September 1, 2010

 

Kopp Disclosure

(John 3:19-21)

 

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    I wrote about friends not too long ago (scroll down to 8/24/10).

 

    Part of being a friend is the willingness to take a bullet for and sometimes from a friend: "There is no greater love than laying down your life for a friend...If any among you strays from the truth, and someone turns him back, he should know that whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way will save his life..."

 

    Friends must be willing to love even when it means being unliked for loving.

 

    If I have to explain that to you, you've probably never had/been a real friend.

 

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    Dean Harvey comes to mind.

 

    He was pastor of Rockford, Illinois' Chapelwood Community Church for almost four decades and was the longest serving President of Greater Rockford's Evangelical Ministers Fellowship before retiring to Palm Desert, California just a few years ago.

 

    Anyway, he grew weary of me quoting a really important evangelist's wife, "If God does not bring judgment upon America, he will have to apologize to Sodom and Gomorrah."

 

    I would always quote her before saying America's days are numbered because everything's going to hell quicker than poop through a goose.

 

    Finally, Dean reminded me with a gentle yet stern smile, bringing 1 Peter 3:13-17 to mind, "Bob, don't you remember Abraham's intercession in Genesis 18?  Always remember that, unlike Sodom and Gomorrah, there is a very significant remnant remaining in America."

 

    The seasoned corrected the sassy.

 

    Dean is a friend.

 

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    Dean spoke to our family of faith on 2/28/07: "The Broken Heart of God."

 

    If you go to the next video and endure the first three minutes of cameos featuring other fellahs, you'll hear a recording of his message from another location.

 

    Stop what you are doing, make some time right now, and listen to it/Him-through-him!

 

    As Dean says whenever he delivers this message: "This is the most important thing that I've learned about God in the last 40 years."

 

    Everyone who heard him at First over three years ago has an expanded/deeper appreciation of our Lord's affection for us and how we break His heart by not returning the favor.

 

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The Broken Heart of God - Dean Harvey Video - WittySparks 

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    Dean's Ransom: The High Cost of Sin has just been published by Xulon Press; and I think you can get it via www.amazon.com (order through www.koppdisclosure.com) or by writing to Dean via Destiny Ministries (1007 Twilight Trail, Suite 2, Frankfort, Kentucky 40601).  You can also try DM's number: 502-227-1177.

 

    A friend of my friend captured his/my sentiments in the foreword: "DH has written a very significant book...it provides a solid Biblical basis for understanding the cost of sin and the way to receive forgiveness...it allows us to see into the heart of God..."

 

    Though you've got to ingest the inspirations of the book for His-through-his full grace-filled impact, Dean's summary whets the appetite for more: "...the main cost of sin is to God, in grief and a broken heart over those who sin, because He created us to multiply His love and character throughout the universe.  Sin does just the opposite, it violates His character, and spreads selfishness instead of love, and it delays the accomplishment of His purposes..."

 

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    One of my former homiletics students called, "Dr. Kopp, this is my second church; and while things are going well, it's the second time that most of the folks on the search committee that brought me here have left because, I guess, I didn't fulfill their expectations."

 

    Trying to be a friend, I said, "Well, _____, search committees betray strange pathologies; and, I confess for myself and other geezer pastors like me, your experience is not that much different from anyone else's in our beruf.  Most folks on those committees mean well; or, at least, start out wanting a pastor who will love 'em by loving like Jesus.  But, geez, too many folks on those committees are looking for a champion for their agenda or a best friend or even a lover.  I even had one chick who kept telling me bad things about everybody in the church because she thought it would make me like her better; but I discovered I liked them better than her.  It's kinda Shakespearean.  If they can't have you the way they want you, they'll leave if they can't destroy you first.  So read Matthew 10 and John 10 and, as Sonny said to Michael in The Godfather, don't take it so personally."

 

    "But," I added in my attempt to be a real friend, "it might not be a bad idea to get a little counseling.  You're wounded.  And before you keep keepin' on there or think about going somewhere else, turn to somebody whose objective to help you sort it out.  I remember a shrink who met with my doctoral study group who insisted, 'Every therapist needs a therapist every now and then.'"

 

    I thought about that because when it comes to hearts breaking...

 

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    Anyone who loves Jesus by loving like Jesus will have her/his heart broken sometime somewhere somehow by somebody.

 

    Read what Jesus says about that in Matthew 5.

 

    But with Dean's help, we may find ourselves more washed by His blood than shedding...

 

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Blessings and Love!

 

 

 

August 28, 2010 

Kopp Disclosure

(John 3:19-21)

 

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    Let's make a deal!

 

    We'll get behind the insult to the one true God of the Hebrew Bible and New Testament with a wink to the Asheroth Pole planned to be planted next to Ground Zero as soon as Muslims get behind building a Christian chapel in spitting distance of those holy pebbles in Mecca.

 

    Parenthetically, are you as fascinated as moi to hear mostly mainliners so ready to help plant the pole as they malign Christians who still look up, stand up, speak up, and act up for the God of the Hebrew Bible and New Testament who ain't no Persian sun god with a prophet whose personal example is barbaric at best?

 

    Back to the pole and chapel, the deal will never happen because Islam isn't exactly an irenic paradigm of cooperation, coexistence, and fraternity.

