August 24, 2009

Kopp Disclosure
(John 3:19-21)

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Thumbing through my other "Bible" - Harley-Davidson's 2010 catalog: Your Custom Starts Here - and getting past pages 322-461 that cause me to break the 10th commandment with more regularity than my, uh, daily, uh, never mind, my spirit got stuck on page 475: "Freedom and the right to ride are at the heart of motorcycling. We understand that unless we, as riders, take steps to be socially responsible, our right to ride and our lifestyle may be in jeopardy. Remember to ride respectfully."

Whoa.

That's pretty deep.

So many parallels.

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What is freedom?

Here's an excerpt from one rider's thoughts that are included in a forthcoming book:

My young son and emerging biker Matthew says, "Freedom is when no one
bothers you."

Most would agree freedom happens when the chains that bind are broken and
you emerge from the cocoon like a butterfly to be who you want and were
destined to be.

Most would agree freedom is determining, designing, and riding to your own
destiny.

Most would agree freedom is taking care of yourself by rules that you've
adopted for yourself rather than being taken care of by others who impose
their rules upon you.

Most would agree, to borrow a phrase, freedom is "being all you can be"
without someone dictating your potential and opportunities.

Freedom is choosing who you will be and what you will do and where
you're going and who will be invited to ride with you...

Biblical freedom, which I believe is what all authentic bikers and churchgoers
embrace, is not doing whatever the hell you want to do but rather being who
He made you to be which will never insult His holiness nor injure anyone else.

Biblical freedom encourages us to be His best for our lives with the thought,
time, talents, and treasures that He has entrusted to us that will always
honor Him and never hurt any of His as expressed and experienced.

The book, which should be published before Jesus comes back, looks at biker culture as metaphor and challenge to the church; and there's a lot in it about the very dark forces in this world and even church dedicated to limiting such freedom.

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The USA and PCUSA along with the latter's used-to-be-mainline-now-on-the-sideline siblings come to mind.

All of 'em are going down the crapper quicker than Brett Favre's popularity in Green Bay.

While I may be wrong, I think it has a lot to do with their increasingly arrogant "top down" dictatorial inclinations seeking incarnation.

Simply, there's a striking parallel in their leaderships.

Again, I may be wrong; but I think they think people in the trenches cannot be trusted with self-determination because they know better.

Or something like that.

All I know for sure is I've never seen a removed freedom restored.

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Why do some people want/need/thirst/try to control other people?

Yeah, I know there are some really sick people who need to be, uh, barred in an incarcerated kinda way.

But aren't most people pretty responsible and considerate and other qualities contributing to the welfare of all?

I think of the church; because, uh, that's where I hang out most of the time.

A very few seem to want to dictate everything; and they get away with it in too many instances.

And many people get hurt by them.

Yeah, I know some people look into the mirror and see Jesus.

But I'm wondering what you think about it?

Why?

What can we do about it?

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I had an associate pastor in KC who was really incompetent.

He covered it up by telling me about the incompetencies of the other staff members.

I spent so much time with the others who weren't nearly as bad as he was that I never got around to him.

He lit fires in the backyards of others so no one would see his house burning down.

I think that's what Republicans are doing to PBHO.

They learned it from Democrats who did it to GWB.

I think that's what those churchgoers who were formerly in the mainline are doing to each other.

Jesus said something really helpful about that (viz., Matthew 7:1-6).

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Do you remember the guy from Pennsylvania who wrote about death panels?

If not, scroll down to the last KD (8/19/09).

Anyway, my favorite newswoman in the South wrote, "I think we should have death panels for mainline denominations. As soon as the membership drops below a certain level and age demographic, the denomination should go into the panel and have to justify its existence, and perhaps if it can't, be put out of its misery. It's costing too much to maintain its existence."

As I said, so many parallels.

She got really, really, really personal avec moi about his comments about getting in shape: "When does your exercise and weight loss program start?"

Geez.

I knew I shouldn't have included that picture on this site.

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I'm president of a junior tackle football league.

A new coach who was meeting me for the first time on Saturday (8/22/09) said, "Hey, there's a boy on the roster of the team that we're gonna play whose last name is the same as yours. Is it your grandson?"

I almost suspended him on the spot.

Then an old friend caught my attention from the sideline, called me over, and said, "You've been doing a great job; but, man, you've put on a lotta weight since becoming president!"

I almost puked.

Then he asked/said, "How you been able to handle all them historically bad relationships? Everybody seems to be gettin' along really well these days. I'm stunned. You gots some real rough boys in that league."

"Hey, dude," I answered while still unglued by his sizing me down, "I'm a pastor. You have no idea how rough some kids can be."

Parallels.

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Blessings and Love!

Go to www.koppdisclosure.com to weigh in!