Month: November 2022

This weekend after waiting for my turn at a four-way stop it was finally my turn to go when on the edge of my peripheral vision I caught movement. As I quickly retreated my foot from the accelerator, a young man on a bicycle hurled past the front of my hood and was gone on down the road never knowing how close he came to not becoming an older man.  Why when coming to a busy intersection would he even begin to think the stop signs were not for him?

Why would people even think God’s commandments are not pertinent after the cross?  What did we think was God’s purpose for giving us His law?  His law is the loving concern of a parent for young children who are not experienced enough with life to know the consequences of murder, theft, etc. God’s laws are there to keep us from harm and from harming others.   Those consequences did not change because God made provision for our foolishness.   Just as that bicyclist was foolish and stupid so are we when we think His laws don’t matter anymore.

When Paul speaks of them being nailed to the cross he was referring to them as a means of salvation.  Salvation only comes from Jesus and His sacrifice.  There is no other way.  Jesus even said, “I am the way.”   Paul was not saying we don’t have to obey.  What he was saying is keeping or trying to keep them will never save us.  Actually, we can disobey if we want the consequences of disobedience to rain upon us.  The consequences didn’t change.  God does forgive us for our foolishness but He also lets us reap the now consequences of our disregard for his wisdom.  The law is a teacher, a professor, an expert on survival in a dangerous world.

Written by Roger Bothwell on November 11, 2014

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

Rogerbothwell.org

 

His name is Jonathan Goldsmith and he has been called, “The most interesting man in the world.”  He is a pitchman for a product I best not mention.  But I call attention to him because of how he closes his commercials.  His ruggedly handsome bearded face looks into the camera and he says to us, “Stay thirsty, my friends.”

Jesus said in John 4, “”Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again; but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life.”   And in the Sermon on the Mount Jesus said, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.”

And in Revelation 7 we read about the redeemed standing before God being described as follows, “Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple: and he that sits on the throne shall dwell among them. They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat. For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.”

There is an irony here.  In order for us to be led to the living fountains, in order for us to drink the water springing up to eternal life requires us to be thirsty.  We must want it.  We must never be satisfied until we drink it.  Each day we must drink.  And so in the words of Jonathan Goldsmith, “Stay thirsty, my friends” and Jesus will satisfy.

Written by Roger Bothwell on October 23, 2015

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

Rogerbothwell.org

 

Today we drove north from New York City to the west of Boston.  It was one of the top ten most beautiful trips I have ever made. Someone had splashed the landscape with a trillion cans of orange, red, yellow and bronze paint.  When the sun shone on walls of color the atmosphere itself glowed.  At one point as we neared a tunnel we were swallowed by color not only on both sides but also on the mountain in front of us.

As our leaves are rapidly coming to their end I wondered why is it as we near our end that we could not go out in a blaze of glory.  Instead we grow pale.  Our hair, if we have any left, goes mousey gray.   I know only two people with really white hair.  Our skin wrinkles.  It is difficult to stand up straight.  We shuffle.  Do you remember the song, “Old soldiers never die. They just fade away.”?  I’m fading.  I find myself wishing I were a leaf.

I found myself smiling this morning at a lady who must have spent a fortune on a complete reconstruction of her face but she forgot to do her hands.  It looked strange to see a sixty face with twenty hair sporting a pair of eighty-five hands.

Fortunately, unlike the leaves which end in glory, we will begin again in glory and retain it.  When we are a thousand with a thirty face and thirty hands (I’m guessing thirty is prime.) we have no need of the plastic man.  We will never need the plastic man because we will always have Jesus, the resurrection and the life and the sustainer of life evermore.  John 3:16  promises, “shall have everlasting life.”  How grand!

Written by Roger Bothwell on October 25, 2015

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

Rogerbothwell.org

 

I’m sure you are as happy as I that the current political campaign is over. “Oh, what a relief it is.”  This afternoon our present Massachusetts governor and our governor elect had a joint press conference.  Being that they are of different parties some members of the press pressed them with questions like, “During the campaign some harsh words were spoken.  What…”  Our present governor immediately and continually cut them off with the following response.  “The campaign is over.”  He must have repeated it a half dozen times until the press got the message.  “The campaign is over.”

