Saving Thoughts

Kopp Disclosure

(John 3:19-21)

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    I've written a lot about, uh, everything.

    Opinions are like...

    Crude.

    True.

    Yet I hope you've guessed I'm just trying to encourage people to think as religion(s) and government(s) increasingly insist on doing that for us to take away our freedom(s) and chain us to their Babylonian altars.

    Or something like that.

    Anyway, aside from Fifteen Secrets for Life and Ministry which kinda lists thoughts that have guided me through nearly four decades of undershepherding ministry - still available if you ask and provide an address - I've been thinking about some other thoughts that saved me during my bleak week (go to the last KD for more on that).

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    My home pastor who is home with Jesus charged at my ordination on 5/8/77, "Be slow.  Be steady.  Be solid."

    I haven't always done that.

    But when I have, I haven't hurt others along with myself.

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    John was about a month from retirement when I met him shortly after being installed at Parkesburg, Pennsylvania's First Presbyterian Church.

    He said, "If I can give one bit of advice to you as you begin your pastoral ministry, never defend yourself.  It's better to trust those around you to do it for you.  Of course, they won't; which means you'll know pretty soon why I'm so happy about retiring!"

    He was the first to introduce me to Psalm 62.

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    There were two Presbyterian churches in Parkesburg, Pennsylvania - the alive and growing one and, uh, the one that called me.

    James, the pastor of the alive and growing one who helped start Presbyterian Charismatic Communion which really ticked off clergy who weren't visibly psyched for Jesus and serving churches like mine, took me out to lunch not long after I arrived and I asked, "Why is your church growing and mine isn't?"

    He answered, "Nothing can happen through you that has not first happened to you."

    It's like I heard over the radio from some roll and spit in the aisles church out of Newark, New Jersey while going back and forth to Madison to finish off a worthless advanced degree, "The only Gospel that some folks will ever hear or see is the Gospel according to you; and you can't give away what you ain't got for yourself."

    Explains a lot about the decline of mainline Christianity in America.

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    Charlie was my age now when I met him about 35 years ago in my first clergy covenant group.

    I'll never forget when he cried, "I can't take it anymore.  I'm trying as hard as I can and I'm not getting anywhere with anyone about anything.  My church is a mess.  My family is a mess because I take it out on them.  I can't eat.  I can't sleep.  And as I walked up the steps to my bedroom last night, I yelled, 'Take me now, Jesus, because I'm still hoping my life is better to you than it obviously is to anyone else.'"

    Come to think of it, John was in that group.

    That's when I heard about Psalm 62.

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    I've come through the last week a lot stronger than I entered into it.

    My call has been reconfirmed.

    I've got more resolve.

    I expect Him to...

    But it wasn't/isn't and won't be because of anything in Fifteen Secrets for Life and Ministry - Buy it anyway! - or any of the saving thoughts that I've picked up along the way like in the aforementioned.

    Nope.

    There's only One real, permanent, and eternal saving thought/truth.

    Jesus: "Come to Me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will take care of you."

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    Billy and I played another nine today.

    I played really well; and thought, "Maybe there's hope for..."

    As we packed up the clubs, Billy said, "Better not forget what you did today that made you better."

    Thank you, Billy, for reminding me to thank Jesus.

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Blessings and Love!

Suicidal Thoughts

Kopp Disclosure

(John 3:19-21)

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    Tony was talking to me about suicide because he was honest enough to admit...

    I recalled the conversation during a very bad week because it's been a long time since...

    Anyway, he said, "I'm not one of those judgmental types who think they're big enough to determine who goes to heaven and who goes to hell."

    Tony and I have always believed that's God's business; or as the first African-American elder of Winston-Salem, North Carolina's First Presbyterian Church said to me just after her ordination/installation and not long before I was forced out rightly/wrongly (both), "You love 'em and let God judge 'em."

    We take C.S. Lewis' approach; telling people how to get to heaven and live heavenly before heaven instead of telling people that we know for sure that they're going straight to...

    Revelation 3:20ff.

    Well, I'll never forget him saying, "I've got this idea that God welcomes people into heaven who have committed suicide like this: 'I know it was too tough for you down there.  It was almost too tough for me.  Welcome home!'"