 

    Psst.

 

    I didn't mention sorority; because, psst, you know the place of women in mosqueland.

 

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    While studying in Germany as Nixon was about to be shown the door - We can only hope history repeats itself! - Dr. Wolfgang Lowe put me in a better place after I'd acted like an especially obnoxious egghead, "Unfortunately, Herr Kopp, we are not all omniscient."

 

    The sarcasm stung to save.

 

    Anyway, I'll never forget trying to suck up to him for better grades; quoting Marx extensively because he was one of those Christian-Marxists that have dominated the weltanschauung of the World Council of Churches for so long.

 

    Salting again, he snapped, "Listen, Herr Kopp, I know you are a Christian who plans to be a pastor; so if you don't stop trying to ingratiate yourself with me by parroting what you don't believe, I will never know when to believe you and I can't trust anyone who pretends to be who they're not."

 

    Now - and this is especially for you so-called Christians who spend more time criticizing Christians than... - go back to the third sentence of the preceding section.

 

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    Heartland Presbytery comes to mind.

 

    I served a wonderful church in that presbytery until my ego caught up with me and I resumed the climb to the top of the ecclesiastical ladder of success to discover it was leaning against the wrong building as preface to a much-deserved crash and burn.

 

    Well, you've probably heard that their second biggest church - probably biggest when it comes to, uh, real members who know who He really is and act like it - has cut the cord and left our stinking denomination for another stinking denomination.

 

    As Gump says, "It happens."

 

    And as expected, the Gestapo, uh, the standing administrative commission of Heartless, as it's known by its former and continuing evangelical members, has threatened to seize assets, properties, and remove ordinations.

 

    Parenthetically, a former member of the presbytery who fled to another franchise, confided, "Bob, they visited our session and said, 'We don't care what you believe.  Just send the per capita to us and do what you want.'"

 

    Writing about this particular chapter in the presbytery's increasingly sad history, a KCMO lawyer wrote, "For Heartland, the organization is the focus.  They could care less about Biblical peace, unity, and purity.  Heartland keeps throwing grenades at people who just want the church to be the church as our constitution still states.  That's why some have already left and others will follow..."

 

    Using Heartland as an example of Pharisaical yeast, a denominational executive confessed, "Our denomination is making it very difficult for folks to focus only on Christ and Him crucified.  There are so many side issues.  There are so many non-essentials of the faith.  We keep majoring in the minors.  I'm tired, too.  I understand why pastors and churches don't want to fight anymore and just leave.  We are in deep kimchee."

 

    A former member of the church: "I think there was always an under-current of feeling that we'd have to leave sooner or later.  It motivated them to not get too deeply into debt...and try to structure finances and properties in a way that would prevent seizure by the presbytery.  Only time will tell...CPC has always knew it was swimming against the tide; especially after they called that snake to be...CPC was increasingly threatened, harassed, and hindered by him and his cohorts.  I support their move."

 

    Now everybody gather around the campfire to sing, "We are one in the..."

 

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    The longest serving pastor of that church was a very close covenant brother who went home to Jesus not too long ago.

 

    He shared my reasons for remaining faithfully (scroll down to last two editions).

 

    Speaking of yeast (go back to the 8th sentence of the preceding section), I'll never forget sitting in that presbytery's Nominating Committee and suggesting my friend be, uh, nominated for moderator of the presbytery.

 

    The EP went ballistic; challenging (euphemism) my friend's loyalty to the franchise.

 

    Parenthetically, he never ever once encouraged/enabled anyone who wanted to split from the franchise and remained loyal to Jesus within the franchise until he went home to Jesus.

 

    I asked for a recess to talk to my, uh, self-anointed bishop in the backroom (his office).

 

    Pointing to a blue coffee cup sporting the new seal of the franchise, he started, "See that cup.  That's me.  I'm true blue for the PCUSA."

 

    I responded, "I thought our first loyalty is supposed to be to Jesus."

 

    He cast a cold stare at me.

 

    I continued, "Here's the deal.  I'm going back into that meeting and nominating Ted.  If you succeed in poop-canning him, I will make a minority report to the presbytery, nominate him, and tell everybody what you said about him."

 

    Ted was nominated and elected moderator; and served with distinction punctuated by passion for Biblical peace, unity, and purity as upheld by our constitution.

 

    The EP hated me from that moment on, black-balled me on a few occasions, and planted the seeds or spread the yeast that established the dysfunction, dissonance, and defiance of Biblical Christianity as upheld by our constitution that has built the presbytery's renown over recent years.

 

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    I've said it before and I'll say it again because some folks don't get it.

 

    While I sympathize with folks who separate to be faithful, I believe it is faithful to remain for reasons previously stated - Scroll down! - and to pray and labor to reconcile through Jesus even with folks - gulp and gasp - like the EP who hated Ted and especially me and made the church's exit inevitable.

 

    I may be wrong but I sense a parallel with Beck's trip to DC this weekend.

 

    He wants to "restore honor" to America according to previously treasured principles taken from the Hebrew Bible and New Testament.

 

    Cool.

 

    Yeah, there will be some real nuts cracking around him; just like the nuts who will be cracking around Al down the street.

