Month: July 2023

It’s summer time and New England’s lily-laden roadsides are decorated with farm stands overflowing with sweet corn, tomatoes, squash and a wonderful assortment of God’s bounty.  Yesterday I stopped and bought tomatoes.  They are so much better than the hothouse tomatoes at the supermarket.  I grew up sprinkling salt on tomatoes but I had a friend who introduced me to the joy of sprinkling them with sugar.  Last evening as I was looking at those tiny white tomato seeds I remembered what Paul had to say in I Corinthians 15 about what we will look like after resurrection morning.  Paul said, “But someone will ask, ‘How are the dead raised? With what kind of body will they come?’  How foolish! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies.  When you sow, you do not plant the body that will be, but just a seed, perhaps of wheat or of something else. But God gives it a body as he has determined, and to each kind of seed he gives its own body.”

That little white tomato seed doesn’t look anything like the luxuriant green vine and the sumptuous, roundish, red tomato that fills one’s hand and drips with lush red juice that flavors a great sandwich.  So don’t bother looking in the mirror and thinking what you see is what you will look like in heaven.  You are going to be so fine.  No Mister or Miss Universe will ever come close to the glorious you.  Another joy will be that as different as we will be we will recognize each other.  Perhaps we might need a reintroduction.  The last time I saw my grandma she was 90.  That’s all I remember.  When I see her again she will not look 90.  Perhaps 900?!

Written by Roger Bothwell on July 20, 2016

PO Box 124, St. Helena, CA 94574

rogerbothwell.org

 

The word is synecdoche. It is a literary term meaning a part of something representing the whole. In a way we can apply it to our human tendency to generalize about something using very limited data.  If we have a bad experience with a particular person it is not uncommon for us to paint with a very broad brush all the people of that particular person’s group.  With very limited exposure to something we often speak about it with great authority.  It is equally easy to make assumptions about the world we live in by hearing or watching a few news stories. We don’t think about the fact that news organizations pick the most radical, most gruesome events to talk about so as to attract us to watch their network.  It is easy then to think the whole world or our entire country is like those stories.  Politicians don’t help because they want us to think things are bad so we will elect them so they can fix the horror they have made up.

We are so anxious for Jesus to come we often exaggerate (not consciously) how bad the world has become.  But if we only stop to remember our history lessons or the history of only the 20th century we cannot think we are now worse off.  World War I and World War II killed scores of millions of people.  Polio and other diseases were rampant.  Crime is not worse now than it has been in the past.  History reveals the world has always been a mess.  Furthermore, surely the second coming of Jesus is not dependent upon the amount of evil in the world.  Perhaps it is just the opposite.  Perhaps God is waiting for a people to have grown so much like Him He just has to come to take them home.  Isn’t that what happened to Enoch?

Written by Roger Bothwell on April 14, 2016

PO Box 124, St. Helena, CA 94574

rogerbothwell.org

I just finished writing a letter of recommendation for a former student.  Mark Twain once said recommendations should be filled out by our enemies because they will tell the truth about us.  When reading letters of recommendations one must pretty much ignore what is written and instead view what is missing.

There is an interesting story in Zechariah 3 that begins like this. “Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right side to accuse him.”  Apparently Joshua was being judged and needed a recommendation.  Satan was present and only needed to tell the truth.  It seems that the great liar need not lie when speaking about us.  The truth is bad enough to ensure our demise.  However, the story continues, “The LORD said to Satan, ‘The LORD rebuke you, Satan! The LORD, who has chosen Jerusalem, rebuke you!’ Now Joshua was dressed in filthy clothes as he stood before the angel. The angel said to those who were standing before him, ‘Take off his filthy clothes.’ Then he said to Joshua, ‘See, I have taken away your sin, and I will put fine garments on you.’ Then I said, ‘Put a clean turban on his head.’ So they put a clean turban on his head and clothed him, while the angel of the LORD stood by.”

Without lying about how good we are, Jesus, who never lies, takes away our filth and covers us with goodness.  We are then presented before the Father.   Just like any good letter of recommendation, notice what is missing.  Wow.  I love this story.

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”  I John 1:9

Written by Roger Bothwell on July 19, 2016

PO Box 124, St. Helena, CA 94574

rogerbothwell.org

 

In Galatians 5 Paul is very emphatic regarding our adding anything of value toward the payment for eternal life.  He wants to make sure we understand that salvation is not a 50% payment of effort on our part with Christ making up the other half.  We can’t add even 1%.  He said, “You who are trying to be justified by the law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace.”  If we are trying then we have fallen from grace!  That is very strong language.  Then if that is not enough he also says, “I declare to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law.” (Circumcision was the specific issue but the principle involved could be anything we try to use to be justified.) He is not speaking of merely the Ten Commandments when he says “the whole law.”  He means all of Leviticus which would make life very different from how we now live.

