Strategizing Against the Revolutionary War Between Man and Sin

Strategizing against sin became a whole lot easier when Jesus died on the cross.

Like all childhood friends, a bond is formed by common hobbies, and with Jake Forsythe, the common ground was flowing with hobbies, like ants on an anthill during harvest season.

Collecting die-cast cars, watching movies on VHS, playing Call of Duty on the Xbox, going on bike rides through the subdivision, reading Calvin and Hobbes comics, and playing Air Soft in our backyards to name several.

One of Jake’s defining character traits is his unwavering devotion to something he puts his mind to. So, when it came to one-on-one airsoft battles with our pistols, he treated it like he was James Bond’s sidekick – that, or he was the next Bond, Jake Bond. He was so good at airsoft, my clearest memory is of him hiding behind the pool shed while I am getting my rear end kicked by 10 pellets at a time because he was playing the proper way while I was a sitting duck looking for him. When I would finally feel confident enough that I caught him off guard behind the shed, to my surprise, he was gone. Five pellet bruises later, he was behind the trees shooting where he used to be and hitting me while I was, once again, a sitting duck.

Eventually, our game of airsoft would end because I was so frustrated that I could never find him. Ten years later, I attended a private university while he went into the Marines – shocker.

While I will forever respect Jake for bringing Black Hawk Down to the countryside backyard of my home, the strategy he employed was not only for self-preservation, but also to outwit, outplay, and outlast me like it was a game of Survivor. What Jake did differently than me was treat each airsoft pellet like it was his last shot, and to preserve his own life, even if the harm he did to me was hit me with a dozen bee stings. The additional benefit of his strategy was it promised him a one-sided massacre that made me out to be the laughingstock of the operation. A target bag filled with corn from five feet away would have been a more difficult target to hit.

Approximately 250 years ago, during the Revolutionary War, while I would guess the tactic wasn’t born, it proved to be decisive in helping the Patriots overcome extreme disadvantages in skill, organization, and experience to send the British Loyalists back to Boston where they camped for the night to regroup from the ambush.

What ambush? Well, the first battle of the Revolutionary War, known as The Battle of Lexington and Concord, the British Loyalists’ goal was not to wipe out the Continental Army, but to scare them into a quick surrender of their weapons. Just hand over your weapons and no blood would be shed. Of course, it also meant complete control for King George and Great Britain. By the time the King George troops came over to complete their mission, the Continental Army had enough time to strategize against them. While the British were confident they would convince the Patriots to surrender their arms without firing a single shot, they were horribly mistaken.

What I love about the first battle is that its victory over King George’s British Loyalists led to the Declaration of Independence being written and signed, which is why we call 2026 the 250 year anniversary of America. However, the war was far from over, but it did supply the underdog Patriot army plenty of confidence as well as bulked up their resume that would eventually convince the French to aid them in their desire to become a free nation.

Just like any historic event that caused a seismic shift in the rest of our lives on planet Earth, any victory that led to major future changes of this magnitude has its challenges. And with challenges comes plenty of sacrifice.

And also creativity.

Think about it, eventually after getting shot by enough plastic pellets, you would think I would eventually hide behind a fence post and come up with a new gameplan on how to defeat Jake, who was probably slathering himself with mud and tree leaves as camouflage while I was stumbling around looking for a place of refuge.

Even though I would love to say I did put my creativity to use by switching things up on my adversary, using the outcome of the Revolutionary War as motivation, I did not. But it would have come in handy if I hoped to turn the tables on him and pull out a surprising victory that would shock even myself.

In 1775, when the British army successfully stormed through Lexington after the “Shot Heard Round The World” was fired, the moved towards the only bridge that led to Concord, the North Bridge. In the town of Concord was where a lot of ammunition and various weapons were stored, but instead of handing them over to the British without a fight, they hid them.

Hide-and-seek was not the only thing that made this battle an interesting one, though. When the British set fire to the small – and I mean small – amount of weapons they did find, a group of Patriots saw smoke billowing below Punkatasset Hill, where they were stationed and laying in wait for the right opportunity to strike the Loyalists. Well, this plume of smoke was the right opportunity because they mistook it for the village of Concord being set ablaze. As the rushed down the hill, it pushed the British army back where they first arrived.

