Entertainment sinful?

Wow. Lighten up. It is just a baseball game.

 

Yes, it is just a baseball game. Does it glorify God? If so how? I have challenged you (i.e., people on this board) to give Scripture that gives a precedent or demonstrates that God condones such entertainment. God does not. Not one has been able to give any Scripture to back up their position. But I have posted plenty of Scripture in defence of my position.
If you have missed them here is one of them:

Luke 9:23 And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.
--denying yourself, and taking up your cross is hardly entertaining, but it is sacrificial--something most Christians would rather not even talk about, much less do.
DHK

1 Peter 1:15-16 But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.

 

Do YOU glorify God with your attitude?

What is really going on here? Are you implying that because we dont flog ourselves, carry a cross, or live in dirt - we are not worthy? I dont really think so, but this tack your on DHK, makes you sound like you could just use a nap. Didnt someone mention naps earlier?

Does baseball glorify God? ASK HIM.

 

Hmmph. People who think entertainment is a waste of time and yet post to the Baptist Board are mentioned by Jesus in one of his sayings about taking the splinters out of the other person's eye . . . .

 

Those that are not teachable have the wrong attitude.

I said no such thing. But perhaps you misunderstand the verses that I quote. What does it mean to deny oneself? Better yet what does it mean to take up your cross?
in 1Cor.15:31 Paul said: "I die daily." What did he mean?
In Gal.2:20, he said:
Galatians 2:20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.

What did he mean when he said that he was crucified with Christ--he was already dead.

What is the meaning of "the cross?" What was a cross used for? Jesus died on a cross, but so did the two thieves beside him. The cross was the instrument of death used by the Romans. By the cross one was put to death. "Take up your cross and follow me. To put it another way: If you are not willing to put yourself to death, then you cannot follow me.
The first part of the verse says you must deny yourself. To deny means to say no--no to the flesh, no to your own wants, no to your own carnal wants, no to the entertainment that you desire, and yes to what God wants for you in your life; yes to the Holy Spirit's yielding in your life; yes to the complete filling of the Holy Spirit, so that you are completely controlled by Him.

"I am crucified with Christ." I no longer live. It is not me. My flesh is put to death. It is Christ and him alone that rules my life.
"Nevertheless I live." I live; I am alive. I am not dead physically.
"Yet not I but Christ liveth in me." It is not me that is living my life; it is Christ. He has total control. And BTW, he has no pleasure in entertainment. His pleasure is to please his father; to glorify him and him alone. We do that by carrying out the Great Commission in every way possible; whether it means going to Saudia Arabia, Iraq, Baffin Island, or wherever the Lord would have you to go.
I die to self; and live for Christ. It is that simple. Paul said I die daily. Every day he put his carnal body to death.

You are right; we are not worthy. How true a statement that is. What are we worthy of? We are worthy of the condemnation of God. We are worthy of eternal damnation. Salvation is entirely by the grace of God. Grace means that we don't deserve it, we are not worthy to deserve it. We are sinful creatures. Let me ask you: Are you so holy that you are able to stand before a holy God? If not how do you expect to get into Heaven, since nothing unholy can enter into heaven.

Yes they did. And I responded:

Psalms 127:2 It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows: for so he giveth his beloved sleep.

No it doesn't. Show me from the Bible where it does.
Do you get down on your knees and travail with God for your favorite team to win.
Do you hug your TV and ask God's blessing on it in hopes that it will help while watching it, to give it luck to win? Do you thank God for all the blessing your TV has been to you in your life?
How much time do you spend in prayer for your favorite baseball team?

James 4:2-3 Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not.
3 Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.
DHK

 

Are they?
You have never been to a third world foreign mission field have you Paul?

 

I agree with you DHK.

MOST folks on this board are western christians. By "western"I mean they are ofwest european descent or culture.

I do not hesitate to say that MOST folks on this board would not know whatit is to deny themselves of anything.

Now why would I say that?

Because EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM HAS THE LUXURY OF A COMPUTER.

How many third world ghetto kids have even seen a computer? Let alone drinking crystal clear water from the tap in a clean cup?

