Retreats and Halloween…

I can’t remember if I’ve shared my views on “retreats” before… if I have, you’ll get to hear them again.

During the Korean War, there came a point when a butt load of Chinese soldiers attacked not-as-many Marines. I don’t remember the exact numbers, but the Marines were outnumbered by a whole lot. How bad was it? The Marines were pretty much surrounded. They had to fight their way back to the good guys. At some point, someone mentioned the word “retreat” to Maj. Gen. Oliver P. Smith, division commander. His response to this was, “Retreat, hell. We're just attacking in a different direction.”

I tell you this story to tell you my views on church “retreats”. Every church I know loves to have retreats. To this I say, “Retreat, hell. We’re just attacking in a different direction.” You see, we (Christians) are at war… a war of Good vs. Evil. The good news (or should I say, Good News) is that we have Jesus on our side… and we win (it’s true… look it up). The bad news is that at this point we are surrounded by evil. So, like the Marines I just talked about… we’re just attacking in a different direction.

This isn’t just my opinion either. Look at music that you can find in a hymnal… Onward Christian Soldier, When the Saints Go Marching In, Battle Hymn of the Republic… these don’t sound like retreating songs to me. It’s not just in music… just take a look at the following verses in The Bible: 1 Corinthians 15:58 (Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain). Romans 16:20 (The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet). Ephesians 6:10-17 (Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. 12For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God). There are others, but I think you get my point. None of those verses sounds like a call to retreat if you ask me. Therefore, I say we take a stand and stop calling these church trips “retreats”. Call them what they really are… Attacks.

Now a quick word about Halloween. I think this “holiday” is what is wrong with our country right now. Every year we tell children to walk around knocking on doors asking people to give them candy. Well, here’s a little hint boys and girls… there’s no such thing as free candy. Oh Greg, you’re over-reacting… Am I? Look around… look at all of the entitlement programs. Look at this new health care thing that is trying to be pushed on us. All of this stuff is because people think they should get free “candy”. Why do they think this? Halloween. ;)

Cleveland Cavs update: The Cavs are off today. Time to rest and regroup.

Winthrop Eagles fact of the day: The Eagles have won the Big South Tournament 9 times: 1988, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2005, 2006, 2007, and 2008.

*Oh, I forgot to mention in my other post that the video on De'Andre Adams that I posted the other day was created by my cousin Alan. He's got skills.