Participants: Atonte Myers, Ivor Myers
Series Code: BOF
Program Code: BOF000006
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00:16 Welcome to "Battles of Faith"
00:18 We're your hosts, Ivor and Atonte Myers. 00:21 We're continuing our series today on the 00:24 entertainment industry, but today we're specifically 00:27 talking about video games. 00:29 Listen to this: 00:31 "Plain violent video games like Doom, Wolfenstein 3D 00:35 or Mortal Kombat can increase a person's aggressive thoughts, 00:39 feelings and behavior, both in laboratory settings 00:43 and in actual life, according to two studies appearing 00:47 at the April issue of the American Psychological 00:50 Association's Journal of 00:52 Personality and Social Psychology. 00:54 Furthermore, violent video games may be more harmful 00:57 than violent television and movies because 01:00 they are interactive, very engrossing and require 01:04 the player to identify with the aggressor", 01:07 say the researchers. 01:09 That is deep to me. Because, to say that it could 01:13 actually be more dangerous than violent movies, 01:16 or violent television programs. I never thought of it as they're 01:20 actually doing the violence, the person playing the game 01:24 so it only makes sense that it could actually be worse 01:26 than watching someone else doing it. 01:28 They're doing it! 01:29 - That's right! A couple of the words you mentioned there 01:32 are striking because it mentions that the 01:35 video game industry in itself can have an effect upon the 01:40 thoughts and the feelings or the emotions is what 01:43 I believe you said. And we've seen in other programs that 01:45 those two things combined; the thoughts and the feelings 01:49 combine, make up the moral character. 01:53 So, here you have a secular source. What was it? 01:57 - It was the American Psychological Association 01:59 - Okay, the American Psychological Association saying 02:02 that video games can actually have an effect upon 02:05 our characters basically. 02:08 So, this is an issue that is 02:11 really taking the world by stone. 02:13 Video games have exploded upon the scene and 02:17 young people all over this planet are becoming 02:21 more and more engrossed in these video games, 02:23 even so more, now than movies and music, 02:27 which is amazing. 02:28 - It's true. It's taking up so much of their time. 02:30 In other shows we mentioned that young people 02:32 are playing at least 7 hours of video games and 02:34 probably even more now, in a week, in a one week period. 02:38 But I want to say, in this program about video games 02:43 that there are so many adult men who are very addicted 02:50 to this program. I was talking to someone the other day 02:53 who said: "That's all my husband does once he comes home 02:56 from work. " 02:57 It used to be: okay, all they want to do is watch sports 02:59 or sit on the couch and watch the news or whatever, 03:01 but that's all she said he does. And then, he even made a comment 03:06 that: "This is the only thing that makes me happy. " 03:08 And she was so taken aback by that. She was like: 03:11 "What are me and the children doing here?" 03:13 The point is, it's so addictive. And it's not just for 03:18 young people. 03:19 - Let's look at one of our definitions on this 03:22 program today, because you mentioned that one of the 03:24 reasons they said this is so dangerous is because it's 03:27 inter-active! 03:29 So, let's look at that word, "interactive". 03:31 The word means this: [text on the screen] 03:39 Now that's amazing Atonte, because what "interactive" means 03:43 in the context of the video games is this, 03:45 it not only means that we have the ability to act 03:47 upon the game, but the game also has the ability 03:51 to act upon me. See, to act upon my character, 03:57 my thoughts and my feelings. 03:59 And so, that's why we call this program today 04:02 "The Game of Death". 04:04 So, while we are playing this game, we don't realize 04:08 that the enemy of souls is playing a game with our souls 04:11 and we're calling it the game of death. 04:13 And again, people look at it and say: "You know, 04:15 it's just a game", but the fact is that it is capable 04:22 of acting upon the thoughts and the feelings, 04:26 thus forming our character. 04:29 - That's right. And I know that we'll be talking more 04:32 about this later on un this program, but 04:34 I don't understand why parents allow their children 04:38 to play these games where the children actually have 04:41 to do the killing and have to do the aggressive 04:44 fighting, in the video game where the Bible is clear, 04:49 especially about killing: "Thou shall not kill", 04:51 so why should we practice on video games? 