making the best of the fast

Well I just arrived at Katie Cramer's house for a movie\dinner thing with around ten other high schoolers. I'm the first one here but others will start arriving in 45 minutes or so. The media fast has been shockingly easy. I'm having no trouble with it at all, unlike the first two years I did this. It's most likely because I know alot of great Christian bands that I didn't know of the years before. The only shows I really mind missing are Heroes and The Office. I AM however really looking forward to the Wolverine movie which ironically comes out May 1st. I'm going to see the midnight showing of it with some other guys doing the fast so we'll be at the movies seeing it the very first minute the fast is over. So that works out nicely. ANYWHO, I hope the fast is going great for everyone else too. Bye.

friends

so since this fast started most of my time has been spent with friends its been what keeps me accountable my friends and i can hang out and one of us may think of something to do that we can't and the others will remind them its been awesome and you guys know who you are so thanks all

Contest #2 Update

Can't wait to hear how you are all doing on Contest #2. If you don't remember what it is, click on "CONTESTS" to the right of this post and you will be able to read about it... it's actually pretty cool!

Tired

After 38 hours with no sleep... some things just don't work right. Like your brain. So last night, after youth group. I got home. No one was there. I was exhausted. I couldn't focus on anything. So I got shorts on and laid down on the couch. And without thinking, I turned on the TV to Sports Center... now I want to be clear, my brain wasn't working. The last thing I remember is turning it on and laying my head down. I woke up around 1:30, turned it off... and went to bed. Then I woke up around 11 am!

Here's what I realized... I have some habits, that when I'm most vulnerable (tired, exhausted, numb), I turn to. I better do some serious reflection and self-evaluation: What things am I turning to in order to "wind-down" and is it really benefiting my walk with God?

Untitled

I can't think of a name.... =]
So, Monday afternoon through Wednesday afternoon I went to a cabin with my family and Rachael in Truckee. The cabin isn't exactly big. And is really open. So my family almost constantly had on the TV, whether it was Indiana Jones or the game channel. And Raerae had her iTouch almost the whole time. Listening to good music. That I couldn't. It was a hard "vacation" Cuz it was that or snow. And I really dislike snow. The 24-hour thing rocked. It was really fun. I learned that at three in the morning is not a good time to make decisions about sleep. And that the answer is always sleep. While we were bowling Wednesday night, they played some decent music and a few of my favorite songs. Which was a little, I dunno confusing I guess. Cuz I couldn't avoid listening. But I was with the youth group... so I don't quite know what to make of it. Anyway, I think I'm rambling now. I'll stop. haha. So, the point. This stuff is EVERYWHERE. And ridiculously hard to avoid.

the end.

hugs

today was kinda tuff but i found comfort in knowing that gods word could help me get through the obstacles of daily life and the media. hope that you all are good and i know that god is watching over all of us.

Wow-ee!

I though this week was going to drag on soo slowly but it’s almost over! These past few days have been amazin’!

So I posted a little banner on facebook saying I was going to be doing a media fast and one of my friends from school emailed me asking what it was about. I explained it to her and she decided to join in! She’s not doing it for fund raising but just for her benefit in growing in her relationship with God. Its so cool how a little post on facebook can impact people in that way.

Things have been a bit difficult though, some of my friends from school think that the media fast is “stupid” and what’s the point of avoiding something if it’s EVERYWHERE. Anyway, I didn’t let it get to me and just explained that It was so I could focus my life more on God. I kept on thinking of that verse in James; for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind. So I need to keep the faith and not let what people think get to me, it’s for God after all, not myself. [:

Ok so I’m going to go snap some pictures for the Digital 30 contest.

Au Revoir

~Heather Dunmoyer

Getting Through

Ive been doing good still. i have been reading my bible, but since im so bad at looking up chapters of the bible, ive just been randomly opening it up to random pages and reading... ive also been listening to allot  of christian music=) ive really enjoyed hosanna by hillsong united. ive been hanging out with my friend mary allot and i was surprised when we were in the car and i told her we couldn't listen to 107.9 and id put my ipod in so we could listen to ok music, and she said sure, do you have any reliant k? so i said oh i didn't think you listened to christian bands.. but ive been having a really good time without having tv and stuff take over my life. im really bad at praying cuz i get so sidetracked but lately ive been able to really just sit down and focus on what im struggling with=} so thats good! 

BY!

hope everyones doing good!

-BRIANNA!

