This morning I awoke thinking about what people have been saying on
the various "social media" outlets about Robin Williams. It is indeed
very sad what happened to him. I found something that included some
quotes of his, that shed light on what was actually going on in his
life.
Excerpt:
“Yeah! Literally, it's like possession ‑ all of a sudden you're in, and because it's in front of a live audience, you just get this energy that just starts going…But there's also that thing ‑ it is possession. In the old days you'd be burned for it…But there is something empowering about it. I mean, it is a place where you are totally ‑ it is Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, where you really can become this other force. Maybe that's why I don't need to play evil characters [in movies], 'cause sometimes onstage you can cross that line and come back. Clubs are a weird kind of petri-dish environment. I mean, that's where people can get as dark as they can in comedy ‑ in the name of comedy, be talking about outrageous stuff and somehow come out the other side. I mean, that's one place where you really want to push it”
(Robin Williams, "Robin Williams,” by James Kaplan, US Weekly, January, 1999, p. 53).
Article link click here
The article goes on to say that many in the entertainment industry admit to having made such unholy alliances, otherwise known as "having made a deal with the devil" like in the story "The Devil and Daniel Webster", and of course even that can be repented of...however the devil won't make it easy. We were all once the devil's property, in some sense having been in alliance with him, but Jesus provided the way out.
This morning I was thinking about my flesh, my selfishness, my pride, my hypocrisy...and it made me think of Jesus seeing all of it and saying "I forgive you". Do I deserve that? Does anyone? No, of course not.
The devil is always there to temp us, to try to dissuade us from following the truth, and Jesus is ever there to give us the strength to follow Him, however it requires the one thing that many do not want to do: it requires renouncing this world and all of the deceptions and foolishness and arrogance etc in it, and also the fame and fortune it offers in exchange for a life of poverty in Christ. That doesn't mean I am to throw all my possessions away and live on the streets homeless, but it might...in that if I do find that I like Job have everything taken away from me, that I do not curse God but remember that even if I only have my life left, and my body is covered with sores and am in agony, it is still more than I deserve because how can I who came from nothing (before I was created) deserve anything?
I've listened to the Pilgrim's Progress excerpts on Sermon Audio before, and listened to this one again this morning. It describes our battle very well:
Battle with Apollyon
Despite all the wonderful things people are saying about Robin Williams he was a human being and one that we should not be elevating onto a pedestal. He was unhappy with his life, and if he could have surrendered that to Jesus we might have seen a different outcome. I've heard people say "He was a Christian"...but I'm not convinced, and that isn't the point anyway. We shouldn't idolize anyone, and we shouldn't make a martyr out of him. Jesus is the only one who is allowed our worship, He alone paid the price for our sins.
I hope you who read here will live a life of gratitude to God no matter how horrible you think your life is, and if you think your life is extremely blessed all the more reason to thank Him.
Excerpt:
“Yeah! Literally, it's like possession ‑ all of a sudden you're in, and because it's in front of a live audience, you just get this energy that just starts going…But there's also that thing ‑ it is possession. In the old days you'd be burned for it…But there is something empowering about it. I mean, it is a place where you are totally ‑ it is Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, where you really can become this other force. Maybe that's why I don't need to play evil characters [in movies], 'cause sometimes onstage you can cross that line and come back. Clubs are a weird kind of petri-dish environment. I mean, that's where people can get as dark as they can in comedy ‑ in the name of comedy, be talking about outrageous stuff and somehow come out the other side. I mean, that's one place where you really want to push it”
(Robin Williams, "Robin Williams,” by James Kaplan, US Weekly, January, 1999, p. 53).
Article link click here
The article goes on to say that many in the entertainment industry admit to having made such unholy alliances, otherwise known as "having made a deal with the devil" like in the story "The Devil and Daniel Webster", and of course even that can be repented of...however the devil won't make it easy. We were all once the devil's property, in some sense having been in alliance with him, but Jesus provided the way out.
This morning I was thinking about my flesh, my selfishness, my pride, my hypocrisy...and it made me think of Jesus seeing all of it and saying "I forgive you". Do I deserve that? Does anyone? No, of course not.
The devil is always there to temp us, to try to dissuade us from following the truth, and Jesus is ever there to give us the strength to follow Him, however it requires the one thing that many do not want to do: it requires renouncing this world and all of the deceptions and foolishness and arrogance etc in it, and also the fame and fortune it offers in exchange for a life of poverty in Christ. That doesn't mean I am to throw all my possessions away and live on the streets homeless, but it might...in that if I do find that I like Job have everything taken away from me, that I do not curse God but remember that even if I only have my life left, and my body is covered with sores and am in agony, it is still more than I deserve because how can I who came from nothing (before I was created) deserve anything?
I've listened to the Pilgrim's Progress excerpts on Sermon Audio before, and listened to this one again this morning. It describes our battle very well:
Battle with Apollyon
Despite all the wonderful things people are saying about Robin Williams he was a human being and one that we should not be elevating onto a pedestal. He was unhappy with his life, and if he could have surrendered that to Jesus we might have seen a different outcome. I've heard people say "He was a Christian"...but I'm not convinced, and that isn't the point anyway. We shouldn't idolize anyone, and we shouldn't make a martyr out of him. Jesus is the only one who is allowed our worship, He alone paid the price for our sins.
I hope you who read here will live a life of gratitude to God no matter how horrible you think your life is, and if you think your life is extremely blessed all the more reason to thank Him.
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