04:53 - Right. Well, I think we'll find the answer in 04:56 Genesis 3. We invite you to open your Bibles with us. 05:00 We're going to take a look on Genesis chapter 3 and 05:01 we're going to hear quite a lot, because there is 05:04 so much packed in Genesis 3, especially about the subject 05:09 that we're dealing with. 05:10 I want to share something with you, in particular 05:13 in Genesis chapter 3. We read here this story again, 05:17 of Adam or rather of Eve and her dialogue with the serpent 05:21 and God tells her: "Don't eat from this tree" and 05:25 the serpent comes and says: "It's alright, 05:27 you can eat from the tree. " 05:29 One of the interesting things about this is that 05:33 the serpent was talking. 05:34 Why was the serpent talking? 05:37 God did not create the serpent to talk, 05:38 so this is one of the things that attracted Eve. 05:40 How is it that this serpent is talking? 05:43 Well, it's assumed that this serpent is hanging around 05:47 the tree of what?... Knowledge of good and evil! 05:50 And he's saying: "Eve, listen, eat from this tree. 05:53 Nothing's going to happen to you. " 05:55 I think it's safe to assume that the serpent himself 05:59 had already taken from the tree or pretended 06:03 that he took from the tree and said: "Hey look, 06:04 nothing's wrong with me!" 06:06 - That's what I imagine when I think of that scene. 06:08 - So, watch this now. There was a demonstration of evil. 06:12 Now, I want to focus in on that theme for a moment, 06:16 I want to put the word up "demonstration" 06:18 and what does the word mean? 06:19 "Demonstration" means: [text on the screen] 06:30 So, this is what Satan did. He presented, he knew that 06:34 Eve would not have gone out and tempt her own to do evil 06:37 so he had to first give her a demonstration. 06:41 Now, what did the demonstration do? 06:44 - It made her think that: "Oh, look at him! He's fine, 06:47 nothing happened to him!" 06:48 - That's right. The demonstration rendered evil 06:51 harmless. You see! So, once Eve decided in her mind 06:56 "well, God told me not to eat from this tree", but 06:59 according to the demonstration that I have seen 07:01 there's really no evil here. 07:05 The serpent isn't harmed. The tree looks good for food. 07:09 And so, what that demonstration of evil did, is that 07:12 it broke down Eve's resistance, it broke down her barrier 07:15 to evil and, in this way, she was deceived, 07:20 this way she was lost. 07:21 And I want to suggest today that the same thing 07:24 is happening through these so called video games. 07:27 They are demonstrations of evil and because 07:31 they are only "demonstrations", parents and people 07:35 see no problem in it because it's not the, quote on quote, 07:39 real thing. It's only a demonstration. 07:42 But we need to understand that 07:44 what the demonstration does is it says in the mind 07:47 of a young person: "Oh, what I am doing here, 07:49 on this video game, is not evil because the killing 07:53 is only happening in demonstration mode. " 07:56 - And I think all the parents of those children 08:00 who actually committed the crime and did 08:03 school shootings never would have thought that 08:05 the video games they purchased and allowed their children 08:08 to play and participate in, could have actually trained them 08:12 to be killers. They didn't think! 08:15 They just thought: "Hey, this is what young people 08:17 are doing. It's innocent, it's fun, it keeps them 08:20 at home. But, and I'm not saying this is the only thing 08:23 that contributed to these children school-shooters, 08:27 high school-shooters to kill these people, 08:30 but it definitely, in every case, the research shows that 08:33 they were all participating in these violent video games. 08:36 - That's right. Well, think about this, Atonte. 08:40 A lot of times we've traveled. And sometimes I go to churches 08:45 and I see young people, in the church, 08:49 with the video games, with the little game-boys. 08:53 And I'm looking and I'm like: "Wow! Here we are, 08:55 in church and their minds are consumed!" 08:58 I've had parents call me or e- mail me and say: 09:01 "My child is locked away in his room, 09:03 he will not come out, he will not take breaks, 09:05 he is totally, totally addicted to video games. 09:09 What can I do?" 09:11 And again I know for a fact that 09:15 these things started out innocently. 