HERE IN THE REAL WORLD

Without a doubt I know that I have the smartest, wisest and even the “bestest” readers in all the world of Blogdom. And I have always valued the remarks and comments that are left here or that arrive to me in email (even the ones I disagree with). With that thought in mind I pose a question that was asked of me.

We know that God said, “Thou Shalt Not Steal” (Exodus 20:15). And we know that means that we are not to take things that do not belong to us. But, can we steal without taking anything? The question that was asked of me was by a friend who knew that a person was stealing from the store they both work at. This friends knowing wasn’t mere suspicion, but it was something that had been witness on several occasions. Where does our responsibility as Christians start in stop when we are witnesses to someone walking out with another’s goods?

Do we have a responsibility to look after another’s property when they aren’t around? Do we speak to the person who is doing the stealing? Are we our brother’s keeper? We as Christians know that stealing is wrong. When we witness it in the work place what are we to do?

I await your responses!

Until Next time May The Good Lord Bless and Keep You: All Y’all!

Bobby

Bobby Cohoon
North Carolina, USA
cohon@embarqmail.com

I love praying. I guess though if you read my last update you knew that. There is just something relaxing about “talking it all over with Him.” It should be such a regular part of our Christian walk. Look at the life of Christ we have portrayed in the Gospels; prayer was a regular part of Christ life. We should aspire for the same. Yet, it seems that often our prayer life becomes mechanical. It’s not that we don’t pray; it’s that the attitude that we pray with suffers. We loose sight of who we are praying to. We stop “praying” and just go through the motions. Jesus addressed this problem in the parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector (Luke 18:9-14).

Jesus had just finished teaching about persistence in prayer when he told this parable and taught about the right attitude in prayer. In this parable two different men, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector, both entered the temple to pray. Yet, they both prayed two different prayers. The Pharisee prayed exalting himself. He prayed with pride in all of his deeds. Jesus said that the Pharisee said, “I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess” (Luke 18:12). The Pharisee had created his own righteousness. The law only required that he fast once a year (the Day of Atonement). He paid a tithe on all that he own where the law only required a tithe on a portion. He had made his own righteousness in his own eyes. He had become self righteous through his deeds. He was not humble before the Lord; he stood proud in his deeds and exalted himself.

The tax collector, on the other hand, took a different approach into the temple: And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner” (Luke 18:13). The tax collector recognized his lowly position and God’s divine position. He stood humble before God. He did not exalt himself, but rather exalted God as the one who was able to show mercy to a sinner. Where the Pharisee had found away to exalt his self and create his own form of self righteousness, the tax collector recognized that there was no righteousness apart from God. The tax collector recognized his sinful state and expressed remorse. He went home justified: I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted (Luke 18:14).

When you talked to God today did you just go through the motions, exalting yourself because of all your good deeds? The Pharisee felt he had no need to be forgiven, and he wasn’t. The tax collector knew he needed to be forgiven and he was. Peter wrote, “For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers (1 Peter 3:12). Peter didn’t use the word “self” before the word “righteous.”

Around the world of Blogdom Today:

Tim Archer has a question

Neva Cooper is living in a Jesus world

Until next time May The Good Lord Bless And Keep You: All Y’all!

Bobby

Bobby Cohoon
North Carolina, USA
cohoon@embarqmail.com

From our earliest days we are taught to pray. One of my earliest memories is the simple little prayer, “Now I lay me down to sleep….” Though it seems as we age we sometimes let our prayer life fall by the way side. We live in a world of fast communications. Be it by telephones, cell phones, fax, or email, the fastest and most reliable form of communication is still the simple “knee mail” we first learned as a child.

A few years back when I was contemplating the decision to be an organ donor for an uncle I came to a point where I was unsure if being a donor was the right path. James wrote, “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him” (James 1:5). On a Saturday night I prayed and asked God to give me the wisdom I needed to make this decision. On Sunday morning I had probably already forgotten the prayer from the night before. As I got ready for church I looked through the local paper and found an interesting article about an aunt who had donated an organ to a niece. Was this the answer to the prayer I had prayed the night before? Or, was it mere coincidence? After reading the article I was still unclear about the path I was to take.

