Skip to main content

The Bible on Entertainment - PART 1 Intro

It seems reasonable to me that someone wanting to please God with their life would be willing to filter what they watch and listen to through the teachings of scripture. I have put considerable thought into this subject through the years and my goal was not to place restrictions on my life for the sake of "looking holy", but simply wanting to know what the bible says regarding this subject.

About a year ago I collected my study efforts and I would like to share them with you. I'll break it up into sections so it won't be so much to digest at once.

Here is PART 1:

-----------------------

It is my concern that, as Christians, we are generally too careless about how we choose to entertain ourselves. It's time that we, as God's set-apart ambassadors, begin to put the things we call entertainment through the filter of the bible.

Consider these scriptures:


Ephesians 2:3

Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.

Ephesians 4:22

that, in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit

1 Peter 1:14

As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance


What are these "former lusts"


1 John 2:15

Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For everything in the world--the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does--comes not from the Father but from the world. 17 The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever.

Here's the verse I believe is critical to this subject-

1 Thess. 5: 21-11

"test everything; hold fast (cling tightly) to what is good. Abstain from every form of evil."



This is the main verse that drives me to share this information with you. In PART 2, I will define what entertainment is from a biblical perspective, and introduce the five filters that are found within scripture to help us not to sin as we entertain ourselves.

Part 2
_________________________________
To view this entire essay in all it's parts click the link below:
http://docs.google.com/View?id=dd39qkdv_128g6hwg3dr

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Resolutions of Jonathan Edwards In Plain English. (#1-10)

Jonathan Edwards is known as one of the greatest and most profound of American theologians. His writings have benefited many Christians throughout the years. I was impressed with these resolutions and so I have attempted to translate them into the language of the day. I understand that I may have missed Edward’s full meaning at some level, but I made every attempt to capture the essence of the original author and summarize in such a way as to benefit the modern reader. There are 70 resolutions in all. I have summarized the first ten here. I hope you enjoy these. ________________________________ 1. Resolved, that I will do whatsoever I think to be most to God's glory, and my own good, profit and pleasure, in the whole of my duration, without any consideration of the time, whether now, or never so many myriad's of ages hence. Resolved to do whatever I think to be my duty and most for the good and advantage of mankind in general. Resolved to do this, whatever difficulties I mee...
4 comments
Read entire article

My Chiropractic Dilemma

So, I've had this back/neck/shoulder pain for two weeks now. It was getting so bad that I was really at the point of doing anything to get rid of the pain. Everybody kept telling me to go to the Chiropractor. I've actually only spoken to one person who has ever told me anything negative about their experience with Chiropractic treatment. Most people are convinced that it is helpful. A little history. About a year ago, I went to a Chiropractor here in town who was recommended by a friend. She told me that I could get a free exam and x-rays with a referral. Well, I figured if it was free how bad could it be. I was skeptical at that point. I do not like to be deceived, and from the things I was reading, Chiropractic treatment was pseudo-science and mostly "smoke and mirrors." I was in pretty severe lower-back pain at that time and figured I'd go ahead and give 'em a try and see what it was all about. I won't go into the whole story, but to sum it up, I was ...
2 comments
Read entire article

The Bible on Entertainment - PART 7 The Philippians 4:8 Filter

As we began this look at the subject of entertainment, I said that the key verse for this study would be: 1 Thessalonians 5:21-22 “Test everything. Hold on to the good. Avoid every kind of evil.” The articles that I have written up to this point have been concentrating on the last part of that verse, ( Avoid…evil ). The reason for this is because I believe we are surrounded and bombarded with worldly entertainment that is numbing us to immorality. You may have noticed that there are more and more “reality” type shows that encourage us to become addicted. Video games are designed to be addictive and music, by its very nature is addictive. I’ve already said that I don’t believe that all entertainment is sin, but I do believe that it’s time Christians took a fresh look at the entertainment we consume and put all of it to the test of scripture. This final “filter” that we will look at today is, I believe, the best way to evaluate entertainment. It’s almost as if this was put in the bible ...
4 comments
Read entire article