|

Seductive Sins and the Fight for Freedom

We have all faced demonic forces pressing on our heart strings- tempting us to sin, subtly manipulating beautiful truths into cruel lies.  I have been deceived by some crafty demons in my life.  I have followed them to the brink of death, toying with exit strategies and depriving myself of food- tiptoeing life’s border and daring it to let go of me… yet here I am.  I thought that my experience had more than equipped me for this ministry.  In my pride, I felt ready to confront my former demons and belligerently show them the ‘new me-’ someone powerful and impervious to their lies, the Harriet Tubman of Hell.  Then I walked down Bangla Road and came face to face with my pride and the deceptively seductive nature of sin.
            Shrines to Buddha decorate Phuket like ornaments on a very aged Christmas tree.  With a single spark, you create Hades’ stomping ground.  This week, I have cried with Christ, as I have witnessed his bride defiled and completely bereft of the hope that He intended for her (Less than 1% of the Thai populace even know His name). 
            Thousands of hungry tourists crowd Bangla Road and its adjacent Sois (streets) each night.  Men become drunk watching the women seductively dance on elevated bars, and in several of the closed bars upstairs, lights illuminate glass cages where beautiful Russian girls with sad eyes dance on poles.  I had expected a demonic foothold, but in my mind I had never envisioned this… I could feel Satan’s coy grimace at my expense.
            In the midst of all this chaos, the Holy Spirit guided Amber and me to ‘Knit.’  At a small bar on Soi SeaDragon, God’s desperate love is pleading freedom for His beloved daughter.  Greed and vanity occupy the spirits of so many of the bar girls; for various reasons, they refuse to engage us in conversation when we decline to buy them a “Lady Drink,” but Knit is different.  There is a childlike purity in her spirit that remains untainted. She does not reach out for men as they pass by or dance on the tables.  The second night when we returned to visit her, she came running up the street towards us.  She embraced us and pulled us to a table where we played a number game and laughed about our broken attempts at speaking Thai.  In a sea of sin, God yet delights in what He has created.  Instead of spending time with the patrons who paid more for booze and false affection, Knit chose to sit at a table and laugh with two soda-drinking American girls.  
Psalm 139

More Articles in This Topic

Follow The Stars

We Have Arrived!

Introducing our squad