Steve Lillis
Steve Lillis:
Music is a very powerful medium and affects the mind, heart, and soul of individuals. Unfortunately like the game of pool it can be misused and misunderstood! The volume and beat of a song is not near as important as the message! People even in the Christian church have argued over music for 2,000 thousand years! In pool rooms it is no different! Some of the music being played today is obviously hateful, obnoxious, and down right evil in my opinion! If the message portrays violence, hatred, illicit sex, and the like it stands against the Word of God and against what the Lord Jesus taught us! However, we as believers are called in the Great Commission to be in the world but not of it! Jesus was accused of being a friend of sinners. We also are chosen to be salt and light to the world! Each Christian pool player will have to decide if God wants them to be around an environment which goes against their soul! I have chosen at times to be in those pool playing negative musical environments as the Lord leads to represent the Kingdom of God! May the Lord Jesus guide you as well as you play for his glory!
Psalm 33:3 ” Play skillfully with a shout of joy!”
Tom Rossman
Tom Rossman:
Pool rooms and bars today are exposed to an untold number of musical selections because the technology of “playing them” has expanded to the vast internet access resources available to the listening public. Nothing appears sacred in music anymore.
This exposes patrons to not only wholesome, uplifting, and clean tunes of the past and present, but also the “dark side” of musical temptations, bad language, and suggestive imagery.
In addition, loud decibel levels of music make it almost impossible to tune out the “negativity of musical inclusion” when chosen by someone. I believe the options are very limited to a person that finds themselves in that type of environment as he or she becomes audibly uncomfortable.
One can leave the venue or one can ask the owner to “turn” the music down. I have found that these two options often miss an opportunity of personal witness. Let me explain:
On Tuesdays I go to a billiard room in Indianapolis to enjoy special fellowship time around the carom table with my 3-cushion buddies. Several months ago, it happened — the music started to blare with some of the most “uncomfortable” lyrics my friends and I thought impossible. It continued and seemed to get worse as the minutes passed.
Then…something else suddenly happened! Heavenly music filled the air. The musical storehouse in cyberspace released an array of songs with lyrics of praise to bring a calm but joyful sound to the room. Patrons started to hum (even sing) and experience a comfort to their recreational time. The former musical darkness went dormant, as the uplifting music started to “share the light” of Jesus.
How did this happen? A pool-playing friend of mine had contributed several dollars to the internet jukebox to let the “light” overcome the darkness. And it did…
When Amazing Grace came across the room’s “loud” speakers you could almost sense the Holy Spirit controlling the airways to touch the hearts of those who had played the original “dark” music.
No one complained and everyone enjoyed the “sweet sounds” of God’s music for over an hour. Playing Skillfully with a Shout of Joy (Psalms 33:3) became a peaceful experience as the Game of the Heart (Jesus focused) took center stage!
Lyrics from Amazing Grace stanza:
Amazing grace! how sweet the sound,
That saved a wretch; like me!
I once was lost, but now am found,
Was blind, but now I see.
Try this option the next time you find yourself in an environment of darkness and watch the light of Jesus remove the stumbling before you!
Blessings and sweet music to ALL…
Tom “Dr. Cue” Rossman
Tommy Kennedy:
I hate most of the music they play. It is mostly cursing and swearing and taking The Lord’s name in vain. I don’t know how people listen to this garbage on a daily basis. It’s always really loud and to me abusive. If the music could be done away with, I would enjoy going to pool rooms. It is just unbearable!!! It makes me sick to my stomach! But don’t forget, this is Satan’s world for now and he is the prince of the power of the air, the spirit now working in the children of disobedience! So we can’t expect anything else from Satan’s children!!! What’s amazing to me is the people that go into the pool rooms aren’t even phased by the horrible music. It’s like they are so insensitive to it and they are so controlled by Satan to one degree or another. I have never heard anyone complain at all about the trash they are listening to!!! Tommy
Mike Massey
Mike Massey:
Music is one of the most powerful influences of the soul and to the soul.
First of all, born-again Christians realize that we don’t wrestle with flesh and blood, we wrestle with the powers of darkness, Satan, and his demons. Satan was defeated at the cross, and him and his angels know that a time is coming that they will be totally helpless and not be able to tempt and use humans for their evil desires. Until that time, however, he will try everything he can to keep people under bondage, and as slaves to their carnal desires of lust, gluttony, fornication, and vain glory.
