Roger Bothwell

Until 1916 all British military officers were required by threat of court martial to wear a mustache. Obviously all their officers were men.  I went to a “Christian?” high school.  One year the faculty voted to send home two young men.  One of them had hair that was too long and one’s hair was too short.  Really!  They would make up rules for things they did not like.  Not enough thought was given to what was really important; things like treating others as you would want to be treated.  We call this majoring in minors and minoring in majors.

What does it really mean to be a Christian/Christ-like?  Jesus said, “Herein shall men know you are my disciples if you love one another.” John 13:35.  Jesus never nit-picked.  To the woman caught in adultery He said, “I don’t condemn you.  Just don’t do it anymore.” To the paralyzed man lowered on a bed through the roof He said, “Your sins are forgiven.”  When face to face with an untouchable leper, He touched him.  When surrounded by a batch of yelling pushing children, He said, “Come here.”  For the men who nailed Him to the cross He said, “Father, forgive them.  They don’t understand.”

If we would only read and reread these stories we would know how to behave and what was important.  So often the things we condemn are merely a matter of our personal taste and have little to do with real Christianity.  If we could only stop finger pointing and gossiping and do more loving we could stop spending money on evangelism.  The evangelism would happen as a fruit of our lives.  People need to be loved and they will come to places they are loved.  That’s majoring in majors.

Written by Roger Bothwell on July 18, 2014

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

Rogerbothwell.org

 

The only card games we were allowed to play when I was small were Authors and Old Maid.  To even have a conventional deck of cards in the house was opening the door to perdition.  So you can imagine the moral issues that arose when we got our first computer and there was Solitaire.  In the secret of the night after our sons had gone to bed I caved into temptation.  What I discovered was its hypnotic mind numbing way of making time pass.  When one is on the telephone listening to someone go on and on about their whatevers and you only have to say “uh hu” (Help me.  How do you spell that?  I’m sure you know what I mean.) you can listen and play Solitaire.

At this point I should speak of the tragedy of wasting time.  Time is precious.  That was another thing about my childhood.  I heard that God was going to hold us accountable for every minute of our lives and therefore we better not waste a moment.  Really?   That idea turned people into workaholics with no time to savor anything.  It made some people neurotic and others just gave up and decided to go to hell for doing nothing.

Today I sat and did nothing other than watch a rose breasted grosbeak at our bird feeder with a wood thrush in the woods a few feet away serenading me.  There were chipmunks on the ground under the bird feeder and a cat bird bathing in the bird bath.  I didn’t read.  I didn’t memorize Scripture.  I didn’t sing songs.  I just sat and watched.  It was great.

I am so thankful God gave me a mind to use to do nothing.  It was grand!

Written by Roger Bothwell on July 17, 2014

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

Rogerbothwell.org

 

 

If we were collecting fabulous, over-the-top verses from Scripture, Hebrews 8:12 has to be right near the top.  “For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.”  It doesn’t get much better than that.  We should be as kind to each other as God is kind to us. We are actually pretty good at remembering other’s sins.  Once on a church committee when someone’s transgression was mentioned I asked when this occurred.  The answer should have shamed us all.  It was over 25 years ago. How dare we as Christians forget to treat others as we would be treated.  How dare we as Christians claiming to be like Jesus still remember.  If sins are ranked in vileness, I am sure the committee’s sin was much more potent and lethal than the 25-year-old remembered sin.

So why do we do this?  I am now going to judge and I am not supposed to do that.  But here goes.  On a committee it is often about preventing someone’s professional advancement.  After all, maybe they might get a position we want.

Well, enough of that.  Let’s get positive. Let’s rejoice in the message of Hebrews 8:12.  Our God, who is holy and pure; our God who knows all, chooses to forget because He loves us and knows our potential.  He knows how wonderful we will be if only given the chance. He knows once we are given eternal life we will grow more and more like Jesus and that makes God so happy.  When you love someone you want to be with those you love.  God loves us and wants us to be with Him.  We are grace personified.

Written by Roger Bothwell on July 16, 2014

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

Rogerbothwell.org

We all have heard the old story about a man loaning his car to a friend only for his friend having to replace lights, brakes, seats, steering wheel and eventually the engine.  After changing all the parts on the car, does the original car exist and does the repaired car belong to the original owner?   This is a variation of a tale almost as old as history. It was as far as we can tell first supposedly proposed by the mythical king Theseus, supposed founder of Athens.  He spoke of a ship instead of a car.

