I applaud you for speaking your opinion.

_________________
Stephanie

To me what it boils down to, is watch what you see in movies and tv and what you read.
We are not to be like the World.
If you are a Christian, you should know what you are suppose to do. Do not act like the world, meaning do not go see what they see, (vampires, Harry potter etc) or read they trashy books they read.
We have taught our daughter who is now an adult how to choose what is right and wrong as far as being a Christian.
She has never seen any Harry Potter stuff, or Twilight. First she is not into that stuff, not just because she knows what all evil is in them.
If I read a book, it usually is written by a Pastor that I know , knows his stuff. or books about the Bible etc.
I am trying to do a Bible study on my own.
Tory I am like you , I prefer to watch the old tv shows.
Being here by myself most of the day I donot watch tv. I go on youtube and find a sermon to listen to each day.
Our pastor has gotten all over the younger mothers about Twilight and Harry Potter. and also for them dressing like their teen age daughters. Who dress with dresses up to their navel.
I am glad he reminds people about how Christians are to act and what they are suppose to display out in public.
Sorry for the rambling.

_________________
<a href="http://lilyslim.com/"><img src="http://swtc.lilyslim.com/G2dWbbw.png" width="400" height="120" border="0" alt="LilySlim Weight charts" /></a>

On a lighter note:

There was once a young boy whose Mother was sick one Sunday. She told him to walk to Church and attend sevices. But, on the way to Church, the boy was attracted by all the temptations to play, and decided to play instead of attending Church.

When he saw all the Churchgoers leaving Church, he walked home, and told his Mother he had attended Church.

His Mother was a little suspicious, as he didn't LOOK like he had been in Church.

She quizzed him: "Okay, what did the Pastor preach about today?"

The boy, thinking on his feet replied, "Sin."

"And, what did he say about Sin?" inquired the Mother.

"He was against it" : )

_________________
http://stuffedveggies.blogspot.com/

I think the differentiator is whether something is focused on sin or has it in passing. Using the logic you cite here, there is nothing wrong with Christians going to a strip club because it is no more sinful than anything else. In Romans, Paul says several things that are pertinent to this discussion:

12:1-2 "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, [which is] your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what [is] that good and acceptable and perfect will of God."
6:1-2 "What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?"

(and before you say that baptism is not important, please go and read the rest of Romans 6 where Paul says "Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be [in the likeness] of [His] resurrection, knowing this, that our old man was crucified with [Him], that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. For he who has died has been freed from sin."

1 Co 11:31-32 says (speaking of Christians) "For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged. But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world." (and lest anyone think this passage only applies to the Lord's Supper, why would he talk about the world being condemned for how they take that?)

...and to clarify, one of the reasons I am writing a series of books is just this - there is so little out there that is not filled with garbage. I am almost done with my second book and I have avoided cursing, drugs, sex, and graphic violence (but they are stories of a literal battle between forces of good and forces of evil, so there is some violence, but it is less graphic in its details than many Scriptural accounts - not as bad as Ehud and Eglong for example)

Laurajean...I'll stick to AG DVD's, too! What about the Beverly Hillbillies?
Rarely do we go to the theater, except this summer, I did purchase a summer movie ticket for $10 for 10 children's movies. Some of them were even questionable to me.

@ Jennileigh...I love the sinner, just not the sin they participate in.
We have friends who are still living a gay lifestyle, and others we strongly suspect smoke weed, and many have tats, but who am I to judge? I remember when I was still on my journey back to finding the Lord @ 19 and a heavy smoker. The more my mother mentioned how revolting it was for me to smoke, and how much God disapproved, the more I smoked. God eventually did work in my heart and I was able to quit smoking 2 packs a day. Was my salvation based on whether or not I smoked? No.

The Holy Spirit has to be the barometer for "holiness" for each one of us. Sometimes the Holy Spirit speaks through a pastor, sometimes through a friend, oftentimes, (for me) He speaks directly to my heart about something I've seen or done, and then it's up to me to set things right with the Father.

We are bunny-trailing and covering more than one subject in this post. LOL

Scott, I'm glad you have chosen to write books that honor God with the content. He will bless you for that!

Yes! The Beverly Hillbillies, Dick VanDyke, McHale's Navy, etc etc etc

The way I see it.... I have accumulated waaaaaaaaaaaaay too much hay, wood and stubble in my lifetime. WAY too much! At this point, probably having more years behind me than in front of me, I want to accumulate the gold and the jewels. And that takes a lot of work. It's not easy, but it's worth it. And I'm not saying that I've arrived and have all the answers because God came to save sinners of whom I am chief! And some days, I am more "chiefer" than others! But it is a journey and I am striving toward more gold and jewels, and less hay, wood and stubble.

Most everything really is hay, wood and stubble.

_________________
I can do ALL things through Christ, who strengthens me. (Phil. 4:13)

I think I need to watch the older shows/movies! A while back I watched one of the classic romance comedies and I can't remember if they even showed a kiss, lol. I really enjoyed it, but I was like "That's it?" I didn't realize how desensitized I had become to the filth in modern movies. This movie was squeaky clean, it was refreshing.

_________________
Mom to Christian (13), Saphira (10), Xavier (5), and Adrian (2).

Laura...I'm with you...
some days are "chiefier" than others. ; )
Now THAT'S a word...
How very often I am reminded that I have much sin to address in my own life.

Lisa, we don't have cable, so we only purchase DVD's that we WANT to watch and that are worthy of our families participation. Sometimes, we borrow movies from the library and occasionally, if I have a free code for Redbox and something is worth seeing, we will check that out. They usually have what we want to watch, as most folks don't like our "tame" choices. ; )

Lisa my ds is 9 and has recently found Leave It To Beaver on Netflix and is all in to that now. He also loves Andy Griffith and an old show from the 70's I think called Emergency (about firefighter paramedics). There are some cute old Bob Hope movies on Netflix too that we like. The ChristianBooks site has some cute Christian romance ebooks as free samples that don't include the "junk" most romance books do.

I have been disgusted at the commercials they show during the Olympics coverage. I have to sit there with the remote in my hand, ready to change to another channel anytime there is a commercial break. There really is some trash on tv/movies these days. After the Olympics and I am cutting the cable completely and will not even miss it.

I try to decide what to watch by being mindful that what I see and hear gets into my brain and thoughts, and I just don't want anymore junk in my brain. I've had more than enough in my real life. I want to purge of that stuff, not add to it. I sing the song in my head from the kids Bible verse CD that ds used for school, based on Philippians 4:8. I also try to think, would I watch this with my daughter, my son, with Jesus? If no, then I can be pretty sure I don't need to let it into my brain.

I don't even know what the Magic Mike and 50 Shades of Gray are about either. If I had my way I would never see another commercial. I guess I live under a rock too, and I love someone's suggestion of putting a rock in attic to make it fact