True Knowledge of Self

Counter Pillar: Safely Having Fun -part 3

Three Angels Broadcasting Network

Program transcript

Participants: Dwayne Lemon, Lance Wilbur

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Series Code: TKS

Program Code: TKS000039A


00:28 Hello, I'm Dwayne.
00:30 And I'm Lance.
00:31 And we'd like to welcome you to another episode of TKS,
00:34 a True Knowledge of Self
00:35 where we get to know ourselves from a biblical perspective.
00:38 As we continue our discussion
00:40 revolving around this recreation,
00:42 the subject of what is biblical recreation,
00:46 what essentially is safely having fun
00:48 as referred to in the hip-hop culture?
00:51 We looked at several principles,
00:52 we have several more to look at.
00:54 And we want to spend as much time
00:57 as necessary on this subject
00:59 because it is very, very practical.
01:01 We're getting past this stage in which we're talking about
01:05 the things, you know,
01:06 not to do per se, the things to do,
01:09 we want to show and give examples of principles
01:12 and how to apply them.
01:14 Without doing that,
01:16 we're kind of doing you a disservice
01:18 and it's not the way that God operates.
01:19 God always gives instruction
01:21 and He tells us then how to do it
01:24 and He gives us the power to execute it
01:26 even if it goes
01:27 against our every desire and natural impulse.
01:31 So we talked about a lot of principles.
01:34 You're going to bring some back.
01:36 I just want to recap
01:37 because we dealt with three so far.
01:39 Yes.
01:40 The first one we dealt with was,
01:42 "is this form of recreation, does this form of recreation
01:44 violate my conscience?"
01:46 Right.
01:47 "Does it go against something that I believe to be
01:49 right or wrong?"
01:50 Now just an important point to add to that,
01:53 there has to be something that we use as evidence.
01:56 In other words, if I think I feel
01:59 that in my conscience that this is wrong,
02:01 I can feel that, that's all right,
02:03 but it's my responsibility to go and search that out,
02:06 to investigate, to figure out
02:08 if my feeling and my sentiment
02:10 is in line with the truth
02:12 because the truth has to inform
02:14 how I respond and feel about these things.
02:16 So we can't violate our conscience
02:19 but sometimes people might be sincerely wrong.
02:22 Yes.
02:23 And it's okay not to violate the conscience in that context,
02:26 but their responsibility is to find out
02:28 if their conscience is even correct.
02:30 That's correct.
02:32 So we saw how God informs our conscience
02:33 via the Holy Ghost
02:34 and we saw that the Word informs our conscience.
02:37 That's right.
02:38 The second principle we looked at is,
02:40 what we are doing,
02:42 not only is it important to know how it impacts us,
02:45 but it's important to look at how it impacts those around us,
02:48 or those that might be witnessing us do it,
02:50 or the message that it's sending to others
02:52 who consume, or see, or view what we do.
02:56 The third principle we looked at is,
02:57 does this practice
02:59 violate the principle of my body
03:02 being the Temple of God?
03:04 Does it help me glorify God
03:06 in my body physically
03:08 or does it lead to something else?
03:09 We looked at a lot of things
03:11 that some people might feel a little bit uncomfortable with
03:13 but the bottom line is
03:14 according to 1 Corinthians 6:19 and 20,
03:16 "Our bodies are the Temple of the Holy Ghost."
03:19 So we're not at liberty
03:22 because we were bought with a price.
03:23 We are not at liberty to do what we want.
03:26 That's correct.
03:27 As many, in Paul's age, in a biblical age were doing,
03:31 were meshing, trying to mingle
03:33 cultural practices with devotion to Christ.
03:38 So people are doing that today. That's right.
03:40 So help us understand a little bit further
03:42 because there's more principles that the Bible brings out,
03:44 so what is the first thing
03:46 that we're going to cover today?
03:47 Okay. Well, we're going to look at 1 Thessalonians 5.
