I see people get really excited about secular things when they include hints of Biblical topics as if this was something God had orchestrated. I have since learned otherwise. These are actually something else entirely.
Music was an idol of mine growing up. I devoted much of my time in the consumption of music. An honest assessment looking back shows that I spent easily less than one percent of my total time to God and that typically just involved going to church on occasion. The rest of the time was spent with worldly music as well as sports , movies, books and other things.
Wait, what about those songs that had specific mentions of Biblical topics in them? What about “All You Zombies” by the Hooters? I would get excited in telling folks about there were spiritual truths in the song with the actual mentioning of Moses and Noah and that the Zombies were us living in this world separated from God.
Ironically enough, I was a Zombie and was furthering the agenda of Satan rather than God’s by presenting the gospel of secular music to people. Instead of presenting the lifesaving message of Jesus’ death and resurrection I chose instead to find excuses to further worship my idols and share those with others.
I do not recommend anyone listening to anything with overwhelming rhythm such as this song and most other secular songs have. Rhythm is a means to move the music into a more sensual or physical realm which constitutes a self-focus and not a Godly one. You need to do your own study into this and see for yourself the truths behind what happens when rhythm dominates melody.
I do recommend classical music and hymns. I learned that when I was compromising in my walk with God I justified secular and Christian music that mimicked secular music but when I drew nearer to God with a genuine fear of Him I was now drawn towards the classics and hymns. These feed the soul while the other rhythm dominated music feeds the flesh. It is that simple.
These are nothing but distractions and deadly ones at that.
Then there are movies. I used those in my secular humanistic worship as well. I would find ways to justify my consumption of those as I did with music.
A while ago I watched Tron: Legacy and got excited about what appeared to be a spiritual message embedded into the story. In fact it really appeared to be a retelling of the battle for human lives. In this fictional drama the humans would be represented by the ISO, angels were the programs, CLU was the devil and Flynn would essentially be a type of Jesus. The struggle ends with Flynn giving his life to save his creation and in the process he kills CLU. CLU was also a creation of Flynn’s which falls in line as well with the fact that Satan was created by God.
Let me say clearly that I highly encourage folks to not waste their time watching this movie as it is definitely a sin in that you would be putting wicked things before your eyes. The Psalmist said he would not do so (Psalm 101:3) and we should do likewise. There are skin tight outfits on the females which promotes lust or more accurately adultery (see Matthew 5:28) and there are many other ungodly things within the movie.
I was wrong and needed to repent for letting my eldest two children watch this movie.
These are nothing but distractions and deadly ones at that.
I find it amazing that in the Christian world today of books we actually elevate ungodly material to the realm of recommended reading. We see this with the works of C.S. Lewis. His Chronicles of Narnia have magical themes interwoven through the fantasy fictional stories.
Without going too deep into the subject of magic here I will just quickly but emphatically state that God hates anything to do with magic (see Deuteronomy 18:10-12). See http://kuwlministries.blogspot.com/2015/07/magic-is-it-ever-ok.htmlfor a more in depth discussion on this.
The point is the same as music and movies as mentioned previously. The stories contain what appears to be Biblical themes but are told through ungodly means.
Here in lies a need for simple logic. Why go to ungodly and non-Biblical sources for Biblical truths when you have the Bible?
These are nothing but distractions and deadly ones at that.
I mentioned sports earlier. Hopefully I do not need to go too deep into this as it should be obvious. The amount of time associated to sports and the self-pleasuring aspect of being a fan (fanatical) should be evidence enough that these are not activities that further the Kingdom of God. I am not saying that exercise itself is bad but even that can be an idol as it was for me at one time in my life. When you include the alcohol and other ungodly things that tend to be associated with most if not all professional sports experiences it becomes more evident that these are not things we should be caught up in.
These are nothing but distractions and deadly ones at that.
All of the above (and there are many more examples) are things we use to entertain or amuse ourselves. Think about this. When you place ‘A’ before a word it denotes the lack of the following word such as Atheist is the lack in the belief of a God (theism). When one muses over something they are thinking about it. Muse essentially means to think deeply about something. So when we are amusing ourselves we are putting ourselves in a state of thoughtlessness which gives the devil the space and time he desires to enter in and keep us distracted from God.
God wants to draw us near to Him the Devil is working to prevent that with all of the above.
Don’t give Satan a foothold in your life. If you fear God then Godly things will be pleasurable to you. If you do not fear God then things of the world will be where you draw your satisfaction.
And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. Romans 12:2
Ye adulterers, and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? Whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world, is the enemy of God. James 4:4
Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded. James 4:8
It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. Hebrews 10:31
Don’t be distracted by the things of this world.
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