I mention this because of I Corinthians 15 where Paul speaks of resurrection morning when this corruption puts on incorruption. We are given new bodies that will never age.  “Death is swallowed up in victory.”  Obviously we are not the sum of our parts if we are still us after all the parts are changed.  The atoms in you and me have likely been in some other person in times past.

Some of you might be thinking about now, “Why this nonsense?”  I believe it relates to the question posed by the Psalmist in Psalm 8, “When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have ordained, what is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of man that You visit him?”

In I Corinthians 15 Paul tells us our resurrection body will be as different as an acorn is from a fully grown oak tree.  And yet we will still be us. Our identities, our minds are treasured by our Heavenly Father because we are His daughters and sons.  The question isn’t who are we.  It’s what are we?

Written by Roger Bothwell on July 15, 2014

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

Rogerbothwell.org

 

I recently heard someone say, “Space is nothing.”  If that is so then nothing is something because space is God’s Studio.  From the center of it all He conceives, plans and executes magnificent artwork.  If you have a friend with a telescope, ask her to show you the Andromeda Galaxy.  It is our twin galaxy with which we will merge 5 billion years from now to make one even more gigantic.  Space is a place.

Empty places are opportunities.  Ask an interior designer about empty rooms.  Ask an artist standing before a blank canvas.  Ask a writer with a blank piece of paper.  Opportunities abound where there is space.  Nothing is something.

Then there is silence. Silence is profundity.  I am often disappointed in church when after a magnificent performance some people break out in applause.  The applause cheapens the performance.  It defiles the profundity.   When the mind is struck with awe, the mouth drops open but does not speak.  When one of my friends achieves something great all I want to do is stand by and admire with both of us soaking up his experience.  There is an interesting verse in Revelation that says, “Heaven was silent.”  Some have said it was silent because it was empty.  I believe it is full and silent because of the aweness of some amazing event.   When Jesus died upon the cross heaven was silent. The Creator had been slain by His creations.  How could it have come to this?

I would that God could empty me of biases, prejudices, preconceived ideas, habits and selfishness and use the opportunity to fill the space with the character of Jesus. Someday.  Someday “this mortal shall put on immortality and this corruption incorruption.”  I Corinthians 15.

Written by Roger Bothwell on July 14, 2014

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

Rogerbothwell.org

 

Having gone for a walk in the forest this afternoon we all had to detick when we got home. It’s very difficult to walk in the forest without harvesting a crop that is ready to eat you.  The coyotes and bears move away from you but the ticks just love a warm meal.  You are that meal.  It wouldn’t be so bad if it was just the bite but some of them, the really tiny ones, can leave you with a variety of nasty diseases.

This is like spending a day in the workplace.  It’s tough doing so without picking up some pretty nasty sins. Jesus is the only person I know of that could mingle with such as us and not come away contaminated.  Yet even He felt the need for prayerful reinforcement and thus would spend nights in prayer.  I wish I understood what that meant.  So often we think of prayer as talking to God but I don’t know how to do that without being repetitious.  Just listen to the prayers in church.  Each week they are basically the same.  The clichés and metaphors are the same no matter who is praying.   They are just rearranged and put in a different order.  Often times when someone prays for a long time they are usually saying the same thing over and over just using different words.   So I am intrigued when I read Luke 6:12, “One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God.”

One thing He did not have to do is “detick.”  But He did need those hours in prayer so He did not need to “detick.”  Meaningful prayer is a fascinating topic most of us need to spend more time pondering

Written by Roger Bothwell on July 9, 2015

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

Rogerbothwell.org

Perhaps in an attempt to make the world a better place, if only in our fantasies, we have filled our culture with a host of fictional super heroes.  Summer movies, comic books, novels, television series entertain us with good guys, often existentially conflicted, fighting evil. It is not just little boys who long for super powers to right wrong. As fictional as it all is there was a super hero who walked among us.  He could have jumped off a tall building, He chose not to.  He never punched anyone though He was struck over and over.  His only episodes of rage occurred when He saw political and religious powers abusing the poor and even then He never struck anyone.  He used extraordinary power to restore sight to the blind, hearing to the deaf and life to the dead.  He maintained remarkable self-composure by not calling angels to come to His rescue. He did psychological battle with His arch foe.  He allowed that foe the privilege of literally grinding Him into dirt in a battle over His and our futures.

