Can listening to some kinds of secular music and watching MTV affect my relationship with Jesus?

Dr. Graham has commented: "Some modern music does, beyond question, include lyrics that are blatantly and openly anti-religious. Some lyrics also exalt or urge immoral behavior, while still others are tied closely to drug experiences or speak in a distorted way about death. When this is the case, the choice you have is not simply one of musical taste. You see, although you say you 'don't pay attention to the words,' it is virtually impossible for them not to take root in your mind. When you repeatedly hear certain ideas and themes in music, they almost inevitably become a part of you and you begin to think they are true or 'not so bad.'

"The Bible constantly urges us to fill our minds with good and true things because our thoughts will shape our behavior. We therefore need to control what goes into our minds. 'We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ' (2 Corinthians 10:4-5)."

This counsel, of course, applies to media other than music as well. Themes of illicit sex, senseless violence, occult experimentation, and anti-Christian sentiment flow through many movies, plays, novels, and material available on the Internet. Christians face a daily war against such things. But we are promised, "I can do everything through [Christ] who gives me strength" (Philippians 4:13).