09:17 At first 20 minutes, then half an hour, 09:21 then an hour and it keeps going and going 09:24 and the addictive factor is here just as we've seen 09:27 in all our other studies dealing with sorcery: 09:29 anything that medicated the mind so that 09:32 it will not follow the will or the law of God. 09:34 And we see the same it's true in the video games. 09:37 - That's right. And we even had older parents call us 09:41 for their adult children who are married, 09:43 with children, and call us and say: 09:45 " Can you please pray for our son! 09:47 He's 30 years old and he's addicted to these 09:49 video games and it's taking him away from his 09:51 wife and his children and he can't seem 09:54 to break away with it. " 09:55 But I want to say this: that I know that it 09:57 actually does take a certain level of skill 10:00 to be very good at these video games. 10:03 And so Satan is training a part of the mind 10:05 that God would want to use. 10:08 You know, if we can use that part of the mind 10:10 in studying the Word and using it to 10:14 teach others and show people how to be drawn closer to God, 10:17 I mean, what a blessing that would be! 10:19 - That's right. One of the things that 10:21 makes a video game so attractive is that 10:23 it provides a fantasy realm. That's one of the reasons 10:27 why people think this is harmless, 10:29 because it's just a fantasy realm! 10:32 And... I think gamers call it the "virtual realm". 10:38 And this is, supposedly, that virtual world 10:42 where you can go in and do all these things, 10:46 play all these games, do all this killing 10:49 and all this violence and really not count. 10:52 But I want to throw up some more words on the screen 10:55 you know, I enjoy looking at words because 10:58 when you study the origin of words you find out that 11:01 there was more behind the scene than 11:03 what we understand. 11:04 So let's look at the word "fantasy" for a moment. 11:06 And we'll put it up on the screen. 11:08 You'll see there the word 'fantasy' which we spell as 11:13 f- a-n-t-a-s-y 11:15 was originally spelled as 11:17 p- h-a-n-t-a-s-y. fantasy! 11:24 And the reason why the word 'fantasy'... we'll put the 11:28 word on the screen... this is what 'phantasy' means: 11:32 [text on the screen] 11:38 Well, that doesn't sound so bad. 11:40 But let's take that word a little further 11:43 and if the word 'phantasy' looks familiar to you 11:45 is because it also comes from the word 'phantom'. 11:51 What is a phantom? I don't have to read the definition to you 11:53 but you'll understand. We're going to put the word 11:55 up on the screen. The word phantom is this: 11:57 [text on the screen] 12:06 Let's put these things together. 12:08 When we talk about a phantom or a fantasy world, 12:13 we're talking, in reality, about a spirit world. 12:17 We're talking about a world where 12:20 we are dealing with not flesh and blood, 12:24 but against spiritual wickedness in high place. 12:28 And I say: "Oh, come on! You're telling me that 12:30 what I do in my fantasy life, actually counts?" 12:34 Remember, Jesus was having a discussion, 12:38 I believe was the sermon on the mountain. 12:41 And He said something that was absolutely astounding. 12:45 Here's what he said. He said: "You've heard it said that 12:48 you shall not commit adultery, but I say onto you that 12:53 if you look after a woman to lust after her... where? 12:58 - You committed adultery in your mind. 13:00 - In your mind, you know! Or we might say, 13:03 in your fantasy life, you are still guilty. 13:07 In other words, the law of God penetrates even into 13:09 the fantasy realm, the spiritual world, 13:11 even into that place where we have our own 13:14 private thoughts and feelings, so that if you do the act 13:17 even in the fantasy realm, Christ said it's still 13:21 as good as sin. 13:23 - So, when we're playing these video games and we have to 13:25 kill this person and that person to get to the next stage 13:29 or the next step, that is still sin in God's eyes? 13:33 - You know, think about it like this, Atonte. 13:35 There are many people, many men out there that 13:37 struggle with pornography. 13:40 Now, they may not be in an act of physically 13:44 committing adultery. But they are looking 13:46 through these magazines. 13:47 Now, Christ deals with that very issue. And He says: 13:52 "If you're looking, if you're imagining this thing, 13:55 you may no even be looking at a magazine, 13:56 you may just be in your fantasy life, 13:58 imagining these things and Christ says that 14:01 even there, the law of God penetrates so that 14:05 it is written in the books of heaven as sin, as evil. 14:09 The devil says: "Hey, it's just a demonstration! 