How you don't want to live!

from Jedran - Wednesday, December 15, 2004
accessed 1600 times

This is taken from the GN series Shooting straight, parts 9 and 10. No puns please. I've taken the few points out of the all the confusing crap in there (if you don't like it I'll put the keys back in). I haven't changed anything, just posted and pasted sections of the GNs. if you think there's a lot, you should have seen it before.

TV

38. (Mama:) The issue of movies and TV viewing is a little bit similar. So since the Lord already gave a lot of counsel on movie viewing-朼nd what elements can make a movie worthwhile or unacceptable--please review that information, as much of it can apply to TV viewing. In addition to that information, which can be adapted and applied, here's a summary of some of the main tips and counsel from the Lord in the message above:
39. --Don't sit down in front of the TV without a specific purpose. Don't channel surf, unless you're trying to find a program that the Lord has given you the okay to watch. It can be a waste of your time, and others' time if you are in a group setting.
40. --If there's something playing (either a one-time showing or a program or series that comes on regularly) that you feel might be interesting and worth taking your time to watch as a Home, make sure you've cleared it with the Lord and gotten His counsel on it. Someone should hear from the Lord about viewing it as a Home, and you who plan to watch it should also ask the Lord personally to find out if it's His will for you. (If it's an ongoing TV show or program, you'll want to regularly check in with the Lord to assess the effect it's having in your life and the fruit it's bearing.)
41. --If you're going to watch the news on TV, agree as a Home on what program is most beneficial and unbiased. Record it ahead of time, if possible, to avoid the whole Home having to wade through commercials, etc. If that's not possible for some reason, do what you can to safeguard your time and spirits?such as muting the commercials and redeeming those moments of time, and avoiding channel surfing.
42. --Don't get hung up on the letter of the law or react self-righteously about TV and sports viewing. But remember?in the past too much compromise with the world was allowed, and now the Lord is asking us to minimize ungodly input. Have a godly, loving, prayerful balance.
43. --When it comes to ongoing TV programs, be cautious of those that contain worldly attitudes, relationships, and cynical humor, etc. When you watch a certain program, comedy, or drama week after week, there's a much greater likelihood that the wrong attitudes, worldly mindsets?ungodly personalities and speech patterns will gradually seep in and stick with you. Such programs can weaken you spiritually.
44. --Occasional sports viewing is within the Lord's will, if you are following His personalized counsel to you in prophecy, as well as the guidelines you agree on as a Home, if it doesn't become overly important to you who wins, and if it's not affecting your spirit in a negative, worldly way. If you're addicted, overly anxious, obsessive, overly competitive, make idols out of players, become nationalistic?aggressive (shouting, arguing, or cussing, either while playing or watching a sports game) and have a worldly attitude about sports, then these are all signs that you need to reevaluate your sports/sports viewing, and minimize or forsake it altogether.
45. --Pray and hear from the Lord regarding your weaknesses, and any addictions or obsessions you might have as far as TV/sports viewing. Set up safeguards for yourself. And if you can't trust yourself to keep within the guidelines the Lord gives you, then ask someone to be your buddy and help safeguard you.
46. --A suggestion from the Lord: Set specific limits for the total amount of System input allowed per week, regardless of what kind.
47. --Agree together, as a Home, on the overall spiritual goals of your Home, and in that context, make your decisions regarding things like TV and sports viewing and other forms of entertainment. The choice is up to you and your Home to prayerfully decide what to allow and how often.
48. --Ask the Lord to speak to you about whether or not you should watch TV or sports. If so, ask Him for personal guidelines. What kinds of things should you avoid? What safeguards should you put in place? What particular weaknesses do you have? What are the pitfalls of this avenue of worldly input for you personally, so that you can avoid them?
49. --Never use television as a babysitter. If you're going to show your children a TV program or documentary, please ask the Lord about it first. It's also best to record it beforehand, so that you can preview it, as well as fast-forward the commercials and any parts that might not be edifying.

