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September 2007
Volume 1, I ssue 1
PRI SONERS OF
H OPE
INSIDE THISISSUE
Editorial......................................1
What Would Jesus Do................2
Right Arm of the Third Angel\u2026..3
They Will Disbelieve the

Testimonies................................ 4 Lift up Your Heads.................... 4 Contact Details........................... 7

EDI TORI AL
Zech 912: Turn you to the strong hold, ye prisoners of hope: even today
do I declarethat I will render double unto thee;

What joy fills my soul when I read the promise given by our Lord in
the above verse. What delight courses through my veins to know that
my God offers deliverance to all that would come to Him in faith. What

gladness consumes me when I realise that Gods\u201f stronghold is Zion and
that it is a symbol of His salvation. What cheerfulness is introduced to
my life at the knowledge that He is Zion\u201fs defender. What unbridled
elation to know that by faith, I, a PRISONER OF HOPE, shall see Him
face to face when He shall return to claim His own!!

We, who look forward to His soon appearing in the clouds of the sky,
are all Prisoners of Hope. In seeking for a title for this humble offering
that we wish to render the chosen of God, the power of the imagery in-
troduced by the prophet Zechariah in relation to the children of Israel
who at that time were dispersed came to the fore. It classically de-
scribes many an aspect of our pilgrimage upon this earth and yet in-
spires us to remember that we have no abiding city here. We are truly
pilgrims and strangers in this land, trapped as it were in a prison from
which we know that the Author and Finisher of our faith shall come to
deliver us. We hold on to the hope that burns within our hearts and con-
stantly lift up our heads in the knowledge that our redemption draweth
nigh.

We pray that you will be blessed by the material that we will put to- gether on a monthly basis for you and that as the time when the earth shall be filled with the glory of God as the waters cover the sea draws nearer by the day, that we will be transformed daily into His likeness.

Nkomo NV
\u201cThough we were SDA, no-one ever told us not to go, and we were just
surface readers of the Word, so Phil 4:8, 9 meant nothing to us.\u201d
WHAT WOULD JESUS DO PART1...BY THANDI NKOMO
\u201cWe have nothing to fear for the future, except as we shall forget the way the Lord has led us and his teaching in
our past history." Ellen G. White, LS, 196. Our pioneers were very definite when it came to which amusements
were appropriate for God\u201fs people. They were definite for God Himself had told His prophet what He approved of

and what would lead us upwards. And of course in the beginning, we were all of one accord on the issue. It was as obvious to them as not eating pork is to us. So what happened? Why did we suddenly stop doing what Jesus would do? How did it happen?

The prophet of the Lord wrote \u201cAmong the most dangerous resorts for pleasure

is thet heat er. Instead of being a school of morality and virtue, as is so often
claimed, it is the very hot-bed of immorality. Vicious habits and sinful
propensities are strengthened and confirmed by these entertainments. Low songs
, lewd gestures, expressions, and attitudes, deprave the imagination and debase
the morals. Every youth who habitually attends such exhibitions will be
corrupted in principle. There is no influence in our land more powerful to
poison the imagination, to destroy religious impressions, and to blunt the relish
for the tranquil pleasures and sober realities of life, than theatrical amusements
The love for these scenes increases with every indulgence, as the desire for
intoxicating drink strengthens with its use. The only safe course is to shun
the theater, the circus, and every other questionable place of amusement.

