I am an escapist. What does that even mean??
A quick look in the dictionary will tell you that an escapist is one who indulges in escapism – the avoidance of reality by absorption of the mind in entertainment or in imaginative situation, activity, etc. I think I've known for years that I was an escapist because almost all my life I have escaped reality in all sorts of ways and for all sorts of reasons. From the age of 13, I indulged in the fictional, in all sorts of magical and amazing imaginary worlds in the form of TV online. When I was 13 to when I was 15, I spent almost every waking hour watching TV program after TV program. My entire summers were spent in front of my computer screen (not watching porn) but watching TV. It’s amazing that I did well in school despite spending all my days craving escape from my sometimes boring & sometimes painful life. Why Did I do it? On the TV screen, I could vicariously live through the protagonists I adored. I could be popular, have an exciting life with superpowers even. I could be or have anything by watching these shows! Because let's face it, TV shows us what we wish we had and who we wish we were. What I saw on TV made my life as an only child with few friends and a single mom seem less miserable & boring so I spent even more time escaping. When I was 15ish, my escapism reached a peak when I discovered that I had a passion for creative writing. Creative Writing! It was better, richer, and more complex than anything I could have ever viewed on a TV screen. With the pen in my hand, and the characters in my control, at command, I could create elaborate worlds known only to me, specific to my desires, my wants & fantasies, making it the maximum source of entertainment and pleasure because it was made personal by me and for me. I stopped writing shortly before entering college and I now I believe this was the Lord pulling me out of my head before I lost myself to the imaginary. Why am I telling you this?
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Luke 14:25-33 Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said: “If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple. And whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. “Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it? For if you lay the foundation and are not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule you, saying, ‘This person began to build and wasn’t able to finish.’ “Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Won’t he first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace. In the same way, those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples. Topics of the sermon include:
*Hypocrisy & carnal Christianity, *Wolves in sheep's clothing, false prophets, *The narrow gate into Heaven & judgement day *How do you know you are saved? *Repentance Scripture from the Sermon is Matthew 7:13-27 ”Pastor Jeremiah Steepek transformed himself into a homeless person and went to the 10,000 member church that he was to be introduced as the head pastor at that morning. He walked around his soon to be church for 30 minutes while it was filling with people for service….only 3 people out of the 7-10,000 people said hello to him. He asked people for change to buy food….NO ONE in the church gave him change. He went into the sanctuary to sit down in the front of the church and was asked by the ushers if he would please sit n the back. He greeted people to be greeted back with stares and dirty looks, with people looking down on him and judging him. As he sat in the back of the church, he listened to the church announcements and such. When all that was done, the elders went up and were excited to introduce the new pastor of the church to the congregation……..” Love is patient. Love is kind. Love isn’t jealous. It doesn’t sing its own praises. It isn’t arrogant. It isn’t rude. It doesn’t think about itself. It isn’t irritable. It doesn’t keep track of wrongs. It isn’t happy when injustice is done, but it is happy with the truth. Love never stops being patient, never stops believing, never stops hoping, never gives up. Love never comes to an end. 1 Corinthians 13:4-8
Main Points of the Sermon
Repentance is turning to God with a complete change in the way a person thinks and acts. It isn’t just asking for forgiveness and then doing the same thing again. Matthew 3:2, Matthew 4:17, Mark 1:5 , All these verses call for repentance for “the kingdom of Heaven is near” 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 Or do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. You must repent to have a chance at heaven. Have you really repented? Are you living the life Christ called us to live... Rejoice in the Lord for your blessings are many! Let us not forget the encounter Jesus had with a rich man in Matthew 19:16-30. In Matthew 19:21 Jesus says,“If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” Afterwards the rich man leaves unhappy because he owned so many things (which he is supposedly attached to and does not want to give away). Then in Matthew 19:23-24, Jesus says to his disciples, “Truly I tell you, it is hard for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of heaven. 24 Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.” Something New
I’ve been through many transformations in my life. When I was 14, I was suicidal and depressed, yet God healed me when I joined a Bible study. When I was 16, I rejoiced in the Lord, however, I hadn’t given my whole life to Him completely. I came to college at the age of 18, and I fell away from God in the blink of an eye. My heart grieved silently as I fell further and further from His Grace and betrayed Him time and time again. But then, at 20 years old, I turned back to the Lord and now, I’m his faithful servant! Hallelujah! |
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