Remember when I mentioned only one way in to Concord? That means there was one way out, so when the British were surprised by this brave attack from atop Punkatasset Hill, they needed to get back to Boston to regroup. To do that, they were forced to go back a predictable route, which leads to the entire point of this story.

Shoot-and-Scoot.

During my skirmishes with Jake, it didn’t just annoy me to the point of possibly ending my friendship with him because of his very particular set of skills at embarrassing me in my own backyard, it probably annoyed the British too, because they were also victims of this strategy. Of course, they didn’t have a friendship on the line, but their own lives, which I am eternally grateful that Jake wasn’t shooting me with a musket – I would have been long gone if my life were on the line.

Historians say what made this march back to Boston particularly difficult for those fighting on the king’s side is not only did they have no where else to go, but the land they marched through was not the layout they were used to fighting in. First, it was an Atlantic Ocean from home and they were used to open fields, not complex terrain full of buildings, boulders, and homes to hide in and behind. However, the Continental Army was on home field, so they knew the land unlike the British Loyalists, even if they didn’t know how to fire their musket the way the British army did.

This distinction paid dividends for the Patriots, because this is how the Shoot-and-Scoot strategy came into play. Shoot, hide behind a cluster of trees or under the window of a two-story apartment, and it leaves the British soldiers looking around like sitting ducks, if not dead from the shot. Sounds familiar, doesn’t it? It did for me, because that’s exactly how Jake made me feel: like a sitting duck. It’s like trying to catch a bucket of water to prevent yourself from getting wet, or trying to catch a ghost and contain it.

Imagine standing in the middle of a dirt road, dehydrated, disappointed by defeat, and stumbling drunk from the heat and exhaustion, and now add a handful of Patriots shooting and hiding behind all of the physical obstacles that only the opponent knew about. Any difficult day prior to this would be a cake walk.

When I read this part of the text to my fifth graders, it makes it sound so easy for the Patriots. Let’s not forget: the Patriots were farmers, blacksmiths, carpenters, merchants, tailors, and other occupations that didn’t require munitions before they joined the war. None of these positions required them to handle a gun. If they had a gun, it was for hunting unarmed animals for food, not to kill other humans who could fire back.

Also worth noting: the Patriots were just British people who fled the homeland to have freedom from King George III, so they were firing against their own neighbors, British vs. British. This is why it was the British Patriots (or Continental Army) vs. the British Loyalists. However, historians also refer to the Patriot army as the American army because they occupied American land at the time.

The bottom line is the British army was supposed to be infinitely better and more prepared than the Patriots. They made a living training to be a soldier. It should have been like an 8^th grade middle school basketball team playing against the Golden State Warriors NBA professional basketball team. The level of disparity is astronomical! Why would you put your life on the line knowing full well there’s a 99% chance you’ll be obliterated, even if you are at home and the Loyalists are considered “the away team.”

Yet, damage was done and the British left Lexington and Concord feeling extremely disappointed and shocked that the Continental Army successfully pulled off a stunt like that. It was a miracle! Shoot-and-Scoot caused the British to flee back to Boston with little to show for their mission. It was a failure, and there was no respawning in this situation like the video games allow.

Often, I feel the same about sin. I get down on myself and feel like there’s no way out. No strategy that will cause the sin to flee – or me to flee the sin. A friend of mine once corrected me and said, “You always have enough time to refuse to submit to temptation.” Unfortunately, it can be easy to fall into the victim mentality and think sin is too strong for you to overcome.

In my career, when I feel tempted to mistreat someone at work because I feel mistreated, it can be easy to think I have already lost the battle when I feel temptation to react poorly.

Can you imagine if the 80 or so militiamen (Patriots) decided to give up before the trained British soldiers came? Can you imagine if they said, “They are too experienced and I’m just a carpenter! I make IKEA furniture and they kill for a living! I couldn’t overcome them! Let’s just surrender.”

