D17 Social Media Enchantment

17.1 The Invitation

Being glued to our I-Phone has robbed us (human beings) of interacting and getting to know and share our short but challenging life’s journey with others in our society. We need to be aware of the problems that we are creating by going with the flow where ignorance is bliss. (Undoubtedly, we have been schooled (brain washed) on the Darwinian theory of evolution that stymied raising any doubt about its veracity.) It portends of a calamitous social crisis connected with the mass communication media, using digital devices (I-Phone especially), to enchant (mesmerize) with the control of our mind being the primary agenda.

This discovery trip, D17 Social Media Enchantment, is most necessary at a time when face-to-face interaction is being compromised with everyone turning their attention to the I-Phone, be it at home, commuting in trains, etc. We will be learning about this trendy mode of behavior in assessing its impact on our lives and the consequences if we choose not to respond to the warning that has been foretold in Bible prophecy.    This trip attempts to give an adequate coverage in providing a big picture to drive away our ignorance and to wake us up to take notice and make sound decision for the good of all before it is too late to change.

CONTENTS  

17. The Invitation; 17.1. D17 Discovery Overview ; 17.1.1 Social Media; 17.1.1.1 Social Media History; 17.1.1.2 Social Media Addiction; 17.1.1.2.1 Mind Control Act: Enchantment; 17.1.1.2.1.1The Provider’s Agenda; 17.1.1.2.1.2 Dismantling of Social Fabric; 17.1.1.3 Time Compression and Instant Gratification Era; 17.1.1.4 Media Impact Assessment; 17.1.1.4.1 Cross-Population Addiction Evidence; 17.1.1.4.1 The Brain: Frontal Lobe and Limbic System; 17.1.1.4.1.1 Hypnotic Effect of Media Entertainment; 17.1.1.4.1.2 Video Gaming; 17.1.1.4.1.3 Damaging Impact of TV Viewing; 17.1.1.4.1.4 Mass Manipulation Tools; 17.1.1.4.1.4.1 The Cinema; 17.1.1.4.1.4.2 Propaganda; 17.1.1.4.1.4.3 The Music Industry; 17.1.1.4.1.4.4. Hollywood Producers; 17.1.1.4.1.4.5 Video Games; 17.1.1.4.1.4.5.1 Gamers Counterfeit Reality; 17.1.1.4.1.4.5.1.1 Game Transfer Phenomenon; 17.1.1.4.1.4.5.1.2 The Pleasure Trap; 17.1.1.4.1.4.6 Sports Watching; 17.1.1.4.1.4.7 Social Networking: Texting & Multitasking; 17.1.1.4.1.4.7.1 The Remedy-One Month Media Fast; 17.1.1.4.1.4.7.1.1 Treatment for Social Media Addiction;17.1.1.4.2 The Media on the Brain Seminar; 17.1.1.5 The Millennials; 17.1.2 The Mass Media Impact on Society; 17.1.2.1 Satan’s Deceptive Strategy via Media; 17.1.2.1.1 Manifestation of Demonic Influence; 17.1.2.1.2 The Elixir (Cure) for Deception;

 (YouTube video clips to watch for people who would rather watch instead of reading:

1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GufhzLSmqMs&list=PLf1bpn-7xFz5EqGNDHcF2NufOhVjRrTCb  (10:25)- How Your Brain Is Getting Hacked (This will change everything you know 2018-2019), by  Video Advice; Published on Feb 22, 2018:
2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQRFkn0Ly3A (1:21:05)- Media on the Brain - Mini Seminar; Scott Ritsema; Published on Oct 7, 2013;)

17.1. D17 Discovery Overview

1. Social Media, in particular smartphone, is an extension and explosion of traditional word of mouth networks. It is causing a noticeable detrimental cultural shift on many aspects of life including relationships, work and academic achievement. Social Media is on the verge of becoming the “opiate for the masses.” Social media was originally created as a networking tool, but has become so much more.

2. Recent study says that social media use for a minority of individuals is associated with a number of other psychological problems as well, including anxiety, depression, loneliness and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Most people’s social media use is habitual enough that it spills over into other areas of their lives. It results in behavior that is problematic and dangerous, such as checking social media while driving. The constant need to click refresh allows little time for physical interaction.

3. Social media is an enchantment, literally casting a magic spell on the user. Their addiction means spending increasing amount of time online to produce the same pleasurable effect, and it means social media is the main activity they engage in above all others. It also means taking away attention from other tasks, experiencing unpleasant feelings from reducing or stopping interaction with social media and restarting the activity very soon after stopping completely. It is the providers’ agenda to use social media in an additive fashion to maximize profits. Their strategy to consume your time and conscious attention as much as possible is to give you a little dopamine hit every once in a while. However, the medical community has yet to classify social media as addictive like alcohol or gambling.

4. The concept of instant gratification was set in the 40s and 50s with instant photography, microwave cooking, fast food and the commercial jetliner. Time Compression in the 80s was ignited by a new set of phenomena, including the fax machine, FedEx, voicemail and the personal computer. All contributed to more efficient communication, a cornerstone of the acceleration process. The internet facilitated access to the explosion of information at the fingertip and people are running out of time to keep up. They are working longer hours and have shorter vacation break and time is now considered more valuable than money.

5. “Media Impact Assessment” encompasses a watchman’s role of monitoring the impact media has on society and the environment.  Media covers all the areas of mass communication in the entertainment industry, social networking, advertising, marketing and broadcasting. An example of this impact study is conducted by one man only (which by no means is perfect or ideal) to illustrate how important this type of study is for the wellbeing of humanity. This is merely outlining highlights of the full 6-DVD seminar series “Media on the Brain” (+7 hours) by Scott Ritsema.

6. Mass media is a powerful and dangerous manipulative tool of the aristocratic elites to manage and control society was practiced by Bertrand Russell. Russell’s education is through diet, injections and injunctions to produce character that it would be impossible for them to rebel. He also recognized that the most important of all the modern agents of propaganda is the cinema, the precursor to TV, cinema in every home.

7. One remedy to social media addiction is the one month media fast by the whole family living without TV, internet, and I-phone, but replacing the free time with family activities. At the Center for Internet Addiction and Recovery, those who are addicted to social media must follow a few initial changes in their use. First, they must admit that they have a problem. Treatment and recovery doesn’t work unless the addict is no longer in denial. The goal of treatment for this type of addiction, unlike for many other addictions, should be controlled use rather than abstinence.

8. The Millennials (also known as Generation Y), born between 1984 and 2005, have embraced the digital age, using technology to relax and interact with others. Social media is a big deal for them; it is a lifeline to the outside world.  Millennials is the term coined in 1987 by two authors William Strauss and Neil Howe who wrote about the cohort born in 1982 which the media identifies as their prospective link to the new millennium as the high school graduating class of 2000. The critical mass of data showing that millennials differ from previous generations in, for example, living situations, religious beliefs, sexual behaviors, attitudes toward work-life balance and support for same-sex marriage.  Significantly, a 2018 report from Pew Research Centera defines  Millennials as those born from 1981-1996 (open to date recalibration), choosing these dates for "key political, economic and social factors", including September 11th terrorist attacks. This range makes Millennials 5-20 years old at the time of the attacks so "old enough to comprehend the historical significance". In the context of eschatology and Bible prophecy timeline, it is most apt with the next cohort being Gen Z (last-in-line))alluding to the end generation of world history.

9. Mass communication via digital technology is a device of Satan in the last days. It was by the display of supernatural power, in making the serpent his medium, that Satan caused the fall of Adam and Eve in Eden. Before the close of time he will work still greater wonders. So far as his power extends, he will perform actual miracles.