Books

Elements that make a book worthwhile (adapted from movie list by the Lord):
84. --A message that lifts Me up or glorifies the things of My Spirit in some way. This could range from a positive and sweet love story, to a story portraying the spiritual warfare and the triumph of good over evil.
85. --Exposure of the evils and hypocrisy of the System, without going to the extreme of being so horrible or traumatic that this aspect overshadows everything else.
86. --An anti-System message, when the System doesn't win in the end; or, if the System wins or appears to win, such as in the case of a book about a martyr, it shows how wrong the System was, and the message is clear.
87. --True stories of fighters, overcomers, missionaries, martyrs, or people who did something good for others; personal examples and testimonies that stir you and encourage and motivate you to want to give, to fight, to have conviction, to serve, and to do good for others.
88. ?Stories that give insight into human nature, in the sense of helping you understand someone who is in a particular situation, or part of another culture which you're not familiar with but that could be helpful for you to understand and better relate to in your witnessing, without going into any perversions, or even just being too much of a downer.
89. --Things that are fun, funny?and relaxing. Stories that make you laugh, help you relax, and cheer you up, but without abundant foul language, that don't promote homosexuality, or contain cruel, gross, and cutting humor.
90. --A story or plot that stimulates your mind and is thought-provoking in a good way --such as a good spy story, an intelligent mystery, or a whodunit, as long as it's not filled with violence, gore, and senseless "action."
91. --Important or interesting historical information, or about famous characters from history. True stories from history that teach something or are educational.
92. --Information on current events or important things happening in the world today, that teach and inform --but aren't filled with violence or the Enemy's propaganda, but rather expose it.
93. --Stories that glorify the Word, the truth, and Bible and Christian heroes.
94. ?A good ending. Not necessarily a happy ending, but a good ending, a "right" ending. Whether it's sad or happy, whether it's entertaining or serious, if it's a worthwhile story, it should leave you with a good feeling. You should feel like you were edified by it in some way, or learned an important lesson, or at least feel happy with the outcome, that the way it ended was the best way.

