I’m someone, like anyone, who loves to be entertained. Consider that my first love was action movies before I committed myself to mainstream music. My earliest childhood memories are of watching Die Hard and dressing like Nikki Sixx from Mötley Crüe. There’s a photo of me, somewhere, “throwing up the horns” at age 5, and even as I write this now, it’s difficult not to get side-tracked with thoughts of what new movie or music I could become obsessed with next.
Until just a few years ago, I was among the many who believed this to be harmless behavior — an innocuous fascination with guilty pleasures, if you will. But that was before a nagging feeling that I’ve always had, warning that what I valued was actually of no value, became more than just my conscience’s way of keeping me grounded. It was a voice that called out to me, and that voice belonged to my Father in Heaven.
I believe that intuition is hard-wired in all of us as a means of self-navigating the deceptive world we live in, where any wrong turn could mean spiritual and physical death, and where you constantly hear the advice “just follow your heart.” A wise man once told me that our hearts are deceitful, because we are born into wickedness and live in a world that promotes evil and sin, so following your heart, in essence, means to walk a path of destruction. And if you think back to all that our heart’s ever desired, so little of it would have actually made us better people if obtained.
Still, while I chose not to listen to my intuition before, I’m listening now, and as a result I’m slowly able to identify in me all that is not of my Father. Understand that before Him, before I began reading the Bible three years ago, what consumed me was the world. The aforementioned lusts and desires of mainstream entertainment — it led me to a dark place of greed, envy and covetousness. A slave to sin, my heart was wicked, because it was filled with the world’s lies — that what we should live for is personal joy and gratification, and not that of our Creator. As a friend once explained to me, any art form, if not rooted in Scripture, can be of the enemy. So yes, the artistry and talent exhibited and the luxuries and revelries my former heroes lived represented my initial goals, and it was their glory I sought for myself. But that person is slowly dying, and the world’s deceits with him. What I live for now is the Way, the Truth and the Life, and what I glorify now is my Heavenly Father.
This is the first of what I hope will be many posts. I don’t have an audience, and this will likely only be shared amongst friends of like-mind before I even think to share it with others. Simply call this a living testimony of a man who struggles daily with sin in a world that breeds and promotes sin as a way of life. Scripture was also not included in this my first post, because I’m not confident enough yet in my knowledge (or lack thereof) of the Bible, and fear I would mislead if used inappropriately. But do expect all that I write here in the future to be rooted in the Truth.
P.S. Below is video of a man ministering to a group of people on a subway car. He shares a great message that moved me more than any music or movie ever did. And I’ll leave you with it as a good analogy of what the world offers, and what God offers.
https://www.facebook.com/imsoblesseddaily/videos/529564727207656/
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