Month: April 2019

Something truly wonderful happened at the U.S. Open Golf Tournament at Bethpage Black.   The winner was Lucas Glover and he was ranked 71st in the world of golf.  Don’t you love it when someone nobody expects to win achieves their dream?  Each day each of us has the opportunity to score big and win our dream.  That is assuming we have personal dreams. It is very important, no matter how old we are, to be  reaching for a new goal.  Each day we can stretch ourselves beyond our present or past achievements.  Our biggest competitor in life should be the person we see in the mirror.

Commencement addresses are usually very formulaic.  The graduates are young and it is easy to tell them the usual “Go out there and grab your share of life and success.”  But how often would we make a similar speech at an AARP convention?  Instead, when there, we would talk about government polices that affect drug prices and how to get our share of the assistance pie.  Real success in life comes from personal achievement.  Learning a new skill, a new language, a new field of knowledge is so rewarding.  While it is true we might not have the physical skills or the mental agility we had a few decades past, it is also true there are still multitudes of things to accomplish.

There are volunteer opportunities in our communities and our churches.  Most colleges offer free courses to seniors.  Last semester I had a very interesting man in his 70’s take my human development course.  His contribution was invaluable.   And the biggest goal of all is with God’s help being a better person this week than we were last week.

Written by Roger Bothwell on June 24, 2009

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

rogerbothwell.org

 

Just before the President spoke to the nation I went to the kitchen for a piece of peanut butter and jelly bread.  I’m not sure what it was but as I was about to spread the peanut butter something distracted me.  Whatever it was it led to something else and soon I was back in my chair watching the President. About ninety minutes later I remembered my peanut butter bread.   I was amazed at what I found.  When I put that piece of bread on the counter it was fresh, now it was already stale around the edges.  I never would have guessed something could grow stale so quickly.  Ninety minutes isn’t very long.

I remembered a story of a famous pianist who said if he missed practicing just one day he could tell the difference on the second day.  If I miss my special time with Jesus just one day, I can tell the difference.   Probably those around me can also tell but are too kind to mention that I am more surly, more impatient and more critical than usual.  The word is “stale”. Just like that piece of bread, so very quickly we lose our freshness, our sensitivity and our concern for others.  No, we don’t lose it completely. It is just not as keen as when we spend time with the One who said, “Men will know you are mine if you love one another.”

One of our greatest challenges is to stay fresh and relevant.  In the classroom I have to know the daily concerns of my students.  I need to see in their eyes their concerns.  I know the greatest lessons I teach are not out of the books we use but how I treat them.  We must not grow stale.

Written by Roger Bothwell on February 29, 2009

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

rogerbothwell.org

 

 

The world is as full as ever with hedonistic rulers and dictators who live lavish lives of luxury while their people wallow in squalid poverty.   The leader of North Korea, despite his stroke, recently tried to add two new yachts to his fleet.  Last year thousands of his people died of malnutrition and starvation.  We put John Deere tractors on ships heading to third world nations only to have a miracle happen and brand new luxury automobiles arrive at the intended ports.  I actually had a young man in Uganda tell me he wanted to be a politician so he could exploit people.  By mentioning this I do not mean to infer it doesn’t happen here.

What I do want to point out is Jesus’ birth in a filthy stable, His early life in a humble home, His lack of material goods and His incredible act of becoming a created being destined for the most inhuman sacrifice humans knew how to deliver.  The contrast between our Jesus and a good share of the leaders of earth is so astounding it takes away our breath.

There are twelve verses of Scripture we really need to read and reread just in case we might forget them.  When we are finished reading Isaiah 53 we need to immediately follow it with Colossians 1:15 – 17.  Then finish with a dose of Philippians 2.  “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bond servant, and coming in the likeness of men.”   There never was another like Him.

Written by Roger Bothwell on April 28, 2009

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

rogerbothwell.org

 

Neptune is hiding behind Jupiter this week.  Actually, it is peeking out on the upper left hand side of Jupiter but you can’t see it.  Jupiter is just too bright.  Almost everything but the moon is blanked out by Jupiter’s reflected light.  It reminds me of one of my friends who is a talented and gifted person.  Unfortunately, he is out-dazzled by another who always has had the limelight.  My friend is and has constantly been in second place. In a different time and a different place he would have been the one to dazzle.What fascinates me about him is he, at least to my knowledge, has never complained.  He seems content to shine in his part of the Lord’s vineyard. He never seems jealous.  He always speaks extremely well of his more dazzling friend.  Being content with one’s place is a gift.  So many people I know are hungry to be number one.  I laugh when I see the fans of a winning sports team running around shouting they are number one when they aren’t even on the team.