Big Daddy Weave

The song that really touched my heart was "What LIfe would be like" by Big Daddy Weave. He wonders what life would be like if we let Jesus live through us instead of controlling our own lives. It made me think of past situations and conversations where, if I had allowed Jesus to take complete control, would have gone a whole new direction.
At times we are afraid to stand up for God because we fear to either lose our popularity with others. sometimes we want to stand up for Him but we worry because we don't know what to say or we are scared we might say the wrong things. But if we know that Christ is living in us what is there to fear? If we let Christ take complete control of our lives we can trust Him. He will lead us in the right direction! We can freely stand up for Him and speak the truth without hesitating because God will speak through us. That's what this song reminded me.

mewithoutYou

This band is exactly whats been keeping me together musically through this fast. They are so pure and authentic and they say exactly what most musicians will not say. Their words are so exact. I was listening to their song "A glass can only spill what it contains" and he said

"what new
mystery is this?
what blessed backwardness??
the Immeasurable One is held and does not resist!
struck by wicked words and foolish fists of senseless men
the Almighty One does not defend!"

And honestly after hearing that I was like WOAH!
Thats so true because the Love of God is a true mystery and its crazy how much we can try to run from him but he is held there always there.
He never turns away from us.
Yesterday I really reflected on everything that I've really messed up on and my past.
And I can totally see God everywhere even through my mistakes
That no matter how much I may hurt God or harm the life hes laid out before me
he still does not defend himself against me
hes there open arms

Seriously this band is a really good band
Their music may be really different but
theyre words have seriously changed a lot about the way I think

And hey I think thats what it takes to have a different look on things or sound on things
to actually to see something totally new.
I wish I could go on more about this guys lyrics but I would never stop.

Tough Decision

So last night... Monday. I had to make a decision. I got invited to the house of a group of men that I've been trying to build a relationship through basketball. They invited me over to their house on Monday to watch the game. Before I had a chance to think about it, I said, sure! My wife is gone. I could do that.

So I show up and there they are... sitting around a table to play cards and eat pizza and watch the game. I had been praying about how I should tell them that I'm on a Media fast when one of them says, "hey, since you're the new guy, you have the seat with your back to the game." Wow! talk about an opportunity. So I told them that actually that works out since I am doing a Media Fast with a group of High School students.

I can go into more detail but actually, what was amazing was the conversation about family, religion, and taking a stand for things. And they respected me for it... turned down the sound... and we enjoyed hanging out, laughing, all the while they watched the game and I did everything I could not to look back... I did take a glance (I admit) but they said "hey, no looking at media." It was really good... and they said they had a lot of respect for all of you... Good Job everyone!

And now, you know I'm human too... but don't tell anyone. It's like revealing that Clark is actually Superman.

Spring Break!!!

Hey everybody!!! i don't know about you but for me it has gotten a tad bit harder:/ but im still on track.........actually everybody in the cabin is watching a movie down stairs so thats the only reason i got on the computer..it sucks though because you can hear pretty much every word through the walls and its slumdog millioniare, my favorite movie!!!!!!!!!!!!! i actually heard some girls talking up stairs so im going to see what they are up too....hope to see you guys all tomarrow and the 24 hour thing!

:)

A.R.K.

this week has been pretty easy for me. so i've been with merritt since sunday morning, except for 2 hours in the evening yesterday. haha. so it made it a lot better. we have just done simple things like play cards and we went shopping and just spent a lot of time together actually talking without the media influencing us. Today, i was at merritt's and tim and smiley came over and we watched evan almighty and then played cards for a long time. It was just really nice to talk to eachother. but watching evan almighty made me think about the last time i had done an Act of Random Kindness, and it made me realize how caught up we get with ourselvs and don't think about others. so my goal is to carry out the acts of random kindness, not just this month, but continue when we have finished the fast. im praying for you all. :)

relief at last

thanks for all of your prayers this morning my aunt learned that she had a benign tumor and that it wont have any side affects and that she only has to go for check ups. i have felt that your prayers have helped a lot. thankd for taking an interest in my aunt. see you all tomorrow night at the spring break

Hardest Day Yet

so today is the first day that i might not see friends its been weird though cause i find myself just working I've been digging out a spot to pour some concrete in. the thing is i would never do this normally, i would be watching TV or on Facebook or something like that. its been nice i feel like i'm being productive and relaxing at the same time

Life !

So on day seven the fast is going well with its struggles here and there. I was reading i my book "The irresistible revolution" and i came across a quote that really caught my attention , in school lately we have been covering the cold war and its economic system and all that jazz. The book has an interesting point to what ive been being taught in school as well as what im starting to see for myself i says " When we truly discover love,capitalism will not be possible and Marxism will not be necessary." and it may be controversial even today but Christ and the disciples while they traveled depended on that kind of love they went into the villages without travel plans or (expedia.com )but instead the love of others within the early church.CAN YOU IMAGINE how intense it would be to be able to turn to the people in the church for ANY and EVERY problem you had? How many more people would come know Christ and come to church just by witnessing the love we had for one another not just as people at the church but as PEOPLE in general ?

