Celebrity Christianity

[unworthyservant]

4 minutes ago, LadyKay said:

I really think stuff like this is personal. It may not be right for you to pay for extra tv channels. But that does not mean that that should apply to everyone else. What I pay for as a Christian and what other Christians pay for is between them and God. We as Christians should not be looking down on our brothers or sisters who choose to pay for something you would not.   

I look down on no one but only remind everyone of what Christ taught us too do with our money and then I have done all I can. Then it's between God and whomever it may concern! If you wish to fill the coffers of Hollywood and the sinful industry and lifestyle it has spawned, you are absolutely correct that it's a matter between you and God, I'm only warning folks of where the money goes (for the mansions and lavish, sinful lifestyles of the rich and famous)!

[saved34]

@unworthyservant I think you go down a slippery slope of self righteousness when you pick and choose what’s right and wrong between amoral instruments. PCs and phones have literally led to murder, entire governments shut down, rampant pornography and many other detestable things. They are just tools.

I am smart enough in Christ to be selective about the things I watch. I have been blessed tremendously by some tv and movies that I have watched

As far as spending money, I don’t believe our Lord teaches us to abstain from spending money in the world, or that we are to give all our money to the poor. I mean, they were allowed to buy meat that was directly used as sacrifices to other gods. The early Church set aside a portion of their money every week for the poor Saints, not their whole check.

1Co 16:1  Now about the collection for the Lord's people: Do what I told the Galatian churches to do.

1Co 16:2  On the first day of every week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with your income, saving it up, so that when I come no collections will have to be made.

If you search your own home I guarantee you have worldly products that have nothing to do with God or even the owner of said product could be an atheist or even a satanist. You would drive yourself crazy trying to research stuff like that. You would have to leave the earth to live up to that kind of standard.

 

1Co 5:9  I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people—

1Co 5:10  not at all meaning the people of this world who are immoral, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters. In that case you would have to leave this world.

God says he loves a cheerful giver. If you give everything, so be it, but no believer is sinning if he does not. 

 

2Co 9:6  Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously.

2Co 9:7  Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.

Lol I think you have the gift of giving. Which is given to some Saints by the Holy Spirit. That is not a gift every believer has to the extent you go.

 

Rom 12:6  We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith;

Rom 12:8  if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully.

 

[unworthyservant]

1 minute ago, saved34 said:

@unworthyservant I think you go down a slippery slope of self righteousness when you pick and choose what’s right and wrong between amoral instruments. PCs and phones have literally led to murder, entire governments shut down, rampant pornography and many other detestable things. They are just tools.

I am smart enough in Christ to be selective about the things I watch. I have been blessed tremendously by some tv and movies that I have watched

As far as spending money, I don’t believe our Lord teaches us to abstain from spending money in the world, or that we are to give all our money to the poor. I mean, they were allowed to buy meat that was directly used as sacrifices to other gods. The early Church set aside a portion of their money every week for the poor Saints, not their whole check.

1Co 16:1  Now about the collection for the Lord's people: Do what I told the Galatian churches to do.

1Co 16:2  On the first day of every week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with your income, saving it up, so that when I come no collections will have to be made.

If you search your own home I guarantee you have worldly products that have nothing to do with God or even the owner of said product could be an atheist or even a satanist. You would drive yourself crazy trying to research stuff like that. You would have to leave the earth to live up to that kind of standard.

 

1Co 5:9  I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people—

1Co 5:10  not at all meaning the people of this world who are immoral, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters. In that case you would have to leave this world.

God says he loves a cheerful giver. If you give everything, so be it, but no believer is sinning if he does not. 

 

2Co 9:6  Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously.

2Co 9:7  Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.

Lol I think you have the gift of giving. Which is given to some Saints by the Holy Spirit. That is not a gift every believer has to the extent you go.

 

Rom 12:6  We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith;

Rom 12:8  if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully.

 

I have no self righteous intentions as I simply warn folks whose pockets the money spent on such things fills. It's the sinful folks who give us all that fine entertainment and it goes towards funding their lavish and sinful lifestyle. If then, knowing that, you decide that your money is best spent in that manner then it is a matter between you and God. And as for the difference between the Phones and PC and other entertainment, I only point out that the phone and PC are necessary to live in this world (and can be used for God's work as it is here) where pay TV and movies are pleasures and not necessities, That's all, and just so as long as you understand that use of the money, use your own conscience and put the money that God has blessed you with wherever your conscience and the Lord lead. 

