March 21, 2025 • 52 mins
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Scripture can be a powerful tool against the pitfalls of digital life. Our guest, Teryn Gregson, opens up about her personal experiences with the toxic side of social media and offers unique insights into applying a "faith filter" to our interactions.
We talk about the anxiety and pressure social media can amplify as well as the profound peace found in seeking fulfillment through Christ rather than likes. By drawing a clear line between social influence and soul influence, we encourage focusing on real-life connections and spiritual growth, using social media as a supplementary tool rather than a substitute for genuine community.
Teryn shares practical advice on setting boundaries and achieving true rest, using the Bible as a compass for online behavior. With practical tips and Christian teachings, this episode equips listeners to navigate the digital landscape while staying grounded in God's word.
Links from Teryn:
Book: The Only Like That Matters Is God's
Website: www.teryngregson.com
Bible: She Reads Truth CSB
Revelation Bible Study - Jen Wilkin
Favorite App: YouVersion
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:04):
At the Coffee and Bible Time podcast.
Our goal is to help you delightin God's Word and thrive in
Christian living.
Each week, we talk to subjectmatter experts who broaden your
biblical understanding,encourage you in hard times and
provide life-building tips toenhance your Christian walk.
We are so glad you have joinedus.
(00:25):
Welcome back to the Coffee andBible Time podcast.
This is Ellen, your host.
Today we are talking about usingthe Bible to transform our
lives on social media.
Endless scrolling can leave usfeeling more disconnected and
empty than ever before.
Constant comparison and chasinglikes can take a toll on our
(00:53):
mental and spiritual well-being,not to mention the cancel,
culture, bullying and negativitywe can encounter at any time of
day or night.
But there's hope.
Night, but there's hope.
Joining us today is TarynGregson, the author of the book
the Only Like that Matters IsGod's Using the Bible to
Transform your Life on SocialMedia.
(01:16):
Taryn has experienced all sidesof social media and is here to
remind us that, throughscripture, we can learn how to
glorify God by how we presentourselves, how we consume
content and how we interactonline.
This episode explores how wecan find freedom and fulfillment
(01:36):
, no matter our social mediastatus.
We can take simple yet powerfulsteps by diving into the Bible
to see how God delivered hispeople from the trap of
comparison and study how Jesusovercame rejection and
persecution.
So today, let's find joy inknowing that the only like that
(01:56):
truly matters is God's Embrace,the freedom that comes with
living for him and not for thefleeting approval of the online
world.
Taryn Gregson is the co-founderof Driving Disciples, a ministry
that is golf inspired by thegospel, which focuses on
curriculum and combined youthBible study in golf camps.
(02:18):
Taryn now directs her effortsto her various mission projects,
including Faithful Freedom withTaryn Gregson, presented by the
we, the Patriots USA, which isbroadcasted nationwide, and is
the director and producer ofDocumentary Headshot.
Additionally, she createseducational clean living
(02:41):
resources and religiousexemption guides on the Taryn
Gregsoncom.
All of this a stark turn fromher more than a decade in sports
journalism, formerly abroadcaster for CBS Sports, fox
Sports Midwest, the St LouisCardinals and finally the PGA
(03:01):
Tour, before being fired forreligious discrimination during
the pandemic in November of 2021.
Taryn, her husband Mitchell andtheir small children now live
in their hometown of Waterloo,illinois, where they are focused
on their family and homestead.
Please welcome Taryn.
Speaker 2 (03:21):
Thank you so much for having me, Ellen.
I love everything that you guysare doing with your channels.
It really does take to heartthe message that I'm trying to
to have you on and just talkabout this very relevant topic.
Speaker 1 (03:48):
You have had such an exciting career, especially
concerning its intersection withsocial media, why don't you
just start out by telling us alittle bit about your story and
how social media has impactedyour life?
Speaker 2 (04:03):
I was in sports journalism, which is also sports
media and social media, formore than a decade.
Whenever I was in journalismschool at the University of
Missouri is when Twitter cameabout.
Facebook had just started, andso I was right there on the
front lines of content, news andmedia intersecting and trying
(04:27):
to figure out how to use socialmedia and news dissemination.
And so I've been a part and onthe front lines of social media
since the beginning, really fromthe media side of it, and you
know I worked my way up insports media and the later years
of my career I was gettingquestions from parents.
(04:48):
You know how do we navigatesocial media.
You've been working in thebusiness for so long.
How do I help and encourage myteens navigating social media?
And you know, quite frankly, atthe time we were just pregnant
with our first child when Istarted to get all these
questions, and I'm like you knowI'm not, I don't have a
teenager in my household, so I'mnot sure how much I can, how
(05:12):
much I can tell you on thatfront, but I remember being a
teenager it wasn't too long agoand that rules for all of us
adults to really you know rulesand parameters, though necessary
, and we do need to set timelimitations, and you know rules
and parameters, though necessary.
And we do need to set timelimitations, and you know
limitations on the type ofcontent we're allowing our
children to see.
(05:32):
Those types of things only goso far, and many of us break
away from rules after a while.
Right, we need to approachsocial media from a biblical
worldview.
We have to look at this as sucha secular medium.
It's such a secular world onsocial media, but we can't leave
(05:55):
aside our I call it the faithfilter in my book.
We can't leave aside our faithfilter.
We can't leave aside thatbiblical lens that we are called
to see the world through whenwe're on social media.
We have to apply it to that.
So that's the first step andreally my encouragement to
anyone, and especially toparents, is that we have to say
to our kids look, these issueslike comparison, like idolatry
(06:20):
and modesty, all of thesedifferent things that we're
experiencing on social media,these have been around for
forever, since the beginning oftime and temptation, especially
since the beginning of time, andGod has shown us through his
word how to overcome thesethings, how he's delivered us
from these various themes thatwe are experiencing on social
(06:43):
media, so the lessons that wecan glean from scripture.
It's not on my authority as aparent.
It's not on my authority as aperson.
It's coming down from God.
He's giving us these tools.
So let's look at the Bible andhow we can approach social media
rather than it just simplybeing okay.
I can only allow myself or myteen X amount of time online.
(07:07):
We talk about screen timelimitations in the book, because
those are important too, butthose are very much secondary to
the themes and the lessons thatwe can learn from scripture.
Speaker 1 (07:18):
So important.
I thought it was reallyinteresting.
Maybe we should just also talkabout some of the most common
struggles people are facing withsocial media.
And I thought it wasinteresting in your book that
you also called out some thatcan kind of be innocent pitfalls
as well that you might notthink of.
Speaker 2 (07:40):
Yeah, absolutely.
I think that you know so manypeople.
We know the big issues that arehappening on social media with
our youth.
We know that the big, glaring,nasty ones, right, the ones like
pornography, the ones likemodesty and all these different
things those are, you know,rearing their giant heads, and
(08:03):
we know those are.
Those are bad, but sometimesthose little innocent
temptations are actually whatyou know are preventing us from
leaning in and having a closerrelationship with God.
They're the things that arekeeping us stuck in scrolling
instead of, you know, puttingour phones down or using that
time on our phones to glorifyGod.
You're right, those littlethings we have to be able to
(08:26):
recognize, those little triggersthat we have in our lives that
are keeping us back, that, youknow, maybe seem a little
innocent at first but really areholding you back.
So, you know, I mentioned thetheme of comparison.
This is something that weunknowingly fall a prey to when
we're on social media.
Right, I think that we have puthigh expectations on ourselves
(08:51):
to as we look and we see thepicture perfect profiles that
other people have online andcomparison, something that
people have struggled with sincethe beginning of time, and I
think many of us don't evenrealize we're doing so.
Right, we might see let's justuse the example of a home
designer, interior decoratingand or the clothes that you wear
(09:15):
, kind of some materialisticthings that you might see online
that you're like, wow, thatlooks beautiful, that looks
pretty, I fall short of thesethings.
You might not be saying toyourself I fall short of these
things.
You might not be saying toyourself I fall short of these
things.
But you're sitting therethinking, okay, well, how can I
improve this?
How can I make this better?
I would love I'm pinning this Iwould love to, you know,
redecorate this room or thisarea of this room, because this
(09:38):
inspired me to do so.
Though innocent and though notbad things to do, it can kind of
lead us into a spiral out ofcontrol and it affects our
self-esteem.
It directs our attention frommore important things in our
lives the service that we can bedoing with inside our own walls
(09:58):
of our home.
The service we can be doinginside our church, our
communities, things like that.
Yes, if you're a mom, be doinginside our church, our
communities, things like that,yes, you know, if you're a mom,
for example, homemaking andbeautifying the home is a
wonderful part of the job thatGod has called you to do, but
don't let it distract you fromthe other things.
Social media makes those imagesfront and center for us, and it
(10:19):
takes our focus off moreimportant things, though you
know, like I said, beautifyingyour home's not a bad thing if
you idolize it and put it on apedestal.
One example that I use forcomparison, for example in the
book, is the fact that you know,god's people have always been
doing this.
How did God's people get anearthly king right?
(10:40):
You know, moses had the voiceof God himself leading the
Israelites out of Egypt, and yetthe people still were looking
around themselves at the paganculture God's people and said,
hey, they have an earthly king,they have someone that rules
over them, they have a leaderthat is a man.
(11:00):
We would like to have that too.
They chose that over God astheir leader, speaking to Moses
and delivering that messagedirectly to the people.
So you know that is such aglorious image to think of.
Right that God is speakingdirectly to Moses, and yet these
(11:23):
people chose to have an earthlyking.
