What is a 30-Day Secular Media Fast?

What if the noise of godless media is drowning out the voice of God? Not all media is bad... but maybe the distraction away from God is making harder to hear and see God at work.

This is a journey of a group of high school students who have committed to take 30 days to focus on God through God-centered media. This includes TV, movies, books, magazines, smart phone apps, and many social media outlets.

Here, you can follow their stories, their lives, and their challenges. Feel free to leave comments and encouragement.

Read
Relate
Respond

Friday, March 4, 2016

Not really missing media... Yet

Well... Probably should have posted earlier... but I'm doing it now instead. Yay!

Wow, no media for an entire month, how exiting! Alright, truthfully, I was not looking forward to this month; and I gotta say, even though its only been just under a week, I'm really not missing media that much. The only thing that I do somewhat miss so far, is listening to all my favorite tunes. Which really isn't all that big of a deal though, because I can just listen to other christian artists instead. I think living without media hasn't really hit me yet, maybe because I've been so busy lately. Then again, I still have the rest of the month, so we'll see how I feel after the weekend rolls around.

Anyway, I have high hopes for the rest of this month. Coming from past experience, living without the distractions of "needing" to watch movies, TV shows, or playing video games, can be really freeing. It frees up time that I can use to spend with my family, with God, and doing whatever else media has kept me from. I hope that this month my family and I can grow closer, and that I'll grow closer with my friends who are doing the media fast too. I'll be praying for all you on the fast!

See ya next post ladies and gents,

Myles

Thursday, March 3, 2016

Media Fast!

I've loved reading everyone's posts! I am encouraged by each of you as I also fast from some of my favorite outlets, Facebook and Instagram.  I has convinced myself that I don't REALLY use them that much any more, especially since last Media Fast impacted me so much. I realized yesterday that to post on Facebook is still a habit of mine, yesterday I read an article I liked and I really wanted to re-post it...then I realized MEDIA FAST! So I didn't post it. To be honest I don't even remember the article today which makes me realize it may not have been worth posting.  

I already find myself being more productive, spending more time outside and with my puppy <3

I hope you all are taking each day to read from Proverbs! I love it, I keep Bible Gateway open on my Chrome Tab at work so not to forget to listen to it each day. The first 3 chapters have been refreshing. Those who seek wisdom will receive it, but not only wisdom, the wisdom from God. Keep reading and I am I going to do my best to read a verse twice a day...I feel like its a candy jar, you never know what is going to come out of it each time you dig into it!

Keep updating the blog and encouraging each other!

Tuesday, March 1, 2016

Here's to today

             So here we are again, our beloved Media Fast.
             I have to be honest, I spent all day yesterday trying to finish a bunch of TV shows to "make up" for not watching them in March. I love TV, and Netflix, and Fuller House, and I am grateful that I was able to finish all of Fuller House before March, but I am also thankful for March, and the oppurtunity to serve Christ through sacrifice.
             As we begin the Media Fast again, I am actually very excited about living without secular media, as it is so often a trap I, like many teenagers, fall into, whether it be music, movies, or TV. I see it as an oppurtunity to glorify God, grow closer to Him, and be so focused on Him that I bubble over with His love and grace. I wish you all luck, and I know I will need lots of prayer this month and beyond! Love you Media Fasters.
Michaela

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like the Media Fast...

      Ah, the first day of the second year. I will say that I didn't really notice a change in today's flow, as it was crazy hectic with school and project and tests. There were a couple times I picked up my phone and was surprised that there were no notifications... anywhere. It was really strange at first, but then I remembered, "Oh yeah, I'm on a Media Fast and I already logged out of Instagram." It was also kind of freeing, because I haven't been constantly bombarded with notifications and I got to do my homework much more quickly. I am really excited for the fast because I KNOW that I need a break from media; it's been clogging up my time and my life.That's the main thing I'm giving up: Instagram. The other main thing I'm giving up is secular books, which is a huge struggle for me, because I love to read, but sometimes it's hard for me to get interested in Christian novels. I'm excited to see what God's going to do with the time I would have been spending on Instagram and reading, and I pray that I will grow in my faith this month. Good luck to you all!

