Roger Bothwell

A neighbor down the street who has a professionally cared for lawn stopped to chat with another neighbor who has intensely labored to also have a beautiful lawn.  During the course of a short conversation the one from down the street told the hard working neighbor that his lawn was the wrong color green. Can you imagine?  The wrong color green!!  How audacious!

Reality is that most likely several times a week we also say the wrong things to people and are too dumb to realize it.  However, sometimes we do know it.  As soon as it comes off the tongue, we know it.  Then begins the game of trying to politely back track.  It is well nigh impossible to do that.

In light of real truth known only to God, I wonder if we ever say anything that is on the mark.  God must shake His head and wonder at our audacity to speak with such confidence about so many things.

Maybe the only thing we really do know for sure is that we are sinners in need, and we have a wonderful Savior named Jesus Christ.  That is enough.

Written by Roger Bothwell on July 27, 2000

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

Rogerbothwell.org

 

 

 

The fallen hawk lay on the forest floor.  He had not been dead long.  He was still beautiful and noble.  Soon he would return to the dust of the forest to become part of a flower, tree or vine.  How high had he flown?  What vistas had he seen? What conquests over mice and rabbits nourished him?  Why was his piercing scream now silent?  Was it old age?  Had he lived his three score and ten?  Or had a hunter used him for target practice? There in death his remains would provide the essentials of life for a host of other creatures.  His death would provide life.

Thankfully God will take the memory of our personhood and on resurrection morning put it in a brand new immortal frame and body. Jesus, who not only proclaimed Himself to be the resurrection and the life but also proved it, promises us so much more than decades of limited walk.  Centuries and millenniums await us.

We too shall soar like hawks and eagles with nothing to bring us down.  Surely one of the most marvelous verses of all scripture is Isaiah 40:31, “But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.  They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.”

Written by Roger Bothwell on September 14, 2000

Spring of Life Ministry, PO Box 124, St. Helena, CA 94547

Rogerbothwell.org

While driving to work this morning I heard a wonderful quote from George Washington penned to Parke Custis.  He wrote, “I had rather be on my farm than be the emperor of the world.”  There is much to be said for a quiet life.  Perhaps all of us have temporarily been struck with a desire to be famous or very important.  Hopefully the disease passes quickly.  However, in some I see it is a permanent affliction.  James and John were infected.  They even got their mother to try to influence Jesus to save power positions for them in the new kingdom.  I watch administrators battle with budgets, disgruntled board members and even with each other and I am so happy to be a teacher.  It is the greatest job in the world.  Other people have to worry about how to pay me and being with the students is a daily treat.

Just today one of my students told me she wanted to transfer to another college because our college is too quiet.  Our college town is very small and surrounded by fields and forests.  She told me at night she can hear strange sounds that sound like animals.  I reminded her that those animals were far less dangerous than the sounds of the urban animals where she said she wanted to go.

Emily Dickenson wrote, “Success is sweetest to those who ne’er succeeded.”  I’m sure she was right.  The issue is to define success.  Surely it is defined as differently as there are people.  However, I am reminded that when God first made Adam and Eve, He put them is a garden.

Written by Roger Bothwell on February 22, 2011

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

Rogerbothwell.org

 

In Romans 1 Paul speaks of knowing God by seeing the things He has made.  In Hebrews 1 he speaks of knowing God through the ultimate revelation – Jesus.  In Ezekiel 36 we read, “I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes.”  God in nature – the Father, God in history – Jesus, God within us – the Holy Spirit.

The concept of a Trinity taunts our finite intellects and reminds us of our limitations.  Our feeble attempts at a cogent explanation fall so short we have invited unbelievers to accuse us of polytheism, of which we are not.  The problem is our inability to see through Paul’s dark glass.  God is a revealer of Himself and in His good wisdom He has chosen to remain a mystery.  While He could He has not removed grounds for doubt.  There must be something to be gained by intellectually grabbling with His existence, the nature of His being, and His purposes to be a good God and yet tolerate acts of despicable horror on earth. “And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.”  Hebrew 11:6

Does growth only come at the expense of careful exploration of ideas so near to understanding that we are motivated to stretch just a bit more and thus receive the rewards promised above?  Is one of life’s great joys the discovery process?  If God answered all our questions, would that turn us into nothing other than intellectual rubber stamps.  Jesus promised us in the Sermon on the Mount that we will see God, but somehow I think there will always be something just beyond the horizon of our thoughts.