10. It is imperative to learn and discern about how Satan by his falsehood had emboldened men in sin and to know of the remedy in having the mind of Christ. Satan was seeking to shut out from men a knowledge of God, to turn their attention from the temple of God, and to establish his own kingdom. His strife for supremacy had seemed to be almost wholly successful as is apparent in social media enchantment. Satan and his demons exercise a subtle influence over the world such that through demonic deception, the majority of people alive today and throughout history will be going to eternal death. The influence is subtle in that few people in the world really believe demonic influence is taking place. The results are not subtle at all; as we look around the world, we can see the high human cost of demonic control. It is by knowing how to diagnose the cause (in discerning the deception) that the prescribed divine remedy that was provided in the fullness of time would be willingly accepted. So it is important then to be able to see the earmarks of Satan's more subtle working in this world, such as in the Entertainment industry ( music, Hollywood) , yoga, Eastern martial arts, and Eastern meditation.  

11. The Bible is the elixir for deception! It alone can free us from deception’s power and influence. The Saviour said, "Except a man be born from above," unless he shall receive a new heart, new desires, purposes, and motives, leading to a new life, "he cannot see the kingdom of God." John 3:3. The idea that it is necessary only to develop the good that exists in man by nature, is a fatal deception. "The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned." Of Christ it is written, "In Him was life; and the life was the light of men"--the only "name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved." John 1:4; Acts 4:12. 

D17 Social Media Enchantment

17.1.1 Social Media

(Here are some facts taken from “Social Media – History and Components” by Sajithra K, and Dr. Rajindra Patil.- (Social Media Overview (IOSR Journal of Business and Management (IOSR-JBM) ISSN: 2278-487X. Volume 7, Issue 1 (Jan. - Feb. 2013), PP 69-74 www.iosrjournals.org))

Social Media is an extension and explosion of traditional word of mouth networks. Word of mouth has always been the most effective and trust worthy means of disseminating information. With the enablement of technology, anybody with an internet access and has an opinion can be part of social media. This cultural shift is a force to reckon with for companies.

There were more than 500 million active users on Facebook, 70 percent outside the United States in 2010. By March 2010, more than 10 billion messages, or Tweets, had been sent through Twitter since its launch in 2006. By July, that number had doubled to 20 billion. 50 percent of the total online population visited a social networking site in February 2010 in the Asia-Pacific region,, reaching a total of 240.3 million visitors.3

Social Media is conversation online and cannot be ignored since the customers, investors, critics, fans and competition are conversing in a medium that can be easily manipulated!

17.1.1.1 Social Media History

The introduction of Email (in late 1971) marked the beginning to the much more collaborative social media years later. At the beginning of the 90s, internet access was not completely accessible to the public. This situation changed when Private internet service providers (ISPs) began to start operations in the United States around 1994 or 1995. This gave millions of home users the chance to experience it. The other reason for the initial euphoria was the fact that the content was absolutely free other than the data usage paid to the internet companies. The modern blog evolved from the online diary. Justin Hall, who began personal blogging in 1994 is generally recognized as one of the earliest bloggers. From 2005 onwards, the term Web 2.0 is commonly associated with web applications that facilitate interactive information sharing, interoperability, user-centered design, and collaboration on the World Wide Web. A Web 2.0 site gives its users the free choice to interact or collaborate with each other in a social media dialogue as creators (prosumer) of user-generated content in a virtual community, in contrast to websites where users (consumer) are limited to the passive viewing of content that was created for them. Examples of Web 2.0 include social-networking sites, blogs, wikis, video-sharing sites, hosted services, web applications, mashups and folksonomies.

17.1.1.2 Social Media Addiction

In today’s society, we are addicted to our phones ( mobile device), computers, tablets and other technological devices. (This cannot be denied as we see it all around us wherever we are.) We spend too much time on our devices checking social media pages and it can really take a toll not just on yourself, but the relationships you have. By having almost the entire world attached to their phones through social media, it can take a toll on romantic, personal and professional relationships. The constant need to click refresh allows little time for physical interaction.

In the past few years, social media has become one of the most powerful tools of technology. With power comes great responsibility, but there aren’t always positives to power. Social media was originally created as a networking tool, but has become so much more.

People across the world can connect through small screens with the use of the internet and social media sites, such as Facebook and Twitter. Sure, that may sound great and all, but being able to connect to over a billion people through a screen can become addicting and overwhelming. The constant checking of social media can actually drive you insane.

It’s crazy to think that a form of technology could be as addicting, in a sense, as a drug.

(Researchers at Chicago University concluded that social media addiction can be stronger than addiction to cigarettes and booze following an experiment in which they recorded the cravings of several hundred people for several weeks. Media cravings ranked ahead of cravings for cigarettes and alcohol.

And at Harvard University, researchers actually hooked people up to functional MRI machines to scan their brains and see what happens when they talk about themselves, which is a key part of what people do in social media. They found that self-disclosure communication stimulates the brain's pleasure centers much like sex and food do.

Plenty of clinicians have observed symptoms of anxiety, depression and some psychological disorders in people who spend too much time online, but little hard evidence has been found proving that social media or Internet use caused the symptoms. There's a similar lack of data about social networking addiction.- https://www.lifewire.com/what-is-social-networking-addiction-2655246 )

(Note:  Now, I (the writer of one article) cringe at the thought of communication and human interaction, which is difficult when you are working in the media industry. Is social media to blame for my decline of communication skills? Hard to say, but I can tell you this, before I became obsessed with social media, I could give an oral presentation without any struggle and could lead a group with no fear. (From disuse communication and human interaction skills morphed and speaking up and giving oral presentation becomes a fearful task) )

We are social beings that thrive on fellowship, not isolation. When disunited in the physical sense, we are more vulnerable to be intimated without peer support and someone proven trustworthy and reliable to turn to. The I-phone is the instant someone to rely on, the only means of staying connected with life even by messaging without face-to-face interaction.  

The word “addiction” brings to mind alcohol and drugs. Yet, over the past 20 years, a new type of addiction has emerged: addiction to social media. It may not cause physical harms, such as those caused by tobacco and alcohol, but it has the potential to cause long-term damage to our emotions, behaviour and relationships that is rooted in losing control of our mind to an external  invisible entity that wants to control and destroy.

While the older generation – those born in the baby boom period shortly after World War II – had alcohol and drugs as their vice, the younger generation – the so-called millennials* – have social media as theirs. The millennials, born between 1984 and 2005, have embraced the digital age, using technology to relax and interact with others. Social media is a big deal for them; it is a lifeline to the outside world. - http://theconversation.com/social-media-is-as-harmful-as-alcohol-and-drugs-for-millennials-78418 ( *Note- see para  17.1.1.5 The Millennials)

The harm lies in their change in behaviour. Their addiction means spending increasing amount of time online to produce the same pleasurable effect, and it means social media is the main activity they engage in above all others. It also means taking away attention from other tasks, experiencing unpleasant feelings from reducing or stopping interaction with social media and restarting the activity very soon after stopping completely.

17.1.1.2.1 Mind Control Act: Enchantment

(Watch https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GufhzLSmqMs&list=PLf1bpn-7xFz5EqGNDHcF2NufOhVjRrTCb  (10:25)- How Your Brain Is Getting Hacked (This will change everything you know 2018-2019), by  Video Advice; Published on Feb 22, 2018 )

Enchantment can be defined as  a feeling of great pleasure; a magic spell or act of witchcraft ;and also great charm or fascination  (Collins English Dictionary). Associated with  magic spell and witchcraft is: sorcery, wizardry, necromancy, conjuration; hypnotism, mesmerism; occultism, voodoo, the black arts; charms, spells, incantations; mojo; rarespellworking, sortilege, thaumaturgy, theurgy. This is the context that is referred to here in social media addiction /enchantment.

