Doors to Sin – Making Media Choices (2 of 3)

For dad only:

Filling Time or Shaping Futures?

How do you see your role as a parent? Are kids just little people you keep busy until they grow up, or do you see them as gifts from God for you shape?

“Put up with”

If you just put up with your kids, you will look for any opportunity to get them out of your hair. Many children grow up holding a remote control, a game paddle, or a mobile communication device, at all times. With gadgets like this, who needs parents, siblings, or friends?

Unfortunately, our kids are outwitting us at technology. You cannot leave a child alone with the internet. Regardless of all the safety stuff, kids can find ways around it by accident or on purpose. Don’t allow them that opportunity. Oh, and the parental controls stuff? Great. But what good is it to know my son has viewed pornography online after the fact? Prevention averts perversion.

“Put into”

If you choose to use technology, aim for education, not entertainment. How is your young man developing in wisdom because of his gadgets? Is he learning real-world skills? Do the applications stimulate his mind? Will he use these skills in his life’s mission? Does his ownership of a computer or other device build pride or is he confidently humble?

Is your daughter developing true artistic talents with the hours she spends on her iPad? Is she forging lifelong friendships by lollygagging on her iPhone for hours everyday? Girls given room to run will attach themselves to the opinions and interests of their friends rather than their parents. She needs her mother’s time investment if she is to become a woman of God like her.

Rather than reinforce foolishness and idleness, make sure your children grow into honorable character.

_________

Here’s a book to help you in the challenge of Protecting Your Child in an X-rated World.

And here are some articles on children and TV:

From the Mayo Clinic, and

Focus on the Family.

Check out movies before you watch them with Plugged In.

_________

Read this story to your kids:

 

Protect Your Eyes and Ears

Last time, Rusty got a job raking a man’s yard. He and Dad came as they promised.

Rusty finished tying up the last bag of leaves and threw it in the back of Dad’s truck.

The owner of the house came over and said, “Thank you, young man.”

Rusty smiled. “You are welcome.”

“I suppose you have already spent the $20?”

Rusty shook his head. “No, sir. I did give some of it at church, though. I’m saving up for an MP3 player.”

“Well, I’ll be.” He looked at Dad. “You are raising him right, Sir.”

Dad smiled, “Thank you very much. He’s becoming quite a man.”

A neighbor walked up to the fence. “Hey there, young man. Are you the one who raked this fella’s yard?”

Rusty nodded, “Yes, sir.”

“Hmm, it looks like you did quite a job. Well, this here is my yard. Do you think you could mow it? It is not too big, really. Just that I cannot push a mower anymore. Would $20 be enough?”

Rusty’s eyebrows went up. He looked at Dad.

Dad smiled and shrugged, “Sure.”

“Great!”

Dad and Rusty said goodbye to the man Rusty had just raked leaves for. They jumped in Dad’s little truck and pulled around to the other man’s driveway.

The man had just pulled his lawnmower out of the tool shed.

“You will have to prime it, I think. I haven’t run it in a while.”

Rusty looked at the mower. He pushed the primer bulb a few times. Then he put it on choke and pulled the starter cord. After about five pulls it coughed and sputtered, then died. He switched off the choke and pulled the cord again. It sputtered out a blue cloud of exhaust as it slowly warmed up. Soon it was humming fine and ready to go.

Rusty pushed it onto the lawn and started cutting grass. Dad told Rusty he would be right back. Dad was running down to a gas station to get some new gas in case Rusty needed it.

The lawn was not hard to mow, although the old mower was little heavy to push. The only thing to mow around was a concrete birdbath. Rusty was halfway through after he passed the birdbath, and Dad still had not come back.

Soon, Rusty was mowing by the front shrubs and the steps. When he finished, he pushed the mower back to the shed. He brushed off the grass, put it in the shed, and latched the door. When he was done, Dad was still not back.

Rusty went to the front door and knocked. The man was sitting inside on his easy chair. “Come on in, son. Did ya’ finish?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Good boy. Here’s your twenty dollars. Thank you for helping me with my yard.”

“You are welcome. Thank you for the work.”

“Is your dad back yet?”

“No, sir.”

“Well, have a seat. I’m sure he won’t be long.”

Rusty looked at the TV in the room and shrugged. “I think I will watch for him at the door, if it is okay.”

“Sure, sure. Suit yourself.” The man went back to his TV show.

Rusty looked out the door window. Still he did not see Dad’s truck.

Suddenly the music on the TV grew suspenseful. Rusty glanced back at the screen. It was a movie about a grizzly bear running loose in a state park. The music grew more dramatic. Rusty wondered what would happen next. A family was having a picnic in the woods. Suddenly that bear rushed at them from the brush and…

Rusty watched the screen in shock. He had never seen anything so bloody and violent. He felt sick to his stomach. He looked at the man who sat in his chair, watching the movie without even flinching.

Rusty knew he was going to be sick. He opened the front door and went out on the steps. Suddenly he vomited everything into the front bushes.

Just then, Dad pulled into the driveway. Rusty walked toward him.

Dad jumped out. “Are you okay? You look like you have seen a ghost. Are you going to get sick?”

