Participants:
Series Code: DID
Program Code: DID210013S
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00:18 Welcome, my friends, to Digital Disconnect.
00:21 I am your host Scott Ritsema and I have the joy of presenting 00:24 our 13th message... the last one in the series. 00:28 And this one is maybe going to be the most challenging 00:30 for some of us: it's Digital Detox. 00:33 We're going to make some decisions today of some kind. 00:35 And I have the privilege and joy with my wife 00:38 in Michigan of running a little ministry with a small team. 00:41 We're called Belt of Truth Ministries 00:43 and we share newsletters periodically. 00:45 I hold in my hands one of my favorite stories 00:48 that I've ever heard and ever shared. 00:49 And we pass this on via e-mail newsletter. 00:52 I want to share it with the 3ABN audience as well 00:55 as we begin the question of a family media fast. 00:58 So let's begin with prayer, shall we? 01:00 Father in heaven, we thank you so much 01:03 for the privilege of knowing Jesus. 01:05 We pray that the decisions that we make 01:07 as we're confronted by challenging information 01:09 and conviction by Your Holy Spirit that we would 01:12 come out of that knowing You better and finding greater joy 01:15 in the experience You've created for us to live. 01:19 We trust You; we love You; we know that You 01:22 open Your hand and satisfy the desire of every living thing. 01:26 In Jesus' name, Amen. 01:28 Well, it begins on a pretty dark note. 01:32 Annesha, the mother was desperate. 01:34 She had two children... a third on the way. 01:36 Her oldest son getting detention all the time in school. 01:39 Ten years old and plagued with dark thoughts 01:43 of even violence against his own family. 01:46 The daughter, age 7, in an even worse state. 01:50 Her mother wrote to us. "It's frightening for me to read 01:54 her feelings of hurt and frustration" Annesha noted, 01:57 the mother noted, as she was reading her daughter's journal 02:00 entry one day. They were deeply morbid thoughts 02:03 for a seven-year-old, too horrible for anyone to have 02:06 at any age. Annesha con- sidered admitting her daughter 02:10 to a hospital, but prayer was her chosen refuge. 02:13 And during the most troublesome time she wrote to us and said: 02:16 "All I can do is hold her tight and pray. " Annesha didn't know 02:22 where to turn for help. 02:24 Knowing of parenting and media seminars she decided to 02:27 reach out to me via e-mail with the plea: 02:29 "I hope and pray it's not too late for us. " Well... 02:33 I assured her it is most definitely not too late. 02:36 We set her up on the video channel beltoftruth.tv 02:40 and she began watching the seminars. 02:42 I advised her: "You're going to do a trial. 02:44 Do a test run of a whole different way 02:47 of doing life with the whole family. 02:50 Focus immense attention on that daughter and the son. 02:54 Specifically for three weeks you're going to eliminate 02:58 screen time completely if you take this challenge on. 03:01 Be outside literally as much as possible. 03:05 Commit to a whole food plant-based diet for the time. 03:09 Spend lots of quality time together. 03:12 And all of this is to be bathed in spiritual themes 03:15 of joy and peace and prayer for the power of the Holy Spirit. 03:19 I recommended the family follow the strict 03:22 three-week media fast prescribed by psychiatrist 03:26 Dr. Victoria Dunckley in her book Reset Your Child's Brain. 03:30 You might remember we referred to the findings 03:32 of this researcher and practitioner 03:34 where she's treated hundreds of children 03:36 with previously diagnosed disorders of various kinds 03:39 from depression to anxiety to attention problems 03:42 to disruptive moods. And she's found that taking them 03:45 off media for three weeks and putting them on better things 03:47 like nature and real stuff and relationships and eye contact 03:52 she finds 80% of her patients 03:55 have the majority of their symptoms disappear. 03:58 What an amazing thing! 04:00 So we're going to try this. 04:02 We went over some examples of specific night-time routines 04:06 you could try since that troubling time 04:08 in this family... troublesome time of day 04:11 where these really dark things come in. 04:14 Since most people are aware there is an enemy out there: 04:18 Satan, the adversary, and we are in a struggle 04:21 against... not against flesh and blood but against these 04:24 principalities and powers of darkness. 04:26 We recommended that they cleanse their house 04:29 of CDs, DVDs... anything of the world 04:32 that the enemy might claim to gain a foothold 04:35 to disturb these little children. 04:38 Most importantly, I encouraged her to keep on praying. 04:40 Keep on praying for and with your children. 04:43 And my wife and I began praying for Annesha 04:46 and her family as well. 04:47 She was determined. It would be difficult she said 04:51 and aside from being in the middle of her 3rd pregnancy 04:53 she also worked nights. But she took the advice seriously. 04:57 She wanted to change... she wanted her family to change. 