However, the secular world of business takes the opposite view, the positive side, through their champions. In a recent HubSpot webinar, social media fanatic Guy Kawasaki talked with attendees about the value of social media enchantment, “a process of creating a relationship with people that is deep and delightful, mutually beneficial, and also voluntary.” To him, the process of enchantment is not about manipulating people. Enchantment transforms situations and relationships. It con­verts hostility into civility and civility into affinity. It changes skeptics and cynics into believers and the undecided into the loyal. His book, “Enchantment” is being equated with “How to Win Friends and Influence People” (Dale Carnegie) and  “Influence” (Bob Cialdini) meets the Internet and social media. (Isaiah says “Woe unto them that call evil good and good evil (Isa 5:20) Many Hollywood stars attained fame and fortune by selling their souls to the devil - see  http://www.discoverylifediy.com/438811439 - D15 Discovery Trip into Modern Day Spiritualism, par 15.2.2.2.2 The Entertainer’s Power- Actor Robin Williams; Oprah Winfrey; Michael Landen)

Social Media Addiction is not a formal clinical diagnosis, it is fair to say that many people spend far too much time on social media and may at the very least describe themselves as being “obsessed”, if not addicted. In recent years the mental health community has become increasingly interested in the impact that modern technology has on our lives – both positive and negative. On the positive side, technologies such as Skype, Instagram, and Facebook allow us to stay in contact with family and friends on the other side of the planet. Yet, unfortunately, people spend hours every day updating their status, uploading pictures, commenting on walls, playing Facebook games, reading updates from others, and searching for new friends to add.

17.1.1.2.1.1The Provider’s Agenda

Attention engineers in the gaming industry are employed by moneyed business corporation to use social media in an addictive fashion to maximize profit. Their strategy to consume your time and conscious attention as much as possible is to give you a little dopamine hit every once in a while (social validation  exploiting vulnerability in human psychology.) The inventors in Instagram know this. In the attention economy with the explosion of information people don’t read anymore because there is no time as they find it hard to tear away from their I-phone. All the media people know this and know what they were doing. More than 2 billion users spend about 50 min per day on its apps. It immediately changes your relationship with society, with each other while the medical community has yet to classify social media as addictive like alcohol or gambling.

One recent study found that participants who appeared to use social media most compulsively show changes in part of the brain that controls impulse. It is a tool we should use it and not let it control us. God has blessed us with free will. Now is free will magnified – freewill on steroids. You’re free to go in any direction you want. It will allow you to and it’s not the enemy. It’s just a reflection of our own free will (we all want to be liked) but now we want to be liked by sixteen million and for some of us will do anything to be liked. We used to do that to the person in front of us that we like. Now it is to be liked by sixteen million people that you don’t know. We have to ask ourselves what is in the long term if it is not for the short term effect of too much information? People like to share after all we are social animals. But somehow the age of social media has got us sharing more and more no matter how uninteresting it might be. Even though we know that every post gives marketers more and more information about us.  So why do we do it?  And could we stop ourselves even if we try?

17.1.1.2.1.2 Dismantling of Social Fabric

We have created tools that are ripping apart the social fabric of how society works, that Is truly where we are. Future leaders of the world are encouraged to really internalize how important this is. If you feed the beast, that beast will destroy you. If you push back on it we have a chance to control it and rein it in and It is a point in time when people need to hard break from some of these tools and the thing you rely on.  The short term dopamine driven feedback loops that we have created are destroying how society works. No civil discourse, no cooperation, misinformation. And it’s not an American problem It’s a global problem. (For honest government whose elected leaders truly are dedicated to serve and care for their fellow citizen, great attention should be invested in watching and monitoring the ongoing social impact assessment  when Investing in emerging industries like Artificial Intelligence, FinTech and bio-science. For a start there should be a watchdog committee on the smartphone addiction and measures to check it. – See par 17.1.1.4 Media Impact Assessment.)

Today wherever we go were inevitably surrounded by fellow citizens staring into their smartphones as we are too. The goal is to keep us on our devices longer.  Because company whose business model is advertising or in engagement based advertising  (care about the amount of time that someone spends on the product  means more money the more time people spent. So they throw different persuasive techniques to get people to spend as long as possible and to come back tomorrow.

Chamath Palihapitiya ( former longest tenured originator of Facebook) : Social Media is “Ripping Apart” Society said: “Today we live in a world now where it is easy to confuse truth and popularity. You can use money to amplify whatever you believe and get people to believe that what is popular is now truthful and what is not popular is not truthful. The reality is, now I can take money and use it through all these social media systems that exist to hundreds of millions of people and I can convince all of them of my opinion in a very subtle small ways to a friend  and he can do the same to me on vaccines, gay rights, bathroom laws, etc.  So how do we live in a world where this is now possible?  Similarly how do we prevent the system form delivering fake news? The majority of news items in Facebook were fakes. There is the myth that technology is useful and that it is up to us to choose how to use it. These platforms are not responsible. It is not true because they need to get as much attention as possible. If something is sensational, they have to show you this to get more attention.  What all of these systems do are to exploit our own natural tendencies in human beings to get and want feedback and that feedback is chemically speaking the release of dopamine in your brain. These feedback loops exist everywhere in all the video games, in “Call of Duty”, and social network sites. They get you to react. If you get too desensitize then you need it over and over again and you become actually detached from the world in which you live and you live in front of your screen. “

17.1.1.3 Time Compression and Instant Gratification Era

(https://ubercool.com/time-compression/ Time Compression by Michael Tchong, May 28, 2017)

The 40s and 50s had ushered in such accelerants as instant photography, microwave cooking, fast food and the commercial jetliner, introduced America to the concept of instant gratification and usher in a new lifestyle. Time Compression in the 80s was ignited by a new set of phenomena, including the fax machine, FedEx, voicemail and the personal computer. All contributed to more efficient communication, a cornerstone of the acceleration process.

The advent of voicemail, in particular, changed the role of secretaries, forcing managers to fend for themselves. That meant forgoing that two-martini lunch, which had become a staple of doing business during the 70s, and which was usually followed by a blizzard of “While you were out” pink message slips.

E-mail, the increasingly popular mobile phone and the surge of the Internet in the 90s further served to mainstream Time Compression. By 1996, 59% of Americans described themselves as busy, with 19% reporting that they were “painfully” busy, according to an NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll.

Meanwhile the blizzard of information that crossed every worker’s desk increased exponentially, driven in large part by the Internet, leading to a new stress: “information anxiety,” a syndrome that two-thirds of global managers suffered from in October 1996, according to Reuters.

Multitasking, a distinctive by-product of Time Compression, has quickly grown into a mandatory skill set. In 2004, columnist P.J. Bernanski noted first seeing “good at multi-tasking” mentioned on resumés.

A survey by employment firm Hudson, cited in a May 21, 2007 BusinessWeek article, found that more than half of U.S. workers fail to take all their vacation days, with 30% saying they use less than half their allotted time, and another 20% taking only a few days instead of a week or two. Most Americans no longer have time to devote to traditional leisure activities and work much longer hours per week than before.

Consumers value their time spent in shopping and see value in online order.  Besides  it will become increasingly difficult in a busier future to justify most shopping trips. As consumers pack ever more activities into their busy, multitasking days, they’re sleeping less.

With time now considered more valuable than money, our state of mind has become a state of time. That time is now more valuable than money was suggested by research firm Yankelovich, who in December 2006 reported that, “More than half (56%) of all consumers, at all income levels, say lack of time is a bigger problem for them than lack of money.”