That is a class act that should be emulated by all of us.  We have all had conflicts with others.  But there comes a time to stop.  There comes a time to say, “It’s over” and get on with a productive relationship.  Why do we so often hang on to slights or worse and let those things make us miserable for years that follow?  When we stop and think about it, if we really think about it, it is stupid because we are then making our own lives miserable. It isn’t the other.  It is us.  We are doing it to ourselves.

Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount, “Therefore if you are presenting your offering at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your offering there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and present your offering.…”  Your life will be better.  The other’s life will be better.  Everyone wins.  Jesus knows us so well.  Christianity is about the quality of life, now and forever.  Don’t forget the now part.  “The campaign is over.”

Written by Roger Bothwell on November 6, 2014

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

Rogerbothwwell.org

By far the winner of the most popular costume for the little girls that came to our home trick-or-treating was Elsa, the fantasy female protagonist in Disney’s Frozen.  I should have counted but I am sure it was near 50%.   Two little girls even sang for me “Let It Go”, the award-winning theme song from the film.

As they went back up the sidewalk to the street I thought of Romans 13:14 where Paul admonishes us to “clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, . . .” Just as those little girls were being changed by dressing like Elsa and singing her song, so we are transformed by mentally clothing ourselves like Jesus.   It really isn’t just role-playing.   It is a role that little by little becomes reality.  We become unselfish by doing unselfish things.  We become kind by doing the thoughtful deed.  We become generous by giving more than is expected.  We become nice by not saying the nasty thing and instead figuring out a way to be positive.  Granted it might be difficult at first but like most things the more we do something the more our body and mind adapt.  And then one day something marvelous happens.   It becomes automatic.  It becomes our first response.  We are changed.  I’m not saying it is easy.  Quite to the contrary just like learning to play the piano like a concert performer takes years of daily practice so it is a lifelong task to become like Jesus.

Playacting isn’t just playacting.  Playacting is serious character transformation.  It is the noblest challenge upon which one can embark.  And the best part of all as Peter says in his second letter we can participate, now, in the divinity of Jesus.

Written by Roger Bothwell on November 5, 2014

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

Rogerbothwell.org

 

The pumpkins that last week were selling for seven to ten dollars apiece are now on sale for one dollar.  If I wait another week maybe they will pay me to take them away. Of course I have to consider the fact that I don’t want one because their use is over.  Who wants to carve a face in a pumpkin in November?  I could get my wife to make a pie but we can only eat a limited number of pumpkin pies.

I never wanted to write a book because I could never bear the indignity of seeing one on a “Take a Book for a Dollar” table or worse a pile of them.

I have met people with such little self-esteem they feel totally worthless to anyone.  One of my students who is 22 years old spent 20 of those years in a Nepalese refugee camp.  He told me he never felt he had any value until he came to America.  Now he is in college and dreams are forming.  Suddenly he has a future.  He comes to class totally prepared and sits on the front row.  He asks me to repeat things because he doesn’t want to miss anything.  It is exciting for me to see him start believing in himself.

If by any chance you might be tempted to think you have minimal value allow me to remind you that the Creator of the universe knows every hair upon your head.  He has a place for you in His kingdom.  He died to guarantee that place for you and according to Romans 8 and Galatians 4 you are an adopted daughter or son with equal shares in Jesus’ inheritance.   That’s value.

Written by Roger Bothwell on November 4, 2014

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

Rogerbothwell.org

 

It’s debate time in America.  Political parties are verbally battling for control of our lives.  We the people have to listen and decide who we can trust to tell us the truth.  Who is really doing this for us and not for their own ego satisfaction?

There is an interesting passage in Revelation 12:7 and 8.  It says, “And war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought with the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer.”  Obviously this was a war of words and not physical combat.   Who could war against omnipotence?

This was a war for the hearts and minds of the universe. God, the omnipotent one, tolerated dissent because He knows His dream government is one where love and free will are the fundamentals.  If at any time before all the issues (accusations against Him) were openly understood by all His created beings His dream could never be.  Lucifer was allowed access to Earth and unfortunately we failed.  But God in His great love and for the sake of all the universe sent Jesus into the fray in the weakened form of humanity.

Satan had accused God of being a tyrant who demanded obedience and death.  God needed to show that the only thing He wants for His children is the abundant life.  Death is the ultimate NATURAL fruit of disobedience.  For thousands of years Lucifer toted his lies about what God wanted.  The universe listened to the debate.  God was not winning until Calvary.  On a hill far away stood an old rugged cross and Lucifer lost.  His lies were exposed.  His character was exposed.  Our heavenly Father won and with that win comes our victory over death.