How?
Social media is many layersbelow that.
How would we think that wewould be exempt from comparison
in our lives.
So by identifying how God'speople have had these issues in
the past, how God has deliveredthem from that, namely that God
now lives among us, right, andis the leader in our own hearts
(11:46):
and in our own lives.
Being able to lean into thingslike that will allow us to
recognize when we're strugglingwith something as innocent as
comparison and we can flag itand redirect our heart posture.
Speaker 1 (12:04):
Yes, you know.
One thing it made me think ofwas economics class in college
which, I have to be very honest,I did not care for.
But something that stuck with meso much was the opportunity
cost and I feel like when I readwhat you had said about, I
(12:27):
thought of it as the opportunitycost of spending time scrolling
versus doing something morevaluable or meaningful talking
with people face to face,calling a friend on a phone and
it was interesting because, kindof when I was preparing, my
(12:47):
sister-in-law called me andshe's a caller, but I always
just enjoy those conversationsso much and it's just, it's so
much richer than you know Icould have not answered and been
scrolling or whatever.
I could have not answered andbeen scrolling or whatever and
(13:08):
just taking the time to interactwith people.
So I love that you get sort ofdown to a deeper level of like.
These are things that we mightbe doing, that we might not even
realize.
There could be other thingsthat would be even greater, more
God honoring or more beneficial.
Speaker 2 (13:26):
Absolutely, and you mentioned picking up the phone
and calling someone.
You're still using your phone,you're still using your device.
These are still wonderful toolsthat we can be using to glorify
God's kingdom and to fellowshipwith one another, and so that's
something, too, that I emphasizethat we can be using our
(13:46):
devices as tools rather thanbeing idols in our lives and
things that control us andcontrol our time and consume us.
We can use them as tools to,you know, bolster our
relationship with our faithfriends, and you know whether
it's via the phone call, a grouptext message, that you're
(14:07):
praying.
You know putting prayerrequests in, and you know
encouraging one another or usingsocial media to do so.
You know, when you come acrosssomething inspirational like
maybe some of the content thatyou guys are putting out about
how to study your Bible you seesomething like that send it to
your faith friend and show themways that they can bolster their
(14:28):
walk with Christ by usingsocial media as a tool rather
than letting it consume yourlife.
And I think that that's animportant takeaway is that
people realize you know it's notall bad.
You know we can use it for good.
Speaker 1 (14:46):
Yes, absolutely.
You ask the readers of yourbook to take time to do
devotionals at the end of eachof the chapters and you ask some
questions that I found to be sohelpful, even thinking about
this topic myself, that sort ofask us to examine our social
(15:09):
media memories to help identifythe impact that it's having on
our lives, and I just wanted toshare a couple of those
questions with our listeners.
One was take a moment and thinkof a time before social media.
Then you're going to fastforward and to a memory when you
(15:32):
created your first social mediaaccount and eventually you know
you're getting to the point ofreally getting down deeper into
some of the posts you're making,and did you ever wonder what
God would think of your post?
So I love that you have thispractical exercise and I think
(15:54):
it's important for us sort of totake a self-assessment to see
where are we currently at.
How about for you when youanswered these questions for
yourselves?
Were there any surprises thatyou learned?
Speaker 2 (16:10):
Yeah, I think so.
I think for me, you know thatquestion.
For that first question aboutyou know think of a time before
social media, you know,teenagers, because this book's
written for teens and for womenand parents and grandparents, I
think teens, you know teenagers,because this book's written for
teens and for women and parentsand grandparents, I think teens
, you know reading that questionwould be like what do you mean?
I don't know a time withoutsocial media.
(16:31):
But some of us do remember thattime before social media and I
think that many of us canreflect on a more simple time, a
time with less anxietyassociated with it, though I do
think, and I hope that peoplewhen they think about this, we
(16:52):
were on a fast pace as a societyprior to social media.
We kept making our lives moreand more busy.
Technology was allowing us tomake our lives more and more
busy by aiding us and makingthings, our tasks, quicker.
We were going down this pathand social media, I believe and
I perceive, is kind of thatbreaking point of us, of us
(17:14):
knowing that we need to lean incloser to God.
People are searching.
Kids feel anxious and depressedmore than ever because they
have that hole in their life,and the only thing that can
really fill that hole in yourlife is Jesus Christ.
And so people are.
Social media is making themrealize how empty they feel
(17:34):
because of this fast pacedsociety that we're involved in,
and so they're searching.
And the search, the search isover, the search is Jesus Christ
right, and then for those of usthat have found Jesus Christ,
just like any part of our faith,walk is using that
sanctification process to helpus lean in closer and closer to
(17:54):
Christ and to God, and so socialmedia is no exception to that.
So, yes, I think that many of us, if we sit and reflect our
lives prior to social mediabeing invented, and or our lives
prior to getting on socialmedia and making social media
accounts, maybe you might havehappy memories, happier memories
(18:16):
of some of those times, and youmight think of it just in the
same way as you know agrandmother or a great
grandmother might think of.
You know times being simplerand slower and and and better,
because slow is how you connectwith God.
Slowing down is how you takethat time and that rest to take
a deep breath and to pray and tospeak to the Holy Spirit inside
(18:39):
of you.
And so, yes, I think it isimportant that we are analyzing
not just the content that we'reputting out there.
Is it glorifying God the thingsthat I'm saying, the pictures
that I'm posting, all of thosethings?
Would God, you know, beappreciative of those things
that are going out there?
And I want to clarify that, ofcourse, we are not here to seek
(19:00):
God's approval.
He has already given all ofthat gracefully, but we should
be living our lives to glorifyhim.
I think that we also need to bevery focused on the content that
we are consuming.
Is that content glorifying God?
Because that old adage, garbagein, garbage out.
You know, if we are consumingthings that are not glorifying
(19:24):
to God, you know those are goingto have an effect on our mood,
our anxiety, our you know ouroverall mental health and our
overall heart posture andattitude toward the world around
us.
Are those things chipping awayat your Christian worldview and
your faith filter that I'mtalking about?
Are they trying to rub them?
Rub it and dissolve it away?
Speaker 1 (19:50):
Or is it making it clearer and easier to see
through that lens, looking for aspace where faith and
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That's such an excellent.
(20:56):
Excellent point, you know, andreally that's kind of what I
wanted to talk about more is toelaborate on how can god be
using social media to draw uscloser to him.
You know you, you talked aboutsort of this emptiness that we
feel inside.
In what other ways do you seeGod using social media?
Speaker 2 (21:21):
It's a way to have a larger outer circle that is
formed around you as a community, a Christian community, to help
bolster you up right.
We should have that innercircle always in a face-to-face.
You know manner that we alloperate with one another.
(21:41):
We were built, god built us inhis image.
He wants us to fellowship withone another.
We're called to fellowship withone another.
So you know I emphasize that inthe book that you know, social
media influencers are coveted inthis society.
Right, the amount of followersthat you have can turn into a
dollar signs for people.
They make a living off socialmedia, which is wonderful,
(22:03):
that's great.
But it you know, so many kidslook at that and see that, as
you know, oh, I only have a fewfollowers.
This person must be better thanme because they have more
followers, and that's justsimply not true.
We're all made in the image ofGod and we're all beautiful in
one way or another and built forhis kingdom.
And so that's when we need torealize that having a social
(22:25):
influence is not as important ashaving a soul influence,
impacting others for eternity.
And your influence is thegreatest on the people directly
around you that God has placedin your life.
So that influencer that hasmillions of followers is
actually has less influence thanyou do on the people directly
(22:47):
around you in your life, and soyou need to understand that and
see that as a wonderful gift andan opportunity to let those
people pour into you and youpour into those people in return
.
So your soul influence is mostimportant, and so use that as,
again, don't let social mediareplace these very important
(23:11):
things in your life, likefellowship, going to church,
being in the church, buildingwith one another.
Don't let watching it onYouTube replace your time at
church.
Don't let Facebook and thesethings where you can have group
online Bible studies those aregreat I'm not saying these are
bad things but don't let itreplace your small group time
(23:34):
that you spend in person withone another.
So, again, having that innercircle that's the sole influence
group that you are responsiblefor around you, keep that intact
.
Use social media as yoursecondary and third, you know
fourth outer circle that'saround you.
So surrounding yourself withChristian content that you're
(23:58):
consuming, wholesome, you know,beautiful content that's
uplifting, that helps bolsteryour walk in Christ.
That is important.
So look at the people you wouldnot want to be necessarily
spending a lot of time andfriend.
We want to have friends of allwalks, but you don't want to
spend the majority of your timeand you're, as with somebody
(24:22):
that is, you know, negative andbringing you down and maybe, you
know, doing bad things in theirlives or or things like that.
Just in the same way, youwouldn't want that person to be
your best friend, necessarily.
You don't want to follow thosetypes of people on social media
either, because they are goingto have an indirect impact on
(24:43):
your heart posture, on youranxiety, your mental health, all
of these things.
So look at the people that youfollow, the channels, the
organizations, all thosedifferent things that you follow
on social media, the channels,the organizations, all those
different things that you followon social media.
That's just as important aschoosing your everyday in-person
friends and the people that youinteract with.
(25:03):
So really take a hard look atthat.
There's no reason and it's nota big deal to unfollow people.
I say that's one of the bigsteps is just, you know, as
you're consuming content onsocial media and someone posts
something that you know reallydoesn're consuming content on
social media and someone postssomething that you know really
doesn't sit well with, you, goahead and unfollow them.
