HERE IN THE REAL WORLD

I love March Madness. All the excitement of seeing which college basketball team will end up being the best in the nation. John wrote, “There is a sin that leads to death” (1 John 5:16). And to this day I can’t say for certain that pulling for Duke is not that sin! But the real reason I like March madness isn’t because of any college basketball team; it is because I know that when March Madness comes baseball season is just around the corner. And, what better place for a little Theology than the baseball diamond?

Curt Simmons said, “Trying to throw a fastball by Hank Aaron is like trying to sneak a sunrise past a rooster.” You know there are people, Christians mind you, that believe they can sneak their sin past God. That somehow they can sin in secret and God won’t know. You may sin and the person next to you in church have no idea, but I can promise you that God knows. In discussing prayer Jesus said this of the Father, “your Father, who sees what is done in secret” (Matthew 6:6). Whatever you do the Father sees. If you are fast enough, and I mean really fast, you might sneak a fast ball past Hammerin’ Hank. Or you might cover a rooster’s eyes and a sneak a sunrise in. But, you cannot sneak sin past God.

“No matter how good you are, you’re going to lose one-third of your games. No matter how bad you are you’re going to win one-third of your games. It’s the other third that makes the difference,” said Tommy Lasorda. Our spiritual lives are no different. We know there are going to be some spiritual battles that we are going to win: Praise God! But, there are some that we will lose. There will be times when we fall to the temptation of sin. And it is in those times that we have to know that we have a savior waiting to help us. We have to call on our spiritual bullpen. John wrote, “If we confess our sins He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). But, what about the third of the equation? John wrote in 1 John 5:16 that there is sin that leads to death. When we live in habitual sin we are going down a baseline that will not lead us to score. These habitual sins are not repented of. We are not forgiven nor cleansed form the unrighteousness. And it most cases it is these habitual sins that we are trying to sneak past God!

Casey Stengel said of former Yankee Catcher Yogi Berra, “He’d fall in a sewer and come up with a gold watch.” That is exactly what we do with Christ. Apart from Christ our lives are down in the sewer. Sin has made us as filthy as anything that you find in a sewer: it has separated us from God. But when we come to Christ and we repent of our sin we become new creatures. Paul wrote, “We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life” (Romans 6:4). We go down in that water like something that was in a sewer and come up like a gold watch! Paul wrote to the church in Corinth, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come” (2 Corinthians 5:17).

Nothing could be better than a day at the ball park: Baseball; Hot dogs; and God! Tommy Lasorda said, “”There are three types of baseball players: those who make it happen, those who watch it happen, and those who wonder what happens.” Which type of spiritual player are you?

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This past week at the Soul Winning Workshop in Tulsa the Blogger awards were given out. These guys and gals are in my opinion the best of Christian Bloggers. The competition was so close I couldn’t cast a vote. Check out the links below and Visit the winners. Also on my “What I read Page” there are links to what I think are the best Christian Bloggers in captivity. Take a look at them.

Here are the winners:

Best Marriage/Parenting/Family Blog: Laura Coppinger - http://heavenlyhomemakers.com/blog/

Best Leadership/Discipleship Blog: Patrick Mead – http://patrickmead.net/

Best Devotional/Inspiriational Blog: John Dobbs – http://johndobbs.com/

Best Theological Blog: John Mark Hicks – http://johnmarkhicks.wordpress.com/

Best Practical Ministry Blog: Trey Morgan – http://www.treymorgan.net/

Best New Blog: Steve Tucker – http://thetractorcab.wordpress.com/

Best Female Blogger: Sarah Stirman – http://sarahstirman.blogspot.com/

And the Blogger of the Year Award goes to…

Trey Morgan – http://treymorgan.net/

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

Bobby Cohoon
North Carolina, USA
bobby@bobbycohoon.com

I live in what was once a small county: everyone pretty much knew everyone. That has changed somewhat in the last few years as more and more people have moved in. And it seems that as more have moved in the social degree of the county has dropped off some. People don’t seem to know their neighbors as much as they did in years past. The world has become fast paced. When people get off of work they have time to eat then run somewhere else; Often times the are eating on the run. They make time for everything imaginable. But guess what the one thing they rarely make time for is: The commission of Jesus Christ.

