Author: Ian Bothwell

When the French government did not support the American invasion of Iraq in 2003 we heard much murmuring about how ungrateful were the French.  After all didn’t American troops push the Nazis from French soil in WWII?  Restaurants were selling Freedom Fries instead of French Fries.  How quickly we forget our history.  During this time I did not hear one radio or television commentator mention that almost 6,000 French troops fought with George Washington against the British at Yorktown in 1781 resulting in General Cornwallis’s surrender.   Without the French we might be singing “God Save The Queen” instead of the “Star Spangled Banner.”

How very important it is for us to know our past.  This is true for our nation and also for our personal walk.  We can only go wisely into the future if we understand how God has led us in the past.  In the Old Testament we find the patriarchs building altars to commemorate great moments with God.   We have memorials both physical and chronological.  God even put a time memorial in the midst of the Ten Commandments that men would remember we are created and are not the product of lightning striking some primordial pool of slime.

We celebrate birthdays and anniversaries to mark the milestones of life. Each year we celebrate both the death and resurrection of our Jesus.  I have friends who can tell me the very day they accepted Jesus as their savior. Sometimes I envy them that because I grew up loving Jesus.   I cannot remember a time when He was not important to me.  Some of my friends tell me they envy me that.  So it is that each of us has a unique experience that we should ponder lest we forget just how very important Jesus is to us.

Written by Roger Bothwell on August 24, 2009

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

rogerbothwell.org

 

From the beginning of time the normal built-in human need for a relationship with God has been exploited by power-hungry, greedy people.  If you can convince someone you have more access to God than they, you can control their behavior and better yet their pocketbook.  Charismatic people, able to captivate the attention and loyalty of those less socially apt, establish themselves as a priesthood, a channel to God.  We see this in all cultures.  We see this in large organizations and small groups following one man and sacrificing themselves for his or her personal gain, whether it be financial or physical.  Surely there is a special place in hell for these pretenders.  Jesus certainly took them on.  See Matthew 22 and 23 to see how Jesus felt about them and the names he called them.

Jesus was hated by the religious establishment because He told people to go into their closets and talk to God.  They did not need some ordained, vested individual with some fancy title.  God hears the prayers of the quiet and the meek and the needy.  God is anxious to quietly walk with those who see Him in the face of a child or in the depths of Orion.  The priests realized if people did what Jesus advised they would no longer be needed and they would actually have to get a real job.  Jesus had to go.  When Jesus cleansed the temple He hit them in their wallets, a most unforgiveable sin.

When I read anti-religious polemics my heart aches.  For most of what is said is true.  Men and churches have abused the masses.  It must make God very sad to know He is used to benefit greed.  Oh that we should so live that those about us can learn that a walk with God is a personal walk of freedom.   Please see Galatians 5 and 6.

Written by Roger Bothwell on May 25, 2009

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

rogerbothwell.org

 

Here I sit with a handful of rat poison. My wife, the woman who loves me, the love of my life for over fifty years, brought it to me with a glass of water. She is encouraging me to swallow it. The question is quite Shakespearean.  Should I take it and be or not take it and not be?  Coumadin or its generic, Warfarin Sodium, is often used to kill rodents.  Once ingested, it can cause the animal to hemorrhage to death.  However, if used judiciously with humans, it can retard the formation of blood clots, contributing to a healthy recovery from surgery.

One of life’s great lessons is the realization there are very few absolutes in life.  When I was young I had difficulty with Solomon’s comments in Ecclesiastes 3 regarding there being a time for everything.  Surely, I thought there could not be a time for things God declared to be sin.  As the decades have swiftly raced by, I have come to realize the key is understanding the definition of sin.  Sin isn’t merely breaking the ten commandments.  Sin can be eating a gallon of ice cream before going to bed. There is no mention of that on the stone tablets.   Sin is anything that harms.  Love is anything that fosters ultimate goodness.  Most of the world’s great philosophers agree there is one ultimate ethic.  It is to do the loving thing.  Paul grasps this in I Corinthians 13 where he says, “Though I give my body to be burned, if I do not do it for love it is useless.”   Thoughtful motive is everything.  This is why Jesus forbids us from judging each other.  We have no ability to properly evaluate the motives of another.  Only the God who knows our every thought can do so with justice.

