Roger Bothwell

I heard something today that was so outrageous I backed up the television program to listen again to make sure I had not imagined what I heard.  I had not imaged it.  On a “Christian?” program the speaker inferred that we should be rejoicing that certain environmental programs are being reversed or not funded.  His logic was the sooner we destroy our planet the sooner Jesus will have to come to rescue us from our manmade mess. Whatever happened to the idea that God made Adam and Eve stewards of their garden?  How could this man ever again sing, “This is My Father’s World”?  How could he ever again pray for or raise money to help the victims of violent storms or rising oceans?  I was flabbergasted!  If I thought this was mainstream Christianity I would be so embarrassed I should have to call myself something other than a Christian.

Jesus told a very interesting parable about a man who left on a journey and gave funds to three of his servants to attend to while he was gone.  Two of them did fine.  But the third did nothing with his.  Upon return the master said to the steward who did nothing, “Evil and lazy slave! So you knew that I harvest where I didn’t sow and gather where I didn’t scatter?”  It gets worse.  Next the master said, “Throw that worthless slave into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” Matthew 15

Somehow I have the feeling that the proper way to prepare the world for the second coming of Jesus is to fulfill the great gospel commission and spread the Good News.  Trashing our Father’s world is not only wrong, it is sick.

Written by Roger Bothwell on April 6, 2017

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Twice a day from Monday to Friday from first grade to eighth grade I rode school buses and I heard a lot of nonsense. One remark that still stands out in my mind came from a nerdy little kid proclaiming that his father knew everything. Even as a child I knew how impossible that was so I said so. I said, “No he doesn’t. That’s impossible.” You can be sure what came next.  “Yes, he does.”  After a few minutes of “No, he doesn’t” and “Yes, he does” we came to his stop and he got off.

Strange how things reverse when we get older because my Father knows everything. Yes He does. I quote from Romans 8, “For those who are led by the Spirit are the children of God. . . the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” . . . Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.”

There it is.  Paul says it again in Galatians. And where did Paul get this marvelous truth?  From Jesus Himself who taught His disciples to pray, “Our Father, which art in heaven.”

Now it gets even better.  My Father can also beat up your father.  I also heard that on the school bus.  My Father is not only all-knowing He is all-powerful. I just love being a part of this family. If I were back on that school bus I would be a real braggart.

Written by Roger Bothwell on April 5, 2017

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When I was a little guy I often found sermons to be tedious and very long.  Occasionally I would fill the time by paging through the hymnal which contains almost 700 songs.  I wondered how long it would take to sing all of them and discovered if it took five minutes for each song with a one minute break between songs it would take 2.9 days if we did not sleep or eat.  I realize that is very meaningless data but when you are 8 years old it makes the time go a bit faster.

Time moved so slowly then.  When I sent off for a Dick Tracy decoder ring offered on a cereal box it took six weeks for the mailman to deliver it.  That was a lifetime.  When I was that little I understood what eternity was.  It was getting from 8 to 75.  Now I no longer understand eternity but I am most anxious to give it a try.  I would absolutely love having you try it with me.  It sounds so beyond comprehension you might think I am crazy.  But quoting the great philosopher Sheldon Cooper, “I’m not crazy. My mother had me tested.”

It is a matter of faith and trusting Jesus.  His promises are so vivid.  He said in John 5:24, “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.”  That is just a sample.  I once had a pastor really go after me for saying we can skip judgment.  How dare I make heaven so easy to obtain.  Well, sorry about that, I was only quoting Jesus.  And guess what.   He never lies.

Written by Roger Bothwell on April 4, 2017

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On April first we had a substantial snowstorm.  (Not an April Fool’s joke.) It was very wet and heavy; great for making a snowman.  I have to get the snow off the roof of our SUV before I can drive it.  If I don’t remove that snow I will see some blue lights and have to make a contribution to our city budget. Actually it isn’t that difficult.  We live on the top of a hill and if I go 35 mph going down the hill and slam on the brakes the snow keeps moving forward and slides right down the windshield and over the front of the car.  It’s called inertia.  A moving object wants to keep moving and a resting object wants to stay resting.