    While I'm like Tony in that I'd never say who's going to hell for sure despite all indications to the certainty - especially those who love Jesus by hating everybody else - Tony's inspiration/indigestion has always sounded a lot more like Jesus than those who've articulated/demonstrated their unforgivable sins in addition to the only one ever mentioned by Jesus if you know what He means.

    Matthew 12:31-32.

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    I almost gave up last week.

    I've had a hard time getting over being verbally/profanely assaulted by a Pony Baseball League player's mom with the most hateful/murdering eyes that I'd seen since I asked a Congressman why he kept running for office if he believed in term limits.  Really, if she could have killed me on the spot and gotten away with it, I have no doubts that I'd never have to entertain suicidal thoughts again.  Simply, I haven't been playing her son every inning of every game and ruining his chances to prove he's the next Mickey or Willie.  Psst.  He's one of the two worst players on the team. 

    Just one flea can make a big dog itch.  I'll leave it at that; knowing anybody who's ever hung around any kinda church for any length of time knows what I'm talking about.

    I feel like I'm bleeding to death as a...

    I'm tired of excuses for...

    I've dropped several hints at my favorite HD dealership about trading my windshield for...

    My golf game has gone straight to...

    While I'm used to writing non-best-selling books, I thought for sure that...

    My publisher, authors, and sister keep encouraging me: "It's only been out for five months for crying out loud!"

    But I am crying out loud!

    My last royalties check was $49.52. 

    My first one was $24.92.

    How the heaven am I supposed to reincarnate/trade Return into/for an Electra Glide Ultra Limited missionary/mule when I'm only...?

    Yeah, I didn't write it for the $ - a good thing - but I was hoping for a few coins to pay off some debts, help some friends/family, and upgrade that pony for missionary/recreational use as called/needed.

    I feel like a repository for anyone/everyone who wants to banter and moan about anyone/everyone/anything/everything.

    I'd like to hear just one positive comment about...

    People can't seem to help themselves from being angry, anal, bitter, biting, divisive, separating, segregating, schismatic, and...

    I'm tired of being their scapegoat and transferred target of their pathologies.

    People have become so my-way-or-the-highway-fold-my-tent-pick-up-my-marbles-and-go-home and sooooooo irregular, irascible, and irreconcilable.

    Hello!

    Don't you know what's going on?

    Do you have it sooooooo much worse than children in war-torn countries?

    Are you that spoiled and entitled?

    I know you want your deodorant to keep you dry all day long; but aren't there more important...?

    Are you that myopic, ego-centered, prideful, tunnel-visioned, arrogant, condescending, and...?

    O.K., enough about me.

    But what about you?

    Even Kopper bit the hand that sneaks the kinda goodies to him that he really likes.

    And the Yankees suck this year.

    I had a very, very, very bad week.

    It almost killed me before I could do it.

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    Then I played golf with Billy and watched a film about Carla Faye Tucker Brown.

    Billy is my favorite Special Olympics World Golf Champion.  We play about 18 holes a week. 

    CFTB is the murderer who was born again in prison.  If you don't know about her, find out.  You'll be...

    Well, while I never toss clubs or curse even after really, really, really God-awful shots, Billy has this sense about him/Him; and knowing I was struggling, he said, "Just keep working at it.  It'll get better.  I know you can play better.  We've got time before our next tournament."

    He's right.

    He said that about eight hours before I watched that film about CFTB.

    Here's a clip.

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    I've never come close to committing suicide; despite not wearing a helmet which is my way of giving hope to enemies.

    Yeah, to be honest, the demon seed has been planted on occasion by the enemy; but while I'm just scratching the surface of my relationship with Jesus, I am close enough to get over that kinda hellishness rather quickly.

    Let me be clear.

    I don't overcome such deadly thoughts because it would be a permanent solution to temporary problems.

    I don't overcome such deadly thoughts because things get better around me. 

    Things are getting more and more and more awful around all of us; and if you don't think/admit that, then you're still stoned or taking too much St. John's Wort.

    These are, after all, the last days when that kinda stuff gets worse.

    I don't overcome such deadly thoughts because I get lots of hugs; though the ones that I do get are more and more and more appreciated.