That's okay.
You know they'll have otherfollowers and other people, that
(25:23):
they have their audience.
You're not hurting them byunfollowing them.
If it's not sitting well withyou, it's okay.
You don't need that negativeinfluence in your life.
You need the positive,christ-centered influence in
your life.
So follow those types ofaccounts instead and kind of try
to weed out the ones that areaffecting you.
Speaker 1 (25:44):
Yes, that would be exactly my number one advice too
.
I remember there was a point intime where, you know, somehow I
was in a study or something andwe ended up talking about
unfollowing.
Like, you have a permission tounfollow things that don't make
(26:05):
you feel good, and if you'rewalking away from social media,
thinking, oh it's so horrible,it's this and that, then you
have permission to unfollow, andI had done that a number of
years ago, and so now, like onmy Instagram, are only things
that I absolutely love.
So sometimes, when I hearpeople say, oh, I just I hate
(26:28):
social media, and I and I thinkto myself, oh, my goodness, I
like I love the ones that I have, and so I find them so
encouraging and uplifting and alot of creativity and art and
all these other things thatshines God through them, and so
(26:48):
that's really good advice, taryn.
Speaker 2 (26:52):
Absolutely.
I think.
So many people think that theymight be hurting the feelings of
the person or what have you andyou're not?
They don't know.
Just unfollow them, it's okay.
As somebody who has amedium-sized social media
account, I have no idea who'sfollowing and unfollowing me.
It's okay.
Do what's best for you.
Speaker 1 (27:10):
Yes, absolutely.
As Christians, how can we useand consume online content
differently than the rest of theworld?
Speaker 2 (27:23):
I think, in that same way that we were just speaking
about, you know, you have toremove some of those things that
are you know we were talkingabout things that are making
bringing you down.
We can also remove some ofthose things that we might not
actually know that are bringingus down or are filling us with,
(27:43):
you know, messaging that isactually rejecting God and, you
know, moving us away from him.
So you know, I know that I useTaylor Swift sometimes as an
example and I don't mean to pickon her because I grew up
listening to her music, butlately, frankly, some of her
posts have really been directingpeople away from
(28:04):
Christ-centered thinking, awayfrom using that faith filter.
So you know, people like thatthat maybe are in sports or and
I come from the sports world orHollywood, or things like that,
that you think, oh, this is nobig deal, they're a part of pop
culture.
I think maybe you might need toreassess and maybe relook at
some of these things andespecially if your teens are
(28:26):
consuming some of this content,what sort of messaging is that
giving them, when they might notbe as strong in their faith
walk at a young age?
You know, think of themessaging that's pouring into
them and to the young girls andto the boys about some of this
stuff.
So I think that some of thethings people think, well, it's
(28:46):
a part of mainstream.
Well, maybe you kind of need toreassess some of these things
that are a part of mainstream.
You kind of need to reassesssome of these things that are a
part of mainstream.
And that's one step againfurther that you can take and
how you're filtering your socialmedia content as well.
And I think, too, taking thatbiblical worldview to your
(29:09):
social media is hard when we aregetting our news consumption
from social media and many ofthe news headlines because
that's another huge aspect ofthe social media scape is not
just social media influencersbut news and how we're getting
our hard news.
(29:30):
Take a strong look at the newsoutlets that you're following
and maybe you need to weed justtalking about sheer volume weed
some of the news out, notbecause of the content that
they're feeding you, but howmuch of that news content you're
getting right.
Too much news, too muchheadlines.
(29:51):
Those things can really have aneffect on us and I think this
is part of why so many kids havesuch high anxiety and why
people currently, right now haveso much high anxiety because
they see these headlines fromaround the country, from around
the world, and they feel veryhelpless because they are
problems that are.
They are very large problems.
(30:12):
There are problems that arebigger than us that we have very
little ability to have a largeimpact on and God has.
We are not God.
We cannot affect and change theworld.
That's God's job.
And so I really want toemphasize and I do emphasize in
the book how we are pieces inGod's puzzle.
We're very important, specialpieces that God has put on this
(30:35):
earth in his puzzle, but we'rejust a small piece, so we've
only been in charge of that.
Again, that soul influencecircle around us.
We are not here and it is notour responsibility to change the
entire world, and I think thatthese news headlines really
weigh on people.
They definitely are weighing onour young people, who feel
(30:55):
helpless, and they weigh on usas adults too, who feel helpless
.
So, yes, we need to be informedcitizens and know what's going
on around us, but I think wereally do need to bring down the
amount of news headlines thatwe're seeing on a daily basis
and so that way we don't feeloverwhelmed, that way we don't
feel helpless.
We can all have a small impacton our circles, but we're not
(31:19):
God, and so we need to findpeace and rest in that.
And it's hard to find peace andrest in that if you're being
bombarded left and right withnews headlines over and over and
over again, all day long.
Speaker 1 (31:30):
Hmm.
Speaker 2 (31:31):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (31:32):
That's some more great tips for how we can just
navigate all the options that wehave out there and try to
reduce the level of anxiety thatcomes with.
Like you said, the news is huge.
Well, you in the book, Ithought it was kind of fun that
you talked about how you knowthe idea of influencers and
(31:58):
comparison and the promotion offalse ideas.
All these things are similar towhat God's people have
experienced in the past and andyou have some examples of that
and you've touched on a littlebit of it briefly here.
But as you were writing thisbook, like, how did that come to
(32:21):
life for you?
Like when you thought throughthe terms of now versus what
happened in the past.
Speaker 2 (32:29):
You know, the Holy Spirit is so wonderful, right,
that sometimes, when we arestudying things or experiencing
things and we pick up the studythat we're doing or we go to
church on Sunday, somehow thosethings align with what is
troubling our hearts or whatwe're focusing on in our study
time.
You know the Lord presentsthose things to you, and so that
(32:51):
kind of happened to me and allof these things.
You know all no one's exemptfrom these struggles, myself
included.
You know I've experienced allof these things that I'm
speaking about in the book andyou know this took me four years
to write, though it's a quickread and simple because I wanted
, you know, teens and everybodyin the audience to be able to to
pick it up and get through iteasily and quickly because of
(33:14):
our fast-paced society.
It took me four years to writethis so, as I was visiting these
different themes that I knewwere issues in social media,
because I had lived them outpersonally and in my career, god
was showing me these thingsthrough my study times, and so
(33:34):
that's why, at the beginning ofthis book, I tell people how I
would pray every time I wouldspeak about or would write down
to sit down to write, excuse meand ask the Holy Spirit to lead
me.
And he, really he, the HolySpirit really did in both my
writing and in times when Iwasn't writing, exploring these
topics, times when I wasn'twriting, exploring these topics.
(33:57):
So it's really Holy Spiritdriven.
And you know something, too,that I want to mention to people
that you're talking about thesestruggles that we have God,
just like we should putparameters and screen time
parameters up for ourselves, godhas put parameters on his
people and one of the thingsthat he has always emphasized
it's in the 10 commandments,it's it's in various parts of
the Bible is the Sabbath takingtime to rest and to, um, you
(34:21):
know, be able to reflect and togrow in our relationship with
him.
But to rest God rested himselfon the seventh day.
We don't know how to rest as asociety anymore and so many of
us have have resulted toscrolling on our social media as
resting.
You know we're like, oh, we'regoing to check out, I'm just
(34:41):
going to get on social media asI kind of mentally check out.
Well, scientifically speaking,you're actually still getting
that dopamine hit from thescreen time that you're that
you're subjecting yourself to,not to mention.
You know, you're really notresting, right You're.
You're still looking at stuff,you're still, um, you know,
having your brain um, do thatand you're still distracting
(35:03):
yourself from having that, thattime in the word and having that
intimate time.
And so, you know, that'ssomething that I talk about in,
actually, one of the laterchapters is by looking at
Hebrews 4 and the four R's for atrue rest formula.
How do we do that?
Well, we need to read God'sword so we can reflect on what
(35:28):
it says and then, therefore,reflect on your life and
possibly confess where you needto, because the Bible is going
to reveal to you some of yourshortcomings and take those to
the Lord.
And then that's how, when yougive those things to the Lord,
when you give over those thingsto God in your prayer time, then
(35:50):
you can receive his grace andmercy, and that's how you're
going to really find rest.
You're going to find rest bytaking those things to the Lord,
getting them off of your heartand instead of, you know,
looking at your phone andbuilding up your anxiety in the
ways that we've already talkedabout with the news headlines.
In comparison, Absolutely.
Speaker 1 (36:12):
The word that comes to my mind with that is peace,
and that's something you knowthat God gives us when we do
take that time to invest in himand through you know, reading
his word and prayer.
And I know that that's not evena word that people probably
(36:35):
associate too much with socialmedia scrolling, that's for sure
.
Well, what else does the Biblehave to say?
How is the Bible our handbookfor how to participate in and
consume and even combat socialmedia issues?
Speaker 2 (37:05):
Sunday school and just kind of disregarded as
we've gone along with our adultlife.
The tools like the armor of God, you know, those tools are
actually really essential forhow we are able to discern,
learn discernment and thereforebe able to put these things that
we've talked about intopractice online, and our teens
really need to be equipped withthese things, with the armor of
God, and they need to understand, then, how to apply it to their
(37:27):
life not just learn what thearmor of God is and move on, but
to understand how they can thenapply it to their everyday life
.
So we go through that and thesword of the spirit and is one
of the key ways that we can doso looking at God's word right
and understanding what's in it.
