Let us "entertain" you ?????

Let us “entertain” you?

Richard Baxter wrote a short work on the need for believers to be cautious in what they read.  Today, there are more forms of entertainment and leisure habits than just reading.  Between TV, movies, concerts, seminars and talk radio, we are overrun with opportunities to be entertained and gather information.

However, if we are to grow in righteousness we need to be very very careful what we put in our minds and who we allow to put it there.  We must remember that not one iota of data enters our minds that does not have some influence be it immediate or cumulative.

Baxter presents these questions: 

Remember that it is not just books we need to be cautious about

While reading ask oneself:

1. Could I spend this time no better?

2. Are there better books that would edify me more?

3. Are the lovers of such a book as this the greatest lovers of the Book of God and of a holy

   life?

4. Does this book increase my love to the Word of God, kill my sin, and prepare me for the life

   to come?

Ouch!

Entertainments are not in and of themselves evil or bad.  They are however, like candy and not fit for a regular diet. 

Patti and used to watch the show The Glimore Girls.  We were really caught up in their story and the characters.  That is until somehow we began to ask, “What’s the message behind the entertainment?”  As we looked at the characters, the situations they faced and the decisions they made we were shocked that we had never noticed exactly how dysfunctional and sad the show really was.  Where we had laughed we now dropped our jaws and shook our heads in despair.

Remember 24?  Did you get hooked?  What was the message in that show?  What about My Name is Earl?  Anyone up for a cup of Karma?

“Oh, Michael,” you say, “it’s just TV (or books or movies, etc).”  True – but the intent of these shows is to get you to suspend your incredulity and accept, at least some of it, as real.  The only show I can remember that didn’t do that was Dragnet.  You can still catch this on Hulu.  It’s dull, slow and stiff – but, it’s more real than anything since.

What about “reality” shows?  Is that really reality?  Are these “real” people?  Sure they are – but stick a camera crew with anyone and no matter how “real” they are, their “reality” changes.

Even the “News” here in America is a joke.  Do a search on the net for British news shows.  You’ll learn things about our country that are true – that you’ll not hear of US news shows.

Remember that old song, Be Careful Little Eyes What You See?  Well if you think you’ve outgrown it you are fooling yourself.  The “entertainment” industry is first about making money.  Secondly it is about changing culture.  Kirks’ kissing O’Hura is an example – though a good one. 

A mother selling marijuana to support her family is a bad one (Weeds).

Hey, in the end, it’s up to you.  If you want to eat candy all the time and don’t think it will have a deleterious effect – OK.  But just keep in mind that even a tiny piece of leaven affects the whole lump of dough.  A brief exposure to radiation over a long period of time will get you dead.  Arsenic, mercury and lead are necessary but taking in small portion over a long time will kill you.

I was once told by a friend of mine that as they watch a TV show or movie they woulkd always ask, “If the Lord was sitting here, would I change the channel?”

Here’s a challenge.  There’s a show called, The Big Bang Theory.  If the title doesn’t warn you off, watch it – but – take notes.  What preoccupies the characters?  What would you say are their fundamental beliefs?  Notice any stereo-types?  What “world-view” can you pick up?”  Should what makes you laugh make you laugh?

If you don’t want to take the challenge, here’s what WikiP has to say concerning how “religion” is addressed on the show:

Religion plays a minor role in the series. Sheldon was raised in a fundamentalist Christian household. He refers to his childhood as "hell", and a recurrent theme is his conflict with his devout mother, Mary, whose creationist beliefs often clash with Sheldon's understanding of evolution. In "The Lunar Excitation", Sheldon mentions his promise to Mary to attend church once a year. In "The Wheaton Recurrence", after scoring a spare in bowling, Sheldon happily exclaims "Thank you, Jesus! ...as my mother would say." In the episode "The Zarnecki Incursion", Sheldon can be heard exclaiming "Why hast thou forsaken me, o deity whose existence I doubt?"