17.1.1.4 Media Impact Assessment

(Watch https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQRFkn0Ly3A (1:21:05)- Media on the Brain - Mini Seminar; Scott Ritsema; Published on Oct 7, 2013 )

“Media Impact Assessment” encompasses a watchman’s role of monitoring the impact media has on society and the environment.  Media covers all the areas of mass communication in the entertainment industry, social networking, advertising, marketing and broadcasting.

Here is an example conducted by one man only (which by no means is perfect or ideal ) to illustrate how important this type of study is for the wellbeing of humanity. This is merely outlining highlights of the full 6-DVD seminar series “Media on the Brain” (+7 hours) by Scott Ritsema that is listed at the end of the section- par 17.1.1.4.2.

We see it all around us. Hollywood, popular music, TV, video gaming, spectator sports, e-relationships ( social networking, texting), pornography, advertising, ( the new reality of the media and entertainment industry) are saturating the lives of God's professed people. But what does the latest science say about the mind-altering effects of 21st century media? And what is the spiritual agenda in the entertainment and advertising  (propaganda)industries? These are the tough questions that must be answered. (http://mediaonthebrain.net )

17.1.1.4.1 Cross-Population Addiction Evidence (1:01 - 7:20)

Media is the greatest stumbling block spiritually speaking  “Media exposure has become the most widespread and serious addiction” –George Barna ( based on the seven question survey on people addiction according to America Psychiatrist Association (APA) addiction diagnosis questionnaire.

 (The media consumption statistics: ages 2-5 – 32hours of TV/week; ages 8-18 – 5 hours of TV/day; 19 million video game addicts in America- AMA, 2013. (cf. 12 million alcoholics); 5 million gamers playing over 40 hrs./week (average 10,000 hrs. of gaming by age 21.); ages 8-18 – 2.5 hrs. of music.; average teens – over 3300 texts per month; College Age Boy: 8 hrs. /wk. on televised sports; average screen time of American child is 8 hrs./day).)   Is this the abundant life? ( Note: statistics are generally understated)

17.1.1.4.1 The Brain: Frontal Lobe and Limbic System (7:20-13:20)

“The brain nerves which communicate with the entire system are the only medium through which Heaven can communicate to man and affect his inmost life.”- Ellen White  {1MCP 230.5} 

Theatrical performance (13:00) totally turns off our frontal lobe.  America Pediatric Academics (9:42) recommends no TV for child under 2 years, France ban TV targeting toddlers 3 and under,

The frontal lobe is the area of the brain where the following functions take place: spirituality, morality, the will; reason and conscience; Judgment and decision making; prayer and worship; discerning spiritual truth.  Empathy, altruism (love, placing needs above your own) also is experienced here. This is a super important area of the brain that must be healthy and functioning. The Bible told us so in Isa 1:18; Gal 5:22; Mk 12:31

The Limbic system-(11:28) is the opponent of Frontal Lobe,  ( lower nature, base passions (“lizard brain”) animalistic (lower mid- brain) It decides to fight or flight; appetite for food and sex; fears, stress, lust, impulses, worry, anxiety, negativity, anger, irritability, aggression. It is the alert system for the Frontal lobe and there must be a proper balance with the limbic system which is also talked about in the Bible - Phi 3:19; Gal 5:17; Rom 8:6-7.

17.1.1.4.1.1 Hypnotic Effect of Media Entertainment (13:30 – 19:00)

Theatrical style entertainment  performance  (13;00) totally turns off our frontal lobe – cause by rapid frame of reference change with multi camera shoot ( 3 sec- lulling the brain); video game is even stronger- Akio Mori style of entertainment lowering the brain into the alpha pattern  (highly suggestible state- hypnotic state).  Beta wave is the higher critical thinking mode where the moral filter is up,  All entertainment has its hypnotic effect.  They are deliberately entering into the subconscious of the masses through the movies they are making.. (Mark J. Reiner)

Theatrical style television is designed to produce a limbic impulse (short term)of some kind: anger, fear, aggression, lust, sadness ,  amusement where “you’re not supposed to think about it”. Frontal lobe almost completely shuts down within minutes into the viewing of entertainment television (harmless cartoon to make you enjoy the feeling).But it has neurological consequences of over and under exercising . -People raised with TV have overactive limbic system, under active frontal lobe (same as children in abusive household). This is a long term brain damaging thing for the brain is plastic and changeable. This is why watching TV is illegal for the child in France.

17.1.1.4.1.2 Video Gaming (19:06- 22:30)

Violent Gaming is the same thing. A study on the brain of young people playing video games 10 hrs a week, found their brains  (MRI  scan) operate differently at the end of one week, lower prefrontal cortex activity. Worldly things we do shape our morals and thought that have consequences on our mind and character- Rom 12:2. Consider all the violence and immorality we from watching TV. And we become desensitized to them. The brain cannot differentiate between reality, fiction and visual system- what you see is reality (Steven Pinker, psychologist). 

However, there are good news from Newberg and Waldman on How God changes your brain. The - subjects of their study  contemplated a God of love for 12 minutes a day for 30 days. The Anterior Cingulate Cortex ( ACC ), area of the frontal lobe associated with empathy and altruism grew measurably and more Christ-like when you are thinking about God’s character. Now neural science confirms what the Bible says -by beholding we become changed- 2 Cor 3:18. ( So beholding the things of this world we become immoral.)

17.1.1.4.1.3 Damaging Impact of TV Viewing (22:34- 28:56)

This is a compiled list of the damaging impact of TV viewing from documented reports.

TV viewing  is a major cause of depression; decreases academic achievement; inhibits speech development; decreases reading comprehension; increases likelihood of children developing attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD); decreases creativity and imagination; decreases ability to succeed, causes vision problem; makes you less likely to exercise; causes emotional problem including Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD); 1980s households that acquired cable TV have increased risk of autism. It makes you eat more, crave sugary foods, causes obesity. Increase chance of becoming alcoholics later in life. Less in love with your partner; women les less deserving of being loved, family spend less time together; increases divorce rate, negative moods, copycat suicides, lower self- esteem and confidence. It increase desires for Cosmetic Surgical procedures, It reduces athletic performance; increases Alzheimer’s disease (result of passive semi-conscious state without exercising the brain over a long time to age 60).   Even the news  can cause stresses  to the body, sleep deprivation.  It  has doubled murder rate in western society ( within 15 years- Canada vs South Africa study); stunts the development of children’s brains;  and damages the brains of both children and adults; decreases life span- 22 min for each hour of TV watched  which is twice of  cigarettes -11 min.

17.1.1.4.1.4 Mass Media Manipulation Tools (28:57-1:13:52)

Bertrand Russell is one of the aristocratic elites who said, “We  can manage society and there will be a day coming when the elites  will have so much control of society  than the communist  ever dream of.”- Scientific Dictatorship. The Elites can control society using different tactics than communist- using the education system. “Education should aim at destroying free will so that children leaving school incapable of thinking otherwise than his school masters thought/ taught. (Thus, it is important to uphold the principle of true education that children should be thinkers not reflectors of other men’s thought)  Russell’s education is through diet, injections and injunctions to produce character that it would be impossible for them to rebel. We can tell them that snow is black and they can believe that.  He also says that not education but the cinema is more important as the mass manipulation tool.

