The law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous and good…we know that the law is spiritual. –Romans 7:12, 14

Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! –Matthew 23:13

Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof. –2 Timothy 3:5 (KJV)

You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies. –John 8:44

Why do you break the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition? –Jesus in Matthew 15:3 (ESV)

Looking for a reason to bring charges against Jesus, they asked him, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?” –Matthew 12:10

Because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. –Revelation 3:16

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I believe that movies and TV are one of the main hindrances to personal heartfelt sanctification today. I don’t believe that owning a TV set is a sin like some people do, but I believe that profanity and sexuality, and occult-glorifying shows should be avoided, or modified, and filtered out by select cable channels, VidAngel, or ClearPlay. To not take an approach like this, at the very least, is to dull and even sear the conscience: “If your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness!” (Matt. 6:23). Mack Tomlinson’s In Light of Eternity, says that Leonard Ravenhill went almost his whole life without watching movies or TV shows, except for just one time when Keith Green pressed him to go and see Chariots of Fire. In his old age, I think he might have occasionally watched National Geographic specials and televangelists to get a sense of what the nation was hearing being preached out there. Such a restrictive attitude about TV might be considered “legalistic” by some, but practically all of the fundamentalist preachers have regarded him as the top revival statesman, and that’s saying quite a bit.

John W. Kennedy, The Torch of the Testimony.

Gilbert Tennent, “The Danger of an Unconverted Ministry.”

John Foxe, Foxe’s Book of Martyrs.

Donald Dayton, Theological Roots of Pentecostalism.

Randy Clark, ed. Power, Holiness and Evangelism (Destiny Image, 1999).

R. Loren Sandford, Purifying the Prophetic.

Francie Taylor, Ten Traps of Television (Sword of the Lord Publishers, 2003).

John R. Rice, What Is Wrong with the Movies? (Sword of the Lord Publishers, 1938).

J. C. Ryle, “Formalism.”