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!
KDs are designed/developed/inspired/mused/auto-suggested/indigested to make folks think; an especially uncommon experience among Democrats, Republicans, and jingoistic mainline denominationalists who continue to discourage dissent with their ever-threatening thought police.
Thursday, July 15, 2010
Friday, July 9, 2010
July 9, 2010
Kopp Disclosure
(John 3:19-21)
@#$%
@#$%
Driving home from the 219th General Assembly of the PCUSA in Minneapolis with my wife, two youngest, and the Executive Director of Presbyterian Elders in Prayer, we wondered how we could/should/would ever explain what's happening to our franchise.
A big clue to what just happened and what's gonna happen before LeBron adds NBA championships to his not-in-Cleveland legacy was the election of the Moderator who sets the tone and appoints kin to important decision-making positions.
Elder Cynthia Bolbach was elected for the two-year term; which means she can commit/omit about as much in the PCUSA as BBPBHO has committed/omitted in the USA over the past two years.
Gulp.
She was endorsed for the office by National Capital Presbytery (DC area) which is just left of, uh, just about everybody else in the franchise; and pseudo-prophesied why she wanted the job: "I feel called to stand for Moderator to help our church - proud inheritor of the Reformed tradition - discern how best to proclaim the timeless Gospel message to a 21st century world that is multi-cultural and religiously pluralistic."
Innocuous.
Not really.
Of the six candidates running for office, only she expressed unqualified support for same-sex marriage.
Clue.
She's a lawyer who decided to balance her leadership by picking pastor Landon Whitsett of Liberty, Missouri as her Vice-moderator.
Not.
He's from Heartland Presbytery which has devolved into an aggressive advocate for everything fearful to franchise members who still believe Jesus is who the New Testament says He is as upheld by our constitution.
In other words, it's time to congratulate the PCUSA's left.
Always a leader among the losers in the mainline, the PCUSA's left is in position to advance its agenda with minimal resistance.
Matthew 23:15 comes to mind.
@#$%
@#$%
Rabbi Yitzchok Adlerstein, Director of Interfaith Affairs for the Simon Wiesenthal Center, and I spent some time together; lamenting the devolution of the PCUSA from Christianity as personified in Jesus, prescribed in Holy Scripture, and upheld by its constitution to a navel-gazing religion.
He was there to help derail the PCUSA's increasingly rabid anti-Israel agenda.
Parenthetically, I almost forgot to tell you to go to www.pcusa.org (for the good/sanitized news), www.layman.org (for the bad news), and www.ChurchandWorld.com (for balanced reporting) for the specifics about what happened as harbinger to what's around the corner.
Anyway, I seemed to have more in common with him - like the desire/prayer to honor the one and only God of the Hebrew Scriptures and New Testament - than...
Ouch.
Well, he interviewed me on camera; and though I don't know what went wherever it went, here's the gist: "I tell people who tell me about the bad behaviors of Christians that they shouldn't blame Jesus for some Christians who need more of Jesus in their lives. In the same way, don't blame Presbyterians for General Assembly. This meeting does not represent the majority of Presbyterians in America. This meeting is an anomaly."
Yeah, GAs are usually embarrassing to folks in the franchise's particular churches; but God knows we wish everybody knew GAs only represent the cast of characters whenever they get together.
Sure, GAs accelerate the decline/demise of the franchise; but there are still some very faithful folks in the trenches.
@#$%
@#$%
Speaking of faithful folks, a really smart one in California encouraged the faithful minority at GA, "We inhabit a broken world which contains a broken denomination run by broken pretenders of the faith. Knowing that, may you stand in the shower of God's grace, radiating His presence and throwing light onto their darkness."
Many did.
Getting personal with me in reference to the last KD (scroll down), a friend in Florida commended/cautioned, "I have never considered you to be normal nor moderate...If you were normal, you'd still be a tall steeple muckidy muck defending the status quo of the PCUSA as a former moderator driving a BMW to your Lake Michigan summer home for some rest prior to flying into GA for the usual 'all is good in the PCUSA' sing-a-long."
Whoa.