Elements that make a book unacceptable:
95. ?An obvious message that is anti-God or anti-spiritual matters; anything that undermines faith in God, the Word, the Bible, Me, or spiritual gifts and powers, or plants doubts in your mind.
96. --Horror, especially if it deals with the powers of the Enemy. This is not the same as a story that deals with spiritual gifts or power. These that I'm talking about here are stories that emphasize evil spirits and the power of the dark side, vampires, werewolves, zombies, demons, etc. There is no value whatsoever in such books.
97. --Anything that focuses on the things of the dark side of the spirit world , demon possession, psychotic behavior, or on sexual or other perversions.
98. --Substantial violence, especially if it is graphic, senseless, pointless, stupid violence, or violence that portrays a lack of regard for life. Sometimes violence is necessary to the point of the story, if it's something I wish to teach about war or gangs or something where violence is an integral part of the message.
99. --Glorification of evil, sin, or compromise--such as making the bad guys appear to be the cool guys. Something that falls under this umbrella is the typical "criminal plot" where there aren't any good guys or bad guys, but they're all thieves or slimy characters competing with one another or "knocking each other off." These stories promote lukewarmness and tolerance of things that should not be accepted by My disciples.
100. --Abundant, senseless foul language.
101. --Where the main characters are homosexual, or stories that come out strongly in defense of homosexuality, or promote an accepting attitude toward it.
102. --Deeds and concepts that go against the Law of Love; a message that promotes selfishness, self-love, jealousy, cheating, refusal to forgive, wrong attitudes toward children and having babies, toward men, toward women, toward the opposite generation, toward those of other nationalities?or other forms of ungodly relationship behavior that go against the standard of My Word?unless it's some kind of clear expos?
103. --Humor that is overly gross or just plain stupid? that stuffs your head with silly junk and words that are not only of no value, but that are really stooping to a level that is far beneath where your spirits and minds as Christians and disciples should be at.
104. --A strong pro-American, pro-Western, or racist spirit; a message that promotes the American/Western way of life.
105. --If the evil in the story is victorious, either throughout, or at the end.
106. --Unloving, violent, selfish, ungodly sex.
107. --If lying and deceitfulness is approved of and glorified, or a major part of the plot.
108. --An overtly worldly/materialistic spirit. For example, the glorification of model-like women, muscle men, fashion, materialism, "get-rich-quick" schemes, the love of money, and other worldly hang-ups.
109. --Books that promote or overly emphasize higher education.
110. --If there's some good in the book, such as if it ends well, but the reader wades through so much negative to get to the small morsel of "good" or the nearly nonexistent lesson.
111. --A message that puts down or demeans Christians or godly people, or if the main "bad guys" are Christians or profess to believe in God, yet do evil.
112. -- A message that promotes anti-life attitudes, such as abortion, contraception, suicide, euthanasia, etc.
113. - 朅 thread throughout that promotes bad, unhealthy, ungodly habits; if the book makes bad things and bad habits--such as smoking or taking drugs--sound cool and in vogue.
114. --If the message is so unrealistic?so fairytale-ish, so "perfect," without depicting the real struggles and facts of life, it can slowly start to warp your perspective and make you question My plan in your life, and wonder why I'm not making things "fairytale perfect" for you. Too much of this type of unrealism can make you dissatisfied, unthankful?and discontent.
115. --Books that deal with philosophies or false religions and theories of man, head-trippy, intellectual types. This is simply because the wisdom of man is foolishness to Me, and so much of it goes directly against the principles of My Spirit.
116. --Books that have a churchy, conservative message. You are children of David, and while other Christians have served Me in other ways, your calling and heritage is to be dropped out, radical. You're not mainstream and never will be. Reading churchy doctrines by System Christians subtly undermines the radical truth that is your heritage. Give no place to the lukewarm compromise that seeks to ensnare you and tempts you to trade the best for something that is barely good.
Movies
Elements that make a movie worthwhile:
35. --A message that lifts Me up or glorifies the things of My Spirit in some way. This could range from a positive and sweet love story to a movie portraying spiritual elements, such as showing the spiritual warfare and the triumph of good over evil.
36. --Exposure of the evils and hypocrisy of the System, without going to the extreme of being so horrible or traumatizing that this aspect overshadows everything else. An anti-System message, when the System doesn't win in the end. Or, if the System wins or appears to win, such as in the case of a movie about a martyr, it shows how wrong the System was, and the message is clear.
37. --True stories of fighters, overcomers, missionaries, martyrs, or people who did something good for others --personal examples and testimonies that stir you and encourage and motivate you to want to give, to fight, to have conviction, to serve‚ and to do good for others.
38. --Stories that give insight into human nature, in the sense of helping you understand someone who is in a particular situation, or part of another culture which you're not familiar with but that could be helpful for you to understand and better relate to in your witnessing, without going into any perversions, or even just being too much of a downer.
39. --Things that are fun, funny, and relaxing. Movies that make you laugh, help you relax, and cheer you up, but without abundant foul language, that don't promote homosexuality, or contain cruel, gross, and cutting humor.
40. --A story or plot that stimulates your mind and is thought-provoking in a good way, such as a good spy story, an intelligent mystery, or a whodunit, as long as it's not filled with violence, gore, and senseless "action." Other examples include movies where the characters must make difficult choices, or those which involve a subject you could discuss or debate with others.
41. –-Important or interesting historical information, or about famous characters from history. Stories from history that teach something or are educational.
42. --Information on current events or important things happening in the world today, that teach and inform--but aren't filled with violence or the Enemy's propaganda, but rather expose it.
43. --Stories that glorify the Word, the truth, and portray good Bible or Christian characters in a positive light.
44. --A good ending--not necessarily a happy ending, but a good ending, a "right" ending. Whether it's sad or happy, whether it's entertaining or serious, if it's a worthwhile movie, it should leave you feeling like you were edified by it in some way, or knowing that the way it ended was the best way, the only way. Some movies portray traumatic testimonies and they have a "sad" ending--but it's the "right" ending, the only ending it could have had. If it's not too full of violence, perversions, and other negative things, while you might not be overly happy with the sad ending, if you've learned something‚ if it stirs you up, if it breaks your heart, if it exposes the System, or if it leaves you with a deeper desire to win the lost, pray for the world, and do your job, these kinds of movies may be acceptable for some people.
45. --If it's a good movie, a key movie that everybody in the world is "talking about" and that's having a big effect on the world, with worthwhile elements within it that you can use as a springboard for witnessing.

