May 14, 2025 • 33 mins
The digital age presents unprecedented challenges for families seeking to raise children with strong faith and values. When does convenience become captivity? How do we protect our children's developing minds while preparing them for an increasingly digital world?
These questions strike at the heart of Christian parenting today, and the answers aren't found in simplistic formulas but in biblical wisdom and intentional practices. Wisdom is truly "the principal thing," as Proverbs reminds us, especially when navigating the complex digital landscape with our children.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Before we get started , let's just go ahead and pray.
Heavenly Father, we just thankyou for this evening.
We open up our hearts to you.
We open up our minds to you aswell, lord.
I just thank you for havingyour way and, lord, that we have
supernatural hearing tonight,that we can hear the things and
make quick changes, we're quickto obey, in order to make
(00:22):
changes in our attitude towardsmedia, towards protecting our
kids, protecting our own mindsand guarding our eye gates and
our ear gates and what we seeand what we hear.
Lord, we just thank you thatthe spirit of deception is
broken tonight in the name ofJesus, lord, that there's power
(00:43):
and utterance in our words as wespeak them and we're oracles of
you and your word.
And so, lord, there's power inyour word that has already
broken every yoga bondage Lorddestroyed it, in fact.
And so, father, we just thankyou that it's in that premise
that we start this conversationabout media in a godly home, in
(01:07):
Jesus' name, amen, amen.
Well, I just wanted to go back alittle bit to James and Claire.
Last week.
They did a really good job ofcovering this scripture in 2
Timothy 2.20, and it's rightthere in front of you.
But in a great house, there arenot only vessels of gold and
silver, but also of wood andclay, some of honor and some for
(01:28):
dishonor.
Therefore, if anyone cleanseshimself from the latter, which
is the dishonor, he will be avessel for honor, sanctified and
useful for the master, preparedfor every good work.
Who wants to be useful to themaster?
We all do right, so we need tobe prepared by being vessels of
(01:49):
honor, and so I just wanted toask you tonight what are you
filling yourself up on to fuelyour spirit, your drive, your
dreams, your desires?
What's fueling you?
And it starts with you, and soI know Selena will be talking
about that a little bit later.
And it starts with you.
And so I know Selena has a beat.
We'll be talking about that alittle bit later.
But you know you say oh, jay,it's just a small porn addiction
.
It's just, it's no big deal,everybody does it.
(02:17):
Or it's just a little Instagramthing I like to.
You know I just binge watchreal after real.
But it's OK, it's, I got ittotally under control, I can
stop at any time.
No, the habits that you havewith media you definitely carry
over to your kids, you know, andmaybe it's not something like
that.
Maybe you're just a workaholicand you bring your work home
with you every night and younever spend any time with your
kids and all they do is see you,you know, frantically
(02:39):
responding to text messages overand over.
Well, you're not you're.
You're setting them up forfailure because they're seeing
that example, and so we're goingto talk a little bit more about
that.
But it all starts with us, andso you don't have to be fearful
or ever feel overwhelmed.
You know, uh, I think the devilwants to tempt us sometimes to
feel overwhelmed with technologybecause, let's face it, by the
(03:03):
time your child is I don't know13, 14, 15 years old, they
probably can do more with theirphone than you ever thought you
could, especially for thegrandparents.
I know we have severalgrandparents raising their
grandkids without the influenceof the parents, and that's a
really big deal.
You feel overwhelmed oh my gosh, I have no idea how to do this.
(03:23):
And so you don't have to beoverwhelmed ever.
You have the Holy Spirit that'sliving on the inside of you and
we're going to get into some ofthose nuts and bolts, but
having that relationship withyour child and that team effort
to manage those devices, amen.
And so it all starts with you.
Speaker 2 (03:41):
And so number one it all starts with you, and so,
number one, you can take it away, selena.
Okay, number one, teach thevalue of wisdom and discernment.
And everybody should havegotten the notes.
Proverbs 4, 7 says wisdom isthe principal thing.
Therefore, get wisdom and allyou're getting get understanding
.
And then also I didn't put thisdown uh our youth theme is
(04:05):
healthy habits, and the theme,our theme, scripture, is the
ephesians 5, 15, uh, where itsays be careful how you live.
Don't live like fools, um, butlike those who are wise.
And so if the bible is tellingus not to live like a fool, that
means we can't be a fool, andso the times evil.
And so we want to make surethat we're teaching the value of
(04:27):
godly wisdom.
And so practical application isencourage children and teens to
approach digital devices withwisdom.
Help them understand theimportance of making good
choices when using technology,such as discerning between
healthy and harmful content, anda tip on that is just provide
opportunities for opendiscussion about potential
(04:47):
dangers of internetcyberbullying, inappropriate
content, and teach them how toidentify trustworthy sources.
And so you know what we grew upin the 80s, I was born in 78.
Speaker 1 (05:00):
And so you weren't supposed to say that.
No shame in my game, that's allright, you know, um, I grew.
Speaker 2 (05:11):
So I, I grew up, I was.
My parents were strict.
Hey, my parents were strict.
I was not allowed to have a tv.
Um, I was hardly allowed towatch, uh, tv, um, and
definitely not like you.
I remember being a kid andtrying to watch it, like right
here, and my parents would belike you're going to go blind,
you know, don't get in front ofTV.
(05:32):
And I didn't have a TV in myroom.
Eight years later, my brothercomes along and he's allowed to
have a Nintendo, but that's OK,that's another subject.
My parents are a little more,but that's okay, that's another
subject.
Um, my parents are a littlemore lax with him, but we I,
both of us, Um, so I'm not hereto tell you like, I'm just here
(05:53):
to.
We are here to give you biblicaluh, what the Bible says, um,
about this and and what we cando as parents, as grandparents.
And even if you don't have kids, you probably have a phone,
right, so you may don't havelittle ones to set boundaries
for, but you need to setboundaries for yourself, right?
(06:16):
And so we want to make surethat we're using wisdom.
And so our kid, we have youngadult kids, kids and so when
they were younger, we, we didn'tallow them to have tvs in their
rooms or laptops.
Thank god they didn't havephones, and that generated till.
They got a little older but weput.
(06:37):
That's what we did and I'm notsaying you know you, you do this
and you're you know this.
This is what, this is what we,we did, and so we want to make
sure you know those devices.
Like you can do the research,right, you can do the research
(06:58):
and scrolling and what that does.
You know the dopamine hits andand scrolling all the time and
it decrease.
You know the kids, their lackof focus and their attention and
sleeping and all of thosethings.
There's a whole slew of things.
If you just look up the stats,the stats are scary, Right and
so.
But thank God for the word ofGod, Thank God that you know
(07:19):
maybe you're a parent and you'veallowed your kid to have a
phone or whatever the case maybe.
But you know the good news iskids are resilient, right.
Any bad habit you can break,they can break that off and
their brains God formed it'scalled neuroplasticity and their
brains can.
It's like amazing what God cando.
(07:41):
You know in the brain, Like it.
You can.
Maybe you've you've made somebad choices, but today's a brand
new day and you can go goingforward.
You can teach your kid, you canbreak those bad habits.
Yeah, you can break those badhabits.
Speaker 1 (07:54):
It's not too late?
