Month: September 2020

Recently I reunited with one of my best ever students who is now working on her Master’s degree.  When I asked her how she was this very bright Christian young lady lit up and joy flowed from her as she related to me her story.  When she was two-years-old her parents fled Columbian violence by working their way to the United States via various ways through Central America.  They were never documented.  She went to elementary and high school in California.  She was my student at Atlantic Union College here in Massachusetts.  Her joyful news is she can stay in America.  She said, “Oh, Dr. Bothwell, I grew up here. I don’t know any other place.  I was only two when my parents brought me here. This is my home. I am an American. I want to teach here.  English is my mother tongue.  I want to give.  And now I can.”  I wish you could have seen the tears as she was telling me, “This is my home.”

“Wow,” I thought.  “What a waste of our precious resources if she had had to leave.  She is a treasure.”

Knowing that Jesus understands our tremendous potential and knowing because of Ephesians 2 that God has a plan for us, He must weep when He sees us throwing it away.  We have an eternal future with possibilities to match our potential that we cannot conceive.  “And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.”?  II Corinthians 9:8.

What joy to know that we are “home” in God’s love with an unbounded future.  There is no fear of ever being sent away.  He loves us.

Written by Roger Bothwell on September 14, 2012

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

Rogerbothwell.org

 

I’m not sure what it is about the word “free” that I do not understand.   I wanted to find out who called me so I googled the words “reverse phone number lookup.”  Almost instantly I got a list of websites that promised me they would do it for free.  Every single one of them told me they found it but then wanted me to pay to see what they found.  I finally figured out that “free lookup” meant just that.  The “lookup” was free.  They just would not tell me for free.  Alas.

I guess the old saying, “There is no free lunch” is still true.  There is a price for everything.  So when I say to you that salvation is free, I also have to explain there is an expectation that once one accepts God’s gift of grace, one will with God’s help embark upon a quest to be a better person.   Being a better person is not a reverse payment for the gift.  It’s a desire implanted in our hearts that comes with the gift.  It’s all God’s work from start to finish.   He doesn’t start it and we finish it.  Oh no.  It’s just that once we let Him in, He starts cleaning house.  Maybe God has OCD and needs everything to be in order.  In I Corinthians Paul speaks of God living in us.  We are His temple.  I guess He just can’t quite stand to live in a messy place.

I never thought about God having OCD prior to this.  I do know that when I meet people who need everything to be perfect that is the usual diagnosis.  In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus did mention His Father’s perfection.

Written by Roger Bothwell on September 14, 2011

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

Rogerbothwell.org

 

We are two weeks into the fall semester and today toward the end of my sixth lecture in Psychology 101 a young man put up his hand and asked, “How much of this do we have to remember?”  After I caught my breath and my head cleared I responded, “Ah, like all of it.” I sometimes wonder what goes on in their heads.  They pay really good money for each class.   They come without their books.  They come without anything that would help them take notes.  If there is a video they sleep.  It drives me nuts.

“Aha,” I think. “This is how frustrated God must get with us.”   He provides us with an abundance of great study materials.   We have the Gospels and the letters of Paul.  Do we do our daily reading?  We sleep through church because it isn’t nearly as exciting as our favorite action television program.  We rarely take notes when we do read Ephesians or the Sermon on the Mount, which can be very challenging.   I hear the very same excuses from adults as to why they don’t have enough time to study as I do from my students.  So I guess I better be patient with my students just as God is patient with us.  I do so much want them to learn and God so much wants us to learn.  No wonder Paul wrote to Timothy, “Study to show yourself approved unto God, a workman that needs not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”

Written by Roger Bothwell on September 8, 2008

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

Rogerbothwell.org

I had this fairly lengthy passage to copy from a book into my computer.  As my fingers typed away I knew I was on a roll.  It was one of those days when everything was functioning in high gear.  My typing teacher from high school would have been so proud of me.  I was way over fifty words a minute.  It felt so good.  Then I paused and looked at the page I had just blazed into my document.  I gasped.  It was gibberish. It made no sense.  Then I saw my error.  The fingers of my right hand were not on the home keys. Even though the J key has a raised dash on the bottom edge I never felt for it.

