Let's Talk Entertainment-Specifically Music

About me

In conjunction with my latest posts on TV and Movies, today I want to write a little about Music.  Like other forms of entertainment, music can take over our lives and become our idols. Sometimes, it's even easier than other forms.  I don't know about you, but for me Music is a regular part of my life and always has been.  I love music.  I'm not extremely knowledgeable about music, but I know what I like and what I don't like.  It seems like we're all born with a little of what we prefer in us. It's fun sharing a new song with your kids and seeing how they react to it and as they mature their tastes tend to change as well.  

I was brought up in a household that loved oldies but also listened to the latest of whatever was on the radio at the time.  I was born in 1976, so I have fond memories of certain music growing up.  I enjoyed a lot of the 80s music and was in High School at the beginning of the 90s.  Even as a teenager I had a diverse ear for music more than my friends.  I used to carry around my walkman(some of you might be asking, what is a walkman-ok you're making me feel old, but here's a link for it) and listen to Beethoven or Journey or some other band that my friends would laugh at me about.  But I didn't care, I liked what I liked and sometimes, some of my friends would enjoy listening to it as well they just didn't want to admit it.  My father also played the organ, which meant we learned a lot of old country or folk songs, like Beautiful Brown Eyes and America the Beautiful or old hymns like When the Saints Go Marching in.

I don't know about you, but when I listen to a song I grew up with, I associate it with a memory-good or bad.  Mostly good.  It gives me feelings of nostalgia. 

About Worship Music

When my kids were little I had a hard time getting into any type of Bible study and so I would try to worship through Worship Music.  It has always connected me since I rededicated my life to Jesus in 2003.  In fact, part of my story is that I went to a get together called Higher Ground where there were a bunch of Christian bands performing. It was then that I took that final step, when I allowed the Holy Spirit in.  It's funny, because that is where I was introduced to The David Crowder Band and I've always connected with Crowder's music since. If you take a look at my previous post here, it'll show you how to find me on Spotify and what I've been listening to.

Lyrics in these songs tug at my soul, help the Holy Spirit speak to me and often bring me to tears, not just about how separated I really am from God and how much I need him, but also how grateful I really am about his Grace and Forgiveness.

However, it isn't enough to Worship through music.  We need to be in the word daily.  God can speak to us through music and help others connect through music.  It can be a very powerful tool to share his Gospel, but it doesn't replace his Word.  It's funny, while I was thinking about writing this post and what I wanted to say, I was reading the bible and in the devotional in the YouVersion Bible app called Listening to God. Day 4 asks the question in prayer "Is there anything I need to do or know to have my heart's desire always be for You?" and then suggests a song.  I included it in this post below, and it couldn't have spoken more clearly to me.  It's called Clear the Stage.

Today's Music

I'm not saying I listen to only Worship Music all the time.  I see no problem with listening to other music at all. The problem is, a lot of the other music out there is NOT glorifying to God.

Romans 8:5 
Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires.

Today's music can be so overly sexualized and that is not glorifying at all. I've been wanting to write about this specifically, but as I was writing this post, one of the Christian Bloggers I follow wrote almost exactly how I feel. One of the reasons I wanted to write about this is because our kids hear this stuff and they are so young and don't understand what it's all about, thinking it's okay to say these things.  My 1st grade daughter came home and asked me what "sexy" meant.  I asked her where she heard it and she told me one of the boys in her class told her she was sexy. Of course he told her that it really meant that she's beautiful.  I tried to explain to a then 6 year old without going into to much detail, something appropriate for her age.  In the end, I said that this is a term that should be used in marriage only and that he should just use what he means from now on.

Marriage can be very sexy and it's appropriate in the context of God's word, where sex is for marriage. Have you ever read Song of Songs?   More on this in a future post.   So, instead of re-writing it, I'm just going to share it here, it's a few years old but really well written.

I will be the first to admit that I love music from Gaelic Storm. Their music is riddled with references to beer and whiskey and the like.  I let my kids listen to it and it's funny to here kids sing about things like that.  But, I also like to think of it as a way to openly talk about alcohol abuse and things of that sort.  As they get older they will choose their own music to listen to, and as they mature we can talk about the lyrics they choose to put into their ears and they can make their own choices as they become adults.  Until then, I tend to either put my own music on in the car or default to Air1 on the radio since I know it's clean.

What you listen to does matter as much as what you watch and read.

Philippians 4:8
Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.

Let's Talk Entertainment-Specifically Movies

So my last post talked a little bit about my struggle with TV and our call to be different as Christians, you can read it here.   This post , I want to focus on movies.

