HERE IN THE REAL WORLD

We are now over Christmas and starting to count down the hours (Literally hours I write this) until the coming in of the New Year. And, this year has decided to go out with a blast: The loss of a former President; the loss of a performer; and the execution of a former dictator. Standing at the crossroads of the years is eerie. One never knows what the New Year will bring. Who will be there at the end of the year? What struggles will we endure in the up coming year?

As Christians we know that each new year and new day for that matter brings us ever closer to the time when we will meet our savior. We stand at the crossroads everyday when we are faced with various temptations that want to lead us away from a life eternal with God. Will the struggles we endure this New Year bring us closer to God or separate from him? Spiritually the way we move forward is to look backwards. We look back at the old and forward into the new.

Through the prophet Jeremiah, the Lord said, “Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls” (Jeremiah 6:16). Tonight we are standing in the “ways.” The NIV translates this as “crossroads.” And, that is where we are now: at the crossroads of two years.

Are you asking for the old paths? The way to move forward into this New Year spiritually is to go back to the old ways. We have to look out for each other not just ourselves. James said that pure religion is “To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world” (James 1:27).

We move spiritually move forward by looking backward and learning to love. It is recorded that two thousand years ago Jesus said, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). Did you love anyone other than yourself last year? How did you show it?

Look back at how you lived before you knew Christ. Paul wrote to the church at Ephesus, “Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience” (Ephesians 2:2). Do you still walk the way you did then?

As this year ends and you contemplate the New Year that is approaching us look back not just over the past year but the past years, and look forward to a New Year in Christ. Look forward to a New Year that will not just bring you closer to God, but to living it in such a way that it might bring someone else closer to God. Remember Jesus told us, “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:19-20). Back up and push forward and make 2007 a year we bring more to the Kingdom of Heaven.

I want to thank everyone who has taken a few minutes to read my thoughts this past year. The comments you have left here and that you have sent me by email have meant a lot to me. I thank you. I hope that I can serve Him through this blog for many years to come, and I pray that you who take time to read it may be blessed by it. I love you all; thanks and Happy New Year.

30 December 2006
Bobby Cohoon
North Carolina, USA
Little_sorrel@yahoo.com

Over the Christmas holidays we have lost two Americans. One was the oldest living ex-president of the United States, Gerald Ford. The other was the Godfather of Soul, James Brown. Both men will be remembered for many ages to come. Ford, who has ties to my own home state of North Carolina, came to office at a time when the states needed healing from the Watergate scandal. The nation was torn from the scandal and still reeling from the effects of the Vietnam War. He is the only man to ever occupy the office of President that was not voted either president or vice president. Among other things, he will be remembered as the man who pardoned President Richard Nixon.

James brown was the self proclaimed “Hardest Working Man in Show Business.” In his business life every time the times changed Brown seemed to adapt and move along with them. Most black artist today will say that Brown was an influence on their career. And, he wasn’t just known to Black audiences; In 1979 Brown made an appearance on the Grand Ole Opry at the request of Porter Wagoner. Brown continued to work up to his death and was planning to work this New Years Eve.

Both will be remembered and missed. Though Ford had been in declining health in his later years, Brown was seemingly not in a life or death situation and had just received clearance from his doctors to work the up coming weekend.

James wrote, “Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow” (James 4:14). This seems to ring so true in the last days of James Brown. One day he was planning his shows for the next weekend and then the next day he walked with us no more. His life was “even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away” (James 4:14). This is a wake up call to all of us. We can’t wait until next week to be doers of the word. We have no promise of next week. We have no promise of “next breath!”

If you need to get right with God today is the day, not tomorrow. James said “ye know not what shall be on the morrow.” I would add that we don’t even know if there will be a morrow. The time is now.

Do you know God? Who do you know that needs to hear the Gospel? They have the same promise of tomorrow that you have. I know the Father and “I Feel Good: but, “Pardon Me” for cutting this short; I have some seeds to sow.

Thanks for the memories President Ford and Soul Brother Number one!