Nope. More and more as time goes on I am seeing the utter selfishness of western christianity and it sickens me. Think not? This very thread demonstrates my point quite effectively. Western christians are MORE selfish than their unsaved neighbors. Why? Because they have the "truth" yet they WILL NOT deny themselves any comforts or entertainments to give the truth away.

More the pity.

In HIS service;
Jim

 

I never said that the Bible had a word to say about baseball. This whole thing is proof you can take something and drive it into the ground, and look like quite the wet blanket in the process.

My faith brings me great joy. ***edit by Blackbird*** I will pray for you to understand which battles to pick and when to learn to stop and smell some roses.

Personally, I dont worship sports or other entertainment, very silly idea anyway. I use my computer for a variety of things, education, staying in touch, and just passing time. I do not watch television at all and havent in the last six years. So a bit hard for me to comment on the pros and cons of this type of thing. But I have been to places where an ounce of clean water would have been worth my weight in gold. And it never occured to me that I should pour my good water out so I can drink the same water as those third world ghetto children. I should be lashed.

Sounds like you want to be a martyr. That never really works out all that well, but do what you want. I wont judge. Good wishes though.

[ July 17, 2005, 05:42 AM: Message edited by: blackbird ]

 

Yeah, I don't really understand people making Jesus out to be so depressing and all. I for one believe He had a good time on earth and has a great sense of humor.
Where is the joy in people?! We can have a good time with harmless entertainment, nothing wrong with that. I think some Christian's are really missing out by condemning things that are not in scripture, just man-made rules that have no point at all, but to bring misery. </font>[/QUOTE]Isaiah 53:3 tells us the truth about the Hebrew's coming Messiah

"He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from Him; He was despised, and we esteemed Him not."

Hebrews 12:3 teaches us that Jesus "endured such contridiction of sinners against Himself."

The wise Soloman wrote in Ecclesiastes----all that is under the sun is vanity and a vexation of spirit!!!

We must keep in mind---that Jesus was the most loved man on earth----BUT at the same time He was the most hated man on earth.

Did Jesus have a "good time" on earth??? Sure He probably did---but that "good time" never no ever never contridicted the word of Scripture---now, did it??? Did Jesus have a "good time" on Earth---sure He did---but at the same time---I don't think He played "Ring around the Rosey" or "Hide and Seek" with the kids while on his way to the tomb of Lazarus---nor did He have such a "hot good time" while in the land of the Gadarenes!!! The disciples all thought they were friends with Jesus----but when the Shepherd was stricken----where'd the sheep go???? Jesus said Himself, "Strike the Shepherd and the sheep will scatter!"----that is a truth that was from the eons of eternity past and continues to be a truth to this very day!!!

When you grip scripture---grip all of it!!!!!

 

Now, wait a minute King James. DHK has a point and I think it is a very important one.

Are we subtituting entertainment into the place where our work for the Lord should reside?

A little relaxation every now and again isn't a sin, neither are the various forms of entertainment we use to acheive that relaxation. But even in the act of being relaxed, we should still be a witness for the Lord.

And too, we as westerner have a very different view of how often we need to relax. When I was a kid, we were lucky to get an hour on Saturday all to ourselves. Extra-ciriculur activities such as baseball or ballet? Didn't happen. If it wasn't constructive, we didn't do it. That is simply the way life was.

Nowdays, here in America, we don't have to work all the time just to keep food in our bellies and the rain off our heads. Instead of being grateful for the bounty, we have gotten the idea that we DESERVE it! That leads straight to the idea that we should be entertained when we want to be entertained.

Therein lays DHK's point. Entertainment is not a requirement for Christians. We should be willing to forgo all of it in order to spread the love of the Lord.

I will quibble with his apparent idea that witnessing/mission work, can't be done side by side with entertainment. It becomes clearer and clearer to me everyday, that the people who I come in contact with, have little or no knowledge of the Lord or what knowledge they have is flawed and/or useless. My greatest mission feild is right here.

 

Oh, oh, oh.......that sounds like a challenge!

Are you somehow implying that we can out give God??????

That He doesn't deserve our entire life assets and all?

That somehow you can possibly do enough for God so that you EARN you're entertainment?

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God does give us freedom to use our earthly assets in such a way as to suit ourselves. Still, our first priority should be to suit Him.