So, therefore, we are able tounderstand what is okay and what
(37:48):
is not okay on social media.
I mentioned modesty andpornography at the beginning of
this podcast.
It is a very real struggle formany.
Online, modesty is an easy oneto talk about.
For example, many teens, youngadults, kids that are in college
, women in particular, have adistorted understanding of what
(38:14):
should be presented to others,and it's because of the secular
messaging that they arebombarded with.
And my heart goes out to them.
I understand that they'restruggling with how they're
supposed to present themselveson social media visually right,
and how they are posing theclothes that they are wearing
because of what they're seeingon social media and because of
what society is telling them isbeautiful and pretty and right.
(38:37):
Well, if we have, if we'reenacting this sort of the spirit
and we're pouring into ourdaughters and showing them what
the Bible is telling us aboutmodesty, what Proverbs tells us
about a glorious woman and howto not tear your house down
(38:59):
before you've even built yourhouse as a woman, then they're
going to be more able to say noto some of these things, able to
say no to some of these things,and they're going to be able to
understand why God has a better, more glorious plan and design
for them than what social mediais telling them is what they
should be doing.
And so these girls, my heartgoes out to them because I even
(39:20):
saw, I see it within the church.
I've been involved in youthgroups and I I followed some of
these girls on social media andI'm seeing the pictures that
they're posting and the TikToksthat they're sharing, and my
heart goes out to them becausethey're um, they have not had
that poured into them, orthey're rejecting it or or
disregarding it because thesecular messaging is just
(39:42):
bombarding them and it's sodifficult for them to navigate,
and so they're putting theirbodies out there in ways that I
think that they might regretlater on.
And it's therefore, you know,tempting our young men and
exposing them to viewpoints ofthe body and of women prior to
marriage that is really having adetriment on them.
(40:06):
Most boys, most men, are beingexposed to pornography via
social media and online at theaverage age of eight years old,
because, you know, we haveoversaturated ourselves with
this, with these images andthese, this imagery and social
media plays into that.
So the armor of God is a hugepart, the sword of the spirit is
(40:29):
a huge part of pouring into ourgirls, pouring into our boys,
of what the Bible talks aboutwith in regards to modesty, how
we should be presentingourselves or viewing other
people.
Social media is a battleground.
It is a spiritual battlegroundand sexuality sexual.
You know, presentation is a big, big, big elephant in the room
(40:54):
when it comes to social media.
Speaker 1 (40:56):
I'm with you there it does.
It makes me sad to see somepeople, or young women that are,
that are doing that and justwanting to say do you realize
you are a daughter of the king,your true value, your worth
comes from Christ, and so we cankeep praying, and I think just
(41:21):
this book that you have here isgoing to be so, so helpful for
parents and teens alike as theyread it.
Well, taryn, as we start towrap things up here, tell us
about some of the other effortsthat you are working on with the
youth.
Speaker 2 (41:41):
Well, thank you.
My husband and I around thesame time, coincidentally, that
I started writing this book, welaunched our ministry, our
nonprofit 501c3, drivingDisciples, and my husband comes
from.
He's a former professionalgolfer on the lower levels and
now is a golf instructor.
(42:01):
And I worked in golf sportsmedia for quite some time and
played golf for much of my lifeas well, and so we saw the
parallels between life and golf,and so many people that play
life understand how golf or,excuse me, that play golf
understand how golf is such ametaphor for life and therefore
(42:22):
it is also in alignment with thegospel.
And so we found ways to weavethose two together and to create
a summer camp, a golf and Biblestudy camp called Driving
Disciples, and to pour into ouryouth, to introduce some to the
game of golf for the first time,or some to some of the deeper
levels of the gospel and how itinteracts and weaves with our
(42:45):
life.
The same way the book, it's thesame way of this book.
You know they both have thesame life, application, missions
and what we are trying to do.
And so I talk about in the bookand this applies to Driving
Disciples how 50% of the youththat are growing up in the
church are leaving in adulthood.
(43:06):
Only 9% of Americans attendchurch, so 50% of that 9% are
leaving the church by adulthood,and so that's why we launched
Driving Disciples to encouragethese children, who are already
curious about Christ, who maybeare already in the church, to
(43:27):
understand that this does applyto their life and they can take
it to their life when they go onto college and go on to be
adults, and to keep them in thechurch and to also expose kids
that maybe haven't been exposedto the gospel through the, to
the gospel through the game ofgolf.
And so that's our mission is tohave life application.
(43:47):
The Bible applies to your life.
It's not just this book thatwas written as an inspiration
for people to have motivationalspeech and or to give you rules
for your life.
No, you can apply it to yourlife.
So that's why we need to applyit to social media, and we can
apply it to sports and the otherareas in our life, and those
(44:09):
are our missions, for the bookand for Driving Disciples,
excellent, excellent missions.
Speaker 1 (44:12):
Well, taryn, where can people find out more
information about your book andyour ministry?
Speaker 2 (44:26):
If you go to TarynGregsoncom that's
T-E-R-Y-N-G-R-E-G-S-O-Ncom,there's a link for Driving
Disciples, which isdrivingdisciplesorg, and there's
also a link called book on mybook tab on my website where you
can get all sorts of resourcesfor the book.
We talk about tools.
Memory verse screen savers areon there for people to download
for free.
Some outlines on how you couldturn this into a Bible study for
yourself, your small group,your teens group, resources for
(44:50):
churches All the various thingsare under the book tab at
taryngregsoncom.
Speaker 1 (44:56):
Awesome.
Well, we will make sure that wehave those links in the show
notes Before we go.
I just want to ask you a coupleof our favorite Bible study
tool questions.
Taryn, what Bible is your go-toBible and what translation is
it?
Speaker 2 (45:13):
My go-to Bible is the she Reads Truth Bible, which is
a CSB translation.
My husband has his he ReadsTruth Bible, and so it's great
to compare the two of ourstogether.
I also love my ESV study Biblea hundred percent.
If I need some commentary or tounderstand something, that's
the one I go directly to, and sothat's my.
(45:36):
Those are my two go-to Bibles,but I have a collection of
Bibles on my shelf from over theyears, some personal and passed
down through the family.
Oh how beautiful.
Speaker 1 (45:48):
That's awesome.
Okay, those are both great,great recommendations.
Do you have any favoritejournaling supplies or anything
that you like to use to enhanceyour Bible study experience?
Speaker 2 (45:59):
I am a big fan of the skinny highlighters.
I love those because then I canmake circles or boxes or
highlight around things.
And you know, there's no shamein a directed Bible study either
, especially I'm a young mom.
I have three kids, four andunder, and so right now I need
those directed Bible study thatare helping me go line by line
(46:21):
through it.
And right now I'm going throughRevelation Jen Wilkins' new
Revelation study, and so that'sa great tool.
Revelation Jen Wilkins newrevelation study, and so that's
a great tool.
That's something.
There's some journalinginvolved in that one.
And then, because I have afour-year-old and a two-year-old
in addition to our newborn baby, most of my supplies are kid
oriented.
And you know, a woman who's oneof my faith friends the other
(46:44):
day told me you know, pleasegive yourself grace for not
having as much time as you'dlike to be in the word, because
you're worshiping God throughthe time that you're spending
teaching your kids, which we doevery single day.
And so one of the big thingsthat I love to recommend to
people and I brought it alongwith me to the studio are the
big theology for little heartsbooks.
(47:06):
These are catechisms that theybreak down into themes for
little kids so toddlers canstart to understand catechism
like questions and answers andthemes and vocabulary as well,
hearing that.
So we do that every nightbefore bed.
My kids love it my two-year-oldand my four-year-old.
I fight over picking out whatcatechism we're going to read
(47:27):
that night.
It's really cute, and we do.
I love Proverbs for kids.
I think that's important.
We do a lot of craft work athome.
You know we do homeschoolingfor the littles and our church
sends take-home lessons homewith the kids so we can
reemphasize what they'relearning at church throughout
(47:49):
the week and just a coupleminutes here and there.
It's not intensive by any means, but those are some of the
tools that we're using as afamily right now.
But nightly catechisms withyour littles, finding an
age-appropriate catechism forthem I highly recommend.
Speaker 1 (48:05):
Oh, that's such a great tip.
Okay, we will include thoselinks as well in the show notes.
Lastly, what is your favoriteapp or website for Bible study
tools?
Speaker 2 (48:14):
The YouVersion app is my favorite, the Bible app I go
to it every day on my phone.
In fact, when I talk about thememory verse screensavers in the
book, that's something I usedto do all the time.
I would highlight something,take a screenshot and make it my
screensaver on my phone so Icould try and remember and
memorize that verse.
We've created some beautifulones for you on my website at
(48:38):
taryngrigsoncom book, but theYouVersion app I do that If I
have a question.
It's just so wonderful.
You can search easily throughscripture.
It's great.
You can do devotionals andstudies on it, which is
fantastic.
If you're like me and you havea baby under one arm, you can
still use it.
It's a wonderful biblical toolLike that's what I'm talking
(48:58):
about Biblical social mediatools.
The YouVersion app,gotquestionsorg, is also one of
my favorites.
If I have a question aboutanything or want to learn more
about anything under the sun inthe Bible, that is a phenomenal
resource.
Speaker 1 (49:13):
Both of those are awesome suggestions.
We will include links to thoseas well, for the YouVersion
Coffee and Bible Time does havea couple of devotionals on the
YouVersion app, so you'll haveto check those out.
I will.
All right, taryn.
Well, thank you so much forjoining us today, your story,
your willingness, yourauthenticity.
