Kopp Disclosure
(John 3:19-21)
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Hans urged me to read
Friedrich Zundel's Pastor
Johann Christoph Blumhardt: An Account of His Life (2010).
I haven't been as
stunned-to-savor-slowly-not-speed-read since diving into Georges Bernanos The Diary of a Country Priest (1934).
Anyone who can connect
the affirmations/affections of Moltmann and Willimon not to mention Hans and
especially not to mention me must be anointed.
Moretheless, I haven't
read anything lately about anyone not to mention Someone that has riveted my
attention/aspirations as has Zundel's bio of Blumhardt who said/did
what I've never been able to articulate/incarnate as/sooooooo clearly,
concisely, compellingly, conclusively, and, most importantly,
Christocentrically.
It's expensive.
Most books even the book are these days.
But so is lunch
at Applebee's.
Buuuuuuut what is digested
from Blumhardt lasts...forever.
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Raised/reared in
the theological ghetto of Germany's finest academic institutions, Blumhardt
never lost focus for life and ministry: "To be cheerful in the Lord is
something precious. I am always pleased to read in Paul's letters about
the joy he wishes the faithful."
Blumhardt
resisted temptations to discipleship detoured by books about the book more than
the book itself: "He took the Biblical view of things for granted; any
other way of thinking seemed alien...He found it painful, strange, and
saddening that not only he, but also the venerable, devout men around him,
seemed to lack the nearness to God that he saw in the Bible...It puzzled him
that the gifts of grace...had so receded into the background...Holy Scripture
and the revelation set forth in it occupied a higher place for him than it did
for others."
He knew more than
most and me about loving Jesus by loving like Jesus: "He...reveals Himself
as the Father of all His creatures. He wants to show Fatherly love to
all...No one is excluded...Such is the love of God...Should we then go and
discriminate between people?...Whoever wants to live like a Christian must not
take the best for himself, but leave it for others."
He began a sermon
on 7/24/1831 in Basel, Switzerland with this prayer:
Father of love, break down the barriers that still separate
our hearts! By nature we are unable to love. We
feel more
urged to hate and hurt one another than to meet each other
with peaceful and well-meaning love; we would rather pay
somebody back than forgive him; we incline more to anger
than to patience and forbearance. That is not Your
way,
Heavenly Father. How can we then be called Your
children?
Therefore, kindle among us the spirit of love; make us
mindful of how much You have loved us poor, lost sinners,
so that we may learn from You the love that shows we are
Your children. Amen.
A punchline in
that sermon: "The Lord's gaze...penetrates into the hidden places; He, who
loves all His
children, sees also those who do not
love them."
Whoa.
@#$%
Blumhardt
understood the authentic Church as having "an ultimate
goal...readiness for God's Kingdom...Awareness that the Lord will come has made
people gird their loins and have their lamps burning."
While I don't
pretend to understand all of what that/he means, I kinda get it/Him that He is
coming back for His own and His own have a priority to live and minister in
cognizance of eternity with Him prefaced by existential loyalty to Him.
Or something like
that.
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Anyway, I thought
about that juxtaposed to whatever has been rekindling in me since my kairos moment(s) with a
few brothers and Eugene in October 2011.
I really don't
know what happened and keeps happening since...
It wasn't what he
said; though His presence through his anointing was overwhelming.
Well, I guess
I kinda know what happened.
He happened; and
He's still happening in a slow, steady, solid, evolving, and transforming way.
A big part of
that has been to confess my sins against others, repent as conscious, and seek
reconciliation with others as with Him in a Matthew 25 kinda way guided by
Matthew 18:15-20.
I have been,
surprisingly and differently as in never
before inclined, eager/instigating/receptive to restoring all of
the broken relationships in my life and ministry.
I've praised the
Lord for the relationships that have been restored.
I've lamented
relationships that remain broken; even while remaining eager/instigating/receptive
to...
And I've praised the Lord for the
revelation to know all relationships will be restored in heaven; for heaven has
no room for perpetuating broken relationships.
I believe that
hope as ultimate reality - eternal reconciliation with the whole family of
faith as reconciled with Him through Jesus as Mediator - with every fiber of my
heart as the totality of feelings, facts, and faith.
@#$%
Tozer has helped
me to understand the sad reality of existentially broken relationships:
"We dwell in a world halfway between heaven and hell. In hell there
is only evil; in heaven there is only good; on earth the tares and wheat grow
together, with the tares vastly outnumbering the wheat."
Tozer has helped
me to understand the glorious reality of eternal reconciliation through Him
with His: "We must face today as children of tomorrow. We must meet
the uncertainties of this world with the certainty of the world to come."
In other words,
"He will wipe away every tear from..."
@#$%
I've messed up so
many relationships in time.
Perhaps you can
relate to me.
Perhaps you are
related to me.
That's the bad
news.
The good news is
He fixes/cleans up messes...forever.
That's His
promise for anyone/everyone related to Him.
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Blessings and Love!
4 comments:
Amen! And amen!
Sounds like I need to add another book to my reading list. (by the way thank you for the Book you gave me the other day. I'd thought you'd like to know I am continuing to turn it into a red letter Book.) Thanks Bro'
Praise the Lord!!!
Yeah! Into a broken world, full of, well, full of brokenness, the Father sent the Son full of, if you'll permit, fixedness, to make the broken whole/holy. The problem with the world/church/us, is that we ignore the One full of fixedness and insist on applying our own tried and false (as opposed to tried and true) remedies that are simply brokennes masquerading as fixedness, assuming that by claiming to do so in His name we'll magically (as opposed to Spiritually) fix everything. The result? We just keep breaking things/others/ourselves and wonder why the world seems to be getting worse rather than better in spite of all our efforts.
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