Roger Bothwell

Luke 4:22 reads regarding Jesus, “(They) were amazed at the gracious words that came from his lips.”  The Jews were so sure they were the chosen people there was no room for others in God’s Kingdom.  It was often said the gentiles were born to be fuel for the fires of hell.   It was Sabbath and Jesus was in the synagogue in his hometown.  The gracious words Jesus spoke were words of grace for the surrounding nations.  He spoke of Elijah with the widow in Sidon and Elisha healing Nathan, a Syrian.  It was a radical idea that God’s grace might be extended beyond their closed world.   It was so foreign they became so angry they tried to hurl Him off a cliff. How could God love anyone but them?

Paul became the apostle to the gentiles.  In order for that to happen not only did God have to knock him off his horse but also had to reeducate him at the expense of three years of study in Arabia.  It is most difficult to unlearn the myths of our childhood.

It seems that for us to be like Jesus we also need to amaze people with our gracious words.  It is easy to be gracious when others around us are also being nice.  The challenge is to be gracious when we are not being treated so kindly.  To be gracious when others are taking advantage of us is beyond a challenge.  At least it is for me.  But when we are gracious it is amazing, both to others and probably to us.  When Herod was mocking Jesus, dressing Him in an old royal robe and crowning Him with thorns, Jesus never said a word.  Amazing.

Written by Roger Bothwell on May 14, 2012

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

Rogerbothwell.org

 

When we go grocery shopping my wife and I always buy a loaf of bread.  I am not sure when we got a loaf ahead.  But the new loaf cannot be used until the old loaf is gone.  That means this week we will eat last week’s bread while this week’s bread will wait until next week to be consumed.  The end result is we are always eating semi-stale bread, while the fresh bread ages in the cupboard. Couldn’t we, instead of eating the semi-stale bread, put it out for the birds?   We must have inherited this compulsion to be frugal from our parents who lived through the Great Depression.

One of the many remarkable things about Scripture is there is never a need to read stale stuff.  Because God’s Word is imbued with His Spirit, who knows us better than we know ourselves, God is able to continually feed us fresh ideas.  One could spend their entire life just feeding off the Gospels and still be overwhelmed by the story of God’s love for us.  However, in addition to that we have the wonders of the Psalms and the wisdom and humor of the Proverbs.  Romans, Galatians, Colossians and Ephesus can challenge the greatest of scholars no matter how many doctorates they have accumulated.  It is like a spring of fresh water, each time you come there is new water.

What would grow stale is rereading these devotionals.  I am delighted to know that people read them once.  My point is not to denigrate myself but to point out if all we do is listen to another person’s sermons or read their books we are reading second hand material.  The really fresh bread is in Scripture.

Written by Roger Bothwell on May 15, 2012

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

Rogerbothwell.org

The green gecko promises me I can save 15% on my auto insurance if I will go with Geico. State Farm promises a 40% saving on car insurance.  But I am not sure it is 40% of what.  Allstate promises 45% savings for safe driving and 30% if I bundle my car and home.  I’m sure that doesn’t add up to 75%.  And Flo, the lady with the bright red lips, promises me the cheapest insurance is with Progressive.  I believe them with the same measure of trust as I do the political ads that fill our screens.

Who to trust is one of life’s great questions.  Corporations, institutions and individuals are primarily self-interested entities.  We can’t help it.  Self-interest is at the heart of our being.  In the past 12 people in Colorado were heartlessly slaughtered.  It  dominated, rightfully so, our airwaves.  It was a horrible national tragedy.  But I could not miss the fact that at the same time 1200 people were heartlessly slaughtered in Syria and I heard one fifteen second mention on our news.  They were not us.  They were them.  I do not wish to distract from the loss in Colorado.  It was beyond horrible.  I merely want to illustrate our humanness, our self-focus.

It is no wonder that Paul says in I Corinthians 15 “flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of heaven.”  Fortunately he goes on to explain that we will be changed and this corruption will put on incorruption.  It is the only way God can trust us.  As we are, we are not fit for eternity.  We must trust Him to do it for us.  I know you have a sweet grandma but even she is not trustworthy until she is changed.

Written by Roger Bothwell on July 26, 2012

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

Rogerbothwell.org

 

 

Paul was a tentmaker so it only follows that at some point he would use a metaphor from his secular profession. We find it in         II Corinthians 5:1. “We know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands.”  The earthly tent he is referring to is our human body.  No matter how carefully we eat and exercise we can only delay the inevitable.  Eventually this tent will be taken down and folded away.  By careful temperate living we can often delay when that day comes.   And who would want it any other way?  The tent fades, thins and tears.  The day of folding is necessary.  To live forever in an ageing body would be hell.

