Word

Kopp Disclosure

(John 3:19-21)

@#$%

@#$%

    Word.

    December 21, 2015

    3:43 a.m.

    Why do you expect a perfection from others that escapes you?

    People who expect perfection from others don't understand Jesus.

    People who expect a perfection from others that escapes them really, really, really don't understand Jesus.

    Praise God for Jesus who is more gracious than them...and you...and me!

    Yet, hear His word!

    Be warned!

    Jesus said,, "...Matthew 7:1-4..."

    Repent!

    Don't you know what time it is?

    Your religion is showing.

@#$%

Blessings and Love!

@#$%

November 8, 2016

Kopp Disclosure

(John 3:19-21)

@#$%

November 8, 2016

            The road to the White House moves from fallible/fickle/phony survey polls on how people will/may vote to actual voting in polls beginning with the Iowa caucuses on February 1.

            Unless the entitled and entrenched establishments of the DNC and GOP pull off something funky at their conventions in July, which is very likely because their frontrunners are the Howard Cosells of politics, my guess is Dandy Don will be singing after the results of March 15’s primaries in Florida, Illinois, Missouri, North Carolina, and Ohio, “Turn out the lights!  The party’s over!”

            Parenthetically, if our two political elites succeed in denying nominations to a pathological liar who is a self-aggrandizing personal capitalist along with being a condescending finger-pointing pseudo-feminist/egalitarian and a pathologically arrogant entrepreneur/opportunist being increasingly described as an “authoritarian populist” even if they hit July 18-21 (GOP in Cleveland) and July 25-28 (DNC in Philadelphia) with overwhelming delegate counts, Will and Ariel’s prediction for the total collapse of an empire will only be off by a few years; or, at minimum, the DNC and GOP will become as irrelevant as mainline denominations.

            Moretheless, while I may be wrong, here are the issues, candidates, and prediction for who gets to succeed the incumbent.

            The Issues

            Economy – You’d think our current administration writes SNL skits on the side.  While we know they have no clue about what’s really going on in the Middle East and other parts of the planet being polluted by Islamofascistnutballism, things are not getting better for most people in America and surely it’s getting a lot worse for everybody else. 

            National Security – Open borders?  Really!  Even the Dominican Republic does a better job of vetting immigrants and refugees.  O.K., maybe only 1% of folks flooding into the USA are bad guys to join the bad guys who’ve already slithered in to join established sleeper cells.  Uh, have you ever seen what 1% of anything can do to spoil the party?  If not, you’ve never joined a church or volleyball league.  Don’t look now but here comes China, North Korea, Russia, and the Islamofascistnutballs!  Everything isn’t beautiful in its own way no matter how much we like Ray’s singing.

            1^st and 2^nd Amendments – Following the lead of Nazis, Stalinists, Maoists, intellectual snobs, and the filthy rich who can say what they wanna say and have the cash to protect themselves with really sophisticated weaponry and bodyguards, these two rights integral to the fabric of freedom in America are more at risk than ever before.

            God – As the ignorant and idiotic increasingly and defiantly shoot the goose that laid the golden egg, America better get back to God before He reneges on the deal with Abraham.  Word: “Return to Me and I will restore you.  If not, not.”

            The Candidates

            Jeb Bush - Really?  Have you seen how many people are happy about the Patriots’ dynasty ending?  While those survey polls may be off, the margin for error isn’t as big as this guy wishes.  If the GOP elitists can swing it, they’ll destroy the party to nominate him in a brokered convention. 

            Ben Carson – My personal favorite!  Brilliant, articulate, compassionate, ethical, and, ergo, unelectable.  Puuuuhhhhlease, don’t even bring up his lack of experience!  Compared to whom?  While the incumbent hasn’t figured out almost anything about the aforementioned issues but can say nothing eloquently about almost everything, Carson is a quick-learner and filters principles and priorities through faith in Jesus as Lord and Savior.  In other words, he has no chance to win.

            Chris Christie – Too cozy with the incumbent last time around.  Toooooooo Jersey.  Too much to overcome.

            Hillary Clinton – I know we’re in a rush to elect a woman; but, c’mon, is she really the best that her gender has to offer?  If she’s allowed to run, American jurisprudence will have to send a collective letter of apology to General Petraeus.  Just as I cannot understand why women on the left side of things aren’t enraged about how most of Islam treats women, I don’t get how sooooooo many women think this enabler of a notorious sexual predator and leader of “Bill’s Bimbo Squad” is an advocate for women’s rights.  Recalling how she worked for Goldwater in 1964, she makes the PCUSA look like the holy herald, gatekeeper, and guardian of Biblical faith and morality.

            Ted Cruz – It’s fun to watch a graduate of Princeton and Harvard stick it to ‘em.  Only Carson comes off as smart and principled; which means, like Carson, he has no chance of being elected by the current electorate.

