February 27, 2020 – Click here to listen
I had an enjoyable time spreading the Gospel yesterday and telling those in attendance of God’s hope yesterday at two events. The morning event was held at Pinewood studios where many of the top grossing movies including the Marvel movies are made. Someone said they made 400 movies there and it has surpassed Hollywood’s studios as the preferred location to make movies.
I took a tour of the 900,000 square foot under-roof facility and was amazed at how they can take an ordinary parking lot between a couple of buildings and turn it into an exact replica of downtown Manhattan utilizing blue screens and other effects to replicate it. They pointed out empty fields that were made into oceans with islands on them and so on.
As our guide rattled off various famous movies shot in these locations, I couldn’t help but think of how similar it is to Satan as he offers illusions as substitutes for things in life that on the surface seem to be glamorous or whatever; however the drugs, alcohol, sex, money, power, fame and so on that he portrays as being highly desirable when the facade is stripped away it reveals they are not as they seem.
In the morning I offered my testimony to quite a few movie people and others and my message was well received. Then that night I went to a rehab facility, A Better Way Ministries. This event was simply awesome. Approximately 120 men found out the hard way those dangers that are mentioned above, lie just beneath the surface of the illusion. Most are ex-cons who were addicted to drugs and alcohol and they enter this facility for 18 months. It has strict rules and they cannot even have a cell phone while there and are taught the Bible, worship, and putting in an honest day’s work to exist. When the worship service began, I could strongly feel the Holy Spirit’s presence as these tough men raised their hands and praised God. Many wept as they recounted their former lives and how they came to Christ.
They are taught skills at this ministry such as construction and they are totally self-sufficient with a huge thrift store, moving company, and wood working shop where they manufacture props and stages for the movie industry. They have an amazing 97% success rate of addicts getting sober and staying that way.
It was quite a contrast in audiences, speaking to the movie people in the morning and the others at night, but after each event I spoke individually with the many folks who came up to talk to me and all seemed to have similar stories. Many of the movie people seemed to talk about their children who were struggling, and the ex-cons and addicts talked more of deliverance of their own former sin filled lives.
This indicates to me that the illusions cast by Satan affect all of humanity in much the same manner. Satan presents sin as an illusion that looks exciting and fun and yet ends in misery. Don’t be deceived my friends. To understand the battle of spiritual warfare, we need to begin with acknowledging that we are in a WAR. Our daily battles make up smaller components of that war. By dictionary-definition, battles involve combat between two persons, between factions, between armies and they consist of any type of “extended contest, struggle, or controversy”. That is what we are engaged in.
As Christians, we are in a spiritual battle of some sort on a daily basis. In warfare battles are fought on different fronts, for different reasons, and with varying degrees of intensity. The same is true in spiritual warfare. Our spiritual battles and warfare are real, even though we cannot physically see the attacker and much of it occurs in our minds. But we can educate ourselves on how the battles are fought and how they impact our lives on a daily basis. The Bible describes Satan as walking around like a roaring lion seeking to devour whomever he may. This is a fearsome statement when you think about a lion. Its roar can be heard five miles away and it can be a fearsome adversary.
No need to break out a sweat however, just stay grounded in your faith and put on the full armor of God, primarily salvation, truth, the word of God, prayer, and fellowship with other Christians. Satan is deathly afraid of the name Jesus and we are told in the Bible that the former roaring lion will flee from us like a scared rabbit if we invoke it. Try it today as you will undoubtedly engage in spiritual warfare and watch that temptation, discouragement, bitterness, and/or hopelessness disappear right before your eyes.
Gal. 5:16
So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want.