    I overcome through Jesus.

    I overcome because the closer that I get to Him, the easier it is to overcome the nutballs and navelgazers and naughty and...

    Of course, if you're even remotely related to Him, you know what I mean; and the closer, the better and more, uh, overcoming.

    That's why His hang in.

    He resurrects.

    The big one comes after the last breath.

    But the littler ones before then are really, really, really...reanimating.

    Again, if you're into Him, you know what I mean.

    If not, stop killing yourself; and you can do that by turning to Him right now and inviting Him into your heart for the kinda surgery that really saves lives.

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    Suicidal thoughts are always overcome by saving ones.

    It's a Psalm 37:25 thing.

    Look it/Him up and you'll never stay down too long.

    Sooner than later.

    Definitely in the end.

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Blessings and Love!

Riding or Trailering

Kopp Disclosure

(John 3:19-21)

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    I was trying to keep up with Rob on Route 90 near the Corn Palace en route to the 70th near Crazy Horse's bust (2010) when a female freedom rider with long, curly, and flowing red hair whipped by me on her Heritage Softail Classic.

    A gender-awakening moment.

    Then I noticed the big sign - pink on black - attached to her luggage: "Nice Trailer Pussy!"

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    Parenthetically, though I often quote, incorporate, or refer to real/colloquial language in books, KDs, and other hard copies because I want to be, uh, truthful/real/authentic/credible, I, uh, rarely use four-letter words and, uh, think I can come up with verbiage a tad more creative concomitant to Ephesians 4:17-5:21.

    Except for 8th graders, I'm not offended by anyone who uses such language.

    I save my ire for people who hate each other for Christ's sake or some other damnable religion.

    Oops.

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    Getting back to the red-headed-non-fender-bunny, she continues to symbolize a not-so-subtle rift between bikers also symbolized by contradictory patches: I Rode Mine versus I Trailered Mine.

    "I Rode Mine" means the biker, uh, rode her/his mule to wherever with the not-so-subtle insult to those who didn't; inferring the difference between authenticity and posing or being real rather than just for show.

    "I Trailered Mine" means the, uh, choke, gag, barf, "biker" put her/his mule in a transportable barn to wherever so it could be unloaded and "shown" during the, uh, whatever.

    Do you catch my drift in a Christian kinda way?

    Some people are authentic and really ride with Jesus.

    Some people are posing fidelity by "church membership" and are just for show; as in walking into a church transforms a person into a Christian about as much as walking into McDonald's transforms a person into a Big Mac.

    It's the difference between an actual relationship with Jesus confirmed by Christ-reflecting confession, conduct, and countenance and a religious kinship with Jesus that shows off every now and then but really ain't into it/Him for the long haul. 

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    Illustration.

    Today's churches show off their religion by praying with Jesus, "Forgive our sins as we forgive those who have sinned against us."

    :)

    Not.

    :(

    Yep.

    Today's churches insult Jesus and betray their real religion of self by so much more often than not being places of unforgiveness mirroring the world more than Word.

    "You hurt my feelings...You didn't...You did...YOU!  YOU!  YOU!"

    Dang.

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    While today's churches have a remnant of people who really get it/Him and prove it/Him by loving Him by loving like Him with mercy, sacrifice, unconditional favor, and other Christly traits, too many posers insult the holiness of Jesus and even blaspheme against His Holy Spirit by their irregular, irascible, and irreconcilable behaviors.

    How about you?

    Do you ride?

    Or trailer?

    Are you a Christian or a...?

    Maybe my vocabulary isn't as...

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    I learned a lot about keeping my bike clean from a guy who is OCD about keeping his bikes clean because he shows 'em off at rallies and wins trophies for how they look.

    I'll never forget talking to his wife after a ride to Pennsylvania to see inlaws/outlaws that was punctuated by helmet-wearing weather; and for me to wear a helmet and give in to the government's insatiable appetite for controlling my life and dash the hopes of my enemies, you gotta trust me that the weather was pret' near tropical storm.

    Anyway, she said I reminded her of friends: "They're real bikers.  They're not the fair weather kind who boast about only riding when it's 70 and dry.  They think their bikes can't take a little rain.  They're really talking more about themselves than their bikes."