[LadyKay]

13 minutes ago, unworthyservant said:

I'm only warning folks of where the money goes (for the mansions and lavish, sinful lifestyles of the rich and famous)!

Well just how far do we go with this?  Are people working in Hollywood the only sinners?  Do we stop shopping at certain stores because the owner is a sinner? And our shopping at their store pays for his sinful why of life?  What about the guy who owns the local gas station or the local grocery store? What if they are sinners? Do we not spend our money in their gas station or in their grocery store because we will be supporting their sinful life as well? I can go on and on with this list.  From stores to electric companies, to landlords. People working for Hollywood are not the only sinners. 

[Behold]

9 hours ago, Debp said:

First of all, I have seen the videos and they are very well made.   Actually one of our members, a young Christian, made them and posted them.   He was so excited in trying to do something to help reach young people and others.

 

Now I'm glad those celebrities were from their hearts thanking the Lord for their good success!   They did not simply thank God but gave mini testimonies of faith in Christ as Savior.   If you saw Denzel Washington speak at a college, giving an address to the students....he told them of his faith and that he never would have the success he has without the Lord in his life!

I have seen Denzel Washington some years ago telling a talk show host that he has read the Bible three times through already (as of that date).   His way of giving a witness.

Also, you probably don't realize it, but some of these actors never do a dirty movie.

About them giving to the poor, etc (you didn't think they do that)....well, our works of charity should be private.    Most don't want to blab about their giving.   Actually, I know someone who runs a big pro-life organization....I learned from them that Jim Caviezel and Patricia Heaton are big supporters of their pro-life group.    Another Christian celebrity gave $250,000 for hurricane relief.

Although many in Hollywood and the music field are not Christians.....there are some Christians, especially in Country music.   So why don't we support them when they want to give glory to God?    Isn't that a very good thing?   I think it is.

Denzel is very outspoken regarding his faith.

He speaks about it a lot.

[thomas t]

2 hours ago, unworthyservant said:

sinful nature of their actions such as "a little too much skin"

2 hours ago, unworthyservant said:

 

if by "entertainment sector" you're referring to the sinful Hollywood entertainment or the secular Rock and rap and R&B music

I humbly stay with my opinion about Hollywood and arts. Music&Arts is created by God, look at this thread for instance, even secular music has its origins with God the creator, I think.

2 hours ago, unworthyservant said:

sinners can become rich

that's how it is, name me a human that's not a sinner.

2 hours ago, unworthyservant said:

why they were supportive of such things

as I said, it's culture. Culture, in my opinion, has more shades than being just evil or good. Culture can be an expression of your feelings, of yourself, a reflection of what God has created. Even secular people reflect on this. It is as @saved34 has put it. It's like a PC. A PC in itself can't be evil, even in times you don't use it for church reasons. Same with culture. Sometimes you have the desire to have it.

In the Garden, there was certainly the tree of culture, won't you think?

Thomas

 

 

 

 

[GandalfTheWise]

 

25 minutes ago, unworthyservant said:

PC's and phones are necessary in this modern world and indeed can be used for the Glory of God. As for TV, while it can be informative (i.e. news and special interest type of shows) I don't believe that a Christian should support the sinful part of the content by paying for the right to more stations only to have the money go into the coffers of the wicked people at the top of the secular entertainment heap. Ditto, the movies. While a particular movie may not contain objectionable content, the money you spend to see it goes to those who use it to make movies that do, so by extension is the same. I just think that "The harvest is great and the laborers few" and each dollar that you send to the sinful entertainment empire is money that could have been used for doing God's work and actually Blessed someone. Isn't that a much better way to use the money that God has given you?

In this day and age it is virtually impossible to totally free oneself from interacting with the world.  For most of us, our mere act of paying for an internet connection is indirectly supporting most of these industries to some degree.  Clicking on some links is causing money to be exchanged somewhere even on "free" sites or some Christian sites depending on their hosting arrangement.  We often have no clue of the consequences of what we are really doing at times.  We are often giving away our time (which is a precious commodity) which other people are profiting from.

