I Need A Doctor!

I need a Doctor!

Luke 5:31

Jesus answered them, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick...



I'm about to lose my mind

you've been gone for so long

I'm running out of time

I need a doctor

call me a doctor

I need a doctor, doctor

to bring me back to life



[Eminem]

I told the world one day I would pay it back

say it on tape, and lay it, record it

so that one day I could play it back

but I don't even know if I believe it when I'm saying that

doubt starting to creep in, everyday it's just so grey and black

Hope - I just need a ray of that

'Cause no one sees my vision when I play it for 'em

They just say it's wack

they don't know what dope is

and I don't know if I was awake or asleep

when I wrote this,

all I know is you came to me when I was at my lowest

you picked me up, breathed new life in me I owe my life to you


In his song, I need a doctor, Eminem laments his friend Dr. Dre whose career has seemingly flatlined and all the people he had helped had turned their backs on him. As a friend, Eminem had come back to help the doctor come back to life. The doctor needed some healing.

This morning I got a call that a friend and colleague in ministry died of a massive heart attack at 3am. Joseph Taylor was just 39 years of age. He had helped me start New Direction, walked with me in ministry, and went on to start his own ministry. I hadn’t spoken with him in a while and I didn’t know his condition. The last time I saw him I congratulated him on losing weight and taking care of his health. He and I chatted on face book, comparing the growing pains of having three children and he ate with me on occasion at our Pastor 2 Pastor brunch but I didn’t know he needed a doctor.

We have got to take better care of ourselves physically and spiritually this year and we have to take care of each other. Like me, we all need to do a better job of knowing the condition of the people we eat with.

The Pharisees asked Jesus why he ate and drank with tax collectors and sinners. Why do you associate with people who are “sick?’ Jesus said, ‘because the sick are the ones who need a doctor.’ Jesus is the great physician and it’s our job to get those who are sick to him. If we are going to bring life back to our friends they need a doctor named Jesus and this is how we get them to the doctor:

1. Healthy Fellowship. Jesus ate and drink with people that were considered to be “sinners.” They were rejects from an established religion. Dr. Dre took a risk on a young white rapper Born Marshall Bruce Mathers III. Everyone in the Hip Hop world thought he was crazy but Eminem is unquestionably one of the greatest MC’s in Hip Hop today because he got help from the doctor. What person, who is on the outside of acceptance, could advance in life if we took the risk of healthy fellowship.
2. Share the good news with them. Jesus' prescription for a healthy life was the good news that the Kingdom of God was at hand, that he had come to give them life and life more abundantly. As Christians, we need to share the good news of the alternative of a healthy lifestyle, whether that’s information on physical health or spiritual health, there are sick people who need good news, information, and inspiration.
3. Help them turn their lives around. Jesus said, “I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” The word repent means to make a U-turn. We ought to help our friends turn from destructive lifestyles to the healthy and prosperous life that Jesus has for us.

Dear God,

Use me to help bring life back to my friends. Don’t let me be so Holy that I can’t help those who are “sinners.” Thank you for being my doctor and healing all my souls’ diseases.

In Jesus Name,

Amen

RIP Apostle Joseph Taylor October 1972-January 2012