Carnal desires are okay when they are controlled for the right reasons. We, of course, need to eat and have a sexual relationship with our wife or husband. And using our natural talents to glorify God is a good thing as long as we are not boasting about how great we are.
Hell is made for Satan, his angels, and false prophets. Until a person is born again, he’s like a puppet on a string, trying to satisfy his soul with these canal desires. But it doesn’t matter how hard he tries, he can never fill that void and overcome without the help of the Holy Spirit. It doesn’t matter how successful he becomes, or how many relationships he has, there’s never enough.
Getting back to the music; most of the music that is played in the sports bars and pool rooms is about partying, drinking, illicit sex, etc. When I say “illicit” I’m sure born-again Christians know what I’m talking about. It’s very plain what the bible says about sex: it’s for a married man and woman to have children, and for their pleasure, and for them to be together often so they are not tempted. Anything outside of that is sin, and the wages of sin is death.
Hearing is one of the gateways to your soul, so if the music is about drinking, sex, or even human sorrow that causes self-pity, or guilt, it will definitely influence your soul unless you have the full armor of God by walking in the spirit. But even then, you must be careful that the spirit is not so grieved that you want to lay down and die.
Some of the music is from Satan worshipers, knowingly or not knowing, that they are blurting out the anger and filth that is in their soul. And if you agree with this trash, it will get in you and try to influence you to do the gross things they are blurting out.
That’s how the demons work to try and use us. When a person is in an environment that’s saturated with the rap music of “F” this “F” that, and all the TVs are going at the same time, he is subject to be possessed by demons who are trying to overtake his will, especially if he is drinking and taking drugs.
I believe that is the main reason for all the shootings that have happened over the years. Before I learned how to pray and resist Satan, I could have easily destroyed the whole world. I was drugged with LSD and was like an animal crawling around in the woods, not knowing what I was. Anything I thought of, I became. And it lasted for years. I still get attacks from the enemy and I want to fight him with my fists. And, of course, I lose. But when I fall into the hands of my Savior, and truly call upon Him, Satan and his demons run because they can’t stand to be in His presence.
No one could hurt Jesus before the cross. Just like he said: “You’re not taking my life, I’m laying my life down.” And he did it for you and me.
I’m not using the drug incident as an excuse, because I was a horrible sinner even before that. I still battle all the temptations that I mentioned above, and will until the day I die and go to be with Him from glory to glory.
The bible says to resist the temptation and draw close to God. If you let God fight the battle, the Devil and his demons must flee. Ask God the Father to give you the Holy Spirit that will comfort you and guide you through this evil, fallen world into His world of eternal joy. As a Christian we get glimpses of that life when we walk after the spirit rather than the flesh, and that’s what keeps us going in this world.
Music can also be a way of worshiping the true God that created the heavens and earth if we do it in truth and spirit. Or it can be a story about what God has done in your life through Jesus. The reason I said “through Jesus” is because he said, “I’m the way, and no one gets to the Father except through Me.” King Saul was tormented by demons because he was Jealous of David, but he would still have David come and play the harp to drive them away.
Jesus came in the flesh to teach us how to live, but his main purpose was to die on the cross and shed his blood for us. If he hadn’t done that, no one would have a chance to be saved from eternal damnation. But since he did, we all have a chance by repenting of our sins (evil ways) and believing and accepting the free gift of salvation for what he did and not by our own good works. It’s free. You can’t earn it, and you don’t have to.
I know it’s expensive to operate a billiard room, and difficult, because of the overhead. I wish that some billionaire Christian would open a chain of billiard rooms, with no alcohol and no music for Christians to go to and play and fellowship, and also offer some healthy food and good books that teach the true word of God. I’m sure that idea wouldn’t be a money maker, but it would be a great service for Christians who like pool and don’t want their children corrupted by the filthy language, music, and gambling that is going on in most pool rooms today.
I’ve traveled to every continent except Antarctica, and it’s the same way anywhere you go. This whole world seems to be becoming like Sodom and Gomorrah. The bible says in the last days what seems right will be wrong, and what seems wrong will be right. But this world will be destroyed by fire, to burn up all the things that we’ve created that are an abomination to a holy God. The Earth is like a bad apple in the universe, but it still belongs to God. No one knows the date or time, but it will happen and there will be a new heaven and earth, and all tears will be wiped away with no more pain and suffering.
That’s what the believers who have truly accepted Jesus have to look forward to.