Written by Roger Bothwell on May 28, 2012

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

Rogerbothwell.org

 

Three times today I heard the word “gorgeous.”   My dictionary tells me it means “outstandingly beautiful or very pleasant.”  The first time was at dawn as we rose above the earth in a hot-air balloon.  It was stunningly clear.  We could see Boston, the Atlantic Ocean and north to Mount Washington in New Hampshire.  One of the people riding with us kept saying, “It is so gorgeous.”  It was.

The second time was in the Dunkin Donuts we stopped at after the balloon ride.  After a thirties looking man left the girls behind the counter started in with,“Wasn’t he gorgeous?”

The third time was my auto mechanic.  As I entered to pick up our 170,000 mile old car he looked up and said, “What a gorgeous day!”

So I concluded that I also need to use the word “gorgeous.”  Let me begin with John 3:17.  “For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.”  That is gorgeous.  How about Ephesians 2:4 through 8?  “God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: That in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:”

If you don’t think that is gorgeous you need a new pair of glasses.

Written by Roger Bothwell on September 13, 2012

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

Rogerbothwell.org

 

My dog is lying beside me and a low deep guttural sound is emanating from somewhere deep in her.  Sometimes this happens when she is dreaming but she is not dreaming. She is sensing something outside that I do not. I have come to respect her senses.  They are much keener than mine.  I know that even if I had the senses of a healthy twenty-year-old there are things above and below my senses I cannot perceive.  I mention this because so many of us are sure things are true only if we can sense them.

Then there is our ego.  Many years ago at our college a Christian magician displayed some of his wonder.  Many of our students were convinced he was in league with Satan because they couldn’t figure out how he did it.  After all they “were so very smart they could figure out anything!”  It was a case of pure intellectual conceit.

This morning my wife and I stood in a field waiting for a hot-air balloon ride.  There was not a cloud in the sky.  We thought it was perfect.  Then the pilot released a small child’s balloon.  Once it got about fifty feet into the air it quickly took off in the direction of Boston.  Obviously we did not fly this morning.  We couldn’t see them but the air currents would have taken us where we didn’t want to go.

There are many forces in this world we cannot see or are above our intellects.  Many want to take us where we don’t want to go.  The things we read, we watch, we listen to have more effect on us than we can imagine.  Ephesians 6:14 is a great admonition for all of us.

Written by Roger Bothwell on September 12, 2012

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

Rogerbothwell.org

 

 

I have this friend who is really a nice guy and really loves the Lord.  He is anxious for Jesus to return.  It seems that it should not be difficult to be around such a dedicated person.  But it is difficult.  Because he believes the world will be in a ruinous condition prior to Jesus’ second coming and tribulation will befall God’s people, he doesn’t want to hear any good news.  To tell him good news is like telling him you have become an unbeliever. Every day he pours through the news literally searching for the worst stories he can find because they reinforce him.  When he hears news of an earthquake or hurricane that killed thousands he almost receives the news with glee because “the end is near.”

This is not a case of the glass being half empty.  This is a case of the glass only have a few drops in the bottom.  Jesus does speak of tribulation and hard times.  We would be foolish to be Pollyannas and think all is well when it isn’t.  But where is the abundant life promised by Jesus?  He said He came to bring us the abundant life and it is to begin now not merely at the end of time.  It is true that hard times come and if we are patient and can survive them they usually pass giving us respite and peace.

In the 23rd Psalm we pass through the valley of the shadow of death and our Shepherd leads us by still waters and presents before us a bountiful table.  Let us not borrow troubles from the future but rejoice when there are rejoicable events. God created us with the ability to smile.  Let’s use it.