Movies can be amazing.  They allow us to dream, they allows us to feel, they allow us to step into another person's shoes for a little while.  As humans we long to connect, especially emotionally, and a well written and filmed movie lets us do just that.

Anyone ever feel as though we live in a very strange world?  I grew up in the 80s. Where the movie ratings were a little different than they are now.  Profanity was very normal to hear in PG movies of the time, but you rarely heard the f-word until you were watching R-rated movies.  Also, sex(specifically nudity) was mostly R rated films.  You might get some innuendos and make assumptions, or see some people in PG-13 movies fooling around and assume what they were doing, but nowadays I feel like sometimes I am watching soft porn just so they can put some sex in there.  Really, it isn't needed. Hollywood screams, but it's my artistic ability being squashed or some none sense like that. I have seen plenty of great movies where you know that the people are going to have sex but they don't show it.  It's all about how you write the scene.   

At this point some of you might be saying "she's a prude", well I'm not and in the future if you read my blog you will see some interesting posts about the bloggers and Christian writers I follow, then you won't be thinking that. 

Back to the movies.  Now, are all movies that are clean, glorifying to God? I would say no. However, the occasional goofy, good time movie is also fine in my eyes.  We laugh a lot and most of the time there isn't anything to be said after it's done except that we all watched it together and laughed a lot, and that's some good family time in my book.

Nowadays, movie ratings are so odd I feel like I have to make sure I read the full review before anyone of us sees it because if I don't then there is this awful surprise lurking there.

We are such an overly sexualized culture that it's everywhere, even in our kids movies. It's ridiculous.  

Here is an article from CNN money that talks about how G & PG rated films make tons more money they their PG-13 and R rated films but yet that hasn't taken a turn for the better.  That being said, I do want to say that I am glad that a lot of the super hero movies nowadays are PG-13 and mostly clean. Of course, that doesn't mean that they don't put things in there I don't agree with.  But, it does mean that I feel like for the most part I can let our pre-teen son watch some of them.

My husband and I talk about this a lot.  We want to make sure that our kids are watching things that matter, or at least things that don't show them too many things before they are mature enough to understand the ramifications of them.

I want to point out, as a Christian, I want to watch movies that don't disrespect God and my beliefs.  It's hard to find a movie with good acting and a good plot that fits the criteria.  

I want to share something specific with you.  My husband and I went to see Wonder Woman.  I read the reviews before hand and they looked really good.  They did a good job of covering up cleavage, unlike the original TV series from the 80s.  The majority of their female warriors were made up of athletes, not actresses.  The script was well written, and the acting was great.  The violence wasn't over the top for the time period and there was a lot of period humor and female/male related non crass humor.  However, there is this one scene in the movie that bothered me.  There is a scene where you know that the male lead in the movie, played by Chris Pine(Captain Kirk in the new movie series), is bathing in a glowing bath of some kind and Wonder Woman comes into where he is.  He starts to get out and realizes she is in the room with him and there is maybe a minute of awkwardness where she asks him if he is a typical male.  You see, up until she meets him, she's never seen a man before.  And then you see him block him private areas and there is a full frontal scene of him doing it.  Seriously people!  Why?  We didn't need to see that, we got the understanding of the scene from the well written script and they could have show his top half if absolutely necessary. There was a lot of innuendo talk about sexuality with the situation being what it was.  Why the nudity?  I think it has to do with people thinking that they "need" to do this for shock factor, to add "more" to the scene.  I don't know.  All I know is that I was a little enraged by it and it irks me to this day.  It spoiled a perfectly great movie for me.  I am absolutely positive that was not glorifying to God.

I was irritated that I didn't prepare myself for this by reading the entire review online before hand.

Our family uses Plugged In by Focus on the Family as a way to truly see what is in the movie before you view it yourself or let your kids see it.  There is also another site called Common Sense Media that does a good job, but it is not a faith based organization and so therefore I think that I tend to agree with the ratings from Plugged In more than I do with Common Sense, however sometimes they have more reviews than Plugged In does.

I really can't stand the fact that I have to censor everything our family watches nowadays. I know I can turn on the Disney Channel and be okay, but other than that I don't know. There are a couple of services out there that can help with filtering and choosing more clean movies. I haven't tried them yet, but I intend to over the next year and let you all know what I think.

What was the point of this blog?

Yes, it was a little rant from me.  But more so, I think I just wanted to make sure you understand that God really does want us to be better stewards of our time, what we invest ourselves in and how we not only raise our families but also showing others around us how to live differently.  You might disagree with me, it's your choice to do so.  But, I want to say to you...  If you are a Christian then let the Holy Spirit work in you every day. Allow your heart to be open, to look inward and then upward and see if something is missing.  