Speaker 2 (07:56):
Yeah, it's not too late, and so every parent needs
to find the proper place wheretechnology fits into their
family and it doesn't look thesame for every family or every
season, but we want to make sureto guard our kids.
You know, this world has anagenda and it's not a good one.
Just like a little heads up.
(08:17):
It's not a good one, it's anevil agenda that this world has
through.
This little thing right here,that's in your pocket, 24-7,
right, most people sleep with it.
It's the first thing they, thelast thing they see when they go
to bed, first thing that rollsaround, not just for kids, I'm
talking to adults too, right,and so the world has an agenda,
(08:38):
but God is greater than thatworld's agenda.
We want to make sure that weare wise when it comes to the
use of technology and then alsomodeling that for our future
generation.
Speaker 1 (08:49):
And just like, spiritually speaking, we're not
going with the world right, andeven politically speaking we're
not going, you know, alongstraight on with the world.
And the same thing goes withthe way we treat our media and
our phones and our devices,ipads and so forth and so on.
So if you came here tonight andyou're looking for a specific
formula on how to parent, you'renot necessarily going to find a
(09:14):
simple formula.
We're going to encourage you tofollow the Holy Spirit.
Like, maybe you're wondering atwhat age should my child have a
smartphone?
Child have a smartphone?
Well, the second that you giveyour child a smartphone, no
matter what age you decide, thatis, you've kissed their
childhood goodbye, especially ifyou're going to give them an
unlocked device that just isfree to every single piece of
(09:37):
information and nastiness that'sout there, but also just like
very big statistics.
Every year you wait to givethem a smartphone.
Their sat scores go higher andhigher and higher.
It's really exponential.
So just think about that.
There's all kind of stats outthere.
We have a couple of really goodbooks that are listed in your
resources tonight navigating ourdigital world.
(09:59):
Both of these books, though,they're about eight to 10 years
old, and so the stats in themhave deked, like they've gotten
worse, much worse, and so thinkabout that as you're reading
these, and so think about, like,in eight years since this book
has been written, tiktok is ahuge thing.
(10:20):
Our attention span has evengotten shorter.
Right, all you sit around andjust watch reel after reel after
reel.
You used to binge watch netflixfive years ago and that was a
big thing, these you know andthen older shows started making
their comeback.
That was kind of around covidtime, right.
Well, we're here, we are fiveyears after that, and the
(10:40):
attention spans even less,because all we do is binge watch
reel after reel and then allthe algorithms kick in and you,
you know, and you're stuckwatching on like one subject
over and over again.
Speaker 2 (10:51):
Not us, though, speaking by faith.
No, I'm just kidding, um.
Speaker 1 (10:56):
So we have to, number two, set healthy boundaries and
limit excessive use.
And so Proverbs 25, 28, and theNLT says a person without
self-control is like a city withbroken down walls.
You know, um, self-control is afruit of the spirit and it's
not fruits of the spirit, it'sfruit of the spirit.
(11:18):
So all of those fruits arereally one fruit and they go
together.
And so self-control issomething that is grown Right,
and so we're teaching that toour kids, we're modeling that
behavior, but we're alsoteaching that of how to set
boundaries and limit excessiveuse, just as a city oh, I said
(11:41):
that already Set limits fordaily use.
So just, I wrote down somepractical things.
I just had a couple of storiesas well.
But drive time is conversationtime, and that was always true
with us as well.
And go outside, life is anadventure.
You can watch movies, you canwatch YouTube channels, or you
can go outside.
Life is an adventure, you know.
You can watch movies, you canwatch YouTube channels, or you
(12:02):
can go outside and live your ownlife, and so you can watch
somebody on TV having a goodtime, or you can go out and have
your own good time.
Which one is more lasting,which one is going to create a
memory, a lasting memory withyour kids.
And so I just had a couple ofthings here.
Pick hobbies that bring yourfamily together.
Especially when you're youngerand you have a younger family,
(12:24):
you know, if you pick a hobbythat's got you traveling away
from your family and doingsomething by yourself, that's
just not a very healthy thingfor your kids.
It's adding to the stress ofyour home.
So, like I put some examplesdown from camping, fishing and
biking, et cetera, like we didall these things, we've been
camping in more than half of thestate parks in Texas.
(12:45):
We used to have a Texas statepark pass and we would go all
the time all over the place, andyou know little things like
Even took me camping while I waspregnant.
And that was not a very good.
I think I was like seven monthswith Allison while I was
pregnant and that was not a verygood experience.
Speaker 2 (13:01):
I think I was like seven months with Allison.
It was cold.
I'm like this is the last timeI will go tent camping.
Speaker 1 (13:11):
It will be no, it wasn't the last time, but the
lasting memories that we stilltalk about, that we still have,
of camping and hiking and soforth.
But, uh, I just like using asmall example when ethan was
really little, we've alwaysliked to drive.
We've always liked to drivelong distances.
That came from me too long of astory to add to that.
But, like um, he liked swingsets and playgrounds.
(13:36):
So we would find the best swingsets and playgrounds everywhere
.
Wherever we went, we would pulloff and find a city park, a
state park, a county park and uh, and so that was kind of our
thing when he was little.
And so, uh, and and hiking too.
I remember one specific time we,we hiked, uh lost maples, uh
state park in the hill countryand we had our dog with us and
(13:58):
the kids were like maybe like 11and whatever, seven, seven
years old and 11 years old,something like that.
But it was just ended up beinga really tough day.
We, we went up the trail, thethe wrong way, and we, we went
up the steep side first and itjust took forever to get to the
top and and um, and the kidswere tired and complaining and
(14:19):
for some reason there wassomething on the inside of me
that wouldn't let us quit.
And so you know, at first Iwanted to turn around, so we
just made it through that wholeday.
Speaker 2 (14:29):
You knew lunch was around the corner.
Speaker 1 (14:30):
Yes and so that chicken fried steak at Lost
Maples Cafe over in Utopia.
I felt like I earned that thing.
But there's certain situations,seriously like that.
You can teach your kids gritand determination.
We set a goal as a family.
We all had the map.
You know.
Nowadays you have an app forthat right, like AllTrails or
one of those hiking apps thatyou can have on your phone that
(14:52):
tell you where the start of thetrailhead is and you don't have
to guess and just walk aroundaimlessly for hours.
But anyways, you get what I'mtalking about.
All right.
Speaker 2 (15:02):
Number three Number three foster relationships and
connection over entertainment.
Philippians 2.4 says don't lookout only for your own interests
, but take an interest in otherstoo.
So don't let screens distractyou from real people, and that's
ultimately what they do.
Practical applicationsencourage kids to use technology
in ways that buildrelationships.
(15:23):
So video calls, relativesharing, scriptures, and then a
tip create family activities orchallenges that involve digital
devices in a productive way,like creating a family blog or
video series.
That way, technology is used asa tool for connection, not
isolation.
So technology in its properplace, when it's used, helps us
(15:44):
bond with real people we havebeen given to love.
It is out of its proper placewhen we end up bonding with
people at a distance, likecelebrities who we will never
meet, and usually that person onthe screen is not the person
who says.
They are Just a little heads up, right.
So it's not that celebrity,it's not that person, it's
(16:05):
somebody else, and usuallythey're trolling for your kids.
