need to stay pure. Romans 13 states:
13 Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy.
14 But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.
There are many ways to stumble, but God provides us with the resources to overcome. Even though we will be tempted, He has promised to provide us a way of escape. When we are tempted and succomb to sin, we can confess our sins before Him and receive Christ's forgiveness. And, we can take preventive measures - protecting ourselves from the influences that would corrupt our spirits. The Bible instructs us to take every thought captive; and when the world negatively impacts our thinking, we can skillfully use God's Word to counter what the enemy would want to use to harm us spiritually.
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In Proverbs 4, we can read a passage that encourages us to protect our hearts:
23 Keep your heart with all diligence, For out of it spring the issues of life.
24 Put away from you a deceitful mouth, And put perverse lips far from you.
25 Let your eyes look straight ahead, And your eyelids look right before you.
26 Ponder the path of your feet, And let all your ways be established.
Perhaps you are aware of the previously contentious nature of the relationship between the VidAngel filtering service and various studios. VidAngel has re-launched after being shut down, after an "injunction was obtained" by Disney, Fox, and Warner - in the old system, according to the Deadline website, "VidAngel cracked the encryption on discs, then sold and repurchased the content in transactions with consumers who specified edits. In effect, the sale and re-purchase created a cheap, family-friendly rental of popular films..."
But, VidAngel is back with a workaround, a "revised streaming service," as Deadline describes it.
The story reports that according to Neal Harmon, head of VidAngel, the new services, for users, will "work in conjunction with their existing streaming options, though companies like Amazon and Netflix are not directly involved in a collaboration with the filtering service." Harmon says, “Under studio contracts with all of them, they are not allowed to authorize anyone to filter..." But, as the story points out, Harmon said, "VidAngel becomes a proxy for individuals who are permitted legally to filter content under the Family Movie Act."
So, parents have a new option to watch popular films and other content, but in a more family-friendly way. And, it's apparently necessary. The Parents Television Council has announced a survey in which it found a "majority of original streaming content was rated TV-MA (mature audiences only). On Netflix, 65% of original/exclusive TV programming is rated TV-MA, while 1% is rated G, and 8% rated PG."
The streaming industry is certainly changing, with competition continuing to emerge to industry king Netflix. Recently, according to The Hollywood Reporter, Disney announced "it will be pulling its movies from Netflix and will launch a Disney streaming service of its own in 2019. It also said it will launch an ESPN streaming service early next year."
Meanwhile, family-friendly and faith-based content is the staple of the Pure Flix streaming service, which has announced expansion of its orignial programming, according to a press release on StreamingMedia.com. The release says:
After launching the sitcom “Hitting The Breaks” last month, the company will follow that up this fall with “Hilton Head Island”, a soap opera featuring several well-known stars, and a comedic series, “Malibu Dan”. All will debut as PureFlix Original Series.
“There’s a clearly an appetite for original content in the streaming video world and we decided it was a hunger we needed to feed,” said Greg Gudorf, CEO of PureFlix.com. “Our efforts paid off; Our growing subscriber base gravitates toward original series that are new, fresh and can only be seen on our platform.”
The Pure Flix streaming service has launched seven new original series over the past two years, and according to the Washington Times, announced at the end of last year that it would team up with ClearPlay, described as a "streaming service that allows users to filter out inappropriate content only when using Google Play, according to a press release." Gudorf said, "Working with ClearPlay enables us to further fulfill our promise of no language, sex or violence surprises with our faith and family-focused content,” adding, “A portion of our customer base — who have very strict personal guidelines on what they deem appropriate — has spoken and we’ve listened.”
Other providers of online content to the faith community include ChristianCinema.com and the Dove Channel.
I want to concentrate today on the concept of filtering. We have to make so sure that we are cautious and conscientious about what we allow to take root in our minds. Our eyes and ears are the gateways, and while it is next to impossible to completely be free from exposure to ideas and images that do line up with God's standards, we have to make sure our internal filters are in place to protect our spirit from corruption.
And, of course, from an entertainment standpoint, a filtering service, or family movie channel, or utilizing review services such as Plugged In can help to protect our spirits.
There are areas in which we can build up ourselves, and I want to key in on three words:
A working knowledge of God's Word - His principles, can build a firewall against inappropriate, harmful content from polluting our minds. His living Word can enable us to reject what does not line up with His standards.
Also, a key to resisting temptation has to do with our position. We have to make sure to stay away, as much as possible from exposure to material is counterproductive to the Christian life. If we allow the enemy to influence us adversely, we soften our defenses and we desensitize ourselves to God's presence. There's the third thing. We have to build an awareness of the presence of God, allowing His Holy Spirit to direct us and to cleanse us. He enables us to stay pure in a world that is bent on pulling us away from wholehearted devotion to Christ.
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