Written by Roger Bothwell on October 29, 2015

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

Rogerbothwell.org

 

 

The gas station was only a football field away as two slightly built girls were pushing their car toward a fill-up.  The problem was it was uphill and they were straining with all their might and not getting anywhere. It was hopeless.  They were so close and yet so far. Finally I watched two other cars pull over and two muscular young men got out, waved the girls aside and pushed the car to the pumps.

In Hebrews 10 we read about the priests sacrificing animals day in and day out and never making any progress with Israel’s sin problem.  It was hopeless.  Then Jesus came.  He was the ultimate sacrifice that opened the way for all of us to not only enter the court yard and the Holy Place but He gave us direct access into the Most Holy Place.  Without Jesus’ help we are never going to make it.

Now according to Hebrews 10 we can celebrate success in arriving to be with our Father.  He is not only approachable, He is inviting.  He wants us to come with all the eagerness of parents wanting their children and grandchildren to come home for the holidays. If our grandchildren come this Thanksgiving or Christmas you can only imagine the preparation that will take place.  Leaves will be raked.  Windows will be washed.  Carpets will be scrubbed.  The tasks will be endless until the glorious day they arrive.  It is the same in heaven.

We can push and strain until our blood vessels pop and we will make no more progress toward being with our heavenly Father than those two young girls made toward the filling station.  It was only with help they made it.  It is only with the help of Jesus that we can make it.  He is the best – count on it.

Written by Roger Bothwell on November 3, 2014

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

Rogerbothwell.org

 

I spent the afternoon blowing leaves.  I highly recommend it if you are into watching patches of reds and yellows swirling about decorating your life.  I felt like I was Jackson Pollock splashing about getting ready for an exhibition. Truly nothing he ever did comes close to what I was doing.  My art was living for there was a breeze coming out of the north.  Obviously I was bright enough to blow the leaves southward.  Even still there were moments of futility if one’s purpose was to clear the yard.  But I had the reward of just watching them blow.  Everything we do in life doesn’t have to be practical.  Sometimes the reward is beauty. And that is enough.

I watched my dog sitting with her face to the wind staring at our mountain.  What was she thinking?  Was she merely enjoying the pleasure of the wind in her face or did she also see the beauty on the mountain?   Are we the only creatures to enjoy aesthetics?  I think she is beautiful.  What does she think of me?

The enjoyment of beauty is a wonderful gift from God.  Philosophers for millennia have sought to define it.  How is it that something beautiful to one is not so to another?  It is obvious that we see with our brains and not with our eyes.  Surely anyone who has ever been rescued from death thinks his or her rescuer is beautiful.  Thus Jesus, who rescued us from an eternity of death, is by far the most beautiful being in the Universe.  We will never tire of thinking of new ways to praise Him and new names we can call Him.

“How beautiful upon the mountain are the feet of him that brings glad tidings.” Isaiah 52:7

Written by Roger Bothwell on October 30, 2015

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

Rogerbothwell.org

 

 

I had a great plate of spaghetti this afternoon.  One could tell by looking at me that I enjoyed it because I had tomato sauce on my shirt, on my jacket (a nice jacket) and on my khakis.  Honestly, this is getting pathetic.  I used to look at old men who were wearing their lunch and felt sorry for them.  Am I there?  Has it come to this?  I have never eaten lobster but I have seen people eating it and wearing a bib.  When my boys were little they had bibs with a turned-up catcher on the bottom.  Should I put one on my Christmas list?

It’s not the first time I have made a mess.  Actually I have found life to be messy.  As a pastor I have sat through, talked through and prayed through many messes with hurting people.  We start off life with dreams for that perfect life.  Rarely does anyone have that happily-ever-after ride off into the sunset.  Sometimes just when things are going so well tragedy of some sort strikes.  It’s life.  It’s living in a non-perfect world.

The success of life is how one handles the messes.  Do we surrender?  Do we give up our dreams or do we stay in the saddle and reinvent ourselves and make new goals tailored to fit new realities?  One thing we can count on is we never have to face nor clean up the messes by ourselves.  I love the last few verses of Matthew where Jesus says, “Lo, I am with you always.  Even to the end of the world.”  And the Book of Revelation closes with promises of a new life, a new earth, and a place where the messes are no more.

Written by Roger Bothwell on October 30, 2014

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

Rogerbothwell.org