Firt Late Post!!!

Yay! So I’ve finally stopped putting off this whole blogging thing and got into blog mode. So I’ve been reading these devotionals and I especially liked day five’s.
I went to Monday night bible study at metro and it was on almost the exact same thing. The speaker based most of his sermon around 1 peter 4 and it was about how many things hold us back from living our lives fully committed to following Christ. One of the things that hold us back was what our friends might think or say to us. The main message was that we must love God and love following him more than we love our reputation and being thought of as cool.
It was a very good message and I think it is relevant to all of us. We have all had times when we know that what we should do and the cool thing that we want to do are very different things. We must trust God enough to do the right thing, even if it causes suffering here on earth. 1 peter 3 says it is better to suffer for doing good than doing evil.
Hope everyone’s fast is going well. How was ultimate Frisbee?

Mighty To Save

Everyone needs compassion,
A love thats never failing,
Let mercy fall on me,
Everyone needs forgiveness,
The kindness of a savior,
The hope of nations,

"Savior He can move the mountains,
My God is MIGHTY to Save,
He is MIGHTY to save,
Forever author of salvation,
He roase and conqured the grave,
Jesus conquered the Grave,"

So take me as you find me,
All my fears and failures,
Fill my life again
I give my life to follow
Everything i believe in

Now i surrender

" Savior He can move the mountains,
My God is MIGHY to save,
He is MIGHTY to save.
Forever author of salvation,
He rose and conquered the grave,
Jesus conqured the grave,"

"Savior He can move the mountains,
M God is MIGHTY to save
He is MIGHTY to save,
Forever author of salvation,
He rose and conqured the grave,
Jesus conqured the grave,"

Jesus shine your light and let the whole world see,
Were singing for the glory of the risen king,

Wow! This song Hit Me at praise team pracice, i know this sounds dumb but it made me feel Alive for God! It was an awesome feeling. Pray for me tho, I'm sill struggling....

Spring Break!

okay so i've been trying to figure out how to blog this whole week and i finally figured it out!!! =D

So yaaaaay its spring break!!!!! But what am i supposed to do??? That was the first thing that I thought of when spring break started! But you know, there are plenty of things that I could do that aren't secular! Like on saturday a bunch of us hungout at chloe's and watched some movies! That was so much fun! And on sunday some of us went to merritt's house and went swimming!!! That was a lot of fun too! So throughout the media fast I'm going to try and hangout with my friends more often! Like there is a park really close to my house and I like to hangout there a lot! ................My dad told me something that I thought was pretty cool, he said that during the fast, I shouldn't just replace all of the media that I watch into more media! Whether it's christian or not! My dad said that the purpose of this fast is not to replace everthing with christian media. But to kind of put aside most of the time i spend on media, and fill it with spending time with God! I thought that was pretty cool! Of course we can still spend our time watching and listening to christian media, but I think that God would be much more pleased with us if we spent time with him! This has kind of been a struggle for me but I'm guessing it'll get quite a bit harder towards the half-way point! But all I ask of you guys is to pray for me to read my bible and actually follow through with what my dad said! I'm not a big fan of reading so reading the bible doesn't sound too great! Alright, so that's about all that I have to say right now. So if you all would please pray for me i'd really appreciate it! I'm praying for you all and I hope you guys trust God and your friends and family to keep you accountable!
~Emm N' Emm

why do we do this

when i first started this venture two years ago my goal was to make it thirty days without secular media so that i could get all the possible money from my sponsors. last year about halfway through the fast i realized that there was more that i could do to make the fast worthwhile but i just did the same thing. this ear i committed myself to study scripture in the spare time that i do have as a result of not participating in the whole media thing. its been great I've not been nearly as tired its kind of odd that God woke me up because i read His word.

New Music!

Hey... just a thought. If you are looking for some new music with a message of encouragement to what you might be dealing with during the fast, check out the lyrics of the Newsboys new song "In the Hands of God". If you need some more upbeat and cool sounding music, check out Robert Randoph and the Family Band's new album "Color Blind". Group 1 Crew came out with a new album a couple months back. And David Crowder is always a good choice. Also... if you like that "hypnotic" sound, check out Plumb. They're an older band but pretty good!

Any other bands or music out there that you like? Let us know. Comment on this post!

Focus

For me, the first week of the media fast wasn't very difficult. A lot has been going on with my cousin getting married and relatives coming over. there hasn't been much time for the media. Music is also not so difficult. i am always listening to air one or the fish. what has been chalenging though was to take time out of the day to sit down and focus on God. I picked up the Bible countless amount of times and read a couple of verses, but my mind just cant stay focused.

too much thinking.