            Carly Fiorina – The good old boys and girls of the GOP aren’t even close to the DNC when it comes to gender stuff; and, to be fair, the DNC isn’t even close to the GOP when it comes to lots of treasured American values.  Getting back to one of the few politicians with the, uh, morality to take on the partial-birth-organ-harvesting abortionists/savages, I’d like to see her rather than Mrs. Heinz sit down with Putin and Iran to negotiate important stuff; though we probably wouldn’t have dated in college.

            Mike Huckabee – Except for his previous defense of the Confederate flag, likeable and faithful; and as unelectable as Carson and Cruz.

            John Kasich – O.K., good sub for Bill, good job in Congress, good job in Ohio; but not good enough to attract attention apart from those who only remember what happened ten minutes ago.  Working for Lehman Brothers not a plus.  Good cabinet guy for whomever gets elected. 

Seriously.

            Martin O’Malley – Who?

            Rand Paul – Equally as shrill as Carly and too naïve about geo-politics; and if the apple doesn’t fall far from the…

            Marco Rubio – Most sensible about immigration and national security; but too cozy with the GOP elite.  Would be a great choice to prove GOP is not all about rich WASPs.

            Bernie Sanders – If it weren’t for wondering where he’s going to get the money to give away everything that he wants to give away and his ostrich ideology when it comes to national security and his barking style of speech that causes migraines and lack of historical perspective on socialism being less equitable than capitalism in reality and wondering if he’s already inhaling medicinal weed as he looks at the past, present, and future of the USA, I’d vote for him.  I like Bernie.  If I were in college or somewhere else on the dole, I’d vote for him too.

            Rick Santorum – Unemployed and unelectable.

            Donald Trump – With all of the elites in America against him, it makes me want to take a closer look at him.  If you check the archives of www.koppdisclosure.com, you’ll read about his lack of integrity when it comes to his claims of being a Presbyterian.  Conversely/perversely, he’s about as much of a Presbyterian as too many Presbyterians are Christians by the book.  Well, I guess he could be a Presbyterian; because Presbyterians are always reimagining Jesus apart from the book.  Go figure.  Yeah, go figure…and cross your fingers.

            Oh, yeah, I hear former NYC mayor Michael Bloomberg is ready to commit a billion from his bank to run as an independent.  Aside from not wanting some guy who thinks I shouldn’t drink more than 16 ounces of pop at a time making decisions for me on things that really matter, I think he’s struck a deal with Trump in a rich guy kinda way to draw votes from Mrs. Clinton if she avoids indictment and a reality check.  

         Prediction

         America is having fun with Trump; and when it’s all over, he will be thanked for forcing the others to address issues that they tried to avoid.

            Hillary will be indicted and have to drop out; or women will wise up and realize she cares about as much for them as she cares for Bill.

            Though Mrs. Heinz will want to seize the moment and spend John’s money to win the prize, the deal that he and, uh, wazzhisname worked out with Iran will look like the product of prophets to the antichrist; propelling him to be the next viable candidate for Mayor of Moosic, Pennsylvania.

            Vice President Joe Biden, who now admits he shoulda and coulda and woulda, will emerge out of the repulsions, confusions, inspections, and rejections and be our next President.

            Everybody likes Joe.

            That’s what counts most in America.

            Isn’t that how we ended up with the incumbent?

            Of course, don’t take my word on it.

            I’ve been wrong about the last three elections.

            I’m hoping I’m wrong again on November 8

@#$%

Blessings and Love!

@#$%

Daniel's Fresh Hope

Kopp Disclosure

(John 3:19-21)

@#$%

@#$%

    Too many years coaching, observing, and presiding over youth and public/private school sports - especially a long tenure as President of Rock Valley [Junior] Tackle Football - inhibited me from discussing the prowess of my own sons with their coaches; for I've often joked with coaches and officials, "They think their kid is the next Walter Payton; so you better..."

    While I have done my best to encourage their participation, performance, and attitude, I have kept my distance from their coaches about playing time and positions.

    Frankly, knowing a little more about sports - especially brutal evaluations of talent and psychosociospiritual exigencies - than I've let on, my sons, like too many others, have suffered under coaches like me who have caved to vocally persistent parents with an inflated estimate of their children's charismata.

    Fortunately, especially after athletes move to higher levels of competition, where coaches are paid for wins and losses as well as character and skills development, the proverbial cream rises to the top.

    Anyway, my son Daniel's confessional journey as a football player may be helpful to those who...

    He loves football.

    He will never play again.

    Perhaps this part of his continuing journey will help someone in theirs.

@#$%

@#$%

Personal Statement

(Daniel A. Kopp)

            The night before my first junior tackle football game, my father gave a paperweight to me with a quote from Vince Lombardi on it: “The harder you work, the harder it is to surrender.”

            Face down on the turf and screaming in pain after the second play of my senior year in college, I remembered that night when he gave it to me; and I remembered how he explained the inevitability of adversities in life and the importance of never giving up and always working hard to be a better man, athlete, student, and Christian.

