Roger Bothwell

After a wonderful afternoon in the mountains of Massachusetts we arrived home with two gallons of wild blueberries.  They were wonderful to look at but they were full of leaves and little sticks.  It would take hours of tedious separating to clean them by hand.  Then I remembered seeing a picture in my Bible of people winnowing.   I remembered a statement John the Baptist made about the coming Messiah.  He said in Matthew 3:11, “I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me will come one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not fit to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.  His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”

Going to my attic I brought down an electric floor fan.  Putting it on a barrel and turning it on we began to pour the blueberries from one bucket to the next in front of the fan.  In just a few minutes we had the cleanest blueberries in town.  All the leaves and all the little sticks were on the floor blown past the bucket now containing the ingredients of many breakfasts and muffins to come.

What a great metaphor John used.  Jesus came to winnow out His fruit from that which will be burned.  It sounds pretty frightening until one remembers each of us can be part of the fruit if we will only respond to the urgings of the Holy Spirit.  The choice is ours.

Written by Roger Bothwell on July 14, 2002

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I was held up this evening by a no armed bandit.  During a break in my evening class I approached a large inviting machine with my money in hand.  I needed a drink.  The picture on the front depicted an icy cold frosty bottle of refreshment.  It was muggy and I had been lecturing for three hours.  It looked so good.  I slipped my money in the slot and I hear all kinds of banging and rumbling inside.   Watching with great anticipation I waited for the bottle to drop into the open bay.  Suddenly the machine grew silent without delivering my drink.  I pressed the money return button and this time it never even bothered to make noise.  It just sat there silently.  I was robbed.  It never delivered what it promised.

Drooping my way back to my classroom for yet one more hour of class I wondering how many times we as Christians do the same thing the machine did.  People find out we are Christians and they come to us expecting kindness and help.  Instead they get a lot of rumbling and noise but never anything of substance.

James talks of this in 2:15 – 17.  “Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food.  If one of you says to him, “Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it?  In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.”

Written by Roger Bothwell on July 9, 2002

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It is no secret the more tired we become the more irritable we become.  Our patience runs thin.  We are put off by things we would have hardly noticed were we not at the edge of our physical resources.  Today I was with a group of people who worked very hard for fourteen or fifteen hours.  It was interesting to watch them relate as the day grew long.  Most made an effort to be gracious but some grew, I think “testy” is the best word to use.  Tomorrow they will be better.

Action hero movies make a lot of money.  Good looking, well-built men on a noble cause blow up cars, blast through buildings, punch out a host of bad guys.  We watch them and inwardly cheer their bold aggression. In        Proverbs 16:32 we read, “Better a patient man than a warrior, a man who controls his temper than one who takes a city.”   So who would go to see a movie about a patient man?  It would lack exciting chase scenes and we would not get the inner satisfaction of seeing the bad guys smashed.   The badder the villains the more we want the action hero to hit them.

But that is Hollywood.  If we come back to the real world of real human relations then truly a patient man is better than a warrior.   A ruler who maintains peace is better than a general who aggressively defeats an enemy.  However we build monuments to the warriors and let the peacemakers slip unseen into history.  Surely it says much about our nature.

Written by Roger Bothwell on August 30, 2006

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I stopped at an auto repair shop early this morning hoping someone might be around to help.  As I walked to the door a voice said, “May I help you?”  Turning around I saw no one.  I was looking everywhere for the owner of the voice.  Suddenly a head popped out from underneath a truck.   From his vantage point he had seen my feet.  From my vantage point I had seen nothing.

As I drove on to school I was thinking about perspectives on life.  We see or don’t see something depending upon where we are and who we are.  As a member of the majority population of our country often times I not sensitive to the viewpoints of minorities.  Sometimes I unknowingly say things that offend.  I don’t mean to.  It is because my perspective on life did not reveal to me my words could be hurtful.

As a member of the majority I can go where I want, buy a home where I want, travel where I want and pretty much get a job anywhere I am qualified.  I fail to be sensitive that someone else might fear to attempt those things lest they be rejected or hurt by bigotry.

Much of what we think is truth and “the way something is” is only our perspective.  Before we pop off about “only telling it the way it is” we need to remember “It” can be totally different to a different person with a different perspective.

Written by Roger Bothwell

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It was about 88 degrees today as I drove through town.  I came up behind a large city dump truck filled with salt and sand.  This was a perfect place to be in a blizzard in January but this is July.   The light turned green and as the truck moved through the intersection it began to spread its contents.  I am guessing the driver had no idea what was happening.  For the next two miles he salted and sanded the highway.  If he was delivering a load he was in for a big surprise when he arrived at his destination.

This is just like people who think they have something worthwhile to share and have long since lost it, if they ever had it.  We see (hear) them dominate committee meetings and private conversations.  Even worse we hear them pray in public meetings and they have nothing to say to God or us except a long string of worn out clichés.  It isn’t that we all have to be constantly original but there is an ethos emitted indicating whether or not a person is passionately attuned to their words or intellectually fresh.

In his second letter to Timothy Paul wrote,  “Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needs not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”   The admonition is plain.  Study.  Constantly be filling one’s mind with new insights and deeper understanding so we need not be ashamed when we open our mouths.  Unfortunately most people don’t have a clue when they have an empty load.

Pray that it is not us.

Written by Roger Bothwell on July 4, 2002

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According to Adam Smith in his classic “Wealth of Nations” the true value of something is measured by the amount of labor required to attain it.   The value of a loaf of bread can take one man an hour of labor and another man a minute of labor.  The discrepancy is the result of the skill of the laborer in producing what others will trade an hour of their labor to attain.  A man who works for 10 dollars an hour will pay 300 dollars an hour to an attorney who can do something the man cannot do for himself like keeping him out of jail.  The labor of the attorney is 30 times more valuable than the labor of the client.