(49:34):
We've been so blessed by yourexperience and we thank you for
pouring into this topic to helpteens and parents alike as we
all try to navigate and reallyshow God the glory through
social media.
Speaker 2 (49:51):
Thank you.
May God bless everyone's timeon social media.
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (49:55):
Thank you so much.
For those of you listening, wewill have a link to Taryn's book
.
Highly recommend that you getthat and we appreciate you all
so much.
We thank you for listening.
Have a blessed day.
At the Coffee and Bible Time podcast.
Our goal is to help you delightin God's Word and thrive in
Christian living.
Each week, we talk to subjectmatter experts who broaden your
biblical understanding,encourage you in hard times and
provide life-building tips toenhance your Christian walk.
We are so glad you have joinedus.
(00:25):
Welcome back to the Coffee andBible Time podcast.
This is Ellen, your host.
Today we are talking about usingthe Bible to transform our
lives on social media.
Endless scrolling can leave usfeeling more disconnected and
empty than ever before.
Constant comparison and chasinglikes can take a toll on our
(00:53):
mental and spiritual well-being,not to mention the cancel,
culture, bullying and negativitywe can encounter at any time of
day or night.
But there's hope.
Night, but there's hope.
Joining us today is TarynGregson, the author of the book
the Only Like that Matters IsGod's Using the Bible to
Transform your Life on SocialMedia.
(01:16):
Taryn has experienced all sidesof social media and is here to
remind us that, throughscripture, we can learn how to
glorify God by how we presentourselves, how we consume
content and how we interactonline.
This episode explores how wecan find freedom and fulfillment
(01:36):
, no matter our social mediastatus.
We can take simple yet powerfulsteps by diving into the Bible
to see how God delivered hispeople from the trap of
comparison and study how Jesusovercame rejection and
persecution.
So today, let's find joy inknowing that the only like that
(01:56):
truly matters is God's Embrace,the freedom that comes with
living for him and not for thefleeting approval of the online
world.
Taryn Gregson is the co-founderof Driving Disciples, a ministry
that is golf inspired by thegospel, which focuses on
curriculum and combined youthBible study in golf camps.
(02:18):
Taryn now directs her effortsto her various mission projects,
including Faithful Freedom withTaryn Gregson, presented by the
we, the Patriots USA, which isbroadcasted nationwide, and is
the director and producer ofDocumentary Headshot.
Additionally, she createseducational clean living
(02:41):
resources and religiousexemption guides on the Taryn
Gregsoncom.
All of this a stark turn fromher more than a decade in sports
journalism, formerly abroadcaster for CBS Sports, fox
Sports Midwest, the St LouisCardinals and finally the PGA
(03:01):
Tour, before being fired forreligious discrimination during
the pandemic in November of 2021.
Taryn, her husband Mitchell andtheir small children now live
in their hometown of Waterloo,illinois, where they are focused
on their family and homestead.
Please welcome Taryn.
Speaker 2 (03:21):
Thank you so much for having me, Ellen.
I love everything that you guysare doing with your channels.
It really does take to heartthe message that I'm trying to
to have you on and just talkabout this very relevant topic.
Speaker 1 (03:48):
You have had such an exciting career, especially
concerning its intersection withsocial media, why don't you
just start out by telling us alittle bit about your story and
how social media has impactedyour life?
Speaker 2 (04:03):
I was in sports journalism, which is also sports
media and social media, formore than a decade.
Whenever I was in journalismschool at the University of
Missouri is when Twitter cameabout.
Facebook had just started, andso I was right there on the
front lines of content, news andmedia intersecting and trying
(04:27):
to figure out how to use socialmedia and news dissemination.
And so I've been a part and onthe front lines of social media
since the beginning, really fromthe media side of it, and you
know I worked my way up insports media and the later years
of my career I was gettingquestions from parents.
(04:48):
You know how do we navigatesocial media.
You've been working in thebusiness for so long.
How do I help and encourage myteens navigating social media?
And you know, quite frankly, atthe time we were just pregnant
with our first child when Istarted to get all these
questions, and I'm like you knowI'm not, I don't have a
teenager in my household, so I'mnot sure how much I can, how
(05:12):
much I can tell you on thatfront, but I remember being a
teenager it wasn't too long agoand that rules for all of us
adults to really you know rulesand parameters, though necessary
, and we do need to set timelimitations, and you know rules
and parameters, though necessary.
And we do need to set timelimitations, and you know
limitations on the type ofcontent we're allowing our
children to see.
(05:32):
Those types of things only goso far, and many of us break
away from rules after a while.
Right, we need to approachsocial media from a biblical
worldview.
We have to look at this as sucha secular medium.
It's such a secular world onsocial media, but we can't leave
(05:55):
aside our I call it the faithfilter in my book.
We can't leave aside our faithfilter.
We can't leave aside thatbiblical lens that we are called
to see the world through whenwe're on social media.
We have to apply it to that.
So that's the first step andreally my encouragement to
anyone, and especially toparents, is that we have to say
to our kids look, these issueslike comparison, like idolatry
(06:20):
and modesty, all of thesedifferent things that we're
experiencing on social media,these have been around for
forever, since the beginning oftime and temptation, especially
since the beginning of time, andGod has shown us through his
word how to overcome thesethings, how he's delivered us
from these various themes thatwe are experiencing on social
(06:43):
media, so the lessons that wecan glean from scripture.
It's not on my authority as aparent.
It's not on my authority as aperson.
It's coming down from God.
He's giving us these tools.
So let's look at the Bible andhow we can approach social media
rather than it just simplybeing okay.
I can only allow myself or myteen X amount of time online.
(07:07):
We talk about screen timelimitations in the book, because
those are important too, butthose are very much secondary to
the themes and the lessons thatwe can learn from scripture.
Speaker 1 (07:18):
So important.
I thought it was reallyinteresting.
Maybe we should just also talkabout some of the most common
struggles people are facing withsocial media.
And I thought it wasinteresting in your book that
you also called out some thatcan kind of be innocent pitfalls
as well that you might notthink of.
Speaker 2 (07:40):
Yeah, absolutely.
I think that you know so manypeople.
We know the big issues that arehappening on social media with
our youth.
We know that the big, glaring,nasty ones, right, the ones like
pornography, the ones likemodesty and all these different
things those are, you know,rearing their giant heads, and
(08:03):
we know those are.
Those are bad, but sometimesthose little innocent
temptations are actually whatyou know are preventing us from
leaning in and having a closerrelationship with God.
They're the things that arekeeping us stuck in scrolling
instead of, you know, puttingour phones down or using that
time on our phones to glorifyGod.
You're right, those littlethings we have to be able to
(08:26):
recognize, those little triggersthat we have in our lives that
are keeping us back, that, youknow, maybe seem a little
innocent at first but really areholding you back.
So, you know, I mentioned thetheme of comparison.
This is something that weunknowingly fall a prey to when
we're on social media.
Right, I think that we have puthigh expectations on ourselves
(08:51):
to as we look and we see thepicture perfect profiles that
other people have online andcomparison, something that
people have struggled with sincethe beginning of time, and I
think many of us don't evenrealize we're doing so.
Right, we might see let's justuse the example of a home
designer, interior decoratingand or the clothes that you wear
(09:15):
, kind of some materialisticthings that you might see online
that you're like, wow, thatlooks beautiful, that looks
pretty, I fall short of thesethings.
You might not be saying toyourself I fall short of these
things.
You might not be saying toyourself I fall short of these
things.
But you're sitting therethinking, okay, well, how can I
improve this?
How can I make this better?
I would love I'm pinning this Iwould love to, you know,
redecorate this room or thisarea of this room, because this
(09:38):
inspired me to do so.
Though innocent and though notbad things to do, it can kind of
lead us into a spiral out ofcontrol and it affects our
self-esteem.
It directs our attention frommore important things in our
lives the service that we can bedoing with inside our own walls
(09:58):
of our home.
The service we can be doinginside our church, our
communities, things like that.
Yes, if you're a mom, be doinginside our church, our
communities, things like that,yes, you know, if you're a mom,
for example, homemaking andbeautifying the home is a
wonderful part of the job thatGod has called you to do, but
don't let it distract you fromthe other things.
Social media makes those imagesfront and center for us, and it
(10:19):
takes our focus off moreimportant things, though you
know, like I said, beautifyingyour home's not a bad thing if
you idolize it and put it on apedestal.
One example that I use forcomparison, for example in the
book, is the fact that you know,god's people have always been
doing this.
How did God's people get anearthly king right?
(10:40):
You know, moses had the voiceof God himself leading the
Israelites out of Egypt, and yetthe people still were looking
around themselves at the paganculture God's people and said,
hey, they have an earthly king,they have someone that rules
over them, they have a leaderthat is a man.
(11:00):
We would like to have that too.
They chose that over God astheir leader, speaking to Moses
and delivering that messagedirectly to the people.
So you know that is such aglorious image to think of.
Right that God is speakingdirectly to Moses, and yet these
(11:23):
people chose to have an earthlyking.
How?
Social media is many layersbelow that.
How would we think that wewould be exempt from comparison
in our lives.
So by identifying how God'speople have had these issues in
the past, how God has deliveredthem from that, namely that God
now lives among us, right, andis the leader in our own hearts
(11:46):
and in our own lives.
Being able to lean into thingslike that will allow us to
recognize when we're strugglingwith something as innocent as
comparison and we can flag itand redirect our heart posture.
Speaker 1 (12:04):
Yes, you know.