But the joy in Paul’s message is we exchange the tent for a building designed and constructed by divine hands.  To live forever in the new building will be heaven.  To assure us that God means what He promises regarding this new home, Paul tells us in verse 5 that God has sent the Holy Spirit as a deposit.  When we make an offer on a house we are required to submit a deposit to verify our serious intent.  Should we change our minds we have to walk away from the deposit.  This metaphor is rich.  God made us an offer via the sacrifice of His Son.  Lest we think He is fickle or insincere the offer comes with the deposit of the Holy Spirit, something God is never going to walk away from.  The entire Godhead is involved in replacing our worn out tent so we may dwell in the house of the Lord forever.  This is beyond “how grand.”

Written by Roger Bothwell on July 25, 2012

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

Rogerbothwell.org

 

Decades ago the then president of Columbia University posited that we should extend adolescence because so many new facts were being discovered we needed to keep students in school longer that we might fill them up.  In a strange way his idea has come to pass.  Adolescence is the transition time from being a child to being an adult.  Developmentalists now suggest that adolescence can extend into one’s early thirties.  However, he could not have known that someday we would carry devices that instantly supply us with any fact we need.  While there is still a need for a foundation of facts such as times tables and phonics, some things are no longer needed such as cursive which is no longer taught in many states.

Curriculum gurus today are rightfully stressing there is no need for fact stuffing but instead the need to teach children to think.  Thinking is not something to take for granted.  Thinking like so many things in life has degrees of quality.  There are some who self-deceptively think they are thinkers but instead allow others to think for them.  Then there are people who understand the pitfalls of poor logic and recognize how easily they can be swayed by mistaking relationships with causality and other fallacies of logic.

In Isaiah 1:18 God says, “Come thou, let us reason together.” God does not desire mindless obedience.  He wants us to understand the whys of His wisdom.  This week as a parent was dropping off his children, we heard him say, “Remember, before you act. Think about it.”  This is what God wants from us.  Books are not smart. They are only filled with facts. Being smart is what we do with them.

Written by Roger Bothwell on July 24, 2012

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

Rogerbothwell.org

 

The surety of salvation is incredibly satisfying.  Not to fear the future and to rest in the promises provides an incredibly rich life.  However, that is not the endgame.  Upon receiving the gift of salvation we enter into a new experience.  A new challenge is presented.  With eternity secured we now embark upon an endless journey to grow into the likeness of the One who saved us.  It is a maturation that will never ripen to its fullest.  The more we learn the more doors for further exploration appear before us.  There are so many doors we have to choose from we think once finished with one we will return and take another.  However, each door opens to us ten more doors from which we will select yet another.

Blessed is the one who is never satisfied.  That is the one who will eternally quest for more intellectual, spiritual and artistic horizons.  Each challenge obtained not only whets our appetites for more but in the process transforms us more into the likeness of the One who made us, saved us and who knows all things.  I once knew a man who maintained he was fully satisfied with himself and life.  He felt that he was mature.  I felt sorry for him.  In a certain sense we will not (should not) ever reach maturity.  I once heard a man posit that should he live forever eventually he would become bored.  That is because he does not know what he does not know.

Jesus said, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness for they shall be filled.”  Yes, filled with righteousness but never quite filled with knowledge of the secrets of God’s universe.  Our diplomas and degrees are but decorations from “kindergarten”.

Written by Roger Bothwell on July 23, 2012

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

Rogerbothwell.org

 

We live in the age of being politically correct – PC for short.  One of the understood rules of being PC is not to stereotype people.  Each person is an individual with a unique character.  The worn out axiom “Don’t judge a book by its cover” is a good rule to guide our social behavior.  However, there is another side to the issue.  Stereotypes develop because the people in certain groups do copy each other.  We learn our speech patterns, manners and behaviors from the people around us.  Native Bostonians have a particular sound as do Mainers, Canadians, and people from the Great Lakes Region.

Marketers are successful if they pay attention to demographics.  If you watch the 6:30 evening news on any one of the major networks, you have to notice that most of the commercials are aimed at older people.  One medicine after another is hawked for its potency.  These ads are mixed with a few spots by investment companies telling us how to prepare for retirement. I doubt if these are the ads that run on the Disney Channel.

