Satan’s Highly Successful Tool
2/2/2012
“…for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage.” 2 Peter 2:19b. If I was the devil and I wanted to motivate people toward a certain goal to bring them to a point of full bondage to me, what tool could I incorporate into their lives to control their minds, hearts, even their very souls? T.E.L.E.V.I.S.I.O.N. What a concept; a tool that would start out to be so very innocuous but would grow to become a highly successful manipulator. After all, it’s always on.
Every Christian believer knows full well that it is Satan’s intent to remove God from the minds of men - period. Just look how much freer Satan is now that he’s able to introduce subjects more in line with humanities sinful nature and desires, without condemnation or much resistance, all through the medium of television. The enemy of mankind has created a “leisure time” product that has now infiltrated every home, and what a potential for leading the masses astray. Television has become the full-on corrupting influence of a major segment of earth’s society. Television now dominates the human mind and heart. What better source of influence than television to bring evil right into the living room of every home?
Most children today are brought up in homes where watching TV is a way of life. In many homes television has become the family baby sitter. This includes many Christian homes as well. Does anyone reading this commentary honestly believe programmed television has had a positive effect on humanity? That’s like saying Satan has had a positive effect on humanity. “Well Ron, we have to take some bad with the good”. Do we? When humankind capitulates to the enemy it only enhances Satan’s position as corrupter in chief. Taking the bad with the good only further enables the bad. A mustard seed of corruption is as leaven in a loaf of bread; eventually it will permeate the whole loaf.
In today’s culture it’s almost unheard of to go anywhere in public where there isn’t a television disrupting the peace. Department stores, restaurants, gas stations, tire outlets you name it, television is always on and it’s thriving. We’ve been programmed to watch television every waking moment, and to believe in its content. All the while our minds are being polluted with the god of this world’s concepts of good vs. evil. Conversely, his concepts of good and evil are both equally evil.
The following is a quote from a recent article on the Fox News website: “TV producers look for ever-more salacious and twisted reality plot lines. Reality TV is cheap to make and producers battle to find the most bizarre plot line that appeals to devils of our nature. It would be nice to find something on TV that is uplifting and inspiring, not depraved and abusive,” said Dan Gainor, Vice President of the Business and Media Institute. “To the entertainment industry, there is no such thing as ‘too far,’ so making fun of young grandmothers and pregnant teens is par for the course.”
“For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning.” 2 Peter 2:20. By becoming entangled in the world of the satanic television, humanity is being systematically drawn away from God, away from our Lord Jesus Christ. Television corrupts, and although many have been introduced to the knowledge of the Lord, the entanglement into the pollutions of television becomes overpowering as that influence outweighs any other. Why? Because televisions are always on, while Bibles remain closed. Here’s a simple rule to gauge your television addiction. Ask yourself these two questions. First, what’s the first thing you reach for every morning? The remote or your Bible. And second, what’s the last thing you put down each night before bed? The remote or your Bible. Overcoming the demonic influence in your very own home can be a daunting task as television becomes embedded into your very nature.
“…and to keep himself unspotted from the world.” James 1:27b. The world loves television. In His word, God tells us to refrain from becoming defiled (unspotted) by the world. We have become an idolatrous generation creating our very own god which we cherish. People are predisposed to follow their god no matter what kind of idol that god turns out to be. The god of this world promotes his agenda through the medium of television. He and his lackeys pump mankind with deceptions that in turn men begin to believe; thus when presented with the truth of the Word of the One true God, that truth is regarded as fantasy or myth. Many today, because of the adverse influence of television, look at God’s Word similar to the way they would look at a children’s book of fairytales.
The world is upside down. Through the systematic infiltration of programmed television into our homes, we’re being taught that every form of wickedness is now acceptable in our new and enlightened society. On the forefront of wickedness is worldwide acceptance of abortions – murdering the innocent unwanted. Next is the newly created belief that the act of homosexuality is natural – even God ordained . My brethren, this should not be so .
Satan knows full well that to entangle us in his deceit he mustn’t simply offer sleaze as far as television programming goes, but that to influence us to a point of addiction he must also incorporate stories that touch the heart strings of humanity These plus breaking news stories of world events are all intentional to keep us glued to our chair as we stare at that inanimate object in the corner of the room, many times to the exclusion of all else.
On the surface television seems innocuous. But do you sense that the inception of television was a well thought out plan? If you answered yes then your senses are working fine because it was a very well thought out plan. The problem is it’s a satanic plan created to entice us while polluting our minds. It entraps us and brings us into submission to the god of this world – to fulfill his agenda. Humanity has become so engrossed with programmed television that Satan now has them for all seasons. Today most people are so ensnared in their relationship with their television that that piece of furniture has become their god – satanic as it is.