“I just did in the front bushes.” Rusty climbed in the truck.

The man came to the front door. “Thank you fellas!”

“Thank you, sir. Sorry I didn’t get back sooner.”

“He did a fine job. I already paid him. I want you all to come back in a couple weeks. This lawn never stops growing, you know.”

Dad gave him their phone number and said goodbye.

On the road, Rusty said, “Dad, I looked at his TV and I wish I hadn’t.”

“Oh no!”

“Yeah. I’m glad we do not have one of those.” Rusty told him what he had seen and asked why anyone would watch that. He and Dad had a long talk about protecting his eyes and ears from evil. Then they prayed together.

•       •       •

Later, the family was at the store again. “So are you going to get your MP3 player today?” Misty asked Rusty.

“Yep.”

“Cool.” Since Rusty had already had his eye on the one he wanted, and he finally had enough to buy it on sale, he purchased it quickly. They walked out to the van together.

Soon he was pushing buttons and checking out the features on his new toy. “Hey, I didn’t know this could play videos, too!”

They were sitting in the vehicle now, so Misty looked over. “That’s not a very good one, Rusty.”

“Yeah, I know. Dad, I need some help clearing off some of the demo stuff they put on this MP3 player.”

“We’re stopping for a bite to eat,” Dad said, “I’ll look at it then.”

“Good,” Rusty said, “it says I can download 25 free songs, too. I need your help to make sure I get the right stuff. Some of this stuff says ‘Christian’ but the people look scary.”

“Why do people dress like that?” Misty asked. “Why do they make movies like that with girls dressed like… Why do girls dress like that, Mom?”

Pick up with this story next time.

_______

Now discuss it!

Have you ever seen something you wish you hadn’t, like Rusty?

Some people watch this kind of stuff all the time. If Rusty had watched it more often he would not have thrown up, right? Should he watch more junk instead?

How can you prevent yourself from making the same mistake?

What decisions should you make about the music you listen to?

Discuss your expectations for your family’s music. Let them know what to look for and what to avoid.

How do you decide which videos are okay to watch?

Discuss your family’s guidelines for multi-media use. Let them know why you’ve made these decisions.

If people watch bad stuff, what does it do to their minds?

If you listen to bad music, what does it do to your heart?

If some Christian music sounds like worldly music, does it do the same thing to your heart?

________

Read God’s Word together:

 

Choose the Right Influence

Blessed is the man

Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly,

Nor stands in the path of sinners,

Nor sits in the seat of the scornful;

But his delight is in the law of the LORD,

And in His law he meditates day and night.

He shall be like a tree

Planted by the rivers of water,

That brings forth its fruit in its season,

Whose leaf also shall not wither;

And whatever he does shall prosper.

The ungodly are not so,

But are like the chaff which the wind drives away.

Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment,

Nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.

For the LORD knows the way of the righteous,

But the way of the ungodly shall perish.

(Psalm 1:1-6, NKJ)

Vindicate me, O LORD,

For I have walked in my integrity.

I have also trusted in the LORD;

I shall not slip.

Examine me, O LORD, and prove me;

Try my mind and my heart.

For Your lovingkindness is before my eyes,

And I have walked in Your truth.

I have not sat with idolatrous mortals,

Nor will I go in with hypocrites.

I have hated the assembly of evildoers,

And will not sit with the wicked.

I will wash my hands in innocence;

So I will go about Your altar, O LORD,

That I may proclaim with the voice of thanksgiving,

And tell of all Your wondrous works.

LORD, I have loved the habitation of Your house,

And the place where Your glory dwells.

Do not gather my soul with sinners,

Nor my life with bloodthirsty men,

In whose hands is a sinister scheme,

And whose right hand is full of bribes.

But as for me, I will walk in my integrity;

Redeem me and be merciful to me.

My foot stands in an even place;

In the congregations I will bless the LORD.

(Psalm 26:1-12, NKJ)

_________

Let’s talk about it!

In Psalm 1:1, the godly person avoids what three influences?

  • Walking with ungodly people (listening to MP3)
  • Standing with sinners (watching movie in the store)
  • Sitting with mockers (making fun in church)

How does he avoid these influences? Answer from Psalm 1:2.

Why does Psalm 1:4 say the ungodly people are like chaff?

Because chaff is the husk off the wheat that gets blown away in the wind. They get pushed around by peer pressure to do all kinds of sin.

What would Psalm 26:4-5 mean today? Who should we avoid? What kind of entertainment, music, and videos should we avoid?

In Psalm 26:8, what does the godly person love most?

Role play: You have friends who want to tell you about a war movie they watched. What does Psalm 26:9 say about this?

What if a friend comes to you wanting to pull a dirty trick on someone? It might be funny, but it will make you look bad to others who care about you. Psalm 26:10-11.

Some young people like to go down crooked paths. According to Psalm 26:12, where do you want to stand? What does that mean?

_________

Memorize it!

Galatians 6:8

For he that soweth to his flesh

shall of the flesh reap corruption;

but he that soweth to the Spirit

shall of the Spirit

reap life everlasting.