\u2014Testimonies, Vol. 4, pp. 652, 653. (Emphasis Supplied)

That the theatre is a den of iniquity cannot be argued. Not only the movies, but the TV is a monster waiting to eat
up our morality, our purity and our time with God. Just thinking of it now makes me want to weep. It was bad
enough attending movies. Though we were SDA, no-one ever told us not to go, and we were just surface readers of

the Word, so Phil 4:8, 9 meant nothing to us. You didn\u201ft have to go to the movies and pay a lot for one ticket to see
impurity, evil, spiritualism-you just had to turn on the TV. You would find all the adultery and fornication you
wanted on sinful programmes like The Bold and the Beautiful. There was certainly nothing \u201epure, just, holy\u201f and
virtuous about such programming. And spirituality was rife (I\u201fm sure it still is.) People would return as ghosts,
there were series like Charmed where there were good(?) witches fighting together with good (?) demons against
the forces of evil. Of course these \u201egood\u201f witches did their fair share of bed-hopping and having illegitimate witchy
babies.
Now not all programmes were as obviously sinful. There was My Wife and Kids. I used to enjoy that programme
so much once I started becoming aware of others. It was (I thought) a good family programme. But Phil 4 tells us
\u201ewhatsoever things are TRUE.\u201d And the events certainly weren\u201ft true. Then there was the changing boyfriends and
girlfriends\u2026The problems in this programme were brought to my attention by a THREE year old, can you believe
it? This child was raised to watch only good programmes and the parents were quite vigilant with what she and her
older sister watched. We were all watching TV one day and My Wife and Kids was on, the son had a girlfriend and
they kissed and the little 3 year old days \u201cMummy, switch it off, that boy kissed that girl and they\u201fre not married.\u201d
That was a rebuke from heaven and her mother did switch it off! (in real life that same \u201eboy\u201f ended up making his
girlfriend pregnant..! Pure indeed!)
2
3
But why is it that no-one ever taught us young people not to watch movies and to be extremely selective about what we watch
on TV? What was the history behind this decline in standards? After all we have the testimony of EGW that we weren\u201ft to ex-
pose ourselves to such?
We began by heeding her counsel as given by God. (Comments in brackets are the au-
thor\u201fs)
1881 - Battle Creek Sanitarium: Autumn Council, held recently in Des Moines, Iowa.
Recognizing the need of lifting up a standard against every influence that threatens the
life and well-being of the church (these days we ourselves are bringing in the threaten-
ing influences); and,
WHEREAS, The moving-picture or other theaters are becoming more and more a
menace to morality and destructive of spirituality, in many cases leading to a false and
lowered standard of life (how many movies, comedies have I seen that contain sex with someone not their spouse?); therefore,
Resolved, That this Council declares its emphatic disapproval of attending moving-picture theaters and other questionable
places of amusement, and calls upon our workers, church officers, and lay members, young and old, to refrain from this evil
practice.
Realizing that we are living in the last days, when men are \u201clovers of pleasures more than lovers of God,\u201d (are we willing to
forgo that pleasure if it means losing our spirituality?)
Resolved, That we warn our people against the spirit of this pleasure-loving age, and the commercialized amusements so
prevalent.
Francis M. Wilcox wisely stated.\u201dWe can never save our youth and children by arranging programs in our institutions or
churches which make constant appeal to their love of entertainment. Indeed, where this appeal is continually made to their na-
tures, they will lose interest in the solemn, sober realties of Christian service. They will tire of the meeting for prayer, of the
preaching of the gospel, of the study of the Sabbath school lesson.\u201d\u2026\u2026\u2026.To be continued
RI GHT ARM OF THE THI RD ANGEL
We are to present the principles of health reform before the people, doing all in our power to lead men and women to see the neces-
sity of these principles, and to practice them."Testi moni es, vol. 6, 379.
"The question of health reform is not agitated as it must and will be." Counsels on Diet and Foods, 304.
"A responsibility to spread the knowledge of hygienic principles rests upon all who have enjoyed the
benefits of health reform." The Home Missionary, July 1, 1892.
"We are amid the closing scenes of this world\u201fs history, and there should be harmonious action in the
ranks of Sabbathkeepers. Those who stand aloof from the great work of instructing the people upon
this question do not follow where the Great Physician leads the way. \u201eIf any man will come after
Me,\u201f Christ said, \u201elet him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.\u201f Matthew 16:24."
Testimonies, vol. 6, 378.
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