Entertainment

I got a link on facebook from my good brother Bob about entertainment.

It was a link to something written by John Piper. I have copied it here for you to read, and then made my own comments/questions afterwards:

"How can I Break Free From An Addiction To Entertainment?"

By John Piper May 25, 2009

The following is an edited transcript of the audio.

I believe I do love Jesus, but most of the time I'd rather spend time being entertained than spend time in God's word. How do I break this hold that entertainment has on my heart?

That's a very good question. And I think it's especially relevant because we live, I think, more now than ever, in a day when entertaining kinds of things are immediately accessible.

I was thinking the other day of the difference between our temptations and, say, 250 years ago, the day of Jonathan Edwards. Edwards would write about the folly of young people getting together to do "frivolous conversation" or other worse things. ("Bundling" it was called: getting in bed together and keeping your clothes on, that sort of thing. Just spice up life a little bit. Life gets boring in New England 250 years ago.)

Today we carry in our pockets radio, television, internet, and games, and anything that would be titillating, fun! And "fun" is a word in the church today that's just rampant! It's an adjective, it's a noun, it's a verb, because we do ministry in order to fit this mentality.

I'm deeply concerned about that. I want to stand for seriousness about God, instead of making him palatable by making him "fun"! Turning him into another piece of entertainment.

So this question is, "How do you break free from that kind of addiction?"

Recognizing it is a huge step in the right direction.
Seek the Lord earnestly about it. Pray like crazy that God would open your eyes to see wondrous things out of his law.
Immerse yourself in the Bible, even when you don't feel like it, pleading with God to open your eyes to see what's really there.
Get in a group where you talk about serious things.
Begin to share your faith. One of the reasons we are not as moved by our own faith as we are is because we almost never talk about it to any unbeliever. It starts to feel like a kind of hothouse thing, and then it starts to have a feeling of unreality about it. And then the powers of entertainment have more sway in our life.
And so those would be some of the things, but ultimately it's a gift of grace to feel the glory of God.

One last suggestion: think about your death. Think about your death a lot. Ask what you'd like to be doing in the season of life, or hours or days, leading up to meeting Christ. I do that a lot these days. I think about the impact of death, and what I would like to be found doing, and how I would prepare to meet him and give an account to him.


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It is no coincidence that Bob sent this to me as I have been going over these very issues this past week.

How much entertainment does one person need?

Does the average believer spend more time in the Word, giving of their lives, sharing their faith, building up the brethren.....or....

....watching tv, going to movies, listening to music (even "christian" music can become an idol if we are spending more time in it than with the Lord), reading books and magazines?

I will be 52 years old this year. Now I realize that unless I have a tragic accident or an unforseen fatal illness, I probably have a good 20 years left, and maybe even a bit more than that. However, while that would mean that death is not knocking on my door, he certainly is walking in my neighborhood. Twenty years will go by very fast.

What good will all the entertainment do me then?

Why do we waste so much time entertaining ourselves...is it to numb the pain and realization that there are people all around us that are lost without Christ and headed for eternal separation without Him?

Maybe it is because we don't want the quiet time, the introspective time, the time it would take to look good, hard and long at our own lives and where we need to improve on our relationship with the Lord?

I don't know that I have any of the answers to these questions....but I look forward to your thoughts and comments on what John Piper wrote and what I brought up.

Still trying to follow Jesus,
Pastor Dave

Reading Joshua

I am reading through the book of Joshua right now, and have just finished chapter five. I thought I would share some thoughts on what I read. Feel free to share with me your thoughts on the following:

In the first chapter, the Lord tells Joshua to "be strong and courageous" three different times. He is about to lead the nation of Israel to take the Promised Land...and so I'm sure he had a mixture of emotions, concerns and fears that ran through his mind. Yet God encouraged him by saying you be strong and courageous. I think this is a good idea for the beleiver in these days. We sometimes get discouraged when we look at the world around us. Sin seems to be running rampant, not only without restraint, but with encouragement and endorsement. Yet we have been intrusted with the gospel message that will enable those witout Christ to come to salvation and gain access into the promised land. How can we be strong and courageous in the face of such wide spread sin and ungodliness? God answers that for us and for Joshua in the same chapter.

Look at what the Lord says in verse eight: "Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful."

Just as Joshua and the Hebrews were promised prosperity and success if they kept the Word of the Lord, and memorized it, used it, lived by it, so we too are promised the same. Not in material success and prosperity, but in a spiritual way. The Word of God has the answers to the questions that people are asking. The problem lies in the sad state we find the church in today, where we are biblically illiterate to a large degree. We are not usually "careful" in handling the Word, instead we quote it out of context, and twist it to fit our pre-concieved idea of what God "really means".

I'm surprised at the number of christians who state they cannot understand the Bible, or have trouble memorizing scripture, yet they know all the plot details and intricacies of tv shows such as "Heroes" and "Lost". They can follow all of the different versions of "Law & Order" and "CSI" along with all the details of each character on the show, yet have no solid biblical knowledge.

The problem is that we have been seduced by the culture instead of being led by the Spirit. Our salt has lost its saltiness and our light has grown dim. We pray for revival in our nation, but revival needs to first come to the church, and more specifically, it needs to come to you and I.

Just like Joshua, we have a huge land to conquer...and we cannot do it ourselves. Join me in praying for personal revival. May the Spirit come and blow fresh wind into our lives.

Lord, make me strong and courageous, so that with the love of the gospel we can begin to "take this land" for YOU.

Praying,
Pastor Dave

Pastor Dave STILL Lets His Hair Down

Ok, back in March I posted about changing the name of the blog to something different since I have cut off my hair. I mentioned that if I chose one of the names that was submitted, that I would send the winner a prize.

Here are some of the ones that I liked the best:

Pastor Dave on:Holding our minds to the fire.

Pastor Dave's Show and Tell.

Pastor Dave keeps it short.

...and my very favorite of them all....

Pastor Dave gets jiggy for Jesus.

(My public apology to Bim for losing the ones you sent me through Facebook.)

But I have decided to keep the blog under the current name, "Pastor Dave Lets His Hair Down." I decided to do this for two reasons. One, is that I think it really reflects the intentions of this blog. As one person commented, "Letting your hair down" can mean a candid expression of feelings -- isn't that still legitimate?".

The other reason is that I have decided to let the hair grow back out. From the very first time people at the church saw me with short hair I keep being asked if I'm going to grow it back out. My response has always been, "I've been growing it back out since the day I got it cut."

Now how long I will let it go is another subject. At one time it was fairly lengthy. It was several inches past my shoulders. I cut it to just above shoulder length once before and then it grew back out to just barely past my shoulders when I cut it this last time. So what that all means is that I have no idea how long I will let it go this time, but as it grows I will be sure to change the picture to keep everyone updated.

And in case you're wondering what all this has to do with anything.....ummmm...not much.

Still letting my hair down,
Pastor Dave