Written by Roger Bothwell on December 22, 2009

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

rogerbothwell.org

 

I awakened during the night to the sound of rain, hard rain, washing-the-earth clean rain.  I didn’t know the time.  It was just dark and wet on the other side of that thin plate of glass.  On my side it was warm and safe from the elements.  I knew our resident chipmunks were in their burrows below the slate on the patio.   The squirrels were snug in their tree top nests, but what of the birds?   Some of our resident feathered friends have already raised families this year and have started on a second batch.  As the wind pushed their homes back and forth I knew the parents had tightly packed their featherless babes securely under their wings.

Could I not but think of Jesus speaking of Jerusalem?  In Matthew 23 He wept as He spoke of His wanting to protect His people like a hen protects her young but they would not have it.  It would be so easy to smugly sit back thinking His lesson was only for Israel.  But that would fail to note that the lessons of scripture are for each generation.  How often has God wanted to bless and shower us with good things but we would not have it because we insist on thinking we are above His laws.  We think we are modern and His warnings are for times past.  We are sophisticated.  Every generation has thought that of themselves. We cannot flaunt His word and then expect Him to bail us out when the fruit of our stupidity matures.  It is true that He will forgive us.  He always forgives.   Yet He still allows us to harvest our crop.

It was a hard rain that put me back to sleep as I determined to pay more attention to the One who wants to protect us.

Written by Roger Bothwell on June 15, 2009

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

rogerbothwell.org

 

I sometimes worry that there will not be any good stories to read in heaven. A good story requires a really vile villain.  The badder the better.   It makes us champion the good guy hoping that he wins.  We want the bad guy to collect his due.  A good story puts the protagonist in jeopardy and makes us wonder how he or she will escape.  The last time I heard a sermon about heaven I heard there would be no bad guys in heaven and all danger would be removed.  We would always be safe.  So what will we do for good summer reading?

Since there will be universal travel available, maybe all books will be travel adventures.  But how can they be adventures if there isn’t some intrigue?  I do enjoy a good philosophy book but not all the time.  The adventures of Marco Polo or Vasco da Gama are exciting to read because of bands of robbers and storms on the sea.  What’s to read if they traveled with American Express cards?

Maybe we will read about our personal adventures prior to heaven, but that will soon grow old.  Someone once told me we would not remember anything from here and my response was “Then what is the use of this?”   The more I try to ponder the future the more dumbfounded I become.  I cannot imagine a world without death.  If things didn’t die we would have to neuter all our pets lest we be overrun with puppies.  So I am just going to trust Jesus to have it all figured out  or us.  Paul did write in I Corinthians 2:9, “Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.”

Written by Roger Bothwell on June 2, 2009

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

rogerbothwell.org

 

 

I arrived at a four way stop just a second after two other cars seemed to arrive simultaneously.   Of course I waited.  It wasn’t my turn.  The other two both decided it was their right of way.  So I had a front row seat as I watched two very nice cars smash into each other.  Both of the drivers got out of their cars and each was hot.  I left.  I realize I was a witness and should have stayed but I wasn’t about to get punched out by both of them by saying they were both wrong.

In Romans 12:10 Paul tells us to “prefer one another.”  In the paraphrase The Message it says, “Practice playing second fiddle.”  It is quite obvious the accident would not have occurred had either of them practiced Paul’s counsel.   It isn’t always an easy thing to do.  We do so like to be the first.  We like to shine.  When people talk we wait for them to take a breath so we can jump in and tell our story which, of course, is always a bigger and better story.

One can understand this behavior among those who don’t know any better but how sad it is to see it in church.   One night on the television program American Idol one of the contestants commented on how very good one of his competitors was.  One of the judges reprimanded him for not being competitive.  Needless to say Paul would have been appalled.  One of life’s great joys is to treasure the talents of one’s friends.  I have discovered along the way my life is rich because I have rich friends.  By rich I mean multitalented and very smart.  Surround yourself with good friends and help them shine.

Written by Roger Bothwell on September 30, 2009

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

rogerbothwell.org

 

I watched today while a safety technician went over my car.  It was time for the annual inspection.  He jacked it up and tried to wiggle the wheels.  He blew the horn and tried to make the car move when the hand brake was on.  He had quite a list of things to do.   And of course he checked to see if I was unduly polluting the environment.  Finally I got my sticker.   As I drove away I remembered that once a year on the Day of Atonement the children of Israel had to do an inspection of their homes and their inner beings.  All pollutants had to go. You most likely noticed I qualified my polluting with the word “unduly.” That’s because my car does pollute.   However, I like to think of the carbon dioxide it produces as food for the trees so they can make oxygen for me. It makes me feel better when I just go for a ride instead of some place I have to be.