In another thread, there was a link to a video exposing a well-known evangelist.   That video appears to be monetized which means that every person on this site who viewed it (and perhaps even the act of linking and sharing) sent money from advertisers to the owner of Youtube (Google).  Google then shares some of that money with the owner of Inside Edition which is owned by CBS Television Distribution which is owned by CBS Corporation which just merged with Viacom (which includes Paramount pictures).  In other words, clicks from this site are indirectly sending money to support both Google and the secular entertainment industry.  It probably wasn't more than a few cents worth though ultimately it's the principle whereby our time is converted to money which is sent to industries we maybe do not want to support.   Each of us who clicked it to view an investigative reporter (who appeared nude in Playboy many years ago) trying to expose a well-known evangelist basically put a few cents of profit into the pockets of some large corporations in exchange for our time.  Assuming a couple bucks per thousand views, that single video link likely earned someone tens of thousands of dollars which we contributed to.  That video probably showed up in various other forms in other links and places and made a lot more money for them.  By clicking this one link, we supported a tabloid news industry driven by sensationalism (aka entertainment value) and profit rather than people who do extensive well-documented research that we can benefit from.

It's amazing the information that reading the descriptions of videos and looking up things on Bing (or any other search engine) can reveal.

[unworthyservant]

1 hour ago, maryjayne said:

Who are we to judge the state of their souls? We are all sinners. 

I judge no one. Only God can judge a person! I simply point out that as Christians we shouldn't support their sinful lifestyle. By their works ye shall know them! and I'm simply pointing out their works and suggesting that we as Christians should not support their giving praise to God for sinful endeavors for which they are known. I'm just bringing to light the works to see if they hold up to a standard of decency not to judge the person!

[frienduff thaylorde]

1 minute ago, maryjayne said:

I imagine people said the same things about King David, or the Apostle Paul when he was still Saul.

Yes .      And we need to acknowledge something .      This is not christanity .     Let none fall for it .     Most of them praise JESUS in name only but are serving another  image of a false jesus .

Lambs need to be warned to steer clear of this .    Justin beaver ,   oh yeah ,  He loves HILLSONG church .    THEY are not REAL CHRISTAINS .  they are like I once was .

OH I could claim JESUS as LORD , but I lived like the devil . WE need to ensure folks steer clear of this kind of so called christanity . THEY no more saved then I once was when I too

hollered JESUS but walked on in darkness .   WE have to able to discern between the true and the false .  And guess what we can .  YOU SHALL SURELY KNOW them by their FRUITS .

NOT their LIPS ,     their FRUITS .    

[unworthyservant]

16 minutes ago, GandalfTheWise said:

 

In this day and age it is virtually impossible to totally free oneself from interacting with the world.  For most of us, our mere act of paying for an internet connection is indirectly supporting most of these industries to some degree.  Clicking on some links is causing money to be exchanged somewhere even on "free" sites or some Christian sites depending on their hosting arrangement.  We often have no clue of the consequences of what we are really doing at times.  We are often giving away our time (which is a precious commodity) which other people are profiting from.

In another thread, there was a link to a video exposing a well-known evangelist.   That video appears to be monetized which means that every person on this site who viewed it (and perhaps even the act of linking and sharing) sent money from advertisers to the owner of Youtube (Google).  Google then shares some of that money with the owner of Inside Edition which is owned by CBS Television Distribution which is owned by CBS Corporation which just merged with Viacom (which includes Paramount pictures).  In other words, clicks from this site are indirectly sending money to support both Google and the secular entertainment industry.  It probably wasn't more than a few cents worth though ultimately it's the principle whereby our time is converted to money which is sent to industries we maybe do not want to support.   Each of us who clicked it to view an investigative reporter (who appeared nude in Playboy many years ago) trying to expose a well-known evangelist basically put a few cents of profit into the pockets of some large corporations in exchange for our time.  Assuming a couple bucks per thousand views, that single video link likely earned someone tens of thousands of dollars which we contributed to.  That video probably showed up in various other forms in other links and places and made a lot more money for them.  By clicking this one link, we supported a tabloid news industry driven by sensationalism (aka entertainment value) and profit rather than people who do extensive well-documented research that we can benefit from.

It's amazing the information that reading the descriptions of videos and looking up things on Bing (or any other search engine) can reveal.

Yep, I agree and all I'm saying is where there is a clear choice involved we should weigh that choice by the teachings of Christ. So, when you pay for a Internet hookup and search the web, that is a necessity these days and can be used for the glory of God to boot, even though money changes hands that's out of your control. Ditto, the phone. On the other hand, cable TV is a luxury and that expenditure is also a choice you must make. SO when you pay the cable bill just ask yourself, would God rather me spend this money on cable for my own entertainment where the proceeds go the purveyors of filth or would He rather I spent it each month feeding a few poor folks and whatever the answer that's what I'd suggest that you (or me or anyone) do.