            Football has been a huge part of my life since birth.  I grew up with a love for the game and a desire to excel. 

            My father was right about the inevitability of adversities.

            A broken foot in my junior year of high school that I played through in my senior year forced me to abandon hope of playing at a D1 school.  A lifelong dream was revoked; yet it fueled my ambition to play at the next level.  I refused to quit.  I had worked too hard.

            Coe College offered the best opportunity to excel on the field and challenge me in the classroom.  Paralleling my young football career, college presented its own set of adversities.  I struggled to adjust to college in my first semester.  The transition was more difficult than anticipated and I did not perform to the best of my abilities.  One professor even said I wasn’t “ready” for college.  Instead of giving up, I dedicated myself to my studies and reaching academic potential. 

            Because I worked hard, I progressed and began to excel academically and athletically.  My GPA rose to 3.3 or higher in subsequent semesters to earn a triple major in Economics, Political Science, and Business Administration in four years.  Professors, such as the head of the Economics Department, challenged me to pursue dual graduate studies leading to a Ph.D. in Economics and J.D. 

            Hard work also paid off on the football field.  I worked my way on to the field as a sophomore for 10-0 team and won the annual “Scout Team Player of the Year” award.  That plaque now sits on my desk near the Vince Lombardi paperweight as reminders of the value of hard work no matter the challenge.

            My junior year was interrupted by breaking the same foot broken during high school.  Thinking my football career might be over, I sat out the entire season with a medical redshirt; however, I would not give up.  My academic advisor and I came up with a strategy to extend my academic career for a semester so I could return and play one more year.

            Spring semester 2013 was the toughest of my life.  Setbacks in rehab along with slipping on ice and suffering a massive concussion were daunting.  My father had to come to pick me up and take me home while encouraging me with reminders of inevitable adversities and overcoming them through hard work and determination.  Bedridden for two weeks during recovery, my father, the Dean, and I discussed the difficulties of catching up academically and how it would have a negative effect on my GPA.  While the Dean suggested I withdraw from classes to “save” my GPA, I did not give up.  I worked extremely hard to earn relatively respectable grades.

            The summer of 2014 was a turning point in my life.  I moved out of my parents’ home and took a lawn-care job for Pro-Lawn in Cedar Rapids.  The experiences and lessons from a new work environment, continuing rehab, self-reflection, and self-sufficiency served as a dramatic maturing period.  Reflection on the paperweight’s meaning was prevalent and I received affirmation on the job and during rehab for my work ethic, attitude, and perseverance.  I was ready to return to the football field because I had worked too hard to surrender.

            After grueling rehab within a time crunch to get back into playing shape, I returned to the field having a better appreciation of the day-to-day process and the privilege of playing the game that I love so much.  I had a new perspective.  My coaches decided to put me in a rotation to keep me as healthy as possible and I excelled.  The hard work was paying off.

            As an academically and athletically successful junior year came to an end, I returned to my lawn-care job for the summer and was promoted to supervisor.  Goals and aspirations for my senior year were amplified by the expectations of peers, coaches, and myself.  Focusing on every workout and committed to any opportunity to do extra work on the field or in the weight room, I was ready to fulfill my athletic potential and high expectations.  I was voted captain of the team by my peers – an honor which has been cherished by me at every level of play.

            The first game of my senior season was against the fifth-ranked team in the country.  I was ready.  I did not know the second play of game and year would be my last.  On that second play of my redshirt senior year, I fractured my leg and dislocated my ankle.

            I have a tattoo on my arm of Philippians 4:13: “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”  I had sent that verse to our offensive coordinator earlier that day.  As the orthopedic doctor prepared to relocate my ankle on the field, my coach repeated that verse to me.  I wept not for myself but for my teammates and family.  I was not going to be able to play with the men who I had worked so hard with in the offseason.  My parents who sacrificed so much to give every opportunity to me would not get to see me play again.  I had played my last game.

            The next day, I was in the weight room with my teammates; lifting with a broken leg.  I attended class, practice, and team meetings as usual that entire week; disregarding the major surgery to repair my leg and ankle.  I was done playing but I was not surrendering.  I had worked too hard.

            I have a long road ahead of me; recovering physically and transitioning into law school.  With more surgeries to come and challenging classwork, I will continue to work through the inevitable adversities to be faced.  I’m not perfect; yet I have the potential and skills to excel in law.  I have dealt with academic and athletic adversities; but as Coach Lombardi said, “The harder you work, the harder it is to surrender.”

            This is my promise to you.

            I will never surrender because I will not be out-worked.

@#$%

@#$%

    For more, go to "Dashed Dream and Fresh Hope" in the archives of this site or the archives of The Belvidere Daily Republican and www.churchandworld.com.

@#$%

Blessings and Love!

@#$%