Another faithful fellah in Texas wrote, "Presbyterian evangelist Charles Finney was once reported to have said, 'Every time there's a Presbyterian General Assembly, there's a jubilee in hell!'...There is only one, holy, catholic, apostolic CHURCH. You don't get into it by leaving the PCUSA; nor are you excluded from it by staying in the PCUSA...Denominations aren't Biblical, nor are they 'working' anymore...I will not run and leave the camp, and the lambs, to the Philistines..."
Amen!
A seminarian at PTS (Pittsburgh): "What does the world see when it looks at the church today? I am afraid it sees us as just another special interest group...The world sees infighting...We imitate the world more than the Word...Even the command given to us to love one another can be trashed if it gets in the way of our need to win...The evil one has now brought Christ's church to the place where it may fall because of its divisions...We need God's intervention. God alone can lift our eyes out of the mud pit where we have become content to dwell...If the church is to recover, we need to repent and seek God's grace now. The world that Jesus died to save needs us now more than ever. We must be healed by God. Then we must extend those healed and healing hands to our hurting neighbors. Let the church become a place of love, hope, and joy for such a time as this.
Refreshing.
@#$%
@#$%
Our van broke down just outside of Madison, Wisconsin.
Something short-circuited.
$450.31 later, we re-connected to the battery and...
Hmm.
That kinda explains what/what's happened/happening...
@#$%
@#$%
BTW, except for a song or two that friends/family know I want included when my day comes, the preceding selections will be played at the memorial service.
Why mention that?
I just got back from GA.
I'm feeling funereal.
@#$%
Blessings and Love!
(John 3:19-21)
@#$%
@#$%
Driving home from the 219th General Assembly of the PCUSA in Minneapolis with my wife, two youngest, and the Executive Director of Presbyterian Elders in Prayer, we wondered how we could/should/would ever explain what's happening to our franchise.
A big clue to what just happened and what's gonna happen before LeBron adds NBA championships to his not-in-Cleveland legacy was the election of the Moderator who sets the tone and appoints kin to important decision-making positions.
Elder Cynthia Bolbach was elected for the two-year term; which means she can commit/omit about as much in the PCUSA as BBPBHO has committed/omitted in the USA over the past two years.
Gulp.
She was endorsed for the office by National Capital Presbytery (DC area) which is just left of, uh, just about everybody else in the franchise; and pseudo-prophesied why she wanted the job: "I feel called to stand for Moderator to help our church - proud inheritor of the Reformed tradition - discern how best to proclaim the timeless Gospel message to a 21st century world that is multi-cultural and religiously pluralistic."
Innocuous.
Not really.
Of the six candidates running for office, only she expressed unqualified support for same-sex marriage.
Clue.
She's a lawyer who decided to balance her leadership by picking pastor Landon Whitsett of Liberty, Missouri as her Vice-moderator.
Not.
He's from Heartland Presbytery which has devolved into an aggressive advocate for everything fearful to franchise members who still believe Jesus is who the New Testament says He is as upheld by our constitution.
In other words, it's time to congratulate the PCUSA's left.
Always a leader among the losers in the mainline, the PCUSA's left is in position to advance its agenda with minimal resistance.
Matthew 23:15 comes to mind.
@#$%
@#$%
Rabbi Yitzchok Adlerstein, Director of Interfaith Affairs for the Simon Wiesenthal Center, and I spent some time together; lamenting the devolution of the PCUSA from Christianity as personified in Jesus, prescribed in Holy Scripture, and upheld by its constitution to a navel-gazing religion.
He was there to help derail the PCUSA's increasingly rabid anti-Israel agenda.
Parenthetically, I almost forgot to tell you to go to www.pcusa.org (for the good/sanitized news), www.layman.org (for the bad news), and www.ChurchandWorld.com (for balanced reporting) for the specifics about what happened as harbinger to what's around the corner.
Anyway, I seemed to have more in common with him - like the desire/prayer to honor the one and only God of the Hebrew Scriptures and New Testament - than...
Ouch.
Well, he interviewed me on camera; and though I don't know what went wherever it went, here's the gist: "I tell people who tell me about the bad behaviors of Christians that they shouldn't blame Jesus for some Christians who need more of Jesus in their lives. In the same way, don't blame Presbyterians for General Assembly. This meeting does not represent the majority of Presbyterians in America. This meeting is an anomaly."