I'm just going to be totally honest when I say that I'm struggling. I'm keeping the fast but emotionally its been draining. My goal for this month has been to formulate as many of my thoughts on God as I can and I've been hitting a couple walls. There is sooo much grey area to the Christian faith! So many denominations and beliefs that one must choose between. Are tongues for today? How involved can women be in the church? How much wine is too much wine? How do I know that what I've always been taught is true? It's virtually impossible to completely prove anything in the area of faith. No one believes anything without a basis for that belief. So theological discussions always end up turning into an argument based on intellect, and the smartest man wins. How can we know that what we've put our faith in is legit?
So this is kinda what I've been dealing with. Too much time for thinking I guess, rather than mindlessly absorbing the TV for hours. But I really just want to know how to figure this stuff out!

Contest #2

ARK Contest.

This one could be fun! You get to "build an ARK!". Here's how you do it. You have until Saturday night finish it.

• Get a group of your friends (they don't have to be doing the fast).
  
• Rent and watch "Evan Almighty".
  
• Then, as a group, perform an Act of Random Kindness.
  
• Be creative.
  

The best stories will win free stuff!

How Did Your First Week Go?

I would love to hear how your first full week went with the Media Fast. I know... it's Monday. But I want you to be thinking about it and share it by Wednesday. It would be cool if we could share some of your thoughts at Collide on Thursday Night.

And remember, we need you and your friends to come to the 24-Hour Spring Break event this Wednesday and Thursday... get signed up today!

Folgers in a cup

Yeah so I woke up this morning after having an awesome time yet again at Sams. I really wanted to turn on T.V and watch Regis and Kelly. Its so hard to not turn it on! But lately I won't lie I'm not able to commit to just sit down and read my bible. Or I'll try and sit and think and pray but my mind wanders. I start thinking well I wonder what Sam is doing... or man Matt's head really is like Mr. Clean's... But I've realized for me I relate so well with words through songs. As I'm listening to this awesome singer JJ Heller she says.. " when my world is shaking Heaven stands, When My world is breaking I never leave your hands...." And thats so true. When everything sorta seems not to be working just right or when I'm not even focused on God I never leave his hands...

Amazing

I have really been encouraged by reading each of your blogs! It's been really amazing seeing how each of you are "working out" the issues of the fast. So now, for some of you, Spring Break begins. What will your days look like? What are you doing during the day time? What are you reading? What Scripture has caught your attention and challenged you? What are your friends thinking?

Find some time away from the noise and get your Bible out and read through a passage. Spend some time praying for each other... and your families. And keep sharing your stories. I'm praying for you all!

Stuggle

So I've never "blogged" before lol. But ill give it a shot!

So I realized tonight while i was talking to my dad how much of a struggle this media fast is for me. It's not the part where I'm supposed to stay away from media and center my attention on God, but the accountability. I read that you guys had little get togethers to watch God centered movies and to do certain things to help focus more on God, and I am struggling right now because I don't really have acountability. I don't have christian friends that will be there to back me. I am really trying tho. ====

Week 1

These past few days of the media fast have actually gone really well! Today a few from the youth group came over and I thought it was really cool to actually have a real conversation with out all the media bombarding us. We were able to play spoons and go swimming and just enjoy each other's company. I am still praying for everyone and I hope everything is going well for all of you!

Question

wow, I'm reading your guys' stories and you totally put me to shame. I am trying to do this fast with you guys and I'm not doing very well! On Friday Dave and I went to some friends for dinner and we walked in and sat on their couch and Jeopardy was on. I totally started getting into the game trying to answer questions (or give answers questions) and then I realized...dude, I'm on a media fast! So confession, I blew it just 2 days into it! It makes me question how strong my commitment to doing this to honor God actually is. Am I doing it for God, or just because I'm a leader and it's a good thing to do, or what? I challenge you to really consider why you're doing this. The #1 reason is because God is worthy...is that your #1 reason? Let's keep writing on here and encouraging each other to keep our commitment...and when we mess up just know that God loves you anyway and try again.

week one

OK so week one has been good, its weird for me as a christian school kid that has done the fast twice, to think that its so hard for people to do this whole fast thing. But as I read the stories of all of the others I realize that they have it alot harder than I do. I mean shoot you guys are all surrounded by people at school and teachers in class that are playing/listening to secular media. I must commend all of you for your strength and courage to withstand the temptation to just try to ignore it and take a stand and ask the person to stop listening to their music out loud. The greatest thing about this whole thing is that even though we've only been doing it for 5 days now I know that I have seen my friends for all five of those days its been time that we can spend bonding and growing in our relationships while we grow in Christ