Please visit my brother John Dobbs and read how he saved Dolly Parton

My brotherBobby Valentine discusses the Holy Spirit; Also take a minute to scroll back on his blog and read his entry on “Hanukkah”

Though Frank Capra’s 1946 movie “It’s a Wonderful Life” was not a hit with the critics or at the box office, it has become a holiday classic here in the United States. My favorite version however, is one that was produced as a high school play a few years ago: My niece had the role of the Angel Clarence Oddbody; it was changed to “Clara” Oddbody for obvious reasons. But, I admit I try and watch Jimmy Stewart at least once each season in the original. One of the more memorable lines from the movie has also become sort of a Christmas time cliché: “Every time a bell rings an angel gets their wings.” And though I do like to hear Zuzu repeat those lines, to me the most memorable quote was delivered by the Angel, Clarence Oddbody A.S.2: “Strange isn’t it? Each man’s life touches so many other lives and when he isn’t around he leaves an awful big hole, doesn’t he?”

Two thousand years ago a baby was born in Bethlehem. His parents were poor; so poor they couldn’t find room in an inn. Yet, through the centuries past and future he touches the lives of all that will let him. The baby from the manger has touches more lives than all the Presidents of the USA (PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE!). He touches the lives of the Presidents, of kings, of working class and of the poor. The Baby was the Word. He became flesh and dwelt among them and dwells within us. Because of him we can have a wonderful life. Clarence Oddbody said that when someone isn’t around he leaves a big hole. Picture your life had that Baby from the manger never been born. Think of the hole that would be there if the Word had not became flesh.

Take a look at all the people you come in contact with over the course of a lifetime. You must also consider all the people who just see your actions…those who you may not have a clue are watching. Our lives are intertwined with the lady at the grocery store, the mail man, the telemarketer on the other end of the phone, the parent in the stand watching us coach a child, and you know this list could go on and on and I’d still be leaving someone out. We touch so many people in our words and our everyday activities. How do we touch them? That should be the question we ask ourselves every day.

Of course here at Christmas time everyone seems to go out of their way to be nice to others, but what about the rest of the year? What about the neighbor whose car was broken down and had to miss the whole day of work because you couldn’t stop and just be just a few minutes late? How did you touch his life? What about the child who heard you using some language that is reserved for HBO late at night? If your existence had never been would people’s lives be better or worse?

It is like writing this blog. I have readers from all over the world. I hope that as each one reads I have touched their lives in a positive way. When I started putting my thoughts on this I had no clue I would have readers from all the places I have them from. They touch me more than they ever know.

Think of the impact on your life if that child in Bethlehem hadn’t been born. He gave us the chance of having a wonderful life. Does your life lead anyone to the prospects of having a wonderful life? This Christmas as you reflect on that night in Bethlehem reflect on how your life touches those around you. Reflect on how you are intertwined with people you don’t even know. Ask yourself, “Am I leading a life that shows others that I have a Wonderful Life?” Andy Williams sang that this is a most wonderful time of the year, and it’s a most wonderful time to show someone the way to having a Wonderful Life! May God Bless and Keep all y’all and may you all have a Wonderful Life! Merry Christmas!!

Over this Christmas season I have shared my thoughts and ideas about Christmas with you. Maybe I succeeded in getting my love for the season across; I don’t know. I love the season: the songs, the lights, and the Christmas spirit that I see in so many people. But, I am not an actor or writer so sometimes it is hard for me to get the point of what I am trying to say from the brain to the paper (I think I loose something between the brain and my two typing fingers). So I have hired a professional actor to help me show just what Christmas is. Please watch below and have a Merry Christmas.

He had lived up in the hills for years mostly keeping to himself. Of course as the only blacksmith in the area most of the men knew John well. The kids were all scared of John. Maybe it was his appearance as his large robust frame was always cover with black soot. The boys nicknamed him wicky John and the name stuck for generations of kids that came and went in the small village. John never attended church. They say once time the Rev. Jackson went out to try and pay a call on John and thinking that it was the boys playing a prank at his door John came running out raising cane and the preacher left in a state of fright. Some say John felt he had sealed his fate that day.

His last Christmas Eve was to be no different old wicky John thought. John never kept any holidays, so not keeping Christmas didn’t surprise anyone. John blew out the candles and retired as the sun went down. But, he was awakened by the hardest of knockings on his door. John went to the door in his usual fit of rage only to find no one there. As he turned around to go back in something caught his eye. A Christmas present? It must just be another prank. John knelt down and opened the box careful and saw a small leather book. Picking it up him noticed the words “Holy Bible.” John opened it and thumbed through the pages as a gust of wind kicked up and started blowing the pages.

