Tuesday, March 24, 2015

Kenyonesque Demons in the PCUSA


Kopp Disclosure
(John 3:19-21)

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    These are tender times in the PCUSA.

    If I have to explain that to you, you must live in Colorado; or you're one of those State Department spokeswomen who remind me of Leslie Nielsen's Lieutenant Frank Drebin standing in front of the exploding fireworks store saying so stupidly, "Nothing to see here!" (The Naked Gun, 1988).

    Parenthetically, if you're willing to descend from the ozone layer of reality and catch up with what's really going on, just go to www.churchandworld.com, www.pcusa.org, and www.layman.org and read up on a denomination going down the toilet quicker than poop through a goose.

    C'mon, I thought that was funny.

    Of course, I benefit from one of the side effects of increasing intimacy with Jesus: living joyfully amid the meanness, madness, misery, and migraines caused by...

    Folks from the way left who have so much "more light" on Christianity than Jesus by the book that they keep "reimagining" fidelity by their loins and folks from the way right who betray angst claiming righteous indignation over increasing infidelities apart from Jesus by the book as if God isn't sovereign and final arbiter don't understand living joyfully regardless because they spend sooooooo much more time navel-gazing about stuff than...

    Be that as it is, statistics don't lie.

    Yeah, people lie about statistics when they use their ideological hermeneutics to interpret 'em.

    Buuuuuuut statistics don't lie and the PCUSA, like all other mainliners that have moved to the sidelines of religious relevancy in America, is dying.

    I leave the interpretation of why to the ideological filter that softens your, uh, blow.

    As for me, I think I know why the PCUSA is dying.

    God has removed its lampstand in a letters to the churches of Revelation kinda way.

    I may be wrong; but that's what I think.  Annnnnnnd if you can show me how I'm wrong by Jesus, Holy Scripture, and common sense, I'll confess, repent, and even publicize my error/sin; buuuuuuut if you're gonna try to convince me through politically correct yet emotionally/intellectually/spiritually absurd gymnastics, go back to your wacky weed and...

    You're gonna think what you wanna think.

    That's why we're in such a mess.

    Everybody's word is as good as anybody else's word in the PCUSA these days regardless of correspondence to 2K+ years of Biblical, confessional, constitutional, traditional, historical, and common sense Christianity.

    Truth is the PCUSA, again, like most other mainliners and just about all other pseudo-Christian clubs, determines/declares/defines morality/fidelity/righteousness by the most recent popular vote; forgetting, sooooooo sadly not to mention ominously, that's what those more-light-reimagining Christians in Germany did to enable Nazism.

    With that as context juxtaposed to a Biblical understanding of remnant - being in the minority of women and men still trying to honor Jesus by the book - here's how I'm gonna try to keep our particular regional judicatory (viz., Blackhawk Presbytery) from going Kenyonesque on women and men of faith who still pray and labor to honor Jesus by the book.

    Parenthetically (2), if you don't know what "remnant" is all about, just pull out a concordance, read, pray, digest, and enflesh if, uh, you're still into, uh, Him.  Annnnnnnd if you don't know what "Kenyonesque" means, go to the archives of www.koppdisclosure.com (right column) and click on the March 2015 entries about it concomitant to more context in www.churchandworld.com, www.pcusa.org, and www.layman.org.

    Here's how I'm gonna try to combat the Kenyonesque demons as part of a Biblical, confessional, constitutional, traditional, historical, and common sense commitment to remaining faithfully rather than running away or swallowing/enabling/accommodating the irretrievable apostasies under current management:

    1. As chairman of the presbytery's nominating committee for at least another year, I will do my best to make sure all nominations to presbytery committees/commissions/whatevers do not include anyone with an ideological axe to grind;

    2. I will be especially vigilant when it comes to committees/commissions/whatevers of consequence; and if you don't know what I'm talking about, you must live in Colorado;

    3. I will ask nominating committee members to review our presbytery's overwhelming commitment to not going Kenyonesque at our stated meeting on 11/11/14 at Oregon, Illinois' Stronghold Camp and Retreat Center with all nominees and ask if they embrace/endorse it;

    4. If a nominee gives any indication of going Kenyonesque, I will recommend the person not be asked to serve in our presbytery; and

    5. If the nominating committee decides to nominate anyone who gives any indication of going Kenyonesque, I will provide a minority report to the presbytery and ask the presbytery to reject such nominations; again, citing our commitment on 11/11/14: "Acknowledging same-sex nuptials are legal in Illinois and the PCUSA affords discretion to its teaching elders by the authoritative interpretation of the 221st General Assembly to preside or not preside at such rituals+ceremonies=rites and particular churches may host or not host such ordinances upon session approval subject to the review of higher judicatories, Blackhawk Presbytery will honor the consciences of teaching elders and particular churches within its bounds; noting its members are divided among those who embrace the authoritative interpretation as witness to progressive theology and those who reject it according to traditional Christianity.  Presiding/participating teaching elders and hosting churches may exercise their consciences as permitted by the authoritative interpretation.  No efforts to force teaching elders and sessions who decline to preside/participate/host will be encouraged, enabled, or condoned.  Those who embrace and those who decline do not need to fear ministerial infringements or vocational reprisals in Blackhawk Presbytery."

    Of course, if the franchise goes officially/constitutionally Kenyonesque, all bets are off.

    If the franchise goes Kenyonesque, it will be interesting, though sad by inevitability, to see if the left of Blackhawk Presbytery will be as defiant in upholding the 11/11/14 declaration as it has been in defying previous "standards" of the franchise and if the right will have the guts to go to the cross with Jesus if the Kenyonesquers come after 'em.

    Stay tuned.

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Blessings and Love!

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1 comment:

John said...

Bob, "60 Minutes" last night had a segment about the Orthodox Christians in northern Iraq and how ISIS in about two years has banished them by execution for not converting or by emigration through fear. ISIS has destroyed first century Christian books and bombed any semblance of Christianity in most towns. Places of great Christian strength and heritage in Asia now gone.

Oh, but we are in America. It couldn't happen here!

My father warned his children that if they went into the ministry to be prepared to lead a martyr's death. He said he did not see it in his lifetime (he died in 1983) but he did see it in our lifetimes. Several times Paul, as well as Christ, left scenes of almost certain death. Yet Christ chose not to save himself in order that we might be saved.

Once to every man and nation may come the moment to decide ... whether to convert or to flee. If you are told at some point that you are Kenyon, and you must convert or emigrate--otherwise death to you, may God give you the strength to emigrate, but may you have the strength to lovingly emigrate before then. We emigrated 27 years ago and then we emigrated again 5 years ago. Both times we lovingly said what was not right and why we might leave if nothing changed. It was very difficult because we left loved ones behind who did not see ISIS in their midst. I pray for you to clutch the Lord and nothing else --not loved ones, not books, not buildings, not pensions.