Episode Transcript
It is all too often said that there are no miracles performed these days. Well, I'd like to challenge this idea with my story of breaking free from idols. Welcome to Miracles in the 21st Century. I'm Nikita Jensen. I didn't grow up in the church. I am someone who struggled with a non-religious background. What do I mean by struggled? I didn't really have a concept of what would happen after death. Would there be life? Would I turn into a cockroach? Would I be some reincarnated animal? There was no real conception. I struggled indirectly with what would happen after life. In 2013, my family and I, we came back from living in Fiji for 3 years. And about five months after that, a month before my birthday, my morpha passed away. My first family member that died. It was tragic. It really tore me to pieces because my morpha was someone whom I really loved and I cared for and I looked up to as a role model. So my safety, my network of comfort. was completely lost and gone. I had friends in this time during school that introduced me to Korean pop music. And from that moment on, instead of finding comfort in my family, I found comfort in K-pop music, Korean pop music. Korean pop music is very catchy. It's very vibrant. The music videos are really made to capture your attention. And so you can focus on every bit of detail and imagery, but you don't necessarily catch it all. And because I didn't have any religious background, this was normal for me. And you could say to an extent, I did become a follower of certain bands within K-pop. My first one, BTS, EXO, and many other bands I followed along the bandwagon. Learning the chants, learning to do the dances, learning the songs and what the English lyrics at what the Korean lyrics were in English. So then that way I could better understand to an extent the songs that were being sung to me, the songs I was listening to. I had no issue with it outside of the church, and eventually over the course of time at the end of 2019, I was still listening to the music for comfort to ignore the pain. Of losing my morpha. At the end of 2019, I came to know and choose God. I didn't really have that conviction to begin with. I didn't understand that listening to K-pop was wrong. Over time, though, conviction started to settle in, and I did not like it. Because that actually meant I had to remove what I held as my comforter and find true comfort in the Word of God. Because I was still learning of who God is, who the God of the Bible truly is. And to an extent, it's scary after having so many years from 2013 to the end, mid-2020, when I started feeling very convicted about listening to K-pop music. It's really difficult to remove something that you've had for so long that you've said, "This is my comfort," and now it's being swept away from me. Having that sort of mindset, at first it was easy to cut it off, kind of getting rid of some of the music. There's other ones that I justified in saying, "No, this, this, these songs are good. There's no." bad imagery. There's nothing that goes against God's principles indirectly without me actually realizing that they were against the principles that God did have in his word. But that was my ignorance, and God, praise the Lord, winks at our ignorance. God is so kind and so loving in the process of learning about idolatry. He does warn us in 1 Samuel chapter 15, verse 23, for rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. 2020, as I said, I came into the church. I started feeling convicted about K-pop, and around 2021, I full-on cut it off. However, because I didn't have a foundational understanding of why I had to cut it off, and I didn't— I did not bother to actually research and try to understand why God was impressing it upon me, this is not good for you, I started to justify again and bring back in the songs that I had as my comfort, as my escape. From reality, and God doesn't want us to escape from reality. In fact, He wants us to lean on Him. But stubbornness is what held me back because this is what I know. This is what I'm going to cling to. And so I made it and continued to have it as my idol, professing to be a Christian. I tried to justify and go, "Oh no, they're not talking about this topic in a negative sense." They actually asked women and how to be able to portray women in a delightful way, and. In all reality, the lyrics were not that bad, but the imagery in the music video and the dance itself was completely against principles, foundational, beautiful principles found in the Bible. And can you actually separate them? You can't, because the music has that effect as well. Hence, the music video is the way that it is. Even though the lyrics may seem pure, the music was impure. And so in 2022, I went cold turkey again, only for me to swing back extremely hard into listening to the K-pop music again. And I felt so frustrated. I want to do what's right. I really want to follow you, God, but I don't understand. And time after time after time, days turned into weeks, weeks turned into months, and even a couple of years later, it wasn't until the beginning of 2024. Yes, 2024. When I was isolated, I was separated. I was visiting my parents who had a posting in East Timor. And I was struggling. I went— I was in my prayer closet just going, God, I do not understand. What is wrong with me? I know you're convicting me against listening to K-pop, against watching it, against dancing to the music. But why? Why? I don't have an answer to that. And that was when I was truly open in my heart to receive the message that God had for me. So I was impressed to look at the video, at the specifically the lyrics without listening to the music, go back to the first song that got the band that I predominantly listened to worldwide famous. Sure, they were popular in Korea, but they were extremely popular after 2016. So I looked at the lyrics. I digested it, and I just pondered over it and prayerfully asked God, open my eyes so that I may see the deception that are within these lyrics, because he's convicted me about that, and I need to understand that. And he showed me. And what struck me was how filthy I felt. I was listening to songs where they were making a clear statement on who they decided to worship— the devil. That they made a pact with the devil, and they knew that the Grail was poisoned either way, but they drank it because they want it more. And they understood, yes, your wings are the devil's. You can look at the lyrics. It's not good. It's not a pretty picture. Even analyzing the music video that they had for that particular song, Napitam Numbur, Blood Sweat and Tears from BTS, they themselves are saying that they made a pact. And they had such biblical imagery whilst mixed with paganism in it. And no wonder why God hated that, because it doesn't depict his character. They are not worshiping God. And if they are not worshiping God despite having a form of godliness mixed with paganism, as certain people do, unfortunately, should I even behold it? Is it pure? Is it true? Is it holy? No. No. And God has a standard for us. And from that point on, because I understood, I started analyzing more videos and lyrics of other songs that I was addicted to. And because I was truly open to have my heart changed, God opened my eyes and he set me free from practicing idolatry. He removed the stubbornness that my heart naturally was inclined to. It's amazing how God works. God has asked us, and it's beautiful. He says in Psalm 148, verse 5, let them praise the name of the Lord, for he commanded and they were created. He also established them forever and ever. He made a decree which shall not pass away. Praise the Lord from the earth, you sea— you great sea creatures and all the depths, fire and hail, snow and clouds, stormy wind fulfilling his word, mountains and hills, fruitful trees and all cedars, beasts and all cattle, creeping things and flying fowl, kings of the earth and all peoples, princes and all judges of the earth, both young men and maidens, Old men and children. God isn't wanting a boastful— for us to praise him and he's saying, oh yes, I deserve this. No, it's a relationship with him that we get to see how good our God is. He gave us this beautiful gift that poured all heaven into that one gift, his Son Jesus Christ. He died because of my idolatry. He died because of all the other things that I have done. Against him, and that's a sinful nature naturally. But he gave me the victory to overcome. Now unto him that is able to keep us from falling and to present us faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy. We can lean on him. We can trust in him. It took years for me to get over idolatry. From 2013, I was a practicing idolater. And God broke it in 2024. It takes time, and you might struggle with something at the moment, and you might have that conviction. If you go to your prayer closet and earnestly ask for God to help you to see why he is calling you to remove it, he's convicting you to remove something from your life, ask for his wisdom because he wants to impart it to us. As He imparted it to me when I asked earnestly to Him. Ask, ye shall receive. Seek, ye shall find. Knock, and it shall be opened unto you. Thank you very much for listening to this testimony of how God set me free.
