Kopp Disclosure
(John 3:19-21)
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Scratching the Surface of the Psalms
#43
“The Fact of Feeling Good”
Have you ever met someone who’s always
right?
They remind me of the college
sophomore who said, “I was the most conceited person on campus last year; but
this year, you won’t find a nicer person around.”
You know what I mean.
What makes ‘em so infuriating is
they’ll insist they’re right even when presented with facts proving ‘em wrong.
They’re so exasperating because
they’ll be at the meeting or in a class or around the dinner table or on
Twitter or Facebook of wherever insisting they’re right no matter what anyone
says or how many are saying it.
“The Bob Rule” comes to mind.
BTW, I did not come up with this rule;
for if I did, you might have read one of my books and I wouldn’t be trailing
the toothy guy in Texas by about a trillion to one in sales.
Be that as it is by the
indisputable fact that I’ve never had a bestseller and even my family admits
they don’t read what I write because they’re too busy with the more important
things on Facebook, I’ve used “The Bob Rule” with some efficacy when
counseling someone who’s always right.
The rule
goes like this: “If everyone disagrees with you and says you’re wrong, you may
be right; but if everyone disagrees with you and says you’re wrong, you may
want to consider the possibility that they’re right and you’re wrong.”
It’s like I often repeat in marriage
counseling: “There are three sides to every story – her side, his side, and the
truth.”
Of course, you know how that goes; which
brings us back to “The Bob Rule.”
It is a basic rule of parliamentary
procedure.
It’s how American representative
democracy works; and don’t forget our republic’s governance came from presbyterianism
or decision-making by majority rule in which ordered groups with the most
votes win rather than some kinda monarchical dictatorship known as kings or
state dictatorship known as socialism.
Majority rules.
Whoever gets the most votes wins;
unless, of course, you’re voting for President in America.
BTW, do you know why there is an
electoral college in America that determines who becomes P rather than the
popular vote as in, again, who gets the most votes wins?
While every other election is by
popular vote because it’s local or regional, our founding mothers and
fathers figured out national elections needed an electoral college or
every P would be the favorite of Boston, New York, and Philadelphia because of
voter, uh, density. Weighted voting
seemed reasonable or the cities would rule the country.
Today, if we went by popular vote for
P rather than the weighted voting of our electoral college, it means every P
would be the darling of Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, California,
and…
That’s pure democracy.
But, again, that’s not the democracy
established for this republic by our founding mothers and fathers.
We’re a republic patterned on presbyterian
governance that is constitutional and representative in which decisions are
made by ordered groups not individuals.
Before we go too far down that rabbit
hole, let’s get back to majority rule.
For the most part, it’s excellent.
For the most part, “The Bob Rule”
makes sense.
Pero God knows there are times
when the majority is wrong.
There are times when the most votes
aren’t a measure of fidelity.
Sometimes the majority elects the
wrong people and puts ‘em in charge.
That’s why we keep talking about the
remnant in today’s America.
The remnant in government that still
sees the Constitution as the manual of operations.
The remnant in churches that still
sees Jesus as Master and the Bible as its manual of operations.
There are times in history when the
minority is right even though majority rules.
Again, while it seems “majority rules”
has worked best throughout most of history and especially in America for the
health, welfare, life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness for all not just the
few with the most money and power, there have been times when the minority was
right despite majority rule.
Moses, the prophets, and certainly
Jesus come quickly to mind.
David must have felt like that when
inspired to write Psalm 43: “Vindicate me, God, and defend my cause against
this unGodly nation…Clear my name and stick up for me against these
loveless and immoral people.”
David feels like a remnant of fidelity
– vastly outnumbered by unbelievers who have seized control of church and
state: “Get me out of here from these lying degenerates! Rescue me!”
Desperately, he turns to God while
feeling abandoned by God and under the heel of those most opposed to Godliness:
“You are my only refuge yet I feel rejected by You. I count on You. It seems like You’ve walked out on me.”
