"The Moscow Rules"
Once, while I was in the Washington, D.C., area holding a gospel meeting, I had the privilege of going through the International Spy Museum near Chinatown. Having an avid interest in both military history and the former Soviet Union, I was thrilled at the opportunity.
Although the museum displays how ancient the espionage game is, the greater part of the exhibits covers just the last 100 years. There is a whole section of the museum devoted to espionage during the Cold War. This period of intense espionage developed it's own “ten commandments” of spying (some say there are forty or more). The museum itself published ten of these so-called "Moscow Rules."
Some of these rules include: “assume nothing,” “don’t look back,” “there is no limit to a human being’s ability to rationalize the truth,” “maintain a natural pace,” “…if it feels wrong, it is wrong….”
Former CIA operative Jonna Mendez, as well as countless others, is quick to say that these rules are used by agents around the globe today. Many of these rules boil down to trusting instincts.
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Whereas Christians battle a foe that will not collapse or capitulate until the Lord returns, we have been given rules of engagement that we must follow for our own spiritual preservation in, as our foe is the most formidable of them all (see 1 Peter 5:8; 2 Corinthians 11:14; Revelation 2:10; etc.).
We need to mature to the point of having our powers of discernment trained (cf. Hebrews 5:14). This will give us the kind of instincts we need to be most aware of our enemies tactics (cf. 2 Corinthians 2:11). We should not become paranoid or see problems where they do not exist, but we must not let our guard down either.
God’s Word will protect us and serve us heroically in this terrific battle (cf. Ephesians 6:17), but only if we know how to use it properly.
"Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you" (James 4:7).
The Church Is The People
From Lee County, Florida, FOX NEWS reports:
The Cape Coral Police SWAT team planned to perform practice drills in a vacant Bonita Springs church. But at the last minute the Cape Police Department shut down the operation …
"It just seems kind of insensitive to kind of do those things where people got married or people had their funerals at," Michael Gibson, Bonita Springs District 5, said.
But a representative for the city manager of Bonita Springs points out the facility has not been used by the church since last April. "It was just another way the building could be used for public service before it's demolished tomorrow," said Laura Taylor, Bonita Springs Public Information Officer.
Caught in the middle was the Cape Coral SWAT team.
"We were notified last night that there might be some consternation with the city council and we were waiting to here what the final word was going to be as far as whether or not the training would go off today," Sergeant Dana Coston, Cape Coral Police, said.
The SWAT commander sent his team to a shooting range instead. But Cape PD says it missed an opportunity. "For us, it's a vehicle for training. The church is the people in that building. Not the building itself," Sergeant Coston said.
The building was demolished the following Wednesday.
The people of Bonita Springs felt that the past activities of the church were special. As such, the place where these events took place should be shown an appropriate level of respect. But it was Sergeant Dana Coston who put the controversy into proper perspective when he said, “The church is the people in that building. Not the building itself.”
How often do congregations forget this simple truth in the midst of differences of opinion over building programs? In such situations, instead of honoring church leaders, or fellow members, there is a tendency, when opinions and counter-opinions begin to fly, to think that it’s the building that really matters. In those moments, when push turns to shove, our skewed priorities come to the fore and, in the guise of doing God’s will, we end up dishonoring God.
Never forget, “The church is the people in that building. Not the building itself.”
“Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in your midst? … for God's temple is sacred, and you together are that temple” (1 Corinthians 3:16-17).
Voluntary Suffering
C.S. Lewis once wrote, “Always remember that poverty and every other ill, lovingly accept, has all the spiritual value of voluntary poverty or penance.”
What an interesting idea it is that even those things that are forced on us can be turned and used for our own spiritual benefit. This reminds me of my Drill Instructor back in bootcamp. His approach to finding volunteers was to handpick those who would volunteer.
My DI took all the fun out of volunteering. He certainly took the free-will part out of it! Or did he?
Is't it true that despite my lack of choice in bootcamp, I still had a choice? I still had the power to decide the attitude with which I would respond to the assignment that had been doled out to me. Similarly, there is a dimension of free-will in everything we must face, even those things that life forces on us.
Life cannot rob us of this God given power. We always have the choice to volunteer to serve Him in all things.
"So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God" (1 Corinthians 10:31).