The Salt of the Earth

Friday evening after spending a delightful evening with friends by their fireplace we followed a salt truck for about twenty miles on our way home. The next morning I opened the door to the garage and was overwhelmed by being the owner of a white car.  Yesterday it was maroon.

One of the great dilemmas of life is one cannot spend time in certain environments without being changed.  I only need spend a weekend with friends in Georgia before my speech changes.  Once returned to New England it changes again.  So how did Jesus do it?   When His enemies accused Him of eating and drinking with sinners they were but telling the truth.  He did. Yet He remained steadfast and pure.  While He did not like what they did He apparently made them feel comfortable with His presence.  They continued to invite Him to their parties.

Jesus encourages us to be the salt of the earth.  Our influence and presence is supposed to enhance those around us.   We cannot be so if we remain in the shaker.  We cannot continually associate with those like ourselves and expect to be of use to the world.  Yet comes the danger of being so diluted and polluted we cease to be salty.

When I was in my late teens I worked on a construction crew building a school.  One day I overhead the foreman scolding the older men for their speech around me.  They were supposed to clean up their act because he knew I was planning to attend the seminary.  So could it be possible we do make a difference and just not know it.  Please reread the Sermon on the Mount.   Matthew 5,6,7

Written by Roger Bothwell on January 14, 2010

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

Rogerbothwell.org

 

Unconditional Surrender

Some of you remember the confession of a famous baseball player admitting that he used performance enhancing drugs in the 90s.  Good for him.  He came clean.  But he spoiled it by also adding he was sure they had nothing to do with his power hitting that broke records.  Excuse me.   I put high performance gas in my car but it has nothing to do with its smooth operation?  This is like Eve saying to God, “Yes, Lord, I did eat the fruit. But it had nothing to do with my knowledge of good and evil.  I would have gained that knowledge anyway via my naturally intelligent mind.”

Confessions with qualifications rarely work.  On judgment day confessions with qualifications will not be accepted.  When Lee surrendered to Grant at Appomattox the surrender was unconditional.  When the Japanese surrendered on the USS Missouri to close WWII the surrender was unconditional.   Our confessions to our heavenly Father have to be a full confession with no reservations regarding circumstances.  When one stops and thinks about it, it would be insulting to God for us to try and explain.  He was there.  He saw it.  He also understood our hearts and the hearts of everyone involved. What possible explanation could we give that He would not already understand?

The best thing we can do is to throw ourselves before Him as contrite sinners who need His mercy.  Now that I have said that I need also say, once done, we as sons and daughters of the living God can come boldly before the throne of grace with full rights of inheritance in the Kingdom.   Please See Galatians 4, Romans 8 and Hebrews 4:16.  The more I understand about this the more exciting it gets.

Written by Roger Bothwell on January 13, 2010

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

Rogerbothwell.org

 

We Can Never Earn God’s Favor

Each day I receive via email a daily devotional published by an Islamic organization.  Last week one was entitled, “How to earn Allah’s favor.”  If anyone ever wanted an answer to the question, “What is the difference between Islam and Christianity?” this was it.  We do not have to earn God’s favor.  If we did it would be impossible because God requires perfection.  God, according to Jesus, is a loving father who woos us.  The incredible part of this is “For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.” Romans 5:10.  The wonder of Christianity is this; it is not a religion of people in search of God.  It is just the reverse.  God has consistently sought opportunities to reveal Himself to us.  According to Hebrews 1 His best effort was the incarnation of Jesus.  When we see Jesus we see the Father.  John 14.  This is what God is really like.

But what about that perfection thing?  We can’t do it.  Here is the beauty. Jesus did it!  “By the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.” Romans 5:19.  It is so amazing.  It is incredible and it makes Christianity absolutely distinct from every other religion in the world.  We do not have to earn God’s favor.  We already have it.  Does that mean everyone will be saved?  Alas, no.  Millions will refuse the gift.  God’s heart has been, is and will be broken over and over because He longs to save all.   But what joy we can provide Him. Accept the gift and heaven rejoices.  You gotta love this!

Written by Roger Bothwell on January 11, 2010

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

Rogerbothwell.org

 

Swindles

Like many of us our friend has a second checking account to use on special occasions.  Normally it sits dormant.  And so it is she has received notification from her bank that they charged her fifty dollars as an inactivity fee.  The account only contained eleven dollars.  This is so ludicrous I am tempted to tell you the name of the bank.  It is very well known.