    Yep.

    Those trailering posers have counterparts in too many churches.

    Concluding, "I wish I could convince him to ride more and show less."

    Yep.

    Those riding authentics still have sisters/brothers in some churches.

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    Trailering:  "Be careful about following them...It's all spit-and-polish veneer...Their lives are perpetual fashion shows...They love to sit at the head table at church dinners, basking in the most prominent positions, preening in the radiance of public flattery, receiving honorary degrees, and getting called 'Doctor' and 'Reverend'...People look at you and think you're saints, but beneath the skin you're total frauds."

    Riding: "Do you want to stand out?  Then step down.  Be a servant."

    Matthew 23 in the real biker's manual.

    Bikers, uh, bike - ride!

    Christians, uh, Christian; turning nouns into verbs if you know what He means.

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Blessings and Love!

I'm Still Voting for My Dad

Kopp Disclosure

(John 3:19-21)

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    I'm catching a lot of everything but heaven for saying I can't vote for the incumbent or insurgent on 11/6/12.

    It's kinda how I feel about how I felt when getting back on Sunday from a pulpit exchange and being greeted, "Our new pastor was really great today!"

    Smile.

    Remember what I wrote about humility?

    Thought not; which helps my struggle with it.

    And just like the vow of poverty that Protestant pastors don't need to take because WASPs impose it on 'em, I'm so often on the butt-end of jokes around the church that I like speaking/preaching at other churches for some sugar.

    Be that as it is, I'm not going to rehearse why I'm still gonna vote for my dad on 11/6/12, which you can read about in the archives by clicking on previous editions, but I've been thinking more about why I can't vote for the, uh, other two.

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    An out of context excerpt from I Just Wanna Ride (FTW):

        "Cruising isn't for everyone - but then, neither is freedom" (Garripoli).

        I will never forget a startling exchange between three young girls before Senators

        McCain and Obama faced off for the Presidency...

        I asked, "If you could vote next week, who would you vote for?"

        Spontaneously and simultaneously, they screamed, "Obama!  Obama!"

        "Why?"

        "Because he will take care of us."

        That's not freedom.

        That's dependence

        That's offering our collar to someone else's chain.

    Frankly, and I may be way wrong on this, lots of people who will vote again for the incumbent want the government to take care of 'em.  They're into a nanny state.  They'll give up their freedoms for a six-pack and Bears game.

    The American way used to be hard work over hand-outs.

    Not anymore.

    Then there's the other guy who has so much that have nots ain't on his radar.

    I'm convinced he thinks people who have not are self-inflicted victims.

    People who want a free ride - "Must Jesus bear the cross alone and all the world go free?" - are gonna vote for the incumbent 'cause that's a big part of his message.

    People who don't want to share what God has entrusted to them to be managed for His glory/ethic are gonna vote for the insurgent 'cause a big part of his message is ya gets what ya earns.

    Of course, the Christian perspective is balanced.

    He believes in hard work (e.g., 2 Thessalonians 3:10).

    He believes in taking care of people who can't take care of themselves (e.g., Matthew 25).

    Common sense from the divine source.

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    Yeah, I know the incumbent and insurgent have gotta appeal to their bases if they wanna be, uh, elected.

    Yet the more I look at this sad moment of American history/politics - and I may be wrong - I'm disgusted by hacks in or aspiring to high office who appeal to base instincts for knee-jerk affirmations/affections that increasingly run contrary to the most important, uh, election of all if you know what He means.

    Getting back to voting, the most common sense, as I read the Bible, from the divine source is to trust Him even when the odds are against you/us/Him/His.

    He's revealed nothing in His Word - written and enfleshed - that says to go with what ya gots as the only real/ultimate choice available.

    Hmm.

    Moses.

    Samson.

    Gideon.

    Shepherd boy.

    Cross.

    Come to think of it, there are lots of reasons/facts for trusting God more than what ya gots in the meantime because history is His story sooner or later and definitely in the end.

    Yeah, I'm still voting for my dad.

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Blessings and Love!