17.1.1.4.1.4.1 The Cinema (30:10- 31:00)

“ But perhaps the most important of all the modern agents of propaganda is the cinema ( .. leading an almost world-wide uniformity… The great majority of young people in almost all civilized countries derive their ideas of love, of honour, of the way to make money, and of the importance of good clothes, from the evenings spent in seeing what Hollywood thinks good for them. I doubt whether all the churches and schools combined have as much influence as the cinema on the opinion of the young…. the producers of Hollywood are the high priests of a new religion. (That was a long time ago, and the cinematography has advanced so much since then. Furthermore TV has brought cinema into every home.  Similarly, the music industry also has a tremendous influence and immense power to shape the minds and thoughts (Disk 3)

17.1.1.4.1.4.2 Propaganda (31:18-35:06)

Edward Bernays, nephew of Sigmund Freud, was the pioneer in manipulating the mass mind. He was the propaganda minister for the US government for  WWI. He was most famous for getting women to smoke in America by publicizing woman suffragette movement  taking up smoking  as torches of freedom.  He also planted the bacon and eggs association in human psyche. “If we understand the mechanism and motives of the group mind, is it not possible to control and regiment the masses according to our will without their knowing about it?”- Propaganda p 71.

“The conscious and intelligent manipulation of the organized habits and opinions of the masses is an important element in democratic society. Those who manipulate this unseen mechanism of society constitute an invisible government, which is the true ruling power of our country. We are governed, our minds molded, our tastes formed, our ideas suggested, largely by men we have never heard of.” P 37. (That was the kind of influence he had (a century ago) with his advertising elites. He was the founder of modern public relations. How much more now with high technology and twenty first century tools of mass manipulation at their disposal.)

Ernest Dichter is the next important person in advertising.  He is the founder of Institute of Motivational Research. He conducts course where he teaches students to enter into the alpha wave- how tochange brain wave frequencies.  

The 60day course is an adventure into mental frontiers- learn hows  and whys of taboo imagery, group motivational theories based on animus-anima symbolism, how to slow thought waves and enter the Alpha, Theta, levels of the mind the emotional meaning of shapes, colors and patterns plus your basic illustration and airbrush techniques.

This is in the realm of hypnotism. “We’ve taken a page from Satan’s book. Find a point of weakness and lust in every man, woman and child, and target that weakness to make them want to buy the product”- Youth Culture101, Walt Meuller. (This was the quote of an advertiser saying to Walt Meuller)

17.1.1.4.1.4.3 The Music Industry (35:19- 36:56)

MTV Founder, Robert Pittman: “The strongest appeal you can make is emotionally. If you can get their emotions going, make them forget their logic, you’ve got ‘em.”  “ At MTV we don’t shoot for the 14-year olds, we own them.”

“The importance of music, as judged by the sheer ubiquity of its presence, is enormous… There is probably no other human cultural activity, which is so all-pervasive and which reaches into, shapes, and often  controls so much of human behaviour.”  - A.P Merriam. The Anthropology of Music, 1964, p 218.

So music industry is a strong propaganda mechanism just like Hollywood, just like advertising. But it is not just that. Look at what scholars are saying.. Not just a mechanism… music above all else can control human behavior. This is how Satan will use music to deceive the masses in the last days.

Hypnotize them with the music.. “Music is a spiritual thing of its own. You can hypnotize people with the music and when you get them at their weakest point, you can preach into the subconscious what you want them to say.” Life, Jimi Hendrix, Oct 3, 1969. There are lots more evidence. We can see modernand current examples today.  They make it public so that we could be warned.

Our battle is not against flesh and blood but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places ( Eph 6:12).. the demons are the enemies. (People like Jimi Hendrix are the people who need to see the light and we who have the light are to witness to them.)

17.1.1.4.1.4.4. Hollywood Producers (37:05-39:18)

Paul Shraeder, screenwriter, “We are there to thumb our nose at your values. We don’t care if you like us. We don’t like you.”.. “People think Hollywood has principles, morals, and values. It doesn’t.”

Kevin Smith, filmmaker says tathe similar thing: “I always like to think of it as like, I’ve got ‘em sittin’ there- whip a little message at ‘em. Whip a little moral at ‘em. Whip a little of what my view of the world is. Because that’s what every good filmmaker does.”  (So here are what some filmmakers are saying.)

They actually have a religion. University of Texas study did a study in1998 and found that  less than 3% are attending regular religious services. They don’t go to church but they are very religious. - Fairuza Balk testifies, “A lot of actors, um, who don’t mention their names of course, are very much into this”. They are into witchcraft, spiritualism, occult. They are dabbling into spiritualism, stepping into the devil’s territory. .

17.1.1.4.1.4.5 Video Games ( 39:22-41:44)

Game designers also admit it. One anonymous game developer stated, “We make it just like gambling (19 million addicts), sometimes you get something, sometimes you don’t.” Another discussed with journalists the principle that Madison Avenue (advertisers) uses called the “blink rate,” where, “People stop blinking if an ad has their attention. Same here- if you’re in a game, your pupils dilate and your blink rate slows down.” He also explained that the job of video game design was all about the dynamics of using adrenaline. (Make the player think he’s going to die.)- Quittner , “Are Video Games really so bad?” Times of Asia, May 10, 1990.  

The job of video game design was all about the dynamics of using adrenaline. (Make the player think that he is going to die) to get us hooked (altered state of consciousness). Bible says that (Col 2:8; 2 Cor 10:5). God’s reality is completely set aside in favour of the counterfeit reality in the gaming world. (Pokemon  Go  was released in 2016- see WP3-7.6.6  The Second Arm of Spiritualism- Pokemon Go at http://www.wakeupow.com/159912041)

17.1.1.4.1.4.5.1 Gamers Counterfeit Reality (42:15- 1:00:15)

What we should be getting out of real life is what the gamer is getting in this other world in the game. They are listed below:

Community and belonging – the gamers are in a persistent world and always online. If you don’t keep up you are left out; there are pressures to keep up too ; Achievement- allusion of manhood, sense of power and achievement and accomplishment without the risk of a career or relationship. “Good games provide the illusion that a player’s accomplishments were insurmountable feats, the stuff of poetry and legend, when in fact every one of the player’s successes and victories were planned.’’-N. Clark, “Games Addiction”, p83; Escape and Role playing  - all gamers are escaping some issues in their lives they don’t want to face; fulfillment of what you are not in whatever role you desire – Playstation Ad: “I live a double life” … “Iset morality aside.” Another video game Ad: “Live the life you’ve always dreamed of without any risk or danger to yourself.”;  Release and reinforce aggression-  Studies have shown “ Hostility was increased both in subjects playing aggressive video game and those playing a mildly aggressive video game.-“Less Videogame Vilolence” Wall Street Journal, Aug 18, 2005; Competition- I’m better than you dynamic,promotion of self; Discovery - (opportunity to find trick, cheats, hidden world);  Pleasure- “ the in-game play, the in-game shopping, the in-game sex, if it can be put together in a way that’s somehow more pleasing, we might assume that designers will try to meet that mark.”- Game addiction, p 56. (They are trying to create a world that is more pleasurable than the real world); Story- designer outperforming novel writers. They meet the need that we are something bigger and we are a part of the story.  Instead of discovering God’s will for you , the drama that is passing before us, we go and find a fantasy ( novel, movie or counterfeit reality of the video game.  “The human body can release a variety of chemicals, responding to games as though they were a completely real, physical experience.” “Visually, images seem to have the ability to immerse and enchant us- with or without our permission.. These are media that give experience to our real eyes, ears, hearts, and brains; experiences that professionals painstakingly design to be fun, breathtaking and exhilarating.”- Games Addiction, p 37,52. “A strongly addicted player relates to this online world as the real world and his or her other life as simply a necessary evil.” – Cyber Junkies, 41. “Game developers create the worlds in which people live, and in that way, they have close to god-like powers.” – P. Shavasaun  Scott, Game Addiction, 164. (This is something beyond in the realm of a counterfeit creator where the game designer is creating a world different from God’s reality, and enabling ( perpetrating) many who are trying to run away, escape, hide from God like Adam and Eve after they doubted God’s word and ate the forbidden fruit –Gen 2:16,17; 3:8-10)

17.1.1.4.1.4.5.1.1 Game Transfer Phenomenon

Researchers at Nottingham Trent University, 2011, discovered “Game Transfer Phenomenon.” – Players in virtual world begun blurring the lines between the game and reality once they come out of the game (i.e. they start doing things in the real world as if they’re still in the game).  Consider the mass shooters who are used to shooting for fun in video games.)