 

    So what?

 

    At least both are trying to sting America and stir it up before it's too late and it, like the mainline denominations, goes down the crapper.

 

    Of course, while millions assemble with Beck, the MSM will probably dedicate its newsreporting to the five people from PETA who are gathering in Beloit, Wisconsin to boycott Alpo.

 

    Geez.

 

    Again, in his retort to a mainliner who criticized his methods of evangelism, Moody said, "I prefer the way I do it to the way you don't do it."

 

    Jesus barfed on the lukewarm for Him.

 

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Blessings and Love!

 

 

 

August 24, 2010

Kopp Disclosure

(John 3:19-21)

 

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    We were friends; or so I thought.

 

    We seemed so alike; starting so long ago and ending so abruptly.

 

    Echo: "What good fellowship we enjoyed as we walked together to the house of God."

 

    Distances seemed narrowed by common concerns, confessions, and credentials; yet not even Christ's holy communion could cure the inevitable chasm.

 

    What never commenced cannot be undone.

 

    Echo: "It is not an enemy who taunts me.  I could bear that.  It is not my foes who so arrogantly insult me.  I could have hidden from them.  Instead, it is you, my equal, my companion and close friend."

 

    It bothers me.

 

    I mourn.

 

    Echo: "How I weep for you, my brother...Oh, how much I loved you!  And your love for me was deep, deeper than the love of women!"

 

    It bothers You; mocking the intentions sealed by Your blood.

 

    Sacramentally meant to unite has been tainted by divide; and faith's integrity and witness fall together.

 

    Echo: "I am praying not only for these disciples. but also for all who will ever believe in Me because of their testimony.  My prayer for all of them is that they will be one, just as You and I are one, Father - that just as You are in Me and I am in You, so they will be in us, and the world will believe You sent Me."

 

    Images in the mirror confuse; re-imagining You for us and us for You.

 

    Judgments must be reserved for...

 

    Echo: "Whatever measure you use in judging others, it will be used to measure how you are judged."

 

    Thank You, Lord, for being the friend who never denies, rejects, or runs away from us.

 

    You love in spite of and not because of; overlooking what we damn in others.

 

    Echo: "I command you to love each other in the same way that I love you.  And here is how to measure it.  The greatest love is shown when people lay down their lives for their friends.  You are my friends if you obey Me."

 

    We seemed so alike; starting so long ago and ending so abruptly.

 

    We were friends; or so I thought.

 

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    Separation, segregation, sectarianism, and schism do not honor Him.

 

    They testify to the dedication's insult in The Master Christian: "Dedicated to all who quarrel in the name of Christ!"

 

    Some who pretend friendship with Him and His from the pseudo-security of their ecclesiastical ghettoes - for clubs must yield to Kingdom - forget their defiance; prompting an observation - the 7th reason for why I stay in while praying not of the mainline (scroll down to the 8/20 edition) - of those who separate unfaithfully or remain unfaithfully: "They did not understand the interrogatives of membership/ordination demanding declaratives or lied because it was the convenient thing to do at the time to get in or changed their minds and lack the integrity to demit."

 

    Some people go through life wearing masks to conceal who they aren't.

 

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    BBPBHO comes to mind.

 

    Surely, by now, all but the comatose know he is not a patriot, Christian, Muslim, or...

 

    He has no principles to perceive; leading with two feet planted firmly in the air and saying nothing about everything eloquently.

 

    His constant campaign is election for an agenda scarcely revealed.

 

    I think of an ecclesiastical bureaucrat who was described thusly: "He is not conservative.  He is not liberal.  He doesn't believe anything."

 

    I'm also reminded of a funny told by the last great president of my alma mater: "He said, 'I don't know who I am or what I believe or where I'm going.'  A friend comforted, 'Don't worry!  Mainline denominations are going through the same thing.'"

 

    Given what we've seen for too long over such a short period of time, I hope he has no clue.

 

    The other possibility is too horrific to entertain.

 

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    Friendship requires a common denominator.

 

    That's why we lose what we never had.

 

    Thoughts don't always betray facts.

 

    Again, the sadness: "We were friends; or so I thought."

 

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Blessings and Love!

 

 

 

August 20, 2010

 

Kopp Disclosure

(John 3:19-21)

 

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    I like working in my church study on Friday afternoons because the other offices are closed, the doors are locked, and I can pray, read, write, and other stuff interrupted every thirty seconds or so on the other days.

 

    Today, somebody left one of the doors unlocked - not an uncommon occurrence as I'm prone to note: "Hey, if you need a key to our church, just ask the next person who walks by on the street!" - and a salesman found his way to me.

 

    It's impossible to explain to non-mainliners that mainline clergy don't write checks, buy, sell, or even...

 

    Only mainline church boards have that kind of authority.

 

    Clergy just persuade people to follow Jesus.

 

    Sigh.

 

    Finally, he asked, "Is that your Harley in the parking lot?  I'm shocked that a pastor would have one; especially at your age!"

 

    I responded, "Well, the hearse that I drive most of the week is in for repairs and the church board votes next month on firing me because I believe people who hate the Yankees are socialists and my wife thinks I'm really Peter Pan and..."