If Charles Dickens had written of the cross surely he would have used his famous passage from “The Tale of Two Cities” for Jesus instead of Sydney Carton. “It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to than I have ever known.”   And where is Jesus now?  According to Hebrews 1, He is sitting on the throne of glory.  And what is He doing?  He is trying His best to woo us into His love.  Jesus is the ultimate super hero.  There is none even closely like Him.

Written by Roger Bothwell on July 13, 2015

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

Rogerbothwell.org

 

This afternoon I stood in front of a glass box containing a manikin fortune teller.  For a dollar I could put my hand on the glass and the seer would read my palm by comparing my life line, etc. to a preprogrammed template.  Obviously I kept my dollar safely tucked in my wallet.  I need it for the children’s offering in church this coming weekend.  Anyway, I already know my future.  I a going to live a long, long, long time.  Actually I am going to live forever.  I am going to be extremely wealthy.  Jesus promises in John 14 that He has a place prepared for me. I am going on a long journey to the center of the universe.  I am going to be extremely healthy with a new body.  See I Corinthians 15.   My future is already planned out so I don’t need the swami in the glass box nor any other pretender.

If you would like I can read your future.  If you make Jesus the Lord of your life you will have already crossed over from death to life.  See John 5.  “Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life.”   And if you have not made Jesus the Lord of your life I am sorry to say I also know your future and it isn’t very bright.

If you would also like to join me in being a fortune teller feel free to do so.  It is not a private club.  It is just a matter of reading and accepting the promises from a loving Father who always keeps His promises.

Written by Roger Bothwell on July 10, 2015

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

Rogerbothwell.org

In a recent research study it was found that when students were told a particular textbook was of vital importance they consistently over estimated how much it physically weighed.  Just the opposite result occurred when told a book was irrelevant. Our minds do interesting things.  Reading about this made me wonder about books of the Bible.  Are some more relevant than others and if so which ones?

I used to work for one of my college professors who was an Old Testament chronologist.  He loved the Kings and the Chronicles.  I have some preacher friends who are convinced the most relevant book of the Bible is Revelation.  They know all about the Seven Trumpets and the Last Plagues.  I know an English teacher who most values the Psalms. My theologian friends think Romans is the crown jewel.  When I was little I must have been mentally ill because I thought the gore of Judges was fascinating.  When the sermons got boring out came Judges.  If those stories had been in any other book other than the Bible my parents would have been horrified that I was reading them.  Thankfully as I matured my ideas also matured.  For a long time I thought the Gospel of John was the best.  Now I find Ephesians to be my favorite.

It would be an interesting study to correlate the ages, occupations, genders and hobbies of people with their favorite book of the Bible.  Surely we would find some interesting psychological traits matching their selections.  I am tempted to ask you to respond and tell me which book or passage is the most vital.  I would have to promise not to make psychological assumptions about you.   Instead, perhaps we can all agree that the most vital passage is John 3:16.

Written by Roger Bothwell on July 10, 2014

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

Rogerbothwell.org

 

I had banana cream pie for breakfast.  It was quite nutritious.  The banana was full of potassium and other goodies.  The crust had grains.  The pudding had dairy and carbohydrates.  I love being an adult.  I can eat whatever whenever.  One night when I was about 4 or 5 years old my dad came home with three pints of ice cream.  Ice cream came in small containers because refrigerators didn’t have freezers.  They only had a small place in the upper inside corner for ice cube trays. My mom, sisters and I each got a half a pint.  My dad got a whole pint!  I thought that was awesome.  Right there I purposed that someday I would be a man and eat a whole pint of ice cream at one sitting.

And now that I am an adult I had banana cream pie for breakfast.  Don’t get me wrong.  Being an adult isn’t a license for debauchery.  I didn’t eat the whole pie.  I was quite temperate.  Being an adult is being responsible.  It’s about not blaming others for everything.  Often one of the great faults of therapy is finding someone like mom or dad to blame for our poor choices.  Life is about choices.  Life is about making responsible choices and if they don’t go the way we hoped, we man-up and determine to do better the next time.

One of the important things to understand about the plan of salvation is that while Jesus paid the price for our sins, He did not accept the blame.  The blame is ours.  We are just amazingly blessed to have a loving God who says, “Okay.  I forgive you. I will accept the penalty.”   That’s what confession is about.  It is accepting the blame.

Written by Roger Bothwell on July 9, 2014

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

Rogerbothwell.org