So why would you hand a kid, achild, a device?
And they're easy prey.
And so you want to make surethat you're very careful, yes,
over your kids, but also we asadults, who that person says
(16:27):
they are, is not?
So technology out of its properplace when it prevents us from
talking with and listening toone another.
Technology in its proper placeonly when we use it with
intention and care.
Technology does not stay in itsproper place only when we use
it with intention and care.
Technology does not stay in itsproper place on its own.
It takes intentionality, beingintentional with it.
It requires a strategy, andpreferably a written one, a
(16:50):
written strategy?
Yes, yeah, for your kids and foryourself, right?
Maybe it's having a real alarmclock instead of having your
phone right by your bed, right?
A little old school right there, but sometimes I'm old school
and old school is cool, right,and so it requires being
(17:11):
intentional and having astrategy.
Speaker 1 (17:13):
Number four I just wanted to back up just on the
practical ideas.
I'm just going to read a fewout of this book.
Um, screen time meaning, uh,one screen time meaning, uh,
everyone watching the samescreen, often a movie or playing
video games together, withoutscreen multitasking or regular
video chats with extended familymembers who live far away.
(17:34):
Another idea is have familygame nights when members of the
family take turns choosing thegames but try to mix up.
Mix up a tech game versus anon-tech game.
And then another idea wasencouraging your kids to look
for apps that might resonatewith what they are already
passionate about.
(17:54):
One family's daughter catalogedevery book in their home using
a library app.
It worked out well because sheloved to read and was interested
in working for a librarysomeday.
And then I'll have one otherlike thing of wisdom out of this
book.
It was about you know whenyou're working in front.
(18:16):
I think I said this earliermaybe, but when you're working
in front of your child and theysee you talk out loud about what
you're doing, let them know.
Especially as they get older,there's details that you can
share.
But it said about one third ofthe time what I'm doing on my
computer is for them.
I'm emailing one of theirfriends stepmoms this is from a
(18:37):
female's perspective to set up aplay date, or I'm registering
them for baseball camp.
So I narrate that I'm doing outloud so my kids can hear hey,
candace, I'm signing you up forpiano lessons and so forth.
So just do it out loud.
And then, obviously, the more,the older they get, when they're
, say, like eight or nine, youcan start sharing vivid details
(19:00):
of your day, what you did, whatyou know.
Hey, my boss came in and askedme to head this project up.
Look at the pictures on, youknow, and you show them some
pictures of what you're workingon and you get them interested.
Wow, you know, I was.
You know, we didn't have phoneswhen I grew up.
So I wanted to be just like mydad.
I went to work with him everytime I had a chance and and uh,
(19:21):
and he tells those stories.
But really, if he was talkingto somebody, I was listening to
his conversation, I was, I wasthinking, I was trying to think
through things like he wouldthink about it, cause I wanted,
I wanted to emulate him.
And so your kids, whether youknow it or not, they're like
that and so, um, like I saidearlier, when you're in the car,
that's conversation time, andso dig deep, try to, you know,
(19:45):
have real conversations, amen.
So are we on number four?
Okay, guard against negativeinfluences.
So first, Corinthians 1533, donot be misled Bad company
corrupts good character and theNew King James evil company
corrupts good habits.
So monitor what your childrenare exposed to online, including
(20:07):
social media, games, websites.
Teach them that the digitalworld can sometimes influence
their character negatively, andso encourage a sense of identity
in Christ, rather than seekingvalidation through comments and
likes.
And so I just wanted to.
You know, um, one of the biggestadvantages of having these
(20:29):
meetings on Wednesday night thatwe didn't that I okay, I won't
talk for my, our staff, but forme, I didn't think about this is
your kids are here an extranight a week, and so they have
midweek service, and so Allisonis coming back with all these
reports of the difference thatbeing able to learn about God
(20:52):
one more night a week, and justhow important that is.
And so you never, you know, thedevil tries every day to steal
their identity.
Their identity is in Christ,and so it's good to remind them
every single day, and so, um,we're backing that up.
We've backed that up with ourkids, obviously, but you know,
(21:12):
we all need to work on theiridentity.
Working in youth.
That's the number one thingthat we see is they don't know
who they are.
They don't know who they are inChrist, but they're totally in
a whirlwind every day fromconstant whether it be friends
or you know different peerpressures influencing them to be
someone they're not, and themhaving to stretch themselves
(21:35):
into be something and someonethey're not, and so there's so
many of those influences that wehave to guard that negative
influence, and so our identityis in Christ, and so there's so
many different directions.
We could go with thisconversation, but just anytime
your child is obsessed with onething, you know we deal a lot
(21:59):
with Pokemon because it's stillaround.
I can't believe it's stillaround, but it's still around.
And so parents, they don'trealize the effects and the
demonic influence that can have,and it takes, it takes over,
and it's so quick, and theirchild is addicted and, um, and
then it begins to affect theirattitude and they just think
they blame it on something else,and really it's Pokemon.
(22:21):
And so I don't know why, likeI'm literally, I'm not
exaggerating 20 years ago, youknow, we were having issues with
that, and my dad, you know,cast the devil out of this one
kid two different times becauseof this addiction, and could not
believe the parents, theywouldn't take responsibility, uh
, for allow, oh, he, just hewanted it back.
(22:43):
He was crying.
What are you talking about?
You're the parent, it'd be aparent, and so, uh, it was so
difficult the second time to goback, because the devil, you
know he comes back, you know 10times stronger, and so, um, it's
our job as parents to guardfrom the demonic influences and
refuse to be you.
(23:03):
You know, weak on the on onthat you're.
You're the parent, you're notthe friend, like claire was
saying the last two weeks.
You know so, be the parent andso, uh, a positive influence on
kids.
I forgot to cue, you're notready are you?
okay?
We had a video playback.
I forgot to there we go.
We'll play it at the end allright um, but yes um that's good
(23:28):
number five basically do yourresearch.
Speaker 2 (23:31):
Like if you're gonna give kids some cards and if
you're gonna video game, like,do know where it comes from,
know what it means.
Pocket monsters, that's whatpokemon mean.
Like, just know, do yourresearch, know your stuff.
Right, it goes back to wisdom.
We want to be wise.
God, god, you know we don'twant to be fools, we want to be
wise.
God, god, you know we don'twant to be fools, we want to be
wise.
And so, number five modelresponsible technology.
(23:54):
Use Ephesians 5.1,.
Imitate God, therefore, ineverything you do, because you
are his dear children.
Follow God's example, and sopractical application.
Children often learn by example, so it's important for parents
to model healthy technologyhabits.
If you're going to allow yourkids to have a phone, now, my
two cents like I would wait aslong as you can to give a child
(24:20):
a device, especially asmartphone okay, especially I
just need to be able to contactthem.
Speaker 1 (24:26):
There's all kind of different phones you can buy.
You don't have some questionsto ask?
Why do you?
Speaker 2 (24:30):
need a phone, what you know.
So there's just some questionsto ask um a family and your
child and just you know of, yeah, of why they need a phone.
But practical application sothey learn by our example.
So limit your own screen time,avoid excessive phone usage
around the kids.
Prioritize face-to-face whatjay was saying and if you're on
(24:50):
your laptop working like, tellthem you know, but why you're
doing it, you're emailing orwhatever you're doing.