Jesus said, Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age” (Matthew 28:19-20). In this world of networking we have the “go” down to a fine art. Yet, too often we neglect the only command in the Great Commission of Matthew: Make Disciples! We are great in our comfort zones. Meeting for an hour on Sunday is always done. We may meet for a small group Bible study with a group full of believers. But, what do we do to make disciples?

In our neighborhoods and the general areas that we travel daily there are plenty of people who don’t know the one true and living God. Sadly we don’t have time in our busy lives to share that message. We pass them daily. We may even take a minute to speak to them. Yet, we never seem to turn the conversation to Jesus. If they are poor we may even make a charitable donation or give some old clothes to try and alleviate their living conditions. And, that is great, but it is not what we are called to do: We are called to make disciples.

We network daily and nightly on the internet, not just with our city, but with the world. Maybe we become involved in e-mail chess. Maybe we are interacting with others trying to learn, or even trying to teach, about our favorite sport or pastime. We enter chat rooms and e-groups with people from all over the world. In the course of a day’s time we go from the city to the world. And remember Jesus said, “You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8b). We are to be witnesses to our city and to the world. And, yet in our cities and to the ends of the earth we can’t seem to find time to work Christ into the conversation.

Every day we go from the city to the world. And, sadly while we are there we fail to mention the one who made the cities and the world. Is today the day you take Christ to the city and to the world?

Thanks for coming to the new site for Here In The Real World. Please update your bookmarks to the new URL. Also click the widget at the top for the new RSS feed and add your email in the box to have Here In The Real World delivered to your inbox. Let me know what you think about the new format.

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

Bobby Cohoon
North Carolina, USA
bobby@bobbycohoon.com

Just in my life span the pace of life has picked up greatly. It seems everything now is done in a hurry to get to the next thing on the list. I remember as a child most stores were not open every night and now they are open every night with some being open all night long. We are now really living life on the run. We are living on the dash. But, we are also living IN the dash.

Visit any cemetery and one thing you will notice is every tombstone has two dates on them and they are separated by a “DASH:” Born-Died. That dash between the two dates is where we are now. There is nothing we can do to change or have any effect on the first date, but we can have some effect on the second one. It’s true that it is appoint that man die once (Hebrews 9:27) but the life we choose to live in the “dash” can have an effect on when that time will be. Of course it can have a positive as well as a negative effect.

In the times we live rushing and stress have become common place for everyone. And, with the current economic problems (I promise no “the economy is bad jokes” here you have to visit my face book for those) people are stressing and turning everywhere for help. Yet, the one place where we all should be turning is the last place so many people turn. Jesus said, “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). Right now in the “dash” while the economy seems to crumble all around people turn to bankers, to stock brokers or even the government. They are turning looking for whatever relief they can get. Yet, many aren’t finding the relief that they need.

A few weeks ago I was told the story of someone who had taken some type of pills and wash them down with some type of liquor. All this was done because he had fallen victim to these bad economic times and lost his job. He was trying to have a negative impact on the date to the right of the “dash.” The rest he needed wasn’t to be found in a bottle or in a pill. It was to be found in Matthew 11:28. Maybe no one had taken time to tell him about that rest.

In these trying times while everyone is living “on” the dash while living in the “dash” we need to be there and ready to help those who are looking for rest. Our doors need to be opened and ready to help someone who is at the point of changing the size of their “dash.” This is a most important time for the church. We have to be prepared for a world that is in search. We can help others have a better life in the “dash” and and even better one in the life past the date on the right side of the dash.

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

Bobby Cohoon
North Carolina, USA
cohoon@embarqmail.com