Quotations from the writings of Ellen G. White with the word . . .
A M U S E M E N T - AMUSEMENTS ( 31 RELATED PHRASES )
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+++ Worldly amusement ( 28 ) >>> worldly amusements ( 46 )
> love of worldly amusements ( )
> places of worldly amusement ( )
+++ Desire for amusement ( 16 ) >> desire for worldly amusement ( 8 )
+ Forms of amusement ( 3 ) ► These forms of amusement ( 1 ) 
► kind of amusement ( 4 ) > kinds of amusement
+ Love of amusement ( 23 ) > love of amusements ( 23 )
+ Place of amusement ( 18 ) > questionable place of amusement
> the theater > the circus
Places of amusement ( ) > places of worldly amusement ( )
> amusement centers ( )
+ Scenes of amusement ( )
+ Dance ( 64 ) > dances ( 20 ) > Dancing ( 144 )
> modern dancing ( )
+ entertainment ( ) > pleasing entertainment ( )
+++ pursuit of pleasure ( 13 )
( see below )
| G A M E S ( appears 223 times ) |
Additional Study: Adventist Home, Chapter 18: "What shall we play"
Suggestions: Cooperative games, rather than competitive games
+ Games ( 223 )
+ Ball playing ( 12 ) > games with a ball ( )
+ Card playing ( 13 ) ► Playing cards ( 14 ) > Play Cards ( 7 )
+ Chess ( ) > Checkers ( )
+ Sports ( ) > athletic sports ( )
> Tennis ( ) > Cricket ( ) ►
+ the game of life ( ) > Games of Hazard ( GC 387.2 )
You need to study carefully the question of amusements. Ask yourself, What is the influence of amusements on mind and character, and on the work which I have come to do? Ask yourself, What bearing has the question of amusements on my religious life, on my character as a Christian? Do the games in which you participate, fit you to engage in prayer and in the service of God? Do they aid you to bring as much zeal and earnestness into the Lord's work as you put into the games you play? Have not these amusements in which you have engaged, absorbed your interest so that you have not been able to put as much fervor into the learning of your lessons as you should have done? Which is to have the supremacy -- the service of God, or the service of self? Let every student closely examine the ground on which he is standing. {FE 302.3}
There are amusements, such as dancing, card playing, chess, checkers, etc., which we cannot approve because Heaven condemns them. These amusements open the door for great evil. They are not beneficial in their tendency, but have an exciting influence, producing in some minds a passion for those plays which lead to gambling and dissipation. All such plays should be condemned by Christians, and something perfectly harmless should be substituted in their place. {AH 498.2}
- - A M U S E M E N T S - - |
This word appears 753 times in the writings of EGW
Danger in Amusements, Two articles: CT, Chapter 50 ( pages 348 to 354 );
Pamphlet 145, Chapter 17 ( pages 42 - 48 )
+ Dangerous amusements ( 15 ) > Dangerous Amusements for the Young ( )
+ Exciting amusements ( 56 )
+ Forbidden amusements ( )
+ Love of amusements ( 23 ) >
+ Popular amusements ( 12 )
+ worldly amusements ( 46 ) > love of worldly amusements ( )
► Card playing ► Theatrical performances ► Dancing
+++ Safe amusements ( 4 ) > the only safe amusements ( )
+ Temperance in amusements ( 7 ) > Danger in Amusement ( )
"And pleasures of this life." There is danger in amusement that is sought merely for self-gratification. All habits of indulgence that weaken the physical powers, that becloud the mind, or that benumb the spiritual perceptions, are "fleshly lusts, which war against the soul." 1 Peter 2:11. {COL 53.1}
D R A M A - THEATRICAL PERFORMANCES |
+ Theatrical performances ( 42 ) > theatrical performance ( 7 )
> theatrical style ( )
I have a message for those in charge of our work. Do not encourage the men who are to engage in this work to think that they must proclaim the solemn, sacred message in a theatrical style. Not one jot or tittle of anything theatrical is to be brought into our work. God's cause is to have a sacred, heavenly mold. Let everything connected with the giving of the message for this time bear the divine impress. Let nothing of a theatrical nature be permitted, for this would spoil the sacredness of the work. {Ev 137.2}
I am instructed that we shall meet with all kinds of experiences and that men will try to bring strange performances into the work of God. We have met such things in many places. In my very first labors the message was given that all theatrical performances in connection with the preaching of present truth were to be discouraged and forbidden. Men who thought they had a wonderful work to do sought to adopt a strange deportment and manifested oddities in bodily exercise. The light given me was, "Give this no sanction." These performances, which savored of the theatrical, were to have no place in the proclamation of the solemn messages entrusted to us. {Ev 137.3}
| G A M E S . . . sanctioned by the church |
