HERE IN THE REAL WORLD

I’ll admit I was a fan of Dave Attell’s, “Insomniac,” on the Travel Channel. The world around us really is a different place after dark. But it has seemed that more and more here lately that these shadows of the dark, those life styles that we don’t want to talk about much less come in contact with, are being seen more and more and are beginning to be seen in the light. I mean really they are everywhere. Look around your city and if you say they aren’t there let me remind you of a saying my favorite preacher uses, “Lying can get you to Hell as quick as murder!”  Remembering that Jesus came “to seek and to save what was lost,” I wonder who Jesus would hang out with if he walked the earth today.

Early in John’s gospel we see Jesus at a wedding in Cana.  And, when the “adult beverages” so to speak, ran out Jesus made a run. First thing we have to keep in mind is that, yes, these beverages, this wine, had an intoxicating effect. We are told the master of the banquet said, “Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink” (John 2:10). Surprisingly to many, one of the words used to get the phrase, “too much to drink” is the Greek  word “methuskomai.” In all cases it has to do with getting drunk; under the influence of alcohol! Are there any drunks in your town?

Forget drinking alcohol for a minute and get a drink of water. Wait, what’s that at the well? It’s a lady. Of course she has no husband at the time, but had five earlier (John 4:17-18). And, the guy she now lives with isn’t even her husband!  And, this is the lady Jesus asked for a drink of water. I am so glad we don’t have people like this around today for Jesus or us in the church to have to deal with! Hmmmmmmmmmmm

And, I don’t mind telling you a tax collector in Jesus day was no better than pimp. He sat back and made his money off the hard work of others. Just look at Zacchaeus. That little short man, he was probably a dwarf! He made a killing off the common everyday people. Maybe he was the Bernie Madoff of the New Testament. I mean when the tax collectors came to be baptized and asked what they should do, they were told, “Don’t collect any more than you are required to” (Luke 3:13). But yet, where did Jesus spend the afternoon? Looking up in the tree where that little short man was Jesus said, “Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today” (Luke 19:5).

Our world is a whole different world when the sun goes down. All the “undesirables” come out. But more and more these undesirables are surfacing now in the daylight. And yet, the church seems to want no part of a ministry with them. Jesus had no problem going to them and giving them salvation. It makes me wonder if there wasn’t a little insomniac in Jesus. I mean after all the same God that made me and you made the “Drunks and Losers and dwarfs with limps, the flos and hoes and one eyed pimps.”

Please notice the new link on the “What I read Page” for Matthew Paul Turner.

Until next time May the Good Lord Bless and Keep you; All Y’all!

Bobby Cohoon
North Carolina, USA
bobby@bobbycohoon.com

He sits there lost daily, oblivious to the rest of the world that keeps spinning. The only spinning he does is from trash can to trash can in hopes of finding his next meal.  Maybe there will be a party at one of the fancy pubs and a harvest of food will be thrown out.  He has no clue where his next meal will come from or where the next fix of the habit that keeps him alive will be. Death stands at his side on a daily basis as the things that keep him alive are farther from him in times of a bad economy. Pain is his best friend both mental and physical as his body craves life sustaining needs. The crowds pass him by. Some hurrying to work, others are hurrying to play. The atheist and the Christian both seem to not see that he sits daily in the shadows of life’s brightest lights.

Jesus gave us a commission, “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…” (Matthew 28:19). And he gave a direction, “you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8).  Billions of American dollars are sent each year for Christian missions (missions is plural only because we make it so; Jesus gave one mission). And, of those billions most go to foreign countries. Now, I am not opposed to sharing the Gospel with those in other lands who have never heard the gospel. But it does worry me that while we do good works in other lands many times we over look those right in our own cities that are in need. The Holy Spirit didn’t empower Scotty to beam the apostles to the ends of the earth thus neglecting the lands in between. Jesus sent them from where they were, Jerusalem, to the other lands. In other words they started at home and work their way to the ends of the earth.

Would Peter and John have turned a blind eye toward Skid Row Joe? If they followed the lead of Messiah the answer is a simple no. Skid Row Joe would have found the welcome arms of the Savior. You must remember that Jesus was known to hang with the “low life.” I mean he himself said, “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost” (Luke 19:10).  He didn’t come to turn his head the other way to the dying.

I am not suggesting that we neglect the foreign mission. I am suggesting that we pick up the mission at home. In the tough economic times that we live in there is no better time for at home mission than the present. Americans in large numbers are face with the certainty of uncertainty. People have no jobs. They have no money. They don’t know if the next meal will be there. They can’t stay well and many don’t have insurance and can’t afford to get sick. The time is now for the church to step in. We have to notice Skid Row Joe.

America is living in uncertain times. It might even be said that these are times that try men’s souls. While everything else is uncertain, God remains a constant. You might be the first representative of Jesus that many people see. Jesus reached out and touched the man with leprosy; how can you touch Skid Row Joe?

From this point on all Bible verses at Here In The Real World, unless otherwise noted, are from the LOGOS Bible Software. In my opinion this is the best Bible software on the market no matter what level your needs are. In addition to have the best Bible software, LOGOS also gives a Seminary Scholarship. Check them out I promise you won’t be let down. You will love the LOGOS Bible Software and you may even win a Seminary Scholarship.

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

Bobby Cohoon
North Carolina, USA
bobby@bobbycohoon.com