A Warning to Rich Christians

Kopp Disclosure

(John 3:19-21)

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    Dr. James I. McCord (RIP), renowned President of Princeton Theological Seminary and the World Alliance of Reformed Churches, was criticized for always asking for money by somebody who probably felt guilty about her/his lousy personal stewardship: "All I ever hear from you is give, give, give!"

    McCord: "I have never heard of a better definition of Christianity than give, give, give.  We give in gratitude for what He gave in Jesus!"

    Francois Fenelon: "Happy are those who give themselves to God!...There is only one way to love God: to take not a single step without Him, and to follow with a brave heart wherever He leads...But woe unto those weak and timid souls who are divided between God and their world!...Those who are wholly God's are always happy."

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    I have no hesitancies about asking for $ to honor Jesus, help His children, and advance the Kingdom.

    However, these are terribly tough times for many families; and in our particular church, for example, families have suffered foreclosures, unemployment, under-employment, lost homes, severe downsizing, increasing stresses over maybe losing their homes and making ends meet, and just treading the turbulent financial waters of a declining nation.

    It is almost criminal to expect the aforementioned to divert funds from the primary needs of their homes/families/children to support the life and ministry of the church; especially when there are church members coincidental to Christianity sitting on lots of $ being used for anything/anyone but Christ's sake.

    I have a friend who likes to say, "The Lord loves a cheerful giver; but accepts checks from grouches...I wonder how the people who are too rich to tithe as the least they can do for Him feel about the inevitability of explaining that to Him sooner or later and definitely in the end."

    Again, I have no hesitancies about asking for $ from those who have been blessed with $ by the grace of God as a test of how they will manage it concomitant to His ultimate arbitration.

    Luke 12:42-48 (the warning).

    Matthew 19:23 in the context of 19:16-30 as the consequence for those paying no attention to Luke 12:42-48 (the judgment).

    Ouch.

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    I've been talking to pastors who have exited churches for a variety of infidelities - suffered by the pastors exclusively with no accountability for the congregational miscreants by gutless bishops, conferences, presbyteries, COMs, and the like.

    Anyway, the younger pastors have been telling me that the financial health/wherewithal of traditional churches is almost over because younger generations have little to no $ and the few who do don't include churches in their financial planning.

    Or something like that.

    It's true.

    Churches in America are gonna have less and less and less $ for honoring Jesus, helping His children, and advancing the Kingdom because they are not immune to the collateral damage of a declining nation.

    Sure, there will still be rich churches and rich pastors - a decreasing minority - who remain rich because they have no clue about what it means to follow Jesus as selfless, sacrificial, and serving saints.  They better read those verses in the preceding section of this KD before...

    But for the rest of us, it's going to be interesting/tempting in a Philippians 4:11-13 kinda way.

    Selah.

    Or just blow Him off at your own...

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Blessings and Love!

Humility, 2

Kopp Disclosure

(John 3:19-21)

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    Humility has not come naturally to me.

    I was an early overachiever in many ways - athletically, academically, vocationally, and romantically.

    Of course, while intellectually and physically, uh, up, uh, for it, I was not emotionally and spiritually mature enough to honor Him through the charismata/opportunities entrusted to me.

    Simply, I mismanaged the charismata and squandered so many opportunities for so long and mourn how I coulda and shoulda if I woulda...

    Yeah, He's forgiven me.

    That's the gospel that includes even me.

    Yeah, there are some folks, even a son or two, who haven't forgiven me.

    That's their problem now a la Matthew 6:14-15; which is acknowledged with more sadness for their souls than rationalizations for mine.

    And while I've come a long way despite feeling/knowing I'm just now scratching the surface of my relationship with Jesus and learning how to love Him by loving like Him, I can still be as arrogant, condescending, and egotistical as the worst of 'em.

    It's something I've learned painfully: "If you think you've arrived, it's time to start over."

    Psst.

    Send $10 and I'll send a book on that to you.

    Seriously.

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    Here's the deal - covenantal if you know what He means.

    Humility, like any true evidence/proof/fruit of being tight with F/S/HS (see Galatians 5:16-26), cannot be earned/learned by degrees, workshops, seminars, therapy, or anything/anyone other than increasing intimacy with God through Jesus as enabled by the Holy Spirit.