The whole experience reminded me of other times when we have been swindled. Lucifer is the universe’s biggest swindler.  He promised his fellow angels he could run the universe better than God.  One third of them believed him and lost their place in heaven.  (See Revelation 12:7)  He promised Eve she would be like God if she would eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil.  She lost her Eden home. (See Genesis 2)  He told Jesus he would give him the whole world if Jesus would only kneel before him. (See Luke 4) Fortunately for all of us the ruse did not work.  Jesus was able to resist the lie.

This is what Lucifer does.  He preys upon us by promising us good times and good things if we will cheat just a little bit here and there or tell a small lie here or there.  He tells us the commandments are confining and real freedom comes to those smart enough to put them aside.  Paul had it figured out.  In Romans 6:23 he tells us the wages of sin are death.  The fact is Lucifer is a lying swindler who has already lost his happiness and he cannot bear it to see us happy.

How grand it is to read the rest of Romans 6:23.  It goes like this, “The gift of God is eternal life.”  That is no swindle!

Written by Roger Bothwell on January 8, 2010

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

Rogerbothwell.org

 

Promises to Keep

My apologies to Robert Frost but I too stopped by some woods on a snowy evening.  My three hundred horses must have thought it queer to stop without a red light or red sign near.  But there was a family of deer moving slowly through the sub freezing evening air.  Small puffs of steam came from their nostrils as they made new trails through the snow.  My presence seemed not to disturb them as they reached up to nibble on hanging branches.  They would have made a perfect picture postcard advertising the beauties of New England.  It’s winter in all its fullness; grey skies, icicles hanging from eaves, crunching sounds underfoot, flocks of robins searching for last summer’s sumacs so they can gobble down the crimson berries, darkness at 4:30 P.M.   It’s a grand place.

Often I have wondered about Moses writing the Book of Job and making references to ice and snow in God’s soliloquy to Job.  See 37:10 and 38:22.  Since Moses grew up in Egypt and was a shepherd in the Middle East, I wondered where he saw ice and snow.  Perhaps he climbed a mountain.

There is loveliness to each season. I’m glad the earth is tilted on its axis.  Without that we would have the continually same sunrises and sunsets. We would have the same weather day in and year out.  Earth is a good place to live. We need to keep it safe from us.  As God made Adam steward of Eden, each of us has been given the sacred responsibility of stewardship.  With that thought in mind I moved my three hundred horses toward a town for I too, just like you, have many promises to keep.

Written by Roger Bothwell on Jauary 7, 2010

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

Rogerbothwell.org

 

Always Total Bars

It was cold today.  Icy wind whipped around the corner of the library on our campus.  As my wife and I rounded that frigid corner we bumped into a student trying to shelter herself as she talked on her cell phone.  It was the only place she could get service.  She had no bars inside where it was warm.

As we entered the warmth of the library I thought of one of my favorite Psalms.  It’s number 139 and goes like this.  “If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there.  If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me.”   We don’t have to find the right place to be in connection with our heavenly Father. We have total bars everywhere.  He can “hear us now.”   And that “now” is “always.”  There isn’t any place we can be that He will not hear us.

Psalm 139 goes on to tell us He watched us form in the womb.  Even there He was listening to our first fetal heart beats.   Even there He watched our brains form and smiled when we first started to hear the voices of our mom and dad while still inside that snug warm place.  The Psalm continues with “How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! How great is the sum of them!  If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand: when I awake, I am still with thee.”

The next time you have to hunt for cell service remember your heavenly Father can hear you everywhere.

Written by Roger Bothwell on January 6, 2010

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

Rogerbothwell.org

 

Important Things Will Never Change

There are, maybe, nine billion people on earth.  No one knows for sure.  But something we do know for sure is there are four point five billion cell phones on earth.   People who live decades away from the infrastructure needed for land line phones can access satellites for phone service.  They put them in the sun during the day to charge the batteries.  This is amazing. This means there are four point five billion different telephone numbers and your number, once dialed, finds your phone in your pocket or purse.  People in the jungle or on the African plains can “hear you now.” Masai warriors hunting lions can talk to each other on their phones as they close in on their prey.

Live for five more years and really be amazed.  They are called social robots and in the future they will be a fifteen billion dollar industry.  Are you too busy to pick up the kids after school?  Don’t be concerned.  Tell the family robot to take the family car and go pick up junior.  Believe me I am not talking foolishness.