05:00 She wrote to us: "I'm still struggling and I won't give up, 05:03 but I will claim God's power. " 05:06 Three weeks later I received an e-mail 05:09 after the end of the three-week media fast. 05:11 Annesha had kept a daily diary during this trial time. 05:15 During that time she and her daughter had planted tomato 05:19 seeds. The family had attended Camp Meeting. 05:21 And there was a whole new schedule for nighttime. 05:25 She even changed her work routine to be with the children 05:28 at bedtime. And at the end of the 3 weeks 05:31 get this: neither child was even asking for their media. 05:36 Definite changes were underway 05:38 and this fast was becoming a new way of life in this home. 05:43 On one occasion soon after this 05:45 the children were misbehaving while they were supposed to be 05:47 finishing some chores. Yeah... we all have been there. 05:50 Annesha with her hands full of dishes 05:52 unwashed presently announced that she would be dishing out 05:57 a serious punishment, one that the children would not soon 06:01 forget. And the children began yelling and crying 06:04 but Annesha, instead of lashing out, 06:06 only prayed silently. 06:08 And in reality, she had no idea what punishment she would give. 06:11 She'd been working on not cor- recting the children in anger. 06:14 The media fast helps with that, too. 06:17 Then suddenly as she was praying it came to her: 06:20 their punishment would be to hug and kiss each other 06:22 every morning and evening for the next seven days 06:26 just as Romans 12:21 says. 06:28 "Be not overcome with evil but overcome evil with good. " 06:32 Annesha ended the e-mail to us with this: "I'm so excited 06:36 and I can't wait to see what God will continue to show me 06:39 when I seek Him first. " Next day 06:42 Annesha found a piece of paper with her daughter's handwriting 06:46 taped to the wall. It was a prayer to her heavenly Father, 06:50 one of repentance for the misbehavior of the previous day. 06:54 A prayer for a new heart and a prayer for her family members. 06:58 "Make me a servant humble and meek" she wrote. 07:01 Through eliminating media, incorporating nature, and 07:05 plenty of family togetherness God was transforming 07:08 this family in a matter of weeks. 07:10 A few months later Annesha is now the mother of three 07:14 beautiful children. Both parents continue to spend 07:17 more quality time with their children. 07:19 Media addictions are history 07:21 and this family is now working together 07:22 as a unit, as a whole. 07:24 Her son has not only stopped receiving detentions in school 07:28 but he is now known as an attentive and cooperative 07:31 student. One fellow church member even noticed 07:34 "Your son has made a 150% turn- around in just a few months. " 07:39 That's divine math right there: 150%. 07:43 As for her once-troubled daughter, 07:45 she is now a happy child. She wants to be baptized. 07:49 She feels loved like she's never felt loved before 07:51 and she feels love for her parents. 07:53 "Mommy, I love you to God's throne and back! " 07:56 she recently exclaimed. 07:58 Annesha and her daughter now pray together from a place 08:01 of calm not crisis. 08:03 And praise God this newest baby 08:06 will be well loved at home with his mother without 08:09 anyone exposing this baby to the harmful media of childhood. 08:14 "We're continuing to see improvements" Annesha wrote 08:17 "and still persevering through the tempting discouragements, 08:21 the failures, the struggles, the negative thoughts. " 08:23 Annesha continued to walk with God and cling to His promises. 08:27 And He has only begun to show her and her family 08:30 the blessings bestowed when we follow His way 08:33 for our lives. So may you, also, walk in that same light. 08:38 There is a light in this darkness, and that light 08:41 is named Jesus. 08:43 That is an encouraging story. 08:45 And so many things we could discuss from just 08:47 that one experience, right? 08:49 I mean, how about the part when they cleansed their home 08:52 of the worldly influences? 'Cause this is a dark thing 08:56 and many people might not see that violent of a manifestation 08:59 in their lives of demonic oppression. 09:02 But we might have temptation, discouragement, 09:04 distraction, just darkness and a cloud around us 09:08 that we're not even aware of. 09:09 And when we remove the things of Satan from our lives 09:12 it brings light and angelic peace into our home. 09:15 You know, James 4:8 says that we can resist the devil 09:18 and he will flee from us. 09:20 But I heard a story from a pastor one time 09:24 that made me think about that verse "Resist the devil and he 09:27 will flee from you. " Pastor got on an airplane 09:30 and was discussing with the man next to him 09:32 what they do for work. 09:33 "Oh, hey, what's your name? What do you do for work? " 09:35 "Oh, I'm a pastor. " "What do you do for work? " 09:36 "Oh, I practice witchcraft. " 09:38 "What? How do you make a living doing that? " 09:41 And so he's sitting next to a practicing witch - 09:43 a male witch - and he says: "How do you make a living? " 09:46 He goes: "Well, the most common way is we arrange adulterous 09:48 affairs. Actually a man who wants a certain lady 09:51 who is married... he will pay us and get the lady to leave her 09:54 husband and go with him. " 09:55 What a diabolical thing to do for a living! 