Instead, they strategized. They weren’t even promised victory for trying! They couldn’t tell the future, so their attempts to gain freedom from the British control could have easily fallen short from the start. The point is, they had good reason to quit; we don’t. In fact, the Bible tells us so:

“No temptation has overtaken except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.” (1 Corinthians 10:13, NIV)

This verse is why we Shoot-And-Scoot against sin. Yes, Satan is strong. Yes, Satan has been doing this since the beginning of time – he is well-versed in tempting us away from God. But, if we believe Scripture wholeheartedly, then we do have a way out. Victory is moments away. Unfortunately, too often we don’t strategize with God through our sin so it no longer has control over us. We withdraw from the fight before the last part of verse 13! I am not suggesting it is not hard, but I am promising God has a solution to your struggle. 

In fact, he is the solution! We shouldn’t wait until after we lose the battle to pick ourselves back up – let’s flip the script and strategize while the enemy is tempting!

The fight is not over. The Patriots knew that; and when they had difficulty believing it, along came strong leaders like George Washington who helped them believe it. But, belief must take us to a place of strategizing in alignment with that belief. You might also call strategizing taking action, and in this case, the two are synonymous.

The Patriots didn’t just sit in customs houses and taverns discussing ways to boycott, get back at King George, and refuse to pay his taxes. They sure did discuss, but they also acted on it and eventually, they had to take further action once war was declared. You must take action. Sin will continue crouching at your door until you do something drastic – until you strategize in a creative way that turns the tables in favor of victory for you.

Jake didn’t just talk about his love for the military, their tactics, and materiel, he lived it out in our Airsoft battles, and I can bet you every dollar I have he won every 1-v-1 match we ever had. I didn’t win one of them. Thank the good Lord we didn’t keep track of who won and who lost, but I don’t think we needed to because it always ended the same. I was lucky to get one shot off, typically. Why? Simple. He played the part by strategizing and taking action.

When we are faced with temptation, distress, discouragement, or lured into making poor choices, we have time to strategize a way out and glorify God in the process. We are given the gift of self-control, even in the face of danger. We may not have control over the surrounding forces that put pressure on us, but we can determine how prepared we are to face that pressure. To prepare, strategizing is a prerequisite to action and even works together. The Patriots strategizing and acting on that strategy to defeat the British in the Battle of Lexington and Concord is a perfect example of this.

The result was an independent America was born, which makes this part of history monumental, if you  ask me. The same result can be said of us overcoming temptation with God’s help. Just like the Continental Army’s ultimate victory over the King George III led to freedom, overcoming temptation can lead to freedom if we’re willing to strategize with God’s help.

The beautiful difference between the Revolutionary War and our fight against sin is that Jesus already fought and defeated sin – he already enlisted in the war against sin that we were supposed to fight and died so we could be set free from its clutches. When we fall into temptation, we are behaving like Jesus never did that. See, we can strategize with Jesus because he helped us win before we were even conceived into the world. This is why God “will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear.” No temptation is capable of forcing you into sin because God already sent Jesus to take that burden.

That is much better news that going up against Jake in Airsoft, I can tell you that. At least you have time to find freedom. Me, during those Airsoft days, never.

That is why I signed my own Treaty of Paris* with Jake in June 2002.

*For those of you who are not American History nerds, the Treaty of Paris is the official agreement signed in 1783 by the US and Great Britain to end the Revolutionary War and allowed the Thirteen Colonies to be a free, sovereign groups of independent states that would form the United States of America.

My Dreams vs. Reality

 They say dreams are small pieces of your subconscious finding the spotlight where your conscious currently resides.

I’m not sure who they are and I’m not sure if anyone’s ever said that because I’ve never heard that before.

 

…but, c’mon, it sounds scientific and exactly what dreams do.

If you rewind the tape, you would notice I wasn’t your average college kid who couldn’t wait until those four dreadful years were over and I could live out the ambitions I went into college debt for. To me, graduation was the equivalent of being thrown into a world of unpredictable twists and turns, not an opportunity to turn your future aspirations into now. After all, not everyone gets to be what they want after the first try, and that scared me sleepless.

