Author: Ian Bothwell

As I am writing this my wife is watching “The Amazing Race.”  She tries not to miss.  I have never been interested.  Just getting to this stage of life seems to me to be “The Amazing Race.”  A television program’s contrived difficulties cannot begin to match the real challenges of life.  For most of us the first major challenge is being born; however, since we can’t remember it, it hardly counts.   If one spends childhood in a fairly stable environment the next major challenge is surviving the early teen years.  Who would ever want to be fourteen again?  It is a time filled with uncertainty and so many changes.   Then comes the twenties.  For my generation that was a great time.  It was time to finish school and embark on a career.  It was exciting. Since the social clock has changed and the average age of marriage is 28 this generation faces some serious moral challenges.   Raising children is a joyful challenge.  Safely getting them through school and into their time of independence has its hair-raising moments.   Changing careers can make one sweat.  Most of us do that along the way.  Living through the present economic crisis is presenting major challenges for millions.  Life is an amazing race.

Since I have come most of the way I feel qualified to pass on a serious tip. Don’t try to do it alone.  Jesus promises He will be with us the entire journey if we ask.  Since He is the Light, the Way, the Bread of Life, the Water of Life and the Resurrection, it just seems foolish to run the race without Him.  Paul was content with his race because he ran the latter part with Jesus.  Please check out I Corinthians 9:24.

Written by Roger Bothwell on March 9, 2009

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

rogerbothwell.org

 

I can hide it in a cookie.  I can hide it in an ice cream sandwich.  I can hide it in a hotdog.   But it doesn’t matter.  My dog can find her pill and spit it out. Whatever happened to just gulping food down like a normal dog?  This is serious.  She needs that pill.  I am going to have to resort to the old fashion way of gagging her with it and rubbing her throat. “Please” sure doesn’t work.

As I sat with her I wondered if God ever tires of trying to find ways to get into our brains the fact that we need Him.  If He blesses us, we take it thinking we deserve the good things and good times.   If He allows bad things to happen to us hoping we will come to Him in desperation, we blame Him for not caring.  I am sure sometimes He must think He just can’t win. And like me with my dog He thinks, “This is serious.  They need to accept the gift.”  Just as I think, “She needs that pill.”  I wonder if He ever resorts to the gagging method.  One thing for sure I will not give up and neither will He.  I love my dog.  God loves us.  And we sometimes have to take our medicine.

The Book of Jonah is a wonderful story.  When I was little I thought that story was about a fish.  As a man I know what the story is all about.  God never gives up on us.  He will chase us to the ends of the universe trying to get our attention.  For some strange reason He actually thinks we are worth the effort

Written by Roger Bothwell on October 15, 2009

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

rogerbothwell.org

Do you remember the old joke about the guy who walked around snapping his finger against his thumb to keep the elephants away?  Someone said to him, “There aren’t any elephants around here.”  And he said, “See, it works.” Well, my dog does something very similar.  At night when I let her out the back door before she goes off the porch she sniffs the air and then barks about three times.  I think she is saying, “Look I know you’re out there and you better clear out because I’m coming.”  It reminds me of a Calvin and Hobbes strip about monsters under Calvin’s bed.  Now it is true we do have a good sized coyote in the neighborhood but they have seen each other and seem to have a sense of proper distance.

When I was a little guy I liked to whistle in the dark.   Years later when I got a telescope I learned the darker it got the better it was for seeing stars.   Perhaps that has something to do with Jesus’ comments on how difficult it is for a rich person to be saved.  Life is so bright they can’t see the real source of their blessings.  The stars are there all day long; we just can’t see them because of the sun.

The only darkness we need fear is the kind inside our heads.  Ignorance, bigotry, loathing, pride and smugness are the things we really should fear. The monsters are real but they aren’t under the bed or out in the backyard. They see inside our personalities and are determined to destroy us.  We are the monsters.  And yet after I have said that I must remind myself that God also wants to live in us.   And when He does the monsters flee.  See Matthew 6:22 ff.

Written by Roger Bothwell on January 16, 2009

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

rogerbothwell.org

 

 

It was a magic moment that stopped everything.  Graduation services are notorious for family and friends being quite pushy to get just the right picture.  After all their child or sibling invested thousands of dollars and four or more years of their life to get that piece of paper.  The usual was happening when a very nicely dressed five-year-old little boy came forward with a disposable camera.  Ever so politely he went to the front to take his picture.  He was so precious; the entire ceremony came to a halt allowing him to accomplish his task.  People posed for him and he never realized anything unusual had occurred.