Someday we will all meet the Father and be held accountable for our actions. That includes our media choices.

Here is a good article on Living a Holy Life.  God's Grace is enough when we are truly saved, but that doesn't give us complete freedom to act as we wish or what we think is best.  Remember Judges "In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as they saw fit."

Jesus is our King and we are to do as He commands, not what we think is right in our own eyes.

While you are thinking about this, you can rock out to Jeremy Camp's Take My Life.

Colossians 3:17

And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Let's Talk Entertainment-Specifically TV

As Christians we are called to a different standard in everyday life. That includes Entertainment.  I know some of you are saying "here we go again".  I want to tell you about my journey with entertainment.  

I have struggled with this most of my adult life.  I love, love, love entertainment, specifically movies and television.  I will allow it to take over my time, energy and life if I let it.  Seriously- with Netflix, and other streaming sources-enter binge TV, I have a love hate relationship with them.  

Once I rededicated my life to Jesus in 2003 I had a rough year of change.  I felt the Holy Spirit tugging at me in various places in my life. One of which was entertainment, specifically TV and movies.  It's been a struggle and a long one at that.

I calculated how much of my free time was used up watching TV specifically.  On a normal work day I would just come home, eat supper and watch TV shows until I went to bed. That was 3-4 hours a day. Sometimes I would just record the shows and watch them later on the weekends, but most of the time I had a good 3 shows every night to watch. I realized I was living for entertainment.  So I tried to cut down a bit at first and realized how hard it was. I struggled greatly.  I had no idea how addicted I was to TV.  I then went through the shows and tried to decided which ones were completely not glorifying to God. The problem was I would eliminate some but keep others, when in fact almost every single show I was watching was not glorying to God.  It took me many years of the Holy Spirit to get me to a point where what I watch is mostly pretty "clean" TV.  But, it's still a time sucker.

You know that saying "You are what you eat" ?  Guess what, the same rule applies to all things in our lives.  It took me a long time to recognize that and once I did, and I'm still in the process, it took me a long time to make changes for the better.

I'm not judging anyone here.  I am as guilty as any other person.  What I am writing this blog for, is to share with you what God says about these types of things.  It's to make you think and pray and see where the Holy Spirit might be tugging at you.

I still watch a lot more TV than I should, even though it's "clean" TV I have to remember that my time is really God's time and he has given it to me to be a good steward. When it's my time to leave this earth and stand before God, he expects each of us to give an account for how our days are spent.  I don't know about you, but as a Christian that really makes me cringe and makes me think about how I can do better.

Below are some really good verses in the Bible to think on and pray about.


Romans 8:5 
Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires.

Philippians 4:8
Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.


Ephesians 5:15-16
Be very careful, then, how you live-not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.

Psalm 31:15
My times are in your hands; deliver me from the hands of my enemies, from those who pursue me.

Psalm 89:47
Remember how fleeting is my life. For what futility have created all humanity!

Hosea 10:12
Sow righteousness for yourselves , reap the fruit of unfailing love, and break up your unplowed ground; for it is time to see the Lord, until he comes and showers his righteousness on you.

Mark 13:33
Be on guard! Be alert! You do not know when that time will come.

Colossians 3:17
And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Here is a good article from gotquestions.org here about What does the bible say about fun and entertainment?


This is a great song that goes along with what I am trying to say here.  I am going to try to write more specifically about this in the future, but I wanted to get people really thinking.  Until next time......

Book Review: Strange Days: Life in the Spirit in a Time of Upheaval by Mark Sayers

Lately I've been thinking a lot about how to live life in a way that glorifies God.  It's hard to live in this world and not be of this world.  We are trying to teach our children about the world , while helping them to not live in the ways of the world, to love, be kind, and respectful of other's differences.

With my praying for ISIS and for Muslims during Ramadan, this book seemed to follow along well with it, that's why I picked it.

This was a book I received from Moody Publishers as part of their Blogger review program.

INTRODUCTION

In the introduction he explains the number of issues we have today, what kind of issues they are and he ends with this: "This is a challenging number of issues, for sure. What is more, the nature of each issue is quite different. Some are political, social, cultural, religious, and even technological, and others are a combination of several. Add in the fact that these issues span the globe and concern cultures and people we don't understand, and the whole of it can be dizzying. However, if we begin to look deeper, underneath these conflicts and tensions, we see a spider web of borders and boundaries-clashes over place, identity, and meaning. As we will discover, there is a pattern behind this chaos." Page 17  

And then he lays out the plan for his book in 3 parts.

