Ask OldTimer

Does it matter what I read or  watch on TV?


The Question:

I am a Christian and believe I am protected by Christ's blood from all harm. Does it matter then what I read or watch on TV or at the movies?


The Answer:

YES! The REASON to be careful is because what you FEED your mind is what influences your thoughts and actions. I never will forget one time I belonged to a book club at the local library. Every week we'd meet and discuss the books we had read, whether we recommended them or not and why. A good friend of mine participated. She is a Christian lady and also a speed reader. She read a LOT of things I wouldn't have touched, but she felt it wasn't doing her any harm because she was a Christian. But she would be quick to tell YOU not to read the stuff! I've always wondered how it might have damaged her spiritual life unawares. And that's the point of monitoring what you let into your head ... it will, sooner or later, affect your spiritual life.

Luke 6:45 The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks.

Something that I think is even more damaging than movies in many cases is TV commercials ... almost every one I've ever seen incorporates a lie to some extent... yet they mold our thoughts and habits more than we realize! For an extreme example, suppose you've been watching commercials advertising a psychic or a tarot card reader. The LIE here of course is that they have any worthwhile knowledge to convey since consulting them is forbidden in the Word (see Deuteronomy 18). At any rate, you laugh it off maybe, UNTIL one day you are faced with a crisis, and your mind, in searching its databanks, reminds you of the same problem seemingly solved by a psychic or some kind. And maybe at the same time, you're wondering, maybe there's something to this, what would it hurt if I made just one teensy call to see what it's like?

Anyway, my hubby and I play a little game if we are exposed to a commercial, "WHERE IS THE LIE?" It's amazing what you can find if you look for it.

The bottom line is this. There is a REASON for every movie, TV show, commercial, print advertisement or article that is preformed or written. Every one has a bias, a slant, a lifestyle to promote. It can be good, in the case of most Christian programming, that is trying to teach the Word and how to live for God. But commercial productions are geared towards one thing ... emptying your pockets of big bucks. In doing so, they often try to decay your moral stance and change your way of thinking so you will buy the products they are trying to sell.

You might think I'm a nut, but pray about it. If you ask the Holy Spirit to show you the LIE He will! Just be prepared for some shocking revelations, and be willing to make changes as God directs!


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