    Evidence/proof/fruit of being tight with F/S/HS just happens supernaturally when we hang out with Him.

    Axiom.

    Get closer to Him and then you/me/we/they/anyone will begin to look like, uh, it/Him.

    Putting it another way, it doesn't happen through "Simple Simon" rubrics, ceremonies, rituals, and collective rites aka religion but through an increasingly authentic relationship with Him that happens by just, as He put it, tarrying with Him.

    Again, getting closer to Jesus always results in talking/walking more like Jesus.

    It's that simple...and difficult.

    Increasing humility enables increasing humility before Him enabling increasing humility in all relationships as evidence/proof/fruit of increasing humility in relationship with Him.

    Or something like that.

   

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    I like how John Dickson defines it in Humilitas: A Lost Key to Life, Love, and Leadership (2011): "...the noble choice to forgo your status, deploy your resources or use your influence for the good of others before yourself...you could say the humble person is marked by a willingness to hold power in service of others."

    Paul: "Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought."

    Humility includes recognizing our dependence upon F/S/HS for all things here and hereafter.

    It includes recognizing our interdependence within His family to maintain/increase health in the Church (see Romans 12 and 1 Corinthians 12).

    The humble person is no more nor no less important than anyone else because everyone is interdependent in dependence upon F/S/HS.

    Corporate health - global, national, local, and, uh, ecclesiastical - depends upon that kinda individual humility.

    Dickson: "The most influential and inspiring people are often marked by humility...Humility is holding your power - whether physical, financial, intellectual, or political - for the good of others, not personal gain."

    Humility is integral to individual and corporate health.

    Humility fuels/heals relationships.

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    Case in point.

    Though I've got my own problems, I'm often asked to mediate church/pastor conflicts.

    I can't imagine the pain felt by our Lord over churches/pastors who hate each other in a Christian kinda way.

    Terrible witness.

    Why would anyone looking for peace and calm and a safe haven from the meanness, madness, and misery of life in the modern world turn to churches that are filled with tension, contention, and the like?

    Yeah, people just can't wait to become parts of such dissonant dysfunction.

    Geez.

    Well, I've consulted with one church in which members sued each other over...

    Seriously.

    I'll never forget talking to a sage in that church who said the solution to their/our problems was/is so facile: "If folks exercised just a little humility in their relationships with each other..."

    Yep.

    The twelve words that save marriages can revive/restore lots of relationships: "I was wrong.  I am sorry.  Please forgive me.  I love you."

    Of course, that requires humility; and humility doesn't come natural to more people than just me.

    Read the preceding again.

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    Dickson: "There is an obvious conundrum facing the writer and readers of a book on humility.  Does the author think he has attained this difficult virtue?...Both the arrogant and the humble are unlikely to think of themselves as humble."

    Interesting recollection from Dickson: "I will never forget the comment of my best friend...when I told him I was involved in research...on...humility.  He quipped, 'Well, John, at least you have the objective distance from the subject!'"

    I think of a friend who can be as arrogant, condescending, and egotistical as me but will never admit it because, uh, he likes to play the role of humble pastor without being one. 

    He sells but nobody buys.

    When asked about him, I said, "The only difference between him and me is I know I'm a hypocrite."

    Inquirer: "If you know you're a hypocrite, that means you aren't one."

    Me: "Obviously, you don't know me well."

    I struggle with humility because it doesn't come natural to me or, uh, anybody else.

    It can only begin to happen as we increase our intimacy with Him.

    Here's the real hard part of the deal/covenant.

    God builds up the humble and pulls/pushes down the proud from their athletic, academic, vocational, romantic, and otherwise arrogant, condescending, and egotistical perches.

    I know.

    Believe me.

    I know.

    And that ain't ever gonna stop until I'm totally dependent upon Him and gleefully interdependent upon others as a big part of my dependence upon Him.

    Yo!

    Pass another piece of that pie before He force-feeds me...again.

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Blessings and Love!

President Millstone

Kopp Disclosure

(John 3:19-21)

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Matthew 18:6

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    Since BBPBHO announced he's up/down with gay marriages, the thanatos libidoed polarization of America has accelerated.

