Category: devotional

Some time ago my older son drove in “The King of the Hammers,” a desert rock race in Southern California.  It is more than a hundred miles of brutally traumatizing your internal organs while trying to keep your car upright.  Isn’t it strange what some people call fun?  His goal was to finish with the car, his spleen and kidneys intact.  You can imagine his ecstatic surprise to not only finish but to place third in his class of car.

Life is full of surprises, some pleasant and others not so pleasant.  Obviously the pleasant ones are to be desired.  One of my pleasant ones was getting married and discovering she was so much more wonderful than I thought she would be.   Having children can be incredible.  We think the baby is wonderful and how grand it is when he or she just keeps getting more interesting and rewarding.

I sometimes think life is so worth living even if these few decades are all we get; however, the really good news is Jesus has made it endless.   He said, “He who believes in me has already crossed over from death to life.”  Awesome.   The Bible is a love story.  If you like books or movies with a happy ending you will love the Gospels and especially the end of Revelation.  Don’t let people make you think being a Christian is dull and unimaginative.  They only say that because they have never tried the real thing.  Be surprised – read John.

Written by Roger Bothwell on March 1, 2014

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

Rogerbothwell.org

 

I am sitting here eating a clementine and it occurred to me that I do not know the difference between clementines and tangerines.  So I did my usual routine and Googled it.  And the answer is – clementines don’t have seeds and tangerines do.  Tangerines are a natural fruit and clementines are engineered.  Without seeds means they are sterile and have to be the product of a graft on a varietal.

Through the years I have talked with many Christians who are fearful of their salvation because they are not aware of ever reproducing.  They cannot identify anyone coming to Christ as a result of their influence or ministry.   First of all, I am not aware of any Scriptural reference saying in order to be saved one must reproduce.  The only thing I have ever discovered in the Bible is that salvation is a gift without attached requirements.  This is not to mean we aren’t grateful and don’t want to be as much like Jesus as we can be.  But once again that is the fruit of allowing the Holy Spirit to reside in us and transform us.

Secondly, I doubt if there is such a thing as a sterile Christian.  Just because we are not aware that we have positively influenced someone doesn’t mean we didn’t.  The smallest act of kindness, the shortest expression of care, the contribution to a church’s mission all make a difference for eternity.  It is an old expression but non-the-less true, “No man is an island.”   Every day we touch others and they are not the same because of that contact.  One does not have to be a great evangelist to make a difference.  We channel God’s love.  It is His love that changes lives.

Written by Roger Bothwell on January 29, 2014

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

Rogerbothwell.org

While reading the fine print on a coupon my wife noticed that it was not transferable, which seemed strange considering it had come addressed to OCCUPANT.  Did this mean that I could not give it to my neighbor and he could not give his to us?  Perhaps it meant not transferable to a different restaurant.  I have noticed that the various donut shops in our town will take each other’s discount coupons.  But I have never known restaurants to do so.

I did think of something much more significant that comes to OCCUPANT.  Romans 10 says, “Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame.”  That seems to cover OCCUPANT.  That means anyone.  God is not fussy about gender, race, age or nationality.  He is an all purpose savior.

Now that brings us to the not transferable.  It is not. We cannot be saved for another.  It is a highly personal relationship with our saver.  I know that many parents would exchange their salvation for one of their children.  However, that does not work.  That was done once.  Jesus gave His life for all.   Once you give something of which you only have one, you cannot give it again.  In Romans 6:10 we read, “For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; . .”  He could do that because He was without sin.  Hebrews 4:15   We can’t.   There are some who are baptized for past ancestors.  Sorry.  That is not transferable.

So I still do not understand the coupon we received in the mail.   But I am overwhelmed by the power of us being occupants of earth and each receiving a non-transferable gift of salvation.

Written by Roger Bothwell on February 28, 2014

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

Rogerbothwell.org

 

Many years ago I organized a necktie party. (No not the traditional kind.)  It seems in the eagerness of my youth I confused western culture with Christianity.  It is a common error of missionaries – especially young ones.  It is difficult for us to sort out traditions from what really matters.  I wrote to one of the churches I had pastored as a very young man and asked them to rid their closets of neckties and send them to our school in Uganda.  When they arrived I passed them out to our male students and required them to wear them for church services.  After all we must dress properly if we are to come into the presence of the King of the Universe.  The problem was neckties were not the local custom, to which I should have been very much more sensitive.