It’s true that each of us comes with cultural luggage and we should celebrate it.  It is important to belong and not be alone.  We live in a land that celebrates individuality.  That’s great.  However, no one exists in a vacuum.  We can only be successful if we acknowledge that we build on the shoulders of those who have gone before us.  There is no such thing as a self-made person.  That is a myth that plays to our pride.  Now that I have said this I have to admit that I grew up singing the song Dare to Be a Daniel.  Some of the words of which are “Dare to stand alone.”

Written by Roger Bothwell on May 16, 2012

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

Rogerbothwell.org

 

On May 16, 2012 Leslie H. Sabo Jr. was posthumously awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for bravery and courage in action in Cambodia in 1970.   The passage of time never diminishes gallantry and honor.   Receiving an award and recognition is a heady experience. Watch the expressions on the faces of Oscar winners.  How much more so it must be to be honored for bravery in the face of extreme danger.

Paul looked forward to receiving his reward.  He wrote to Timothy, “There is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day–and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.”  One thing Paul knew for sure was his crown was a gift.  In Romans he clearly speaks of his continual struggle with sin.  His crown, our crown, is not something he or we have earned.

Have you ever received an award that you knew you did not deserve?  In 1963 in college I won an oratorical contest. I was delighted because I very much needed the one hundred dollar prize. However, it was tainted.  Another contestant was better than I was.  I knew it and he knew it.   This brings me to the crown of which Paul speaks.  We don’t deserve it.  Yet, it will not be tainted because we all know the worthy One wants us to have it.  We all know that Jesus is the one worthy.  We are the recipients of His love.  When a gift comes from and with love it is forever special. His gracious gift to us does not take from Him but only adds to the illustriousness of His person.

Written by Roger Bothwell on May 17, 2012

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

Rogerbothwell.org

 

How quickly the world changes; when I was a boy we bemoaned the fact that the great herds of bison were gone.  Bison had become so rare I never saw one outside a zoo until we visited Yellowstone.  It was a big deal to see one standing by the road.  I say this because yesterday I bought a bag of dog food which had for its primary ingredient bison meat.  She loved it.  She scarfed it down so quickly I thought she had inhaled it. So much for all those cornmeal based foods.

When we lived in Africa the primary ingredient in dog food was elephant meat.  One of our mission families had a little boy who loved the elephant meat.  He would come home with elephant breath after sneaking over to the neighbor’s porch to gobble up the contents of the dog’s bowl.

What we eat and don’t eat is a fascinating topic.  I have friends who are very omnivorous, while others are vegetarians and others vegans.   In Leviticus God gave the children of Israel a list of eating dos and don’ts.  Because He is the creator of our bodies He knows what is best for us.  Unfortunately, instead of being health laws they turned them into religious taboos.  And there are many people who still treat them as such.  In Mark 7 Jesus addressed the issue by saying, “There is nothing from without a man, that entering into him can defile him: but the things which come out of him, those are they that defile the man.”  It is no wonder the leaders felt Jesus had to go.  This was in direct conflict with centuries of belief.

For Jesus, how we speak and how we treat others is everything.

Written by Roger Bothwell on July 20, 2012

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

Rogerbothwell.org

My rejoicing event occurred today when the driver of the natural gas company stopped at my home to collect a street barricade.  Monday and Tuesday they put a natural gas line into my house.  As he was putting the barricade on a rack on the front of his truck he had to remove a large weather-worn stuffed bear.  I asked if the bear had a name.  “No,” he said. Three years ago while putting in a gas line a five-year-old little girl handed him what was then a beautiful bear and asked if he would take care of it for her until she got better.  She was receiving chemo and was finding temporary homes for her stuffed animals.  He didn’t know what happened to the little girl but ever since he has driven about with the bear on his radiator hoping she will see it and stop him to take it back home.

There are still really great people in the world.  They don’t have to have titles in front of their names nor letters behind their names.  Those things don’t really say anything about the character of the person.  Character is revealed by our actions, our speech and our behavior toward others.  In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus said, “By their fruits ye shall know them.”  While Jesus also told us not to judge others it is very difficult to ignore the fruit hanging from their branches.

In Galatians 5 Paul wrote, “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.”  I have always loved that Paul points out there is no law against such things.   We can grow as many of them as we desire.

Written by Roger Bothwell on July 19, 2012

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

Rogerbothwell.org