Lest someone misunderstand Paul and think that Jesus than gives us license for any behavior Paul goes on to say, “But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love.  For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”  He then goes on to describe the characteristics of people in love with their Savior.   “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.”

This is not complicated. Let’s see if we can reduce it to one sentence a child can grasp.   Jesus saves us and we respond with love because we want to be like Him.  That’s it!

Written by Roger Bothwell on July 18, 2016

PO Box 124, St. Helena, CA 94574

rogerbothwell.org

By October, 1905 the Wright brothers had flown 160 times.  The longest flight was twenty-four miles and lasted thirty-eight minutes.  They could control their plane, fly in circles, bank and lightly land.  The Dayton press was reporting eye-witness accounts.  The Wright brothers wrote to then Secretary of War William Howard Taft in a desire to involve the government with what they were doing.   The Wrights received a form letter from the government basically rejecting their offer and did not even bother to send a representative to Ohio to see.  Meanwhile the English and French governments were courting Orville and Wilber.

Two days after John baptized Jesus, Andrew and another disciple were following Jesus and asked where Jesus was staying.  Jesus response was a classic.  He said, “Come and see.”  They did and how their lives did change. “Seeing is believing” is a fairly reliable way of verifying something.  However, even then our eyes can deceive us.  Magicians are able to do things faster than our eyes can record.  But for most things seeing is good.

When Thomas said he had to see to believe, Jesus was very understanding and came especially for Thomas, who loved Jesus dearly.  It was Thomas who earlier said when Jesus was returning to Judea, “Let us go and die with Him.”   In John 20 Jesus says about us not having a chance to see, “Blessed are they that have not seen and yet have believed.”  Psalm 34:8 says, “Taste and see that the Lord is good.”  While it is true in the beginning of our walk with God it is a faith experience but after a while when we have tasted and seen it is as real as anything can be.

Written by Roger Bothwell on July 17, 2015

PO Box 124, St. Helena, CA 94574

rogerbothwell.org

In Massachusetts we have to have an annual inspection for our cars.  They check the lights, the horn, the front wheel bearings, the wipers, etc.  Today I took in my car and noted my anxiety.  What if they found something wrong that I was not aware of?  If they did and it was not a quick fix they put a “fix it” sticker on the car instead of the normal sticker.  It would be like Hester wearing her scarlet letter “A”.  Even worse it would be like arriving at the gate of heaven and being rejected because of something we did decades ago and could not remember.

I am so thankful that cannot happen because we are not saved nor lost because of a single act.  Instead, and how wonderful it is, we are saved by the grace of our Jesus, who could produce not just one wrong act but a whole list of wrong acts we did not remember.  Instead Jesus covers us.  Not because we are worthy but because He is worthy and can grant us unlimited grace. “Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.”  Hebrews 7:25.  Please notice the word “completely.”  In the King James Version the word that is used is “uttermost.”   He lives to intercede for us.  This is wonderful beyond words.

So if you are afraid of something horrible in your past, accept His grace and then forget it.  Because after we are forgiven “all” our sins are blotted out.  If God doesn’t remember, (see Isaiah 43:25) why should we?  Oh, I needed a rear light bulb in my car. There was no grace.  I had to fix it.

Written by Roger Bothwell on July 16, 2015

PO Box 124, St. Helena, CA 94574

rogerbothwell.org

 

My younger son bought me a new pair of dress shoes.  My old pair is twenty years old and my family told me they looked it.  Since it was evident I was not going to trade them in, (one becomes attached to old friends) he went on line and found the exact same shoes and got them for me.  They look stiff and I am thinking it will take a few wearings to get them to feel like the old pair.

I like old things.  Old cars, 57 Chevys, 64 Mustangs are treasures. Old friends are the best.  New friends have to be broken in like new shoes.  It takes a while to be comfortable enough not to feel like you have to talk.  You can tell when someone is really your friend.  You can just be together with no need for anything verbal.