I believe we have psychological inertia. Once I am in my chair and my eyelids start to droop, all I want to do is stay put. When I go for a walk the first 100 yards demand determination, after that I can walk and walk and walk.  It’s the same with our Christian walk.  We get busy and the daily demands of life crowd out our walk with Jesus.  To get it started again requires thought, planning and determination. Once we are back in the habit it becomes easy.

I do recommend planning.  Just picking up your Bible and reading randomly isn’t really the best plan. If you’re fortunate you will open to a meaningful passage, but you are just as likely to open to an obscure passage in Leviticus or a chapter of begets.  Treat yourself and read the Gospel of Mark completely in one sitting.  You will find it to be absolutely delightful and it doesn’t take long. It is only sixteen chapters.

Written by Roger Bothwell on April 3, 2017

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What’s in your wallet?  I can assure you what is not in my wallet – the American Express Centurion card.  First of all you have to be invited.  Next you have to pay a $7,500 initiation fee and then pay an annual fee of $2,500.   I am now about to reveal my plebeian, working class status by saying, “I don’t understand.”   In my uninvited state of mind it seems to me that a credit card is a credit card as long as it has no annual fee and returns to me one to three percent.  Now, obviously there must be some benefits of which I am totally unaware and probably unable to understand.  This is a case of not knowing what I don’t know.

I Corinthians 2:9 says, “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.”  I have always loved this text.  Never in my dreams would I have thought it also applied to American Express.  They must offer some wonderful perks.

I can tell you what or who does offer some wonderful perks.  Jesus offers us eternal life with unlimited universal travel and we don’t have to keep track of frequent flier miles.  If we did it would be frequent flier light-years.  How I wish we could help our youth understand what they are being offered.  This sinful world has nothing to compare with what waits for God’s children.   Satan is out to dupe them.  Have you ever noticed the casino commercials?   They are filled with beautiful young people laughing, smiling and hugging.  The last time I walked through a casino I watched a busload of senior citizens head for the nickel slots.  The pretty people must have been in a backroom.

Written by Roger Bothwell on June 30, 2016

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We have talked about our being imitators of God as Paul counseled us in Ephesians 5:1.  One of my really good and smart friends wrote back with the following, “Saw the subject line.  And between my old age and dyslexic eye sight. . . I thought it said ‘Limitators’!   I thought—WOW—what a fantastic new word to describe certain personalities. I could just imagine where you were headed. . . Then I saw what the word should have been. . . But, I still like ‘limitators’. . . We limit God’s love. We limit His work.”

His misreading was an amazing idea.  We are limiters of God.  We call ourselves Christians, meaning Christ-like, and so often are not Christ-like.  Others see us and think, “So that’s what Christ is like.”  It is appalling.  Gandhi once said he would have been a Christian except for all the Christians he met.

My friend went on in his response by quoting a verse from the old hymn,

There’s a Wideness in God’s Mercy

“But we make His love too narrow

By false limits of our own;

And we magnify His strictness

With a zeal He will not own.”   By Fredrick W. Faber in 1854

I am envious that I did not write this.  It is so on-target.  We are so quick to condemn the lost and to make excuses for ourselves.  We condemn other’s music because we don’t like it and on and on we go.  What an incredible challenge it is for us to rightfully show others what Jesus is really like.  If we do that we will have shown them what God is like because Jesus said, “If you have seen me you have seen the Father.”  John 14:9

Written by Roger Bothwell on June 2, 2016

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Lots of prayers and some very good doctors have been responsible for my recovery from leukemia.  I am going on three years of excellent health for which I am deeply grateful.  However, there have been some undesirable remnants.  One of which is I have been left with a very low tolerance for bug bites.  The tiniest of creatures can create on my arms or wherever swollen, itchy patches that take days to subside. Springtime is wonderful but in Massachusetts May skies fill with little black flies that swoop in like Kamikaze pilots.  Finally, we got a 90 degree day that should take care of them for another year.  In a few days I can stop scratching as long as I avoid mosquitoes and ticks which will be with us all summer.

Our bodies are wonderful at repairing themselves, yet scars and other annoyances are usually left behind to remind us.   We are never quite as good as new.   Our souls are the same.  We mar them with sinful deeds.  We ask for forgiveness.  God is gracious, merciful and good to us and He cleanses us.  See I John 1:9.  Yet, we are never the same.  Sin diminishes us.  That’s why something is labeled sin.  If it enhanced us it would be labeled a blessing.