Surely, David knows God wins in the
end but, in the meantime, he feels like he’s on the losing side and under
the heel of unGodlyness: “Why must I go about in sorrow because of the
enemy’s oppression? I am pacing the
floor and wringing my hands over these unGodly people.”
Anyone who loves God has felt that
way.
Anyone who loves God knows what it’s
like to be in the minority in the courtroom, town council, school board,
faculty lounge, bowling alley, locker room, 19th hole, and wherever
two or three or more aren’t always gathered in His name.
Anyone who loves God knows what it’s
like to be hated for loving God.
So, like David, we want God to expose
‘em: “Light up my life! Light up the
world! Help me to overcome the
darkness!”
And, praise God, He has done that in
Jesus!
Jesus exposes the darkness!
Jesus overcomes the darkness!
And, praise God, we do too!
And so, like David, we know our
disappointments and depressions in the meantime, the feelings of failure
and doom, are outmatched by the fact of His ultimate victory that sustains us
til then. The desired end for
believers is certainly inevitable: “Let’s fix our eyes on God! Let’s stop crying the blues! We can get out of the dumps by depending upon
Him who wins in the end! We’re only
depressed and in turmoil when we take our eyes off of Him! Keep the big picture in mind! See beyond the bounds of vision! Consider heaven by grace through faith in
Jesus!”
The fact that Jesus wins in the end
and we win with Him puts an incorruptible and indestructible smile on our souls
radiating from our faces.
David’s soul brightened not because of
his temporary feelings of loss and persecution but because he knew God writes
the final chapter of life after life.
When we believe that fact – trust Him
through time to eternity – we always feel better than worse.
It’s like that sobering song with the strength
of faith by Katharina von Schlegel called “Be Still, My Soul.”
Not much is known about the author who
probably wrote this in the early 18th century. Her name suggests some aristocratic link in
Germany. What is certain is she
understood the feelings that David had about life not always being a hot fudge
sundae and the fact that the end more than makes up for the meantime; or
as Paul wrote, “I consider our present sufferings not worth comparing to the
glory to come.”
Parenthetically, this hymn is said to
be the favorite of Eric Liddell who was immortalized in Chariots of
Fire. The 1924 Olympics champion who
refused to run on Sunday and was a martyred missionary in China is said to have
taught this hymn to other prisoners.
The point is no one is immune to pain
and suffering and disappointment in this life yet the Godly overcome the bad
times with heads, hearts, and guts fixed on the One who guarantees the heavenly
after the last breath through faith.
That fact overcomes the negative
feelings and inspires the good ones.
Get out your hymnbook and sing it!
Be still, my soul! The Lord is on your side!
Bear patiently the cross of grief and
pain.
Leave to your God to order and
provide.
In every change, God faithful will
remain.
Be still, my soul! Your best, Your heavenly Friend
through thorny ways leads to a joyful
end!
We don’t know much about the author of
that hymn.
Pero we know the Author of our
lives.
We know He loved us before the womb
and will love us after the tomb.
We know He’d just die to prove that
love.
He did.
I think of the Scottish Protestant who
figured out the meaning of the crucifix or version of the cross with the figure
of Jesus on it; as he exclaimed, “Jesus loves you that much.”
Through the cross to the crown.
Through death in time to heavenly life
forever.
A bridge over troubled waters.
The way through, over, and out.
The truth overshadowing everything
false, fragile, failing, falling, and fixed in time.
The life to come so great that only
one word approaches its inarticulate serenity – paradise.
We don’t know much; but we know we
love Him.
And that’s all we need to know in the
end.
Yes, it’s lyrical – lifting the soul
to get satisfaction.
It’s so saving.
It’s the fact of feeling good.
Jesus loves you!
Jesus loves the world!
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Blessings and Love!
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Wake up! Look up! Stand up! Speak up! Act up for Jesus!
Shatter the sound of silence!
Salt! Shine! Leavenate!
Shatter the sound of silence!
Salt! Shine! Leavenate!
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