The wind died down and the pages opened before John’s eyes were at the Gospel of Luke chapter two: The Christ of Christmas past. Wicky John read the words that were in front of him and they came alive in his heart. It was almost as if Wicky John had been transported to a little town of Bethlehem on a silent night: And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed. (And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.) And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:) To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child. And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn” (Luke 2:1-7). Tears filled John’s eyes as he said to what seemed to be an unhearing world, “I’ll give you shelter; I live alone and have this big empty house. Come stay with me!”

John looked out towards the fields and saw shepherds. But he trembled with fear when he looked up in the sky: And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid” (Luke 2:9) But he became more at ease as the Heavenly host spoke, “Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men” (Luke 2:10-14). “I saw him,” John exclaimed to the unhearing crowd. “What happened to that poor baby,” John screamed as the wind whipped up again and blew the pages of his Bible.

Finally the wind down and the pages stopped pointing John to the Christ of Christmas present. Today John, “he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places, Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come” (Ephesians 1:20-21) the Word told him, and “he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him” (Hebrews 11:6).

“You said he is also of the world to come,” John said. “What is to come?”

The wind blew hard then than at anytime before. John fell to his knees clutching his Bible as if holding on for his life as the pages stopped at Christmas yet to come. “You will see him again John,” the Word said. The wind stopped to an eerie stillness as the pages opened on last time and John saw a great white throne of judgement before him: “And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them (Rev 20:11).” What does this mean for me John cried in the silence of the night: “And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.” (Rev. 20:12, 15).

Wicky John hurried into his house. He took a bath and washed all the soot from him and put on his finest clothes (Which for wicky John was new bib overalls and clean brogans) and hurried into the town as the dawn was breaking. “What day is this he,” ask a young boy who didn’t recognize the cleaned up Wicky John. “It’s Christmas everyone knows that!!” John hurried on down to the local church and was waiting inside when the others arrived.

Wicky John wasn’t known as wicky John anymore. To the kids he became Mr. John and to the adults he was Brother John. John never saw another Christmas on earth, but now celebrates it everyday with that little Baby that was laying in a manger.

Is there a Wicky John in your neighborhood? Maybe he isn’t really Wicky after all. Don’t let this Christmas season pass without sharing the Good News with someone who is waiting to hear about the Christ of Christmas past, present and yet to come.

20 December 2006
Bobby Cohoon
North Carolina, USA
little_sorrel@yahoo.com

I am dreaming of a white Christmas, of course the ten day forecast seems to suggest that I need to keep on dreaming. It isn’t bad enough that I live in the south; I live right at the coast also. But in my life I have seen a few white Christmases. I think the last was about 17 years ago we had around 2 feet of snow on Christmas Eve.

Around here when the snow starts to fall little by little you hear the sounds of quietness overtaking the normal sounds of the everyday hustle and bustle. Little by little the snow wraps itself around us pulling us together in the warmth. The sounds outside are the sounds that God has put in the air. On the inside we are swaddled in the love with our family and basking in the warmth of their love.

On the first Christmas we are told that our savior was wrapped in swaddling clothes. The love of his mother wrapped Him, while others were also wrapped in love. That first Christmas God’s love appeared to the shepherds in the fields when the Angels proclaimed the birth of the Savior: “For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:11).

Over in the east that night the wise men were swaddled in the love of God. The promise had not yet been given to them, yet they came to worship the new King. The love of God wrapped them so tightly that they were compelled to bring gifts: “And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh” (Matthew 2:11).

One other group was swaddled in the warmth of the love of God that first Christmas. I was and you were. As believers we were wrapped in the love of God on that first Christmas as the Savior was given to the world: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). On That first Christmas Mary wrapped our present with the softest of touches, with kindness and love, with gentleness she wrapped it in swaddling clothes and laid it in a manger.

And though I may not have a white Christmas with snow, I will have a Christmas swaddled in the love of my family. And, I will spend that day with a family that has been swaddled in the love of a Father who cared enough for us to give us the ultimate of gifts. In our hearts it will be a white Christmas of the purest of whites swaddled in the love of the Father.

And, for those of you who like me will not see SNOW as part of their white Christmas, please join me in watching a blast from the past below: HERE COMES SUZY SNOWFLAKE! Any of you admit to being old enough to remember this , especially you out in the Chicago land area? And, may all of your Christmases be white!

