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 18, 2016

Have We Got a Show For You!

     Hello everybody! I had lots of fun this week and anticipating the fun I am going to have over the break!  It's still just as surprising how much fun you can still have without using social, or any kind of media really...   I have encountered some more challenges than usual, now that it's been longer than two weeks, and i'm less busy.  One example was the other day I went bowling with my friends, and they play music and music videos on the back wall, and it was torture for me, because a great song by my favorite band was playing!!  It was so difficult to not sing along with it, and even more difficult not to listen to it when I got home that night.  I concentrated on not focusing on it, and then said a silent and urgent prayer to God to help me restrain myself, since the friends I was with weren't christian, so the only person that could hold me accountable was myself.  It seems like such a simple and meaningless thing, but the issue was not physically listening to the song, but spiritually dwelling on it, and resisting the temptation to break a commitment between yourself and God.  I found that it was the perfect time to talk about it because this last Thursday at youth group, we talked about a verse in proverbs (I think? I can't remember which verse this was based off of :(((  ) and how God will take any worries or anxieties that we have, and carry our burdens for us, if we let him.  The conversation was focused a little more on the bad habits that he could help stop, but it was a very similar message to the 1st peter reference I made in an earlier post.

     Hey I also just recently watched some veggie tales movies at my Aunts house, and I still remember how good those used to be when I was younger, and (they are quite addicting and fun) I am planning on watching a few more for the duration of the media fast, (and maybe even past that ;) ) Well, good luck to those doing the media fast, and congratulations for getting this far!!   -Larryboy out

Thursday, March 17, 2016

"Duty" to Post?

I feel like the media fast has opened my eyes. As I have been going through this I have come to the conclusion that I don't need media... crazy right? As I have thought about I realized that my attachment to social media is almost unhealthy but I don't really enjoy it as much as I thought I did. I think one of the main reasons I'm on Instagram and Twitter is simply because that's what teenagers do. I can think of so many times when I was scrolling through my feed because I felt like I had a "responsibility" to look at my friends' posts. And this has only become more evident through the media fast. I find that I'm too busy too really miss social media or tv. Before the fast I thought I it would be super horrible, but I have found that I don't like social media as much as I thought I did. I mean I still find it challenging but just not as much as I thought it would be. It's not horrible like I thought it would be, I actually feel like it has lifted this "duty" to be on social media. All my friends look at me like I'm crazy when I tell them I'm doing a media fast, and they are even more shocked when I tell them it's for a whole month. The media fast has already allowed me to grow closer to God, learn more about myself, and media in my life, I can't wait to see where else it takes me.
-Jill

Easier With Time

This media fast has gone by so fast, I mean we're already halfway through. When we first started I expected it to drag on and feel like forever. At first it was hard for me, I was constantly tempted by phone and tv, but I decided that whenever I would think about going on social media I would instead read the Bible, and it has actually been getting easier as time goes on. Sure I miss my favorite tv shows and want to know whats going on on social media, but when I'm not thinking about it and just living my life, it doesn't inconvenience me that much. I never realized how much time I was spending on media until I wasn't able to spend any time on it. I find that I had been spending hours and hours on my phone that could have been used for so much more. Now I have more time to read the Bible and be productive. The media fast is not only letting me grow closer to God, but has also allowed me to see how little I actually "need" media.
-Jill

Wednesday, March 16, 2016

What a world we live in...

Dear Media-fasters,
Happy Halfway! Well, this week was a little bit crazy. My class is planning an event for the juniors and seniors, and that has been hectic with making posters, advertisements, financial aid announcements, and begin to sell tickets. In the back of my head this whole week is Christ saying, Be Still. I find that I often tell myself, "I'm too busy to be still right now, I will be still later" quite ironically in the very sense of the word. The only stillness I get is at lunch, because my friends are mostly on their phones. Wow, what a world this has become. My friends Sam and David were literally sitting across the table from each other, but they had to be DM'ing each other instagram rather than talking. This just shows how much our generation really does need the media fast. It gives us a taste of old-school traditional reality, and frankly, it's kind of nice. I'm excited for the next two weeks of fasting, and maybe I can even get my friends to talk to each other out loud.
Good Luck!
-Mick

And then their were 2

2 down and 2 to go
The halfway make has gotten here so fast. The thing is I barely notice, I almost never watch TV shows or movies, and I only had my instagram for a week before I started, so these weeks are going by super quick. Though I am not being tempted with the media, I can see how God is working in me and through me. I already wrote about the interaction I had with my friend, and I also feel just a little wiser through  reading psalms. I am realy enjoying reaping the rewards of the media fast. Thank you to all my sponsors for your prayer and support and everyone else.
-Erik W. Washburn

Tuesday, March 15, 2016

Surprised

I had a super cool experience today. I was driving my friend home (because I'm 18 and that legal now, whoo), and she turned on the radio to secular music. Naturally, I had to explain to her that I couldn't listen to that music because of the media fast. Unlike the many negative responses that I have received to it this year, she was totally cool with it. It actually spawned a conversation about church and God. I told her all about Hume SD, and now she is thinking about going with our youth group. I was super surprised and excited to see her take interest in something like that. I love to see the God's work in my life and others. Happy media fasting.
-T

Halfway Point

Wow. Halfway point. I can't say as I've really struggled with parting with the media for half a month. In fact, I know it's been a huge help for me because I have been going through two very overwhelming school weeks, and had I not had the fast to keep me in line, I know i would have whittled away my time on Instagram. I have been doing a lot of on-the-phone and in-person talking because of a group project (which we finally presented today - all done!). However, now that it's done, I realize that I miss the talking to people instead of texting them, and I really don't even want to text people. This longing for interaction with people is a good example, I think, of what God intended for fellowship with other believers. Even though the people in my group weren't Christians, it still made me desire real contact with people, and it made me lose my desire for the media and texting community. I want to form real relationships with people, especially other Christians, and the removal of media has helped me do that.

On another note, I found a Bible plan on my Bible app that I've been using every day. Each day has a new topic, but the underlying theme relates to fellowship and community. I hope that even after the fast is over God will continue to strengthen my desire for Christian fellowship, and I can continue to grow in wisdom from the advice I receive from believers.

Love and prayers,
Madeleine

Halfway

We are now officially at the halfway point of this media fast, and I am happy to say that so far I have been media free. It is a great feeling being off of media, but yet I feel that it hasn't been distracting me most of this week. I've been very busy, and this week was probably one of the toughest weeks of my life. Not because of the media, but because our family had to put our beloved dog frizzle down on Sunday. It's really hard to lose someone that you care about so much, especially when it was as unexpected as it was. I know it was for the best however, and that frizzle is enjoying himself in doggie heaven. Since then, I have not even focused what so ever on media. I have no desire to think about it which is good, please pray for me and my family as this has been a very tough week. I hope that everyone else is staying strong in their media fast. I know that this week will be hard for me, but I still am trusting that God will draw good both out of the media fast and out of my tough times. After all God is good and he does good things. Congrats on hitting the halfway point! My prayers with all of you for the next half, and thank you sponsors for all of your support.