Month: October 2019

Today was a sleepy day in New England.  It rained most of the day and the temp never went above the mid fifties.  As hard as I tried I couldn’t keep my students awake.  They settled into their chairs and within a few minutes their eyelids were shut.  I tried almost everything.  To begin class I read a fabulous passage from Romans. Only half of them seemed aware of my presence.  I walked over and called some by name.  They roused for a few minutes but soon were back in dreamland. There was a temptation to be miffed except for the fact that just yesterday I was in a faculty meeting and was in the same stupored condition.

Jesus had a similar problem with His disciples that horrible night in the garden.  But He did acknowledge their human nature.  Sometimes we just can’t stay awake. He understands His sleeping church.  We can take comfort that He never condemned the ten young women for sleeping while waiting for the groom to come to the wedding.  It is not natural to stay in a state of excitement constantly waiting for anything, let alone something we have been told for decades is at the door.

Perhaps the best thing is not to hype ourselves up every time there is an earthquake or some other horror.  The best thing is not to be event watching or studying someone’s fabricated time chart but instead establish a living, breathing, eating, walking, talking, and sleeping relationship with Jesus that is so real it doesn’t matter when He returns.  Our goal should be to be so involved with Jesus that going to heaven will merely be a change of address.

 

Written by Roger Bothwell on October 7, 2010

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

Rogerbothwell.org

 

 

In one of the texts I use in my Philosophy of Education class there is the following sentence.  “As a means of intellectual training, the Bible is more effective than any other book, or all other books combined.”  Last week I mentioned Will Durant’s list of 100 books we need to read and how ignorant I felt having only read eight of them. So I must say this sentence jumped off the page at me.  How could it be?  Durant’s list contained the works of Aristotle, Shakespeare, Whitman, Thoreau and Emerson.  How could it possibly be that the Bible is not only better than any one of them but all of them combined?

Granted Moses was a brilliantly educated man.   Solomon was given the gift of wisdom.  Paul was extremely well learned.  But Peter and John had minimal schooling.  Most of the Old Testament prophets were simple men.  Then of course the answer came.  “For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.”  II Peter 1:21.   While God did not whisper words in their ears He did inspire them with ideas.  Each wrote out of the culture and background that made them who they were, yet they were filled with insights that God wanted so much to share with us.

When we spend time studying Scripture we are not reading the masterful sentences of Shakespeare or the philosophies of the ancient Greeks.  We are instead feeding our minds from the fountainhead of all truth.  The very same Spirit that attended the writers of Scripture attends us.  When we struggle with a passage He is there to infuse our minds with knowledge far beyond that of mortal men, no matter how brilliant they were.

Written by Roger Bothwell on October 5, 2010

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

Rogerbothwell.org

 

It’s October and it’s time to get the firewood in the garage.  Today has been a beautiful day of sawing, splitting and stacking.  I really enjoy it.  There is something primal about putting up wood for winter.  While it is not nearly as efficient as getting the basement fuel oil tanks filled  it is so much more satisfying.  It makes me feel tied to my ancestors.  I guess now I need to go out and shoot a turkey for Thanksgiving.  Yuk!

I have gotten to a part of my woodpile that has been there for three years.  I would have used it sooner but two winters ago we had a terrific ice storm that brought down so much wood I left the woodpile for another year.  Some of the wood has rusted and gotten soft.  It will not last long in the woodstove.  As I was looking at the deterioration I thought of I Peter 1.  It’s an absolutely fabulous passage.  Peter wrote, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fades not away, reserved in heaven for you, . .”   There is no rust and no rot.

In the paraphrase The Message it reads, “What a God we have!  And how fortunate we are to have him, . .”  Peter knew what he was talking about.  He knew Jesus so very well and he knew that since he had seen Jesus he had seen the Father.  Jesus told him so and Peter had no doubts.  Regarding this he wrote, “This is no cunningly devised fable.  We saw it with our own eyes.”

Written by Roger Bothwell on October 4, 2010

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

Rogerbothwell.org

 

One of my favorite books when I was a boy was Secret of the Cave by Uncle Arthur Maxwell.  It was about some boys who used a cave as a base from which they secretly did good deeds for their community.  I used to fantasize how very neat that would be.  Now the story has been reversed on me.  My electric lawn mower ceased to do its job.  The electric motor would whir but the blade did not go around. Unbeknownst to me my very observant engineer neighbor absconded with, repaired, cleaned, sharpened the blade and then returned my mower.  It appears to be brand new.  Now how’s that for living in a great neighborhood? While I would like very much to do something for him as repayment, I have come to realize that would devalue his gift.  Sometimes the finest thing we can do is to allow another to help us. We do not have to respond in kind when a “Thank You” will be just fine.

And then there is the following problem.   There is a memorable line from the musical “Annie, Get Your Gun.”  It says, “Anything you can do, I can do better; I can do anything better than you.”   In my situation the words would be “Anything I can do; he can do better.  He can do anything better than I.”   I’m not trying to be modest. He really can.  He is a gifted engineer.

Sometimes it is difficult for us to sit back and allow another to give.  But that is an important part of life.  If we were not gracious receivers when would the gracious givers have an opportunity to shine?   See Luke 10.

Written by Roger Bothwell on July 23, 2010

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

Rogerbothwell.org