Yeah, GAs are usually embarrassing to folks in the franchise's particular churches; but God knows we wish everybody knew GAs only represent the cast of characters whenever they get together.
Sure, GAs accelerate the decline/demise of the franchise; but there are still some very faithful folks in the trenches.
@#$%
@#$%
Speaking of faithful folks, a really smart one in California encouraged the faithful minority at GA, "We inhabit a broken world which contains a broken denomination run by broken pretenders of the faith. Knowing that, may you stand in the shower of God's grace, radiating His presence and throwing light onto their darkness."
Many did.
Getting personal with me in reference to the last KD (scroll down), a friend in Florida commended/cautioned, "I have never considered you to be normal nor moderate...If you were normal, you'd still be a tall steeple muckidy muck defending the status quo of the PCUSA as a former moderator driving a BMW to your Lake Michigan summer home for some rest prior to flying into GA for the usual 'all is good in the PCUSA' sing-a-long."
Whoa.
Another faithful fellah in Texas wrote, "Presbyterian evangelist Charles Finney was once reported to have said, 'Every time there's a Presbyterian General Assembly, there's a jubilee in hell!'...There is only one, holy, catholic, apostolic CHURCH. You don't get into it by leaving the PCUSA; nor are you excluded from it by staying in the PCUSA...Denominations aren't Biblical, nor are they 'working' anymore...I will not run and leave the camp, and the lambs, to the Philistines..."
Amen!
A seminarian at PTS (Pittsburgh): "What does the world see when it looks at the church today? I am afraid it sees us as just another special interest group...The world sees infighting...We imitate the world more than the Word...Even the command given to us to love one another can be trashed if it gets in the way of our need to win...The evil one has now brought Christ's church to the place where it may fall because of its divisions...We need God's intervention. God alone can lift our eyes out of the mud pit where we have become content to dwell...If the church is to recover, we need to repent and seek God's grace now. The world that Jesus died to save needs us now more than ever. We must be healed by God. Then we must extend those healed and healing hands to our hurting neighbors. Let the church become a place of love, hope, and joy for such a time as this.
Refreshing.
@#$%
@#$%
Our van broke down just outside of Madison, Wisconsin.
Something short-circuited.
$450.31 later, we re-connected to the battery and...
Hmm.
That kinda explains what/what's happened/happening...
@#$%
@#$%
BTW, except for a song or two that friends/family know I want included when my day comes, the preceding selections will be played at the memorial service.
Why mention that?
I just got back from GA.
I'm feeling funereal.
@#$%
Blessings and Love!
Friday, July 2, 2010
July 2, 2010
Kopp Disclosure
(John 3:19-21)
@#$%
A friend counseled, "You've gotta get rid of those hideous white-framed sunglasses that you wear on your bike; and while we're at it, those painter and cargo pants gotta go! They're not the image!"
Retort: "If I really cared about image, I wouldn't ride at all."
The first visit to my favorite HD dealership in Woodstock comes to mind.
When asked what I, uh, do for a living, I revealed, "I'm a pastor, professor, and writer of non-best-selling books; but I'm not that conventional."
Response: "You wouldn't be in here unless you weren't a little off."
@#$%
@#$%
Normal.
What is normal?
Who defines who's normal?
Doesn't normal mean fitting into the culture without a conscience?
Doesn't normal mean being a Democrat/Republican who only votes for Democrats/Republicans?
Doesn't normal mean being like mainliners who long for the way things never were or maybe were but are no more?
When I think normal, I think boring.
I think going with the flow even if it's headed in the wrong direction.
I think moderate; as in people who are moderately committed to Jesus, America, family, vocation, and so on.
Jesus wasn't normal.
He was counter-culture.
He thought normal was very, uh, natural; as in, "You're only being natural."
Read Colossians 3:1-2.
Normal?
I hope not.
Of course, normal people crucified Jesus; which, I guess, means...
I'm reminded of youngsters who dream (nightmare) of becoming pastors: "I want to grow up to be just like Jesus."
Yeah, except for the crucifixion part.
@#$%
@#$%
Our family of faith was very nice to me on Pastor Appreciation Month last October.
I got gift certificates to Starbucks, Golf Shack, Outback, and my favorite HD dealership.
