Don't Touch My Entertainment!

Sometimes it seems like people treat their entertainment as untouchable or a thing apart.
We are looking to escape the stresses of real life and want to feel good, but at what cost?

 We should not fall for the temporary solutions and frail sinful human heroes the world offers.  Our redemption is from Christ, & it's for eternity.

(This came from hearing Chris Hamilton of Grace Community Church.)

Are we looking for happily ever after here on earth? 
What if we get trials and suffering?
Are we desiring what we don't have?
Are we practicing idolatry?

Christians today often seem to be just as entertainment-driven as those in the world, but what are people filling their minds with and how does it affect them? 
Are we looking to what spews out sin and expecting it not to have any consequences in our own behavior and way of speaking?
 Does it not teach us to wink at sin and look for rescue outside of Christ? 

I have seen solid Christians praising the latest movies, and when I look movie reviews up I see that what is being watched dishonors God by using His name in vain or spews out language that is not fitting.  I've touched this subject before.
Is our entertainment an untouchable subject?  Do people get mad when I  mention it?
I'm not saying that I have never watched things that I would have been better off having skipped.
I may wonder that some can watch some of what they watch, but we are all pretty inconsistent at times, aren't we?  I know I am.

But immorality or any impurity or greed must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints; and there must be no filthiness and silly talk, or coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks. 

For this you know with certainty, that no immoral or impure person or covetous man, who is an idolater, has an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.

Ephesians 5:3-5 NASB

I have heard believers using God's name in a casual way (what I call in vain) when not talking to or about Him, but rather as an exclamation...just like the world does. 
They may not intend it, but they hear it so often that it slips out.

We often quote from our favorite movies and songs, don't we?
How often do we quote them, and then how often do we quote Scripture?
Something to think about.

If a movie, TV program, or other entertainment source shows disrespect, features immoral relationships (or show acceptance of one), or accepts other sinful behavior, do you think that people watching aren't going to become more accepting of that behavior?
Are we desensitizing ourselves to the sinfulness of sin?
Does the kind of crudity, immodesty, suggestiveness, and worldly values (whatever is popular at the time) watched help us to honor God or dishonor Him?

Here are some supplemental links:

Worldliness, Entertainment, and the Lordship of Christ by John MacArthur

Perspective, Entertainment, and the Lordship of Christ by John MacArthur

The Light of the World (Message by Chris Hamilton where the quote at the top of this post came from)

Standing Up In The Face Of Danger - Las Vegas Shooting

They stood up. They protected.  They went into the face of danger.

The police in Las Vegas acted like good soldiers in a time of horror.

Some protest the police and/or bend their knee to complain about this country and authorities (instead of giving thanksgiving for their blessings).

While the police draw from the same fallen human race as the rest of us, most of them will risk their lives to save the necks of the people of this country.

When I heard about the police standing up and risking their lives, it moved me.

We are so stirred up by heroic efforts of humans to save others and rightfully so.

Yet, it reminded me of something our family has been reading.

Does the prisoner in war love the man who, at the risk of his own life, breaks through the enemies lines, rescues him and sets him free?  Does the drowning sailor love the man who plunges into the sea, dives after him, catches him by the hair of his head and by a mighty effort saves him from a watery grave?  A very child can answer such questions as these.  Just in the same way, and upon the same principles, a true Christian loves Jesus Christ.  - J.C. Ryle (from the book "Holiness") 

I struggle with whether I love Christ like that, but when I think about it that way - it reminds me how thankful I should be to Christ and how it should make me love Him like that.
I feel so wretched that I don't love Him the way I want to.
His death means more than even heroic policemen, soldiers, or firemen.
He died for the sins of those who were His enemies.
He chose to rescue sinful humans by taking their sins on Himself to suffer the punishment for them by dying - shedding His blood for them on a cross.
His perfect righteousness is placed on those to whom He gives life to - to whom He grants repentance and faith in Him.
And He is also fully God as well as fully man!

How little I can rely on my feelings and my own thoughts.
No matter how I feel, I am His.  He has made me want Him, and I won't give up even though I have to keep fighting my own thinking and the doubts due to my own feelings and thoughts.

Do you love Christ?  Are you His?

GOSPEL

Where Are The Heroes?

It seems that some people now equate someone calling someone a hero as meaning they are worshiped.  Of course, as a Christian I believe that worship of anybody but the Lord is wrong.
Nobody is perfect and everyone except Christ has sinned.  There is a big difference between calling someone a hero and idolatry however.  Hero worship is wrong, but someone being considered a hero is not.

A hero is someone admired who has been exceptionally brave or has especially fine qualities.
Hebrews 11 mentions a lot of people who obeyed God in faith.  That is heroic!  Were these men and women sinners like you and I?  For sure!  Still, God used them, and the world was not worthy of them.

I struggle myself often with feeling my faith is weak.  I realize I suffer physically, but how much have I really suffered for the sake of Christ and the Gospel?  Maybe I've been called some things online, but that is not much.  I hope that all true Christians will go out and influence the sphere that God has given us.

You may never be well-known on earth or have your name touted about like the famous people of the world or even be written about in a book, but with God's help and the faith He gives - we can do brave and heroic things by obeying and serving the Lord where we are planted.  I am thankful that we have the whole Gospel which the Old Testament people did not.    How many of us proclaim it though to those who will come behind us?

The following song asks a poignant question regarding the people of faith in Biblical times that I think that it is good to think about for all of those who claim Jesus' name.  "The world was not worthy of them.  Is it worthy of me and you?"  Is it?  Thanks be to God for working on perfecting us in the knowledge and wisdom of Him.  I focus so much on myself, but I want to follow the Lord in greater faith and I hope this song will encourage you to as well.

What Did He Die For?

I was thinking of this song recently (sung by Twila Paris). I really like this video, although I hope people won't focus so much on the supposed pictures of Jesus or where it may have come from. It is a nice tribute to soldiers who have fought and suffered and died for freedom as well. I hope that it will be a reminder that Jesus did come to die for sins that He never committed (since He never sinned). That was more difficult than even dying for country or friends. He died for those who were His enemies, so that we could become His children. That is why Christians can live for Him... "to give all that we are for all that He is."

4th of July Heroes Tribute from hiei15 on GodTube.