03:49 This is another principle that we can consider
03:51 when we want to have fun, enjoyment,
03:53 or what is better termed recreation.
03:55 When we think about this,
03:57 we want the Word of God to be our guide.
03:58 "Man should not live by bread alone
04:00 but by every Word
04:01 that proceeds out of the mouth of God."
04:03 So when we look at 1 Thessalonians 5,
04:06 we are going to consider verses 21 and 22.
04:08 And this is good.
04:10 It says, "Prove all things, hold fast that which is good.
04:15 Abstain from all appearance of evil."
04:18 When somebody says,
04:20 "Hey, I got a great idea
04:21 of something we can do in the name of fun."
04:24 It is not enough to just function
04:26 by emotional stimulus or curiosity
04:29 because many a times this is how people end up
04:31 getting hurt and sometimes even losing their lives.
04:33 Things that sounds good,
04:35 maybe it feels good, or what have you.
04:36 The Bible says, "Prove all things."
04:39 Test it.
04:41 Look at it and say, "Well, wait a minute,
04:42 if I do this, how will this affect me?"
04:44 You know, "What kind of example does this lead?"
04:46 You know, you have to think about several things
04:49 before you just get involved.
04:50 So the key thing that God is telling us here is think,
04:53 you know, think about what you're getting ready to do
04:55 before you do it, prove it,
04:56 and then hold fast to it if it's good.
04:59 If it is good, and as you stated,
05:01 that good is determined by the Lord
05:03 from His Word through principle or detail.
05:07 There are some things in the Bible
05:08 that it says it in detailed manner
05:11 that this is this and that is that.
05:13 But then there are many things
05:14 that are happening in our society today
05:16 that the Bible may not have addressed in detail
05:19 but in principle it has.
05:21 So in either case,
05:22 you're going to get the scriptures,
05:23 you want to be able to test it.
05:25 And this is something that I know
05:26 is not common even in the church
05:29 and, of course, not in the world,
05:31 and yet it is most essential.
05:33 It is the safe ground.
05:34 When God gives us these counsels,
05:37 He's not doing it to hurt us.
05:38 He's doing it to help us.
05:39 And the reason I know this is because I've experimented this.
05:43 I am a father of four children
05:44 and I definitely don't want my children
05:46 to think life is boring and Christianity is boring,
05:48 and it is not by any stretch of the imagination,
05:51 yet it is imperative that before we embrace something,
05:54 we got to prove it,
05:56 and we got to make sure it is good,
05:57 and we can only do that by the word,
05:59 and the same way it says,
06:01 "Abstain from all appearance of evil."
06:03 That is something else that I have to do is
06:05 I got to search the Bible to say,
06:06 what does the Bible call evil?
06:08 I'll give you one example. Yeah.
06:10 One example is in Nehemiah.
06:12 In Nehemiah 13:15-18,
06:15 Nehemiah sees a whole bunch of his brethren
06:18 that were breaking the Sabbath,
06:20 they were breaking the Sabbath day.
06:22 They were profaning it,
06:23 and when they were doing this by buying and selling
06:26 and conducting business as any other regular day,
06:29 he came to them and he said something very specific.
06:32 And I'm just going to give you one example when we talk about,
06:33 "avoid even the appearance of evil or what have you."
06:36 I'm just going to give you one example here
06:38 in Nehemiah as we consider the verse.
06:40 So Nehemiah, we're looking at 13.
06:43 And this is what it says, "There dwelt men..."
06:46 Verse 16, "There dwelt men of Tyre also therein,
06:49 which brought fish, and all manner of ware,
06:51 and sold on the Sabbath unto the children of Judah,
06:54 and in Jerusalem.
06:55 Then I contended with the nobles of Judah,
06:58 and said unto them,
07:00 "'What evil thing is this that ye do,
07:05 and profane the Sabbath day?'"