One of the biggest woes of this time of year is putting the lights on the tree. In our house it was always the job of my mom to do this: No one could put them on right but her. And now that her eyesight is failing she has relegated the job to her granddaughter. In all my years I have never had the thrill, or the agony, of putting the lights on the tree. But, I have seen it done. You can check them as many times as you want while they are lying on the floor and yet it seems that when they hit the tree something always goes wrong with them. And, I guess it isn’t limited to my house as the Grinch told little Cindy Lou Who that her tree had a light that wouldn’t burn on one side. Some of the more common expressions heard at Christmastime around my house are; “Now, why aren’t they burning;” “What do you mean if one goes out they all go out;” “Yeah, they are on, BUT THEY ARE BLLINKING; I DON’T WANT THEM TO BLINK!!!” This list could go on and on, but I think you get the point.

The lights on the tree are much like us Christians if you stop and think about it. As disciples of Christ we are to be lights of the world. Jesus said He was the light of the world, and we are to follow Him. Jesus told the apostles that they were the lights of the world (Matthew 5:14). Look at all the lights sitting down a pew any given Sunday and what do you see?

Some of the lights are blinking. You know the ones that blink. They blink on for God every time the church door is opened and blink off every time it shuts. When an assembly is in session their light cannot be hid, but wait until they final amen has been said for the week and you’d scarcely know they had ever heard of Christ. Their lights don’t burn long enough to got hot; maybe lukewarm is as hot as they can get. And, you know how Christ feels about lukewarm: So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth (Rev. 3:16).

Then there are the lights that just don’t burn at all. They go through the motions of showing up to church (usually on the Sunday nearest to Christmas or Easter) just for appearance sake. You’ve seen these lights. These are the ones that have those small thin wires that for whatever reason they just never seem to make a connection. They come and they go. They never seem to plug into the Word.

Sometimes lights that have been shining bright get a wire crossed because of something that didn’t go their way and the make the whole string go out. After all, all it takes is one light to go out and they all go out.

Then there are those like little Cindy Lou Who had on her tree: The ones that don’t burn on one side. These are the ones that know the right way, and to all the saints seem to live that way, and yet hold on to all their “worldly” ways. They burn bright to the Christians and yet seem to fail to light a path for those in the world to find the way.

Here is a little Christmas light check list you can use:

1. Make sure you are plugged in
1. Don’t just plug in the Sunday before a holiday.
2. Check those little thin wires and make sure they connect.
2. Take the blinker out

A. Keep the light shining in church and out.

3. Make sure your light is burning on both sides

A. Lift up the saints

B. Light the path for the seekers.

The easiest way to do this is to keep Christ in your heart EVERYDAY! Then you won’t have a lot of trouble with your lights at Christmas!

12 December 2006
Bobby Cohoon
North Carolina, USA
little_sorrel@yahoo.com

A CHRISTMAS CONFESSION

I have to make a confession. As most of you know I live in the south. And, I am proud of my southern heritage. But now I need to make a confession to all y’all (“all y’all” is a plural for y’all which is a plural for you, and I think it is fancier talk than yeuns and is inclusive of everyone). Anyway, back to my Christmas confession; though I am from the south I must confess that I have never been particularly found of Elvis Presley, although I will be the first to admit his original guitar player, Scotty Moore, was the epitome of a rockabilly guitar player. Now, I know, you are wondering “what has this to do with Christmas?” Well, nothing, except that I heard Elvis singing a Christmas song today and asking a very serious question: Why Can’t Everyday Be like Christmas?

Do you notice a change in people around this time of year? It just seems to me that people are of better cheer this time of year. Just today I saw a teenager dropping money into a kettle to help the homeless and I wondered if she would have done it on the 8^th of May. The ladies at the grocery store who normally have a good disposition even seem to have a better one this time of year in spite of the hustle and bustle all around them.

Jesus said we are love our neighbor as we love our self (Matthew 19:9). The Apostle Paul echoed that thought to the Romans (Romans 13:9), and to the Galatians (Galatians 5”14). And, James call it the Royal Law: If ye fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well: (James 2:8). Think what kind of world we would have if we loved our neighbors as we love our selves everyday and not just during the Christmas Season. What if worried about our hungry brothers everyday, or our cold and homeless?

Do we only reflect on the love Christ had for us during the holiday seasons and not even notice that it exists on the 6^th of September? His love for us started before the foundation of the world and carried on through the birth up to the cross and still extends through to all the eons of history yet waiting to be written. If we loved our neighbor as our self then everyday would be like Christmas and we could think to ourselves, in the words of Satchmo, Oh, what a wonderful world!