We see the churches of our day encouraging feasting, gluttony, and dissipation, by the suppers, fairs, dances, and festivals gotten up for the purpose of gathering means into the church treasury. Here is a method invented by carnal minds to secure means without sacrificing. {CS 201.1}
Such an example makes an impression upon the minds of youth. They notice that lotteries and fairs and games are sanctioned by the church, and they think there is something fascinating in this way of obtaining means. A youth is surrounded by temptations. He enters the bowling alley, the gambling saloon, to see the sport. He sees the money taken by the one who wins. This looks enticing. It seems an easier way of obtaining money than by earnest work, which requires persevering energy and strict economy. He imagines there can be no harm in this; for similar games have been resorted to in order to obtain means for the benefit of the church. Then why should he not help himself in this way? {CS 201.2}
He has a little means, which he ventures to invest, thinking it may bring in quite a sum. Whether he gains or loses, he is in the downward road to ruin. But it was the example of the church that led him into the false path. {CS 201.3}
My personal favorites
| Many of the amusements popular in the world today, even with those who claim to be Christians, tend to the same end as did those of the heathen. There are indeed few among them that Satan does not turn to account in destroying souls. Through the drama he has worked for ages to excite passion and glorify vice. The opera, with its fascinating display and bewildering music, the masquerade, the dance, the card table, Satan employs to break down the barriers of principle and open the door to sensual indulgence. In every gathering for pleasure where pride is fostered or appetite indulged, where one is led to forget God and lose sight of eternal interests, there Satan is binding his chains about the soul. {AH 515.3}
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| Many parents seek to promote the happiness of their children by gratifying their love of amusement. They allow them to engage in sports, and to attend parties of pleasure, and provide them with money to use freely in display and self-gratification. The more the desire for pleasure is indulged, the stronger it becomes. The interest of these youth is more and more absorbed in amusement, until they come to look upon it as the great object of life. They form habits of idleness and self-indulgence that make it almost impossible for them ever to become steadfast Christians. { COL 54.1}
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| "I was shown that it is not essential to our salvation, nor for the glory of God, for us to keep the mind laboring, even upon religious themes, constantly and excessively. There are amusements which we cannot approve, because Heaven condemns them,-- such as dancing, card-playing, chess, checkers, &c. These amusements open the door for great evil. Their tendencies are not beneficial, but their influence upon the mind is to excite and produce in some minds a passion for those plays which lead to gambling, and dissolute lives. All such plays should be condemned by Christians. Something should be substituted in the place of these amusements. Something can be invented, perfectly harmless. {RH, October 8, 1867 par. 29}
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| Satan has invented many ways in which to squander the means which God has given. Card playing, betting, gambling, horse racing, and theatrical performances are all of his own inventing, and he has led men to carry forward these amusements as zealously as though they were winning for themselves the precious boon of eternal life. Men lay out immense sums in following these forbidden pleasures; and the result is, their God-given power, which has been purchased by the blood of the Son of God, is degraded and corrupted. The physical, moral, and mental powers which are given to men of God, and which belong to Christ, are zealously used in serving Satan, and in turning men from righteousness and holiness. {CS 134.2}
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| Even among Christian parents there has been too much sanctioning of the love of amusements. Parents have received the world's maxim, have conformed to the general opinion that it was necessary that the early life of children and youth should be frittered away in idleness, in selfish amusements, and in foolish indulgences. In this way a taste has been created for exciting pleasure, and children and youth have trained their minds so that they delight in exciting displays; and they have a positive dislike for the sober, useful duties of life. They live lives more after the order of the brute creation. They have no thoughts of God or of eternal realities, but flit like butterflies in their season. They do not act like sensible beings whose lives are capable of measuring with the life of God, and who are accountable to Him for every hour of their time. {AH 526.2}
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