Midnight Express

Many years ago I was involved in drug prevention. Through a strange series of circumstances, I was considered a national expert on the subject [see Out of the Comfort Zone, Bridge Logos Publishers). One day I received a letter from a movie theater chain asking me to attend the premiere of a new movie called "Midnight Express." If I would commend the film as being something that would warn kids against the use of drugs, they would let me preach at the premiere. I gladly accepted their invitation to watch the movie, along with the local drug squad.

Midnight Express was a true story about a young American male, who decided he would make a fast buck by smuggling illegal drugs out of Turkey. He strapped the contraband to his body and made it past airport security. However, when a bus took him and the other passengers out to the plane, he was horrified to see armed guards frisking everyone who was boarding.

The producers of the film did a wonderful job of showing how terrifying the young man's situation became. The audio played his heart-beat as he approached the armed guards. The closer he got, the louder the beat became, until suddenly, when a guard felt the contraband drugs strapped to his body, he yelled and almost every weapon was suddenly pointing at the terrified youth’s face. The rest of the movie was about the horrors of being in a Turkish prison.

I reluctantly turned down their kind offer, because the film contained blasphemy and sexually explicit material that wasn’t appropriate for me to recommend to families. But I did learn two big lessons. One, don’t go to Turkey, and Two, when guards point guns at your head, raise your hands quickly.

Here’s another lesson: You have sin strapped to you. It belongs to you. You can’t deny it and you can’t get rid of it. You are surrounded by the ten cannons of God’s Law, and each one points its barrel at your sinful face. The only thing you can do is raise your hands in surrender. And do it quickly.

For the piranha bowl:
http://www.youtube.com/user/thewayofthemaster?blend=3&ob=4#p/u/200/-I3N-BpM7DM