Part 1  Biblical Pattern of Chaos
Part 2  Historical Pattern of Chaos
Part 3  Life Re-Patterned in the Spirit

PARTS 1 & 2

The author shows a lot of what's going on in the world's issues from a point of view I hadn't really thought of before.  Somethings I already knew, like the entitlement mentality and tolerance issue we see today.  But, when he describes places and non-places and the emergence of technology , specifically smartphones and the withdrawal from society, it became clear of what our society has truly become, it hit home for me.  It made me re-evaluate the way I think about technology and if there is someway to reconcile ourselves and our children in the world we live in today.  

These aren't all things I didn't know already, but sometimes when they are written down in a different format they can shed light on something that has been right there on the surface all along.

As I read Parts 1 & 2, I longed to hear the good news of Part 3.  As if I wasn't bummed enough about the world, it was a bit depressing to read about it all over again. Interesting, but depressing.  I eagerly turned each page to get to Part 3.  

PART 3... FINALLY!

When I got there it was full of The Good News, the Gospel. He talks about transgressing boundaries.  Statements like "God satisfies, He is Enough", "You are more than your orientation, experience of gender, marital status or societal role.  You are a child of God".  

Basically, we ALL fall short of the glory of God and are in need of a savior, no matter who, what, when, how much and so forth.  It shows us where our true identity should be.

Then he moves on to talk about technology and the lost art of livedness.  Yeah, I had to look this word up because it seemed off to me.  What he really means is the state of being alive in the tactile world.  Going about our days in the real life (IRL).  Where the boundaries are normally transgressed unlike the digital world of chaos, emotional upheaval and taking sides.  Although we all know we still take sides, but isn't it a bit easier to discuss "your side" online than it is in person these days.  It's like we all create our own little walls.  

People are flesh, we were created for community, at first with God and then with each other.  As Christians, we are called to be part of the church.  

He talks about how livedness in the church can feel like a cold shower, or like your crawling compared to the digital age. Page 144-145 he writes something that hits home for me.  "For a hyperspeed culture of connectivity, the slow and steady pace of discipleship can seem glacial. The silences and pauses of the Christian life, the waiting and abiding, can seem deafening."  ... "The intensification of radical individualism created by our digital age, in which individuals fold into themselves as they bend over the screen of their smartphone, means that the life of discipleship, and the battle against flesh, is a battle against the self.  All who come to Christ must lay their lives down before Christ, regardless of the particularities of the epoch and culture they find themselves in. Our age is no different. But our phones train us not to do this."

My Thoughts... My brain hurts  😖

This author had a lot to say. I felt like I was reading Plato / Aristotle or some other philosopher. However, I pushed through it.  I really did get a lot out of the book.  It made me think, and think, and think... but it did help me see things in a different way.  I just wished it wasn't written so heady.  I think I might take a break from non-fiction for awhile.  I don't think my brain can handle it for awhile. It's good to push outside your comfort zone when you read, but it's also good to enjoy what you are reading and not have a headache and be full of frustration.

My advice...

Take it or leave it. It had some really good stuff in it and made me think a lot,  so I reviewed it as a 3/5.  I wish that this author would have written this book with smaller, more pointed words, so people like myself didn't struggle with texts like these. He did have a lot of good things to say, I just struggled to read through it.

What did I take away from it?

I was talking with my husband the other day about the fact that I have a hard time slowing down. Psalm 46:10 ~  "Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth."     I often wonder if that's due to our never ceasing culture and attachment to technology.  I know that when we are constantly entertainment it's hard to know what to do with ourselves when we stop.  If we aren't still how to we expect to hear from our Creator?  It's like my body can't stand it's own skin sometimes.  Like I only have 2 modes, ON/OFF-Go, go, go or lazy.

But also, as he describes below, how are we called to be a disciple?  To live in the spirit in these times?

Page 167-168  "By following the way of the disciple, we choose the narrow path that leads to life.  We cannot take our cues from what everyone else is doing. Life must be approached as a disciple. We must ask, "How do we approach social media as a disciple?" "How do I parent as a disciple?" "How do I date as a disciple?" "How do I use my money as a disciple?" This simple question, "How do I live as a disciple?", re-frames the whole of one's life, send on to the Scriptures to seek guidance, wisdom , and truth."

Here is a good short article in which our calling as Christians is described well.  Be in, but not of the world.

I hope to explore this more on my blog in the future, once I recover from reading this book.  Seriously, my brain hurts. 

Until next time.....


Romans 12:1-2
Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. 2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.