“These places are in direct competition with the rest of reality. Most of the entertainment weve had in human history gives us natural breaking points: the chapter ends, the film ends, of there’s a commercial break.” “Most games are set up to be played for long periods of time. Its built into the fabric of the gamer culture, its encouraged by game marketing, and there aren’t enough good stopping points in most games for people to stop, look at the clock, and realise that it’s time to sleep.” This will “dull the taste for reality” and “the mediocrity of reality seems like torture by comparison.”- Games Addiction, 98-99. 106, 109. (The mediocrity of reality is boring and so the gamer must return to the game.)

But it is not just game designers who have god-like powers. “Players delight in controlling growth, development and evolution, and any fan of a God Game enjoys the opportunity to exert complete dominance over the people and places in the game.”- Cyber Junkies, p 38.

The gamers say “Our minds are set free to explore and exercise heightened abilities and senses in a pace that looks and feels real.” “Games take our senses beyond the confines of reality… At the same time, those sensations also allow the inflation and extension of our consciousness… unique ways of being.” -Games Addiction, p 60, 71. (This is the whisper of the serpent  that you can have God-like powers- process addiction ( not chemical) that applies equally to addiction in gaming, pornography, food,  gambling, shopping, social networking ( I-phone) and chemical addiction in alcohol, drugs)

17.1.1.4.1.4.5.1.2 The Pleasure Trap

The Pleasure Trap is based on the 1954 Milner study on mice. The mice push a lever to stimulate pleasure centres of the mice brain- easy fix with no discipline, pain, effort required. The mice stopped eating and were on the brink of death. Has media become the pleasure level, pornography, video games, the texting, Facebook, to illicit pleasure response in the brain area, and we stop eating the bread of life and are on the brink of spiritual death. Ravi Zaccharias says: “the closer we get to a pure and holy pleasure, the closer we are to the heart of God; the further we get from a pure and holy pleasure, the further we are from the heart of God .” (God is a God of love and has designed how pleasure operates- when you do something altruistic in helping a needy child, in sharing truth with some body, view and appreciate beauty of nature that God created, study Bible and get the truth it reveals, invest in a relationship, accomplish a difficult task. Life as God designed it is extremely pleasurable.  But a cold and grumpy religion is far removed from God. Scott had been on both sides (was once a media addict) of it.

This is confirmed in the Kaiser 2010 study: Moderate and heavy media users report lower levels of happiness than their counterparts. The more media used, the more bored teens become. Our culture is on a constant pleasure-seeking binge! We are on the verge of amusing ourselves to death and God’s word is boring to us. (God’s word is sweeter than honey- Ps 119:103. But A sated (full) man (of worldly excitement) loathes honey- Pro 27:7; 1 Cor 15:58. Let our eyes not be distracted away from our mission as in Gideon’s 300 soldiers selection test. The lesson is we arenot be diverted from God’s plan for each one of us. A true form of recreation builds us, feel a sense of his presence that empowers us to go back to work for the Lord with new vigour. But worldly amusement has that tendency to distract and steal all your attention from knowing God.

17.1.1.4.1.4.6 Sports Watching (1:00:15-1:07:40) 

Sports watching is bad for your health- a study showed 25% increase in heart attacks in one big game in London and a few days after. There is a 200-300 % of blood cascade through your muscles to fight the lion, but all you do is sit in the chair. (Likewise one serve of red meat will increase incidence by 19%).  See clip of testimony of a mechanic (Nick Waasdop) who admitted he was a slave to TV and allow it to dictate what he was going to do with his free time meant to be spent with his family( 1:02:00-1:05:22) He cut the wire and returned to enjoying the realty of knowing the pleasures of life.- Captivated finding freedom in a media captive culture.

Our obsession on things of this world provided by the mass media has dire  eternal consequences since its hidden ulterior object is to block us from engaging in thhe work of God in the last days. How we spend our time have eternal consequences. Paul says: “See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, “Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.”  Eph 5:15-16. Time ( our probationary time on earth) spent on spectator sports is a waste of time we have left on planet earth. It may not be sports for you. It may be for you things that obscures your sense of God’s presence and not thinking of the work of God, your identity and purpose in His kingdom. What is it? Facebook, texting - issue of hyper texting of over 4000 texts a month.

17.1.1.4.1.4.7 Social Networking: Texting & Multitasking (1:07:48- 1:10 22)

“Sherry Turkle, a psychologist who is a director of the Initiative on Technology and Self at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and who has studied texting among teenagers in the Boston area for three years, said it might be causing a shift in the way adolescents develop… “If you’re being deluged by constant communication, the pressure to answer immediately is quite high, ‘So if you’re in the middle of a thought, forget it.’”- Texting may be taking a toll, NYT May 25, 2009. (No wonder our teenagers have such a hard time in devotional to the Lord. It is always interfering with your time. The notion of multitasking is a mirth “Attention, multitaskers (If you can pay attention, that is): Your brain may be in trouble. People who are regularly bombarded with several streams of electronic information do not pay attention, control their memory or switch from one job to another as well as those who prefer to complete one task at a time, a group of Stanford researchers has found.”- Stanford University News, Aug 24, 2009. Further Hewlett- Packard commissioned an IQ test of distracted test-takers (emails, texts, etc,). They found: A 10-point reduction* in IQ was observed. (*This is more than twice the drop that occurs when high on marijuana or having lost an entire night’s sleep.) . While they were instructed not to answer emails, the compulsion to do so at their own demise mirrored the behavior of an addict. (All these constant worldly distractions in our lives prevent us from tasting and see that the Lord is good. Media is not bad, but it is the relationship we have with it; as to whether we are addicted to social media device in the I-phone.

17.1.1.4.1.4.7.1 The Remedy-One Month Media Fast (1:10:22-1:13:52)

Watch the clip (1:10:22-1:13:52) on the one month media fast by a family( Erik & Karen Engstrom)- without TV, internet, and I-phone. The children were not enthusiastic at al, they were shocked and scared. Peace was experienced in due course. One of the daughters finds time to read the Bible and enjoy it. It gives the children time to think about how must time they are spending on media and how it dictated their lives. The time is now filled with doing pleasurable and fulfilling family activities. This is not saying no to media at all but to use it in a responsible and God glorifying ways. - Captivated finding freedom in a media captive culture.

17.1.1.4.1.4.7.1.1 Treatment for Social Media Addiction

At the Center for Internet Addiction and Recovery, those who are addicted to social media must follow a few initial changes in their use. First, they must admit that they have a problem. Treatment and recovery doesn’t work unless the addict is no longer in denial. Second, they must turn off all notifications so they aren’t tempted to check for new posts and updates. Third, they need to carefully reschedule when they check social media. Instead of randomly checking for new likes or posts or updates, they can only access it twice a day. This must be restricted like a digital diet so that their intake is cut down much like a food addict that does not want to eat as much. The first steps is reducing how much time the application is used. Finally, we need to help the addict find alternative ways of communicating, especially using more face-to-face strategies. The addict needs to connect with friends using phone calls instead of text messaging. go out without taking selfies, and get out with friends instead of being on social media.