Howard and Raj are Jewish and Hindu, respectively, and semi-observant, apparently defying many religious customs without worry. They frequently flout dietary prohibitions and tend to give each other grief about them--Raj quotes from the Talmud after Howard eats pork, and Howard sharply says he holds his tongue when Raj eats a Big Mac. Still, Raj mentions reincarnation and karma, and Howard celebrates at least some Jewish holidays and refuses to get tattoos so he "can be buried in a Jewish cemetery". Howard's mother is a caricature of an over-protective Jewish mother.

Neither Leonard's nor Penny's religious convictions are made clear. Leonard approaches Christianity with less skepticism than Sheldon. Penny has expressed belief in ghosts, astrology, psychics and voodoo. Bernadette is Catholic, and is frequently seen wearing a necklace with a cross. And Amy is agnostic, stating in "The Lunar Excitation" that she understands the notion of a deity but is skeptical of one that would take attendance.

In the end, what gets in your mind is up to you – but I encourage you to ask, “Why do I find this entertaining?”  and “Would I invite the Apostle Paul over for pop-corn to watch this with me?  or  “What would an unbelieving acquaintance think of my witness if we were watching this together?”

You may not make you brother or sister stumble – why would you want to make yourself do so?

Three Things Part 1 042112

For far too long there has been a troubling lack of any meaningful and systematic catechizing or discipling taking place in the Body of Christ. It once was the case that a new believer would undergo up to a year of teaching and training prior to their baptism and acceptance into the local church as a functioning member. This was not some “initiation” process but, rather, it came from a serious commitment to follow the command found in the Great Commission.

Mat 28:18-20 And Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. (19) Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, (20) teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age."

The phrase “go . . . make disciples . . . baptizing . . . teaching . . .,” is all of one cloth. It is a simultaneous and continuous operation.

Indeed, we have gone and certainly, we have baptized but we have failed miserably in making disciples and teaching. The current state of the Body of Christ is all the proof we need. It is clear that the prophesies of wolves, evil men, false teachers and so on have been and are being fulfilled.

Clearly, the Body of Christ has missed the mark and the responsibility lies specifically at the feet of those He called to be pastors and teachers (to include elders). We have either ignored or rebelled against God by both rejecting and misappropriating His gifts.

Eph 4:11-16 And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, (12) to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, (13) until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, (14) so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. (15) Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, (16) from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.

Unless the foundation of salvation is, indeed, that which we do or don’t do, then the discipling/teaching that has taken place in the church is contrary to the Gospel of Grace. Simply take a walk through any Christian book store and look at the discipleship or Christian living sections. Almost without exception, the books are about “doing.” This is contrary to the faith. So, too, are the plethora of classes, seminars and courses offered by well-known yet miss-directed celebrity Christians.

We have sought “right practice,” without establishing a foundation of “right belief.” We have tossed out sound theology and biblical doctrine for a “sound-bite” system of faith. In short, we have been clearly disobedient to the Lord’s commission in both spirit and letter. We have created several generations of handicapped believes and confident pretenders. As a result, the Body of Christ now resembles a mall or private club more than it does the assembly of the redeemed.

In my younger years in the Lord, I used to respond to the question, “Are you a Christian”? with a proud and resounding “Yes!!” I no longer do so. Today, my response, of necessity, is, “What do you mean”? I’ve found a cruelly deficient definition of “Christian” not only among the unredeemed but among the redeemed as well.

This little work is not intended to be definitive – I am a historian, not a theologian. But I hope that from this work, the Holy Spirit will deeply convict the reader to seek to grow in the knowledge of biblical doctrine and even theology. This seeking begins on our knees asking God to not only convict but also commit us to the diligent and proper study of His Word that we might live in this world rightly and soundly, glorifying Him.

Ah, you need a motivator? How about fulfilled prophesy?

2Ti 4:3-4 For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, (4) and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.

John Owen wrote:

“But in general, to be spiritually minded in an eminent degree, they cannot but esteem it a thing excellent and desirable; - but it is for them who are more at leisure than they are; their circumstances and occasions require them to satisfy themselves with an inferior measure.”

To clarify what Owen was saying, most folks won’t take the time or make the effort to do the work needed to have a sound and clear knowledge of the faith. That’s for the paid holy men or folks with nothing better to do.

Owen says of those who fail to put their spiritual (Christian) duties above all others:

“And where it is thus, this grace can never thrive or flourish, it can never advance unto any eminent degree.”

