Category: devotional

During the last few years of my father’s life, he loved to go to Sears and buy tools.  Therefore, one would assume that he was a handyman.  He wasn’t.  But he surely had all the tools necessary to be one.  After he passed away I inherited some wonderful Craftsman saws, grinders, wrenches, screwdrivers and drills.  Neither am I a great handyman but I have managed to use them through the years and pass some along to my sons, who are very handy.  So ultimately the tools have found good homes.

Jesus’ parable of the talents is one of my favorites.  To one servant the master gave a lot money.  To another he gave some money.  To another he gave a small amount.  You know the story.  The first two multiplied their talents but the one with a small amount, who had limited ability, buried his much to the master’s displeasure.

So what are your tools?  I know some of you and some of you that I know are very talented.  Tools, talents are made to use.  Singing in the shower doesn’t hack it if you are really good and never sing for others.  We have so many research tools at our fingertips.  In a few moments we can access all manner of information.  What do we do with it?  Do we merely satisfy our curiosities or do we turn that information into ways to help people?

My dad had a beautiful brand new hammer that I am sure never once struck a nail.  But he did not bury it.  He shared it with me.  One of the best things we can ever hear is what the master said to the servants who multiplied their talents.  “Well done thou good and faithful servant.”

Written by Roger Bothwell on March 22, 2013

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

Rogerbothwell.org

 

It was Samuel Coleridge who wrote, “Water, water every where; nor any drop to drink.”   This morning I felt like this ancient mariner as I surfed through 900 television channels. In desperation I stopped at an old Perry Mason drama.  There was Raymond Burr and Barbara Hale in all their prime.  It was the late 50’s.  I think we had three channels and Perry dominated his time slot.   Have we really changed so much?  I think the dialogues must have been written by eighth graders during recess.  (I say that with reservation because I am aware that some might think the same of my devotionals.  Alas.)  After the guilty party broke down in tears under his clever? Interrogation, I decided to try out an old western on the Xfinity On Demand.  I found one filmed in 1949.   During this one I think I had to award the writers of Perry Mason an Oscar.

We do change. Languages change.  Styles change. Even “truth” changes; at least what we thought was truth. The scientific theory of a geocentric universe held sway for thousands of years until Galileo.  However, there are some truths that are so eternal they will never change. The morality of the Ten Commandments is timeless because they are based on just two principles; love God and love others.  And just how do we love God?  Jesus said, “If you have done it to the least of these you have done it unto me.”  So there it is.  There is only one truth.   Love.   I John 4:8.  God is love.  Don’t ever let people tell you all religions are basically the same.  Every time members of a particular religion call out, “God is great.”  We should call out “God is love.”

Written by Roger Bothwell on March 23, 2012

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

Rogerbothwell.org

Usually we associate Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) with people who repeatedly wash their hands or check door locks.  However, there is a category of OCD that just might be the fruit of one’s theology.  These people are doubters and are afraid that if everything isn’t perfect or done just right they will be punished or worse lost for all eternity.  It has been my lot to have known many such people through the years.  Perhaps it was birds of a feather.

One has to tread lightly here because it would be so easy to leave the impression it doesn’t matter and we can be saved in our sins. Nothing could be farther from the truth.  We are saved from our sins and the legal consequences.  With that as a preface I want to assure each of you that Jesus telling us to call God, Our Father, has enormous implications. Parents are so delighted to see their children grow. (I always wished it would have taken twice as long.  They left way too soon for me.)   There was never an expectation that once they started to walk they would never teeter and fall.  Getting up and falling down is just part of the process.  Our heavenly Father is so pleased that we want to walk.  And just as we did not disown our children when they fell, neither does God disown us.  He knows our capabilities.  He knows our weaknesses.

We are saved by grace from our past and our future.  Ephesians 2 says, “For 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.”  Jesus is the Alpha and the Omega of our salvation.  Dump the OCD.

Written by Roger Bothwell on March 22, 2012

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

Rogerbothwell.org

 

 

There are some people that really need a slap on the back of the head.  This evening I saw three adults who really should be at the head of the line with all of us lined up to do the deed.  First of all it was dark.  Second, it was a really very busy intersection with rapidly moving cars.  Third, they were crossing the street against the light.  Fourth, they were pushing two baby strollers. Fifth, they were just strolling.

