Ian Bothwell

Have you ever followed a vehicle on an interstate highway for miles and suddenly realized it is gone.  It has been replaced by another and you have no idea when and where the first vehicle went. You look for the first but it is nowhere to be seen. How could this happen?  You were watching the entire time. It is then that you realize you have been on autopilot.  You were listening to the radio or rehearsing what you were going to say when you arrived at your destination.

Unfortunately some of us live on autopilot.  We just go through the motions with little or no thought.  We do things because this is the way it has always been.  If there is any original thought it is because we heard someone else say it.   Some of us are Christians merely because we were raised in a Christian culture.  We belong to a particular denomination merely because our parents did.  We consider others who are different than we to be misguided, wrong or just plain stupid.  And yet we have no real rationale for who and what we are.

I Peter 3:15 says, “But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that is in you.”  Conscious thought and serious questioning of what we have been taught is part of the abundant life.  It is why God made us in His image.  To think is to be like God.  If he did not desire this of us He would have made us with built in unalterable software.  But what or where would be the joy in that?

Written by Roger Bothwell on August 23, 2012

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

Rogerbothwell.org

 

When I entered the room I noticed a very attractive elderly (older than me) lady sitting with an old geezer.  As I neared her it became very obvious that her face had been painted on.  She had done a good job but on closer examination reality was still there.  The passing of decades had carved out their damage.

I fear scrutiny.  Scrutiny enables others to see flaws, exterior and interior, that we wish were not.  We try to paint over them and are fairly successful as long as someone doesn’t cross the room and begin to scrutinize. God is a scrutinizer.  He sees underneath our pitiful efforts to look good.  In Matthew 23 Jesus really went after a painting crew.  He said, “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean.  In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.”

What is frightening about this passage is I am sure most of them believed they were good men.  Most of them were not maliciously treacherous.  They were furious with Jesus not so much because He outted them to the masses but to themselves.  They were scrupulous tithers.  Jesus even told them so.  But it didn’t compensate for the fact that they were human.  Jesus and Darwin were in total agreement regarding the basic nature of humanity.  We are climbers over the weaker.

Mercy.  Grace.  Forgiveness. These are the key ideas to real Christianity.  Without them we are just sophisticated monkeys.

Written by Roger Bothwell on August 22, 2012

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

Rogerbothwell.org

 

Prosperity isn’t everything it is cracked up to be.  I just gave my beautiful black lab the biggest, most lush bone.  It is great and should provide her with endless hours of pure pleasure.  Instead she is walking around the house, clutching it between her bright white teeth, crying.  Instead of lying down to enjoy it she wants to hide it somewhere and cannot find a secure place.   She is fretting like a rich man wondering where to safely stow his riches.   I am reminded of the song “I’ve got plenty of nothing and nothing’s plenty for me.”  “Folks with plenty of plenty, they got a lock on the door afraid somebody’s gonna rob them while they’re out making more.   What for?   I got no lock on the door that no way to be.  They can steal the rug from the floor, that’s OK with me cause the things that I prize like the stars in the sky are all free.”  I thought I might mention this just in case you filled your car with gas today and are feeling a bit panicked about the future.

This is a very good time to remind ourselves of Jesus’ words in the Sermon on the Mount.  “Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are ye not much better than they?”  “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”   Sometimes Jesus’ words are challenging to our common sense.  But let’s trust Him.  He means what He says.  First things first and the rest will be cared for.  He knows.  He is our Creator.

Written by Roger Bothwell on March 8, 2011

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

Rogerbothwell.org

So my colleague with the barren lilac bush is pondering getting plastic lilac blossoms and decorating her blossomless shrub.  I suggested that she visit a five and dime (do they still exist?) and get a bottle of cheap lilac-scented cologne.  Each morning she could go out and spray the plastic flowers.  Who would know?  Only those extremely few who would ever get close enough could tell the difference; that is unless she leaves them on into July.  Then anyone would know.

So I think you can guess what I was thinking about this afternoon.  Could I, could you, could anyone fake being a Christian?  Could we decorate our lives with phony deeds of charity and love?   Well, the deeds would be real but the motive would be the fake part.  We could make sure, like the Pharisee in Matthew 6, that we have lots of cameras around when we make our donations.  We could get our picture in the paper handing a giant check to our school or church or community center.  We could make sure our picture is taken when nailing up a stud during a Habitat for Humanity Project; or get our picture taken while being surrounded by lots of little African children while we play the big rich American passing out used clothes.