07:08 The Bible makes it clear that the Sabbath day,
07:11 when we do our regular duties,
07:13 our regular business, and etcetera,
07:15 on a day that God has designated these things
07:17 not to be done, if we do it anyhow,
07:20 the Bible says we profane the Sabbath
07:22 and it is called an evil thing.
07:24 So if somebody says, "I want to go ahead
07:26 and do a certain recreation."
07:28 Well, we have to test it according to the Word of God
07:30 and there are some things we can do
07:32 in the name of recreation that are good
07:34 but may not be designated as an example here,
07:37 on God's Sabbath day, and if we did it,
07:39 it would definitely be something
07:41 that the Bible would say is profaning the Sabbath.
07:43 Now, if I were to transition this principle
07:45 the hip-hop culture,
07:46 I can guarantee you the biggest night for a party,
07:50 a club, or a concert is Friday night.
07:53 And the Bible lets us know that Sabbath goes
07:55 from sunset Friday to sunset Saturday.
07:57 So the Sabbath begins sunset Friday,
07:58 so it's an interesting thing to think
08:00 that if somebody wanted to go to a party, or club,
08:03 or a concert,
08:05 even though the party, club, or concert
08:06 in and of itself has to be tested by scripture,
08:10 even if by chance, it was something okay to do,
08:13 the question is, well,
08:14 if you are going to go ahead
08:15 and do these forms of recreation
08:17 on God's Sabbath day,
08:18 the Bible calls it an evil thing.
08:20 This will be one application out of literally hundreds.
08:23 So what we have to do is literally study the Bible
08:25 and find out what does God call evil.
08:28 Because there's a lot of people right now
08:29 that do a lot of things on a Friday night
08:31 and they think it's okay in a simple safe enjoyment
08:35 but God says it is an evil thing
08:37 because you are profaning my Sabbath,
08:39 and it can be applied in many other ways.
08:41 So we have to be very careful
08:43 that whatever recreational activity
08:46 you're going to get involved in,
08:47 you have to prove it, you have to test it.
08:49 If it is good, hold to it.
08:52 And make sure if it is evil, stay away from it.
08:55 And you have to search the Word of God
08:57 to understand what the Bible calls evil,
08:59 and then we have to make sure that
09:01 whatever it is,
09:02 this is not what I'm going to do then
09:03 even in the name of "having fun".
09:06 Right, and it reminds me of a story as well
09:09 when you're talking about the, you know, being mindful.
09:13 You know, the Bible talks about counting the cost.
09:15 Like what effect is this going to have on me?
09:18 If I do this, what effect is it going to have on me?
09:21 And, you know, even again, before I was a Christian,
09:26 one incident that comes to mind,
09:28 you know, I was always the person, you know,
09:30 in the crew to always try to make people think
09:35 about what we're getting ready to do
09:37 and see if you want to do it.
09:38 Right.
09:39 If you want to do it, I'm down, but if we're going to do this,
09:42 this is how we're going to do it.
09:43 Now, are you prepared to go this far?
09:45 That's right.
09:46 And so, you know, we were at another house party.
09:49 And I think, I don't know if we crashed it
09:51 or I don't know what happened.
09:52 In other words, if we showed up uninvited or what,
09:55 but we went there and we came there, you know,
09:58 I think two car loads at least of us
10:00 and the people that were there we didn't really respect them.
10:04 There were some other friends, you know,
10:06 from our community that we knew,
10:07 associates that we're okay with but the people,
10:10 the owners of the house, and we didn't respect them.
10:12 So as soon as we came there, there were, you know,
10:15 certain girls that came with us,
10:17 they were literally like looting the garage of the house
10:22 while we were inside in the party,
10:24 not like we planned that,
10:25 but they were just being, you know,
10:27 ignorant people and they were doing that.
10:29 And the girl came out there
10:30 and it ended up being a big confrontation
10:32 because at some point they were like,
10:33 "All right, we're going to go"
10:34 and they had already like loaded up the jeep
10:37 with massive amounts of stuff from the house.