When we baptized a man who already had more than one wife we required him to put away all but one wife.  (He always kept the pretty one.)  And so we created homes with mothers with children and no father figure.  Fathers would make monthly visits to bring food and money to those homes.  I do believe we created a lot of guilt as a result of those visits.  Once again we confused Christianity with western culture.   The only thing Paul had to say about such men with more than one wife is that they not be church leaders.  Some of the men were more perceptive and compassionate than we.  They came to church every week and just were never baptized.

Psychologists call what I (we) did “Group Think.”  In our group we had convinced ourselves we were on moral high ground and God was on our side.   May God make us wise enough to discern real truth from our acculturated beliefs.

Written by Roger Bothwell on February 27, 2014

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

Rogerbothwell.org

 

A L. L. Bean Hunting catalog came in today’s mail.  It reeks with testosterone. I feel manly just turning the pages and looking at the Labrador Retrievers holding slain ducks in their dripping maws.  My credit card wanted to leap from my wallet as I savored the waterproof boots, jackets and GPSs.  I imagined sitting in a Massachusetts swamp with my faithful Lab as we filled the air with duck calls designed to lure prey. Of course I would need one of the “Cool Weave Camo Crew” outfits so I would seamlessly blend into the surrounding reeds.  I would watch for ducks with my 2800 dollar Swarovski binoculars. Instead of using a shot gun I would use my L. L. Bean bow and arrow and fell those ducks like Native Americans did in my swamp 200 years ago.  My primal instincts were honed to an edge as my dog and I patiently waited to slay and retrieve a lesser species. Triumphantly we would take our success home in a four wheel drive pickup truck for my wife to pluck and roast.

It is amazing what happens in my head from merely looking at a catalog.  I am not alone.  This catalog was masterfully designed to stir such feelings.  It almost worked, but I didn’t purchase anything.  There is power in the printed page.  There is power in our Bibles.  As we read stories of Jesus moving through the crowds in Galilee we are moved as we see Him lovingly, powerfully restoring health of body and mind to those He touched.  Instead of primal instincts filling us with a desire to kill something we are filled with visions of life – eternal life.  There is power in the Word.  Don’t leave it on the bedside table gathering dust.

Written by Roger Bothwell on February 26, 2014

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

Rogerbothwell.org

 

 

“Requite injury with kindness. Keep behind, and you shall be put in front.  He who is great makes humility his base. To know, but to be as one not knowing, is the height of wisdom.  To the good I would be good; to the evil I would also be good, in order to make them good.”  Sound familiar?  If we were asked to identify the writer most of us would say Jesus.  However, they are just a few of the sayings of Lao-Tse, a Chinese philosopher who lived 600 years before Jesus was born in Bethlehem.  This is just one small sample of the vast treasure of wisdom literature written prior to Jesus.

Jesus’ moral teachings and life lessons were not new.  What was new about Jesus was something far more significant than the Sermon on the Mount and other such passages. Along with His great wisdom Jesus revealed His divine identity to us by saying such things, “I and the Father are One.”  “Before Abraham was I am.”   And Thursday evening before the cross He said, “I say to all of you: In the future you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.”

He is totally unique and He left us with some very specific promises regarding our eternal futures.  Via Paul, Jesus left us with the understanding that our righteousness is the fruit of our relationship with God and grows out of our gratitude for His lifting from us the burden of the Law.   Christianity is unique because it is the only religion ever that has God pursuing us for the sole purpose of giving us salvation.  Every other requires works.

Written by Roger Bothwell on February 25, 2013

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

Rogerbothwell.org

 

Once in a while a student will startle me.  It happened this afternoon.  Out of the last fifteen classes she has been absent twelve times.  That wasn’t startling.  What made me almost gasp was her question, “How am I doing?”  She has heard three lectures.  She missed an exam and she wants to know how she is doing!

Now I am a grace man.  I understand needing forgiveness. I hope I am never the man in Jesus’ parable about the fellow who was forgiven a million dollar debt and then met a man who owed him a thousand dollars for which he threw him in jail.  But her question seemed to be beyond grace.  What I had expected was her to ask, “Did I miss anything?”  To which I usually answer, “No, nothing happened during the twelve classes you missed.  We just sat here.”  What I am thinking is there is a place for some grace in the classroom but primarily our educational system is based on works.  School is not grace based.  It is performance.