Elements that make a movie unacceptable:
46. --An obvious message that is anti-God or anti-spiritual matters. Anything that undermines faith in God, the Bible‚ Me‚ or spiritual gifts and powers, or plants doubts in your mind.
47. --Horror, especially if it deals with the powers of the Enemy. This is not the same as a movie that deals with spiritual gifts or power. These that I'm talking about here are movies that emphasize evil spirits and the power of the dark side, vampires , demons, etc. There is no value whatsoever in such movies.
48. --Anything that focuses on the things of the dark side of the spirit world , demon possession, psychotic behavior, or on sexual or other perversions.
49. -–Substantial scenes of violence, especially if it is graphic, senseless, pointless, or portraying flagrant disregard for life. Sometimes violence is necessary to the point of a movie, if it's something I wish to teach about some aspect of life, such as war or gangs, where violence would be an integral part of the message.
50. --Glorification of evil, sin, or compromise--such as making the bad guys appear to be the cool guys. Something that falls under this umbrella is the typical "criminal movie" where there aren't any good guys or bad guys, but they're all thieves or slimy characters competing with one another or "knocking each other off." These movies promote lukewarmness and tolerance of things that should not be accepted by My disciples.
51. --Abundant, senseless foul language. This dulls your senses to something that is very wrong, and even wears grooves into your mind, causing these words to later come out through your speech, and this is very displeasing to Me. Some movies have cussing for a reason, but that's pretty easy to spot. There are many, however, that are riddled with horrible language that looks cool and attractive, even sexy. Those should be avoided on the strength of the bad language alone.
52. --Where the main characters are homosexual, or stories that come out strongly in defense of homosexuality, or promote an accepting attitude toward it.
53. –-Deeds and concepts that go against the Law of Love; a message that promotes selfishness, self-love, jealousy, cheating, refusal to forgive, wrong attitudes toward children and having babies, toward men, toward women, toward the opposite generation, toward those of other nationalities, or other forms of ungodly relationship behavior that go against the standard of My Word, unless it's some kind of clear exposé.
54. --Humor that is overly gross or just plain stupid and disgusting, that stuffs your head with silly junk and words and pictures that are not only of no value‚ but that are really stooping to a level that is far beneath where your spirits and minds as Christians and disciples should be at.
55. --Senseless "action." Rarely do most action movies--which are often filled with car chases, violence, bad language, and little if any meaning–-offer any real benefit. Unless there's something that makes an action movie worthwhile, other than the suspense or the rush, it should generally be avoided. Usually the characters in such films are not what you want to be or act like as My disciples.
56. --A strong pro-American, pro-Western, or racist spirit. A message that promotes the American/Western way of life.
57. --If the evil in the film is victorious, either throughout, or at the end. Or if the bad guys win throughout or at the end, without a good point being made--such as exposing the evils of the System, or revealing the triumph of a martyr--then it's a bad movie.
58. --Unloving, violent, selfish, ungodly sex.
59. --If lying and deceitfulness is approved of and glorified, or is a major part of the plot.
60. --A message that promotes anti-life attitudes, such as abortion, contraception, suicide, euthanasia, etc.
61. --An overtly worldly/materialistic spirit. For example, the glorification of model-like women, muscle men, fashion, materialism, "get-rich-quick" schemes, the love of money, and other worldly hang-ups.
62. --Movies that promote and overly emphasize higher education.
63. --If there's some good in the movie, such as if it ends well, but the viewer wades through so much negative to get to the small morsel of "good" or the nearly nonexistent lesson.
64. -–A message that puts down or demeans Christians or godly people, or if the main "bad guys" in the movie are Christians or profess to believe in God, yet do evil.
65. –-A thread throughout that promotes bad‚ unhealthy, ungodly habits; if the movie makes bad things and bad habits--such as smoking or taking drugs--look cool and in vogue.
66. --If the message is so unrealistic, so fairytale-ish, so "perfect," without depicting the real struggles and facts of life, it can slowly start to warp your perspective and make you question My plan in your life, and wonder why I'm not making things "movie perfect" for you. Too much of this type of unrealism in a movie can make you dissatisfied, unthankful, and discontent. (End of message.)
Internet

