Quick Hits

Kopp Disclosure
(John 3:19-21)

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It's hard to play baseball anywhere around the Illinois-Wisconsin border in April.

If you don't know why, you don't wanna know why.

But weather permitting, my Pony League team plays its first game on 4/21 at 5:30 p.m.

Thaaaaaaat's right!

Maundy Thursday.

Separation of church and...

Be that as it is, I'll warm up the team at 4:30, go over the line-up at 5:00, give a pep talk around 5:10, return to warm-ups, sing the national anthem at 5:30, then turn over the team to the assistant coaches at 6:30, change quickly in the car on the way to the church, give the call to worship at 7:00, and then...

Render unto...

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Speaking of quick hits, it's been a few years since last coaching a baseball team.

My hands/head have been full with football; and if you don't know why, you don't wanna...

Anyway, John, the dean of Pony League baseball coaches, met with the new head coaches and said, "Here's my first piece of advice. Don't ask your players and definitely not their parents when they want to practice. You decide. Or you'll go nuts trying to please..."

I sense ecclesiastical parallels.

Isaiah 53:6 comes to mind.

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Really, being a baseball coach is kinda like being an undershepherd.

It's all about fundamentals, repetition of the right ways, admitting mistakes in order to get better, knowing no one's perfect though never claiming that as excuse for giving less than the best, being a team player, and recognizing that each game is not as important as the final standings.

Or something like that.

2 Timothy 4:6-8 is a good model for any pep talk.

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"Sometimes," wrote my favorite devotional writer (www.PassagewayTulsa.org), we forget why we do what we do...We forget Who we are doing it for...And when we forget, our service becomes a burden to be borne instead of a joyous offering to the One who loves us the most."

I told my players, "When you don't do your best with what He has entrusted to you, you're not only hurting yourself. You're hurting your team and insulting God."

Ella Jane: "God isn't interested in lip service or self-service or good deed service. He wants our love service...One look at the cross...When you know Him and His kind of love, you cannot help but serve Him with love and joy."

Isaiah 29:13 doesn't ring a bell.

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The radio version of Kopp Disclosure via www.bnnsradio.com had lots of quick hits on 4/19: unvarnished, raw, salty, and, methinks/mehopes/meprays, redemptive.

It includes the origins of the "Blame Me" conspiracy, promptings for the great giveaway as noted in the Clergy Meology series, the harshest revelation to date, and my haunting conversation with Lloyd Ogilvie about 25 years ago.

Just click on www.bnnsradio.com, click on the tab for Kopp Disclosure, and then click on the replay for 4/19.

You decide if Matthew 5:13 comes to mind.

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My wife spoke to our women's annual Lenten Breakfast on 4/20.

Cliff says I'm an Eldredge kinda guy; meaning I'm not one of those clergymen who are caught dead at women's gatherings of any kind.

Really, why would a clergyman go to women's circles, conferences, retreats, breakfasts, luncheons or...unless, you know, if they're kinda, uh, you know, uh,...!?!?!

Another subject.

Well, before my wife spoke, I asked if she listened to the 4/19 broadcast of KD on www.bnnsradio.com; and she retorted, "Why should I listen to you if you're not gonna listen to me?"

Fair enough.

So I sat in an adjacent room out of sight...and listened to every word.

It confirmed a few things: (1) why I wanted to marry her; (2) she's a gifted communicator of the Gospel; and (3) I don't really need to draft a pinch hitter if she's in the dugout and I'm on the road.

She should be an elder - a thought that brings to mind the mindless jackass who said Trump is totally unprepared/inadequate/ludicrous to be considered a viable candidate for President; prompting moi to inquire, "Compared to whom?"

Then something hit me about my wife that I'd forgotten: Matthew 19:5-6.

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And I'm only halfway through Holy Week!

Extra innings?

Acts 2:17-21.

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Blessings and Love!