LEARN THE RULE BOOK

lest Satan should take advantage of us; for we are not ignorant of his devices. (2 Corinthians 2: 11)

This is not a post about sports, but the New England Patriots beat the Baltimore Ravens in the NFL playoffs

They shouldn’t have. 

In the 2^nd half of the game the Ravens were beating the brakes off the Patriots, leading by 14 points, but the Patriots came back to win the game 35-31.   The Patriots’ coach used a series of unconventional plays and never before used formations to break their opponents’ rhythm and score touchdown after touchdown after touchdown.   But that’s not important either.

What made me give a crap about the game was the Twitter exchange between the losing coach (Harbagh) and the winning quarterback (Brady).

The defeated coach accused his opponents of cheating because they used maneuvers he had never seen and would never have thought of using himself.  But the Ravens didn’t cheat.  They pulled trick plays, but even their tricks had to conform to the rule book.

The defeated coach had underestimated the possibilities available to his enemy because HE DIDN’T KNOW THE RULE BOOK.

Our opponent, Satan, is a liar.  He will use every deception and dirty trick he can to corrupt you and break your fellowship with God.  But even the devil is limited by the rules of THE BOOK.

Yes.  I am saying that the devil has to play by the rules.

Remember Job.  Satan had a plan, a series of plays already drawn out to get Job to turn on God, but before he could execute any of those plays he had to go to the Referee, Commissioner, and Owner of the universe and get a ruling.

You and the devil play by the same rules.

The book that prescribes the operations of Divine grace and eternal redemption also describes the possible means that the enemy can use against you. 

The devil can only surprise us if we haven’t learned the rule book.

The Bible is the rule book.  Read it.  Don’t just pick out a couple of sweet prosperity promises and set it down.  Study and see how evil operates, how good people end up doing bad things, how the devil breaks the rhythm of people on God’s team and comes from behind to kill, steal, and destroy.

Stop complaining about how tricky your opponents is and study the rule book, as the Apostle Paul wrote, lest Satan should take advantage of us; for we are not ignorant of his devices. (2 Corinthians 2: 11)

We are not ignorant of his trick plays.

At least, we don’t have to be.

---Anderson T. Graves II   is a writer, community organizer and consultant for education, ministry, and rural leadership development.

Rev. Anderson T. Graves II is pastor of Miles Chapel CME Church in Fairfield, Alabama;  executive director of the Substance Abuse Youth Networking Organization (SAYNO);  and director of rural leadership development for the National Institute for Human Development (NIHD).

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.... A WELL REGULATED MILITIA ---- AND THEN WHAT?

In 1776, a group of citizens armed with military-style weapons decided that they didn’t agree with the existing British government so they fought against that government and created the United States of America.   We remember them as patriots.  That was good.

After the American Civil War, groups of citizens armed with military style weapons and guerilla tactics decided that they so completely disagreed with the U.S. government’s new policies that they banded together to defy the new laws and take back the rights and privileges they and their forefathers had fought for.   We remember those groups collectively as the Ku Klux Klan.  That was/is bad.

In 1975, a group of citizens armed with military-style weapons decided that they didn’t like the existing government so they fought against the Cambodian government and formed Democratic Kampuchea.  That was the Khmer Rouge.  We remember them for xenophobia, genocide, and “The Killing Fields.”  That was bad.

In the mid 1990’s a group of citizens got so angry over the failings of the existing government that they acquired military-style weapons and overthrew the government of Afghanistan.  That was the Taliban. We remember them for atrocities against women, Christian, musicians, and pretty much everybody else.    That was bad.

In the late 80’s and early 90’s a group of deeply religious, ultra-conservative citizens with ties to some of the wealthiest people in their nation began accumulating military-style weapons, “prepping”  in privately built camps, and preaching about a vast liberal conspiracy to undermine the way of life their forefathers intended them to have.   These citizens believed that their philosophy was the only one that should exist in the world and that it was their destiny and duty to conquer, convert, or kill everyone who disagreed with them. 

That group was Al Qaeda.  We remember them for-------Well, we all know what we remember them for.

In the ongoing debate over the 2^nd Amendment and new gun regulations, we are finally facing the reality that the primary reason why citizens stockpile military-style weapons isn’t self-expression or sport; it’s  in case they decide to overthrow the existing government. 

Here is why I and the rest of America have a problem with that:  It isn’t that we really, totally agree with or trust the system we have now.  It’s just that we more really, totally distrust whatever system you guys would set up in its place.

---Anderson T. Graves II   is a writer, community organizer and consultant for education, ministry, and rural leadership development.

Rev. Anderson T. Graves II is pastor of Hall Memorial CME Church in Montgomery, Alabama.