May 13, 2010

Kopp Disclosure
(John 3:19-21)

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On my way for a quick nine with my favorite Special Olympics golf champion very early on the Wednesday after Tuesday's presbytery meeting that included dismissing a church to another franchise (see the report in a forthcoming edition of www.presbyweb.com or www.ChurchandWorld.com), I stopped for some warm caffeine and gas and ran into a faithful member of First who was just getting off work.

He asked how things were going; and I said, "Well, I went to a presbytery meeting that seemed like an ecclesiastical version of 24."

Ignoring the denominational stuff like most Christians today, He pressed, "I've heard lots about 24, but I've never seen it. What's it about?"

Insisting on coupling both shows, I said, "It's about espionage, terrorism, deceit, wolves in sheep's clothing, love/lust/adultery, selling your soul for money, defying basic values of common decency, turning your back on God and country, and, essentially, about everything going to hell in a handbasket."

The guy behind the cash register chimed in, "Oh, you mean it's a reality show."

@#$%

Some people look in the mirror and see Jesus.

Then they strut around and talk like God.

They're never wrong.

When you try to remind 'em that only the real Jesus was/is never wrong, they look like you've committed blasphemy or they didn't make it to the restroom in time.

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Mel Kiper, Jr. comes to mind.

He's the NFL draft guru who talks with divine authority about who should be drafted by whom.

He's never wrong.

For example, he is convinced Notre Dame's latest messiah, JC (him not Him), should have been drafted in the first round instead of Tim Tebow.

Despite the commendations of people who've actually taken a snap or two in their lives, his hair almost stood on end (a real miracle if you know what I mean) when Denver took the gator instead of the messiah in the first round.

How could the Broncos buck somebody who's never wrong?

Maybe it's because they remembered Mel's effusive praise for JaMarcus Russell back in 2007: "Three years from now you could certainly be looking at a guy who is certainly one of the elite top-five quarterbacks in this league...Once he's under center, look out, because the skill level he has is certainly John Elway-like."

Oops.

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Staying with popular messianic expectations, Susan Page and Mimi Hall, who prove babes haven't stopped fainting at the sight/scent of the main man, wrote for USA Today (5/12/10), "Historians say President Obama's legislative record during a crisis-ridden presidency already puts him in a league with such consequential presidents as Lyndon Johnson and Franklin Roosevelt."

Whoa.

Not bad after less than two years.

I hope he lives up to the premature hyperbole.

You gotta want him to succeed in a Christian kinda way for God's sake along with everybody else's.

But, c'mon, he's still strictly OJT without a perceivable clue when it comes to the economy, religious nutballs of all flavors, national security, and global warfare; though his two Supreme Court nominees are hardly as bad as anybody who knows anything about his nutty buddies would have predicted.

Again, I hope and pray He's the, uh, real not just new deal for America.

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Staying with folks who see a little too much of Jesus in their mirrors, Tuesday's presbytery meeting was kinda sad.

Whenever folks divorce from each other, especially Christians who should know better, Jesus weeps in a John 17 kinda way.

I'm tired of messiahs from left and right who talk/act/appear so high and mighty when it comes to people who don't agree with them.

I'm tired of messiahs from left and right who tell us to "trust the process" until it doesn't confirm their divine discernments; which is when they talk/act/appear like any other malcontent/miscreant.

Yeah, you can read the divine ideologies about what happened by linking to 'em courtesy of, uh, links provided by www.presbyweb.com and www.ChurchandWorld.com.

Psst.

Go to www.pcusa.org for jingoistic rationalizations and www.layman.org for schismatic rationalizations; then split the difference to discover the...

Or as one of the sober voices said on Tuesday, "Instead of condemning churches that want to leave us, maybe we should take a look in the mirror and ask why they want to leave us?"

Nah.

Why bother with that when you're/we're/I'm always right?

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Though the ideologically/navel-gazing more than theologically/Biblically/Christocentrically bent won't want to do this because it could/would/should conflict with what's in their mirrors, they may want to check out a few, uh, geez, gasp, sigh, c'mon, darn, Bible verses.

Proverbs 12:16; 20:3; 29:11.

Romans 12:3-5.

1 Corinthians 13.

Ephesians 4:29-32.

Philippians 2:3-4.

2 Timothy 2:23-24.

James 4:1-2.

1 Peter 3:8-10.

Sorry.

That's so backward by mainline, uh, standards.

Standards?

Anyway, maybe we need to go back, uh, to the future.

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Actually, I want to thank Don Hecox for putting those verses together for me.

I got 'em on the Wednesday after the Tuesday presbytery meeting that he didn't know/care about.

Coincidental for mainliners/secularists (synonyms more often than not).

Providential for believers.

Anyway, he also wrote this poem on 5/10/10 that reminded me of all of the above:

You're seldom right, I'm never wrong.
and I have known that all along,
the place I always struggle though,
is helping you - so you can know.

I think it's such a blessing that,
I spread the word where I am at,
so even others - most like you,
can come to know my point of view.

It's often not a mystery -
it's not a deep profundity,
it's simply born of common sense,
and that is why I'm always tense.

It's almost always obvious -
though others seem oblivious,
I know it well - I saw it fast,
my words, you'll see are built to last.

So God has placed me here on earth,
to help increase your sense of worth,
to give you hope and help you see,
you'll have it right eventually.

I'll guide you like a special friend,
you'll find you're always on the mend,
I'll push and pull and poke and prod,
alerting you - lest you should nod.

I'm on the job - it's how I work,
I guess it's just my special quirk,
this process of remaking you,
is paramount in all I do.

I've said, they're mostly simple things,
like choosing how your cellphone rings,
and telling you - so you can know,
what you should think - where you should go.

What you should say - and with what tone?
no need to fret, you're not alone,
I'm like your shadow - fit to tell,
so you can do it all so well.

I'll teach you how you ought to drive,
I'm helping keep us all alive,
so stop - no go - now left - then right,
just do it please - don't start a fight.

You see, I've been this way before,
my wit is what you can't ignore,
if I were wrong, I'd tell you so,
sit back, relax, I'll run the show.

You ought to laugh, you ought to cry,
you ought to give my way a try,
you ought to leave, you ought to stay,
you ought to see it all my way.

'Cause right is right and wrong is wrong,
I've seemed to know it all along,
the average guy - the idiot,
just hasn't seemed to get it yet.

Who knows, someday the world might see,
they've come to know it all like me,
and oh - one day I'll be at rest,
when all believe - My Way Is Best!

Ouch.

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God does have something divine in mind for us.

We get it/Him by increasing our intimacy with Him; as the Psalmist said, "God inhabits the praises of His people."

The goal: "It is no longer I who live, but Jesus who lives in..."

Break the mirrors!

Look up!

Stand up!

Speak up!

Act up for Jesus!

It's the only Christian thing to do; which would be a lot better than reflections of...

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Blessings and Love!