 

    Parenthetically, I'm reminded of a Christian author who reads KD and sells more books than even Ricky and Joel, though he hasn't bitten on my hints for him to help get my book on biker culture as metaphor/challenge to the church in print, who reviewed moi thusly: "Like the tone!  One of my friends, a name you would recognize, says he's been urged to put on his business card: 'Bible Scholar and Professional Smart Ass!'"

 

    O.K., I get it.

 

    Anyway, it got me to thinking about mainliners again...like, uh, me.

 

    Why do I remain in the mainline when it's gone to the sideline of American religious culture?

 

    Besides, that guy's inane question/comment only mirrors the inane stuff dominating the dockets of most mainline churches; or as I said to a group of believers studying Psalms over coffee on Thursday morning, "Geez!  Rome is burning to the ground and churches are still fretting about _____ (fill in the blank with your favorite incidental keeping churches from what's important)!"

 

    Why do I stay in a mainline denomination that's as relevant as old #4 to the Packers?

 

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    Here's why:

 

    1. Hans Evans.  He was pastor for many years of the Coatesville Presbyterian Church in, uh, Coatesville, Pennsylvania; and just before dying back in the late 70s, he said to me, "I know you're discouraged and even embarrassed by our denomination's direction.  But remember two things.  The difference between coal and diamonds is pressure.  And if you've ever wanted to be a missionary, stay in our denomination.  It's the best mission field open to us today."

 

    2. Why leave one stinking denomination for another stinking denomination?  It's true.  None of 'em are perfect.  As soon as you get closer to another one, you can start smelling the...  Anyone who denies that doesn't need acid to trip.  That's why I say, "I know our stink!  I don't feel like smelling somebody else's.  And because I know our stink, I know who needs the deodorant!"

 

    3. Leaving the denomination is kinda like saying, "Go to hell!"  Yeah, that's where it's headed; but as Paul told Timothy, "God wants everybody to be saved!"  It's a John 3:16-17 thing.  If people who love Jesus as attested in Holy Scripture and upheld by our constitution exit from their increasingly apostate mainline churches, the sheep will be increasingly defenseless against the...

 

    4. Personally, I feel a debt to mine.  It introduced me to Jesus, paid for my education, and stuck with me when I stunk more than I stink now.

 

    5. We're supposed to be salt and light!  People who abandon the mainliners forget Bonhoeffer's insight: "To follow Jesus, Luther had to leave the monastery and go out into the world!"  Mainline denominations are as worldly as they come!  Go back to #1.

 

    6. John 17.  Read it!  Live it!  It was His last prayer.  He really meant it.  Jesus doesn't give up on anyone.  He doesn't run away from anyone.  He'd just die to keep loving us.  And as you recall - O.K., if you're a mainliner, you don't because it's in the Bible! - loving Jesus is loving like Jesus and loving like Jesus is, uh, dang, crap, gulp, unconditional.

 

    7. I don't really have a 7th reason; but ever since reading the Bible, 6 just seems to carry so much baggage that...

 

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    It's Friday afternoon.

 

    Finally, the salesman left - unconvinced that I can't write checks, buy, sell, or even...

 

    Now I have time to think about, uh, a really important thing.

 

    Why did I play so well with my favorite Special Olympics golf champion this morning?

 

    Was it because I'm still savoring that really, really, really awesome spiritual adventure a few weeks ago (scroll down to the 8/16 edition for more on that)?

 

    Was it because I've gone back to my old equipment that always worked so well but was shelved because I, uh, bought into that lie that you can buy a better game?

 

    Was it because my favorite Special Olympics golf champion brings out the best in me on the course because he's not as...?

 

    Not sure.

 

    But I think there's a connection between all of this and why I really can't/won't leave/abandon/forsake...

 

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August 18, 2010

Kopp Disclosure

(John 3:19-21)

  

Father of all nations:

 

We beg mercy for America and the remnant who still look up, stand up, speak up, and act up for You as personified in Jesus and prescribed in the Hebrew Bible and New Testament; asking Your forgiveness betrayed on the cross for national leaders who forget there are no gods before You and You will not be mocked by an Asheroth Pole on sacred soil.

 

Your Word is clear, convicting, and conclusive.

 

The healing of America requires returning to You as one nation under You through Jesus in whose Name we pray.

 

Amen.

 

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Blessings and Love!

 

 

 

August 16, 2010

Kopp Disclosure

(John 3:19-21)

 

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    Part of hyper-Calvinism's obsession with total depravity is knowing there's an instinct in too many folks who almost gush with glee when bad things happen to others.

 

    Those deep and dark places that most folks loathe to admit account for people who prefer professional daredevils to crash rather than conquer.

 

    There's that demonic oppression that makes too many folks feel good about the bad that happens to others.

 

    Or that may...

 

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    While bikers know the greatest threats to their safety are cagers and posers who trailer their ponies to rallies and cut 'em off with gusto almost equal to the cagers, lots of folks still living in la-la land think it's the ride rather than idiots behind four-or-more wheeled cages that pose peril.

 

    I thought about that on 8/8 as I was about to mount my mule for Sturgis.

 

    It was raining...hard.

 

    Parenthetically, I'm an original member of Rainmakers MC; thusly named because it rains sometime whenever we ride!