And then a tip show yourchildren how to use technology
responsibly.
Searches such as turning offnotifications during family time
, you know.
Placing phones in another roomdinner time, no, you know,
sometimes we go out to eat andwe see everybody on their phone
(25:12):
in certain restaurants and well,everywhere really.
But it's just a good to modelthat.
You know.
If we're on our phones duringdinner time, how are we going to
tell our kids not to be ontheir phones so like we just
have to model.
Speaker 1 (25:29):
You know what it says to your kid to even have your
phone on the table while you'reeating.
You know go put it away andjust have that.
Be a tech.
You know free environment whereyou can talk and not be
interrupted.
You know so many times it justum that happened to us the other
day.
A whole a family came in andthey literally never talked to
(25:50):
their kids.
Their kids were both had eachhad an iPad and they had their
phones.
They didn't talk to each otherand like I was wondering why did
they come out to eat?
I mean, I guess they neededfood, but like there was no
communication, like zero, I'mnot exaggerating and so that's
so sad.
Speaker 2 (26:06):
Family habits form and sometimes, you know, life
gets busy and we just go and goand go, and this is the easy
thing to do, and here, get adevice and move on, and but no,
god, you know we are stewards.
God has made us a steward over.
We don't own those kids.
They are God's kids.
And so it's what you are doingwith God's kids.
(26:27):
They're not yours.
You're a steward over them.
And so we're either being agood steward over his kids or
we're not being a good steward.
We're just putting them outthere to the wolves, right.
And so and I wrote this down, Imeant to put it under my number
three but who and what weexpose our children to will
(26:48):
shape who they become and whatthey believe.
And so if we constantly exposeour kids to bad attitudes,
over-sexualized image, pervertedthinking, ungodly values, you
know they're going to driftapart from God.
And so we want to make surethat we don't expose them to
(27:08):
those things and even exposethem to other people, friends or
neighbors.
We just have to guard our kidsand guard our family unit and
guard our children.
And so it's really important.
And then, number six promotecontent that encourages faith
and values.
And so Philippians 4, eight andthe new living says.
(27:30):
And now, dear brothers andsisters, one final thing fix
your thoughts on what is true,what is honorable and right and
pure and lovely and admirable.
Think about things that areexcellent and worthy of praise.
And so application encouragedkids to consume digital content
that uplifts and aligns withbiblical values.
Christian music, podcast, bibleapp, church.
You know podcast, bible app,church.
You know podcasts.
(27:52):
And so you know my phone's alove-hate relationship because
I'm over all the digital socialmedia of the church.
Certain, my God Votes well,allison handles the kids, but
youth, sometimes with YouthAgainst Hunger, and so I'm
creating content and a lot of mypersonal pages also.
(28:13):
You know content.
But also with the teenagers,like I tell them hey, do you
have the Bible app?
I'm going to show them with theBible app.
You know just different appsand church podcasts.
So we want to make sure topromote that.
You know that.
They know that that's out thereif you choose for your child to
have a phone, but again, thisis to me this would be later on
(28:38):
as they're older, you know butto because really, I mean we
could sit here and talk techie,all like.
These are the, these are the,these are the website, these are
the perimeters, these are thefilters that you have to put on
your phone.
But you know what?
They have a friend who knows togo all throughout that, and
they could have a friend thatjust you hand them your phone
and hey, like, take this off.
So like you just have toinstill, build character, and so
(29:07):
we do that biblical.
You know Bible through theBible, and so, yeah, we have to
make sure to promote, um,faith-based content.
Amen, do we want to go overthese two?
Speaker 1 (29:18):
yeah, we can go over these pictures so that the what
you're seeing in the twopictures underneath the
resources in your notes are, um,the dendrites that are in your
brain that begin to form afterthree to four hours of
consecutive activity.
And so you see what your brainlooks like before that activity.
(29:38):
And then, on the right, it'safter that, four hours of
activity on lots and lots andlots I'm sorry, lots and lots
and lots of activity.
And so how do you want that tobe built on the Disney, disney
plus app?
Or do you want that to be onlearning an instrument or
painting a picture or learningto be an artist?
(30:00):
You know positive things, andso the amount of time that it
takes to to connect all thosedots, if you will, is a long
time.
And then it goes down, and youcan see it in the next picture
Adolescents with internetaddiction display altered brain
(30:22):
function connectivity anddecreased connections within all
three major cerebral lobes thatare involved.
So it's affecting your kid'sbrain and so it's affecting
their development, and so it'sbetter to not have that
addiction to begin with, amen.
And so you say, well, it's hard,and really everything that you
(30:48):
there's so many different thingsyou can do, even even well, if
you say you know, jay, there'sso many good apps out there.
It's just an ipad and and it'snot for very long and but
there's so many different thingsyou can do before you hand your
kid an ipad, you know that'sold school.
I think, like um, I kind oflaugh sometimes because recently
(31:09):
we were at a Rhema event, aRhema alumni event, and Allison.
They asked Allison to talk andthey thought she was going to
bring, like you know, aboutchildren's ministry, you know,
like she was going to bring outthe latest technology and she
still brought out, like you know, felt characters and puppets
and they're like because ourkids, kids, that's what they
(31:31):
love, that's what they, they,they want.
They're tired of the ipad,they're tired of being
entertained, they want theanointing, they want all the
singing and and and they andsome of our classes.
We still do the flannels withthe bible characters on the
flannel board, you know whywould we, you know, but yeah,
why would we put them on ascreen?
Speaker 2 (31:49):
go to journal search and put you on a screen for an
hour and a half like we're notgoing to do that right.
Speaker 1 (31:52):
We're gonna the old just be babysitting class and
just watch a movie, and so, um,the same thing goes in your.
There's all kind of arts andcrafts that you can be doing,
that you can be teaching whileyou're cooking, that you can
have a craft table set up that'snearby that and they're working
on something.
And, um, and that's nearby andthey're working on something,
and that's way better than themjust sitting in front of a
(32:13):
screen.
And so just think about that.
It's just simple changes andwhatever you're going through
was no harder than your mom oryour grandma or your
great-grandma.
You're not out on a fieldtrying to get corn to grow in
the middle of summer fieldtrying to get corn to grow in
(32:33):
the middle of summer.
You know we have easier livesnow that with all the other
technologies that keep us cooland ac and so forth.
Speaker 2 (32:37):
So think about that, you know and it's, you know,
when you're on the phone likeyou're less active, and so we
want to make sure that we keepthem active and playing and
doing things.
Um, so we printed out somequestions, but I also wanted to
mention the teen questions whichreally, after I printed, I'm
like you know what?
These are also adult questions,but I just I don't know if
(33:00):
y'all got the teen questions,but I thought they were good.
I just wanted to go over acouple of heart, like what's the
first thing you do when youwake up?
Talk to God or check your phone?
Do the things you watch orscroll through draw you closer
to Jesus or distract you fromhim?
Uh, these are just kind of goodquestions to ask yourself and
ask your teen Um, are you thesame person online or as you are
in real life?
(33:20):
Uh, do you post or like thingsthat go against what you believe
as a Christian?
Uh, how do you treat othersonline anyways?
Um, and then also after that,we have some parent if you
grabbed a GWC parent resources.
