Easy.

This first week and a half was much easier than I expected!  I never realized how much time I waste watching TV and movies.  I have to say I do miss my Taylor Swift, but it's totally worth it!  I'm so glad that I have some great friends to do this with me!

-Natalie

First-Time Around

As a first-timer who's sister did the media fast, I was very excited to finally get to be a part of it. It is not quite as glorious as I expected, but I am still grateful that I am doing it! I have been successful so far, and it is a LOT harder that I thought it would be. I have mostly spent my time reading, whether it's Christian books, or the Bible. I have my Media Fast music set apart from my other music, which has been VERY hard not to listen to. I feel good about being able to sing worship songs to God in the morning instead of songs about Taylor Swift's love difficulties. I recently read Matthew 16: 24-28, which talks about giving our whole selves to God. I have been really trying hard to live that out.  It has been a pretty good experience so far, and I am excited to see what will come in the next few days!

To Save a Life(aka Life on the Outside)

Okay this is my first post and i am just gonna say this up-front, this is SO much harder than i thought it was gonna be! on the first day alone i realized how much time i spend playing DS or Wii and stuff more than reading my Bible outside of school (*_*)!

 Now that`s off my chest, let`s get serious. i recently watched most of To Save a Life and it got me thinking: what if life was different for me? what if i was like that (watch the movie and you`ll see what i mean)? and i started thinking that i`m blessed, SO blessed by God that i`m not. also for school  today we watched this documentary about poor kids and their families in America and made me even more thankful that, even though to be honest life ain`t that great with me and my fam, we`ve still got it pretty good compared to those kids. but then i thought: i should be praying for those kids and stuff! i mean, it could be me thats there for cryin` out loud!

Anyway, long story short let`s be thankful we have a bunch of video games, movies, iPods, and music to fast from! please pray that i stay true to this,  it`s like crazy hard not to read any of my manga, or watch Adventure Time at my Grandma`s place for dinner on sundays!  

DJ F.

P.S. thanks Matt for helping me out with this! (^_^)

Third Times the Charm

Wow it's already Media Fast number 3....Woot! I think this has been the hardest one to start for me so far. Starting on a Saturday was challenging because I had some free time but I realized right away that that was exactly why I needed to do this. It's cool that my friends already know about what is going on with me and the Media Fast from when I have told them about it before :) they even ask me about how it's going and I'm glad I can share the Word with them like this. Keep on keeping on guys! I'm praying for everyone but I know we got this!

Attention on God...and the road

First off, this is my first post. Oh yeah! Well anyways, this week I have been driving a ton: to softball, school, errands, you name it. Because of this, I have been listeing to 103.9 the fish nonstop (it's awesome, check it out). And have been using that time as my "intentional worship time." I sing along, think about the lyrics, and focus all of my attention on God, and the road of course haha. This is the easiest switch to make while on the Media Fast. Instead of learning all the words to that new Justin Beiber song you hear every hour of every day. You can learn the words of songs that have so much more meaning. And by committing those to memory, they come back to you during the day and can give you that little boost of encouragement. It's almost like memorizing Bible verses, but not quite. Anyways, that is how I have started this first week of our Media Fast. I am praying for you all and really, if you are lost and hate the silence of the car, turn up 103.9. I promise you will be much happier. Good Luck!

New Hashtag Feature

Yes... now, if you would like to post something immediately, just Tweet it with the hashtag #ourthirty. Pretty cool!

Ambassador

Today, God showed me that I waste a lot of opportunities to show Christ to my non-Christian friends. What the heck. If I truly love God and others more than myself, that should honestly be a bigger priority in my life. Awkward. If you could pray that the Holy Spirit would show me how to be a better ambassador, that would be awesome. If my friends came to know God, that would be so dang cool. Going media-less hasn't been too hard thus far...but we'll see...I know that moment is going to come sometime. Ha. I've been reading Philippians & playing a lot of Rend Collective Experiment & John Mark McMillan. Really good. My favorite McMillan songs have been "Skeleton Bones" & "Death in His Grave", and because I just realized that sounds really dark (it's not, I swear. Baha), "The Medicine" is good too. Can't wait to grow closer to God without all the media distractions! Praying for everyone.

New Year... New Perspective

A new year... a new perspective... on the media, anyway.

This year, the challenge is to avoid any media that takes your mind away from God or Godly things. Now most of time, I don't think that it's wise to take one verse from the Bible and try to apply it. Often times there is a lot of context that we miss... and without context, we may be just taking a verse and making it fit our desires, not God's. And that's dangerous...

That being said, I ran across a verse in 2 Corinthians 6:12, "You are not restricted by us, but you are restricted by your own affections." Paul was writing to the Corinthian church and discussing their desires. The things that may be keeping them from growing in their relationship with God. Many of them were rich and had just about anything they needed or wanted. Later, he goes on to talk about their bodies being the temple of God (and one of the most misinterpreted verses in all the Bible... "do not be unequally yoked..." 

Here's the issue... the media fast is not meant to be a limitation. It's designed to help you see how your choices (what you watch, listen to, or read) and actually limiting you. It's those very things that stir up your emotions, direct your thoughts and dreams, and take your time away from God. The church isn't designed to restrict you... but your own desires and choices do restrict you probably more than you realize.

So this year... it's not about "what I can and cannot do." It's about recognizing what is restricting you in your walk; what is restricting you in your relationships; and what is restricting your hopes and dreams. Right now... your affection is for your favorite band or TV show or book. Maybe your affection is your video games, Twitter / Facebook / Instagram / Snapchat / Pintrest / whatever... if your affection is on something other than God, there's a pretty good chance that this affection is the real problem with you growing in your relationship to God.

Media Fast + Time with God - "Other-than-God" Affection = Gospel-centered Growth

a million times

is it just me, or are the final days of fasting the most difficult? the temptation is so much greater--like, we're hecka close to the end, would it really be so bad if i checked out seventeen magazine super quick? or whatever. it's so hard! i think the most difficult part is to remember to put effort into these last couple of days. it would be a million times easier just to coast through until the end, without intentionally setting aside more time just for God and i. but that would be a totally uncool thing to do. God deserves that time and so much more. i want for this fast to be pleasing to Him. but dang, i'm struggling so much right now! that to say...i need a lot of prayer to make these last days the best ones yet.

p.s.: i loved this francis chan vid: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LA_uwWPE6lQ; pretty funny & convicting.

we're so close, guys! 2 more days, it's worth it. 1 corinth. 10:13

Last Week Rush

So it's the last week... what next? Are you going to make changes in your life to keep connecting with God? Or are you planning on going back to the same routine as before the fast? Make a commitment this week to make sure you always find time with God. Post here what you plan on doing at the end of the fast...