As I drove away literally seething at what I had seen I unfortunately remembered a few really dumb things I have done.  Perhaps I should get a slap on the back of the head before those folk.  I doubt if I am really out of place here to think that perhaps you too can remember deserving a good slap.  Even if it is just a matter of taking all our blessings for granted and not remembering to be thankful.

A lifetime ago I was a pastor in Calhoun, Ga.  One morning the word got out that I was ill.  Before the day was out I had three separate house visits from three separate physicians.  We had called none of them.  Today my primary care physician told my wife he prays everyday that I will be well.  Last week my specialist told me he loved Ian and me.  If ever once you hear me complain about my lot in life I want you to come to my house and slap me on the back of the head.

I think of people who don’t positively respond to the wondrous gift of eternal life; especially those who have heard it over and over.  I wish the only result of that would be a slap on the back of the head.

Written by Roger Bothwell on March 21, 2012

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

Rogerbothwell.org

 

If you have ever been asked to make a public presentation you most assuredly suffered prior to the presentation; cold hands, weak knees, shortness of breath, rapid heartbeat accompanied by a pain in the pit of your stomach.  I once had a friend who when pastor of a very large church said he often threw up the mornings he was to speak.  Psychologists tell us stage fright is the number one fear ranking above snakes, heights and spiders.  So you can imagine my delight when I read I Corinthians 3 where Paul says, “I came to you in weakness with great fear and trembling.  My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power.”   Ah, ha.  Paul was one of us.  How could it be?

Actually, I am being very generous to place us in any category with him.  None of us have been, “Five times I received the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was pelted with stones, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea.”  II Corinthians 11.   I have heard people mock John Mark because he quit during Paul’s first missionary journey and went home.  I wonder how many of us would have stayed.  It was dangerous to be near Paul.   But let’s get back to his stage fright.  Jesus had promised, “Whenever you are arrested and brought to trial, do not worry beforehand about what to say. Just say whatever is given you at the time, for it is not you speaking, but the Holy Spirit.”   We really have it so easy.

Written by Roger Bothwell on March 20, 2012

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

Rogerbothwell.org

 

Our local public library is presently featuring To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee.  This Sunday afternoon the National Endowment for the Arts sponsored an actor to portray Atticus Finch.  It was splendid and much to my pleasure during the hour he morphed into Scout, Mr. Cunningham and Mr. Ewell merely with voice and facial expressions.  Skilled actors can move us and manipulate our feelings with their talents. As I watched I pondered how easily we can be affected by other’s manners and demeanors.

When Jesus called the religious leadership hypocrites, He was using the Greek word for actor.  They pretended to be something they were not.  In Matthew 23 He accused them of being white-washed tombs; pretty on the outside but rotten inside. However, I’m not so sure it’s so bad to be a hypocrite in the Greek sense.  In the morning I determine today I will be as much like Jesus as possible.  That takes some acting.  It isn’t my natural reaction to the day’s irritations.   I believe Jesus’ problem wasn’t the acting on the part of the establishment as much as inwardly they weren’t trying to change.  As soon as the crowds were gone it was business as usual.

In Jeremiah 13:23 we find the old question, “Can a leopard change its spots?”  Many people contend that what we are we are and we will ultimately revert back to that.  I do hope they are wrong.  If so there is no hope in trying.  We might as well adopt Popeye’s philosophy “I yam what I yam” and be done with it.  Paul certainly thought we could change.  He devoted a good share of the book of Romans to the task.  Today I’m going for an Oscar.

Written by Roger Bothwell on March 19, 2012

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

Rogerbothwell.org

 

It is obvious that God loves diversity. There is no end of the differences in people.  We are made in His image but there are an infinite number of combinations of DNA producing an infinite number of unique beings. Our modern world enables us to feast on diversity.  Our supermarket provides us with so many different kinds of vegetables, fruits, breads, breakfast cereals and juices.  No matter the uniqueness of our tastes there is something there for almost everyone.

So how is it that we have such strong desires to make others think and believe just like we do?   Religion and politics are just two arenas that create “others.”  “Others” are those who do not walk in mental lock step with us.  We create labels like “heretic” or “liberal” or “conservative” and we use them for reasons to not trust “others.”  We create organizations, clubs and parties to make ourselves feel right and thus deem “others” wrong.  “Others” are welcome to visit but not belong unless they convert and conform to us.  Somehow we appreciate diversity in arenas that do not affect thought.