A lot of times people ask uslike what's a good Bible for
kids?
And so we put those down thereand devotionals and resources
(33:42):
for kids and then also books forparents.
We have these two listed, butwe also have different ones.
If you have questions, you canask us about those.
Before we get started , let's just go ahead and pray.
Heavenly Father, we just thankyou for this evening.
We open up our hearts to you.
We open up our minds to you aswell, lord.
I just thank you for havingyour way and, lord, that we have
supernatural hearing tonight,that we can hear the things and
make quick changes, we're quickto obey, in order to make
(00:22):
changes in our attitude towardsmedia, towards protecting our
kids, protecting our own mindsand guarding our eye gates and
our ear gates and what we seeand what we hear.
Lord, we just thank you thatthe spirit of deception is
broken tonight in the name ofJesus, lord, that there's power
(00:43):
and utterance in our words as wespeak them and we're oracles of
you and your word.
And so, lord, there's power inyour word that has already
broken every yoga bondage Lorddestroyed it, in fact.
And so, father, we just thankyou that it's in that premise
that we start this conversationabout media in a godly home, in
(01:07):
Jesus' name, amen, amen.
Well, I just wanted to go back alittle bit to James and Claire.
Last week.
They did a really good job ofcovering this scripture in 2
Timothy 2.20, and it's rightthere in front of you.
But in a great house, there arenot only vessels of gold and
silver, but also of wood andclay, some of honor and some for
(01:28):
dishonor.
Therefore, if anyone cleanseshimself from the latter, which
is the dishonor, he will be avessel for honor, sanctified and
useful for the master, preparedfor every good work.
Who wants to be useful to themaster?
We all do right, so we need tobe prepared by being vessels of
(01:49):
honor, and so I just wanted toask you tonight what are you
filling yourself up on to fuelyour spirit, your drive, your
dreams, your desires?
What's fueling you?
And it starts with you, and soI know Selena will be talking
about that a little bit later.
And it starts with you.
And so I know Selena has a beat.
We'll be talking about that alittle bit later.
But you know you say oh, jay,it's just a small porn addiction
.
It's just, it's no big deal,everybody does it.
(02:17):
Or it's just a little Instagramthing I like to.
You know I just binge watchreal after real.
But it's OK, it's, I got ittotally under control, I can
stop at any time.
No, the habits that you havewith media you definitely carry
over to your kids, you know, andmaybe it's not something like
that.
Maybe you're just a workaholicand you bring your work home
with you every night and younever spend any time with your
kids and all they do is see you,you know, frantically
(02:39):
responding to text messages overand over.
Well, you're not you're.
You're setting them up forfailure because they're seeing
that example, and so we're goingto talk a little bit more about
that.
But it all starts with us, andso you don't have to be fearful
or ever feel overwhelmed.
You know, uh, I think the devilwants to tempt us sometimes to
feel overwhelmed with technologybecause, let's face it, by the
(03:03):
time your child is I don't know13, 14, 15 years old, they
probably can do more with theirphone than you ever thought you
could, especially for thegrandparents.
I know we have severalgrandparents raising their
grandkids without the influenceof the parents, and that's a
really big deal.
You feel overwhelmed oh my gosh, I have no idea how to do this.
(03:23):
And so you don't have to beoverwhelmed ever.
You have the Holy Spirit that'sliving on the inside of you and
we're going to get into some ofthose nuts and bolts, but
having that relationship withyour child and that team effort
to manage those devices, amen.
And so it all starts with you.
Speaker 2 (03:41):
And so number one it all starts with you, and so,
number one, you can take it away, selena.
Okay, number one, teach thevalue of wisdom and discernment.
And everybody should havegotten the notes.
Proverbs 4, 7 says wisdom isthe principal thing.
Therefore, get wisdom and allyou're getting get understanding
.
And then also I didn't put thisdown uh our youth theme is
(04:05):
healthy habits, and the theme,our theme, scripture, is the
ephesians 5, 15, uh, where itsays be careful how you live.
Don't live like fools, um, butlike those who are wise.
And so if the bible is tellingus not to live like a fool, that
means we can't be a fool, andso the times evil.
And so we want to make surethat we're teaching the value of
(04:27):
godly wisdom.
And so practical application isencourage children and teens to
approach digital devices withwisdom.
Help them understand theimportance of making good
choices when using technology,such as discerning between
healthy and harmful content, anda tip on that is just provide
opportunities for opendiscussion about potential
(04:47):
dangers of internetcyberbullying, inappropriate
content, and teach them how toidentify trustworthy sources.
And so you know what we grew upin the 80s, I was born in 78.
Speaker 1 (05:00):
And so you weren't supposed to say that.
No shame in my game, that's allright, you know, um, I grew.
Speaker 2 (05:11):
So I, I grew up, I was.
My parents were strict.
Hey, my parents were strict.
I was not allowed to have a tv.
Um, I was hardly allowed towatch, uh, tv, um, and
definitely not like you.
I remember being a kid andtrying to watch it, like right
here, and my parents would belike you're going to go blind,
you know, don't get in front ofTV.
(05:32):
And I didn't have a TV in myroom.
Eight years later, my brothercomes along and he's allowed to
have a Nintendo, but that's OK,that's another subject.
My parents are a little more,but that's okay, that's another
subject.
Um, my parents are a littlemore lax with him, but we I,
both of us, Um, so I'm not hereto tell you like, I'm just here
(05:53):
to.
We are here to give you biblicaluh, what the Bible says, um,
about this and and what we cando as parents, as grandparents.
And even if you don't have kids, you probably have a phone,
right, so you may don't havelittle ones to set boundaries
for, but you need to setboundaries for yourself, right?
(06:16):
And so we want to make surethat we're using wisdom.
And so our kid, we have youngadult kids, kids and so when
they were younger, we, we didn'tallow them to have tvs in their
rooms or laptops.
Thank god they didn't havephones, and that generated till.
They got a little older but weput.
(06:37):
That's what we did and I'm notsaying you know you, you do this
and you're you know this.
This is what, this is what we,we did, and so we want to make
sure you know those devices.
Like you can do the research,right, you can do the research
(06:58):
and scrolling and what that does.
You know the dopamine hits andand scrolling all the time and
it decrease.
You know the kids, their lackof focus and their attention and
sleeping and all of thosethings.
There's a whole slew of things.
If you just look up the stats,the stats are scary, Right and
so.
But thank God for the word ofGod, Thank God that you know
(07:19):
maybe you're a parent and you'veallowed your kid to have a
phone or whatever the case maybe.
But you know the good news iskids are resilient, right.
Any bad habit you can break,they can break that off and
their brains God formed it'scalled neuroplasticity and their
brains can.
It's like amazing what God cando.
(07:41):
You know in the brain, Like it.
You can.
Maybe you've you've made somebad choices, but today's a brand
new day and you can go goingforward.
You can teach your kid, you canbreak those bad habits.
Yeah, you can break those badhabits.
Speaker 1 (07:54):
It's not too late?
Speaker 2 (07:56):
Yeah, it's not too late, and so every parent needs
to find the proper place wheretechnology fits into their
family and it doesn't look thesame for every family or every
season, but we want to make sureto guard our kids.
You know, this world has anagenda and it's not a good one.