I am talking about the exciting and scary world that lies ahead.  However, lest you become a bit anxious about it and how you will relate, I have good news.  The most important things of life will never change.  The God who gave us the minds to produce all this technology loves us and will always love us.  The sins we will commit with those phones and robots will still be forgiven the same way sins have always been forgiven, by the power of the sacrifice of our Jesus.  As you go to bed this evening rest well in the promise that He holds you in His hand and nothing can snatch you away.

Written by Roger Bothwell on January 4, 2010

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

Rogerbothwell.org

 

I Am Not Mr. Krall

When I was a teacher in Uganda some of my students would call me Mr. Krall. When I explained I wasn’t Mr. Krall they would often say, “But all you white people look alike.”  I was amused and flattered.  Mr. Krall was so much better looking than I and able to do dozens of things I couldn’t do.  I soon observed it was the new students who would make the error.  As they got to know us they learned to tell us apart.

It’s like that with so many things.  When we only know something superficially we don’t discriminate very well.  Someone asked me if I could pick my black lab out of a pack of black labs.  Of course I could.  I know the shape of her head.  I know her height and weight and scars.  The more we know about something the easier it is to tell the difference.  I, along with most of you, get political emails that paint people with a broad brush.  If someone is a liberal then they must be this or that and the same with conservatives.  The truth is each person is unique.  It is only the ignorant who want to label and compartmentalize others.  We do it because then we don’t have to think much.  It is an easy way to decide who are the good guys and who are the bad guys.  Guess what?  There are good guys and bad guys spread out over the entire spectrum.

We must never forget Jesus was crucified by the conservatives and the liberals combined.  He went after both groups.  See Matthew 22 and 23.  Thankfully our God is not ignorant about us.  He can count our hairs.  Each of us is special because there is no one else in the entire universe like the person you see in the mirror.  God knows I am not Mr. Krall.

Written by Roger Bothwell on January 4, 2010

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

Rogerbothwell.org

Jesus’ Problem of Love

Late yesterday afternoon we took our California family to Logan airport for their trip home.  At ten, four hours after they had been scheduled to takeoff, they called.  Their flight was not just delayed, it was cancelled!  So back to Logan we went to bring them home because JetBlue did not and was not going to reschedule them.  Basically the message was “Tough.”  Some young girls traveling by themselves stood and cried not knowing what to do.

All of my life I have been told that Jesus is coming again and soon.  His return and our trip to be with Him seems to be delayed.  However, one thing we can be sure of is the trip will never be cancelled.  We will not be left holding a useless ticket.  In John 14 Jesus promised to come again and take us to His Father’s house.  That promise is still good.  And while we might think He has delayed, His disciple Peter addressed the issue for us in his second letter. “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.”   Unlike JetBlue which didn’t fly last night because it couldn’t put together a crew, Jesus has His crew.  He longs to come.  But He continues to wait because of His longsuffering.  It is just that He doesn’t want to leave someone on the outside.

Frankly, I don’t know how He will ever resolve the problem of His love.  But He will.  Peter goes on to say, “The day of the Lord will come.”   Of this we can be sure because He never ever breaks a promise.

Written by Roger Bothwell on December 30, 2010

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

Rogerbothwell.org

 

Birds and an Old Wooden Bear

We have this old wooden bear standing near our bird feeder.  It stands on its hind legs.  Knowing that our grandchildren would be here during the holidays, my wife put an old hooded coat on the bear.  Sure enough the birds quickly became used to the coat and continued to feed from the bear’s wooden paws.  Now comes the neat part.  One by one our grandchildren put on the old hooded coat and stood in front of the wooden bear. The birds seemed a bit cautious, something was different; never-the-less juncos, titmice and chickadees came and fed from the children’s hands. It was an exciting moment.

Birds are not the only creatures that can be conditioned.  Humans are especially prone to conditioning. It doesn’t take us long to change our behaviors, our sense of fashion, style and speech.  If we are told, enough times, that something is beautiful, we actually begin to think it is beautiful.  Many of us pride ourselves on being independent thinkers, but the truth is we are not as independent as we suppose.  Paul certainly understood this and thus warned us in Romans 12 not to be conformed to the world.  Ever so slowly our sense of right and wrong, our sense of decency, our moral code is modified.  Psalm 1:1 encourages us not to walk by, stand by and ultimately sit down in sinful places and ways.

The way to guard against such change is to continually focus on our benchmark – Scripture.  If we daily feed our minds on the purity of God’s Word we can perceive the lower standards about us.   However, should we fail to keep our eye on the benchmark, we will change.  It is our nature to do so.

Written by Roger Bothwell on December 29, 2010

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

Rogerbothwell.org