May 12, 2009

Kopp Disclosure
(John 3:19-21)

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Our family of faith is hosting a presbytery meeting in a few hours (scroll down for a fuller definition of presbytery which is, summarily, a fancy word for a meeting of clergy and kin who think they know what God has in mind for the church and sometimes thinks/talks/acts like it is, uh,...).

It shouldn't be a bad meeting unless somebody starts shoulding on others from the left or right.

I think I'm preaching.

If you're remotely interested, find Kathie's e-mail address on www.koppdisclosure.com who will contact Harlan our tech guy and they'll conspire to get a copy of the whole worship event for you which will feature our praise team which is very, very, very gifted to enable intimacy with Him.

They'll just charge you for shipping and handling; but, of course, you can make a really big...

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You're probably wondering why I don't wait until after the meeting to include some stuff about it for this KD.

Well, I don't really expect much to happen.

Most ecclesiastical meetings are like that - some huffin' and puffin' and nobody's house gets...

That's because today's clergy, especially in the mainline, have learned how to agree with the last person that they've talked to; though they know how not to end sentences with prepositions.

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Actually, this meeting could get a little interesting/intense.

A special committee is gonna be named to deal with a congregation that doesn't like our franchise anymore and wants to join another one that it likes better.

That could bring out the worst in folks from the extreme left and extreme right who are always lookin' for an excuse to get it on.

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I hear the congregation that doesn't like us anymore is gonna join another franchise that's kinda like us but may like Jesus a little more than we do in practice as well as theory.

Psst.

Don't believe it.

I know that franchise too and they prove a rhetorical interrogative that I've been makin' for years: "Why should I leave one stinking denomination for another stinking denomination?"

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I know that franchise that feels better to the congregation that doesn't like us anymore isn't as pure and perfect as they're pretendin'.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, they talk about likin' Jesus a lot more; but when I look at what they...

For example(s), there's a fledgling new church development in their franchise that can't get any $ from the fatter cats/congregations; which totally baffles me in that they're always sayin' how their more conservative views generate more $ than...

So where's the beef?

Then there's a congregation near Iron City that was allowed to dump their pastor as soon as they exited us for 'em and put the now former pastor's former associate into... Now get this! The dude who replaced the other dude has a mail order educational certificate and was ordained by an independent Baptist relative! Help me, Jesus! These are the same guys who have bantered and moaned about our franchise not having high enough ordination standards.

I told ya!

Hypocrisy dwells on all sides of the aisle.

Then there's another congregation that made a severance deal with its pastor in one of the richest parts of Pittsburgh, reneged on the deal despite the pastor's fidelity to the agreement not to mention the sneaky way that they got rid of him, and...

And while I'll admit they talk about likin' Jesus a little more than we do, they sure as shootin' don't act like it.

Truth is they are as captive to the processes/culture of the old wineskin as they've ever been; just feelin' a little better about feelin' a little better about themselves because they're feelin'...

Ugh.

I told ya!

Why would anyone leave one stinking denomination for another stinking denomination?

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I was walkin' down a fairway with another cleric last week.

He asked, "If you were offered most of your retirement right now like other corporations are doing to downsize, would you take it?"

"Sure," I replied, "then I'd go to my board and say, 'I'll stay and preach, teach, bury, baptize, marry, and visit sick folks; but I ain't goin' to any more of those ecclesiastical meetings that accomplish next to nothin' for God's sake.'"

Then he asked, "Are you fulfilled in your ministry?"

I answered: "Fulfilled? Yes. Rewarded? Please."

Then I thought of Dietrich Bonhoeffer's The Cost of Discipleship and a few lines that congregations who don't like us anymore and want to get as far away from us as possible should, uh, selah on a while; not to mention apostates in our franchise who just don't get it and won't get it until they're born anothen: "The cross is laid on every Christian...As we embark upon discipleship, we surrender ourselves to Christ in union with His death - we give over our lives to death...When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die. It may be a death like that of the first disciples who had to leave home and work to follow Him, or it may be a death like Luther's, who had to leave the monastery and go out into the world. But it is the same death every time - death in Jesus Christ, the death of the old man at His call...In fact, every command of Jesus is a call to die, with all our affections and lusts...The wounds and scars...in the fray are living tokens of this participation in the cross of his Lord."

Jesus didn't stay in the wilderness.

The Reformers left the monastery.

Missionaries don't run away.

They, uh, gospel.

Disciples are missionaries; and those who leave the mainline to feel better about themselves are ignoring their...

It's like Hans Evans said to me so many years ago when I wanted to get out: "Stay with us! Our denomination is one of the best mission fields open to us today."

Fulfilled?

Yes.

Rewarded?

Let me think on that one some more.

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GluCM_ggMvw

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I think some folks spend so much time navel-gazing that they ignore their responsibilities to the rest of the body.

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Blessings and Love!

Go to www.koppdisclosure.com for whatever Kathie's cookin' up!