In the parable of the unjust judge (Luke 18), Jesus taught that we are to be persistent in our prayer life. Paul said we are to pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17). That Sunday, again I took my worries to the Lord. I prayed as I have never prayed before. I cried as I prayed. That Monday I ran into a friend I had not seen in some 6 months. She had a friend with her. As we talked I noticed her friend had a “shunt” in one arm. This is a portal used for dialysis. I asked him about it and he explained how he had had a kidney transplant and his mother was the donor. He gave me his mother’s number and I talked to her and she really set my mind at ease from the donor point of view. I guess coincidences can happen twice in a row. Or, was this guy I had never met an answer to a prayer I had prayed?

My mind was at ease with being a donor. But, that only led to another problem. My mother has almost dead against me being the donor. If my uncle received a kidney from a cadaver she would only have one family member going through major surgery; with me as a donor she would have two. And her fear was that she would loose one and possibly two. On the night that Jesus was betrayed he prayed. He didn’t only pray for himself, he prayed for his disciples and for all believers. He taught us to pray for others. As strong as my prayers were for myself, I prayed even stronger for my mom. On the next day as we went to pick my niece up from school we continued to discuss the matter until it just got to the point that there was no more need for discussion. I knew what I was to do and she knew how against it she was.

Normally I would walk up to the classroom and get my niece but this was different (for whatever Holy Ghost inspired reason). My mom went and got my niece. And, after a longer than usual trip to the classroom, they came to the car. The first thing I was told was to go ahead with the operation. My mom was now “ok” with it. She was at peace. I asked what produced the change and she told me that my niece’s teacher told her how she had been a kidney donor for her sister a few years back. This teacher had known all year about my uncles troubles and yet had never mentioned to me (and I talked to her everyday) that she was a donor. It was only after I had prayed for my mom that this teacher decided to mention her donor story. Of course this was just the third of three rapid fire coincidences.

I was eventually turned down as a donor, but my life, and especially my prayer life, was changed forever.

If I only know two things, I know Jesus loves me and I know he answers prayers. We are to go to God in all things. We are to be persistent in our prayers: pray without ceasing. And, we are to pray for others. Have you sent any “Knee Mail” toady?

Around the world of blogdom tonight:

Trey Morgan has gone brain dead
Tim Waldrop How dare you repent?
Tim Archer has a promise
Neva Cooper says it’s time to remember
Matt Dabbs looks at Spiritual Adultery

Until next time May The Good Lord Bless and Keep You: All Y’all

Bobby

Bobby Cohoon
North Carolina, USA
cohoon@embarqmail.com

Monday we celebrated Memorial Day. We set aside a day to honor those who have died for our freedoms and rightly so. Jesus said, “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13). And, that is exactly what so many men and women have done for us over the course of United States History. People from all walks of life have stood side by side and fought enemy after enemy to keep this country free and to allow us to enjoy the freedoms that we have. Yet, while many have died for our freedom it was the death of one that set us free.

The apostle Paul wrote, “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). While we were entrapped by the axis powers of sin Jesus Christ went to battle for us and laid down his life. His life was sacrificed so that we would be able to be free from the sin that had us in its evil clutches.

While his sacrificial death was a price paid for our sins, His resurrection gave us life eternal. Paul wrote, “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (6:23). Christ paid our debt to sin with His death. And that opened the door for all that would obey the Gospel and come to Christ to have eternal life. John wrote, “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).

While we battle sin everyday, the war has already been won. And while many people will succumb to sin one death has already set us free.

Around the world of Blogdom tonight:

Trey Morgan is looking like Jesus
Tim Waldrop wonders if Christianity is good for the world
Neva Cooper wants to know “What’s the Deal?”
Tim Archer has some signs that your congregation is part of a bigger history
Matt Dabbs introduces us to Revelation

Until next time May The Good Lord Bless And Keep You: Al Y’all!

Bobby

Bobby Cohoon
North Carolina, USA
cohoon@embarqmail.com