However, as I drove home, I wondered if it was ever possible for a sincerely repentant person to be beyond grace.  Hebrews 7:25 says, “He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.”  “To the uttermost” and “always lives to make intercession” are amazingly powerful words.  I have this belief that the faintest prayer from the weakest will not only be heard but cause extreme action on the part of heaven.  Do I believe in deathbed confessions?  I surely do.  Our God is in the business of saving people even if He has to squeeze them under the door.

Written by Roger Bothwell on February 25, 2014

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

Rogerbothwell.org

Watching the Winter Olympics fills us with wonder at the prowess and ability of human beings.  When we choose to be we can be marvelous creatures.  But occasionally watching the Olympics reminds us of our ordinary tendency not to take responsibility for our faults.  Speed skaters blamed their suits.  Some skiers blamed the soft snow or the angles of this and that.  We should not be surprised.  It started in Eden.  Adam blamed God for giving him Eve and so it began. Scrapping children most always say, “He hit me first.”

It’s natural.  All my life I have made excuses for my failures.  It has never ever been my fault.  I am even now excusing my behavior by saying it is natural.  I was born this way.  Psychotherapists earn very good livings by helping people figure out who to blame.  It could have been a flawed father or mother.  And it is true.  Mom and Dad were flawed.  We all are.  It’s human to be flawed.

This brings me to II Peter 1.  “Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature . . .” The very idea is thrilling.  We do not have to be only human.  God wants more than anything to be a part of our lives by being a part of us.  We can have, upon request, internal strength to perform a wonder.  We can overcome our native impulses to blame something or someone for our failures.  Real men, real women, real champions man-up (woman-up) and instead of blaming decide to do better next time.  Blaming others might make us feel good inside but rarely makes us look better to others.

Written by Roger Bothwell on February 24, 2014

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

Rogerbothwell.org

Once upon a time there was a man with a thousand wives and this is the gained wisdom he shared with us.

“Let your wife be a fountain of blessing for you. Rejoice in the wife of your youth.”  Proverbs 5:18.

“A quarrelsome wife is like a constant dripping on a rainy day;” Proverbs 27:15.

“It is better to live in a corner of the housetop than in a house shared with a quarrelsome wife.”  Proverbs 21:9.

A jeweler here in town put up a billboard and summed it up in just four words.  “Happy Wife – Happy Life.”

Moods are very contagious. They spread through a room like a virus – happy or gloomy.  Sometimes we have had a miserable day at work.  We had to pretend to be nice because we need the paycheck.  But when we get home we think it is safe to spill our vile on our families.  Beware – It isn’t safe to do so.  We end up poisoning the one really safe place we have.  If we need the catharsis take your dog to the basement and dump on him.  He will reward you with lots of licks.  I once knew a very attractive couple who were skilled in the art of verbal barbs.  They were better than Don Rickles.  We all howled with laughter until one day they announced their divorce. Bite your tongue when that ever so witty putdown comes to mind.  At the time it might not seem like it made a difference.  It did!  It was one more straw.

Tell her how wonderful she is.  Tell her how beautiful she is.  Tell her what a great mom she is.  And it will come to pass.  It’s the way we are.

Written by Roger Bothwell on February 21, 2013

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

Rogerbothwell.org

 

Earlier this week, just one driveway away from my driveway, a car burst into and was consumed by flames.  A fire truck arrived with all the hoses, etc.  It was quite a big deal.  However, even though I was home and awake, I missed the show.  I most likely would never have known about it had not a neighbor called to alert me.  Ever since his call I have been wondering how many other things I have missed or miss on a daily basis.  I certainly could never have been Sherlock Holmes whose powers of observation excelled.  Yesterday afternoon at three when my class was finished it was snowing very hard.  I mentioned to my students they needed to drive safely because of the heavy snow, to which, they looked out the window and “oohed” and “ahhed” because they had not noticed.  Since it had been snowing for over a half an hour I was pleased that I had them so engaged they had not noticed.  But now I am wondering if I was just missing seeing them not engaged but asleep.

It is the same when we read things.  Our focus has been trained to notice the ideas and opinions that match those we already have.  We also miss the ideas that conflict with our preperceptions or at best we see them and disregard them.  To be open, to be willing to recognize what we think comes from a culture and might not be how things really are is a gift we give ourselves.  I wish not to see things tomorrow in harmony with what I believe today.  I am not conceited enough to think I know all truth and I don’t want to miss more than I have to.

Written by Roger Bothwell on February 21, 2014

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

Rogerbothwell.org