Here we go!

My name is Zachary Lenhart and this is the beginning of my second media fast. I did the media fast last year and was thankful that it opened my eyes to see the negative aspect that the media plays in our lives every day. Since going through the media fast last year, I have cut back on my usage of media (except for music) tremendously. However, I know that the media still changes my focus from God to unimportant things. I am looking forward to another month away from all secular media and to turn my full attention to God. During this fast, it will be very difficult for me to not listen to country music or to watch television (probably basketball) every day because they are things that I enjoy doing and have a habit of doing. Overall, I know that the fast will benefit me and help me grow closer to God which I am really happy about, but it will be a struggle for at least a few days if not each and every day. I wish everyone who is doing the fast good luck and I know that we can all do this together!

First Timer

Hi, my name is Matthew. This my first time doing a media fast. I am looking forward to focusing on God. I am also looking forward to Stay2Serve.

First Media Fast

My name is Jeremiah, and this is my first time ever doing a media fast. My older brother, who is a junior, has done it before, and I am super excited to grow in my relationship with God and not let media or anything else get in my way of learning about our wonderful God. I have done the stay 2 serve twice and I'm looking forward to help little children come to see, hear and follow our Lord. After all, our goal at Arcade Church is to get as many people to see, hear, and follow Jesus.  I even looked up a bible verse about it.


Psalm 119:133 Direct my footsteps according to your word; let no sin rule over me.

First Year

                                         My First Year

      I  am Liana, I'm a 7th grader and I'm ready to take away all distractions and media that interrupts my relationship with God. Its also my first time doing the media fast.  I'm really passionate for this! I think getting off of social media will get everyone closer to god and help the relationship get stronger and better. In fact i found a verse that helps me personally focus on God           
                                                          Romans 8:5
 "For those who live according to flesh set their minds on things of the flesh,but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit."  
                                          ♡I hope i can grow stronger with God♡

First HS Media Fast

First time doing this with the church, not my first time ever media fasting though. Im really excited to do my homework AND sleep, a cool combo that I think could be helpful; but more than anything im excited to grow in my religion. I've got books of the bible, spotify playlists, and even video games about God that will help me to not use any secular media and become closer to God. I hope God will help me through the next 30 days. Colossians 3:5!

A Fresh Start

     My name is Nathan Hatfield and I have been going to Arcade church my whole life. I love growing through the church and learning more about God every time I show up on Sundays but whenever I went home I would always go straight to my room take off my "church clothes" and turn on the T.V. to watch football. As I started listening to pastor Matt and pastor Craig I realized that worshiping God isn't supposed to be meant for one day its supposed to be meant for all days. After realizing this I saw that whenever I got home I would breakaway from God and put technology before him. Now I have joined the media fast so when I get home I won't be able to play games or watch sports I will be able to stay with God and remember and give thanks for all he's given me. I believe that during these 30 days of fasting my faith in God will rise and grow extremely. I do have to admit I love to play video games and listen to music other than christian but I am so happy to give that up for someone more important and all giving. I am hoping that after the fast I will take some of it and apply it everyday,maybe cut back on things that I don't need and not going straight to the T.V. after church.

    I hope the other people who are doing this for the first time like me understand and know that this is so important and it will be super good for us. I am praying for everyone and hoping temptation doesn't persuade others to break free from this fast.

One Month a Year for 15 Years...Until Now

       I am a Junior and I have done the Media Fast almost my whole life (been doing it for 15 years) so I would say I'm pretty used to it by now. This would be my 4th official year doing the media fast and going on the missions trip. I have decided to challenge myself this year and go 2 1/2 months instead of just thirty days. I actually started my media fast on February 8th and plan on going till April 30th. I have given up all media like Instagram, and Facebook. I have also decided to fast from online shopping/browsing because I often find myself browsing for things I don't need.(which I never end up buying anything) Every year I give up music and movies that don't focus on God...but this year since I started in February I "had" to watch the Olympics. My family is kinda Olympic "junkies" and we love watching just about every sport. But now since the Olympics are over I am now giving up all TV and music not focused on God. I am exited to see what God is going to show me through this 82 day fast.