Just like a little heads up.
(08:17):
It's not a good one, it's anevil agenda that this world has
through.
This little thing right here,that's in your pocket, 24-7,
right, most people sleep with it.
It's the first thing they, thelast thing they see when they go
to bed, first thing that rollsaround, not just for kids, I'm
talking to adults too, right,and so the world has an agenda,
(08:38):
but God is greater than thatworld's agenda.
We want to make sure that weare wise when it comes to the
use of technology and then alsomodeling that for our future
generation.
Speaker 1 (08:49):
And just like, spiritually speaking, we're not
going with the world right, andeven politically speaking we're
not going, you know, alongstraight on with the world.
And the same thing goes withthe way we treat our media and
our phones and our devices,ipads and so forth and so on.
So if you came here tonight andyou're looking for a specific
formula on how to parent, you'renot necessarily going to find a
(09:14):
simple formula.
We're going to encourage you tofollow the Holy Spirit.
Like, maybe you're wondering atwhat age should my child have a
smartphone?
Child have a smartphone?
Well, the second that you giveyour child a smartphone, no
matter what age you decide, thatis, you've kissed their
childhood goodbye, especially ifyou're going to give them an
unlocked device that just isfree to every single piece of
(09:37):
information and nastiness that'sout there, but also just like
very big statistics.
Every year you wait to givethem a smartphone.
Their sat scores go higher andhigher and higher.
It's really exponential.
So just think about that.
There's all kind of stats outthere.
We have a couple of really goodbooks that are listed in your
resources tonight navigating ourdigital world.
(09:59):
Both of these books, though,they're about eight to 10 years
old, and so the stats in themhave deked, like they've gotten
worse, much worse, and so thinkabout that as you're reading
these, and so think about, like,in eight years since this book
has been written, tiktok is ahuge thing.
(10:20):
Our attention span has evengotten shorter.
Right, all you sit around andjust watch reel after reel after
reel.
You used to binge watch netflixfive years ago and that was a
big thing, these you know andthen older shows started making
their comeback.
That was kind of around covidtime, right.
Well, we're here, we are fiveyears after that, and the
(10:40):
attention spans even less,because all we do is binge watch
reel after reel and then allthe algorithms kick in and you,
you know, and you're stuckwatching on like one subject
over and over again.
Speaker 2 (10:51):
Not us, though, speaking by faith.
No, I'm just kidding, um.
Speaker 1 (10:56):
So we have to, number two, set healthy boundaries and
limit excessive use.
And so Proverbs 25, 28, and theNLT says a person without
self-control is like a city withbroken down walls.
You know, um, self-control is afruit of the spirit and it's
not fruits of the spirit, it'sfruit of the spirit.
(11:18):
So all of those fruits arereally one fruit and they go
together.
And so self-control issomething that is grown Right,
and so we're teaching that toour kids, we're modeling that
behavior, but we're alsoteaching that of how to set
boundaries and limit excessiveuse, just as a city oh, I said
(11:41):
that already Set limits fordaily use.
So just, I wrote down somepractical things.
I just had a couple of storiesas well.
But drive time is conversationtime, and that was always true
with us as well.
And go outside, life is anadventure.
You can watch movies, you canwatch YouTube channels, or you
can go outside.
Life is an adventure, you know.
You can watch movies, you canwatch YouTube channels, or you
(12:02):
can go outside and live your ownlife, and so you can watch
somebody on TV having a goodtime, or you can go out and have
your own good time.
Which one is more lasting,which one is going to create a
memory, a lasting memory withyour kids.
And so I just had a couple ofthings here.
Pick hobbies that bring yourfamily together.
Especially when you're youngerand you have a younger family,
(12:24):
you know, if you pick a hobbythat's got you traveling away
from your family and doingsomething by yourself, that's
just not a very healthy thingfor your kids.
It's adding to the stress ofyour home.
So, like I put some examplesdown from camping, fishing and
biking, et cetera, like we didall these things, we've been
camping in more than half of thestate parks in Texas.
(12:45):
We used to have a Texas statepark pass and we would go all
the time all over the place, andyou know little things like
Even took me camping while I waspregnant.
And that was not a very good.
I think I was like seven monthswith Allison while I was
pregnant and that was not a verygood experience.
Speaker 2 (13:01):
I think I was like seven months with Allison.
It was cold.
I'm like this is the last timeI will go tent camping.
Speaker 1 (13:11):
It will be no, it wasn't the last time, but the
lasting memories that we stilltalk about, that we still have,
of camping and hiking and soforth.
But, uh, I just like using asmall example when ethan was
really little, we've alwaysliked to drive.
We've always liked to drivelong distances.
That came from me too long of astory to add to that.
But, like um, he liked swingsets and playgrounds.
(13:36):
So we would find the best swingsets and playgrounds everywhere
.
Wherever we went, we would pulloff and find a city park, a
state park, a county park and uh, and so that was kind of our
thing when he was little.
And so, uh, and and hiking too.
I remember one specific time we,we hiked, uh lost maples, uh
state park in the hill countryand we had our dog with us and
(13:58):
the kids were like maybe like 11and whatever, seven, seven
years old and 11 years old,something like that.
But it was just ended up beinga really tough day.
We, we went up the trail, thethe wrong way, and we, we went
up the steep side first and itjust took forever to get to the
top and and um, and the kidswere tired and complaining and
(14:19):
for some reason there wassomething on the inside of me
that wouldn't let us quit.
And so you know, at first Iwanted to turn around, so we
just made it through that wholeday.
Speaker 2 (14:29):
You knew lunch was around the corner.
Speaker 1 (14:30):
Yes and so that chicken fried steak at Lost
Maples Cafe over in Utopia.
I felt like I earned that thing.
But there's certain situations,seriously like that.
You can teach your kids gritand determination.
We set a goal as a family.
We all had the map.
You know.
Nowadays you have an app forthat right, like AllTrails or
one of those hiking apps thatyou can have on your phone that
(14:52):
tell you where the start of thetrailhead is and you don't have
to guess and just walk aroundaimlessly for hours.
But anyways, you get what I'mtalking about.
All right.
Speaker 2 (15:02):
Number three Number three foster relationships and
connection over entertainment.
Philippians 2.4 says don't lookout only for your own interests
, but take an interest in otherstoo.
So don't let screens distractyou from real people, and that's
ultimately what they do.
Practical applicationsencourage kids to use technology
in ways that buildrelationships.
(15:23):
So video calls, relativesharing, scriptures, and then a
tip create family activities orchallenges that involve digital
devices in a productive way,like creating a family blog or
video series.
That way, technology is used asa tool for connection, not
isolation.
So technology in its properplace, when it's used, helps us
(15:44):
bond with real people we havebeen given to love.
It is out of its proper placewhen we end up bonding with
people at a distance, likecelebrities who we will never
meet, and usually that person onthe screen is not the person
who says.
They are Just a little heads up, right.
So it's not that celebrity,it's not that person, it's
(16:05):
somebody else, and usuallythey're trolling for your kids.
So why would you hand a kid, achild, a device?
And they're easy prey.
And so you want to make surethat you're very careful, yes,
over your kids, but also we asadults, who that person says
(16:27):
they are, is not?
So technology out of its properplace when it prevents us from
talking with and listening toone another.
