Script #20

Beloved,

Kopper finished off the Halloween chocolate when no one was looking - a big, big, big bowl of it.

Leslie thought he was a goner; until I reminded her about the last box of chocolate that he gobbled down.

Of course, my walks with him well before 4:30 a.m. over the past few days have been a lot longer if you know what I mean.

How's your diet?

I've been thinking a lot about mine (read quickies below).

Garbage in...garbage out...

Psalm 119:105: "Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path."

Peterson translation/paraphrase of selected verses from Psalm 119: "You're blessed when you stay on course, walking steadily on the road revealed by God...How can a young person live a clean life?  By carefully reading the map of Your Word...What You say goes...Every word you give me is a miracle word - how could I help but obey?"

Quickies:

1. Jesus said, "When your fast..." not "If you fast..."  Watch for a forthcoming www.koppdisclosure.com on the spiritual discipline of fasting as His way of getting closer to...

2. A neighboring Presbyterian church will close its doors in the next few months.  10+ churches in America are closing their doors every day.  While we won't be among those dominoes, we are not immune to the continuing decline of America's economy.  Indeed, just this morning, I discovered Belvidere's unemployment rate is the highest in the state.  We are eating away at our endowment.  Weekly income, like all churches, is declining at an accelerating rate.  Facts.  Personally, I am looking for secondary employment as we approach the inevitable.  I will not entertain other opportunities because I love you and I am called to love you and live with you through this transition.  In conversation prior to prayer with a member of our Project Team earlier today, I said, "We will trust Him through this and celebrate together on the other side."

3. While it is never my intention to offend anyone because I pray and labor, depending upon His grace, to love Jesus by loving like Jesus, I know I do, have, and will.  If I am going to practice what I preach, I must embrace "A Good Report Card" and invite anyone that I have offended over the past seven years to tell me how I have offended them so I can confess my sins to them face to face, pledge repentance, ask forgiveness, and model Someone better for our family of faith and church at large.  Hence, for the next two Sundays, I am suspending our regular prayer meeting from 3:00-5:00 p.m. for "Pastor Confession and Repentance" and inviting anyone who has ever felt offended by me to come to the chapel and list my offenses so I may humble myself before them as humbling myself before Him.  I praise the Lord for this compelling opportunity!

Blessings and Love!