10:40 And the owner of the house was, you know, obviously distressed.
10:44 Of course.
10:45 And she's trying to get her invited guests
10:47 to, kind of, vouch for her and stand for her
10:49 because they were also, you know,
10:50 people from around the way.
10:52 And so we had a big, like, showdown in front of the house.
10:57 We had one individual that was in our circle,
11:01 you know, extended circle and he was deaf, okay?
11:05 But, you know, he was just, you know, he grew up that way,
11:08 but you know, he wasn't impaired in any other way,
11:10 he was just hearing impaired, so he could communicate,
11:13 he could read lips,
11:14 and he could like give sounds
11:16 but he couldn't talk.
11:18 So anyways, everybody was
11:21 kind of intoxicated and everything,
11:22 so somebody, while this confrontation was taking place,
11:24 somebody was talking, you know, to him,
11:27 you know, and telling him all this stuff
11:29 and convincing him to do something.
11:30 So they convinced him to hit one of my friends.
11:34 They were friends, you know,
11:36 but they were able to take advantage of this kid
11:39 and make him hit one of our friends.
11:41 And then weapons were drawn.
11:43 So we, kind of, said, "Okay, you know,
11:49 you got this one and we're going to leave."
11:51 And so we went back to our, you know,
11:52 headquarters if you will and we had a conference.
11:55 We sat in council.
11:57 And you know what everybody wanted to do.
11:59 Everybody wanted to get better prepared,
12:00 better equipped,
12:02 and go back and settle this matter, right?
12:06 And so as they're, you know, processing all this,
12:08 I'm sitting there like, "Okay.
12:10 So let me get this.
12:12 This is the plan.
12:13 You guys want to go back and do xyz."
12:15 You know, they want to run up in the house
12:17 and do this and do that and do this.
12:19 I said, "Listen.
12:20 If we do this,
12:21 we're going to have to go to the full extent,
12:23 meaning we don't know
12:25 how many people are in the house.
12:26 We don't know who is what and where.
12:28 So if we go and do that,
12:30 we're going to have to make sure that we,
12:32 you know, finish whatever we start,"
12:35 and that means however many people are in the house,
12:38 because we're not going to set up a situation
12:40 in which there's a possibility that we can go to prison.
12:42 I don't want to go to prison. Nobody wants to go to jail.
12:44 So if we're going to do this,
12:46 we got to do it all the way through.
12:48 And as all of that energy
12:49 and all the energy, soon, it was...
12:51 You know, it soon defused
12:54 because as people thought about it,
12:56 they wanted to do something
12:58 but they didn't want to go that far
13:00 because going that far,
13:02 you can't really turn back after that, you know.
13:04 And so the idea of
13:05 just thinking something through and saying,
13:08 "You know what, do I want to go this far?
13:11 What is going to be the result?
13:12 How is doing this thing going to affect me
13:15 even though if it might be momentary fun,
13:17 momentary enjoyment, momentary vindication,
13:20 you know, momentary justice?
13:22 Is this something that I want to do?
13:24 And if people would stop, and this is before, again,
13:27 I had no, you know, no scriptural knowledge.
13:30 If people would just take the time
13:32 to think again as we saw the Holy Spirit is the one
13:35 that convinces the world of sin,
13:36 righteousness, and judgment,
13:38 the conscience is going to start burning
13:40 and letting you know, "You know what,
13:42 maybe you shouldn't do this."
13:43 So the problem is when we either don't think,
13:46 we don't take the time to think and just react,
13:49 or we're impaired, we're intoxicated,
13:52 and the brain is inebriated
13:55 so it can't even hear that searing conscious saying,
13:58 you know, "Don't do this."
13:59 So the culture, you know, talks about it
14:03 but doesn't really provide
14:06 practical instruction on how to avoid...
14:08 That's right. And how to avoid.