Technology in its proper placeonly when we use it with
intention and care.
Technology does not stay in itsproper place only when we use
it with intention and care.
Technology does not stay in itsproper place on its own.
It takes intentionality, beingintentional with it.
It requires a strategy, andpreferably a written one, a
(16:50):
written strategy?
Yes, yeah, for your kids and foryourself, right?
Maybe it's having a real alarmclock instead of having your
phone right by your bed, right?
A little old school right there, but sometimes I'm old school
and old school is cool, right,and so it requires being
(17:11):
intentional and having astrategy.
Speaker 1 (17:13):
Number four I just wanted to back up just on the
practical ideas.
I'm just going to read a fewout of this book.
Um, screen time meaning, uh,one screen time meaning, uh,
everyone watching the samescreen, often a movie or playing
video games together, withoutscreen multitasking or regular
video chats with extended familymembers who live far away.
(17:34):
Another idea is have familygame nights when members of the
family take turns choosing thegames but try to mix up.
Mix up a tech game versus anon-tech game.
And then another idea wasencouraging your kids to look
for apps that might resonatewith what they are already
passionate about.
(17:54):
One family's daughter catalogedevery book in their home using
a library app.
It worked out well because sheloved to read and was interested
in working for a librarysomeday.
And then I'll have one otherlike thing of wisdom out of this
book.
It was about you know whenyou're working in front.
(18:16):
I think I said this earliermaybe, but when you're working
in front of your child and theysee you talk out loud about what
you're doing, let them know.
Especially as they get older,there's details that you can
share.
But it said about one third ofthe time what I'm doing on my
computer is for them.
I'm emailing one of theirfriends stepmoms this is from a
(18:37):
female's perspective to set up aplay date, or I'm registering
them for baseball camp.
So I narrate that I'm doing outloud so my kids can hear hey,
candace, I'm signing you up forpiano lessons and so forth.
So just do it out loud.
And then, obviously, the more,the older they get, when they're
, say, like eight or nine, youcan start sharing vivid details
(19:00):
of your day, what you did, whatyou know.
Hey, my boss came in and askedme to head this project up.
Look at the pictures on, youknow, and you show them some
pictures of what you're workingon and you get them interested.
Wow, you know, I was.
You know, we didn't have phoneswhen I grew up.
So I wanted to be just like mydad.
I went to work with him everytime I had a chance and and uh,
(19:21):
and he tells those stories.
But really, if he was talkingto somebody, I was listening to
his conversation, I was, I wasthinking, I was trying to think
through things like he wouldthink about it, cause I wanted,
I wanted to emulate him.
And so your kids, whether youknow it or not, they're like
that and so, um, like I saidearlier, when you're in the car,
that's conversation time, andso dig deep, try to, you know,
(19:45):
have real conversations, amen.
So are we on number four?
Okay, guard against negativeinfluences.
So first, Corinthians 1533, donot be misled Bad company
corrupts good character and theNew King James evil company
corrupts good habits.
So monitor what your childrenare exposed to online, including
(20:07):
social media, games, websites.
Teach them that the digitalworld can sometimes influence
their character negatively, andso encourage a sense of identity
in Christ, rather than seekingvalidation through comments and
likes.
And so I just wanted to.
You know, um, one of the biggestadvantages of having these
(20:29):
meetings on Wednesday night thatwe didn't that I okay, I won't
talk for my, our staff, but forme, I didn't think about this is
your kids are here an extranight a week, and so they have
midweek service, and so Allisonis coming back with all these
reports of the difference thatbeing able to learn about God
(20:52):
one more night a week, and justhow important that is.
And so you never, you know, thedevil tries every day to steal
their identity.
Their identity is in Christ,and so it's good to remind them
every single day, and so, um,we're backing that up.
We've backed that up with ourkids, obviously, but you know,
(21:12):
we all need to work on theiridentity.
Working in youth.
That's the number one thingthat we see is they don't know
who they are.
They don't know who they are inChrist, but they're totally in
a whirlwind every day fromconstant whether it be friends
or you know different peerpressures influencing them to be
someone they're not, and themhaving to stretch themselves
(21:35):
into be something and someonethey're not, and so there's so
many of those influences that wehave to guard that negative
influence, and so our identityis in Christ, and so there's so
many different directions.
We could go with thisconversation, but just anytime
your child is obsessed with onething, you know we deal a lot
(21:59):
with Pokemon because it's stillaround.
I can't believe it's stillaround, but it's still around.
And so parents, they don'trealize the effects and the
demonic influence that can have,and it takes, it takes over,
and it's so quick, and theirchild is addicted and, um, and
then it begins to affect theirattitude and they just think
they blame it on something else,and really it's Pokemon.
(22:21):
And so I don't know why, likeI'm literally, I'm not
exaggerating 20 years ago, youknow, we were having issues with
that, and my dad, you know,cast the devil out of this one
kid two different times becauseof this addiction, and could not
believe the parents, theywouldn't take responsibility, uh
, for allow, oh, he, just hewanted it back.
(22:43):
He was crying.
What are you talking about?
You're the parent, it'd be aparent, and so, uh, it was so
difficult the second time to goback, because the devil, you
know he comes back, you know 10times stronger, and so, um, it's
our job as parents to guardfrom the demonic influences and
refuse to be you.
(23:03):
You know, weak on the on onthat you're.
You're the parent, you're notthe friend, like claire was
saying the last two weeks.
You know so, be the parent andso, uh, a positive influence on
kids.
I forgot to cue, you're notready are you?
okay?
We had a video playback.
I forgot to there we go.
We'll play it at the end allright um, but yes um that's good
(23:28):
number five basically do yourresearch.
Speaker 2 (23:31):
Like if you're gonna give kids some cards and if
you're gonna video game, like,do know where it comes from,
know what it means.
Pocket monsters, that's whatpokemon mean.
Like, just know, do yourresearch, know your stuff.
Right, it goes back to wisdom.
We want to be wise.
God, god, you know we don'twant to be fools, we want to be
wise.
God, god, you know we don'twant to be fools, we want to be
wise.
And so, number five modelresponsible technology.
(23:54):
Use Ephesians 5.1,.
Imitate God, therefore, ineverything you do, because you
are his dear children.
Follow God's example, and sopractical application.
Children often learn by example, so it's important for parents
to model healthy technologyhabits.
If you're going to allow yourkids to have a phone, now, my
two cents like I would wait aslong as you can to give a child
(24:20):
a device, especially asmartphone okay, especially I
just need to be able to contactthem.
Speaker 1 (24:26):
There's all kind of different phones you can buy.
You don't have some questionsto ask?
Why do you?
Speaker 2 (24:30):
need a phone, what you know.
So there's just some questionsto ask um a family and your
child and just you know of, yeah, of why they need a phone.
But practical application sothey learn by our example.
So limit your own screen time,avoid excessive phone usage
around the kids.
Prioritize face-to-face whatjay was saying and if you're on
(24:50):
your laptop working like, tellthem you know, but why you're
doing it, you're emailing orwhatever you're doing.
And then a tip show yourchildren how to use technology
responsibly.
Searches such as turning offnotifications during family time
, you know.
Placing phones in another roomdinner time, no, you know,
sometimes we go out to eat andwe see everybody on their phone
(25:12):
in certain restaurants and well,everywhere really.
