Divide and conquer is a great military strategy. An army will try to cut off a battalion from its supply force. Without ammunition, food, or reinforcements, the army will not be able to hold out long while under constant bombardment.
Divide and conquer is a great attack strategy. Three or four wolves don’t try to take on a herd all at once. They separate one or two from the rest and get their meal that way.
It is a time-tested and proven strategy.
Have you ever heard about a little company called Foxconn? I don’t know if it’s been in the news much lately.
Foxconn Technology Group is a multinational electronics contract manufacturing company based in Taiwan. It is the world’s largest contract electronics manufacturer.
And, it is looking for a place to build its newest manufacturing plant.
A while ago, a grandmother of one of our Lutheran grade schoolers brought an issue to me. Her fourth-grade grandson had been in our school about 3 years. There he learned about sin, forgiveness, and Jesus. He had come from a troubled background, but he seemed to really grow and blossom in our school as he learned about Jesus every day in every subject.
However, this student started getting into more and more trouble, both at school and at home, over the course of his fourth-grade year.
“They came to a place called Golgotha (which means ‘the place of the skull’)” (Matthew 27:33; Mark 15:22; Luke 23:33). Golgotha was just outside the city gates of Jerusalem (John 19:20), so there would have been plenty of people walking by and gawking at the sight of crucifixions on that bloody hill. “Golgotha” is Aramaic for “skull.”
We often interchange the name “Golgotha” for “Mt. Calvary” – and rightly so. “Calvary” means “skull” in Latin. Both terms are literally translated as “Skull Place” or “Place of the Skull.”
It was years ago, when a small-town newspaper ran an article about the city council. The owner of the paper, upset by some recent events, had written an editorial which, in big, bold type, proclaimed, “Half the City Council Are Crooks!” While the editor expected some people would demand a retraction, he never thought people would begin to cancel their subscription to his newspaper.
Growing up on a farm, I had plenty of animals to take care of – beef cattle, a flock of sheep, a handful of pigs, a horse, several hundred chickens, plus an assortment of dogs and cats. We didn’t have these animals around for fun. The cats caught mice. The dogs chased away the wild critters. The horse was used for riding. But, the rest of the animals were raised for food.
Your stomach is churning. Your report card is on the counter. Your parents are going to blow up. What are you going to say to get you out of this?
Your mind is racing. You’ve been busted. The police lights are flashing behind you. What are you going to say to get you out of this?
Your palms are sweaty. You are waiting in your boss’s office. You messed up big time. What are you going to say to get out of this?
“I’m going to pick a fight.” This is one of my favorite lines from one of my favorite movies – “Braveheart.”
At one point in the movie, the Scots are about to go into battle against the English. The Scots are greatly outnumbered by the well-armed, well-trained English forces. Before peaceful negotiations and more concessions by the Scots can be made, William Wallace (played by Mel Gibson) stirs things up by telling his Scottish friends, “I’m going to pick a fight.”