There is something wonderful about the innocence of a small child in our jaded world.  Unfortunately television and other media make it difficult for us to shelter our children and keep them that way.  Even if we carefully monitor and select programming for our little ones the commercials and promos that are interjected midst a good program expose our little ones to things they do not need to see.  The local news often is the worst as they talk about all the slime that happened that day. While it is almost frightening to see a naïve teen it is sad to see a post-toddler who seems to know everything about life.

While our native curiosity drives us to learn, the truth is there are things we don’t need to or shouldn’t know.  Eve certainly didn’t need to know what she learned at that tree.  She learned about pain, betrayal, suffering and death when she disobeyed.  It is no wonder it was called the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.  How grand it would have been if it had just been the Tree of Knowledge of Good.

Written by Roger Bothwell on January 13, 2009

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

rogerbothwell.org

“Call me Ishmael” is the simple beginning of Melville’s Moby Dick.  And so unfolds a classic drama of man against outer but mostly inner demons.  At one point Ishmael asks, “Who ain’t a slave?” The great question is, “Is anyone really free?”  Are we not all slaves to love, hate, lust, pride, fame or fortune?  Anyone who attends a church or belongs to any organization is slave to the culture of where or what they attend.  The social expectations of living in a society or subculture enslave us to the others in that setting.  Galatians 5 is Paul’s great thesis on freedom and yet he often begins his letters by calling himself a “doulos” – a slave of Jesus Christ.  Well, if I had to choose a master I certainly couldn’t choose a better one than Jesus.

While it is true according to Galatians God does want us to be free from law keeping as a means of salvation. He also wants us to be governed by the principle of love that will motivate us to do all the things of the law automatically as second nature.  It was Paul’s dream to do so.  Yet he was overly aware of the old man who would arise to enslave him to his lower nature.  The ultimate liberation will come.  Paul speaks of Jesus doing so as he cries out in Romans, “Who will deliver me from this body of death?” And in I Corinthians 15 he speaks of this corruption putting on incorruption on resurrection day.

We might make all kinds of resolutions today regarding our future behavior but the truth is all of us are slaves seeking freedom and Jesus is the liberator.

Written by Roger Bothwell on January 1, 2009

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

rogerbothwell.org

It left earth this past March 9 at 10:49 P.M. EST.   Last week April 7 it ejected its dust cover and the lens was exposed to space.  The Kepler Space Telescope is not in orbit around earth but is in orbit around the sun trailing earth by 2.2 million miles.  It has the largest mirror ever put into space.  Yesterday we received the first light transmission, which is at this moment being processed for viewing.  Its primary mission for the next several years is to find planets.  We have already identified over 300 planets but this will refine that search with incredible amounts of data. The Kepler will stare at 100,000 suns in the constellation Cygnus and watch for the dimming of light as planets orbit around each sun.  It is like watching a flea pass a headlight.

We are not alone.  In Hebrews 1:2 Paul tells us Jesus is the creator of worlds.  That is plural.  It is so easy to doubt that which we cannot see but I cannot see the myriad radio and television signals that fill my room unless I have the proper receivers.  I could doubt the existence of these other worlds but we are now able to see them.  So what I want to see is Jesus.  He too is there.  It is merely a matter of having the right receiver.

There is a wonderful old song that goes like this, “Open my eyes that I might see glimpses of truth thou has for me.  Open my ears that I may hear voices of truth that sendest clear.”  The world is full of skeptics who think they are so much brighter than those of us who believe.  Their problem is they just don’t have the proper receiver.

Written by Roger Bothwell on April 15, 2009

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

rogerbothwell.org

In New England there is a furniture store that must spend kazillions of dollars a year on advertising because they are ever present.  Surely there is not a living soul over twelve months of age in Massachusetts and surrounding states that doesn’t know these people’s advertising song.  Their latest promotion is offering “free” HD televisions if you make a purchase valued over a certain stated amount.  First of all it isn’t “free” if you have to do something to get it.   Yesterday I heard them say, “The more you spend the bigger your gift.”  Isn’t that an oxymoron?  It totally devastates the word “gift.”

One of the greatest verses in Scripture is Romans 6:23, “The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”   It is also one of the most difficult verses for us really believe.  We have no trouble with the first part.  It is the second part.   Eternal life is so amazing and so incredible we just cannot bring ourselves to believe there isn’t a catch.   There ISN’T!  It is true.  God means what He says.  But we want to add “but.”   We want to add all manner of stipulations.