But it's just a good to modelthat.
You know.
If we're on our phones duringdinner time, how are we going to
tell our kids not to be ontheir phones so like we just
have to model.
Speaker 1 (25:29):
You know what it says to your kid to even have your
phone on the table while you'reeating.
You know go put it away andjust have that.
Be a tech.
You know free environment whereyou can talk and not be
interrupted.
You know so many times it justum that happened to us the other
day.
A whole a family came in andthey literally never talked to
(25:50):
their kids.
Their kids were both had eachhad an iPad and they had their
phones.
They didn't talk to each otherand like I was wondering why did
they come out to eat?
I mean, I guess they neededfood, but like there was no
communication, like zero, I'mnot exaggerating and so that's
so sad.
Speaker 2 (26:06):
Family habits form and sometimes, you know, life
gets busy and we just go and goand go, and this is the easy
thing to do, and here, get adevice and move on, and but no,
god, you know we are stewards.
God has made us a steward over.
We don't own those kids.
They are God's kids.
And so it's what you are doingwith God's kids.
(26:27):
They're not yours.
You're a steward over them.
And so we're either being agood steward over his kids or
we're not being a good steward.
We're just putting them outthere to the wolves, right.
And so and I wrote this down, Imeant to put it under my number
three but who and what weexpose our children to will
(26:48):
shape who they become and whatthey believe.
And so if we constantly exposeour kids to bad attitudes,
over-sexualized image, pervertedthinking, ungodly values, you
know they're going to driftapart from God.
And so we want to make surethat we don't expose them to
(27:08):
those things and even exposethem to other people, friends or
neighbors.
We just have to guard our kidsand guard our family unit and
guard our children.
And so it's really important.
And then, number six promotecontent that encourages faith
and values.
And so Philippians 4, eight andthe new living says.
(27:30):
And now, dear brothers andsisters, one final thing fix
your thoughts on what is true,what is honorable and right and
pure and lovely and admirable.
Think about things that areexcellent and worthy of praise.
And so application encouragedkids to consume digital content
that uplifts and aligns withbiblical values.
Christian music, podcast, bibleapp, church.
You know podcast, bible app,church.
You know podcasts.
(27:52):
And so you know my phone's alove-hate relationship because
I'm over all the digital socialmedia of the church.
Certain, my God Votes well,allison handles the kids, but
youth, sometimes with YouthAgainst Hunger, and so I'm
creating content and a lot of mypersonal pages also.
(28:13):
You know content.
But also with the teenagers,like I tell them hey, do you
have the Bible app?
I'm going to show them with theBible app.
You know just different appsand church podcasts.
So we want to make sure topromote that.
You know that.
They know that that's out thereif you choose for your child to
have a phone, but again, thisis to me this would be later on
(28:38):
as they're older, you know butto because really, I mean we
could sit here and talk techie,all like.
These are the, these are the,these are the website, these are
the perimeters, these are thefilters that you have to put on
your phone.
But you know what?
They have a friend who knows togo all throughout that, and
they could have a friend thatjust you hand them your phone
and hey, like, take this off.
So like you just have toinstill, build character, and so
(29:07):
we do that biblical.
You know Bible through theBible, and so, yeah, we have to
make sure to promote, um,faith-based content.
Amen, do we want to go overthese two?
Speaker 1 (29:18):
yeah, we can go over these pictures so that the what
you're seeing in the twopictures underneath the
resources in your notes are, um,the dendrites that are in your
brain that begin to form afterthree to four hours of
consecutive activity.
And so you see what your brainlooks like before that activity.
(29:38):
And then, on the right, it'safter that, four hours of
activity on lots and lots andlots I'm sorry, lots and lots
and lots of activity.
And so how do you want that tobe built on the Disney, disney
plus app?
Or do you want that to be onlearning an instrument or
painting a picture or learningto be an artist?
(30:00):
You know positive things, andso the amount of time that it
takes to to connect all thosedots, if you will, is a long
time.
And then it goes down, and youcan see it in the next picture
Adolescents with internetaddiction display altered brain
(30:22):
function connectivity anddecreased connections within all
three major cerebral lobes thatare involved.
So it's affecting your kid'sbrain and so it's affecting
their development, and so it'sbetter to not have that
addiction to begin with, amen.
And so you say, well, it's hard,and really everything that you
(30:48):
there's so many different thingsyou can do, even even well, if
you say you know, jay, there'sso many good apps out there.
It's just an ipad and and it'snot for very long and but
there's so many different thingsyou can do before you hand your
kid an ipad, you know that'sold school.
I think, like um, I kind oflaugh sometimes because recently
(31:09):
we were at a Rhema event, aRhema alumni event, and Allison.
They asked Allison to talk andthey thought she was going to
bring, like you know, aboutchildren's ministry, you know,
like she was going to bring outthe latest technology and she
still brought out, like you know, felt characters and puppets
and they're like because ourkids, kids, that's what they
(31:31):
love, that's what they, they,they want.
They're tired of the ipad,they're tired of being
entertained, they want theanointing, they want all the
singing and and and they andsome of our classes.
We still do the flannels withthe bible characters on the
flannel board, you know whywould we, you know, but yeah,
why would we put them on ascreen?
Speaker 2 (31:49):
go to journal search and put you on a screen for an
hour and a half like we're notgoing to do that right.
Speaker 1 (31:52):
We're gonna the old just be babysitting class and
just watch a movie, and so, um,the same thing goes in your.
There's all kind of arts andcrafts that you can be doing,
that you can be teaching whileyou're cooking, that you can
have a craft table set up that'snearby that and they're working
on something.
And, um, and that's nearby andthey're working on something,
and that's way better than themjust sitting in front of a
(32:13):
screen.
And so just think about that.
It's just simple changes andwhatever you're going through
was no harder than your mom oryour grandma or your
great-grandma.
You're not out on a fieldtrying to get corn to grow in
the middle of summer fieldtrying to get corn to grow in
(32:33):
the middle of summer.
You know we have easier livesnow that with all the other
technologies that keep us cooland ac and so forth.
Speaker 2 (32:37):
So think about that, you know and it's, you know,
when you're on the phone likeyou're less active, and so we
want to make sure that we keepthem active and playing and
doing things.
Um, so we printed out somequestions, but I also wanted to
mention the teen questions whichreally, after I printed, I'm
like you know what?
These are also adult questions,but I just I don't know if
(33:00):
y'all got the teen questions,but I thought they were good.
I just wanted to go over acouple of heart, like what's the
first thing you do when youwake up?
Talk to God or check your phone?
Do the things you watch orscroll through draw you closer
to Jesus or distract you fromhim?
Uh, these are just kind of goodquestions to ask yourself and
ask your teen Um, are you thesame person online or as you are
in real life?
(33:20):
Uh, do you post or like thingsthat go against what you believe
as a Christian?
Uh, how do you treat othersonline anyways?
Um, and then also after that,we have some parent if you
grabbed a GWC parent resources.
A lot of times people ask uslike what's a good Bible for
kids?
And so we put those down thereand devotionals and resources
(33:42):
for kids and then also books forparents.
We have these two listed, butwe also have different ones.
If you have questions, you canask us about those.
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