Warfare Lesson from a FootBall Game

Not this weekend, but last weekend, my Nebraska Corn Huskers lost. And they did not just loose a little bit, they lost in a huge and devastating fashion. I got to thinking about the things that lead to such a horrible loss.

Two things really did them in above all the other minutia of the game. The opposing team scored right away, quick and hard and overwhelmed their will to fight. The other thing was that Nebraska kept giving the other team the ball through fumbles and interceptions. In other words, they kept shooting themselves in the foot. And then the Lord spoke to me.

While I was contemplating the this loss, and some of my own struggles with sin and failure, the Lord spoke to me an object lesson using this football game.

The enemy hates those of us who call Jesus Christ Lord, and who attempt, (all be it feebly at times) to live a life set apart for God. With that hate he tries to either destroy us or cripple us to a point where we are no longer a threat to his evil plans. To do this he will try many things, but among other things he will hit us hard with an attack, a temptation or “problem”. If we are not on our guard, this can have the effect of crippling us to a point were we stop fighting and just let him keep hitting us, just like my Corn Huskers kept letting the opposing team make touch down after touch down.

The other way we fail is that we shoot ourselves in the foot. We do things that seem like innocent little compromises which end up opening us up to a big attack from the enemy of our soul. We keep handing the ball back to the enemy. It might take the form of having the second piece of cake when we know we should not, or taking a second glance at the pretty woman walking down the street. Either way, we know we shouldn’t. It’s not that either these examples are sins in and of themselves, but I know for me, they can lead to sin. We all know what our weaknesses are, those things that will cause us to take the next step, after which leads us into sin and failure. The enemy knows this too and delights in making sure we have ample opportunity to fail.

The point I feel that the Lord was trying to make to me, and indeed all of us, is that we must be on our guard at all times. This is much more important than a football game, and the stakes are much higher. We must train ourselves to be on our guard and be ready to hit the enemy back immediately when he strikes, or else apathy and defeatism settles in and we can barely breathe, much less repulse his attack. We must also discipline ourselves to guard against those things we know will trip us up.

By ourselves, all this is impossible, but with God anything is impossible. He is also merciful and just. And thought I fail a thousand times, still he hears me, forgives me and saves me. To God be the Glory of all I will become.

Do we do what HE says?

I was reading the parable of the house built on rock and the house built on sand. Funny thing is I never realized the question Jesus asked as a preface to this story. He asked "Why do you call me, 'Lord, Lord', and do not do what I say?" Whoa! Ouch! Then he goes on to tell us that he who puts his words into practice is like the man who builds on the rock and he who hears but does not put them into practice, is like he who builds on the sand. I feel in many ways that this is an indictment of modern Christiananity, right out of the scripture. We have services, go to potlucks, sing hymns, and then go right back to life as usual with no power, no obedience. The scripture tells us obedience is better than sacrifice.

I think what was attractive to us about the StoreHouse, (the part of the body of Christ we are participating with, i.e. church), after we left our old church, is that is was a group of people who were DOING what He says. Omaha Rapid Response, Angels on Wheels, etc, etc. People not just obeying God on Sunday, but endeavoring to do it everyday. This ties directly into what God is calling my wife and I to. In fact the Lord pointed out to me this morning as I read that the breakthrough we have had the last several weeks did not come until we obeyed, until we took that step of faith and did as He asked. I dare to suppose that when Christians actually obey the word of the Lord, it inspires Him to come through for us in mighty and awesome ways!

First Blog

Ok, so everyone else is doing it, I thought I might as well get a blog as well. : ) Besides it gives me a place can vent things and at least give myself the impression that there are millions listening... ha ha!


So, you might be wondering, where did I come up with Etwal Gade? Well I love astronomy, it's one of my main hobbies. Etwal Gade is Hatian creole for Star watcher, because of course, I watch the stars. I came up with it with the help of a friend when I was in Haiti in May of 2008 on a relief mission with Omaha Rapid Response.