So it is that I was wondering how it was that Jesus could upon the cross pay the price for all the sins of mankind.   That is incredible value considering the rotten history of this world.  Paul says, “. . . through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous. ”  Romans 5:19   Why is the labor of Jesus so valuable?

Reason number one – Jesus was obedient.  That is something no one else has been able to do.  The law of supply and demand enters here.

Reason number two – He is the creator.  (Hebrews 1)  Recently I was drooling over a magnificent painting.   The artist told me I could have it for $95,000.00.   From experience he knew the value of his work.  Jesus declares His labor adequate to cover the cost.  From experience He knows the value of His sacrifice on Calvary.

Written by Roger Bothwell on July 14, 2007

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The most amazing story in the eons of storytelling is found in 2 Samuel 19.  David’s son, Absalom, died in an attempt upon his father’s life.  When David hears of Absalom death he breaks down in sorrow.  His offending son never understood his father’s forgiving love.

Revelation 21, the final chapter of Scripture, tells us there will be a time when all tears will be wiped away.  When I tell my students there will be many tears shed in heaven some want to argue with me.  They are young.  They have never had children of their own.  Revelation 20 prophesizes the unspeakable horror of the destruction of billions who refused the gift of eternal life.  Until it is over there will be incredible sorrow.  The wiping away of tears does not come until chapter 21.

We must not miss the great theme of Scripture is God’s undying love for us no matter how often we turn away from Him.  Surely David was not more loving and merciful than the one who sent us His only son to die for us.  If we ever wonder why it is that God waits for the second coming of Jesus and the end of the present age, one only has to read the parable of the prodigal son.  Every day the father went out to look down the road waiting, watching for his son to come home.

“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.”  2 Peter 3:9

Written by Roger Bothwell on February 11, 2008

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Humans are strange creatures.  We are thrilled when we get a raise until we find out a colleague received a larger raise.  There is an old Yiddish saying, “When does a hunchback rejoice?  When he sees one with a larger hump.”  Ambrose Bierce put it this way, “Happiness is an agreeable sensation arising from contemplating the misery of others.”  And Gore Vidal wrote, “It is not enough to succeed. Others must fail.”  Our happiness is so often a reaction based on our relationship with other’s situations.

It is interesting to compare the above quotes with Jesus’ prescriptions for happiness found in Matthew 5.  The word “blessed” in the Beatitudes can be translated “happy.”   “Happy are the meek for they shall inherit the earth.”   Note there is a relationship factor involved and it is opposite to our normal reactions.

The normal reaction to happiness is all about me.  Jesus’ formula is all about others.  If I am meek I am content with other’s success.  If I am meek I am happy when you get a raise.  Now I must confess I need to work at this and will most likely fail if I do not have divine help.  Surely it is the “old man” Paul refers to in Romans.  I must put it to death that a “new man” can live within me.

“You were taught, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness.”  Ephesians 4:22-25

Written by Roger Bothwell on August 18, 2003

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The Latin word “amator” means “to love.”   Thus comes our English word “amateur” which we define as someone who does something as a pastime and not as a paid professional.  However, sometimes we find people who love their job.  These then are paid amateurs.  I love teaching.  I get paid.  Not as much as I think teaching is worth because teaching changes the world.  At least good teaching changes the world.  Well, I guess bad teaching also changes the world; just not the way we want.  Happy is the person who loves his or her jo

Sometimes we use the word “amateur” to demean someone.  When someone does a so-so performance we say, “How amateurish!”  Recently, it struck me that just the opposite is true.  When someone does something extremely well we could say, “How amateurish” meaning it is obvious from the quality and passion interjected into their performance they love what they do.

Each night I write to you about my faith.  It is my desire you would note my amateurism.  I don’t get paid as a writer, but I do hope my passion for Jesus shows.  He is my creator.  He is my redeemer.  He saves me from myself.  He gives me hope for an eternal future of never-ending intellectual and character growth. How could I not love Him?  I desire to be an amateur Christian forever.  Join me!  Please!

“But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy.”

Titus 3:4-5

Written by Roger Bothwell

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Ah the sweetness of a summer evening.  It’s been over 90 degrees today and the soft gentle breeze lilting its way across the oak and maple covered mountains brings refreshment akin to an icy drink.  The sound is a symphony of almost silence.  I heard my first cicada of the summer this evening.   It is still a bit early for katydids.  They should decorate our evenings in mid-August.  The bats are here gobbling up the mosquitoes, making it more pleasant to be outside. Neighbors are out and so our evening walk was a social event.  Just a tad of rain fell on us.  It wasn’t enough to blur my glasses.  But it was enough to fill the air with that wonderful smell of an approaching storm that never came.

Every state has its specialness.  We used to live in Iowa and the summertime sound of corn growing was the sound of prosperity.  While we did not have seasons in Africa there were the days when the coffee trees were in bloom.  The scent was not that of Starbucks but rather of cherry blossoms in Washington, D.C.

George Gershwin and DuBose Heyward left us with “Summertime when the living is easy.”  It has been recorded by different groups and soloists over 33,000 times.  It is part of our social fabric.

In Jeremiah 8:20 Jeremiah laments for his people, “The harvest is past, the summer has ended, and we are not saved.”  Let that never be written for us.  If you are not yet sure of your salvation do not let this summer pass without believing that our God is a God who keeps His promises.  In John 5:24 He promises if we will believe in Jesus we will immediately cross over from death to life.   Summertime is a sweet time!

Written by Roger Bothwell on July 26, 2016

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