Who would know?  Let me tell you who would know.  We would.  God would and Jesus could say to us, “I never knew you.”   How horrible it would be to hear those words.  It has been my privilege for several years now to have people send Spring of Life funds to give to needy students with the donor requesting total anonymity.  I tell the students I am only a conduit.  The real giver just wants to share.  How grand.

Written by Roger Bothwell on May 13, 2011

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

Rogerbothwell.org

 

I continue to be amazed by students.  Just when I think I have seen it all, something new occurs.  We started our summer graduate program this morning for teachers working on their masters’ degrees.  One young lady tried to register for two classes that were running simultaneously.  Her rationale was that since the courses were in classrooms across the hall from each other she could during the day keep moving back and forth from lecture to lecture.  After all she was a smart lady.  This is somewhat like chess masters who play several opponents at the same time.  I will not mention the personal slight to the professors.  It is like a student, who had been absent, coming and saying, “Did I miss anything.”  I always want to respond with, “No, we napped while you were gone.”

She reminded me of Christians who think they are smart enough to follow Christ and yet take mini-vacations into places they know they should not be.  They can go to church on the weekends and still spend time in relationships that should not be.  Jesus said it so well in the Sermon on the Mount. “No one can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.”

While it is true that salvation is a gift, it is also true that one really can’t keep giving it back on Monday only to take it again on Friday evening.   It isn’t that God isn’t patient with us.   It is all about our ability or should I say lack of ability to tap into heaven’s resources with such a divided mind

Written by Roger Bothwell on June 28, 2011

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

Rogerbothwell.org

“Science predicts that many different kinds of universe will be spontaneously created out of nothing.”*

If you said it or if I said it, we would be laughed at as being uneducated, ignorant and out of touch with reality.  But when someone with Stephen Hawking’s stature says it some say, “Oh, yes, isn’t that marvelous?”  If one browses the science section at a bookstore it doesn’t take long to ascertain there is a small cadre of atheists and evolutionists who dominate the pop science market.  Some of them refer to those of us who are creationists as being “intellectually inferior.”  We are, according to them, believers in fairy stories.

But really now, even people who would not consider themselves scientifically literate accurately write such lyrics in The Sound of Music, “nothing comes from nothing.”

I will try to be nice about this and just ask how long would we have to wait before something spontaneously created itself out of nothing?   Yes, I know the answer I would receive would be trillions of years.  And they say we are people of faith and they are people of science.

We must never be ashamed to defend our reasonable, logical, scientific stance when we said, “In the beginning God created the heaven and earth.”  Intelligence comes from intelligence and life comes from life. Design comes from mind and order comes from plan.   “By the word of the LORD were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth. He gathereth the waters of the sea together as an heap: he layeth up the depth in storehouses. Let all the earth fear the LORD: let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him.”  Psalm 33

*Stephen Hawking: ‘There is no heaven; it’s a fairy story’ In an exclusive interview with the Guardian, the cosmologist shares his thoughts on death, M-theory, human purpose and our chance existence” Ian Sample, science correspondent – guardian.co.uk, Sunday 15 May 2011

Written by Roger Bothwell on May 19, 2011

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

rogerbothwell.org

When one rides through the Green Mountains of Vermont on a mid-summer day the overwhelming thought runs through your mind that it should be illegal for people to be allowed to live here.  Gorgeous, well-kept farms and lawns sit atop rolling hills back-dropped with breathtaking mountains deep green from the winter snows.  The roadsides are littered with Black-Eyed Susans, Queen Anne’s Lace, Day Lilies and Purple Asters.   The ponds are layered with Water Lilies and ringed with Purple Loose Strife.  The deep blue sky is decorated with cumulus clouds billowing over a scene Monet could never reproduce.  The thought run through your mind, “Let’s quit our jobs and move here.”   It is far away from the Disney Lands, Wall Drugs and Williamsburgs of our land. It is the world the way it is supposed to be.

Perhaps children belted into the back seats of the family SUV would say, “When are we going to get where we’re going?”  Or “I’m bored.”   It’s that way when we are small.  Paul said, “When I was a child I thought as a child. But now that I am a man I think as a man.”   There are so many things in life that change for us as we develop from one stage of life to another.  Each stage has its wonders and things to appreciate.  No longer am I fascinated by toy trucks.  Now I am overwhelmed by big trucks and the complexity of a Vermont eco-zone.  The miracle of life fills me with awe and whets my appetite for an eternity of study.