One of my really good friends used the word “damn” today.  At first I thought, “Oh dear, she polluted her speech with this foul word!”   However, sometimes a good “damn” is appropriate.  It was. In Matthew 21 Jesus cursed (damned) a fig tree. While He didn’t use that word because it is an English word, He did the equivalent in Hebrew or Aramaic.  In Matthew 23 He pronounced seven “woes” upon the religious establishment.  As I read them it does seem that He certainly wasn’t blessing them. It is fascinating that in Mark 7 Jesus had quite a discussion about what pollutes us.  It seemed the religion establishment was very concerned about what went into their mouths.   Jesus seemed much more concerned about what came out.

Written by Roger Bothwell on July 3, 2009

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

rogerbothwell.org

I have some friends who live in Bermuda.  They tell me they enjoy coming to the States because they get Island Fever.  Bermuda is a small place; everyone knows everyone and they need more space.  Many of us non-Bermudians can appreciate their need because we sometimes suffer from Planet Fever.  When I was a small boy the world was very big.  The places pictured in National Geographic magazines were far away.  Something strange has occurred.  As I grew bigger the world grew smaller.   I remember being concerned about the exhaust coming out the back of our car.  My father assured me the world was so big that exhaust didn’t matter.  I wonder what he would say today in light of global warming?

Pictures of earth from space craft have reinforced the reality of how very small and fragile we are.  A volcano in the South Pacific can affect the temperature in New England.  Flu starts in a small Chinese village and children in New York City become ill.  This weekend I was in the forest looking for a geocache and the GPS/phone in my hand started to vibrate.  It was my son in California calling.  He doesn’t seem so far away because we see him whenever we want by turning on the computer video cam.

When I read that God so loved the world that He gave us His only son it becomes very personal. We are the world.  A few years ago I was flying over New Mexico and saw a house in the middle of nowhere.  I was intrigued because I didn’t see any road to the house.   Turning back I circled to get a better look and sure enough the only way in and out was a helipad by the swimming pool.  Someone had a personal sanctuary.  They had their own space on our tiny planet.  Perhaps someday in God’s vast universe each of us will have our own planet.  Why not?  God’s place is huge.

Written by Roger Bothwell on August 26, 2009

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

rogerbothwell.org

Climbing and descending stairs is a growing challenge for our old dog.  She stands and stares for awhile summoning the resources to make the trip. Wanting to understand the challenge I decided to ascend and descend from her point of view.  Climbing up was easy.  Going down stairs on all fours face first is a major adventure.  If you never have done it give it a try and report back to me.  I doubt if I will ever do it again.  Once is enough.  It is a whole new perspective.

Perspective is very important.  I had a person report to me that he always told things the way they are.  I had to smile because no one tells things the way they are.  We can only tell things from our perspective.   Five people will leave a room with five different stories about what happened in that room.  Each is telling the truth experienced through their senses. What I have discovered is the person who claims to tell things as they are is usually a rude person who wants to bully others with what they think is truth.   Patient politeness is often a missing gift.

We have four gospel accounts for a reason.  God wanted us to see the life of Jesus through the senses of four different people.  Somewhere in the consensus there is reality.  I am fascinated to note how much smarter I was thirty years ago.   These days I am much more leery of certainty.   How often have we seen people speak with great authority about things they neither saw nor heard because they were not there?

After saying all of this I must tell you what I do know and I say it with great authority.   Jesus loves you very much.

Written by Roger Bothwell on July 28, 2009

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

rogerbothwell.org

 

They weren’t blind but they might as well have been.  Three mice looking for a winter home decided the ventilation fan in my sister’s Toyota looked like a nice dark secure refuge from the winter storms.   I think the end came quickly.  Surely they never knew what happened when she turned on the fan.  We didn’t either until the grinding noise caused us to open it and find their body parts.

How could I not think of Paul’s counsel in I Thessalonians 5.   He wrote,”For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. For when they say, ‘Peace and safety!’ then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape. But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a thief. You are all sons of light and sons of the day. . . For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, that whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with Him.”

A Bible story I learned when I was very little was about Joseph storing away grain during the seven years of plenty.  Most of us seem to be optimists and bask in good times not thinking they will end.  Alas, the plight of humanity is hard times will come and those who have prepared will survive.  The problem is knowing how to prepare.  Jesus assures us in John 10, “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.”   Now that’s a safe place.

Written by Roger Bothwell on November 11, 2009

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

rogerbothwell.org