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December 11, 2004 - The defeat of Doh and how Arkanoid saved me from temptation (well really God) --Well my friends, Doh has been defeated. After many valiant attempts, I finally guided Vaus through the perilous levels of Arkanoid all the way to Doh's layer on Level 33 and I defeated him! It was a fierce battle between me, the myriad of mazes, the nefarious magic hats and diabolical triangles, and the evil alien Doh himself, but I finally came out on top. A final score of 727,620, a triumphant ending dialogue, and a high score that read "Level All" attested to my tumultuous video game journey. I can now rest in peace, Arkanoid has been beaten. But the story runs much deeper then my victorious romp through 33 levels of me versus the evils of space. My night involved battles much fiercer than any videogame could ever challenge me with. The struggle even transcended space and matter itself. For it was not a struggle "against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms." Let me set the story… I had a good night. I went to my sister's basketball game tonight and had a really good time there. I even got to have some good conversations with some friends so that made it even better. After I came home though I didn't have much to do. I nuked some leftover pasta, watched some tv, and even played some Halo 2, but by midnight I was bored and wasn't really ready to go to bed. This is where I started running into potential problems. Though I had a good night so far, at this point I began to feel really bored and started to get really lonely. This is not a good combination late on a Friday night for a guy like me, especially when I had the whole damn Internet at my disposal, as well as plenty of sexually suggestive and charged cable channels like E! and MTV; and especially for a guy like me striving for purity in the face of raging hormones, societal influence, and continual purposeful sexual repression. The temptation to satisfy my sinful sexual nature, the wrong way, was all too near (guys, you know exactly what I'm talking about). But this is where God comes in, thank the Lord. Earlier in the night, when I started getting pretty bored I made a S.O.S. call to my friend Andrew Briggs. I knew he was out with friends, but I figured he might get home sometime and want to hang out (we like to hang out late at night, being the jobless guys we are :) Anyways, though I knew he'd probably get home real late and not even check his messages till the next day, I called him anyways and left a message on his answering machine just asking if he wanted to hang out tonight and maybe play Arkanoid or pool or something. Some time passed, and I got to the aforementioned stage of boredom and loneliness. I was beginning to weaken, despite my resolve to honor God. Low and behold though, at midnight, I got a call from my boy Andrew. He totally wanted me to come over and chill. My prayers had been answered! But at this point I wasn't safe from the temptation just yet. I still could've ebbed and wussed out. I could've told Andrew that it was too late, that I was tired or some other lie like that so I could get out of going over his house and then I'd be free to pursue my sinful lusts. I've done it before to friends, why not now? But something tweaked my soul at that moment. God lovingly put a verse on my heart at that very moment, and I knew at that point I had a decision to make; to choose God's way, or to choose mine. "No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it." -1 Corinthians 10:13 It reverberated in my heart at that moment and I knew what had to be done. God fulfilled his part his promise, now would I repay His faithfulness with acrimony or with love? Thank the Lord that he swayed me towards love. And not for a second do I regret it. So I got in my car, drove over to Andrew's, and had an even more wonderful night. Not only did I end up having my greatest game of Arkanoid ever, I got to hang out with some really awesome Christian friends, have some really deep and intimate conversations, and I also got to beat Andrew in a game of pool (which happens very infrequently). It was great. And I have no one to thank but my merciful and ever-patient Savoir. A lyric from the P.O.D. song "Alive" comes to mind describing how wonderfully faithful and real God and His Scriptures are and were to me tonight… I can't deny you I feel so alive I truly did feel alive tonight and it's the greatest feeling a human can feel. I thank my loving Father Jesus for saving me tonight and leading me not into temptation and delivering me from evil. Sure I'll probably mess up in the future because of my hard-headed sinfulness, but tonight God's love opened my eyes to my own selfish desires and he led me to what life is really all about. He led me to joy and peace that he so freely gives to us if we'll only listen to him and heed his call. Thank you Jesus……..and long live Vaus!!! |
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