 

    Anyway, a friend warned, "Don't you think God is maybe telling you not to go?"

 

    Another friend cautioned, "I know you wear a helmet when it rains; but you better wear one throughout the trip or something bad could happen to you!"

 

    We went.

 

    I didn't.

 

    Freedom is being who God made you to be as opposed to what others want you to be to satisfy their control needs; noting being free from/through/for God will never inhibit another's freedom to be who God made them to be because no one is any more nor any less important to Him than...

 

    Or something like that.

 

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    Everything is incidental to the ride...even the sites/sights.

 

    While everyone's ride is unique to her/him, mine is dominated by intimacy with God; moving into the apostle's urging of ceaseless prayer.

 

    And that's not just when we're riding in the rain or navigating those switchbacks in Custer State Park!

 

    Personally/prejudicially, I don't get those who trailer 'em to the rally; which was reinforced by a perky babe on a big hog who covered her luggage in canvas with bold lettering: "Nice Trailer Pussy!"

 

    Of course, hanging around the church for so long has prepared me for posers of all kinds.

 

    Christianity is about Jesus; unless you're posing.

 

    Riding to freedom is not about trailering; unless you're posing.

 

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    It's gonna take a while to unpack this one.

 

    Overwhelmed by the authentic patriotism and community complementing the sites/sights, it was still the ride that mattered most.

 

    I was asked if I plan to go...

 

    I like John Eldredge's response (Wild at Heart: Discovering the Secret of a Man's Soul): "In the heart of every man is a desperate desire for a battle to fight, an adventure to live, and a beauty to rescue...Now - is Jesus more like Mother Teresa or William Wallace?...If you're a Pharisee, one of those self-appointed doctrine police...watch out!  On more than one occasion, Jesus 'picks a fight' with those notorious hypocrites...And when Christ returns, He is at the head of a dreadful company, mounted on a white horse, with a double-edged sword...Now that sounds a lot more like William Wallace than...After living in a cage, a lion no longer believes it is a lion...and a man no longer believes he is a man...Braveheart has it, 'All men die, few men ever really live!'...You cannot teach a boy to use his strength by stripping him of it...If you want a safer, quieter animal, there's an easy solution: castrate him...The history of a man's relationship with God is the story of how God calls him out, takes him on a journey..."

 

    Yes!

 

    I plan to go again and again and...because it's part of my manhood.

 

    And I plan to guide others on the journey because that's what real men do for others to help 'em move from posing to authenticity.

 

    Again, Eldredge: "I hope you're getting the picture by now.  If a man does not find those things for which his heart is made, if he is never even invited to live for them from his deep heart, he will look for them in some other way...And so a man's heart, driven into the darker regions of the soul, denied the very things he most deeply desires, comes out in darker places."

 

    That's why the authentic biker culture urges, "Ride to Freedom!"

 

    For when you're riding to freedom as He designed, you're moving farther and farther and farther away from chains and...

 

    You can't trailer authenticity.

 

    You've got to incarnate it!

 

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    Admittedly, if you don't get it, I can't explain it to you.

 

    It's an experience/relationship rather than a lecture.

 

    Hmm.

 

    That's why the parallel is so unmistakable.

 

    Christianity is not a lecture.

 

    It's not even right doctrine.

 

    It's an experience/relationship.

 

    Again, if you don't get it, I can't explain it to you.

 

    You'll just have to get some...and ride!

 

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Blessings and Love!

 

 

 

August 5, 2010

Kopp Disclosure

(John 3:19-21)

 

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    You just gotta love BBPBHO.

 

    He won't speak to the Boy Scouts but makes time to get down with the babes on The View.

 

    A politico in DC explained it/him to me: "It's the mid-terms and time to prepare for his campaign that never ends.  He's just appealing to his base.  He knows he appeals more to folks who watch The View than hang around Scouts."

 

    Whoa.

 

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    And don't you love his rhetoric?

 

    "Illegal aliens" are "undocumented workers" in his dictionary.

 

    Another friend snapped, "That's like saying drug pushers are unlicensed pharmacists."

 

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    Getting back to hanging around, the General Manager of Woodstock Harley-Davidson was on the radio version of KD live at 5 on 8/3 via www.bnnsradio.com.

 

    Parenthetically, you can still hear the interview by clicking on www.bnnsradio.com, then clicking on KOPP DISCLOSURE, and then clicking on the show for 8/3.

 

    Uh, parenthetically, uh, again, you won't want to miss next week's edition when the station's founder and manager turns the table on KD and gets him to fess up on everything from ministerial role-modeling to why mainline denominations are goin' down the crapper quicker than poop through a goose.  Uh, redundantly, just go to www.bnnsradio.com next Tuesday (8/10) at 5:00 p.m.

 

    Getting back to Woodstock, I asked Doug a question after an observation (go to the show for the exact wording via www.bnnsradio.com), "I've written a book on biker culture as metaphor and challenge to the church called I Just Wanna Ride (FTW) which is gonna make a lot of money for some publisher sooner or later; and I've always been overwhelmed by the fraternity/unity of bikers that overcomes their color, class, and culture distinctions.  I mean the biker culture seems to overcome the kinds of segregations, separations, and sectarianisms that make the church look so hypocritical/silly/unconvincing.  I mean you see bikers wearing Weejuns and button-downed Brooks Brothers shirts hanging out with 1%ers and some really funky folks.  How do you explain that?"

