by Greg Neal

Wow! It has been an exciting start to Greg Neal Daily.

Thank you all for subscribing to the One More Thing… weekly newsletter. It is a privilege to share my thoughts and spiritual insight with each of you.

As an update, the podcast studio is making great progress, and soon I hope to have a date for the release of our first episode! The Greg Neal Podcast will offer a unique and interesting take on podcasting and will be available in both video and audio formats.

Since the last newsletter, there have been several additions to the Nights of Hope schedule. An out-of-state meeting has been added in Kentucky, as well as meetings around the Jacksonville area. Please continue to pray for this ministry to the grieving and join us for A Night of Hope.

I am grateful for the doors God is opening to be a help and blessing to churches and pastors. It is my desire to encourage and edify the saints. Several meetings have been added to my speaking itinerary. I mention this as a request for your prayers for these meetings and, if I am in your area, to invite you to attend.

In addition to this, let me mention One More Thing…

UNO Reveals You Have Been Playing the Game Wrong!

https://www.instagram.com/p/DEiuREnyNTl/?igsh=b2VxODk4eW94OGZr

The popular family card game UNO, via its social media account, has confirmed that one cannot play a Draw 2 card on top of another Draw 2 card.

“This has to be fake news,” I said to myself when I saw the headline. Everyone knows it is perfectly legal to play a Draw 2 on top of a Draw 2.

No, not according to the official rules of the game!

I have played this game more times than I can count, and every time, part of my strategy has included stacking a Draw 2 on a Draw 2. I have been playing the game wrong all these years. I am sure I am not alone.

So, how did we get to this point where practice became the rule rather than the written instructions? What can we learn from it?

An assumption was made.

At some point while playing the game of UNO, a decision was made without referring to the official rules of the game. This “rule” seemed logical. It aligned with other rules, so it made sense that one could play a Draw 2 card on another Draw 2.

In a card game, an assumption like this is not a big deal, but in life, assumptions can have serious consequences. How many times have relied on logic without consulting the rules? I fear we have formed a habit of assuming instead of consistently consulting our life Rulebook––the Bible.

A liberty was taken.

Many people learned to play UNO from someone who played it by the wrong rules. Liberties were taken that were never intended to be part of the game. How many times has an opponent been dispatched by the stacked Draw 2s? No harm was done, as long as everyone played by the same rules, right?

Unfortunately, this mindset is often practiced among Christians and in our churches. New Christians learn the improper way of doing things simply because “everyone does it that way.” However, liberties must not be taken due to a failure to consult the rules.

A tradition was established.

I know that readers are just as shocked as I was to discover it is against UNO rules to play a Draw 2 card on another Draw 2.

“But I’ve always played this way!”

It is revealing to watch people dispute the official rules of the game while defending tradition as fact. I would contend that most people will never change their style of play because it has become the accepted tradition.

I have seen this play out in our churches as well.

“This is the way we’ve always done missions.”

“They aren’t qualified to serve.”

“The deacons have to approve that.”

These are traditions with no rules––no Scriptural basis––to back them. Don’t miss this point: An assumption was made, a liberty was taken, and a tradition was established. In a card game, it is of little consequence. However, when it comes to the Christian life, replacing God’s standard with the tradition is tragic.

It is enlightening to observe an avid UNO player demanding that the game’s official social media account capitulate to the way “everyone plays now.”

Sadly, I see this in churches––when someone points out that current mission traditions were established by conventions or that it was Pharisees who forbade the restored from serving, rather than these “rules” coming from the Bible. In light of this, it is appropriate to say, “Show me in the rules.”

I am not suggesting that playing UNO differently than the creators intended will automatically lead to living contrary to the Bible. I am simply illustrating how often we live by traditions and beliefs that were never written in Scripture.

How different would our churches be if they stopped following the “rules” established by the brethren and instead lived by the rules established by Christ.

Perhaps, most people will continue to play UNO the way they always have. There is no harm in that.

This revelation concerning UNO should give us a reason to consider:

Am I playing by the rules written or by the rules practiced?