March 9, 2009

Kopp Disclosure
(John 3:19-21)

@#$%

An Illinois pastor was shot and killed during worship yesterday.

I'm not surprised.

Question: "What are you having for dinner?"

Answer: "The pastor."

I think it was the old devil who said to the young devil in C.S. Lewis' The Screwtape Letters, "We do our best work at the steps of the chancel."

@#$%

Here's a new one.

A call (C) came into the church on Saturday morning when no one else was around but moi (M):

M: "Good Morning! First Church. How can I help you?"

C: "Is this Dr. Kopp?"

M: "Yes, last time I checked. May I ask who's calling?"

C: "No, you may not because it's none of your business."

M: "Is this a solicitation? We don't take solicitations over
the telephone; but if you send your materials to us,
I'll be sure to make sure the right folks review your
materials and, if necessary, get back to you..."

C: "Will you please shut up and listen to me?"

M: "Excuse me?"

C: "You are Dr. Kopp and Pastor of First Presbyterian
Church?"

M: "Bingo! And you can take that with fifty cents and
get a cup of coffee at Burger King!"

C: "Listen, you smart___! You have no right to put up
political signs in your front yard!"

M: "Geez! Are you like having a bad day or something?
That's why you called me? I knew they were gonna
come after me sooner or later; but I don't live in a
parsonage. It's not church property. It's my house
which is about 3 miles from the church."

C: "You should know better that that! Pastors are
not supposed to get involved in politics. Didn't
you learn anything about the separation of church
and state when you were studying to be a pastor?"

M: "Wait a second, friend. I know you think pastors
are supposed to believe nothing in an articulate way
or agree with the last person we've talked to; but
haven't you read the Bible? How about the role of
clergy in the American Revolution? God's people
have always..."

She hung up.

Ignorant people do not like to be confused with facts.

@#$%



@#$%

Speaking of facts or intentions, PBHO said, "This is no longer a Christian nation."

Yeah, I know we've quoted that before; but it seems he's right on that one.

A new survey by Trinity College reveals the percentage of Christians in America has declined and more folks are saying they have no religion at all.

For example, 30% of married couples did not have a "religious" wedding service and 27% of the respondents said they did not want a "religious" funeral.

Give credit where credit is due!

PBHO is right even if it looks so wrong.

Didn't the French tourist warn, "America is great because America is good; and when America ceases to be good, it will cease to be great!"?

2 Chronicles 7:14.

@#$%

David Wilkerson, who is pastor of the rapidly growing Times Square Church in NYC and author of The Cross and the Switchblade as well as founder of Teen Challenge, predicts "an earth-shattering calamity" centered in the Big Apple sometime soon.

He sees the catastrophe as spreading across America as a judgment from God.

He says, "What we are experiencing now is not a recession, not even a depression. We are under God's wrath."

Urging folks to stockpile food and other necessities, he warns, "God is judging the raging sins of America and the nations. He is destroying the secular foundations."

He concludes, "I do not know when these things will come to pass, but I know it's not far off. I have unburdened my soul to you. Do with the message as you choose."

That's it.

I haven't charged anything for nearly a year; but if it's that close...

I wonder if he takes Visa for copies of that sermon.

@#$%



@#$%

In a related story, a friend from San Diego who says I'm fixated on PBHO just provided the latest from Barna Research: "Evangelicals are a small proportion of the national population - just 7% of all adults...2/3 of all evangelicals...were aligned with the Republican Party [in the past two Presidential elections]...21% were Democrats and just...10% were registered independent...That puts evangelicals at odds with the national voter profile."

I'm shocked.

Not.

Continuing: "88% voted for John McCain...compared to just 11% for PBHO...Surveys conducted by Barna throughout the campaign season showed that evangelicals were not enthusiastic about either candidate..."

Really?

C'mon, where's the beef?

Ready or not, here it comes: "Non-Christians provided PBHO with a lopsided 62% to 36% margin of preference over JM."

Now go back to the first sentence of this KD's third section and ask, "Was he reporting or rejoicing?"

@#$%

Jeremiah Wright is back in the news.

Speaking to AP last Thursday, he smiled at the mention of PBHO; then said, "He's like any other President. He's a politician and he's got to do what politicians do...Barack's name ain't Jesus..."

Dang.

We had hoped he was the one to...

Don't worry.

Venezuelan nutball President Hugo Chavez spoke on Friday and called PBHO to join the, uh, crusade: "Come with us, align yourself, come with us on the road to socialism. This is the only path. Imagine a socialist revolution in the United States...Nothing is impossible. Who would have thought in the 1980s that the Soviet Union would disappear?"

Now what do Wright, Chavez, and PBHO have in common?

Nothing to see here! Nothing to see here!

@#$%

I finally saw Slumdog Millionaire:

.

Aside from the main theme of pursing dreams and acknowledging destiny/providence/quadruple-predestination, I think all parents should force their spoiled American children to see it for reasons that will be apparent within ten minutes.

Yeah, I liked it a lot; though the dance scene at the end kinda reminded me of the finale of Fame:



Jamal, the slumdog millionaire, made Matthew 10:16 come alive for me: "When somebody asks me a question, I tell them the answer."'

Selah.

Pause and ponder on that Jamal quote.

The exchanges between the police inspector and Jamal are priceless; and brought the struggle of evangelicals in mainline denominations to mind when the cop finally congratulated as he cautioned the overcomer that he was getting into trouble for telling the truth: "What can a slumdog possibly know?...The answers!"

@#$%

Reviewing the first two sections of this KD before reading on, I'm always, uh, fascinated, like in a bad case of food poisoning, by folks who think they are entitled to tell anyone else how they should live their lives; except, of course, for Jesus who doesn't count because He's God and gets to do that.

Anyway, now that KD is catchin' on, I've been told to talk less about what I want to talk about and more about what "they" want to talk about.

Geez.

Get your own website!

Well, being the sensitive guy that I am, I sought counsel from the founder/editor of one of the planet's most successful paradenominational/ecumenical websites.

He wrote back to me: "I welcome feedback, ideas, and advice, and I get it...but I have no problem not following all suggestions...I trust our readers can think for themselves...If a reader suggests drastic changes, the answer is a polite no. If you want to please everybody, you don't please anybody...Nobody but you can write your KDs. Whatever people tell you, don't become a hypocrite - the Greek is for somebody who is not playing himself, as you well know. Only accept advice that helps you to be more like the Lord Jesus Christ; which could make you even more obnoxious!"

O.K.

I just hope to ride before being shot.

@#$%

Blessings and Love!

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