Kopp Disclosure
(John 3:19-21)
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Disasters, like
funerals, come without consulting our calendars or comfort zones.
Preparation
precedes response.
If we're not prepared
before disasters come, we won't be, uh, prepared to respond immediately.
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People who are
suffering from disasters need help immediately.
Disasters don't
respect our penchant for procrastination; and people suffer more as we meet,
study, consult, and take sooooooo
much time to verbalize concern about their suffering.
Talk is cheap in
the immediate aftermath
of disasters.
That's probably
why an old missionary once said, "A life lived for Jesus speaks louder than
any verbal testimony."
I know some folks
have problems with James' insistence on deeds proving creeds; but reading those
red letters in the Bible more than reading about 'em compels righteousness
confirmed by works.
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The calls of
Abraham and those first century disciples of Jesus come to mind.
"The Lord
said to Abraham, 'Leave your country, your people and your father's household
and go to the land I will show you'...So
Abraham left as the Lord told him."
"'Come,
follow Me,' Jesus said, 'and I will make you fishers of men.'...And immediately they left their nets
and followed Him."
God called; and they left immediately.
No meetings.
No courses,
conferences, or workshops.
No consultations.
And His story aka history
shows they were blessed for blessing Him by blessing His.
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Tony told me
about taking his son Bart to Haiti on a mission trip and warned, "If any
of the children ask you for money, don't give any to them; or they'll just keep
asking you for more and more and more and..."
With a puzzled
look on his face, Bart said more than asked, "So?"
Tony heard a
distant echo increasing in volume, "As you do it for them, you do it
for..."
Tony also told me
that churches involved in mission have fewer relational problems.
They're so busy
being blessed for blessing Him by blessing His that they don't have time for
religion's incidentals, irregulars, irascibles, and irreconcilables.
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Our Wednesday
evening "Deeper Discipleship" folks have been
reading/studying/digesting Francis Chan's Forgotten
God: Reversing Our Tragic Neglect of The Holy Spirit.
He has helped us
understand why it's now
or never
for some churches: "I think a lot of us need to forget about...[figuring
out]...God's will for my
life. God cares more about our response to His Spirit's
leading today."
Continuing,
"It is easy to use the phrase...['Before I get involved, I've got to
figure out']...'God's will for my life' as an excuse for inaction or even
disobedience. It's much less demanding to think about God's will for your
future than it is to ask Him what He wants you to do in the next ten minutes.
It's safer to commit to following Him someday
instead of this
day."
Concluding,
"My hope is that instead of searching for 'God's will for my life,' each
of us would learn to seek hard after 'the Spirit's leading in my life
today.'"
Take a look at
Matthew 6:25-34.
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Ever hear of big
talkers?
Lots of 'em in
pulpits like me and in pews like...
Talk without walk
is the real disaster.
The eternal is
confirmed by the existential now
or...
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Blessings and Love!
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