Love-Bombing Disappointments

Kopp Disclosure

(John 3:19-21)

@#$%

Ko

@#$%

    She came into my study about 30 minutes after worship as I was puttin' the last book into my briefcase and headin' for the door to get out of Dodge for some much-needed R&R.

    It happened almost 25 years ago; and my calendar hasn't been the same since.

    She pleaded, "I need to talk to you.  It's really important."

    Even a fool like me could see she really needed to talk to someone; and I guessed I was the...

    I pleaded, "Well, uh, O.K., but, uh, I've gotta, I, uh, mean, uh, I'm about to leave for, uh, and, uh,...Yes, O.K., uh, what is it?"

    She promised, "I won't take much of your time.  I just need to talk to you.  It's really important."

    She poured for just a few minutes as promised.

    Then we prayed.

    I walked her to the door, got into my car, and was gone for three weeks.

    From start to finish, maybe 10 minutes.

    I never saw her before and never saw her after.

    But when I got back, there was a package on my desk.

    It was a small framed poster: "No Kindness Shown No Matter How Small Is Ever Wasted!"

    Attached note: "Thank you for taking the time to listen to me.  I had decided to kill myself.  I changed my mind while you prayed.  Thanks again."

@#$%

    Two of my best buddies came in to share their disappointments with me.

    They asked if I'm ever disappointed.

    Response: "Oh, maybe just two or three times every day."

    That was last week.

    It's been the same since...ordination.

    Everybody's got disappointments.

    There are two ways to handle 'em.

    Grovel in 'em and give up.

    Ooooooor understand 'em all in a Romans 8:28 kinda way - that nothing happens to us that is not part of His plan in/for our lives as preface to experiencing His better than we could have ever imagined - and live triumphantly and expectantly and even joyfully with Psalm 37:25 kinda certainty.

    It can even mean allowing for more time to...

@#$%

    O.K., if you ain't got much faith, the preceding ain't gonna make much sense to you.

    Dig.

    Actually, stop digging.

    Climb.

    Read some more of the book.

    Pray more than before.

    Sing.

    Dance.

    Trust.

    Obey.

    Puhlease, don't tell me that you've been doing that; 'cause if you have, you haven't been doing that enough.

    Everything in Biblical/Christocentric/Pneumatic revelation says God graces/blesses/elevates/enlightens/encourages/enables/satisfies/secures anyone who takes the time to be with Him.

    So someone is lying if you're not...

    You/me/us/them.

    Or...

    No way.

    He is the way, the truth, and the life.

    So here's the naked reality.

    If you're more than momentarily - O.K., maybe a few moments longer - depressed/disappointed/defeated/deluded/disillusioned, it means ya ain't that close to Him.

    You can't be that close to Him and remain sealed in a stone-cold tomb.

    He resurrects.

    Be honest about it - the time being spent with Him.

    If you ain't, you ain't.

    If you is, you is.

    Take that grammar police!

@#$%

    Have you noticed how sooooooo many people are so cranky these days?

    I'm not just talking about Bill O'Reilly and Eric Holder.

    It's an epidemic.

    Sooooooo many seem to be bantering and moaning about someone or something or everyone and everything.

    Sooooooo many seem to feel entitled to comment, contend, criticize, and condemn.

    Steppenwolf: "We don't know how to mind our own business; for the whole world's gotta be just like us."

    Get a tattoo!

    Don't get a tattoo!

    With total disregard for the snowflake theology of Romans 12 and 1 Corinthians 12, sooooooo many want sooooooo many to be just the same as...

@#$%

    Not Jesus.

    He wants us to be free from all of that/them.

    He wants us to be sooooooo close to Him that we'll know His freeing truth - His best for us that never inhibits His best for others because He's not as double-minded as we are.

    All He asks is to love Him like He loves us.

    Agape.

    Taking the time to pray and work for the best for everyone no matter who, what, where, when, or why without the need or expectation for response, regard, or reward.

    Something/Someone that I almost missed 25 years ago.

@#$%

    BTW, whenever Jesus spoke, sooooooo many wanted to kill him.

    Guess who?

    The clergy, religionists, traditionalists, and...

    They didn't have time to...

@#$%

@#$%

Blessings and Love!