Accepting the Unacceptable

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Accepting the Unacceptable

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The other day I sat down and watched an old television show called The Dick Van Dyke Show. It was a show I had watched as a child, and I had forgotten just how funny it was. My teenage son also joined me and when it was over he said it was one of the best shows he'd seen.  The comedy was simply based around every day events taken to the extreme and it was hilarious. The best part was what we didn't see.

Violence, murder, evil, sex, and foul language have overtaken the airwaves today.  This is Satan's world right now and he loves negative influences that work against what God stands for.

Over the years, we have been gradually spoon fed more and more of it. We have come to accept what we see, as normal and every day. We no longer turn away from it because it is so common.  Proverbs 8:13 says, “The fear of the Lord is to hate evil: pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the froward mouth, do I hate” (KJV throughout). God hates evil!  Hate is a strong word to be taken seriously.

3 John 1:11 in part also tells us that we should “follow not that which is evil, but that which is good.” You may argue that simply watching something on television or hearing a song on the radio is not the same as doing evil, but if we are to emulate Jesus Christ then shouldn't we do as He would do?  If God hates that which is evil, then would Christ have anything to do with it?

I have often found myself listening to an old song from my teen years. The music begins to play and I think to myself, oh I love this song! I begin to sing along to the lyrics when suddenly I realize what the song is about and I am appalled. “What? This song is about adultery...drugs, murder, or whatever?” I ask myself. I wonder how I had never realized what the song was about before. Is it just that I never really listened or was it that I didn't care? Honestly, I cannot tell you why exactly, but I am sure it is that I now have God's Holy Spirit working with me, which helps me to be more aware of what to accept as good.

Psalms 34:14says, “Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it.” Departing from evil is not only physical. Evil comes in many forms. We must protect our minds as well.  If we continuously watch programs that show grisly murders, we can become accustomed to it. Personally I don't want to grow accustomed to something like that.

More and more my family is re-evaluating what we watch and listen to.  My husband and I were raised on television and yes, we like to watch it. However, in the last year we decided to make better choices. For us that meant getting rid of the satellite television. We have regular television and we use our computer and a movie service now. This means we have to seek out programming instead of just flipping aimlessly through the endless channels we used to have. We have become more selective and make better choices. We have also made a conscious decision to not accept certain things in our programming.

Maybe the series is fine, but an episode comes along that is not up to standards. We shouldn't keep watching because we like the series, instead it should be turned off. If the movie we choose is full of cursing or sexual content, it should be ended.  I have started and stopped up to five movies in a row before actually finding one suitable enough to watch. I also find myself choosing older programs and movies, but even those need to be weeded through, though not as often.

Morals have become a thing of the past in most programming and music today. As we allow these things into our minds, we tend to view them as acceptable. In Proverbs 4:26-27 we are warned to“Ponder the path of thy feet, and let all thy ways be established. Turn not to the right hand nor to the left: remove thy foot from evil.”When we view things as acceptable, we begin to turn away from the ways of God. 

We cannot brush off the seriousness of this. The old saying of “You are what you eat” applies to the mind as well. We are what we think. What we think is formed by what we put into our minds.  It's important that we choose wisely what we put there.

For more information on living right read the Bible study aid, Making Life Work.

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Comments

  • Anni

    Wonderful spirit food!!
    Thank you very much! Take care...

  • Lorelei Nettles
    Yes, Norbert Z you are correct that following Jesus Christ is the only way. What I meant was there were many ways to be led or called by God. I guess I had misunderstood your original message. :)
  • Norbert Z
    Lorelei Nettles, I don NOT agree that there are many ways to find God. There's only one way, by following Jesus Christ. What a person does in their leisure time will affect their relationship with Him.
  • Lorelei Nettles
    Thank you for your comment Norbert Z. While I agree that there are many ways to find God, if I understand you correctly we can look to any way of life to learn. I do not however feel vampires is one of them. Isaiah 5:20 says, "Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!" Satan is an expert at convincing us things are okay because something is moral within the content. Television is just one of the ways this comes forth. I am not anti television, but I am for weeding out that which is not worthy of watching. Again, if I have misunderstood you I apologize.
  • Norbert Z
    After I commented on another similar article about fantasy novels, now having read this. It occurs to me the bigger issue is, the real issue is, What do you do with your leisure time? Lorelei when you wrote, "Morals have become a thing of the past in most programming and music today. As we allow these things into our minds, we tend to view them as acceptable." I take a different view, not a completely opposite view. Programming and music today tends to be about morals, just NOT KoG centered ones. They have an insidious nature, wanting to teach people an alternative righteous way away from the KoG. Such as vampires that believe in being chaste (2 Corinthians 11:14), that there are many ways to God, not Jesus alone. Also when "things enter into our mind" does not only occur through TV, but also elsewhere. At best having to listen to a customer talk about why God doesn't exist, at worst, such things like committing adultery deserves a pat on the back. It's about how a person deals with other ideas, they can be rejected after entering the mind. 2 Corinthians 10:5 Don't get me wrong, there's absolutely nothing wrong with rejecting TV, I've met atheists that do that.
  • david r. lessard
    Lorelei, Good article. The shows of the past were so much more entertaining without the violence, sex and cursing. (Bonanza, Carol Burnett, I Love Lucy) Music too, at least some of it, was purer then also (Patti Page, Perry Como, Andy Williams to mention just a few). Books are another medium where evil reigns. While I enjoy a well done suspense novel, I have to draw the line with Stephen King, or some others. God Bless you in your continued work to spread the Good News! David Lessard.
  • Jacob Hitsman
    Very fine article Lorelei. I only hope and pray that the people of the earth could know and love God as much as you and I do by rejecting this evilness presented to us. Sometimes I ask people if they would like to see the face of Satan and then I tell them to go to any video store and look over the shelves and you will see him very clearly. They understand my point. In October of this year I fill 59 years on this earth so I also identify with the old television culture of the past. It was more innocent and fun to watch back then. The worst part of this ugliness is that it is taken in by the rest of the world also. How this country has corrupted the people of the world must come to be accounted for. I have a friend at work that is a pious Muslim and on more than one occasion I have shouted to him why you sticking your head in Satan's box? Because he is a man of faith in this false religion but never-less professes God he has some understanding about the influences of Satan on this earth. We are indeed what we think Lorelei and thank you again for a wonderful article pointing out this. My filter on my mind is set by Holy God and I love God with all my being. Amen
  • Jacob Hitsman
    Hi Lorelei, I too came to the same conclusions as you have done. Your article was well written and very honest. It has been over 20 years ago that the television has not found place in my house. Music to me is only instrumental and beautiful as I am listening to now. On my job they have a television which is played sometimes in the evening time. I work shift work so this is sometimes my environment and I choose to extricate myself to another location to stop the ugliness from entering into my mind. Many times have I told people to put a filter on their minds and only let in that which is acceptable to God. Both my children of whom do not live with me are not television watchers. I agree with you that the old shows do have humor and can be worth watching. Such a pity that this has taken place in America. One of the reasons I choose to leave America after 36 years of residence was this evil culture that they have adopted. And I say idol worship in the many and varied forms has overtaken this society. Money has become god to them and all must worship this money god or feel very unwelcome among the American people. May God bring His Kingdom and restore the hearts and minds of all.
  • hockey_grrrl
    Good article and completely true! I've personally given up on all current TV and only watch taped reruns of old shows and movies. The best thing about this? I can no longer say that I don't have time to read the Bible.
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