Last week I talked about my hand-to-hand combat with a rattlesnake as I was training before going to Vietnam. Snakes never bothered me before. Growing up, I only saw a few little garter snakes in the inner city. But now I’m done with snakes … or so I thought.

During first aid training, they told us about two very deadly snakes in Vietnam: the bamboo viper and the krait snake. Veterans referred to them as “two-steppers” — take two steps and die. I thought it was hype. There were actually 15 different venomous snakes in Vietnam, but they didn’t mention the deadliest one!

After serving with an Infantry Company, I volunteered to live in the villages away from the large bases. Our goal: “Win the hearts and minds of the people.” It was a great strategy and in reality worked well. Living in the villages and training the local militia on how to defend themselves was a rewarding experience.

We patrolled the area around us constantly, keeping the enemy off guard. I became the squad point man, always out front looking for ambushes, boobytraps, or signs of the enemy. During one daytime patrol as I was leading the squad, I saw the tail end of a snake slip into the tall grass off the trail. I stopped the patrol and walked over to see if I could find it … and kill it.

As I moved slowly through the tall grass, suddenly, about four feet in front of me, a huge king cobra raised up and lunged at me. My heart was in my throat as I pulled the trigger of my M-14, emptying an entire magazine (20 rounds) toward the cobra. When the smoke and dust settled, I cautiously moved in the direction of the very dead snake. But there was nothing there! I’m sure I scared the daylights out of it, but I missed it completely. I carefully backed up to the trail and we kept moving. I hate snakes!

After my discharge and after I became a Christian, my wife and I began working with young adults who struggled with life-controlling addictions. As part of their recovery, we obtained a large property of nearly 90 acres outside a small town in Iowa. There are no venomous snakes in Iowa — or so we were told!

One day my nine-year-old daughter and I went for a walk around our property. As we walked alongside a small stream, we noticed a snake in the water. She loves snakes and so we thought we’d get closer to see what kind of snake it was. Suddenly it came out of the water, lunging at us as we backed away. That’s when I saw the white mouth of the snake with his fangs bared. I picked up a tree limb and beat it to death.

We carried it back to our center and I called for one of our students, a Cajun from the bayous of Louisiana. I asked him, “Jules, what kind of snake is that?” He looked at me with a grin and said, “Mr. Roger, that be a cottonmouth!” So much for no venomous snakes. My daughter looked at me and said, “Dad, only YOU could have found a venomous snake where there’s not supposed to be one!” Just lucky I guess!

I mentioned last week that Satan, a snake, still crawls around trying to find those he can seduce and kill. He hates us, whether we are a Christian or not. You are created in the image of God, so he hates you. Paul told us in II Corinthians 2:11 to be wary of Satan, “for we are not ignorant of his schemes.”

Today, many are ignorant of his schemes. We’re deceived by Satan, thinking we can be our own gods. We make puny gods. I believe it’s time for the church to start getting back to the basics, spreading the Gospel to those who are blinded by the creepy, crawly enemy of our soul.

Something to pray about!
Semper Fidelis