14:13 It's just fantasy!" 14:15 But Christ says: "No, not so. " In fact, Atonte, 14:18 you realize that one of the reasons... in fact, 14:22 let's go at Genesis 6. 14:26 Some of you may actually already know this 14:29 and some of you may not, but there was one reason 14:32 why the people in Noah's time were destroyed. 14:36 The Bible gives us that reason. You'll be surprised. 14:39 Look at what it says in Genesis 6:5. 14:42 The Bible says there: [text on the screen] 14:59 Now, surely they didn't have video games back in Noah's days, 15:02 maybe they did, I don't know, but 15:03 the Devil understood this principle of providing a 15:08 fantasy, an imagination realm in which men felt 15:11 that they were comfortable. Men were deceived into 15:14 feeling that they were comfortable enough, 15:16 to feeling that: "Hey, if I stay in my mind, if I think 15:19 even in my mind and it's not actually done in reality, 15:23 it doesn't count. " 15:24 Now, what happens is that once it is committed in the 15:27 heart, it will eventually and naturally play itself out 15:31 in action. Remember, this whole 15:34 battle of faith is about keeping our eyes focused 15:37 on Christ. It's about getting our characters to reflect 15:41 the character of Christ. It's about getting our image, 15:44 turning our image from the image of ourselves 15:47 to the image of Christ. 15:49 And the enemy does not want that. 15:51 He wants to divert the mind so that the heel itself 15:55 will be diverted. Remember? We said that 15:57 God's mission for the church is to bruise the head 16:01 of the serpent, according to Romans 16:20. 16:04 Satan knows that. And what controls the heel? 16:07 It's the mind. And so he says: 16:09 "If I can get into their minds, I can divert them 16:12 or amuse them"- as we saw the word 'amuse' means 16:14 'to divert'- "I can amuse them and distract them 16:19 so that they will not fulfill their commission. " 16:22 And again, this is one of the ways in which 16:24 the Devil seeks to do that. This is one of the ways in which 16:27 he controls our characters, he creates this 16:30 illusionary world and says: "It's alright for you 16:33 to sin here. The law of God doesn't reach here. 16:35 It's alright for you to kill in this realm. 16:38 It's alright for you to commit adultery in this realm. " 16:40 I was reading the other day that there are 16:42 pornographic comic books. 16:46 I'm sure that no parent out there would allow their children 16:49 to read a pornographic comic book. 16:51 And they wouldn't say: "It's just a comic book; 16:56 it's not real! It's just drawings on a paper, 16:59 it's just fantasy. " They would never say that 17:01 because pornography is taboo. But not when it comes to killing 17:05 which is part of breaking God's law just as adultery, 17:09 or any other thing like that. Then, all of a sudden 17:12 it becomes okay. 17:14 - The amazing thing to me, again, is that 17:16 video games did not start here. They didn't start like 17:19 Mortal Kombat. When we were children, Atari came out. 17:24 And there was Packman, and you just ate the little dots 17:27 on the screen and you needed to get to the little 17:29 energy thing so that you could, like I said, 17:32 kill the little monster that was after you, 17:34 but it didn't start as bad as it is now. 17:38 And so, Satan, again has just started something off, 17:42 really innocent, he's allowed it to take 17:44 20 years or so and now it is to a point where 17:48 it is very bad. As a matter of fact, 17:49 there are even video games that don't just have killings, 17:52 but there are women that appear on the screen 17:55 and they are half naked women. 17:56 The purpose of them... I don't really understand. 17:59 I don't know. I guess that if you win, the woman appears 18:01 or whatever... 18:02 - Pornographic video games. 18:04 I have a friend in Australia who mailed me some information 18:10 on video games. He's in a lot of research Steward Masaferry. 18:14 We've been in contact and some if the things that 18:18 he's been sharing with me about where 18:20 the video gaming industry has gone is just absolutely 18:23 mind blowing. And the sad thing is that so many parents 18:26 don't see it, and again it is infiltrating, 18:28 like I said, young people in the church. 18:31 Satan is sending out this flood and, we've been saying this 18:36 in a couple of programs, it seems like we're like, 18:39 you know: "Is this picking out a straw, video games?" 18:42 This is not a straw, this is a flood. 