A majority of college graduates have to go through the painful years of discovering themselves before they wind up getting the career they went to college for – if their mind doesn’t change by the time the actual opportunity rolls around. So, their 20s are filled with either one, constantly competing against hundreds, if not thousands, of other applicants who are likely better qualified due to experience or bias. Two, they give up on what gets them giddy and resort to less pleasant experiences coming out of college in hopes it is merely a short-term rung of the ladder to the career of your choice. Or three, they step into something entirely different than what they were anticipating for the long-term and find out quickly enough that they are inspired to call an audible on their initial dreams.

For someone who already questioned whether they wanted to spend their money learning how to teach children, entering the field trying to prove myself to employers added to the pressure to be a booming success out of the gate. I was option one, but I wasn’t thrilled about it for many other reasons other than having to compete with other ambitious educators. Needless to say, I put more on my plate mentally than I should have – most of the pressure was unnecessary considering where I am at now.

I allowed this mindset to eat at me and cause me to randomly burst into tears throughout the final two years before my student teaching semester began. I was stricken by immense anxiety and stunned with indescribable doubt because I didn’t know what the future would have in store for me. So many times I prayed and asked God for a crystal ball to ease my mind. Instead of welcoming the mystery and anticipating the thrill that comes with the rollercoaster the real-world would put me on, I was apprehensive and shell-shocked that the rest of my life was within reach. You could argue I was allowing worry and anxiety to derail me from putting my future in God’s hands.

My two remaining years of college were when the subconscious in my mind was making its way to the surface like a buoy refusing to go underwater. I didn’t want to feel this terrible about the rest of my life after my college education concluded, but like stuffing a million marbles behind a flimsy closet door, the subconscious fear and crippling despair were bursting out of the forefront of my mind – so much for the that part of my mind preventing me from living my life peacefully and with eager anticipation to start the next chapter of my life.

 

After college in Michigan, I moved down to Tempe, Arizona with a college friend. The year my best friend and I moved south, I had a tremendously difficult rookie year teaching 6^th grade (not just because it was my first). Put it this way: Most of my conversations with God sounded like, “I told you this would happen,” as if I planned against God’s wishes to have emotional and mental meltdowns in college just to have my feelings validated a year later. No matter how I write about this season of my life, it sounds bizarre to consider my logic at the time, or lack thereof. Turns out, the nightmare year I experienced was necessary for the rest of my teaching career to take shape. I needed to experience the pain in the forest to see the clearing on the other side.

 

Without retelling the following decade and a half (known as the clearing after the forest of pain and suffering) after college in too much detail, the following school years teaching 5^th grade in Gilbert, Arizona were not only filled with some incredibly blessed professional years, but also full of memories where God proved to me that he can use anyone he chooses to do his will, even if it’s not always easy or rewarding.

 

However, the panic and unending barrage of discouragement I felt in my remaining two years of college never disappeared; they just slowly crawled back into the darkness of my subconscious where dreams and nightmares are created when my head hits the pillow and my eyes drift off to sleep.

 

For example, I once dreamt I was back in Michigan. I was scheduled to substitute for a Junior High class, but the dream started with me walking into the school with my pajamas on. From the jump, I was unprepared to sub. As is typical in my teaching dreams, I couldn’t find the room I was subbing for, so when I finally did find it, I was already 15 minutes late. It was for 8^th grade science, and the kids started laughing the moment they laid their judgmental eyes on me. I looked around the room and realized I was in a classroom surrounded by glass windows twice the size of the regular rooms, and surrounding the classroom were the hallways of the school like a moat surrounding Alcatraz. When I finally meandered to the teacher desk, there were no sub plans to be seen. Only the teacher’s science textbook teacher’s manual was visible, and it was flipped open to a random chapter. As I scanned the room, it was obvious I was flustered and unsure of how to help the kids for that hour, let alone the entire 7 hours. This embarrassment, though not my fault, became fuel for the fire as their laughter and apathy became louder. The worst part was feeling like I was to blame for this mistake.

 

It was no dream. It was a nightmare. Unprepared, unworthy, underachieving, and a waste of time: my worst fear in a realistic dream. That is what my subconscious told me in those two years before graduation, and that is what every dream about teaching has been about. This example is just one of many.