How to have the Lord's full protection when going online:
· Be obedient to the guidelines the Lord has given you personally, and to the guidelines you decide upon as a Home. Whether or not you think something is "safe" for you is not the issue. If you are not obeying, it's not safe.
· Have a specific mission to fulfill, clearly defined goals, a purpose for being online. Don't just browse for the sake of browsing. Get what you need, and then get back to your work and service for the Lord!
· Go onto the Internet armed with prayer. Pray beforehand for protection. Make sure you bring your mind into subjection, arm your spirit, and let the Lord lead and guide you to that which is good through the unending maze of seductive enticements.
· Keep in communication with the Lord while you're browsing, so that you remain open to His checks and warnings if you're going somewhere you shouldn't, or spending more time online than you should.
· Set yourself a time limit. Ask the Lord how long you should be online, and don't stay longer than He's advised you to.
· Don't go to any sites or areas of the Web you know you shouldn't go. And when in doubt, don't.
· Consider "traveling" on the Internet two-by-two, especially if you are easily distracted when going online, so that you have a buddy to safeguard you and help you to be good.
· Pray afterwards for cleansing of any influences or spirits you might have picked up on the Web. Just like when you go out into the physical world and can pick up hitchhiking spirits, so it is when you travel on the Internet.
· Be sure that you've had good Word time to keep up your spiritual strength.
· Pray and ask the Lord about any questions you have, to help you discern what's true and what's not and to apply any information you find. Don't just go by man's words, but ask the Lord's opinion before implementing something or adopting it as part of your opinion or frame of reference.


Legitimate good reasons for using the Internet:
· Browsing our Family sites, especially the MO site.
· Business purposes: legal work, banking, travel info and reservations, etc.
· E-mail and communications (Internet messaging, voice communications, etc.)
· Research that is necessary or useful to our commission as missionaries and disciples.
· Educational use by parents and teachers (or in the case of good educational websites, to use with your children as a part of their schooling or training).
· Researching and finding a good deal for purchasing a legitimate personal or Home need.
· Keeping abreast of the news, via good news websites.
· Finding information on necessary health issues.
· Researching/finding information on a vocational study.
· Online maps, dictionaries, encyclopedias, or other necessary reference books.
· Researching information on a particular movie the Lord has shown you may be worth your Home previewing (if it has not been rated by WS), before you rent it.

Things that can waste your time and/or be detrimental to you spiritually:
· Entertainment news and Hollywood and celebrity gossip.
· Sports news.
· Pornography (this would of course be in the "avoid completely" category).
· Any sites that deal with the occult, witchcraft, Satanism, etc. (this would also be in the "avoid completely" category).
· Anti-Family or anti-cult sites.
· Churchy sites.
· Unnecessary browsing for information on the latest movies, computer games, music, and other forms of worldly entertainment.
· Downloading System music (that the Lord hasn't given you permission to listen to) or movies (that haven't been rated by WS or okayed by your Home).
· Information and knowledge on the latest and greatest technical gadgets and gizmos.
· Something you're researching that's an obsession or addiction.
· Information on fashion‚ the latest trends, etc.
· Sites that contain anything along the lines of violence, horror, the power of the Enemy, evil spirits, vampires, demons, etc.
· Information on diet or fitness fads, or health theories and controversies.