14:10 And you have to teach how to avoid
14:12 or else you're just going to get reaction
14:14 or impaired judgment
14:15 and you're going to have a bad result.
14:16 You know I have to tell you, man,
14:18 I've really been convicted that we should really
14:22 sooner or later dedicate a TKS program
14:26 on how to study the Bible.
14:29 Yes. And there's a reason for that.
14:32 A lot of times people don't know
14:34 how to read this book.
14:35 And when you read it,
14:37 you could have experiences like what I had.
14:38 I remember I read the book, Thee Thy, Thou,
14:40 and so and so, begat so and so,
14:41 so and so begat so and so,
14:43 and I was like, "You've got to be kidding me.
14:44 This is absolutely boring," you know,
14:46 and I just was not interested, or it makes you think too hard.
14:50 And when you live in a world where you function by feeling
14:53 more than thought then...
14:54 because one thing the Bible forces people to do is think.
14:57 Yeah.
14:58 When you read scripture, you have to think,
15:00 and this is what Isaiah 1:18,
15:02 God says, "Come now, let us reason together."
15:04 God says, "Think,"
15:05 and people don't like to think sometimes,
15:07 we are mentally lazy as a society generally.
15:11 And as a result of that,
15:13 we're telling people go to the Bible,
15:15 you know, find out what's evil,
15:17 find out what's good, and etcetera,
15:19 but I do, I'm empathetic to the fact
15:21 that individuals may say, "I've tried, I can't find it.
15:24 I don't know how to... I don't know how to do it."
15:27 And it will be good if one day
15:29 we can dedicate something where we really say,
15:30 "Hey, you know what?
15:32 Let's walk people through. How do you study this book?"
15:33 Yeah.
15:35 I have gotten to a place in my life,
15:36 I can remember I did not know where Genesis was,
15:39 let alone Revelation in the Bible.
15:41 I just didn't know.
15:42 But then coming into the church
15:45 and really, really seeking God and putting forth effort.
15:48 Now, when I studied the Bible this book has become...
15:51 and it's not fully, fully clear,
15:52 I'd love to say I know it all inside and out
15:54 but I'm not there yet, but I'm on the path,
15:57 and I will say that I understand the Bible
15:59 far better than I've ever understood it
16:01 many, many years ago.
16:03 And now when I read scripture,
16:04 I know how to navigate through it.
16:06 I know how to, "Okay,
16:07 well, if I don't have an answer,
16:08 I know how to get the answer."
16:10 And this is when the Bible and Bible study
16:12 becomes part of fun...
16:15 It becomes part of enjoyment. Yes. Yeah.
16:17 Literally gathering some of your people together
16:20 and saying, "Listen, let's take a subject
16:23 and let's go ahead and go to the scriptures
16:25 and let's use the tools on how to study
16:27 and let's have ourselves a fantastic time
16:29 learning more about our Savior."
16:31 I mean, there is a time that I used to think that
16:32 studying the Bible was simply a duty,
16:34 but I've found that it's an enjoyment.
16:36 It is something that actually brings joy to my heart
16:38 when I get...
16:40 when I get on my knees and I open my Bible,
16:41 I'm ready to study.
16:43 I'm smiling already.
16:44 I'm already like, "Man, I'm digging in,
16:45 I'm about to eat."
16:47 "I'm gonna eat some spiritual food."
16:48 I want this for anybody.
16:49 You know what I'm saying?
16:51 It's like I want our viewers, we want our viewers
16:53 to know that enjoyment,
16:55 that "fun"
16:57 that can come just through searching scripture
17:00 and finding out what God says to us
17:03 as it relates to proper recreation
17:05 or what's improper recreation,
17:07 and all the other rights and wrongs of life
17:09 that we need guidance on.
17:10 We are a people in a generation that needs tremendous guidance.
17:13 And I think that brings us right to our next point.
17:15 Yes.
17:17 Our next principle that we're looking at in recreation,
17:18 I want to look at Matthew 6.