One of the classes I used to teach at our little college is Intro to Philosophy.  I loved the class.  It was great fun to see the students light up to new ideas.  One of the things I discovered while teaching that class was a person can develop some very tight logic and yet end up with a wild position because they did not start on the right foundation of truth.  Jesus said it so well when He spoke of building a house upon the sand.  Some very great minds developed some very strong positions by carefully going from one logical step to the next.  But because they began on sand they ended up with positions that have grown dusty and musty.

Paul had it right.  He wrote, “For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.”  When you start there you end up with life and there is nothing dusty or musty about that.  Please see I Corinthians 3:11

Written by Roger Bothwell on September 6, 2011

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

Rogerbothwell.org

One of the most fascinating places I ever visited occurred on a hot summer day when my father took me to a large red wooden building that was full of ice.  Mounds of sawdust covered large blocks of ice that had been hewn from a local Pennsylvania lake during the winter months.  I could not understand how on such a hot day the entire pile did not turn to water.   I watched as they loaded a wagon to deliver it around the city for people’s iceboxes.  Only rich people had electric refrigerators then so you can tell how long ago this was.  My dad explained to me how the sawdust insulated the ice keeping it from melting. Years later I learned that salt had the opposite effect on ice.

That is all a distant memory but I still think about preserving things that are precious.  I long to preserve my relationship with my family.  I long to preserve my memories.  I long to preserve my health. I long to preserve my relationship with Jesus.  Each one of these requires attention.  Family members must not be ignored but be nurtured.  The same goes for memory and health and one’s spiritual life.  Neglect of any of these will see them melt away in the heat of life.  I wish it could be as simple as covering them with sawdust and keeping them away from salt.  (Interesting that in many cases salt is a preservative.  But in this case it is the opposite.)

Common sense living, paying attention to the needs of others, getting enough exercise, eating properly, eliminating stress and feeding one’s soul by feeding on God’s word. These are the sawdust that will enable us to keep what is precious to us.

Written by Roger Bothwell on September 7, 2011

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

Rogerbothwell.org

 

Our President has spoken to our nation regarding jobs and the importance of labor and hard work.  It’s a topic dear to our hearts. We know good things do not happen unless someone or some group pours toil and sacrifice into projects.  I believe it because of this understanding that some of us grow uneasy when we hear people like me say that salvation and eternal life are free.  We become fearful that we have cheapened salvation and have given people license to continue in their sinful ways.  Therefore, it is important to say just because salvation is free it does not mean it was cheap.  It was by far the most expensive purchase ever made.  God gave His Son who bought salvation for us with the most expensive price tag ever written.

The next important thing to say is because it is a gift; we cannot sit back and fail to recognize the incredible obligation of grace.  While we cannot purchase something already given, we must realize the task set before us, which is nothing less than never-ending character development.  Our task is not to be saved.  Our task is to become like the One who saves us.  In a world saturated with selfishness, in a mind and body driven by appetites, this is an unbelievably difficult task.  Anyone who says or thinks otherwise has yet to tackle the high standard to which we are called.

The Good News is this.  We are not in this fight alone.   We are called to battle and we have an ally.  Jesus promised that He would not orphan us but send us the Holy Spirit, who upon our request, will pour out heaven in support of our quest. While victory is promised, the confrontation can be fierce.

Written by Roger Bothwell on September 9, 2011

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

Rogerbothwell.org

 

My wife just walked in with a container of strawberries freshly picked in the rain.  They are so fragrant.  Immediately my brain splashed across the inside of my eyeballs pictures of a mile high strawberry pie, heaps of sliced strawberries on bowls of cereal or better yet vanilla ice cream, and jars of fresh strawberry jam.  I wondered if Jesus ever had strawberries when He was a boy.  The only berries mentioned in the Bible are olive berries mentioned by Isaiah and James, Jesus’ brother.  There is no mention of blueberries, raspberries or huckleberries.  If this lack of mention meant lack of berries I find myself feeling sorry for their depravation of nature’s bounty.

What is interesting is what James had to say about olive berries.  He mentions them in chapter 3 where his illustration is that a fig tree cannot bear olive berries.  His point is that if we call ourselves Christians we cannot praise God one moment and then use the same mouth to say vicious and cruel things about people.  After all whether we like it or not those people we dislike were also made in God’s image.  His point is quite legitimate.  Consistency of character is the real fruit of a genuine walk with God.