18:44 An we see it in the churches, we see it in the world, 18:50 the enemy is flooding the minds of young people 18:54 with so many things that it is impossible for them 18:58 to keep their minds focused on God. 19:01 - And it's only for one purpose and that is 19:03 that it will not follow the will of God or 19:06 won't even think about following the will of God. 19:09 - That's right. We've been talking about imagination 19:12 and, you know, I'll tell you something. 19:13 If you read Isaiah 26:3, we mentioned this text quite often, 19:18 "Thou will keep him in perfect 19:19 peace whose mind is stayed on Thee" 19:22 You note the word there for 'mind', if you look 19:25 on the margin in your KJV Bible, you will see the word 19:28 'imagination'. 19:30 "Thou will keep him in perfect peace whose 19:33 'imagination' is stayed on Thee. " 19:36 And you'll notice the similarities between 19:38 the word 'imagination' and 'image'. 19:41 'Imagination' and 'image'. 19:44 Through these images in the video games and through 19:46 these images through the media, 19:48 what the Devil is attempting to do is he is appealing 19:52 to the imagination. 19:54 Because he knows that it is through the imagination, 19:57 whoever has the imagination, has the heart. 19:59 So, if the Devil provides this atmosphere where he says: 20:04 "Hey, let your imagination run free, unrestricted. " 20:07 But really unrestricted means 20:09 unrestricted to the law of God. You see... 20:11 Then he knows that he can have the imagination, and just as 20:16 those in the antediluvian age, in Noah's time 20:19 were destroyed because Satan got a hold 20:21 of their imaginations, it's the same thing 20:23 he's doing now. Jesus said: 20:24 "As was it in the days of Noah, so shall it be in the days 20:28 of the Son of Man. " 20:29 And we are seeing that the imaginations of 20:31 man's hearts are only evil continually. 20:33 Atonte, I remember reading a story of how 20:37 'Harry Potter' came into existence. 20:41 Mrs. Rowling was on a train riding one day, and she 20:45 says Harry Potter just walked into her imagination 20:53 while she was on that train. It was a spiritual experience. 20:59 You know, an invigorating experience. 21:02 She just got this idea that just popped into her head... 21:04 Harry Potter. 21:05 Now, I would ask, where did that thought come from? 21:08 You know, I think it was a thought bomb from the enemy. 21:11 And so, from this woman's imagination 21:15 she begins to put this stuff down on paper and then, 21:19 through her imagination, I mean, these books that 21:24 she has written have gone all over the world, 21:26 and through one woman's imagination, 21:28 literally millions, in fact the next 'Harry Potter' book 21:32 is coming out and they are printing 10.8 million copies 21:37 for the first printing. The most ever in this country! 21:41 You see. And so, the Devil is after the imagination 21:44 and just through the imagination of one person look at what 21:49 damage he can do. 21:50 Think about this, Atonte. He's got the imagination of 21:52 the entire Hollywood elite at his fingers. 21:57 So, all he has to do is inspire and say: 22:00 "Okay, here's what I want you to do. 22:01 Alright, I want you to make this video game, 22:03 okay, I want you to do this" and... it just goes out... 22:06 mass-media! 22:09 Think about this Atonte and you listening out there, 22:13 think about the warfare that is going on between 22:16 media and meditation... 22:19 Those words sound alike. - They do. 22:21 - 'Media' and 'meditation'... Both have to do with 22:25 what's going on right here. 22:27 We are no longer wanting to meditate on God 22:32 and His Word, because the media is taking control 22:38 of our lives. 22:40 The media is flooding our minds through all these 22:43 different things and because of it, 22:45 when we close our eyes to pray, we don't see any video games 22:51 illustrations, we don't see any explosions, 22:54 we see only darkness. 22:56 The mind is not used to that, it does not want to be 23:00 in darkness and that's why we don't want to sit and pray. 23:04 - It almost seems impossible for that mind to do that 23:08 because, to meditate is to sit and to be calm 23:12 and to speak to God and hear His voice speaking 23:15 to you, where, if we're gamers or 23:18 training our minds to play video games, 23:20 it's just not what the mind is used to doing. 23:22 It's constantly like moving and thinking... 23:24 I read an article that was actually supporting 23:27 the video game industry saying that it's actually helping 23:31 children to be able to be good problem solvers 23:34 later on in life. And at the end of the article 23:38 it was talking about all of the millions of dollars 23:40 that that industry is making. 