Christians have a tough struggle today. How can a Christian go out and enjoy entertainment of the day and still remain Bible Based Christians? America is in need of more Christian Movies.

Today Christians fight a tough battle if you want to enjoy cinema or movies, but there is something that we as a family take very seriously. How can a Christian watch a movie in good conscience, if that movie uses God's name in a vulgar fashion?

In the Old Testament it began with the Ten Commandments, Exodus 20: 7 Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain. and is reinforced by Jesus in the Lord's Prayer. In the Lords Prayer, (Matt 6:9-14), the very first petition Jesus makes is, Hallowed be Thy Name. Hallowed means to set apart as Holy, to respect or revere, to keep with reverence. How can you sit in a Theater or watch a movie on cable TV that uses God's name in a gutteral or vulgar fashion, with a clear conscience? It is easy to say, "I'm not the one saying it, I'm just listening to it!" It goes beyond that, you are tolerating it and allowing it to be a part of what you are calling entertainment, which is probably worse than if it were being used in anger. OK, how about the recently past slogan, "What Would Jesus Do?" I can't imagine that Jesus would sit down in a theater and hear his Fathers name being used accursedly, and consider that as enjoyable entertainment. In fact, it probably rips his heart out every time someone uses God's name that way. I cannot imagine that Jesus would do anything else, than to get up and walk out of the theater, (he may ask for a refund on his ticket and make it known why he refuses to sit through the rest of the movie though, and if enough people would do exactly that, unHolywood might change their script policies.)

Now let's take this one step further... in the verse John 6:56 Jesus says, "He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him." If you are a Christian, and you believe Jesus dwells within you, then the first time He hears his Fathers name used in filth, and He gets up and walks out, but you stick around and watch the rest of the movie because you are already, "Into it", then when the movie is over, do you leave alone?

I think one of the best movies I have seen that captures the moment of just this type of abuse of God's name is a Christian movie called Time Changer where a man comes into the future, (today), from a time period roughly 100 years ago before movies were invented. The man was a Seminary student, and he comes screaming out of the theater telling the workers there that they must stop the movie immediately. You see, 100 years ago before movies, people were not made callous over things like that, and many people being more prudent as they were back then, would have been highly offended by this type of blatant use of the God they love. What was right and wrong 100 years ago is still right and wrong today, God established it and God hasn't changed - man has changed.

I know if you look for areas in your life that you can improve on like your entertainment choices, your Christian walk will strengthen, I know ours has. Satan is in control of this world, and he uses every little edge he can to to weaken our walk with Christ, and once he breaks into our weakness he attacks full force to deceive us.

For a list of places where you can purchase Christian Movies and movies that have been cleaned up for Family viewing. Visit my recommended movie section. Dan Dunkin

* The Holy Bible : King James Version. 1995 (Ex 20:7). Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.