    Yeah, what a hope and change bridge-builder kinda guy.

    Not.

    The responses have been fast and frantic.

    Cynical: "It's a calculated political decision to divert attention from how he continues to mismanage America's economy and foreign policy."

    Left: "+++++++"

    Right: "-------"

    Prophetic: 2 Chronicles 7:14.

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    Before my abbreviated/nauseated take on what's going, uh, up/down in BBPBHO's, uh, noodle, two quickies.

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    I'm gonna catch it from the left and right but not Libertarians for saying this; but I don't think God loses much sleep over two chicks makin' out or two guys, uh, geez, uh, whoa, wow...

    I've never been into the gay thing myself - though I've been hit on by a few my-gender-clergy while attending denominational meetings and finishing up graduate work long ago - but I thought about trying to heal lesbians when I was in college.

    That didn't work; and while I've been caring for gays in a Christian kinda way for nearly four decades - invitationally, compassionately, and unconditionally with a welcoming spirit devoid of judgmentalism, homophobia, or anything other than just trying/praying to love like Jesus, I've never felt big enough to say something like this about the issue, "I know that's what God says in the Bible; but I think..."

    I've been as arrogant, condescending, and egotistical as anyone can be; but I've never said I know more than Biblical revelation or that something I/you/we/they think somehow has some kinda parallel authority to what He's revealed.

    So while I've never made it a litmus test or obsessive-compulsive part of my daily/monthly/yearly/decadely routine as an undershepherd, I've always cringed when somebody says it's fine with God when there's nothing in anything that He's revealed to us to confirm such claims.

    I've never been, uh, hard on gays.

    I just think there's more important stuff out there to tackle like mainline denominations that keep making up stuff only coincidental to Biblical Christianity and people in pews/pulpits who hate each other for Christ's sake and...

@#$%

    I'm with Paul: "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God."

    I'm with Jesus: 'If you want to be forgiven, you better be forgiving."

    More from Jesus: "If you want some grace, you better give some."

    Or something like that/Him.

    Ted (RIP) put it this way when some jackass on his session/board wanted to crucify a gay or something in his church: "What's that I see in your eye?"

    Jesus stopped 'em dead in their deadly intentions by challenging, "Let the person without sin be the first to cast a stone."

    Yeah, yeah, yeah, Jesus wanted us to be holy to/for Him.

    Buuuuuuut - Hello!  Hello!  Hello! - the biggest reason why He came was to save us from how we're never gonna stop insulting His holiness.

    Which brings me back to President Millstone.

@#$%

    I've always liked him; and wish he'd invite me over for a Corona or something.

    I hear he throws really lavish let's-say-we-identify-with-the-poor-more-than-the-other-guys-while-living-like-the-rich-and-famous parties.

    I know he hasn't a clue on how to run a country.  You can't lead America like a rap group on the South Side of Chicago.

    But, geez, gotta admit it, I've always liked him.

    Until now.

    We're done.

    I have no problems with extending agape to anyone because I gotta be that way if I'm gonna talk/walk like I love Jesus.

    My problem is BBPBHO is now advocating something in total defiance of what God has revealed about it.

    He is openly, arrogantly, condescendingly, politically, and in every pejorative way imaginable insulting the holiness of God.

    There's a big difference between advocating what ticks off God and extending agape.

    He doesn't get the difference.

    I hope he doesn't get the difference; 'cause if he does, then it's a lot worse than...

    Help us, Jesus!

@#$%

    When someone gets really, really, really mad at a pastor, they address her/him with a profound message: "Mr. ____...Miss _____....Mrs._____"

    You know what I mean.

    They drop the title that ain't deserved anyhow.

    Well, BBPBHO ain't my P anymore.

    It/he just doesn't work for me anymore; and I, sure as heaven, ain't...

    When he starts/returns/tries to respect God, then...

    I can't support him if he openly, arrogantly, condescendingly, politically, and in every pejorative way imaginable insults the holiness of God as revealed in Holy Scripture.

@#$%

    I'm gonna catch everything but heaven for trying/praying to be honest to God about this.

    So be it.

    "I'd rather be a doorkeeper..."

@#$%

@#$%

Blessings and Love!