Is it possible we do this “birds of a feather” thing because we are insecure and need the presence of others who think like us to bolster our doubts and reinforce our biases?  In John 14 Jesus said something very interesting.  He said, “In my Father’s house are many mansions.”  Was He only speaking about buildings in the sky or was He perhaps opening the door for His Father to extend grace to an infinite number of His children?  Revelation 7:9 says, “There before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb.”

Written by Roger Bothwell on March 18, 2013

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

Rogerbothwell.org

While in college I participated in a few oratorical contests and thus have an appreciation for the anxiety of standing on stage, knowing that you did your best, and fearing you will hear your name as the person who didn’t make it.

Through the years I have known many Christians filled with anxiety and fear about their eternal destiny.  It is like standing before God’s throne waiting for the horrible news that you did not make it.  When you ask them if they are saved they respond with “I hope so.”  Somewhere along the way they have confused assurance of salvation with spiritual pride and they want to be humble.  Assurance of salvation has nothing to do with self but has everything to do with Jesus.  To live and rejoice in the promises of Jesus is all about praise to Him and not ourselves.

Paul wrote, “I know in whom I have believed and He is able.” II Timothy 1:12.  We might be tempted to think, “Well, that was Paul and he was special.”   We need to remind ourselves that God doesn’t play favorites.  Acts 10:34.  What was good for Paul, Peter and even Jesus is good for us.  Both in Galatians and Romans Paul assures us that we are co-heirs with Jesus Himself.  That is so beyond belief; if it were not in Scripture I would say it was totally crazy.  Chase away the anxiety and fear and live in the luxury of God’s Fatherhood.  Accept the promises of Jesus and know that should you so choose you are a winner and will never hear that you have to cease singing.  Live we shall.  Inherit we shall.  Sing we shall.

Written by Roger Bothwell on March 14, 2013

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

Rogerbothwell.org

 

Because I was not at the top of my game I stayed in the car while my wife got groceries.  My eye caught a couple very engaged in conversation; so much so they pushed their cart of groceries into the parking lot shopping cart bin leaving all their food behind.  As they drove away I tooted my horn; but, to no avail.  They were gone. I was sure they would be back so I would be a really good guy and guard their things until they returned.  Not five minutes passed and they were back.  It’s a standard human response to laugh when one is embarrassed.  They laughed.

Not wanting to paint myself as wonderful because I really didn’t do anything but toot and that was too late, I did think about having someone to watch over us.  There are times we too become very engaged in something; so much so we also forget important things.  Life can be most engrossing and full of things; so much so that we neglect the important thing of remembering to maintain our relationship with God.  I don’t want to say that’s okay.  However, He is very understanding and He doesn’t go away.  He waits and watches and knows when we regain reality we will be back.  What I love about this is He doesn’t toss us out when this occurs.  He’s a good Father and though we don’t always act like it we are still in the family.

In the meantime He “sends His angels to keep us in all our ways.”  Psalm 91:11.   I wish that meant nothing bad would ever happen to us.  Alas, we live in a world where bad things do happen to good people. But it does mean He will always make it right.

Written by Roger Bothwell on March 16, 2012

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

Rogerbothwell.org

 

 

On our way into a Friendly’s I held the door for a family on their way out.  As a little guy passed me I heard him say to his dad, “I want to come back here again.”  Too bad Friendly’s didn’t have that on camera.  It would be a great ad.   I found myself wishing we could figure out how to get the same reaction from our youth regarding coming to church.  During church we have a children’s story and a mob of little kids flood the front pews.  But where are the teens?  Something happens during adolescence and we rarely hear, “I want to come back here again.”

I realize it does have something to do with being a teen.  After all 4000 teens start smoking each day.  That says a lot about their cognition.  The truth is we are competing with media productions that spend hundreds of millions of dollars to capture their attention.  It’s pretty hard to preach an eye and ear catching sermon without the visual fade ins and outs, the finely tuned music and the built-in laugh track.  Lest I sound totally pessimistic I do want to point out we do have something on our side the other side doesn’t have.  God promises to send His spirit to attend us.  Should we be wise enough to seek that help,  we will have something on our side no amount of clever, eye-catching media production can ever match.

One of the things every one of us needs to understand is “preaching” at them and “exhorting” just doesn’t work.  They react to it like it was smallpox.  Telling people not to do something usually elicits just the opposite response.  Inspiration is the key.  We must inspire them.  We must make them want to do what is best for them and love is the magic potent.

Written by Roger Bothwell on March 15, 2012

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

Rogerbothwell.org