17:20 Okay.
17:22 So in Matthew 6, looking at verse 33.
17:25 Now, I want to paint the context a little bit
17:26 before we read the verse.
17:28 But you know there is a concern,
17:30 and this is a common excuse
17:31 out there in the world generally
17:33 but especially in hip-hop culture.
17:36 The excuse is well, I know this is wrong,
17:39 but I got to do it to feed my family.
17:42 I got to do it to make ends meet.
17:44 I got to do it because I got to do
17:45 what I've got to do, right?
17:47 That's our common like, I know it's wrong.
17:50 You don't have to tell me.
17:52 I know, I'm messing things up.
17:53 I know, I'm messing other people's lives up.
17:54 I know, I'm doing a lot of dirt,
17:56 and it's very high risk
17:57 but the reward is such that I need to do it,
17:59 I got to do, I got to do, I have no better option.
18:02 And sometimes you can trick yourself into believing that.
18:06 You know, if I want to, you know,
18:08 I'm growing up in the street, in a, you know,
18:11 inner city or in a, you know,
18:13 downtrodden neighborhood with limited options,
18:15 maybe a bad school system,
18:17 maybe little or no parenting, little or no money,
18:21 then what do you start to do?
18:23 You start to try to find ways and look for ways that you can,
18:26 I don't know do something with yourself.
18:28 And so how do you, you know,
18:30 most people look at money and they say,
18:31 well, in order to do something with yourself,
18:33 you need to get money,
18:35 in order to get money you need to...
18:36 you need education or you need, you know,
18:38 so you start to weigh out all your options
18:41 and you're a little kid, you know,
18:43 a young kid, adolescent, a teenager,
18:45 trying to work through all these problems,
18:47 and so what do you do?
18:48 You don't, you go, you rarely go beyond
18:50 what you see in your community.
18:52 You rarely do that.
18:54 So you look at the street corner
18:55 or you look at this and you say,
18:57 "Man, look, there's a guy from my neighborhood
18:59 and he has money, he has success,
19:01 he has reputation, he has recognition,
19:04 he has the things that I want,
19:06 that I see," you know.
19:07 "What does he do?"
19:09 "Oh, he deals drugs.
19:10 Oh, he, you know, does this, does this illegal practice."
19:13 All right.
19:14 Well, then in order to meet my goal
19:16 that's what I should do.
19:18 Right.
19:19 Because education is not an option,
19:21 this is not an option, or you see something else.
19:23 "Oh, I want to be like this athlete."
19:25 So what do you do? Well, I got to play basketball.
19:27 I got to do this, so I'm going to focus
19:28 all my energy into playing basketball
19:30 because I might be that one in, you know,
19:32 80, you know, 800 or whatever it is,
19:35 whatever the ratio is that are going to make it
19:36 to a professional level where I can actually get paid
19:39 to do this for the rest of my life.
19:41 And so you've got limited options.
19:43 I don't...
19:44 I wouldn't necessarily sit here and argue that
19:46 your options are limited.
19:47 The problem is you don't have to do those things...
19:50 That's right.
19:51 However, there is a basic need and God recognizes it.
19:55 We do need food, we do need housing,
19:58 we do need clothing,
20:00 we do need in many cases transportation...
20:02 There are things that we need and God knows that.
20:03 Absolutely.
20:05 And God is willing to provide that
20:06 and He will provide that.
20:08 And the illustration that Jesus uses in Matthew 6 is,
20:13 you know, in this entire
20:15 what we call the Sermon on the Mount,
20:17 as He says, "Hey listen, look at the birds.
20:20 They go and they come, they eat, they have housing.
20:24 They have all these things.
20:25 How did they get that?
20:27 Well, God provides.
20:29 Look at the lily, the flowers.
20:30 How do they, they don't do anything,
20:32 they don't work for what they have,
20:34 they just exist
20:36 and their beauty surpasses
20:37 the beauty of the greatest king that we've ever had."
