Posted on 07/25/2011 6:20:33 PM PDT by The Ignorant Fisherman
How tragic it is when a fallen human being gives themselves over to the base and lawless practices of this little world and sell their souls to find satisfaction and contentment by living a godless and lawless life (Psalm 14:1-3, Rom. 3; 5:12-21, Gal. 6:7-8, Jude 1:11-13). Amy Winehouse's name is now to be added to the list of countless pop and rock "stars" who - by excess - have imploded on themselves by seeking to find fulfilment in this "life" by means of fame, sex, drugs and alcohol. Jim Morrison, Jimi Hendrix, Keith Moon, Janice Joplin, Brain Jones, Kevin Dubrow, Brad Delp, Layne Staley, Kurt Cobain etc... etc... all were idolized by the masses of fallen humanity, all were iconic trend setters, all possessed a power house persona and ALL rebelled and raged against their Creator unto their own demise (Rom. 3).
"These sell their souls to find satisfaction and contentment by living a godless and lawless life"
Sadly, the unregenerated lawless subjective masses of humanity will - in ignorance - mourn for Miss Winehouse and wonder why and how all of this could be? They will state, "Why would someone with so much talent and fame take her own life?" "How tragic!" "Oh... what could of been IF only...??" Sadly, if these were presented with the REALITY found in Almighty God's Word about Miss Winehouse's many demons, the overwhelming masses of this group would scoff at Almighty God's saving grace and join also in the lawless rebellion chorus and rage against their Creator, His RIGHTEOUS demands and against His saving remedy and solution for all of Adam's fallen race (John 3:16-17, Rom. 2:4, 5:12-21). Only Almighty God has ALL of the answers to this fallen world's horrific dilemmas and unsolvable problems. This human scenario is as old as man and has been acted out countless times since their fall in the Garden of Eden (Gen. 3, Eccl, Rom. 5:12-21).
"All were idolized by the masses fallen humanity, all were iconic trend setters, all possessed a power house persona and all rebelled and raged against their Creator unto their demise"
The Old Testament Book of Ecclesiastes is the tragic biography of Adam’s fallen race (i.e., humanity) told by the wisest of all men, King Solomon. King Solomon possessed it all: wisdom, brilliance, discernment, authority, prestige, riches/ wealth, property/ possessions, power, fame, women and glory. Amazingly, as he was reflecting on his life in his last days, he made this very sobering and tragic statement: “Vanity of vanities…all is vanity” (Eccl. 1:1-15, 12:7-8).
In possessing all of this stature and achievement, it never satisfied the eternal void of his heart. All of it did not - and could not - yield peace and contentment. In the end, all of Solomon's great achievements and pomp could never deliver him in the hour of his death. To Solomon, all indeed was truly dust in the wind...
Dust in the Wind, the title of a song released by the group Kansas in the late 1970’s, is a melancholy piece regarding the terrible uncertainties and brevity of earthly existence. There is no certainty, no hope, no expectation, no solution and no deliverance. The song is painted with pessimistic colors and presents a bleak and tragic picture with absolute abandonment and no salvation to be found. All we are is dust in the wind….
"All we are is dust in the wind"
What the majority of humanity (and the song) greatly misses is that without Almighty God, our Creator and Sustainer and His righteousness, all is indeed an absolute tragedy, vanity and dust in the wind (Psalm 39:5). My friend, that was never God’s plan and purpose for His creation (Rom. 5:12-21). It is Almighty God’s sincerest desire that all would come to the saving knowledge of His Son Jesus Christ and have Eternal Life. The Bible states:
"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved" (John 3:16-17)
"Say unto them, As I live, saith the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die…?" (Ezekiel 33:11)
"For the Son of man is come to save that which was lost" (Matt 18:11)
"Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light" (Matt 11:28-30)
Jesus said, "The thief (Satan) cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly" (John 10:10)
Your existence here in time does not have to end in vanity. Almighty God has a great future plan and purpose for your life.