 

The many that tell me...

 

I’m not good enough.

They’ll never accept me.

I’m too stupid.

They’ll laugh at me.

I’ll humiliate myself.

I will ruin my one shot at this.

I’ll never make them proud.

I might as well give up while I’m ahead.

I’m a waste of time

No one should have taken a chance on me

I’m a failure and that’s all I’ll ever be.

 

But, for every nightmare I occasionally have about a school experience that isn’t even real, I am reminded 25 times a day that God’s grace is often revealed when reality doesn’t match the fictional horror stories we make up in our minds.

 

God’s grace, when we choose faith in the midst of fear, proves it is sufficient for you and me because God often reminds us that those lies will remain lies as long as we walk with God to follow through on his plan for us.

 

It sounds like a mouthful, so let me paint you a clearer picture:

- Never have I ever subbed for a classroom where there were no lesson plans.

- Never have I ever had a classroom full of students laugh at my expense because I did something embarrassing.

- Never have I ever been humiliated because I wasn’t prepared to teach.

- Never have I ever gotten lost in a school because I couldn’t find where I was teaching for the day.

- Never have I ever been fired or in trouble because I wasn’t good enough to work at a school

Yet all of my teaching dreams have one or more of these elements in them, which proves to me what God does through you is powerful enough to transcend the lies we believe about ourselves.

Which makes these nightmares, as realistic as they are at times, as silly as the unrealistic dreams where I turn into a marshmallow in the middle of a blizzard. Those nightmares don’t align with who I really am and what I’m really about.

For me, what my junior and senior year of college brought to the surface was the lie I believed that I won’t amount to anything because I won’t be good enough and no one will recognize me as worthy of their time, thus rendering me useless and unserviceable.

That I will be a failure.

And, if God shows me through my career that those are boldface lies, the dreams will remind me that, at any moment, you could lose it all because all of the success you have had is smoke-and-mirrors for what is true: you are not a true teacher because you are a failure.

Again, a lie, just like those nightmares.

Starting to sound like a never-ending abyss of bad news, isn’t it? Well, this is where the good news comes in like that Gandalf scene in Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. Indeed, Gimli, the sun is rising: Rising with good news.

Growing up, my dad called Satan a lion without teeth. He can roar all he wants to scare the courage out of you, but he can’t eat you unless you let him have his teeth. These dreams? They don’t have teeth when I am steeped in the truth of who God says I am. The anxiety I felt about the future in those remaining two years of college also didn’t have teeth.

The more I grounded myself in God’s Truth and let His beautiful words fill my brain, the less the lies had a hold on me. It’s like when you introduce a pan of burnt cookies to Dawn dish soap: the longer the lies are marinating with God’s truth, the weaker of a hold those lies have on you. When the lies are covered in Truth, you don’t even need to scrape the burnt cookie crumbs off because gravity will do the job.

When you’re head is foggy and filled with doubt like mine was – when your nightmares are reality and feel so much like the Truth, it’s hard to see God’s intervention through it – don’t give up. Remind yourself and even memorize these Scriptures, because they are the Truth and no nightmare you’re living can change them to fiction:

“Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?” – Matthew 6:26

“Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful…for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” – Joshua 1:8-9

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to In God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.” – Philippians 4:6-7

In my remaining years of college before graduation, these were my main Bible verses that played leading roles in my life at the time, and they helped me graduate higher than a 3.6 GPA, move down to Arizona from Michigan, and start my teaching career teaching elementary age kids. Over 15 years later, I am still teaching in Arizona because of God’s goodness, faithfulness, and his peace guiding me through every up and down I experience. These verses were the swords I used to fight against the lion without teeth. The Word of the Lord gave me the prosperity I needed, and his peace and provision reminded me of my worth in Him.

Praise God for his unfailing love and plan for me.

Jesus, The Electrician

 

In 2024, my wife and I moved to north Mesa, about 20 minutes from our original home. It took me double the time to get to work, but the solitude, peace, and safety was worth it. It’s not to say we weren’t safe at the previous location, but the new spot is more countryside than city. Less congestion and noise, more safety.