I have come to believe we do this because we are so afraid someone is going to be saved while doing something we want to do but have given up doing so we live forever.  The stupid part of this is God only asks us to stop doing things that are harmful to us or another.  If they keep doing something harmful then they are being harmed so why should we want to do that? Finally, once we understand what God has given us we will be so grateful we will do anything we can to please Him.  Our hearts will spill over with love and obedience. Obedience, which seems to be the issue with us, will be a fruit of our love.

Written by Roger Bothwell on August 10, 2009

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

rogerbothwell.org

We had sliced onions on sandwiches this evening.  We didn’t eat all of them and we left them on a plate on the counter.  When I returned from walking the dog tonight I opened the door and was almost overwhelmed with the power of those onions.  It would be impossible for us to deny their presence.   As quickly as I could I got them out of the house.  We’ll let the raccoons have them.

As I threw them out I smiled as I remembered a similar story but instead with a sweet fragrance.  It’s found in John 12.  Mary was so overwhelmed with love for Jesus she broke open an alabaster box filled with expensive ointment so she could wash His feet.  The moment she opened the box the room filled with scent and every eye fixed upon her.  It was an extravagant gift. The connoisseurs in the room immediately knew the value of what she was doing.  When some began to criticize her Jesus quickly rose to her defense and declared this was an act to be remembered.

It became a symbol of heaven’s gift to us.  When God gave us His Son He made Himself poor for He gave us His most valued.   The sacrifice of heaven for our redemption was beyond value.  Jesus was the ultimate meaning of the word priceless.  Angels marveled as they watched their Lord being born a human in a filthy stable.  They wept as they watched the cross and begged to be able to intervene.  There would be no intervention unless Jesus requested.  This gift has filled the universe with the unmistakable fragrance of love.  It is impossible to hide. It is a story that divided history and will someday consummate history.

Written by Roger Bothwell on March 1, 2009

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

rogerbothwell.org

 

This afternoon while standing in the produce section of our supermarket I watched an old man–old? late eighties, I think–shuffle in the front door, past me and on to the fish section.  He pulled a sheet of newspaper out of his pocket and wrapped it around a large fish he had taken from the bed of ice.  He promptly turned about, shuffled past me and went out the door.  I had just witnessed the perfect crime.  No one seemed to notice him and no one tried to stop him.  Surely he must be the store manager’s great grandfather or some such thing!

Ever since I have been wondering if he really did get away with this?  My answer is no.  Even though we are not apprehended we always pay a price for our wrong doing.  In some way or other we are harmed.  If we were not, it would not be wrong.  Things are wrong only when they harm us or another.  If there is no harm it is okay.  Immanuel Kant wrote, “I must do only that which would be permissible for all to do.”   The silver rule says, “Don’t do to others what you don’t want them to do to you.”  Jesus’ golden rule goes much further.  He said, “Do to others what you would they did to you.” This goes way beyond rules and regulations.  We are talking about behavior that is the fruit of thought and not mere obedience.  We could all imagine scenarios where blind obedience would produce harm.

God is not honored by thoughtless followers.  If that is what He desired, He could have created a race of robots.  Instead, He made us to think, to ponder, to act responsibly.  He made us to do the right thing.

Written by Roger Bothwell on August 22, 2009

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

rogerbothwell.org

 

 

I have noticed an interesting pattern of human behavior that I have not yet totally comprehended.  If people are paying to attend a production like Lion King they will spend large sums of money to get front row seats, but when attending a local production like a high school play they will leave the front row empty and fill the room from the second row back.  It is the same in church.  Often the front row or rows are vacant while people jam into the back.  My sister tells me it so they can see who is there and what they are wearing.  If you sit in the front you miss most of the show which is behind you.  At a major production like on Broadway you don’t care who is behind you because you don’t know them. Last evening we went to a really marvelous production of Thornton Wilder’s Our Town.  It was a high school production and much better than one would have expected.  My wife and I were the only ones to sit on the front row and I was amazed that some people came and sat down right behind us.  So my question is, “Why do people do that?”

I wonder how often it is that we settle for second best when the best is available.  Jesus offers us the best.  He tells us how to treat each other. He shows us the path to eternity.  He offers us the abundant life.  He forgives us.  He assures us that we are loved.  He really offers quality. And yet so many people walk away preferring second best or most often third, fourth or fifth best.   Why is that?

Written by Roger Bothwell on March 27, 2009

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

rogerbothwell.org