(There is also treatment center such as reSTART, a facility outside Seattle that aids young people addicted to the Internet, video games, social media and more.

The goal of treatment for this type of addiction, unlike for many other addictions, should be controlled use rather than abstinence. In the connected world we live in, it is simply not feasible to prohibit someone from accessing all smart devices. The most successful type of treatment for online addictions appears to be traditional cognitive behavioral therapy, although there are relatively few published studies examining its efficacy in relation to social media addiction. We need more research, so that we can develop more and better solutions to what is likely to be a growing problem.- https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/theworldpost/wp/2018/04/25/social-media-addiction/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.8cdb44b58b61 )

17.1.1.4.2 The Media on the Brain Seminar (1:14:00)

The Media on the Brain DVD set by BeltofTruth Ministry.com is made available on a donation basis at www.mediaonthebrain.net   There are 6 parts to share with others

Disc 1: Conformed of transformed? –TV, the brain, and the Science of Salvation (Disc 1 is posted on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPOmOVFYo3Y )

Disc 2: By Beholding we Become Slaves… to the High Priests of a New World Order

Disc 3: The Spirit of the Music Industry- How one man transformed American culture

Disc 4: Musical Manipulation- How Satan will use music to deceive the last day masses

Disc 5: The Counterfeit Reality – High Tech Addictions: Gaming and pornography

Disc 6: The Pleasure Trap – Why we are bored by the Bible and have no time to read it.

Presented by author, speaker, and teacher, Scott Ritsema, Media on the Brain is much more than a seminar. Share this fast-paced, information-packed experience with those who need it most. Gain inspiration from families who have found freedom from media addiction. And behold something better in the character of Christ.

Scott ended with an illustration on the Bible text that he and his wife lived in Michigan and on moving to live in Southern California were told that the mountains there are beautiful and spectacular. They moved in the summer time with the excitement of see the mountains in their beauty and were disappointed by what they saw. This is the same as what we have been told about God being so close and beautiful – taste and see that the Lord is good. He is so amazing walking with youand that our lives will never be the same. But our experience is a kind of let down, we are bored by the Bible. It is not real as we have heard. It does not get me instant gratification.

However, when the Santa Ana wind comes to clear the smog in the air of Southern California bringing rain in the valley and snow in the highlands, there is a complete transformation of the mountain scenery. When the sun comes out in the following days Scott were astound by the sight of these mountains.  This transformation experience is described in the Bible metaphorically as the Holly Spirit because spiritual matters are spiritually discerned.

When the Holy Spirit (rain and wind) comes into our lives, when we allow the Lord to really clean our house, to really cleanse the air of the smog, and nastiness out of our lives that are in between us and Him we will find that God is proved true and He is not far from each one of us as in the Book of Acts. As we seek Him with all our hearts we will find Him and we will have the abundant life and we will know the truth and the truth will set us free, if we follow His teaching. We must get these worldly things (the elites are doing with the media to control our minds) out of our lives and you will find Him to be so close. Find joy in the simple things and hear His voice through His words.  We must turn our eyes upon Jesus  that Paus tells us: “Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, “Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.”-Heb 12:1-2.  ( When all the ugliness of the snares of Satan are revealed to us we ought to be repulsed by the snares we are in and look for help by seeking Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior He is the only remedy and the word of God is sure.)

17.1.1.5 The Millennials

The Millennials* (also known as Generation Y), born between 1984 and 2005, have embraced the digital age, using technology to relax and interact with others. Social media is a big deal for them; it is a lifeline to the outside world.)  The millennials are the future of this country and this world. If millennials can’t put their smartphones down for one second to have a normal conversation, then who knows what’s going to happen to real-life human interaction?

Millennials* is the term coined in 1987 by two authors William Strauss and Neil Howe who wrote about the cohort born in 1982 which the media identifies as their prospective link to the new millennium as the high school graduating class of 2000 in their books Generations: The History of America's Future, 1584 to 2069 (1991)[4] and Millennials Rising: The Next Great Generation (2000).[3] (The critical mass of data showing that millennials differ from previous generations in, for example, living situations, religious beliefs, sexual behaviors, attitudes toward work-life balance and support for same-sex marriage.) ( Note: The Bible did not use the term millennium at all. The phrase a thousand years  is used instead in Rev 20:2 “on the Dragon, the old serpent , which is the Devil, and Satan , and bound him a thousand years”; reference to “the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished”- Rev 20:5; “Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.”- Rev 20:6 “And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison,” Rev 20:7. It is during the thousand years between the first and the second resurrection, the judgment of the wicked takes place. At this time the righteous reign as kings and priests unto God. In union with Christ they judge the wicked, comparing their acts with the statute book, the Bible, and deciding every case according to the deeds done in the body. Satan also and evil angels are judged by Christ and His people.)       

Significantly, a 2018 report from Pew Research Centera defines  Millennials as those born from 1981-1996 (open to date recalibration), choosing these dates for "key political, economic and social factors", including September 11th terrorist attacks. This range makes Millennials 5-20 years old at the time of the attacks so "old enough to comprehend the historical significance". (In the context of eschatology and Bible prophecy* timeline, it is most apt with the next cohort being Gen Z (last-in-line))alluding to the end generation of world history.(This is an indictment from even the demographers who did not draw from eschatology*. It is God’s handwriting on the wall while the last king of Babylon, Belshazzar were eating and drinking. In that night he was slain and lost Babylon to the Medes and Persians (Dan 5:3-31)

(Note: On end-time prophesy*, this topic has been discussed in earlier articles on “Battle of the Mind” at http://www.wakeupow.com/152909644 War 5 Defence & Offence, Pt 3: “Occupation of Minds” posted after the Boston Marathon bombing April 15, 2013 concerning the reality of the havoc caused by Satan. Be open-minded, even if you are not an advocate of Biblical scripture or a firm believer in the truth about the existence of God and His dealings in the modern world.) 

17.1.2 The Mass Media Impact on Society

There were more concerns expressed over the Mass Media impact on Society in earlier times than now. We would like to revisit some of the crucial aspects from the earlier articles when social networking was not as prevalent as it is now. Early social media platforms competed with each other directly and marketed to the general population.  Around the turn of the century, however, social networks experienced a theoretical shift. Sites competed less with each other and more for audience time and attention. Simultaneously, platforms started targeting niche populations – a change that may support the future of social media as an industry

Mass media consists of the various means by which information reaches large numbers of people, such as television, radio, movies, newspapers, and the Internet. Sociologists study mass media especially to see how it shapes people's values, beliefs, perceptions, and behavior. For example, mass media contributes to socialization, including gender socialization, as when movies implicitly teach young people that it is wrong for females to have many sexual partners. Mass media also affects social movements; for example, news coverage of the U.S.-Vietnam War helped spark the 1960s anti-war movement. Another topic is the relation between media and social power. For example, if mass media powerfully influences beliefs and behavior, and it is controlled by relatively few individuals, those individuals have significant power even in democratic societies. http://www.chegg.com/homework-help/definitions/mass-media-49

The battle of the mind is being fought with the object of achieving victory in establishing the occupation of all the minds. The definition of occupation means the following: 1a- an activity in which one engages <pursuing pleasure has been his major occupation> 1b- the principal business of one's life : vocation ; 2a - the possession, use, or settlement of land; occupancy;  2b - the holding of an office or position; 3a - the act or process of taking possession of a place or area; seizure;  3b - the holding and control of an area by a foreign military force; c - the military force occupying a country or the policies carried out by it. Symptoms of  the en masse occupation of our minds  mainly by the entertainment industry are: Prevalent disobedience of children to parents, teachers and  elderly; alienation within the family; no time for one another; being engrossed (addicted) with i-pad, i-phone and internet, the wifi modern mass media gadgets. Half the battle is won by being open minded in having an enquiring mind in seeking and checking the truth and not be complacent about your present understanding.

