Great Escapes

In 2nd Peter chapter 2, the writer, who had experience God's hand of deliverance on numerous occasions, painted the picture of an evil world, in which those who desire to follow Christ had to be dependent on God as their strength in order to walk in triumph:
1 But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction. 2 And many will follow their destructive ways, because of whom the way of truth will be blasphemed.   In the midst of a world bent on evil, engaged in destructive practices, we can rest on this promise, from verse 9: ...then the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations and to reserve the unjust under punishment for the day of judgment...

And, we have the promise from 1st Corinthians that God has provided a way of escape.   So, when temptation comes, and we recognize that we are being tempted, then we look to the Lord for His way ofescape - sometimes that will involve running, fleeing from it.   Other times, it will involve standing in place, relying on Christ's firm foundation.  It may involve speaking truth into a situation.   And, as we resist temptation, we may have to go on the offensive and pray against the power of the enemy.   God will give us the wisdom as we seek Him, but the central truth is that God is our rescuer, who makes a way of escape from the temptations we face.

In 1st Corinthians chapter 10, we have the promise from God of a way of escape when we are tempted.
13 No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.

The Oscars were handed out last night, and even though the experts say it was a banner year for movies, with a number of strong nominees and performances, the telecast was generally panned by online reviewers, with much of the ire directed a Seth McFarlane, the creator of the off-color cartoon show, "The Family Guy", and the movie featuring a profane teddy bear called, "Ted".   So, this should have come as no surprise to those responsible...

But, 2012 was a strong year on the screen and at the box office.  Ticket sales rebounded last year, and the $10.8 billion take was an all-time record.  And, the 9 Oscar Best Picture nominees have taken in somewhere around $2 billion going into last night's ceremony.

And, Barna reports that evangelicals are consuming films in significant numbers.   According to Christianity Today, the research group surveyed more than 1,000 American adults and found that evangelicals reported an average of 2.7 movies in theaters last year, an average "bigger than any of the age groups except for Mosaics" (those aged 18 to 28, who saw an average of 3.4 movies).

The evangelical average is a full movie more than the national adult average, and just shy of the average of 3 films seen by those professing no religion.

Large numbers of evangelicals turned out to see summer blockbusters like "The Avengers" (42 percent of evangelicals reported seeing it) and "The Hunger Games" (36%). Fewer evangelicals reported seeing "Skyfall" (12%), "Argo" (3%), and "Lincoln" (3%).

"Argo", the Best Picture winner, is an R-rated film depicting a great escape - 6 Americans who first of all escaped the U.S. Embassy in Iran when it was overrun by militants.   They ended up in the Canadian embassy, but they still needed to get out of Iran - enter a CIA agent named Tony Mendez, who led an effort, a ruse, to provide an escape for the Americans, under the auspices of a fictitious movie called, "Argo" - the Americans used fake Canadian ID, heavy makeup, and some ingenuity, and the escape attempt was successful.

I thought about escapes as depicted in the Bible - you have to think of Noah, who escaped God's judgment, and Moses, who escaped Pharoah's oppression.   David escaped the murder attempts of King Saul, and Daniel was rescued from the lions.   In Acts 5, Peter and the apostles were thrown into prison and were set free in the middle of the night, to appear in the temple the next morning.   In Acts 12, as God's people prayed, Peter was rescued yet again, ending up at the house where these prayer meetings were going on.   In Acts 16, as Paul and Silas sang praises, the angels intervened and set them free.

Now, that's not say God will always free us from what we perceive to be negative circumstances.   But, we do know that it is God's will to set us free from the power of sin and the temptation to sin.   The cross is a reminder that He has provided the way out and the way over regarding sinful behavior.    When we are tempted, He gives us the power to overcome, the way of escape, if you will - using His resources, God will lead us in His way of victory.