 

    He said, "They have a common bond in..."

 

    Ouch.

 

    Psst.

 

    Isn't Jesus supposed to...?

 

@#$%

 

    Got lots of mail about the last edition (scroll down to 7/27).

 

    It seems folks are really excited/threatened by the "emerging" church; reminding me of my favorite nuns in Maryland who like to say, "If you're right, you don't need to argue.  If you're wrong, you can't afford to."

 

    While mainliners are like sentences ending in prepositions compared to emergings, a few comments were fun/faithful/insightful/inciteful.

 

    A pastor in NJ who just found out that leaving one stinking denomination for another stinking denomination is as illogical as trying to be rational with the irrational: "Whether it's an emerging new thing or an old beast ready for transformation, the Book of Acts illustrates six principles for faithful churches: (1) Spirit-driven-truth-centered worship rather than obsessing about form or style; (2) Mentoring relationships; (3) Mission in the immediate community - one hour per day per member to make a real difference in the community; (4) 25% off the top of Sunday's offering for mission and sharing space with other Christians even if their forms or styles offend you as long as Jesus is Lord and the Bible is the manual; (5) Ditch elections for church officers and just appoint spiritual leaders who love Jesus and His truth; and (6) Discipline and stop enabling, couching, and protecting the wolves in the church."

 

    A PR guy in California who worked for the last leader in the White House (RR): "Face it.  Most pastors are music-stupid.  They do not get it.  Ear tickling with emerging music is pandering to the lowest common denominator.  Rigid adherence to old hymns sung in a dead manner is fighting yesterday's music war.  Try a little common sense!  It's the content not form, stupid!"

 

    A PCUSA seminarian in Pittsburgh: "The Christian Church in America is living in a confusing time...thrashing about in search of some way to avoid the throes of death that's approaching...Some say give up Biblical standards and embrace the culture...Some say adopt successful business practices...I prefer Jesus: 'I look to my Father in heaven and do what He does'...Churches that impact lives are churches that model Jesus."

 

    An emerging church pastor in Illinois: "All we care about is life change.  Identity not behavior modification.  Religion cares about behavior modification.  Emergents care about new identity cause we know behavior is birthed from identity...Let's break out of the cage!  Look into the mirror and be honest!...All of us are becoming!  All of us are moving from darkness to light!...Emergents are not afraid to embrace the raw truth of life.  We are not looking for safe and sanitized Jesus.  We desire the raw and dangerous journey of following the Lion of Judah wherever He leads!"

 

    Another emerging church pastor in Illinois: "I love Eminem's journey.  Check out this video...[next video in this edition]...It depicts the journey from darkness to light.  Yeah, some old denominationalists who care more about their fake proprieties, sensitivities, and such will be offended by the language - which is another reason why you guys don't reach younger folks anymore - but don't miss the message because of your mental masturbations."

 

    Whoa.

 

@#$%

 

 

@#$%

 

    After passing the coach's test for Special Olympics, which included a pledge not to date Special Olympians, I caddied and coached for my favorite Special Olympian in a state sectional qualifier on Monday just outside of Chicago.

 

    The whole scene reminded me of cultures like the one mentioned above that do such a better job than too many churches of reflecting the love of Jesus to invite, welcome, include, and love unconditionally.

 

    My guy came in 3rd.

 

    As we approached the last two holes, I said, "Billy, if we par out, we can do this."

 

    He said, "Pastor Bob, it's O.K.  There are more important things than winning."

 

    Yep.

 

@#$%

 

    I'm heading to Sturgis after the 3rd service on Sunday with three of our elders and a few, uh, hundred thousand whatevers.

 

    I'll see good, bad, ugly, and a culture that overcomes segregations, separations, and sectarianisms a lot better than...

 

    Just like I saw with Billy on Monday.

 

    Just like Billy taught me as we approached the last two holes.

 

    Do you ever wonder who's really challenged?

 

    Do you ever wonder if Jesus would feel more comfortable at a...than a...?

 

@#$%

 

Blessings and Love!

 

 

 

 

July 28, 2010

Kopp Disclosure

(John 3:19-21)

 

@#$%

 

 

@#$%

 

    I've been meeting with an emerging church pastor for a while.

 

    Trying to define an "emerging" church is like trying to define particular churches in mainline denominations; though Jim Belcher's Deep Church: A Third Way Beyond Emerging and Traditional is a good start.

 

    They're all over the ideological/ecclesiastical/spiritual/theological spectrum; but have one thing in common: "My generation was not satisfied with how church was presently done...traditional and pragmatic churches have gotten it all wrong.  These churches are no longer effective in reaching the culture...they don't create the kind of authentic community that attracts someone in this post-Christian environment."

 

    Simply, a church is emerging to replace a church that ain't working anymore anyhow for anyone if it ever did.

 

    Or something like that.

 

@#$%

 

    It's the truth.

 

    The old mainliners and newer sideliners are doing an awful job of reaching the proverbial lost and discipling the recently/continually found.