We have raised several generations of crippled Christians. Repentance is the only recourse we have to rectify our failure.

Three Things Part 1

When asked to explain my faith, I always begin with the simple statement that as a believer in Jesus Christ as the Son of God and Redeemer, I am obligated to three things:

1. To love God;
2. To love my neighbor; and
3. To love those who choose to be and act as an enemy towards me (since I, as His follower, do not have the right to be anyone’s enemy).

Needless to say, this is not at all what they expect. They expect some, “How I came to Jesus,” story or a lot of references to sin and obedience, etc. I sadly fail to meet their expectations.

I always start with loving God. Why? Well, unless they can, at least for the sake of argument, consider that there is a God, what’s the point?

Now – here’s your work:

Write down all you know and understand about God. Please give careful consideration to His sovereignty, justice, holiness, love, hate, goodness, judgment, condemnation, mercy and grace as sub-headings for your work.

I know that God is holy. He said so. But what, pray tell, does that mean?

I know that God is sovereign but what does that sovereignty mean?

Get my drift?

For the redeemed, these are critical issues for growth. For the unredeemed, they are critical questions to consider.

Oh, it’s much more fun to know about spiritual gifts, miraculous probabilities and the neat stories, but without a sound knowledge and understanding of God, His character and attributes, everything else is just stuff.

What do you know and understand of His omniscience, omnipresence, etc.?

Mmmmmm. Ouch?

This is, of course, work that needs to be done. If you don’t ever increase your knowledge and understanding of God, how do you know if you are loving Him or not? Of more concern, how do you know if it’s the God of the scriptures you are loving?

Think about food. Are there foods you “love”? I had several favorite foods until I got to know and understand what was in them. Now I steer clear. I love lobster – then I discovered that they are carrion eaters (eaters of dead stuff like buzzards), no lobster, thank you.

Knowledge and understanding increase our ability to make wise choices. “God is good”! is a correct statement, but unless you understand His goodness, His sovereignty and His holiness, you’re going to have a hard time whenever the compost hits the oscillating blades!

No, I’m not going to admonish you to read your Bible. First, I shouldn’t have to and, second, just reading the scriptures will make your task harder and longer than it needs to be.

There are some excellent works that I would recommend:

Jame Frame:

The Doctrine of God;

The Doctrine of the Knowledge of God;

The Doctrine of the Word of God;

The Doctrine of the Christian Life;

D.A. Carson:

The Difficult Doctrine of the Love of God

As well as the works of A.W. Tozer, John Owen, John Newton and for the hearty, the works of B.B. Warfield.

You might also want to get a dictionary of theological terms – there are some weird words out there.

Last, but never least, I suggest you get a copy of the Westminster Confession of Faith with the scripture references. It’s a great concise tool for guided study.

There are other authors I could have mentioned and many more I would warn you against. Please stay out of the “Christian Living” section of your local Bible bookstore. You will never get what you need for a solid and sound foundation there. Oh, you may find some good and neat stuff, but it’s mostly topical and sound-bite stuff – which is fine only if you already have a solid foundation.

Yeah, sounds like I’m promoting seminary doesn’t it? Seminary is fine, if you have the time and the $, but too many sound teachers have written too many sound works for you to have to do that. In retrospect, I believe that the only reason God moved me to go to seminary was so I might discover the wonder of the history of the church (my Master’s degree) and to sit under Dr. Jim North, a most diligent and wonderful church historian who made you feel you knew the people, times, places and events you studied. I learned from him that history is real people with real issues dealing with real events that have a direct bearing on real people and real issues and real events today and tomorrow.

More to come …………………………..

Copyright, Michael Sanders, 2012. All rights reserved.

a little piece of me 040612

A little piece of me…….  040612

I’ve shared this with a lot of folks but I want to get it “out there,” in the hope that the Lord will use it to strengthen you and close your ears to the lies Satan – and folks – have driven into your ears and hence into your heart.

In graduate school my first semester ended and the grades and class standing were listed.  I fought the desire to look for I knew it would be a disappointment.  Finally I had to look.

