{"id":2455,"date":"2020-05-05T22:33:25","date_gmt":"2020-05-05T22:33:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/firstnrc.org\/?p=2455"},"modified":"2022-01-25T13:31:15","modified_gmt":"2022-01-25T13:31:15","slug":"the-entertainment-obsession","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.firstnrc.org\/?p=2455","title":{"rendered":"The Entertainment Obsession a Major Driver for Obsessive Internet Usage"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n\r\n\r\n

Rev. G.H. Kersten wrote the following prior to World War II (The Night Visions of Zechariah<\/em>, Chapter 40, page 203):<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\r\n

The\u2026rich and the poor\u2026 all shouted loudly, \u2018Let us eat and drink and be merry!\u2019 The standard of living soared higher and higher. Entertainment and amusement were considered indispensable necessities of life. Church attendance decreased, and attendance at theaters, dance halls, and vanity fairs increased. \u00a0<\/em>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

This is also true in our time. Modern man generally practices a religion of having fun, and not delighting in God who is the only true and lasting happiness for a rational being. The amount and intensity of fun in an activity is the measure by which modern man measures the merit and desirability of an activity. Today we have our modern media including the internet which is often used to facilitate gratifying the passion and obsession for entertainment and fun. But sadly, there is rarely one taking heed to Christ\u2019s declaration in John 17:3, \u201cAnd this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.\u201d Without this knowledge there is no true lasting happiness and pleasure. How important it is that we take heed to the folly of gratifying ourselves with the fleeting and transitory pleasures of this perishing world! During the first century the apostle Paul wrote what is still applicable to us today even with all the social, political and technological changes that have occurred since his time, and that is: \u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\r\n

But this I say, brethren, the time\u00a0is<\/em>\u00a0short: it remaineth, that both they that have wives be as though they had none;<\/a> and they that weep, as though they wept not; and they that rejoice, as though they rejoiced not; and they that buy, as though they possessed not;<\/a> and they that use this world, as not abusing\u00a0it: for the fashion of this world passeth away (<\/strong>I Cor. 7:29-31).<\/a><\/p>\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

By nature, our desires and priorities are perverse. In light of the scriptural declaration that man is \u201cdead in trespasses and sin\u201d (Eph. 2:1), and that the \u201ccarnal mind is enmity against God\u201d (Romans 8:7), this perverseness is not surprising. This fact is indicative of the necessity of the rebirth wrought in each of our hearts by the Holy Spirit. Without this our desires and priorities including our religious desires are lacking. But starting with the rebirth the Holy Spirit leads one into the truth: the truth of our deep fall, of our actual sins including the sins of our best deeds, of the righteousness and the offended justice of the Father, of the drawing power of the Father unto Christ without which no man will truly come unto the Savior (John 6:44), and of being found in Christ whereby the Father\u2019s sword of justice can be put in its sheath and the sinner can behold His reconciled face.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

May we not be satisfied until we know what David, the man after God\u2019s own heart knew. We read of this in Psalm 16:11, \u201cThou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures <\/strong>for evermore.\u201d The priorities of those that possess this desire of David will be apparent in their life including a discreet usage of the internet.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Submitted by JVZ<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

 <\/p>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Rev. G.H. Kersten wrote the following prior to World War II (The Night Visions of Zechariah, Chapter 40, page 203): The\u2026rich and the poor\u2026 all shouted loudly, \u2018Let us eat and drink and be merry!\u2019 The standard of living soared higher and higher. Entertainment and amusement were considered indispensable necessities of life. Church attendance decreased, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"off","_et_pb_old_content":"\r\n

The Entertainment Obsession a Major Driver for Obsessive Internet Usage<\/strong><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Rev. G.H. Kersten wrote the following prior to World War II (The Night Visions of Zechariah<\/em>, Chapter 40, page 203):<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

The\u2026rich and the poor\u2026 all shouted loudly, \u2018Let us eat and drink and be merry!\u2019 The standard of living soared higher and higher. Entertainment and amusement were considered indispensable necessities of life. Church attendance decreased, and attendance at theaters, dance halls, and vanity fairs increased. \u00a0<\/em>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

This is also true in our time. Modern man generally practices a religion of having fun, and not delighting in God who is the only true and lasting happiness for a rational being. The amount and intensity of fun in an activity is the measure by which modern man measures the merit and desirability of an activity. Today we have our modern media including the internet which is often used to facilitate gratifying the passion and obsession for entertainment and fun. But sadly, there is rarely one taking heed to Christ\u2019s declaration in John 17:3, \u201cAnd this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.\u201d Without this knowledge there is no true lasting happiness and pleasure. How important it is that we take heed to the folly of gratifying ourselves with the fleeting and transitory pleasures of this perishing world! During the first century the apostle Paul wrote what is still applicable to us today even with all the social, political and technological changes that have occurred since his time, and that is: \u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

But this I say, brethren, the time\u00a0is<\/em>\u00a0short: it remaineth, that both they that have wives be as though they had none;<\/a> and they that weep, as though they wept not; and they that rejoice, as though they rejoiced not; and they that buy, as though they possessed not;<\/a> and they that use this world, as not abusing\u00a0it: for the fashion of this world passeth away (<\/strong>I Cor. 7:29-31).<\/a><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

By nature, our desires and priorities are perverse. In light of the scriptural declaration that man is \u201cdead in trespasses and sin\u201d (Eph. 2:1), and that the \u201ccarnal mind is enmity against God\u201d (Romans 8:7), this perverseness is not surprising. This fact is indicative of the necessity of the rebirth wrought in each of our hearts by the Holy Spirit. Without this our desires and priorities including our religious desires are lacking. But starting with the rebirth the Holy Spirit leads one into the truth: the truth of our deep fall, of our actual sins including the sins of our best deeds, of the righteousness and the offended justice of the Father, of the drawing power of the Father unto Christ without which no man will truly come unto the Savior (John 6:44), and of being found in Christ whereby the Father\u2019s sword of justice can be put in its sheath and the sinner can behold His reconciled face.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

May we not be satisfied until we know what David, the man after God\u2019s own heart knew. We read of this in Psalm 16:11, \u201cThou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures <\/strong>for evermore.\u201d The priorities of those that possess this desire of David will be apparent in their life including a discreet usage of the internet.<\/p>\r\n","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[98,1],"tags":[55,112],"class_list":["post-2455","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-modern-media-articles","category-news","tag-technology","tag-use-of-time"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.firstnrc.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2455","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.firstnrc.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.firstnrc.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.firstnrc.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.firstnrc.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2455"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/www.firstnrc.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2455\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5421,"href":"https:\/\/www.firstnrc.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2455\/revisions\/5421"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.firstnrc.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2455"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.firstnrc.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2455"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.firstnrc.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2455"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}