It’s like that with Jesus.  Jesus told us He is our friend.  That means praying isn’t talking but being.  You don’t have to be saying something or trying to express your feelings.  It’s comfortable just being. Conversation isn’t stiff like new shoes or new friends. Uh huhs, hems, yeps, yeahs, nahs all work just fine with no added explanations. I have a few friends with whom I can spend lots of very quiet time.  They are the best.  Jesus is the best.  He doesn’t need our yakking.

Have you ever met someone who is instantly comfortable?  You have known them ten minutes and it feels like ten years.  When we are with Jesus face to face will we feel the need to be verbally praising and thanking Him or will He understand profound silence?  After all He is an old friend who has known us since before we were born.

Written by Roger Bothwell on July 15, 2015

PO Box 124, St. Helena, CA 94574

rogerbothwell.org

One of the first things one is taught when taking flying lessons is not to believe what they see or feel.  It has been proven over and again that our senses do not always tell us the truth.  Pilots are taught to trust their instruments which are not subject to human experience.  Sometimes when flying level one feels like one is climbing and so we push in the yoke thinking to fly level but we are really descending.

Thus it is with people, it is not wise to trust or make important decisions on the testimony of just one person no matter how trustworthy.  They can honestly be wrong.  In I Corinthians 15 Paul wrote regarding Jesus’ resurrection, “He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time.”  Five hundred is an excellent sample size for researchers.  Then Peter wrote, “We were eyewitnesses of his majesty.”  Please note the “we” not “I.”

We have a tendency to believe something on a very small amount of data or just because something, we think, happened to us.  The average person dreams three to seven dreams a night.  That is between 1500 and 2500 dreams a year.  Yet, I know someone who claims to believe his dreams tell his future because a few years ago something he dreamed came to be.  Even a stopped clock is right twice a day.

If we are to know something, really know, we have to have adequate data.  Regarding the resurrection of our Lord, the data and sample size are more than enough.  HE LIVES.

Written by Roger Bothwell on July 15, 2016

PO Box 124, St. Helena, CA 94574

rogerbothwell.org

 

Our world is full of passwords.  I’m sure I must have a dozen different ones for various computer accounts.  If I lost my password book I would be in huge difficulty.  Through the years it has gotten difficult to use because of having to change passwords that have timed out.  The old passwords are crossed out with new ones scribbled in any available space.  My great grandmother’s maiden name just doesn’t work anymore because now we have to add &*%#’s. No, that isn’t code for bad words.  It really is &*%#.

In Judges 12 there is an interesting story about the password Shibboleth.  One could know the word but if they did not pronounce it correctly, not only did it keep them out, it meant death.  Ouch.  42,000 were killed. (And we think the world is violent now!)  So what’s the password for heaven?  If we don’t know it, it also means death.  Paul lets out the secret in Romans 10:13.  “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”  And we don’t have to worry about pronunciation.  You don’t even have to say it.  All you need to do is think it!  We don’t have to worry about it timing out.  As He is eternal so it is eternal.

Now I realize some will say, “Hey, that is too easy. You are giving away heaven.”  And my answer is, “You’re right. It is easy.  But I’m not the one giving heave away.  Jesus is.”  Do you remember the parable about those who complained about workers who only worked one hour receiving the same as those who worked all day?  I have always loved the master’s response, “Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?”  God is generous!

Written by Roger Bothwell on July 14, 2016

PO Box 124, St. Helena, CA 94574

rogerbothwell.org

Enduring for over an hour the pedantic Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony for the glorious triumphal choral ending (Ode to Joy) is like enduring the vicissitudes of life for the glorious beginning.  It’s worth it.  However, if you watch the Ninth on YouTube it is easy to skip the first fifty minutes and get to the good part.  That is obviously something one does not want to do with life.  Even though we are looking forward to being with Jesus, being here with children and grandchildren is a bitter/sweet introduction to what is to come.  Paul wrote, “If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know!  I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far; but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body.”   See Philippians 1:22-23

Robert Frost wrote in his famous poem Birches, “I’d like to get away from earth awhile and then come back to it and begin over. May no fate willfully misunderstand me and half grant what I wish and snatch me away not to return. Earth’s the right place for love: I don’t know where it’s likely to go better.”  Obviously he wasn’t of the same frame of mind as Paul but he was right about one thing.  Earth is the right place for love. It is here that we learn how we will live in heaven.

When life’s issues become almost unbearable and we are tempted to abandon hope remember Beethoven’s Ninth.   The glorious end is coming and for us it will be a glorious beginning.

Written by Roger Bothwell on April 18, 2016

PO Box 124, St. Helena, CA

rogerbothwell.org