 

    They're dying; primarily because they long for the way things never were or maybe were but are no more.

 

    The gospel hasn't changed.

 

    Praise the Lord!

 

    The gospel's relevancy never changes.

 

    Jesus saves!

 

    He enables confident living in the assurance of eternal life.

 

    Outstanding!

 

    But the traditional/pragmatic/denominational packaging just doesn't attract much attention except from those who need more fiber.

 

    With "traditional" liturgies punctuated by hymnbooks published in the 50s and "contemporary" services singing songs written over three decades ago, the absence of 20/30 somethings isn't shocking.

 

    That's just the tip of the outhouse.

 

    Younger folks want to be Christian and do Christianity more than have meetings about it.

 

    The preceding may sound superficial; but it's a start in understanding why a new church is emerging.

 

@#$%

 

    Let me put it another way.

 

    Moody was criticized by a mainliner for how he did evangelism.

 

    He responded: "I prefer the way I do it to the way you don't do it."

 

@#$%

 

    Let me put it another way.

 

    Except for a special friend who buys books for me to read as led by Him, I'm frustrated by folks/family who buy books for me to read because they've read 'em and think I've got all the time in the...

 

    My wife bought John Kasich's Stand for Something: The Battle for America's Soul for me while on vacation.

 

    If you have to ask why I placed it ahead of the other ten books that I brought along, I'll know you ain't married or just got divorced.

 

    Anyway, he wrote, "If you see something happening that sets you off, rise up and do something about it...We can't change the world by relying on anybody else...It's on us.  Remember, everyone is a shepherd to someone...Do the right thing.  Leave this place a little better because you were here...If lighthouses moved with those shifting seas, think of the trouble they would cause for sailors navigating their ships in the middle of a foggy night...A lighthouse.  The values we've learned...They don't move."

 

@#$%

 

    Let me put it another way.

 

    George McGovern just turned 88; and celebrated by taking his first parachute jump from a plane over the Kennedy Space Center.

 

    When asked why he would do something so dangerous at his age, he explained, "Old guys don't want to be put on the shelf...It's no more dangerous than driving on the Interstate."

 

@#$%

 

    Let me put it another way.

 

    Duisburg, Germany hosted a music festival on 7/24/10 to celebrate love and peace.

 

    18 people were killed and another 80 were injured after a deadly crush in an entry tunnel to the event with only one way in and out.

 

    Apparently, authorities would not open other avenues/doors/exits for relieving the congestion.

 

@#$%

 

    Let me put it another way.

 

    It looks like a mosque is gonna be built near the site of the 9/11/01 mass murder by...

 

    Please spare me of the rationalizing platitudes.

 

    Two words come to mind for why another site is preferable: common sense.

 

@#$%

 

    Getting back to my friend who is an emerging church pastor, I asked which way he leans when it comes to theology.

 

    He snapped, "Dude, I'm just trying to follow Jesus as He appears in the Bible."

 

    It brought to mind an old friend who commented on my franchise's recent obsession with human sexuality.

 

    He said, "It's not about sexuality.  It's about the place of the Bible as authority or suggestion."

 

    That's the difference between mainliners, sideliners, and emergings.

 

    Mainliners and sideliners spend so much time reading about Jesus from sources other than the Bible not to mention confusing Him with their mirror reflections that they...

 

    Emergings, more than less no matter what the mainline/sideline critics pretend/spew to make themselves feel better about their increasing irrelevance juxtaposed to the increasing relevancy of emergings to more than 20/30 somethings, just open the Bible and...

 

@#$%

 

    Back to Kasich, "I don't know about you, but I'm troubled by a lot of what I see and hear in America's heartland...some new scandal...Government officials on the take...Public school teachers on the prowl.  Professional athletes on the juice.  Organized religion on the decline.  Traditional nuclear families on the wane..."

 

    Oswald Chambers: "There is never anything abstract in the Bible, it is always vivid and real...Intellectual darkness comes through ignorance; spiritual darkness comes because of something I do not intend to obey."

 

    Emergings understand Chambers' answer to Kasich's angst a lot more than...

 

@#$%

 

    My first, uh, meeting after vacation was with my friend who is an emerging church pastor.

 

    I said, "We must model Someone better."

 

    He said, "Go on!"

 

    I said, "Obviously, our world, country, and traditional church of all flavors and franchises aren't working anymore.  It's time to stop compromising on the Jesus of Holy Scripture and accommodating people who think Christianity is some navel-gazing religion."

 

    He said, "I'm with ya, man!"

 

    I said, "We don't need a different way to do church.  We need to be the Church as personified by Jesus and prescribed in the Bible."

 

    He said, "Right on, brother!"

 

    I said, "If Christians don't offer something/Someone better than what's being offered by the world, country, and church, there's no hope for any of us."

 

    He said, "Won't argue with that!"

 

    I said, "We must model Someone better."

 

    He said, "Cool! Let's do it!"

 

    I said, "I'll bring it up at our next church board meeting."

 

    He shook his head; and I understood why a church is emerging to replace...

 

@#$%

 

    I'm not going anywhere.

 

    I'm staying where I am because I love the people entrusted to me as His undershepherd.