One thing it made me think ofwas economics class in college
which, I have to be very honest,I did not care for.
But something that stuck with meso much was the opportunity
cost and I feel like when I readwhat you had said about, I
(12:27):
thought of it as the opportunitycost of spending time scrolling
versus doing something morevaluable or meaningful talking
with people face to face,calling a friend on a phone and
it was interesting because, kindof when I was preparing, my
(12:47):
sister-in-law called me andshe's a caller, but I always
just enjoy those conversationsso much and it's just, it's so
much richer than you know Icould have not answered and been
scrolling or whatever.
I could have not answered andbeen scrolling or whatever and
(13:08):
just taking the time to interactwith people.
So I love that you get sort ofdown to a deeper level of like.
These are things that we mightbe doing, that we might not even
realize.
There could be other thingsthat would be even greater, more
God honoring or more beneficial.
Speaker 2 (13:26):
Absolutely, and you mentioned picking up the phone
and calling someone.
You're still using your phone,you're still using your device.
These are still wonderful toolsthat we can be using to glorify
God's kingdom and to fellowshipwith one another, and so that's
something, too, that I emphasizethat we can be using our
(13:46):
devices as tools rather thanbeing idols in our lives and
things that control us andcontrol our time and consume us.
We can use them as tools to,you know, bolster our
relationship with our faithfriends, and you know whether
it's via the phone call, a grouptext message, that you're
(14:07):
praying.
You know putting prayerrequests in, and you know
encouraging one another or usingsocial media to do so.
You know, when you come acrosssomething inspirational like
maybe some of the content thatyou guys are putting out about
how to study your Bible you seesomething like that send it to
your faith friend and show themways that they can bolster their
(14:28):
walk with Christ by usingsocial media as a tool rather
than letting it consume yourlife.
And I think that that's animportant takeaway is that
people realize you know it's notall bad.
You know we can use it for good.
Speaker 1 (14:46):
Yes, absolutely.
You ask the readers of yourbook to take time to do
devotionals at the end of eachof the chapters and you ask some
questions that I found to be sohelpful, even thinking about
this topic myself, that sort ofask us to examine our social
(15:09):
media memories to help identifythe impact that it's having on
our lives, and I just wanted toshare a couple of those
questions with our listeners.
One was take a moment and thinkof a time before social media.
Then you're going to fastforward and to a memory when you
(15:32):
created your first social mediaaccount and eventually you know
you're getting to the point ofreally getting down deeper into
some of the posts you're making,and did you ever wonder what
God would think of your post?
So I love that you have thispractical exercise and I think
(15:54):
it's important for us sort of totake a self-assessment to see
where are we currently at.
How about for you when youanswered these questions for
yourselves?
Were there any surprises thatyou learned?
Speaker 2 (16:10):
Yeah, I think so.
I think for me, you know thatquestion.
For that first question aboutyou know think of a time before
social media, you know,teenagers, because this book's
written for teens and for womenand parents and grandparents, I
think teens, you know teenagers,because this book's written for
teens and for women and parentsand grandparents, I think teens
, you know reading that questionwould be like what do you mean?
I don't know a time withoutsocial media.
(16:31):
But some of us do remember thattime before social media and I
think that many of us canreflect on a more simple time, a
time with less anxietyassociated with it, though I do
think, and I hope that peoplewhen they think about this, we
(16:52):
were on a fast pace as a societyprior to social media.
We kept making our lives moreand more busy.
Technology was allowing us tomake our lives more and more
busy by aiding us and makingthings, our tasks, quicker.
We were going down this pathand social media, I believe and
I perceive, is kind of thatbreaking point of us, of us
(17:14):
knowing that we need to lean incloser to God.
People are searching.
Kids feel anxious and depressedmore than ever because they
have that hole in their life,and the only thing that can
really fill that hole in yourlife is Jesus Christ.
And so people are.
Social media is making themrealize how empty they feel
(17:34):
because of this fast pacedsociety that we're involved in,
and so they're searching.
And the search, the search isover, the search is Jesus Christ
right, and then for those of usthat have found Jesus Christ,
just like any part of our faith,walk is using that
sanctification process to helpus lean in closer and closer to
(17:54):
Christ and to God, and so socialmedia is no exception to that.
So, yes, I think that many of us, if we sit and reflect our
lives prior to social mediabeing invented, and or our lives
prior to getting on socialmedia and making social media
accounts, maybe you might havehappy memories, happier memories
(18:16):
of some of those times, and youmight think of it just in the
same way as you know agrandmother or a great
grandmother might think of.
You know times being simplerand slower and and and better,
because slow is how you connectwith God.
Slowing down is how you takethat time and that rest to take
a deep breath and to pray and tospeak to the Holy Spirit inside
(18:39):
of you.
And so, yes, I think it isimportant that we are analyzing
not just the content that we'reputting out there.
Is it glorifying God the thingsthat I'm saying, the pictures
that I'm posting, all of thosethings?
Would God, you know, beappreciative of those things
that are going out there?
And I want to clarify that, ofcourse, we are not here to seek
(19:00):
God's approval.
He has already given all ofthat gracefully, but we should
be living our lives to glorifyhim.
I think that we also need to bevery focused on the content that
we are consuming.
Is that content glorifying God?
Because that old adage, garbagein, garbage out.
You know, if we are consumingthings that are not glorifying
(19:24):
to God, you know those are goingto have an effect on our mood,
our anxiety, our you know ouroverall mental health and our
overall heart posture andattitude toward the world around
us.
Are those things chipping awayat your Christian worldview and
your faith filter that I'mtalking about?
Are they trying to rub them?
Rub it and dissolve it away?
Speaker 1 (19:50):
Or is it making it clearer and easier to see
through that lens, looking for aspace where faith and
fellowship come alive?
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That's such an excellent.
(20:56):
Excellent point, you know, andreally that's kind of what I
wanted to talk about more is toelaborate on how can god be
using social media to draw uscloser to him.
You know you, you talked aboutsort of this emptiness that we
feel inside.
In what other ways do you seeGod using social media?
Speaker 2 (21:21):
It's a way to have a larger outer circle that is
formed around you as a community, a Christian community, to help
bolster you up right.
We should have that innercircle always in a face-to-face.
You know manner that we alloperate with one another.
(21:41):
We were built, god built us inhis image.
He wants us to fellowship withone another.
We're called to fellowship withone another.
So you know I emphasize that inthe book that you know, social
media influencers are coveted inthis society.
Right, the amount of followersthat you have can turn into a
dollar signs for people.
They make a living off socialmedia, which is wonderful,
(22:03):
that's great.
But it you know, so many kidslook at that and see that, as
you know, oh, I only have a fewfollowers.
This person must be better thanme because they have more
followers, and that's justsimply not true.
We're all made in the image ofGod and we're all beautiful in
one way or another and built forhis kingdom.
And so that's when we need torealize that having a social
(22:25):
influence is not as important ashaving a soul influence,
impacting others for eternity.
And your influence is thegreatest on the people directly
around you that God has placedin your life.
So that influencer that hasmillions of followers is
actually has less influence thanyou do on the people directly
(22:47):
around you in your life, and soyou need to understand that and
see that as a wonderful gift andan opportunity to let those
people pour into you and youpour into those people in return
.
So your soul influence is mostimportant, and so use that as,
again, don't let social mediareplace these very important
(23:11):
things in your life, likefellowship, going to church,
being in the church, buildingwith one another.
Don't let watching it onYouTube replace your time at
church.
Don't let Facebook and thesethings where you can have group
online Bible studies those aregreat I'm not saying these are
bad things but don't let itreplace your small group time
(23:34):
that you spend in person withone another.
So, again, having that innercircle that's the sole influence
group that you are responsiblefor around you, keep that intact
.
Use social media as yoursecondary and third, you know
fourth outer circle that'saround you.
So surrounding yourself withChristian content that you're
(23:58):
consuming, wholesome, you know,beautiful content that's
uplifting, that helps bolsteryour walk in Christ.
That is important.
So look at the people you wouldnot want to be necessarily
spending a lot of time andfriend.
We want to have friends of allwalks, but you don't want to
spend the majority of your timeand you're, as with somebody
(24:22):
that is, you know, negative andbringing you down and maybe, you
know, doing bad things in theirlives or or things like that.
Just in the same way, youwouldn't want that person to be
your best friend, necessarily.
You don't want to follow thosetypes of people on social media
either, because they are goingto have an indirect impact on
(24:43):
your heart posture, on youranxiety, your mental health, all
of these things.
So look at the people that youfollow, the channels, the
organizations, all thosedifferent things that you follow
on social media, the channels,the organizations, all those
different things that you followon social media.
That's just as important aschoosing your everyday in-person
friends and the people that youinteract with.
(25:03):
So really take a hard look atthat.
There's no reason and it's nota big deal to unfollow people.
I say that's one of the bigsteps is just, you know, as
you're consuming content onsocial media and someone posts
something that you know reallydoesn're consuming content on
social media and someone postssomething that you know really
doesn't sit well with, you, goahead and unfollow them.
That's okay.
You know they'll have otherfollowers and other people, that
(25:23):
they have their audience.
You're not hurting them byunfollowing them.
If it's not sitting well withyou, it's okay.
You don't need that negativeinfluence in your life.
You need the positive,christ-centered influence in
your life.
So follow those types ofaccounts instead and kind of try
to weed out the ones that areaffecting you.
Speaker 1 (25:44):
Yes, that would be exactly my number one advice too
.