Madeleine

Back to the Beginning Again

     Hello everybody!! Excited again (even more so than last year) for this years Media Fast! I come prepared again to give up all secular media that so often dictates large parts of our lives.  This is always a great challenge that allows a small moment (a month to be precise) to empty our ears of the "American Noise" (ha ha get it? Skillet Reference...) and truly listen to what God has to say, and build a stronger relationship with Him, family, and friends, rather than build a relationship with our little screens. (Is that even possible?) Anyways, I will be praying for help for myself and others through this, and use it as an opportunity to build my faith!

Well this is going to be harder than I thought.

This is my first year doing the media fast. That said I did not know what to expect. My first day was hard to say the least. I have not tried to not play video games or watch tv for a long period of time before. I have not  realized how dependent I was on them for escape from my real life how often I run to media to try to forget instead of facing my problems. I hope that this month would help me grow as a person and as a follower of Christ. To everybody doing the media fast I'll be praying for you I know you guys can do it!

Ok... So this is happening

Well, as I'm sitting here at my desk typing out this blog I can already see the impact that this media fast could potentially have on me. Not only am I saying this because I have experienced this media fast before, I am also saying this because I am aware of how different our lives will be just after a few days of fasting. It doesn't take long to realize just how trivial all of this social media is, and yet how it really takes up the majority of most of our lives. For me especially, it is very very hard to resist event the slightest amount of temptation. See, at my school jesuit we use ipads to do just about 99.99% of our school work. And Guess what else you can access on your ipads? MEDIA, I know crazy right. Who would have thought you could access media on an electronic device. This means for me, that while I am doing my homework I am literally one click away from media at all time. It's ok though, I like a challenge. But challenges set aside, what I am hoping to gain throughout this media fast is to become a better man. I feel as though in our day and age, that media affects not only how people interact but how people will behave. I want to be someone that above all else, seeks God over anybody else including myself. I know this seems very cliche but sometimes the most obvious things in life are the ones that are most ignored. I know this media fast will not be easy, and I want to just remind everyone to not focus on not doing media. Instead, to focus on pursuing God above all.  As a Deepak Chorpa once said, "All great changes are preceded by chaos". The media fast may not be viewed as chaotic, but this quote still applies. Just remember, that even though the media fast will be tough. Some good will always come out of it, you just have to look. Good luck to everyone participating in the media fast! I hope you all the best, and for you to stay faithful and to get closer with God.

Year 4 Day 1

Two years ago, at summer camp, the speaker said something that has really resonated with me, even now. (I think that's pretty impressive considering I don't remember what I had for lunch yesterday).
The speaker said "Stay faithful in the mundane" and I am making that my motto for this fast. It can be incredibly hard some days, especially the weekends when you're sitting around, but that's where this phrase comes into play. It is important to stay faithful in the fast and what you've committed to even when it becomes mundane and boring. 
On that note, day one of the media fast is well underway! My primary goals for this month are to be truly dedicated to the fast and to grow closer to God and the people around me in the process. While fasting from secular media is super difficult, I've come to see how important it is to getting an early start on a positive mindset for Arizona.  
I am ready to dive into this month and leave it with a different outlook on media. I am mainly trying to direct my attention away from social media, tv, and music. Those areas are always the hardest (especially since a ton of good movies and music always come out in March), BUT I am determined not to give in to the temptation!
For music I make playlists and only listen to those, on music apps like Spotify. (Predominantly Christian indie stuff but also tons of music without any words) 
For TV, I do extensive research to try to find a Christian movie that a) I haven't seen, and b) isn't obnoxiously cheesy, and c) is actually on Netflix. Usually I end up watching the same ones but I actually have quite a long list ready for this month!
Lastly for social media, there isn't really a substitution for this, which makes it the most difficult. Mostly I just delete all the apps and try to resist the urge to redownload them just to "check what's going on" 
Good luck to everyone this year, remember you get to go to Arizona in July :)

Goals and the beginning

So don't know if I am posting this right because I think this is last year's feed but whatever.
So my goal for this month is to stay off of, of course music, movies, and all that but I am also fasting from social media, and video games also (I think those were not included in the list but they are for me).

So today is the first day and so far so good, last night I deleted instagram as well as my non Christian Pandora stations. I think that this though difficult well be worth it in the end as I can already see a difference. Keep it up everyone this will be fun

Erik W. Washburn