In Corinthians Paul assures us that each of us is important in God’s plan. We all can’t be the head.  The body needs feet and toes.   However, if you are the dazzling one in your circle there is a special verse just for you. It is Romans 12:10.  In the King James it reads, “Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honor preferring one.”   It is wonderfully paraphrased in The Message like this, “Be good friends who love deeply; practice playing second fiddle.”   If your friend is talking about his three-inch surgical scar and you have a ten-inch scar, keep quiet.  Let him have his moment.

Written by Roger Bothwell on July 15, 2009

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

rogerbothwell.org

Do you ever wish you knew somebody famous so you could name-drop?  When others do it, it would be so satisfying to drop a name of someone more important than the one they used.  The best I can ever do is to say I had breakfast with Ronald Reagan.  It sounds so cool when I say it like that.  But the truth is there were two hundred other people in the room and I never even got to shake his hand.  Once I was about four feet away from Pope Paul VI.  But that really doesn’t count because he never even looked at me as he walked by in St. Peter’s Cathedral.   It was Epiphany Day.

So I sit quietly when others speak of their important connections.  But wait.  I do have one!  And it tops them all.  Jesus is my friend.  Yes that’s right. Ever since I have been a little boy I have sung the song, “What a Friend We Have in Jesus.”   I realize the title uses the word “we”. However, sometimes I sing it with an “I” instead of a “we”.  It makes it so much more meaningful.   This will also work for you.  The next time you’re in church and they sing this song change the pronoun.

Talk about name-dropping.  This is the ultimate.  What adds to this is Jesus drops our name!  Yes He does.   In Hebrews 2 He calls us his friends and family.  He goes so much further than calling us friends.  We are His family and co-heirs in the wonder that He is.  See Romans 8 and Galatians 4. In Revelation 3 He even tells us someday we will sit with Him on His throne.  When we understand this wonder it sort of makes human name-dropping seem silly.

Written by Roger Bothwell on March 16, 2009

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

rogerbothwell.org

I don’t think I ever said to another kid, “My father can beat up your father,” even though I surely thought he could.  I thought of this because of Romans 8.  Paul wrote, “If God is for us, who can be against us?”  I think that pretty much means “My Father can beat up your father.”

The history of God in the Old Testament was the Hebrew God (our God) doing battle with the gods of surrounding pagan nations. In story after story Abraham’s God was in competition with Dagon, Baal or some other national deity.  Elijah’s standoff on top of Mount Carmel was classic.  Elijah taunted Baal’s priests.  He really rubbed it in by pouring water over the altar prior to the burst of lightning.  You have to hand it to Elijah.  The man had faith.  Things really got very bloody before the day was over.  There was no doubt in Elijah’s mind.  His God could beat up anybody’s god.

Today’s religious battles are very different.  Christians, Jews and Muslims claim to worship the same God.  God must be very disappointed with us.  He is supreme.  But we are not.  He watches as we all claim to be His favorites.   As adults we don’t argue about whose father can beat up whose.  Instead we argue that we are His special ones.  We usually base this on the proposition that we are righter than the others.  We have more truth.  We have more insight.

The last time I took inventory of my love for my two sons and six grandchildren I once again reaffirmed that each is so unique I love each of them uniquely.   Not one is favored over the other.  Each has a room in my heart.  Didn’t Jesus say something about “in my Father’s house are many rooms?”

Written by Roger Bothwell on July 24, 2009

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

rogerbothwell.org

On our way home from school this evening my wife and I decided to stop at a local ice cream parlor.  It was a beautiful spring day and it seemed like a great way to start the evening.  Without looking at the prices I ordered a double thick double chocolate malt.  I am so glad the girl didn’t bring me the check until after I had thoroughly enjoyed it.  It really was amazingly delicious.  It was also amazingly expensive.  After putting my eyeballs back in their sockets after looking at the bill I knew I never would have ordered it had I known.  I think sometimes I forget this isn’t 1950 when such a treat would have been thirty-five cents with maybe an extra penny for the malt.  I’ll know better the next time.

Maybe this has also happened to you.  You bought something before counting the cost.  Jesus even talks about a man building a tower without first considering the expense.  See Luke 14:28.   It is a mistake God would never make.  When He first planned to redeem us with the sacrifice of His only one-of-a-kind Son, He counted the cost.  And for reasons I will never ever understand He thought we were worth it.  One of my favorite authors once wrote, “God made Himself poor when He gave us Jesus.”  It is an awesome thought.  God’s richness isn’t all the stuff He can speak into existence.  His richness is Jesus.

As Jesus was dragged from the high priest’s court to the court of Pilate and Herod and back to Pilate with brutal inhuman beatings occurring along the way, the universe watched in stunned silence.  Every intelligent eye watched for either Jesus or the Father to say, “Enough.”   He never did for God so loved the world.  God so loved you.

Written by Roger Bothwell on May 14, 2009

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

rogerbothwell.org