I remember there was a point intime where, you know, somehow I
was in a study or something andwe ended up talking about
unfollowing.
Like, you have a permission tounfollow things that don't make
(26:05):
you feel good, and if you'rewalking away from social media,
thinking, oh it's so horrible,it's this and that, then you
have permission to unfollow, andI had done that a number of
years ago, and so now, like onmy Instagram, are only things
that I absolutely love.
So sometimes, when I hearpeople say, oh, I just I hate
(26:28):
social media, and I and I thinkto myself, oh, my goodness, I
like I love the ones that I have, and so I find them so
encouraging and uplifting and alot of creativity and art and
all these other things thatshines God through them, and so
(26:48):
that's really good advice, taryn.
Speaker 2 (26:52):
Absolutely.
I think.
So many people think that theymight be hurting the feelings of
the person or what have you andyou're not?
They don't know.
Just unfollow them, it's okay.
As somebody who has amedium-sized social media
account, I have no idea who'sfollowing and unfollowing me.
It's okay.
Do what's best for you.
Speaker 1 (27:10):
Yes, absolutely.
As Christians, how can we useand consume online content
differently than the rest of theworld?
Speaker 2 (27:23):
I think, in that same way that we were just speaking
about, you know, you have toremove some of those things that
are you know we were talkingabout things that are making
bringing you down.
We can also remove some ofthose things that we might not
actually know that are bringingus down or are filling us with,
(27:43):
you know, messaging that isactually rejecting God and, you
know, moving us away from him.
So you know, I know that I useTaylor Swift sometimes as an
example and I don't mean to pickon her because I grew up
listening to her music, butlately, frankly, some of her
posts have really been directingpeople away from
(28:04):
Christ-centered thinking, awayfrom using that faith filter.
So you know, people like thatthat maybe are in sports or and
I come from the sports world orHollywood, or things like that,
that you think, oh, this is nobig deal, they're a part of pop
culture.
I think maybe you might need toreassess and maybe relook at
some of these things andespecially if your teens are
(28:26):
consuming some of this content,what sort of messaging is that
giving them, when they might notbe as strong in their faith
walk at a young age?
You know, think of themessaging that's pouring into
them and to the young girls andto the boys about some of this
stuff.
So I think that some of thethings people think, well, it's
(28:46):
a part of mainstream.
Well, maybe you kind of need toreassess some of these things
that are a part of mainstream.
You kind of need to reassesssome of these things that are a
part of mainstream.
And that's one step againfurther that you can take and
how you're filtering your socialmedia content as well.
And I think, too, taking thatbiblical worldview to your
(29:09):
social media is hard when we aregetting our news consumption
from social media and many ofthe news headlines because
that's another huge aspect ofthe social media scape is not
just social media influencersbut news and how we're getting
our hard news.
(29:30):
Take a strong look at the newsoutlets that you're following
and maybe you need to weed justtalking about sheer volume weed
some of the news out, notbecause of the content that
they're feeding you, but howmuch of that news content you're
getting right.
Too much news, too muchheadlines.
(29:51):
Those things can really have aneffect on us and I think this
is part of why so many kids havesuch high anxiety and why
people currently, right now haveso much high anxiety because
they see these headlines fromaround the country, from around
the world, and they feel veryhelpless because they are
problems that are.
They are very large problems.
(30:12):
There are problems that arebigger than us that we have very
little ability to have a largeimpact on and God has.
We are not God.
We cannot affect and change theworld.
That's God's job.
And so I really want toemphasize and I do emphasize in
the book how we are pieces inGod's puzzle.
We're very important, specialpieces that God has put on this
(30:35):
earth in his puzzle, but we'rejust a small piece, so we've
only been in charge of that.
Again, that soul influencecircle around us.
We are not here and it is notour responsibility to change the
entire world, and I think thatthese news headlines really
weigh on people.
They definitely are weighing onour young people, who feel
(30:55):
helpless, and they weigh on usas adults too, who feel helpless
.
So, yes, we need to be informedcitizens and know what's going
on around us, but I think wereally do need to bring down the
amount of news headlines thatwe're seeing on a daily basis
and so that way we don't feeloverwhelmed, that way we don't
feel helpless.
We can all have a small impacton our circles, but we're not
(31:19):
God, and so we need to findpeace and rest in that.
And it's hard to find peace andrest in that if you're being
bombarded left and right withnews headlines over and over and
over again, all day long.
Speaker 1 (31:30):
Hmm.
Speaker 2 (31:31):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (31:32):
That's some more great tips for how we can just
navigate all the options that wehave out there and try to
reduce the level of anxiety thatcomes with.
Like you said, the news is huge.
Well, you in the book, Ithought it was kind of fun that
you talked about how you knowthe idea of influencers and
(31:58):
comparison and the promotion offalse ideas.
All these things are similar towhat God's people have
experienced in the past and andyou have some examples of that
and you've touched on a littlebit of it briefly here.
But as you were writing thisbook, like, how did that come to
(32:21):
life for you?
Like when you thought throughthe terms of now versus what
happened in the past.
Speaker 2 (32:29):
You know, the Holy Spirit is so wonderful, right,
that sometimes, when we arestudying things or experiencing
things and we pick up the studythat we're doing or we go to
church on Sunday, somehow thosethings align with what is
troubling our hearts or whatwe're focusing on in our study
time.
You know the Lord presentsthose things to you, and so that
(32:51):
kind of happened to me and allof these things.
You know all no one's exemptfrom these struggles, myself
included.
You know I've experienced allof these things that I'm
speaking about in the book andyou know this took me four years
to write, though it's a quickread and simple because I wanted
, you know, teens and everybodyin the audience to be able to to
pick it up and get through iteasily and quickly because of
(33:14):
our fast-paced society.
It took me four years to writethis so, as I was visiting these
different themes that I knewwere issues in social media,
because I had lived them outpersonally and in my career, god
was showing me these thingsthrough my study times, and so
(33:34):
that's why, at the beginning ofthis book, I tell people how I
would pray every time I wouldspeak about or would write down
to sit down to write, excuse meand ask the Holy Spirit to lead
me.
And he, really he, the HolySpirit really did in both my
writing and in times when Iwasn't writing, exploring these
topics, times when I wasn'twriting, exploring these topics.
(33:57):
So it's really Holy Spiritdriven.
And you know something, too,that I want to mention to people
that you're talking about thesestruggles that we have God,
just like we should putparameters and screen time
parameters up for ourselves, godhas put parameters on his
people and one of the thingsthat he has always emphasized
it's in the 10 commandments,it's it's in various parts of
the Bible is the Sabbath takingtime to rest and to, um, you
(34:21):
know, be able to reflect and togrow in our relationship with
him.
But to rest God rested himselfon the seventh day.
We don't know how to rest as asociety anymore and so many of
us have have resulted toscrolling on our social media as
resting.
You know we're like, oh, we'regoing to check out, I'm just
(34:41):
going to get on social media asI kind of mentally check out.
Well, scientifically speaking,you're actually still getting
that dopamine hit from thescreen time that you're that
you're subjecting yourself to,not to mention.
You know, you're really notresting, right You're.
You're still looking at stuff,you're still, um, you know,
having your brain um, do thatand you're still distracting
(35:03):
yourself from having that, thattime in the word and having that
intimate time.
And so, you know, that'ssomething that I talk about in,
actually, one of the laterchapters is by looking at
Hebrews 4 and the four R's for atrue rest formula.
How do we do that?
Well, we need to read God'sword so we can reflect on what
(35:28):
it says and then, therefore,reflect on your life and
possibly confess where you needto, because the Bible is going
to reveal to you some of yourshortcomings and take those to
the Lord.
And then that's how, when yougive those things to the Lord,
when you give over those thingsto God in your prayer time, then
(35:50):
you can receive his grace andmercy, and that's how you're
going to really find rest.
You're going to find rest bytaking those things to the Lord,
getting them off of your heartand instead of, you know,
looking at your phone andbuilding up your anxiety in the
ways that we've already talkedabout with the news headlines.
In comparison, Absolutely.
Speaker 1 (36:12):
The word that comes to my mind with that is peace,
and that's something you knowthat God gives us when we do
take that time to invest in himand through you know, reading
his word and prayer.
And I know that that's not evena word that people probably
(36:35):
associate too much with socialmedia scrolling, that's for sure
.
Well, what else does the Biblehave to say?
How is the Bible our handbookfor how to participate in and
consume and even combat socialmedia issues?
Speaker 2 (37:05):
Sunday school and just kind of disregarded as
we've gone along with our adultlife.
The tools like the armor of God, you know, those tools are
actually really essential forhow we are able to discern,
learn discernment and thereforebe able to put these things that
we've talked about intopractice online, and our teens
really need to be equipped withthese things, with the armor of
God, and they need to understand, then, how to apply it to their
(37:27):
life not just learn what thearmor of God is and move on, but
to understand how they can thenapply it to their everyday life
.
So we go through that and thesword of the spirit and is one
of the key ways that we can doso looking at God's word right
and understanding what's in it.
So, therefore, we are able tounderstand what is okay and what
(37:48):
is not okay on social media.
I mentioned modesty andpornography at the beginning of
this podcast.
It is a very real struggle formany.
Online, modesty is an easy oneto talk about.
For example, many teens, youngadults, kids that are in college
, women in particular, have adistorted understanding of what
(38:14):
should be presented to others,and it's because of the secular
messaging that they arebombarded with.
And my heart goes out to them.