But as it is written, "Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him" (1 Cor. 2:9)
"Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live" (John 11:25)
"And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever" (Rev. 22:5)
"Without Almighty God’s remedy for our sinful condition which is found only in the Person of His Son Jesus Christ, indeed all is truly vanity and dust in the wind."
"For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? " (Matt 16:26)
"Behold, thou hast made my days as an handbreadth; and mine age is as nothing before thee: verily every man at his best state is altogether vanity. Selah" (Psalm 39:5).
"And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire" (Rev 20:11-15)
In the end, Solomon fully comprehended that Almighty God was absolutely essential for the existence of man. To know Him is life eternal with great expectation and purpose!
"Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil" (Eccl. 12:13,14)
Do you know the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior? To know Him is to have Eternal Life and possess Eternal Hope. May it be your sincere desire to know the One that made it all possible for you to have all of God’s highest and best for your life - both here in time and also for eternity.
The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand!
Romans 6:23 sums the whole thing up in just seven words.
There are those who kicked the habit got on the straight and narrow and died young anyway. Steveie Ray Vaughn?
Thanks for this post.
It is so often the same story and especially with the “...seeking to find fulfilment in this “life” by means of fame, sex, drugs and alcohol.”
I’m guilty of all but the fame...
Ecclesiastes is truly written for those living under the sun in the flesh body.
Matthew 5:45 That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.
Yes!
“For the wages of sin is DEATH.....”
“...but the gift of God is eternal LIFE....”
“through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
(Romans 6:23)
I think it's also people looking for something to make the pain go away. Then they get trapped and addicted.
One place I think the modern church fails is talking about just how much pain is inherent in life. Even for Christians, who may start on the Christian journey expecting life more abundant, or their understanding of abundant life, and then they get a few years down the road and something painful happens and it causes people to lose faith.
Amen & Amen!
God said: “this is My Beloved Son in whom I am well pleased, hear Him....”
God said, “There is no other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved....”
God gave: “Him a name which is above every name....”
WE ARE FOOLS WHEN WE LOOK FOR OTHER ALTERNATIVES
And the self-righteous may, in fact, NOT inherit the Kingdom of God. Be careful with your Pride.
I’m one of those who felt for Amy. We are all guilty before God’s goodness, but the enemy of our souls is so good at putting blinders over our eyes.
She seemed so desperate. I was reading about her last days - her boyfriend dumped her (he said because she could not seem to get clean) and then she went on a massive drug fueled spree that seemed suicidal.
The sad thing is, Suicide is not the end of her troubles.
SRV was a huge talent. He worked hard, and he seemed to be doing fine. I thought he was great. But I can tell you, for family and people of faith, there is a huge difference for those left behind in the death of people that have an accident, and in the ones that bring it on by their reckless ways.
but what is far, far worse are those that enabled her, encouraged her,laughed at her drunkeness, at her drug haze....
I'll bet that God views Winehouse a lot more favorably than those that got their jollies at her behalf....
God is wise....
of a truth my friend but gives no insight to those who know not.
From what I understand, she was always very against drugs and then “fell in love” hard with a bad news pusher type guy (Blake), who introduced to all the evil stuff. She actually married him but their relationship was deadly.
It’s not all his fault of course, but IMHO her blood is on his hands.
My friend we all were once and hopefully are not now...!! By Almighty God’s grace I am even here! Jesus Saves!!
http://www.theignorantfishermen.com/2009/08/they-sold-their-souls-to-rock-and-roll.html
Your post got me to thinking whether anyone from the Church made contact with her and tried to lead her to Christ. I figure many pastors have since used her life as a cautionary tale about being of the world, but I think post-mortems of the rich-and-doomed are a dime a dozen. We see them in front of us splashed over the internet, television and radio and can see the train wreck coming. Do we, as the body of Christ, ever make a serious effort to switch the rails for them? I just don’t know. I admit that several are interested in praying Christopher Hitchens to the knowledge of God, but I wonder if he is viewed more as a “soul celebre”, a feather in “the Christian cap” if he comes to the Lord?
Exactly.
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