Shooting the Saints
"Finally, all of you, live in harmony with one another;
be sympathetic, love as brothers, be compassionate and
humble. Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult,
but with blessing, because to this you were called so that
you may inherit a blessing." – Peter the Apostle, (1 Peter
3:8-9, NIV)
Dr. Leslie Flynn writes about the time when the English and
French were at war in colonial Canada. "Admiral Phipps, in
charge of the British Fleet, was ordered to anchor outside
Quebec, a city on the St. Lawrence River. He was to await
the coming of the British infantry and then join the land
forces in attack.
"Arriving early, Admiral Phipps, an ardent nonconformist,
was annoyed by the statues of the saints that adorned the
roof and towers of the Catholic cathedral. So he spent his
time shooting at them with the ships' guns. How many he hit
we don't know, but history recorded that when the infantry
arrived and the signal was given for attack, the admiral
found himself out of ammunition. He had used it for shooting
out the saints." I often wonder in the church how much of
our efforts are poured into fighting among ourselves over
insignificant trivialities instead of uniting our efforts to
attack the real enemy.
by Dick Innes, Daily Encounter www.actsweb.org/detoday . Used by permission.