When people know they are going to see us they should have a very good idea what they are going to encounter; basically unselfish kindness and concern for their well-being. I know this can be difficult, because let’s face it, it is delicious to say things that belittle others.  It makes us feel clever, big and important.  Guess what?  Our feelings are lying to us for it is just the opposite.  When we do so we aren’t belittling others.  We are belittling ourselves.

Written by Roger Bothwell on September 8, 2011

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

Rogerbothwell.org

The first Labor Day holiday was celebrated in New York City on September 5, 1882. It is a day to honor the hard working men and women who have built this great land.  Labor comes in an infinite variety of tasks.  Labor is both physical and mental.  Just as it is hard work to build with one’s hands, it is hard work to build with one’s mind and bring ideas to fruition.  Life’s greatest rewards come from life’s hardest labor.

The Christian walk is a walk of immense hard labor.  While salvation is by grace and not of works that does not mean the construction of a Christ-like character strong enough to overcome lifelong destructive habits and our selfish natures comes with ease.   When Jesus saves us we are inspired to be like the One who died for us.  Anyone who ever says being like Jesus is easy obviously does not comprehend the magnitude of the task.  Nor do they comprehend the depth of selfish ignorance in their own being.

Giving one’s life to Jesus does not instantly eliminate pride and lust.  The moment we make Jesus the Lord of our lives we embark upon the most arduous journey ever taken by the bravest of explorers.  We are off to new territory.  The Sermon on the Mount becomes our philosophy of life.  The Sermon on the Mount contains ideas that have challenged the greatest human minds through the centuries.  It upholds a standard of behavior that requires all the help we can get.  Fortunately, we are not left to do this on our own.  Because we are saved, because we are God’s children, He sends His Spirit to enlighten and strengthen us for the challenge ahead.

Written by Roger Bothwell on September 7, 2009

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

Rogerbothwell.org

 

Since our little college will not be opening this fall and I have been locked out of my office and classroom I am looking for a job.  I think I found it.  I looked on Craig’s list under Gigs/Writing.  Oh this sounds way too good to be for real.  Someone (I almost started that sentence with “they.”  But who is “they?”) is looking for an ice cream evaluator.  Now that is my kind of job.  They ever offer free ice cream.  They don’t say much about any other compensation so just maybe it is not the perfect job. (But close)

Perhaps I should respond to the ad asking for writers who have seen UFOs. As a Christian I most likely could say I have seen UFOs sometime in my life but didn’t know it.  The Bible is filled with texts regarding extra-terrestrials visiting us. One of my favorite verses regarding this is Psalm 91:11.  “For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.”  When I was a little guy I loved to hear angel stories.  If you grew up as a Christian you most likely have your favorite one.

Some of the references I find most interesting are the ones regarding Jesus’ life on earth and the angel visits.  The first one would be the angel talking with Mary about her pregnancy followed by the angel telling Joseph to marry her.  I think the shepherds in the fields of Bethlehem must have been one of the more spectacular visits.  We must not forget to mention resurrection morning when the angel sat by the empty tomb to explain what had happened.  Maybe writing about angel stories or anything to do with Jesus would be the perfect job.  The compensation is out of this world.

Written by Roger Bothwell on September 5, 2011

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

Rogerbothwell.org

 

I was sitting in a surgical waiting room in a large Boston Hospital.  It was an interesting place.  It was a mix of people waiting their turn to go into surgery as well as family members waiting for doctors to come out to report on loved ones.   I could not help but notice one particular couple.  They looked to be near seventy and he was being very attentive to her.  One could see the anxiety in his eyes as he held her hand and occasionally touched her hair.  Finally someone in a blue coat came out to get her.  As he let go of her hand, ever so poignantly he said, “Take good care of her. She’s mine.”

I wonder if the night the angel came to tell Mary she was pregnant with the creator of the universe and the redeemer of mankind, if the angel said to her, “Take good care of Him.  He’s ours.”   How horrified heavenly beings must have been to see Him born in a filthy, fly infested animal stable. Despite such an impoverished beginning Joseph and Mary did a great job. Jesus grew and increased in wisdom and in favor with God and the people around Him.   Joseph and Mary were excellent parents.

After Joseph’s death Jesus took good care of Mary.   That’s the way it is supposed to be.  We are designed to take care of each other.  However, once again heavenly beings must have been excruciatingly horrified to watch what humans did to the Jesus heaven loved.  God sent us His only son and we did NOT take good care of Him.

Written by Roger Bothwell on September 3, 2008

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

Rogerbothwell.org