 

    And I love 'em enough to join hands/hearts with that emerging church pastor to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth as personified in Jesus and prescribed in Holy Scripture.

 

    I love 'em enough to say what we've been doing ain't working anymore anyhow for anyone if it ever did.

 

    I love 'em enough to be rejected in saying so.

 

    I have decided to...

 

    We must model Someone better!

 

    For God's sake!

 

    And for the sake of those who need Someone so much better than what we've been...

 

@#$%

 

 

@#$%

 

Blessings and Love!

 

 

 

July 15, 2010

Kopp Disclosure

(John 3:19-21)

 

@#$%

 

 

@#$%

 

    Mainliners, Democrats, Republicans, and related lemmings can rejoice and be glad 'cause KD's out for less than two weeks of familial visitation (aka vacation).

 

    That's right!

 

    Nothing new from the noodle until we're back from the beach; which means this is a good/otherwise time to read old editions via www.koppdisclosure.com and catch a view episodes of the radio version on www.bnnsradio.com.

 

@#$%

 

 

@#$%

 

    I just got back from recording a special edition of KD on www.bnnsradio.com.

 

    My favorite founder and manager of www.bnnsradio.com turned the table on yours truly with probing interrogatives.

 

    I expect to catch everything but heaven for it after it airs on 8/10/10 at 5:00 p.m.

 

    Again, all you have to do to listen in is click on www.bnnsradio.com.

 

    Bill asked some questions that, uh, disclose my deepest inspirations/indigestions about everything from what I think of traditional models of ministry and music to my vision for incarnating our Lord's high priestly prayer rather than just paying lip service to it/Him.

 

    He did a great job of getting me into trouble with...

 

    Fortunately, my pension dues are paid up.

 

    Remember, you can always go to www.bnnsradio.com for replays of old shows that annoyed/annoy mainliners, Democrats, Republicans, and other non-thinking friends/foes.

 

@#$%

 

 

@#$%

 

    My quasi-report on the PCUSA's really big biennial tent meeting (scroll down) provoked the editor of my favorite ecclesiastical website to invite me to join him in a prayer conspiracy to revive the franchise; and if it works, other mainliners just may...

 

    While I'm guessing you'll read more about it and who's signing up via www.ChurchandWorld.com along with a forthcoming newsletter from Presbyterian Elders in Prayer, he introduced the conspiracy with a confession, "Yes, the denomination is in awfully bad shape and the handwriting is indeed on the wall."

 

    Conspiracy: "I decided this morning to skip at least 4 meals a week; praying and interceding...Believing the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, I am convinced that smart people without the fear of the Lord only can do unwise things.  I am going to pray for those who don't have the fear of the Lord, not against them!  I am going to pray for a change of heart.  I will pray that God in His grace will bring the fear of the Lord on the denomination in a much greater measure, in whatever way He chooses...I will pray that He will make those who continue without the fear of the Lord do dumb, unwise, stupid things; thinking that is the smartest thing in the world.  And I will pray that those who do have the fear of the Lord will not lean on cleverness and other human devices, but instead throw themselves on the grace of God for the benefit of the denomination; identifying themselves with the sin of the church like Nehemiah did for his people...I am going to ask God to pour out His grace on His denomination, make those who belong to Him strong and faithful, filled with the Holy Spirit.  Why not believe in revival?...I don't want to be an optimist or a pessimist...Just a realist...Realism makes me think about what God can do; and on that I will plead in great hope.  For starters, I will pray for an outpouring of a spirit of prayer."

 

    Challenge: "You are the first to know of my prayer plan.  Now I have shared it.  The plan is signed and sealed.  I am committed.  Join me?  For two years?"

 

    Yes.

 

    Go to www.ChurchandWorld.com and join the conspiracy!

 

@#$%

 

 

@#$%

 

    My favorite devotional writer (www.PassagewayTulsa.org) wrote on 7/12/10: "The work can come to a halt.  Men had grown weary and discouraged...Even the bravest heart and most committed soldier gets trapped in a cave of discouragement...There are no champions left...that can finish building God's house except one man with a heart and passion for God.  What can one man possibly do?"

 

    Providentially, she parallels the preceding challenge to join the conspiracy: "One candle can't light the whole city, can it?  Two mites aren't enough to give, are they?  Five stones and a slingshot can't take out a giant, can they?  Two fish and five loaves can't feed a multitude, can they?  One tiny vat of oil and a pat of flour can't sustain a family in famine, can they?  One man on a cross can't save the world, can He?  But hear what God says, "Not by your might or strength, but by My Spirit..."

 

    She concludes, "What seems hopeless is now possible!...He does what we are unable to do!...His power defeats a giant with a slingshot...Your strength has faded, but His never wanes!...Where you face limitations, God is just getting started!"

 

    It's like someone told me long ago, "Sometimes it's better to talk to God about someone than to talk to someone about God."

 

    O.K.

 

    The parable of the sower comes to mind.

 

    We plant.

 

    He harvests.

 

    We'll see!

 

@#$%

 

    Going away for a week or so is made easier in knowing He doesn't.

 

@#$%

 

Blessings and Love!

 

Again, visit

www.koppdisclosure.com

and

www.bnnsradio.com

while

KD's catching up on some ZZZs

and family reacquaintances!