Written by Roger Bothwell on September 11, 2012

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

Rogerbothwell.org

I spent a quiet weekend with Isaiah.  The imagery of his prose is powerful.  As I read I realized how proper we have become in our puritanical church vocabulary.  English provides us with ample synonyms that we might soften the prophet’s language with acceptable verbiage.  If I ever preached with the harshly descriptive words of Isaiah and the other prophets I am sure I would never be asked back again, that is if I was even allowed to finish just one sermon.  Depending upon which translation one uses one comes across words that I would not use in this devotional.  But the meaning of Isaiah’s message was and still is overwhelming with his sincerity and passion.

Isaiah 53, the suffering servant chapter, is most likely the best known of his writings.  But there is plenty more there for the interested reader.  Chapter one reeks of his disgust for God’s people’s immorality.  There is barely any sin he does not cover in his blanket condemnation.  And yet in chapter one there is also one of the most gracious of all verses of Scripture.  “Come now, let us settle the matter,” says the LORD. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool. If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the good things of the land; . .”

Isaiah is so vastly different from the stories of the Gospels and the theology/philosophy of Paul.  The scope of Scripture and its diversity of styles and themes has something for everyone.  If today you are hungry for poetry there are the Psalms.  If tomorrow you are hungry for intellectual challenge there is Romans.

Written by Roger Bothwell on September 10, 2012

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

Rogerbothwell.org

 

Can you spell “chionablepsia?”  How about “schwanoma?”  Now you can because you can see the word.   However in a National Spelling Bee you do not have the luxury of seeing them.  You would only hear the words from an official pronouncer.  The first word means snow blindness and the second means a benign nerve sheath tumor.

However, one soon learns the quest is rewarding but never satisfied.  Solomon wrote, “My child, let me give you some further advice: Be careful, for writing books is endless, and much study wears you out.”  There needs to be balance in our lives.  Study and play, worship and exercise, sleep and family time, work and vacation are all needed for a good life.  Furthermore, we need to remember we have eternity to study.  Sometime in the far flung eons of time you and I will be reading and writing essays that will make Einstein’s work kindergarten material.

Our goal right now is to be sure to seize the opportunity for such a future.  Be sure to accept the gift offered to us by Jesus and the vastness of space and time and knowledge will be ours.  The incredible Teddy Roosevelt, multi-learned man, wrote, “A thorough knowledge of the Bible is worth more than a college education.” He wasn’t putting down on college.  He was reminding us not to forget the best.

Written by Roger Bothwell on June 4, 2012

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

Rogerbothwell.org

 

I was fascinated today when I asked an extremely well educated man to read a few sentences from John Dewey, twentieth century American philosopher and educational reformer from the university of Chicago and Columbia.  Before reading the passage he asked, “Who is John Dewey?”  I was startled for a moment and then realized just how focused one can become.  His many years of education were obviously not in liberal studies but very honed in the sciences.  I was also impressed that he did not hesitate to ask what he did not know instead of faking it.

When other people do not think as we or see the same things as we, often we are quick to think less of them. However, life is so very full of things to learn and we have but a short time in which to do so.  Some people are amazingly informed and bright about a few things, while some of us know a little about a lot of things.  I am one of the latter.  There is no area in which I can claim to be an expert.  But I do so enjoy having a nodding acquaintance with a broad spectrum of things.

When I was a pastor I soon learned my congregations were filled with people who knew enormous amounts of things about topics I barely knew existed.  It is why when I talk to young pastors I counsel them to do a lot of fact checking before they say something from the pulpit.  People do not think less of you when you acknowledge you do not know something.  But you can lose a lot of face by pretending to know when you don’t know.

Jesus has always fascinated me in that as God He knew all.  But He sacrificed all that to be human.  Luke 2:52 speaks of His growing in wisdom.  When He took on humanity He took on beginnings as we.  So often when we speak of Jesus’ sacrifice we think only of the cross.  It was so much more than that.

 

Written by Roger Bothwell on September 7, 2012

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

Rogerbothwell.org