20:41 That's right. And so God provides.
20:43 But then He doesn't leave them there.
20:44 He tells the audience, "This is how God provides."
20:47 And this is where we're going to pick up in Matthew 6:33.
20:50 It says, "But seek ye first the kingdom of God,
20:53 and His righteousness,
20:55 and all these things shall be added unto you."
20:58 All the things that we need will be given to us.
21:02 Maybe not the way that we want.
21:03 Maybe not the amount that we want.
21:06 But we will be taken care of in our basic necessities,
21:10 our basic essentials, by seeking God first
21:13 and His righteousness,
21:15 putting God and His righteousness first,
21:17 we'll ensure that we have God's protection.
21:20 Now, again, you know, people can argue,
21:23 and that's a whole another topic
21:24 for another episode
21:26 as why do bad things happen to good people?
21:29 Why do good things happen to bad people?
21:31 You know, what did this little child do
21:33 to get this kind of, you know, treatment?
21:36 And those are valid questions
21:37 and we will address them in later episodes,
21:40 but the bottom line is your basic essential is
21:42 by putting God first, He will grant it.
21:44 We just have to stress the fact that it is often not in the way
21:47 that we like or we might want
21:49 or in the way that we see society
21:51 or media portraying how,
21:53 what we should get and how we should have.
21:55 But God will provide if we put Him first.
21:58 Now, so when we do that,
21:59 when we're talking about recreation,
22:01 we have to ask the question, is what I'm going to do,
22:06 or you know, the thing that I do,
22:08 the recreation I'm engaging in,
22:11 is it compatible with this principle
22:12 of seeking God first and His righteousness?
22:16 If it's not compatible with that,
22:18 it's going to be a problem
22:19 and I'm not going to get the reciprocal,
22:22 you know, blessing.
22:23 Well then that means that we have to look
22:25 a little bit closer at the term recreation.
22:27 Yes.
22:29 That means that recreation is really based on activities
22:33 and things that are being done
22:35 that help recreate the image of God in man
22:39 because that's the great goal of God.
22:41 He wants to recreate His image in us.
22:42 That's the whole plan of salvation in a nutshell.
22:45 So because of that whatever I'm doing,
22:47 how will this help recreate the image of God in me.
22:50 How will this help me come closer to the Lord
22:53 rather than come home and repent and say,
22:55 "Oh man, I messed up again.
22:56 I shouldn't have done that." Yeah.
22:58 And that's a very powerful point.
23:00 And maybe this will help because I think Matthew 6:33
23:03 using that as a tool, and I would connect to it,
23:06 and for our viewers, make sure you take note of this
23:08 but I would connect to it Ecclesiastes 12:13 and 14,
23:12 "Fear God and keep His commandments,
23:14 this is the whole duty of man," you know.
23:15 It goes in connection
23:17 with seeking first the kingdom of God
23:19 and being about our Father's business.
23:21 Galatians 5 is another principle
23:24 that I think will help.
23:26 It really kind of spells out,
23:28 now really it's going to hone in
23:29 on this idea of what we talked about earlier about
23:31 proving things and avoiding evil and doing good.
23:35 In Galatians 5:19-21.
23:38 It says, "Now the works of the flesh are manifest,
23:42 which are these: Adultery, fornication, uncleanness,
23:47 lasciviousness, idolatry,
23:49 witchcraft, hatred, variance,
23:52 emulations, wrath, strife,
23:55 seditions, heresies, envyings,
23:59 murders, drunkenness, revellings,
24:02 and such like of the which I tell you before,
24:04 as I have also told you in time past
24:07 that they which do such things
24:09 shall not inherit the kingdom of God."
24:11 The Bible makes it clear that obviously
24:13 this is not safely having fun
24:15 because it has a horrific ramification
24:17 which is they will not inherit the kingdom of God.
24:20 Now the Bible spells out several things here
24:22 that I would have to take into consideration
24:24 if my friends say let's get together for fun.