God gives us a new start, record-wise.   But our brains don’t.  We are never quite what we could of, should of, been.  God looks at us as if we had never sinned.  But the person looking back at us from the mirror always knows better.  So flee from sin as we would from a roaring lion.  While we might survive the lion’s attack, we will always be scarred, at least until this mortal puts on immortality.  See I Corinthians 15.

Written by Roger Bothwell on May 27, 2016

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Lest you be tempted to think no one keeps their promises let me assure you there is no mayhem in heaven.  When God promises something He means it!  It is never watered down with anything.  We are promised eternal life.   That is not a million years.  That is not 100 million years.  That is forever.  Obviously there has to be intervention of some sort.  The way we are now I am not sure I want to live to be a hundred.  I know that for sure when I get out of my easy chair.  If it feels like this now what will it feel like at hundred.  I would need an entire bottle of Ibuprofen just to stand up.

We are talking about eternity where we continue to develop.  Next earth year we will be better than last earth year. (I’m not sure how we will count years.)  Last week some middle aged man prayed with my wife and asked God to bless her now that she is in her sunset years.  Oh dear.  He is very fortunate he got to say amen.

Since God never waters down a promise try this one.  “To him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy. . .” Jude 24   If you have a nagging guilt about something in your past, ask for forgiveness and forget it.  He is able.

Written by Roger Bothwell on May 3, 2016

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A few days ago I wrote about walking in my yard on a moonless night looking for my black lab.  All the while she was invisibly walking around right behind me.  Last night we had a quarter moon as I once again went out to bring her in for the night.  It wasn’t long until I saw darkness following me around.  Considering myself to be a quick study and not to be fooled again I headed back to the door talking to her.  Then I reached back to pet her.  Emptiness – it was my shadow!!  My dog was still sitting in the corner of the yard watching me talk to nothingness.

It would have been saner had I been talking to myself.  This time I was talking to thin air.  This happens to be the reason God gave us the first commandment.  “Thou shall have no other gods before me.”  Since there is only one real God, placing other gods before Him would be praying to nothingness.  God is trying to keep us from wasting our devotion and intellect.  Praying to nothing isn’t going to get us anything.

God is so wonderfully practical.  Each of His commandments has a practical application for enhancing the quality of our lives.  There isn’t a selfish bone in His body.  His total focus is on our well-being.  He instantly hears all our prayers and answers not according to our requests but according to what is best for us.  Often we misjudge His actions but someday He will make it all clear and we will rejoice in His wisdom and grace.  He never makes mistakes.  Our talking with Him is never talking to shadows.

Written by Roger Bothwell on April 15, 2016

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Spring semester is waning. Projects are coming due. Procrastinators are not yet panicking; that will happen in about ten more days.  Last evening I made an impassioned appeal for my undergrads to PLEASE get their assignments turned in. (This is something you never have to do with graduate students.)  After class three students stayed after to ask how to do the assignments!  When I explained (for the umpteenth time) they accused me of never having told them before this.  I felt like I was in the Garden of Eden hearing Adam blaming God, followed by Eve blaming the serpent.  I would have been so much more sympathetic if they had said, “I never heard” instead of saying, “You didn’t.”  Perhaps that was asking too much.  That would have meant they were responsible.   (I’m sure they would have taken responsibility if something good had occurred.)

Taking responsibility when there is blame to be had (manning up) is a key factor in living a successful life.  It is THE key factor in being saved.  “If we confess our sins He is able to forgive.” Confession is manning up.  No going to therapy so we can blame our parents, no playing Flip Wilson by saying, “The devil made me do it.”  Life is choices.  Unfortunately not all of them work out so well.  The good news is God is eager to save, eager to forgive, eager to give us fresh starts, even if we need them on a daily basis.  When describing love in       I Corinthians 13 Paul wrote, “Love keeps no record of wrongs.”

My students will make my day when they turn in their assignments.  We can make God’s day by saying, “I did it.  I’m sorry.”

Written by Roger Bothwell on April 13, 2016

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