My Second Journey

As I go into my second time of Media Fast, I am both excited and anxious. I know that I will have more free time, be disappointed I can't listen to new music, but overall grateful for the experience. In the last couple of weeks, I have struggled with the idea of life after death. I know heaven exists, but I can't even begin to imagine the idea of "eternity," and sometimes that scares me. I will be grateful to grow closer to God and learn from the experience, and hopefully He will be able to help me out with this. I will be giving up all social media as I feel this is important in my media time. Before last year's media fast, I spent a lot of time on social media, but since then more of my time has been spent on more worthy things. I hope the outcome is the same this year but with Netflix. Can't wait to see how it turns out! Life is a journey

My First Year (and not my last)

Hello, my name is Jordan Gilbert, I am a Freshman and this is my first year doing the Media Fast. I am excited to fast from all secular media for a whole month. I am usually on YouTube, social media, and video games a lot so I am happy for a chance to drop all of that and focus on God for the month of March. My goals for the next thirty days are to learn more and grow closer to God and learn to take a step back from everything in the world.

To help me stay away from the temptations of media I have turned off and moved all of my secular apps to a folder. Since I get bored very easily I have downloaded apps on my phone that are about the Bible, they teach you more about the Bible and God while helping you memorize Bible verses. A hard part for me is at school, there are always people playing music and there are several classes that music is required for presentations.

This is the first time that I will be doing this and I wish everyone good luck and I will be praying for everyone doing the fast.

Final [Official] Year

Hi everyone,
For those who don't know me, my name is Katie Green, and I am a former high school student that was reasonably involved in Arcade Church. On June 26, I graduated from high school, and on June 27, I moved south to San Luis Obispo. I moved because I was offered a full-time position with a company, and I felt that it would be a really great experience to prepare myself for the rest of life. It was a very abrupt change, and I know that it caused a lot of confusion and bitterness in some areas, but I'm at the beginning of a very different chapter of my life, and I'm really excited about it, and it's my hope that other people will be just as excited and supportive. To clarify, I did move by myself, and being a minor, I have had a billion issues arrive from being alone. Just a couple weeks ago I went to the San Luis Obispo library hoping to use a specific computer program... I couldn't even get a library card without a parent's signature. I've had other complications as well, but I've been fortunate to surround myself with some really amazing people. I found a church that I absolutely love, a bible study/church group that I'm interested in, and a small handful of girls, mentors, coworkers, etc. that I really look up to and enjoy. Regardless, I miss the people in Sacramento, and lots of things are really different and weird right now. My goal this month (since that's what the actual prompt asks) is to solidify my identity as a person here by centering back and solidifying my foundation in Christ. I don't have any real attachments to faith based communities like I did in Sacramento, so I think I will do a lot of learning and growing and defining in the next month. Also, having a more set schedule for the first time in my life, I want to put things into my calendar like bible time and journal time (and once things are in my calendar now... they ABSOLUTELY get done). Aside from scheduling, I'm going to do something called growthTRACK starting in March with the church that I've been attending. It's like a class sort of thing that helps you find a fit in the church. It seems like they could potentially have a worship need which is something I really miss, and I'm really excited to see what comes out of the class and the month in general. I'm a little lost and not very updated in regards to the media fast right now, so please be considerate if it takes me a minute to understand exactly what all is going on if you contact me. And I seriously encourage anyone/everyone to contact me! I miss people so much and I'd love to get an email from a friend or from a stranger and just talk to them. My email is ktgreen2018@gmail.com If this blog was sort of sporadic and unstructured, I apologize, but I will happily fill in gaps via email or via another requested blog post. Thanks everyone!!
Katie