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

Thursday, April 6, 2017

15 Years!

For the past 15 years, we have challenged students to step up and meet the ultimate test... can you take 30 days, avoid media that is not focused on God, and spend that extra time working on your relationships with others and with God.

I can honestly say that every year, I am so proud of how we have High School students who not only take the challenge, but inspire others along the way. Over the past 15 years, we have averaged over 20 students per year who step up. Add to the the 3-5 families who join in. We still have former students who participate in the fast each year!

We have written over 200 daily-devotionals... we have utilized book studies, prayer practices, and Bible study methods. About 10 years ago, we started this blog page to keep track of past experiences. Each year we challenge adults to not only sponsor students, but also to join in the fast... and every year I hear from 2 or 3 adults who are sponsors that join in with the students.

We do use this opportunity to raise money for our mission trips and over the last 15 years we have raised over $9000 per year to send kids onto mission trips to grow in their leadership skills, grow in the their faith, and learn how to share the Gospel with other people. We have no idea how many people have heard and seen the Gospel through these trips, but I know it has always impacted the students who go.

God is good! I have seen how He uses this simple expression of fasting from something that nudges us away from Him and I've seen how it impacts our students every year. For the first time in 15 years, I took this month to just observe, listen, and see how God is moving in our kids. It was not easy avoiding commenting on each blog post because I saw God working in so many ways (I am going back through now and commenting... haha). The Holy Spirit was definitely moving in their hearts!

I work within a culture that can only measure success on numbers. We say that we don't but the reality is that every time I talk to someone from another church, I get the same question: "How many kids are in your youth group?" I wonder if Jesus ever had a question like that? "How many kids in your group, Jesus?" "Well, it's been 3 years, we have 12 leaders, still... half of them are under 18... and then we have a few who show up from time to time," Jesus. 

What inspires me every year is not how many High School students who do the fast... it's how those that step up to the challenge are changed by focusing on God for 30 days... and this year, I love what God has done through our kids. Stories of taking stands for faith in class, having Gospel-centered conversations with friends, being asked to pray for sports teams, inviting friends to youth group, serving in children's ministry, sharing spontaneous devotionals for radio stations' Facebook pages... it has been an amazing month! It has been an amazing 15 years! There is something amazing that happens when the Gospel is elevated and centralized in our lives.

As we close out this year's fast, I want to give this final challenge... What are you doing to make Christ known? What are you committing to in order to grow in your faith? How is your faith nudging you to grow closer to God and others? Maybe... just maybe... a 30 day Media Fast will help you answer those questions, too!

Great job everyone! I'm incredibly honored and proud to be a small part of your spiritual journey. I can't wait to see what God does next in your lives!

Sunday, April 2, 2017

The Afterwards

     What a month it has been. The Media Fast has been complete for going on two days now, but I still feel like I'm in it. I so thoroughly enjoyed the early morning reminders that I am loved by a Wonderful Creator through the sunrises I saw and the songs on KLOVE I heard. I enjoyed having the only notifications on my phone be the daily Bible verse and when people posted on the blog. I enjoyed interacting with my friends face to face, talking and laughing and experiencing things with them that I didn't have to worry about posting on social media later to make me look "cool". Sure, there were moments of wishing I could listen to a certain secular song or watch a secular TV show (because as entertaining as Veggie Tales in the House is, it gets a little old after a while) but those moments were few and fleeting. I really enjoyed being able to do the Media Fast with my whole family because we got to experience the fast together and (I think and hope) that we grew together from it.
     I enjoyed all these things very much, but just because the Fast is over doesn't mean I can't keep enjoying them. I did go on social media on Saturday but I wasn't super interested in what was going on and I realized that I really didn't want to be on it because it didn't bring any more happiness or satisfaction into my life. I also listened to secular music for a while, which was more enjoyable, but I heard some songs whose lyrics I hadn't really paid attention to... until now. When I heard them I realized that a lot of them were sending negative messages and that "positive, encouraging KLOVE" is very true. So, I think I'll keep fasting, or at least limit my media usage and sensor the things that I'm putting into my head.
Thanks to all of you who did the Fast, thanks to all of our wonderful sponsors, and thank You, God, for giving us this amazing opportunity to see You more.
We did it!
Madeleine Jones