24:27 I'm going to ask is there adultery or fornication
24:29 that's going to take place with a condom or not,
24:31 that doesn't matter,
24:33 if there's anything that's taking place
24:34 of this nature, the Bible condemns it.
24:36 It does not fit under the context
24:38 of safely having fun.
24:40 It also talks about, you know,
24:43 variance, emulations and strife.
24:46 The word strife in the Greek means rivalry.
24:49 It also...
24:50 When you look at emulation, to emulate means
24:52 to try to be equal to or better than somebody else.
24:55 Well, this principle fits very much in the context
24:57 of what happens often in hip-hop culture
24:59 with the battling,
25:00 where individuals are trying to battle
25:02 and the goal is to produce myself
25:04 as the winner and make you the loser.
25:08 And when there are environments like this in hip-hop culture
25:11 as well as outside of hip-hop culture,
25:13 when there are environments
25:14 where there are people coming together
25:16 in the name of fun but the goal is,
25:17 I'm trying to beat you and declare you the loser
25:20 and you'd be declared the winner
25:21 that I can exalt myself,
25:23 this is a principle that the Bible condemns and says,
25:26 "God does not want this to be done amongst His people."
25:29 There are several things that we can literally go
25:31 point by point in these verses
25:34 and it can now be kind of a warning to us
25:37 about what we can do and what we should not do
25:40 as it relates to recreation.
25:43 So these are some very powerful points
25:44 that an individual can consider,
25:46 and I know we got a lot more
25:47 and one way or the other
25:49 I'm sure we're going to get it to cover
25:51 in other episodes as well,
25:52 but I know we're reaching towards the close of our time
25:54 but, you know, the Lord is blessed.
25:56 That's right.
25:57 Now when we consider the theme of recreation of
26:02 "safely having fun",
26:03 we have to understand that once again
26:06 the Bible does not leave us
26:08 in groping in darkness to try to figure out
26:11 how we are to apply, what are we to do,
26:13 or how are we to respond to good principles,
26:17 good advice but how do you practice it?
26:19 And the Bible deals with these things
26:21 in some of the most practical and explicit language.
26:25 We don't need to be necessarily
26:27 given the instruction in every case
26:29 in exact detail in every situation...
26:31 We just need principles.
26:32 These principles then can be applied
26:35 to any life situation,
26:37 in any life circumstance.
26:40 I'm encouraged, I know we're encouraged.
26:42 I hope you're encouraged by some of these things
26:44 when we talk about those
26:46 cornerstones of hip-hop culture,
26:49 you know, peace, love, unity and safely having fun.
26:52 I hope now you see clearly
26:54 that although those things in and of themselves are good,
26:57 the definition is what is important
27:00 and you can't just say,
27:02 but then all of your actions and all of the practice
27:04 is contrary to the very cornerstone.
27:07 But we see in the Bible
27:09 that it not only says peace, love, unity
27:14 and this idea of recreation and enjoyment,
27:17 but it actually gives you practical instruction
27:19 on how to apply them.
27:21 Practical guidelines that are not just based on
27:23 where you live or what you prefer,
27:26 it's based on the things
27:28 that God has established and not man.
27:30 Remember God is the one that dictates reality
27:33 and we are simply as being His children if you will,
27:38 being His purchased possession,
27:41 we are not at liberty to exercise
27:43 our own opinion on everything.
27:44 We are simply following the instructions of God,
27:49 and we have to be okay with that
27:50 and comfortable with our Creator governing us.
27:53 It's a blessing. Amen.
27:54 So I want to encourage you to come again and join us
27:57 for another episode as we continue our journey
27:59 through these very important topics.
28:01 And remember in Proverbs 2:6, it says,
28:03 "It is the Lord that gives wisdom
28:05 and out of His mouth comes knowledge and understanding."
28:09 God bless.


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Revised 2017-08-03