5 December 2006
Bobby Cohoon
North Carolina, USA

Well it is December. It was right at 80 degrees today to usher in the new month, but tomorrow is to only be in the low fifties with the next few days in the 40’s with overnight lows in the upper twenties. So, I guess I can talk about Christmas now (not like I haven’t all year long!). I know some of you are thinking that we shouldn’t celebrate Christmas and if you feel that way I promise I won’t judge you. The Apostle Paul said to “Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days” (Colossians 2:16). So, for those who choose to not celebrate Christmas I do not hold that against them and hope that they won’t hold against me my love for the holiday.

Many people say, and rightly so, that we just don’t know that Jesus was born on December 25. And, I have heard a good many people, many of them preachers, say that the evidence is really against December 25^th being the day of Jesus’ birth.

I was looking for some information on the December 25 date and came upon the following that I submit to you. Before you read it, I can tell you that I have no clue if Jesus was born on December 25, and though I try and honor and think about the miracle of his birth everyday, I celebrate his birth on the 25^th of December. The Gospels writers didn’t give us the date; they didn’t give us a lot of dates, but that doesn’t diminish the importance of those events. We don’t have a clue about the date of the raising of Lazarus, but that doesn’t the miracle any less important. I don’t have the date of the Sermon on the Mount but that doesn’t nullify its teachings. So while I can’t say for sure that Jesus was born on December 25^th, that doesn’t make the fact that our Savior was born to a virgin and wrapped in swaddling clothes and laid in a manger any less significant. With that said, I offer you the following:

By considering the chronological notes in Scripture such as Luke 2:1,
“it seems that the evidence would lead one to conclude that Christ’s
birth occurred sometime in the winter of 5/4 B.C.” (Dr. Harold W.
Hoehner, professor at Dallas Theological Seminary, (BIB SAC, Vol. 130, #
520, Oct.-Dec., 1973). Our concern here is not with the year, but with
the month Christ was born–or at least the time of year, i.e., winter or
spring. Is a winter date out of the question? Is it possible or maybe
even probable?

1. Hoehner points out that the traditional date for the birth of
Christ as December 25th dates back to as early as Hippolytus (A..D.
165-235). In the Eastern church January 6th was the date used for
Christ’s birth. But this is still a winter date and not far removed from
December 25th.

2. Chrysostom (A..D. 345-407) in 386 stated that December 25th is
the correct date and hence it became the official date for Christ’s
birth except in the Eastern church which still retained January 6^th (This date is still celebrated by the folks in Ocracoke, NC near me-Bobby Cohoon).

3. One of the main objections has been that sheep were usually
taken into enclosures from November through March and were not out in
the fields at night. However, this is not as conclusive as it sounds for
the following reasons: (a) It could have been a mild winter. (b) It is
not at all certain that sheep were always brought into enclosures during
the winter months. (c) It is true that during the winter months sheep
were brought in from the wilderness, but remember, Luke tells us the
shepherds were near Bethlehem rather than in the wilderness. This
indicates, if anything, the nativity was in the winter months. (d) The
Mishnah tells us the shepherds around Bethlehem were outside all year
and those worthy of the Passover were nearby in the fields at least 30
days before the feast which could be as early as February (one of the
coldest, rainiest months of the year). So December is a very reasonable
date.

James Kelso, an archaeologist who spent a number of years living in
Palestine and who has done extensive research there says this:

The best season for the shepherds of Bethlehem is the winter when heavy
rains bring up a luscious crop of new grass. After the rains the
once-barren, brown desert earth is suddenly a field of brilliant green.
One year when excavating at New Testament Jericho, I lived in Jerusalem
and drove through this area twice every day. At one single point along
the road, I could see at times as many as five shepherds with their
flocks on one hillside. One shepherd stayed with his flock at the same
point for three weeks, so lush was the grass. But as soon as the rains
stopped in the spring, the land quickly took on its normal desert look
once again.

Since there seem to have been a number of shepherds who came to see the
Christ child, December or January would be the most likely months (James
Kelso, An Archaeologist Looks At The Gospels, p. 23-24).

What do you think?

1 December 2006
Bobby Cohoon
North Carolina, USA
little_sorrel@yahoo.com