One note hangs in my study.
It's attached to a picture of a biker babe who is applying heavy make-up while looking into the mirror of her old man's hog with this caption: "Do this. Do that. Don't do this. Don't do that. Blah, blah, blah."
The note:
I appreciate Pastor Bob all year long because...
He, like Jesus, loves and cares about me and my family
unconditionally.
Also, that I do not have to fit into a predetermined criteria to
be his special friend in Christ.
Finally, somebody got/gets what I'm trying to be all about.
It ain't normal/natural.
I fall way, way, way short of what He expects; but I'm praying and laboring to...
@#$%
Referring to my favorite devotional writer (www.PassagewayTulsa.org), a friend wrote, "I know you receive and enjoy her messages. I'm forwarding this one to you because it bears repeating to you over and over again! You certainly are rightfully a weary shepherd and many take you and your devotion to your flock so for granted. They are quick to question, condemn, and comment; but so few confirm you. You just can't hear her message too often. Please apply it today. I have a bit of an idea how weary you must be...You hide it well; because, I guess..."
Excerpts: "Jeremiah 31:25...Matthew 11:28-30...The weary shepherd slowly made his way back to the flock. A cunning lion had tried to slip in, but the bleating of the lamb that was trapped in the jaws of the lion alerted the watcher...the fight was on. Finally, bruised and bleeding, the watcher defeated the lion with a mighty blow of his shepherd's staff. He gently carried the shaken and trembling lamb back to safety. Too many long nights and too many battles such as this were taking their toll on the shepherd...This is no glamorous position that he holds. Instead, he smells of the sheep he watches over...sheep that are too innocent, or too blissfully ignorant to understand and appreciate the shepherd's loving care...He must always be on guard, for there are wolves...So he continues to stand watch and reminisce...Memories assail him...He still feels the sting of losses. He remembers the sweet times...leaner times...'These are good sheep...sheep that are worth fighting for!'...There are baby lambs...There are older sheep who need wise guidance. Indeed, his fold still has great potential. He loves his sheep...He knows them...So, the weary shepherd continues to watch, to fight, to pray, to lead, to feed, to guide...His tired, but keen eyes scan the horizon, looking for predators in the fading darkness. Something catches his eye...It's none other than the Chief Shepherd who has come to see about His servant's shepherd! They spend time together...They gaze over the flock...The Shepherd King says, 'You love them as I do. Come, let me tend to your bleeding wounds and pour the balm of healing on your poor, tired heart. Sit at my feet and be refreshed in My presence. Rest a bit while I watch the sheep...I was with you each and every time you fought off a lion...I was as disappointed as you when some sheep left the fold or were attacked...But I've got great plans for you and the future of your sheep!...Rest now in Me, and find your strength again! It's not over, but the best is to come!'...The Shepherd King has much to say to you!"
Selah.
Go to www.PassagewayTulsa.org and read the whole thing from Him through her for you (6/30/10).
@#$%
People mean well when they tell me to wear a helmet; even if they've never mounted a mule and have no clue about the subject (i.e., ignorant).
I'm reminded of folks who tell me to stop talking on the cellular when I'm driving in my cage because it's not safe.
Some of those same folks tell me how frustrated they become when I'm riding my RK and they can't reach me on the cellular.
Yeah, I'm weary.
Praise the Lord for the truth in the preceding section of this KD.
@#$%
@#$%
Blessings and Love!
(John 3:19-21)
@#$%
A friend counseled, "You've gotta get rid of those hideous white-framed sunglasses that you wear on your bike; and while we're at it, those painter and cargo pants gotta go! They're not the image!"
Retort: "If I really cared about image, I wouldn't ride at all."
The first visit to my favorite HD dealership in Woodstock comes to mind.
When asked what I, uh, do for a living, I revealed, "I'm a pastor, professor, and writer of non-best-selling books; but I'm not that conventional."
Response: "You wouldn't be in here unless you weren't a little off."
@#$%
@#$%
Normal.
What is normal?
Who defines who's normal?
Doesn't normal mean fitting into the culture without a conscience?
Doesn't normal mean being a Democrat/Republican who only votes for Democrats/Republicans?