23:42 So, again, the love of money is the root of all evil. 23:46 They have these big, not conferences, but they pack 23:51 these big arenas to display all the newest video games 23:55 and have people come and try them out because there's 23:57 so much money there to be made. 24:00 - That's right. You know, I can imagine someone listening 24:03 and saying: "But, you know, it's just a game!" 24:08 You've got to remember that the Devil is playing 24:13 the game of death for our souls and he will do it 24:18 in any way that he can. 24:20 Once we have the battle plans and we see the depth 24:23 to which the enemy is going, we throw our hands up and say: 24:26 "Lord, if you don't come in and do something supernaturally 24:29 in my life, if I don't have a supernatural connection 24:32 with you there is absolutely no way that I can escape 24:35 this assault that is upon me, and that's really upon 24:39 the whole world. " We've got to get connected 24:41 with Christ in a supernatural way. 24:43 - And again, a supernatural connection with God 24:47 can only happen through prayer and, 24:49 when we train our minds to constantly be moving and 24:53 jumping and whatever it's doing when you're playing 24:55 video games, it's so hard to concentrate during prayer. 24:59 People can sit down and play video games for hours and hours 25:04 and cannot pray for a minute, or five minutes. 25:08 There is a problem, there is a problem there... 25:11 - Is it just a game? I mean, you know, my purpose 25:14 is not to try to prove that video games have evil in them. 25:18 I think everybody knows that. 25:19 It would be like: "Look at that evil!" We know that! 25:25 The real issue is, does it count? 25:27 Does sin in the fantasy realm count? 25:33 And Christ clearly answers the question. That ends 25:36 the argument for me. 25:37 Because the Word of God says that if we sin 25:39 in our imagination, if we imagine evil... you know... 25:43 And again: Thou will keep him in perfect peace, 25:45 whose creative imagination is stayed on Thee. 25:48 Atonte, I think of Isaiah 30:21, something you've just said 25:51 earlier. In Isaiah 30:21 the Bible says here: 25:55 [text on the screen] 26:06 Christ says "I am going to direct you, in this 26:10 battle of faith, I'm going to direct you, I'm going to 26:13 speak to you. You're going to hear my voice and 26:15 I'm going to be able to direct you. " 26:17 Remember, we've got to see by faith and we've got to hear 26:20 by faith. 26:22 You remember that we've said in other programs that 26:24 the definition of witchcraft was "to whisper a spell". 26:26 Well, you know, the enemy is bombarding our minds with 26:30 all these voices from the video games and from the music 26:33 and from the media for one purpose only, 26:36 so that we will not here the voice of God directing us, 26:41 saying: "This is the way. Walk ye in it" 26:45 - Right. We have to many bombs and explosions going on 26:48 in our minds, that we cannot concentrate and focus 26:51 on hearing the voice of God. 26:53 - That's right. - And Satan thinks that he's 26:54 so clever. 26:55 That's why I feel that this program that we are doing 26:59 is so important, this whole series is so vital 27:02 and very important to understand 27:04 because hearing the voice of God is life to the Christian, 27:09 it gives spiritual life. 27:10 - That's right. And God tells us, in the book of Isaiah, 27:13 He says that it is quietness and rest that we shall be saved. 27:17 You see. And so, the devil says: 27:19 "I can't give these guys any time to be quiet. 27:21 I've got to bombard their minds and just 27:25 come at them and flash the Hollywood lights 27:27 and all these different things so that 27:29 their attention will decrease, they will not be able to hear 27:32 God's voice because too many voices are going on 27:34 in their minds and enduring this, they will not be able 27:38 to keep their imagination stayed on Him, 27:40 neither will they be able to hear His voice, 27:43 the Holy Spirit speaking to our hearts and 27:46 right now, I think that some of our listeners 27:49 are hearing the voice of God saying to them: 27:52 "You need to come closer to Me. You need to move these things 27:56 out of your life and allow Me to enter into your heart. " 27:59 And this is where the Lord wants us to go. 28:01 I hope you respond to His call. 28:03 - That's right. 28:04 Well, we're all out of time. We do thank you for 28:07 joining us. Please don't miss the next program. 28:10 Until then, God bless! |
Revised 2014-12-17