Some people say the Garden of Eden was somewhere in the Middle East.  I think it was somewhere in New England.  Surely it was here where God said on Friday evening, “It’s very good.”

Written by Roger Bothwell on July 29, 2011

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

rogerbothwell.org

 

 

We don’t stop at yard sales anymore.  We used to enjoy rummaging through other’s discards.  One never knows when they will find a million dollar Rembrandt for a dollar. But our house is full and at our age there is little point in adding more to the bounty of fifty years of marriage and the passing of our parents, whose things abound in our rooms. There are things in this house that I know not of.  I am not speaking of spiders and chipmunks.  I am talking about drawers full of things from our parent’s homes that I have never opened. I hope our children will treasure what we have treasured. But I must be a realist and recognize they only have so much room. Instead of rummaging at other’s yard sales I think I shall rummage in my own house.  Who knows what is here.

Sometimes I rummage in my Bible.  I pick it up and just read a bit here and a bit there.  There is no organization or plan.  I realize this is not a very scholarly activity but it is certainly pleasant.  A rereading of a passage from Paul or David can be a serendipitous event.  I know I have read this before and yet brand new ideas leap from the pages and stun my brain with freshness.  If I did not know better I would think it was written this week instead of thousands of years ago.  Modernity has changed how we live and travel but has not changed our hearts.  Humans are still the same perverse, caring, evil, righteous creatures who walked across the Red Sea or stood on Calvary.  Give yourself a treat.  Sit in your favorite chair and rummage about in God’s Word.

Written by Roger Bothwell on August 16, 2012

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

rogerbothwell.org

 

I overheard a man say that Jesus never made any mistakes.  He went on to quote Hebrews 4:15 that tells us Jesus never sinned.  Apparently this fellow never looked up the definitions of mistakes and sins.  There is a huge difference between cutting a board too short and offending a moral principle.  Surely when Jesus was learning the fine art of carpentry from Joseph there were mistakes.  If not then He wasn’t human and we are assured of His humanity.  “And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.”  Luke 2:52

Dr. Luke informs us that not only did he grew taller as a child but He grew intellectually.  He didn’t know everything as a child nor was He perfect in everything He attempted.  His perfection was moral.  He tripped.  He fell. He scuffled with His siblings.  He got splinters in His fingers and sawdust in His eyes.  He read the prophets and memorized what He was to do.  The Book of Isaiah was a Messiah Manual that He sent ahead of time so He would learn and know what a Messiah was to be. He grappled with our human issues and learned the difference between violating His Father’s law and burning breakfast. Mistakes are stepping stones to a better man.  The problem with a mistake is not so much the mistake but what we then do about it.  Do we learn?  Do we also grow in wisdom?

“For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.”  Hebrews 4:15.  Wise is the person who understands that all sins are mistakes but not all mistakes are sin.

Written by Roger Bothwell on August 15, 2012

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

rogerbothwell.org

In addition to a CAT scan today I also had an echo heart examination.  (Researchers are preparing me for experimental treatment beginning in Philadelphia next week. They are eliminating variables in me, their white mouse.)  I thoroughly enjoyed the heart examination.  I got to watch the image of my heart on a monitor and listen to it sounding like a Maytag washer.  Not only was there the regular beat but the whishing sound of blood being pushed through chambers and arteries.  How grateful it was to hear the technician say, “There is nothing here that will get anyone excited. It’s a clean heart.” What she meant was it was normal and routine.  But that excited me. Those were good words. Obviously she wasn’t speaking of David’s prayer in Psalm 51. “Create in me a clean heart, O God and renew a steadfast spirit within me.”  There isn’t anything in a medical laboratory that can do that.

There is no injection or detergent that can touch what David was talking about.  He said, “Be gracious to me, O God, according to Your loving kindness; according to the greatness of Your compassion blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity. And cleanse me from my sin.”

Our God is a fabulous God who doesn’t require us to accumulate merit points.  The only act of contrition is that of our heart.  If we want it and come with a repentant attitude, it will be done.  I do need to mention the importance of the repentant attitude.  He will not absolve us if we come to Him with no intention of change.  The entire process is all about desire, intent and a willingness to become His temple.  His clean temple.

Written by Roger Bothwell on August 14, 2012

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

Rogerbothwell.org