I was in shock.  There I was on the Dean’s List. – the good Dean’s List ;-}

I just knew this had to be a mistake.

I took the list off the board and went to the Dean’s office to show him the mistake.

He checked the records and told me there was no mistake; my GPA put me on the Dean’s List.

I didn’t believe him.

I put the list back on the board and walked away thinking that my professors had felt sorry for me and had given me grades I had not earned because they felt sorry for me.

Huh?

Yep – you see I grew up being told loudly and clearly that I was stupid, clumsy and a sissy.  My father worked very hard to convince me of that and he was good at it.  By the time I got to graduate school I had proven (to my satisfaction) that I was neither a clutz nor a sissy.  But stupid was hanging’ in.

I was a slave to my father’s demands, judgments and condemnations.  I still saw me as he taught me to see me.

So what’s the point?

Well, before Christ let me know I was His I was a slave to the demands, judgments and condemnation of Satan – sin and my flesh.  They defined me – utterly.  One common theme in this is, “Not good enough!”  I wasn’t good enough if I didn’t go out drinking.  I wasn’t good enough if I didn’t do the macho-tough guy thing.  I wasn’t good enough if I wasn’t sexually promiscuous.  I wasn’t good enough if I didn’t keep up with my sinful companions in most if not all of their sinful activities.

This was a sinful, warped and twisted legalism I was caught up in and I don’t think it was unusual.  I HAD to be as good as if not better than any other sinner in my sinning.

So, in come Jesus and the Spirit.  I am convicted of my sin, convinced of my need for redemption and begin to seek to live a righteous life.

BOOM ---- “Not good enough!!!!!!”

Everywhere I looked I saw my sin – still!  In the word, in the fellowship, in the “you have to’s” of older believers – I was not good enough.

What pray tell was the problem?

Simple – I walked into the Kingdom of God laying aside sins but still carrying the legalism I had been taught while I was in darkness.  Then I had not been good enough for the world the flesh or the devil – now I wasn’t good enough for God.

Don’t thin for a moment that unbelievers are free.  They are not only under the judgment of the laws of God BUT the world-flesh-and devil have their own laws they expect their servants to obey.

Izod golf shirts, alligator belts with silver monogramed buckles, green Army fatigues and white Adidas tennis shoes.  If you didn’t have ‘em you weren’t good enough.  If you wore only one or two of these items you were a poser.

Alcohol, drugs, sex are all criteria by which the world-flesh and devil measure us while we are in the darkness.  Sitting here writing there are three females who must be convinced that to expose as much of their bodies as possible in public is a good thing.  (Yeah- I’m keeping my eyes on the keyboard!!!!!

See, Satan is the greatest legalist there is.  With him, in his kingdom (?) there is no mercy, no grace – just judgment and condemnation for not being as obedient to him-the flesh and the world as you can be.

And this legalistic thinking walks right into the Kingdom of God – the Kingdom of grace - with us.

After the first liberating joy of finding we are His we soon fall victim to this legalistic poison.  We realize that we are not in ourselves worthy.  We are not good enough.  Oh, we knew that at the moment we realized our redemption but the poison is still flows.

Somehow we’ve come to believe that doing battle with the flesh and the sin that remains is a bad thing and calls into question our salvation.  But it is this very battle that confirms our redemption and affirms our faith.  Why else would we notice much less fight unrighteousness?

Grace is an alien concept to us and regardless of our maturation in the faith it will probably always be alien.  We have NO well of knowledge from which to draw that enables us to be completely comfortable with grace.  Maybe this is how it is supposed to be.

But we do have a lifetime of experience with legalism and condemnation.  We well know the devastating effects, the insidious schemes, and the toxicity of legalism.  We must battle its influence constantly both in regards to our walk with Him and our lives in general.

I still battle thoughts of being stupid – not good enough – socially, financially, professionally and spiritually.  But I always – all ways – remind myself who it is that’s doing the measuring.  Socially, financially professionally it is the world, the flesh and the devil.  Spiritually it is my Redeemer the One who knew my need and met that need completely.  I am not nor will I ever be good enough to be Him.  But by His grace and because of His work he has made me good enough to be His and He keeps me there regardless.

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