17.1.2.1 Satan’s Deceptive Strategy via Media

Mass communication via digital technology is a device of Satan in the last days. As discussed earlier, the advancement in the I-Phone has  mesmerized the whole world into disrupting family and human interaction with social networking taking up all of our private time- 2 Cor 2:11 tells us don’t be ignorant of Satan’s devices which is made so easy to access- Eph 5 :15.

It was by the display of supernatural power, in making the serpent his medium, that Satan caused the fall of Adam and Eve in Eden. Before the close of time he will work still greater wonders. So far as his power extends, he will perform actual miracles. Says the Scripture: "He ... deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do," not merely those which he pretends to do. (In the mass media he has a winning devise in mind control. For those with the knowledge of the Bible, we can discern that Satan is capable and is all out to deceive human beings to subject to his control and authority by cohesion. Mind control is the basis of social media.) Something more than mere impostures is brought to view in this scripture. But there is a limit beyond which Satan cannot go, and here he calls deception to his aid and counterfeits the work which he has not power actually to perform. In the last days he will appear in such a manner as to make men believe him to be Christ come the second time into the world. He will indeed transform himself into an angel of light. But while he will bear the appearance of Christ in every particular, so far as mere appearance goes, it will deceive none but those who, like Pharaoh, are seeking to resist the truth.   {5T 698.1} 

The theme of the issue “Battle of the mind” (War 4 Defense & Offense, Pt 2: Battle of the Mind – Mind Game http://www.wakeupow.com/152909644) is to learn and discern about how Satan by his falsehood had emboldened men in sin and to know of the remedy in having the mind of Christ. It was his purpose to wear out the forbearance of God, and to extinguish His love for man, so that God would abandon the world to satanic jurisdiction. Satan was seeking to shut out from men a knowledge of God, to turn their attention from the temple of God, and to establish his own kingdom. His strife for supremacy had seemed to be almost wholly successful. {DA 34.4-35.1} It is by knowing how to diagnose the cause (in discerning the deception) that the prescribed divine remedy that was provided in the fullness of time would be willingly accepted. “The Messenger of the covenant must speak. His voice must be heard in His own temple. Christ must come to utter words which should be clearly and definitely understood. He, the author of truth, must separate truth from the chaff of man's utterance, which had made it of no effect. The principles of God's government and the plan of redemption must be clearly defined. The lessons of the Old Testament must be fully set before men.”  {DA 34.1}

Many are ignorant about the existence of Satan as a supernatural being and that he is still waging the war with Jesus Christ. He has cunningly and cleverly masked his identity and evil ambition to subject human beings, created in the image of God, to do his bidding and worship him. He is waging this battle of the mind in every fallen human soul. Sun Tzu’s Art of War is one of his deceptive schemes, supported and acclaimed by the people of renown and in authority. Like the Theory of Evolution on our origin, it is a counterfeit to the Word of God. The fallacies in some of these strategies, acknowledged as being instrumental in the outcome of the Vietnam War, are revealed by testing them against the truth in Scriptures. The study of the Bible is the only cure for deceptions in discerning counterfeits. 

Furthermore, God has revealed in the Book of Revelation that in the last days, in the last few years of Satan's dominion over the earth, he will work miracles and even impersonate Jesus. (2 Cor 11:14)  A religious entity will arise and deceive the whole world. This entity (Papacy) will wield tremendous religious influence, and inspired by the Dragon (Satan), he with the aid of another beast (the false prophet- apostate Protestants of American) will successfully convince most of the world to commit idolatry and worship Satan instead of God. (Revelation 13) The signs of the time indicate that we are now living in the last days. Victory in Jesus and His army is assured. (Rev 17:14)  Satan, the evil angels, the beast, the false prophet and those not found written in the book of life will be cast into the lake of fire, which is their eternal death. (Rev 20:10; 19:20)

17.1.2.1.1 Manifestation of Demonic Influence (From  http://www.wakeupow.com/152909644 War 5 Defence & Offence, Pt 3: “Occupation of Minds” par 3.1 Identifying Demonic Influence - By Reese Currie, Compass Distributors)

Satan and his demons exercise a subtle influence over the world. The influence is subtle in that few people in the world really believe demonic influence is taking place. The results are not subtle at all; as we look around the world, (and through this article) we can see the high human cost of demonic control.

The ultimate goal of Satan doesn't have that much to do with humans; we're just pawns in the game. His purpose is to get back at God, to try to hurt God, and the only way he can do this is to make humans go to hell (eternal death) with him. God Himself does not want anyone to perish. 2 Peter 3:9 says, "The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance."

Unfortunately, through demonic deception, the majority of people alive today and throughout history will be going to eternal death. For Satan, it is a numbers game. The more people he deceives, the more will die with him, and the more he hurts God.

For people who have been saved by Jesus Christ, there is nothing Satan can do about their eternal destiny. However, through deceit, Satan can render the witness of a Christian ineffective and keep them from influencing others to repent and believe in Jesus Christ for their salvation, and he can certainly cause a great deal of injury and pain to Christians in this world who will give him the opportunity through partaking in sin. (“For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.” – Ephesians 6:12)

So it is important then to be able to see the earmarks of Satan's more subtle working in this world. When we see violence, bloodshed, theft, and vice, most of us as Christians understand Satan's influence is behind those things. Yet, he has more subtle ways of operating that are not apparent to everyone. Identifying Satan's more subtle work requires knowing his techniques and evaluating what is happening in light of his ultimate goal. See 3.1.1.1.3.2 Some Insights into Hollywood’s Influences; par 3.1.1.1.2Brainwashing by Mass Media; 3.1.1.1.1 The Entertainment Industry- Modern Cultural Satanic Influences;

17.1.2.1.2 The Elixir (Cure) for Deception (From par 2.1.4.2.2 The Elixir (Cure) for Deception)

The Bible is the elixir for deception! It alone can free us from deception’s power and influence. Think, for example, of Eve in the Garden of Eden. How different things would have been if Eve, like Jesus in the wilderness, had stood on a plain “thus saith the LORD”, and “it is written”. Eve should have trusted the Word of God; it could have immediately dispelled the darkness of Satan’s power. In John 1:1-3, Jesus is referred to as the logos, that is the Word. ( John 17:17; 1 Thes 2:13; 2 Tim 2:15; 1 Tim3:15)

It is impossible for us, of ourselves, to escape from the pit of sin in which we are sunken. Our hearts are evil, and we cannot change them. "Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? not one." "The carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be." Job 14:4; Romans 8:7. Education, culture, the exercise of the will, human effort, all have their proper sphere, but here they are powerless. They may produce an outward correctness of behavior, but they cannot change the heart; they cannot purify the springs of life. There must be a power working from within, a new life from above, before men can be changed from sin to holiness. That power is Christ. His grace alone can quicken the lifeless faculties of the soul, and attract it to God, to holiness.  {SC 18.1}

The Saviour said, "Except a man be born from above," unless he shall receive a new heart, new desires, purposes, and motives, leading to a new life, "he cannot see the kingdom of God." John 3:3, margin. The idea that it is necessary only to develop the good that exists in man by nature, is a fatal deception. "The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned." "Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again." 1 Corinthians 2:14; 3:7. Of Christ it is written, "In Him was life; and the life was the light of men"--the only "name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved." John 1:4; Acts 4:12.  {SC 18.2)     

(The End- page 22/22. Posted on May 14, 2018 by Tsc at singtsc@yahoo.com )

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