Kopp Disclosure
(John 3:19-21)
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Way back in the
early 80s, Tony, a sociologist by profession and motivational speaker by
reputation, observed, "Denominations are done."
If you look at
the stats, denominations are dying if not done.
While I may be
wrong, I know, for example, on the corner of Lincoln and Main in Belvidere,
Illinois that maybe a
handful of people really care about "our" denomination and maybe 40% of our
membership even know we're in one and
they'd have to be reminded!
I was talking
with one of the brightest presbyters in my franchise at a judicatory meeting
not too long ago.
He said, "A
college student asked, 'Is Westminster Presbyterian Church a part of
Christianity or some other religion?'"
Think about it.
Westminster.
16th century.
Presbyterian.
Sounds like a
virus from Capron, Illinois.
Every young pastor of every vital and growing
church that I know either isn't part of any denomination or puts their
affiliation in the smallest font possible in their literature.
Tony was right
way back in the 80s.
Sadly, too many
older pastors like moi and denominational jingoists/idolaters have their own
Jeffersonian Bibles that have omitted what Jesus said about new wineskins and
continue to long for the way things never were or maybe were but are no more.
Psst.
That's why their
churches, to borrow metaphors from the 7 letters of Revelation, are morgues
with steeples at best and lampstandless
at...
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Don't get me
wrong.
I'm all into 1
Corinthians 14:40.
Without some
kinda gatekeeping and accountability, you'd have churches using Joel Osteen
books for CC classes.
Yet, especially
in the mainliners, there's only minimal Biblical, confessional, constitutional,
historical, traditional, and common sense gatekeeping and accountability.
If you're not under God as best
exemplified in Jesus and explained by the book, you're like American morality
captive to the latest popularity polls.
Faith, for them,
is all about feelings and opinions and desires and...
"I know
that's what Jesus and the Bible say; but
I think..."
Truth is there's
more gatekeeping and accountability going on in networks of Biblical remnant
churches that are under God
as best exemplified in Jesus and explained by the book.
That's because
remnanters don't
need anyone/anything other than Jesus by the book for gatekeeping and
accountability.
They are
developing networks of gatekeeping and accountability that are far more
faithful to Jesus by the book than those formerly faithful mainline
denominations.
Eugene put it
this way for me back in October 2011: "Motivational speaking is often a
sly way of manipulating. You don't have to motivate Christians."
Quick definition.
Christians
believe Jesus is Lord and Savior and only Jesus is Lord and Savior
and behave like they believe Jesus is Lord and Savior and only Jesus is Lord
and Savior by the book.
That's the only
gatekeeping and accountability that matters to Christians.
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All I'm saying is
denominations, especially the mainline ones, have no credibility to claim
gatekeeping and accountability raison d'etre because
they have made up definitions of gatekeeping and accountability apart from
Jesus by the book.
They may be nice
organizations; but any connection between 'em and Jesus by the book is
increasingly coincidental.
Remember, if
Satan likes to quote the book every now and then to score points among the
ignorant...
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He said/asked,
"You've been saying the PCUSA and other mainline denominations are
'irretrievably apostate under current management.' What do you mean by
that?"
Response: "I
mean mainline denominations that have moved to the sidelines of American
cultural relevancy have so distanced themselves from former fidelities that
their leadership, especially clergy, will have to be born anothen in a John 3 kinda
way before they can ever turn around and back to Jesus by the book. Annnnnnnd byyyyyyy the waaaaaaay, this
ain't really anything new. Remember, it was clergy who conspired with an
accommodating secularist and ignorant laity, Greek synonym being idiotes, to murder
Jesus."
He asked,
"But what about lay leaders? Don't they have any responsibility for
what's gone wrong?"
Response:
"Shepherds don't follow sheep! One of the great bastardizations of
the leadership charisma in
too many of today's churches is thinking/acting as if everybody's called
to undershepherding
in allegiance to the Good Shepherd and that anybody's word is as good as
anybody else's word or any subject. It's like Macleod always told us,
'I'm going to have a layman preach on Layman's Sunday when they have Layman's
Sunday at Mt. Sinai Hospital and I get to do brain surgery!' Barth said,
'It's not a matter of whether one wants to preach. It's whether one can.' Frankly,
designations and wall hangings mean nothing. Vanities! John
Robertson once told me, 'Too many clergy separate themselves from God by degrees.' I know
people who have no degrees or designations or wall hangings who are much better
preachers and gospelers and disciplers than the ones wearing those fancy robes
sporting fancy titles that Jesus didn't like either. So, yeah, I blame it
on the clergy more than anybody else. Read Matthew 23 for more on
that!"
He asked,
"You've been quoted for years as saying you will not leave 'one stinking
denomination for another stinking denomination.' But isn't there
something that could push you over the top and cause you to join one that,
maybe, stinks less than yours?"
Response:
"While I may be wrong, I think I'll be forced out first for not affirming
or accommodating or paying for and participating in their apostasies; or,
at least, not looking the other way. And if you've been reading anything that
I've written over three decades, you know I'm up with that in the Biblical
tradition of remaining faithfully a la Hamilton and Luther and Bonhoeffer
and...Jesus! I've written and said enough about that. If you don't
get it by now, either you're really thick or don't wanna get it. But,
yeah, if I'm not forced out but they make it mandatory for me to pay for and
participate in anything that contradicts Christianity as personified in Jesus,
prescribed in Holy Scripture, and upheld by over 2K years of Biblical,
confessional, constitutional, traditional, historical, and common sense
Christianity, I'll just ask our leadership and membership to ignore 'em,
network with other parts of the faithful remnant, and pray and try to be
faithful to Jesus by the book. No splash. No dash. Just, uh,
praying and trying to be faithful. But I sure as heaven won't exchange
one set of ecclesiastical chains for another set; especially 'cause the old
denominational wineskin's dead anyway. I remember Tony telling me back in
the..."
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Really, it's not
that complicated.
It's only hard to
figure out what it means to follow Lord and Savior Jesus by the book if you don't really wanna follow Jesus
by the book but wanna make it seem like you're following Jesus by the book by
making up stuff that kinda seems like it might be somewhere near Jesus by
the...
Getting back to
Eugene, I remember sitting next to him on his back porch at Flathead Lake in
Montana and thinking, "He is a man of primary source."
That's why he
breathes truth.
That's why he
breathes common sense.
That's why he
breathes...Jesus.
He just explains
what's there in Jesus by the book.
He doesn't make
up stuff apart from Jesus by the book.
That's why he
keeps saying it's simple.
That's why he's
not into reams and reams and reams of paper/overtures/declarations trying to
explain what's in the book.
All ya gotta do
is read the book...over and over and over and...until ya get it/Him.
Primary Source.
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I may be wrong,
and I am always eager to be corrected and will confess publicly and pray and
try to repent fully, but I am convinced, until proven otherwise, that all of
this denominational talk - elating or exiting or remaining - is symptomatic of
the disease of just not following Jesus by the book.
Simply.
No footnotes.
No bibliography.
No meetings after
meetings after meetings after...
Just Jesus by the
book.
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Sooooooo as long as I have
the freedom to follow Jesus by the book and not waste my time on..., I'm
remaining, with prayers and energies, faithfully.
If that freedom
is taken away from me, I'll be forced out or...
So far so...
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Blessings and Love!
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