Doesn't normal mean being like mainliners who long for the way things never were or maybe were but are no more?
When I think normal, I think boring.
I think going with the flow even if it's headed in the wrong direction.
I think moderate; as in people who are moderately committed to Jesus, America, family, vocation, and so on.
Jesus wasn't normal.
He was counter-culture.
He thought normal was very, uh, natural; as in, "You're only being natural."
Read Colossians 3:1-2.
Normal?
I hope not.
Of course, normal people crucified Jesus; which, I guess, means...
I'm reminded of youngsters who dream (nightmare) of becoming pastors: "I want to grow up to be just like Jesus."
Yeah, except for the crucifixion part.
@#$%
@#$%
Our family of faith was very nice to me on Pastor Appreciation Month last October.
I got gift certificates to Starbucks, Golf Shack, Outback, and my favorite HD dealership.
One note hangs in my study.
It's attached to a picture of a biker babe who is applying heavy make-up while looking into the mirror of her old man's hog with this caption: "Do this. Do that. Don't do this. Don't do that. Blah, blah, blah."
The note:
I appreciate Pastor Bob all year long because...
He, like Jesus, loves and cares about me and my family
unconditionally.
Also, that I do not have to fit into a predetermined criteria to
be his special friend in Christ.
Finally, somebody got/gets what I'm trying to be all about.
It ain't normal/natural.
I fall way, way, way short of what He expects; but I'm praying and laboring to...
@#$%
Referring to my favorite devotional writer (www.PassagewayTulsa.org), a friend wrote, "I know you receive and enjoy her messages. I'm forwarding this one to you because it bears repeating to you over and over again! You certainly are rightfully a weary shepherd and many take you and your devotion to your flock so for granted. They are quick to question, condemn, and comment; but so few confirm you. You just can't hear her message too often. Please apply it today. I have a bit of an idea how weary you must be...You hide it well; because, I guess..."
Excerpts: "Jeremiah 31:25...Matthew 11:28-30...The weary shepherd slowly made his way back to the flock. A cunning lion had tried to slip in, but the bleating of the lamb that was trapped in the jaws of the lion alerted the watcher...the fight was on. Finally, bruised and bleeding, the watcher defeated the lion with a mighty blow of his shepherd's staff. He gently carried the shaken and trembling lamb back to safety. Too many long nights and too many battles such as this were taking their toll on the shepherd...This is no glamorous position that he holds. Instead, he smells of the sheep he watches over...sheep that are too innocent, or too blissfully ignorant to understand and appreciate the shepherd's loving care...He must always be on guard, for there are wolves...So he continues to stand watch and reminisce...Memories assail him...He still feels the sting of losses. He remembers the sweet times...leaner times...'These are good sheep...sheep that are worth fighting for!'...There are baby lambs...There are older sheep who need wise guidance. Indeed, his fold still has great potential. He loves his sheep...He knows them...So, the weary shepherd continues to watch, to fight, to pray, to lead, to feed, to guide...His tired, but keen eyes scan the horizon, looking for predators in the fading darkness. Something catches his eye...It's none other than the Chief Shepherd who has come to see about His servant's shepherd! They spend time together...They gaze over the flock...The Shepherd King says, 'You love them as I do. Come, let me tend to your bleeding wounds and pour the balm of healing on your poor, tired heart. Sit at my feet and be refreshed in My presence. Rest a bit while I watch the sheep...I was with you each and every time you fought off a lion...I was as disappointed as you when some sheep left the fold or were attacked...But I've got great plans for you and the future of your sheep!...Rest now in Me, and find your strength again! It's not over, but the best is to come!'...The Shepherd King has much to say to you!"
Selah.
Go to www.PassagewayTulsa.org and read the whole thing from Him through her for you (6/30/10).
@#$%
People mean well when they tell me to wear a helmet; even if they've never mounted a mule and have no clue about the subject (i.e., ignorant).
I'm reminded of folks who tell me to stop talking on the cellular when I'm driving in my cage because it's not safe.
Some of those same folks tell me how frustrated they become when I'm riding my RK and they can't reach me on the cellular.
Yeah, I'm weary.
Praise the Lord for the truth in the preceding section of this KD.
@#$%
@#$%
Blessings and Love!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)