I understand that they'restruggling with how they're
supposed to present themselveson social media visually right,
and how they are posing theclothes that they are wearing
because of what they're seeingon social media and because of
what society is telling them isbeautiful and pretty and right.
(38:37):
Well, if we have, if we'reenacting this sort of the spirit
and we're pouring into ourdaughters and showing them what
the Bible is telling us aboutmodesty, what Proverbs tells us
about a glorious woman and howto not tear your house down
(38:59):
before you've even built yourhouse as a woman, then they're
going to be more able to say noto some of these things, able to
say no to some of these things,and they're going to be able to
understand why God has a better, more glorious plan and design
for them than what social mediais telling them is what they
should be doing.
And so these girls, my heartgoes out to them because I even
(39:20):
saw, I see it within the church.
I've been involved in youthgroups and I I followed some of
these girls on social media andI'm seeing the pictures that
they're posting and the TikToksthat they're sharing, and my
heart goes out to them becausethey're um, they have not had
that poured into them, orthey're rejecting it or or
disregarding it because thesecular messaging is just
(39:42):
bombarding them and it's sodifficult for them to navigate,
and so they're putting theirbodies out there in ways that I
think that they might regretlater on.
And it's therefore, you know,tempting our young men and
exposing them to viewpoints ofthe body and of women prior to
marriage that is really having adetriment on them.
(40:06):
Most boys, most men, are beingexposed to pornography via
social media and online at theaverage age of eight years old,
because, you know, we haveoversaturated ourselves with
this, with these images andthese, this imagery and social
media plays into that.
So the armor of God is a hugepart, the sword of the spirit is
(40:29):
a huge part of pouring into ourgirls, pouring into our boys,
of what the Bible talks aboutwith in regards to modesty, how
we should be presentingourselves or viewing other
people.
Social media is a battleground.
It is a spiritual battlegroundand sexuality sexual.
You know, presentation is a big, big, big elephant in the room
(40:54):
when it comes to social media.
Speaker 1 (40:56):
I'm with you there it does.
It makes me sad to see somepeople, or young women that are,
that are doing that and justwanting to say do you realize
you are a daughter of the king,your true value, your worth
comes from Christ, and so we cankeep praying, and I think just
(41:21):
this book that you have here isgoing to be so, so helpful for
parents and teens alike as theyread it.
Well, taryn, as we start towrap things up here, tell us
about some of the other effortsthat you are working on with the
youth.
Speaker 2 (41:41):
Well, thank you.
My husband and I around thesame time, coincidentally, that
I started writing this book, welaunched our ministry, our
nonprofit 501c3, drivingDisciples, and my husband comes
from.
He's a former professionalgolfer on the lower levels and
now is a golf instructor.
(42:01):
And I worked in golf sportsmedia for quite some time and
played golf for much of my lifeas well, and so we saw the
parallels between life and golf,and so many people that play
life understand how golf or,excuse me, that play golf
understand how golf is such ametaphor for life and therefore
(42:22):
it is also in alignment with thegospel.
And so we found ways to weavethose two together and to create
a summer camp, a golf and Biblestudy camp called Driving
Disciples, and to pour into ouryouth, to introduce some to the
game of golf for the first time,or some to some of the deeper
levels of the gospel and how itinteracts and weaves with our
(42:45):
life.
The same way the book, it's thesame way of this book.
You know they both have thesame life, application, missions
and what we are trying to do.
And so I talk about in the bookand this applies to Driving
Disciples how 50% of the youththat are growing up in the
church are leaving in adulthood.
(43:06):
Only 9% of Americans attendchurch, so 50% of that 9% are
leaving the church by adulthood,and so that's why we launched
Driving Disciples to encouragethese children, who are already
curious about Christ, who maybeare already in the church, to
(43:27):
understand that this does applyto their life and they can take
it to their life when they go onto college and go on to be
adults, and to keep them in thechurch and to also expose kids
that maybe haven't been exposedto the gospel through the, to
the gospel through the game ofgolf.
And so that's our mission is tohave life application.
(43:47):
The Bible applies to your life.
It's not just this book thatwas written as an inspiration
for people to have motivationalspeech and or to give you rules
for your life.
No, you can apply it to yourlife.
So that's why we need to applyit to social media, and we can
apply it to sports and the otherareas in our life, and those
(44:09):
are our missions, for the bookand for Driving Disciples,
excellent, excellent missions.
Speaker 1 (44:12):
Well, taryn, where can people find out more
information about your book andyour ministry?
Speaker 2 (44:26):
If you go to TarynGregsoncom that's
T-E-R-Y-N-G-R-E-G-S-O-Ncom,there's a link for Driving
Disciples, which isdrivingdisciplesorg, and there's
also a link called book on mybook tab on my website where you
can get all sorts of resourcesfor the book.
We talk about tools.
Memory verse screen savers areon there for people to download
for free.
Some outlines on how you couldturn this into a Bible study for
yourself, your small group,your teens group, resources for
(44:50):
churches All the various thingsare under the book tab at
taryngregsoncom.
Speaker 1 (44:56):
Awesome.
Well, we will make sure that wehave those links in the show
notes Before we go.
I just want to ask you a coupleof our favorite Bible study
tool questions.
Taryn, what Bible is your go-toBible and what translation is
it?
Speaker 2 (45:13):
My go-to Bible is the she Reads Truth Bible, which is
a CSB translation.
My husband has his he ReadsTruth Bible, and so it's great
to compare the two of ourstogether.
I also love my ESV study Biblea hundred percent.
If I need some commentary or tounderstand something, that's
the one I go directly to, and sothat's my.
(45:36):
Those are my two go-to Bibles,but I have a collection of
Bibles on my shelf from over theyears, some personal and passed
down through the family.
Oh how beautiful.
Speaker 1 (45:48):
That's awesome.
Okay, those are both great,great recommendations.
Do you have any favoritejournaling supplies or anything
that you like to use to enhanceyour Bible study experience?
Speaker 2 (45:59):
I am a big fan of the skinny highlighters.
I love those because then I canmake circles or boxes or
highlight around things.
And you know, there's no shamein a directed Bible study either
, especially I'm a young mom.
I have three kids, four andunder, and so right now I need
those directed Bible study thatare helping me go line by line
(46:21):
through it.
And right now I'm going throughRevelation Jen Wilkins' new
Revelation study, and so that'sa great tool.
Revelation Jen Wilkins newrevelation study, and so that's
a great tool.
That's something.
There's some journalinginvolved in that one.
And then, because I have afour-year-old and a two-year-old
in addition to our newborn baby, most of my supplies are kid
oriented.
And you know, a woman who's oneof my faith friends the other
(46:44):
day told me you know, pleasegive yourself grace for not
having as much time as you'dlike to be in the word, because
you're worshiping God throughthe time that you're spending
teaching your kids, which we doevery single day.
And so one of the big thingsthat I love to recommend to
people and I brought it alongwith me to the studio are the
big theology for little heartsbooks.
(47:06):
These are catechisms that theybreak down into themes for
little kids so toddlers canstart to understand catechism
like questions and answers andthemes and vocabulary as well,
hearing that.
So we do that every nightbefore bed.
My kids love it my two-year-oldand my four-year-old.
I fight over picking out whatcatechism we're going to read
(47:27):
that night.
It's really cute, and we do.
I love Proverbs for kids.
I think that's important.
We do a lot of craft work athome.
You know we do homeschoolingfor the littles and our church
sends take-home lessons homewith the kids so we can
reemphasize what they'relearning at church throughout
(47:49):
the week and just a coupleminutes here and there.
It's not intensive by any means, but those are some of the
tools that we're using as afamily right now.
But nightly catechisms withyour littles, finding an
age-appropriate catechism forthem I highly recommend.
Speaker 1 (48:05):
Oh, that's such a great tip.
Okay, we will include thoselinks as well in the show notes.
Lastly, what is your favoriteapp or website for Bible study
tools?
Speaker 2 (48:14):
The YouVersion app is my favorite, the Bible app I go
to it every day on my phone.
In fact, when I talk about thememory verse screensavers in the
book, that's something I usedto do all the time.
I would highlight something,take a screenshot and make it my
screensaver on my phone so Icould try and remember and
memorize that verse.
We've created some beautifulones for you on my website at
(48:38):
taryngrigsoncom book, but theYouVersion app I do that If I
have a question.
It's just so wonderful.
You can search easily throughscripture.
It's great.
You can do devotionals andstudies on it, which is
fantastic.
If you're like me and you havea baby under one arm, you can
still use it.
It's a wonderful biblical toolLike that's what I'm talking
(48:58):
about Biblical social mediatools.
The YouVersion app,gotquestionsorg, is also one of
my favorites.
If I have a question aboutanything or want to learn more
about anything under the sun inthe Bible, that is a phenomenal
resource.
Speaker 1 (49:13):
Both of those are awesome suggestions.
We will include links to thoseas well, for the YouVersion
Coffee and Bible Time does havea couple of devotionals on the
YouVersion app, so you'll haveto check those out.
I will.
All right, taryn.
Well, thank you so much forjoining us today, your story,
your willingness, yourauthenticity.
(49:34):
We've been so blessed by yourexperience and we thank you for
pouring into this topic to helpteens and parents alike as we
all try to navigate and reallyshow God the glory through
social media.
Speaker 2 (49:51):
Thank you.
May God bless everyone's timeon social media.
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (49:55):
Thank you so much.
For those of you listening, wewill have a link to Taryn's book
.
Highly recommend that you getthat and we appreciate you all
so much.
We thank you for listening.
Have a blessed day.
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