People today want more entertainment than ever before. Television has been designated to be the force that fulfills that desire, and they don’t even need to leave their living rooms. I’ve spoken with many people who agree with me that programmed television is a perversion and that we should not be watching it – especially those who claim to follow Jesus Christ. Yet these same folks continue to watch their desired programs – they are addicted. A line from the movie “Fireproof” would fit quite well here, “Watch out for parasites.”
A while back there was a concept promoted with very little fanfare, or acceptance for that matter, and that was, “If you don’t like what you’re watching turn the channel”. Well that didn’t work because Satan is fully involved and he put the trash on every channel. Next a new promotion with basically the same concept was, “Just turn it off if you don’t like it”. That too was short lived because people were already so completely addicted to programmed television that they couldn’t just turn it off. Finally there was cable and people could order the programming they wanted, but it was bundled with offensive programming so they had to pay for the bad to get the good (remember we’re talking about a media outlet that Satan has designed to fit his parameters). Most would call this entrapment.
In 1995 when I became a Christian I was addicted to television. But it gradually occurred to me that I was watching a plethora of filth. Not only that, but as I began to realize and embrace my role as the spiritual leader of my family, I also became fully aware of the satanic influence I was allowing my wife and our daughter to be filled with. On Sunday morning we would head off to Church to worship with likeminded believers, but all week long our minds had been filled with the refuse supplied by the god of this world instead of the word of God. In the year 2000 (yes it took five years) my wife and I made the decision to never again bring programmed television into our home. Our youngest daughter was 10 years old and the things we were watching on television were so very offensive that we just couldn’t allow our daughter to be satanically influenced.
When programmed television was eliminated in the Graham home, Bible study became our focus. What an eye opener that has been for us. Now, some twelve years later, I’m able to share my God given understanding of the Bible with millions of people around the world. I’ve honored God with my persistence in studying His word while eliminating that satanic influence in my family’s life. Satan hates me because I follow Jesus Christ, but he despises me because I’ve turned my back on his influence. Yes, we still own a television, a video player, and a DVD player and we will occasionally watch a movie. But we are not inundated with the filth that the god of this world has designated for all homes to be saturated with. We refuse him and his invasion into our lives. There is nothing godly about programmed television.
Most people, including Christians, can easily give the score of the latest professional sports matchup but have no idea who Levi is in the Bible. Can we not see that this is intentional? Satan does not want us to read our Bibles, let alone actually study them. Therefore he’s given us an alternative, which is television – a venue that is not only distracting but most people will derive much more pleasure from television than from studying their Bibles. Satan has been very successful at distracting people and leading them away from God. Certainly Christians should see this evil. Sadly many don’t, and won’t. So let me ask you, my friend, what does the Bible say about being led astray? “I don’t know, I’ve been watching television”. That’s a truthful answer, but it’s a sad commentary on Bible study.
“…and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:” 1 Peter 3:15. How many Christians do you know who can give an answer for the hope that lies within them? For that matter, how many Christians do you know, personally, who are able to give a sufficient answer to a nonbeliever’s inquiry concerning the validity of the Bible? “Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.” 2 Timothy 4:2. I wonder how many Christians today understand what it means to preach the word, or how many are always ready with all longsuffering to reprove, rebuke, and exhort using correct doctrine. My guess is not many .
So, what do we do about gleaning information concerning current events without the television blaring in the corner of the room? There are alternatives. Some are not much better than television. Believe me, the god of this world has his hands in every form of media. But there are still newspapers with world reports, magazines, books, and radio. Most people have computers and can visit many websites that offer a huge amount of breaking news and other content without being infected with Satan’s shenanigans. But let me just add, if you seek the filth you will find it. Satan guarantees it.
T.E.L.E.V.I.S.I.O.N. is an acronym for “The Evil Lies Everywhere Visible In Satan’s Invasive Offensive Nonsense”. Don’t fall for his deceptions, they are many and they are destructive. We are admonished in God’s word to separate ourselves from the world, but how do we do that when we are so addicted to the things of the world? One way to break the addiction is to come to grips with the satanic influence being assimilated into our lives. My wife and I realized the adverse effect that television was having on our daughter early on, and we were determined that while she was a child we would do everything possible to eliminate that pervasive wickedness which was coming into the sanctuary of our home through programmed television. By doing so God strengthened our own resolve to eliminate that segment of the satanic influence in our lives and bring Bible study to the forefront. We also homeschooled our daughter which added a huge amount of responsibility to our everyday lives, but it was well worth it in the long run. “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” Proverbs 22:6. We watch our youngest child today at age 22 growing into the young women we always wanted her to become. And we are sure that’s what God wanted also.
I can’t say it any plainer than this, turn off the television and your life will change for the better as you learn to honor God in all you view and all you do.
God bless you all,
Ron Graham
All scripture is from the KJV and God breathed
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