 

Being further north doesn’t just mean safety, though. It also means more Jesus.

 

He’s just a phone call away, and he’ll fix any lights you need to because he’s a certified electrician.

 

We all need Jesus in our life because he’ll keep the lights of your life shining brightly. He will make sure the wires aren’t mixed up and you’re not living in darkness. If you reach out to him, he will draw near to you and will be your guide when things shut down on you.

 

This is inevitably what went through my mind when I saw an 8x10 flyer duct taped to a lamppost advertising and offering Jesus Garcia’s services to the North Mesa community.

 

And every time I saw this same advertisement faithfully hanging on by a thread, I would think about the parallels Jesus Garcia the electrician has with Jesus Christ the carpenter.

 

Well, just the name and the fact that they were known for their work with their hands.

 

“Need an Electrician? Call Jesus Garcia,” the flyer read.

 

Since I have yet to call the number, I don’t know much about the guy other than what is advertised on the flyer. Everything else is inferred: He’s confident he can get the job done, he’s from Mesa or around there, and he is not Jesus Christ. I could also infer he’s a good guy, a trustworthy electrician, and does not have a criminal record, but for a guy I only know through a piece of paper in the middle of a bridge overlooking the 202, it’s a stretch to say he’s a good man, electrician, and citizen of Arizona.

 

It’s also a stretch to say he’s a bad man, an untrustworthy electrician, and a criminal because, the point is, we don’t know enough about the guy to trust our gut.

 

When it comes to Jesus Garcia, we need to do our research on the guy before we allow him into our home, pay him money, and let him fix whatever is broken. We need to look up reviews, see if his website looks professional, and ask around to see if people know him as a reliable tradesperson. Even if he is, there may be other companies who are better suited to be the solution to your problem.

 

This is not a rant about who Jesus Garcia is or is not. After all, I haven’t even called the guy to know if he’s real. Regardless, what I do know is no matter how much investigating I do, there will always be one difference between the two tradespeople named Jesus, among many:

 

One Jesus doesn’t need to prove himself to be the best choice.

 

No offense to Jesus Garcia, but there is centuries and generations worth of positive, powerful reviews that Jesus Christ is the most dependable electrician in the world, then and now. There is not only billions and billions of eyewitness accounts proving he is the best decision you can ever make, but books are written about him. In fact, he’s so good, he’ll even help you through issues you didn’t know you had!

 

Evidence aside, the mere fact that Jesus Christ is co-equal with God and the Holy Spirit is all you need to know when it comes to who you should place your ultimate trust in. If this is the case, then let me introduce you to a math term called the Transitive Property:

 

If A=B, and B=C, then A=C.

 

If God is co-equal with the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit is co-equal with Jesus, then God is co-equal with Jesus.

 

Now that’s quality math.

 

Billy Graham, in his daily devotional, Hope for Each Day, explains how the Holy Spirit, God, and the Son are not just equal, but that the Holy Spirit is “not an impersonal power or force, nor is He just a divine influence or agent. He is a mighty Person, the Holy Spirit of God.”

 

Again, A=B, and B=C, so A=C. This means if the Holy Spirit is mighty, so is Jesus. And if you’ve spent any time around Jesus Christ, you would know that the power of his presence will keep the lights on in your heart and mind for a long time.

 

Usually, we call on a man like Jesus Garcia because we need help. We’re feeling despair because something that should be working is not. Because Jesus Christ is 100% satisfaction guaranteed, we will never reach a point of despair. Anglican bishop Jeremy Taylor said, “It is impossible for that man to despair who remembers that his Helper is omnipotent.”

 

No offense to Jesus Garcia, but though he may screw in lightbulbs and install control systems in houses, he is not all-powerful, all-present, and all-knowing. That would be an amazing electrician if he was. But Jesus Christ is, and we do not need to worry about our lives when we have an all-powerful God who is just a phone call away.

 

If you’re ever in the Mesa area and you need an electrician who will keep the lights of your life shining brightly, make sure the wires aren’t mixed up, and you’re not living in darkness, reach out to Jesus. He will draw near to you and will be your guide when things shut down on you.

 

And give Jesus a call while you’re at it.