Complete in Thee: Poll Results

Thursday, November 12, 2009

Poll Results

I enjoyed the last poll! Here are the answers:

8 voted for romance.
14 voted for daily life.
8 voted for mystery.
10 voted for historical.
5 voted for fantasy.
5 voted for satire.
6 voted for other.

~*~*~*~

As Christians, we are commanded to do "all to the glory of God", even mundane things such as eating and drinking. I have been challenged many a time to consider how we can glorify God as we read. When we read, we are taking in information, people's opinions or ideas, philosophies either of God or of the world. What we take in often takes root in our hearts and produces fruit. That is why we should be so careful in what we read. If we feed ourselves stories that promote selfishness or fleshiness, we may easily succumb to the same. On the other hand, if we fill our minds with stories that promote godly living and glorify God, hopefully it will become part of our thinking processes and will help us to glorify God better in our own lives.

I thank my parents for, very early on in our childhood, introducing us to godly entertainment. When we were little, we did not watch Bugs Bunny or Nickelodeon every Saturday morning. We watched Trinity Broadcasting Network's children's shows. I can't say I agree with TBN's ideals (I don't!); however, the children's shows were usually simple Bible truths, Bible stories, and Bible lessons, helping us to dwell on the things of God at an early age. We watched movies like "He is Risen", "So Dear to My Heart", and other ones with Biblical lessons or references. We grew up basically with the mindset that you can enjoy a good book or movie that helps people in their relationship with God.

We may think that the only good books are devotional type books. Those are excellent; I LOVE reading Tozer and Amy Carmichael!! But we can also glorify God in the novels we read! One of my favorite series is the A Life of Faith series, which follows the lives of fictional characters, Elsie Dinsmore, Millie Keith, Violet Travilla, and Kathleen McKenzie. The stories include aspects of adventure, history, romance (so to speak), mystery, and daily life-- but intertwined through it all, the heroines are learning to honor God in each aspect of their lives. Reading these books helps me to think Biblically and walk with God throughout the day.

As most of you know, some of my favorite authors are George MacDonald, Charles Dickens, and Jane Austen. The latter two are not generally categorized as Christian authors (I am not sure whether they knew the Lord or not) but their books/stories always help me to see things through a Biblical worldview and set before me good examples of people who either strive to live godly lives (examples: Amy Dorrit, Elinor Dashwood), or people who struggle with their sin natures but learn to overcome (examples: Emma Woodhouse, Mr. Darcy). They-- especially Dickens-- present many Biblical parallels in their characters and stories. George MacDonald interweaves strong Scriptural truths and lessons throughout his books, and has inspired me to do the same in my books.

Contrast this with filling your minds with stories in which witchcraft, thieving, and conflict are tolerated or even condoned. If you fill your mind with a book or movie in which the character lives in constant rebellion of authority and never learns to check that rebellion, what will you be influenced to do? While each of us must make the decisions of how to behave/react ourselves, the influence of the press is very real. Look around you. Most of the decadence you see comes from letting the dust collect on God's Word and books that promote God's word, and from the endorsing of ungodly, antichrist literature and media.

Wow! I didn't mean for this post to go down this track, but I guess it did! My point is to ask yourselves some questions about the books you read and movies you watch:

Does this book glorify the Lord?
Does this book advocate practices/beliefs that are deliberately contrary to God's teachings?
If Jesus were to come in bodily form and look over my shoulder as I was reading this book, would I snap it shut really fast and try to hide the title so he wouldn't know what I was reading? (Incidentally, He does always know what you are reading!)
Will this book help me to honor God and love others as I should?
Is this book distracting me from my duties around the home and my purpose as a Christian?

Feel free to add more of your own questions! And please don't think I am infallible when it comes to books. This is something I really need to think over! But it is food for thought for all of us.

Happy reading!

1 comment:

Amanda said...: Talk about a long post! But you're right - what we read does influence who we are, so we should be careful what we read.; November 12, 2009 at 5:30 PM

PRAYER REQUESTS

"Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints" (Ephesians 6:18)

PLEASE PRAY...

* That I would draw nearer to God every day and never allow my relationship to become stagnant ritual; particularly that I would grow in the area of submission, patience, 1 Corinthians 13 love, and wholehearted devotion

* That I might have wisdom as I edit "The Marquis' Daughter"; that the Lord would bless and work through it; and that I might find just the right publisher for it.

* That I would submit to the Lord's work in my life, whatever it may be; that I would take each opportunity He brings me (even the seemingly hard ones) to draw closer to Him and point others to Him

*That our Etsy shop might be successful and that it would be a means by which we can glorify God and share the Gospel

Ephesians 2:1-10

And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience-- among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ--by grace you have been saved-- and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

"The heart set to do the Father's will need never fear defeat. His promises of guidance may be fully counted upon. Does it make sense to believe that the Shepherd would care less about getting His sheep where He wants them to go than they care about getting there?"

"God is God. Because He is God, He is worthy of my trust and obedience. I will find rest nowhere but in His holy will, a will that is unspeakably beyond my largest notions of what He is up to."

"If God, like a father, denies us what we want now it is in order to give us some far better thing later on. The will of God, we can rest assured, is invariably a better thing."

"Obedience to God's will is the secret of spiritual knowledge and insight. It is not willingness to know, but willingness to DO (obey) God's will that brings certainty."

"Victory over all the circumstances of life comes not by might, nor by power, but by a practical confidence in God and by allowing His Spirit to dwell in our hearts and control our actions and emotions. Learn in the days of ease and comfort, to think in terms of the prayer that follows, so that when the days of hardship come you will be fully prepared and equipped to meet them."

"And shall I pray, Oh, change Thy will, my Father,
Until it be according unto mine?
Ah no, Lord, no, that never could be, rather
I pray Thee, Blend my human will with Thine."

"A crucified life cannot be self-assertive. It cannot protect itself. It cannot be startled into resentful words. The cup that is full of sweet water cannot spill bitter-tasting drops, however sharply it is knocked."

"And as we rest our hearts upon what we know (the certainty of the ultimate triumph of good), leaving what we do not know to the Love that has led us all our life long, the peace of God enters into us and abides. And then we see our light."

[A Practicing Christian]...it means that every single act and feeling, every experience, whether pleasant or unpleasant, must be referred to God. It means looking at everything as something that comes from Him, and always looking to Him and asking His will first, and saying, "How would he wish me to deal with this?"

Christ says: "Give me all. I don't want so much of your time and so much of your money and so much of your work. I want you."

"I was not born to be free. I was born to adore and to obey."

"What is saving but taking us out of the dark into the light? There is no salvation but to know God and grow like Him."

"I will not try to convince you of anything about God. I cannot. You must know Him. I only tell you I believe in Him with all my heart. You must ask Him to explain Himself to you, and not take it for granted that He has done you a wrong because He has done what you do not like. Whether you seek Him or not, He will do you justice. But He cannot explain Himself unless you seek Him."

"Sometimes a thunderbolt will shoot from a clear sky; and sometimes into the life of a peaceful individual, without warning of gathered storm, something terrible will fall. And from that moment everything is changed. That life is no more what it was. Better it ought to be, worse it may be. The result depends on the life itself and it's response to the invading storm of trouble. Forever after, it's spiritual weather is altered. But for the one who believes in God, such rending and frightful catastrophies never come but where they are turned around for good in his own life and in other lives he touches."