09:57 But he says: "You know, we do make good money. 10:01 We do it regularly. " And the pastor says: "You know, 10:03 I'll just say something: you wouldn't be able to affect 10:05 my marriage because my wife and I are Christians. " 10:08 Oh... well now it's on. The witch says to him: 10:11 "We actually get Christians all the time. " 10:14 "OK, well, that may be but I can promise you we have 10:19 the power of Jesus Christ and in His name 10:21 you would not be able to touch my wife and I. " 10:24 Well the witch says: "Well I've heard that before 10:26 but let me ask you a few questions. 10:28 He proceeds to ask the pastor some very specific and pointed 10:31 questions mostly about the media use of he and his wife. 10:35 "What kinds of things are you guys watching? " 10:37 "What kind of videos do you have in the home? " 10:39 "What kind of music do you listen to? " 10:41 "What kind of reading material does your wife indulge in? 10:43 Any of the trashy novels and the People Magazine-type 10:46 of entertainment stuff? " 10:48 And praise God, this pastor was able to go down the litany 10:51 in the list and say: "You know, we've eliminated 10:53 worldliness. We have videos that we watch that are 10:56 uplifting and spiritual and good and true. 10:58 Books: wonderful, good books. Inspiring books. 11:02 Of course, the Bible being most prominent: the Book of Books. 11:05 We don't have any of those things that you mentioned 11:07 in our home. " Well now the witch says to him, 11:10 true story. He says: "Well then you're right. 11:12 We wouldn't be able to touch you. " 11:14 So: "Resist the devil and he will flee from you" 11:16 has a prerequisite, doesn't it? 11:18 What's in James chapter 4 verse 7 right before verse 8 11:23 that says: "Resist the devil and he will flee from you? " 11:25 it says: "Submit yourselves therefore to God. 11:28 Resist the devil and he will flee from you. " 11:30 We've gotta get the whole package. 11:32 We can't dabble in the world 11:34 and be aligned with Satan in some ways 11:36 and then expect the power and peace and presence 11:39 of Jesus in other ways. We say "No" to the world. 11:42 We "touch no unclean thing" God says, "and I will receive you. " 11:45 And that doesn't mean we don't struggle. 11:47 "A righteous man may fall seven times. " 11:49 "We messed up; I raised my voice or got upset. 11:52 I slipped and fell in some way and God, please forgive me. " 11:55 And He will take you right back up 11:56 and His grace is sufficient for you. 11:59 But we are not committed... we are not trying to serve 12:02 two masters. We are not dabbling with one foot in the 12:05 kingdom of Satan and one in the kingdom of heaven. 12:08 That's not possible 'cause Satan makes his claim 12:10 and God says: "You cannot serve two masters. 12:14 Either you will love the one and despise the other; 12:16 hate the one and be devoted to the other. " 12:19 Now, when it comes to the things in our homes 12:22 this older gentleman didn't need to deal with the question 12:25 of video games. It wasn't a pitfall for him. 12:28 But you know, I heard an interesting statement from 12:30 one Jonathan who was quoted in the book Play Station Nation. 12:34 Jonathan became a college student, had been addicted 12:37 to media, and was interviewed as a part of the research 12:39 for this book. And what Jonathan said 12:42 was advice to mothers... to parents. 12:46 They asked him: "What would you say to parents with kids 12:48 in the home today? " He had been allowed to play 12:50 you know a certain amount of video games 12:52 and got into the addiction. He said: 12:54 "Get rid of it completely, entirely. 12:57 I wish my mom had done that. 12:59 Even if you limit the actual playing time 13:02 you're not going to eliminate the kids thinking about it 13:04 as long as it's in the house. 13:06 Don't ask: 'Are video games OK? ' 13:07 Just rather ask: 'Is it the best use of time and money? ' 13:10 And 'What can we be doing as a family that's better? ' " 13:14 Oh, that's good stuff... good advice from Jonathan, 13:18 a college student who'd been there and done that. 13:20 So how do we gain the victory over addictions and habits? 13:24 And how do we do these fasts? One of the things 13:26 that we've gotta do is healthy living. 13:29 That gives power to the brain to overcome temptation. 13:33 It's universally recognized that the health of the mind 13:36 is dependent on the health of the body. 13:39 In fact, I have a quotation that I want to share with you 13:41 that says: 14:15 This is the sin of Sodom when you end up 14:17 in sexual sin or any habits and any self-deprecating types 14:22 of destructive behavior. 14:24 It's partly you heard fullness of bread and idleness 14:28 and pride and not caring about the poor. 14:30 But thinking about exercise... you know, there are a bunch 14:33 of benefits of exercise. May I bullet point them for you? 14:56 This is all based on research. 15:44 So we're learning new habits. 15:47 Remember: overcoming habits is not so much stopping something 15:50 as it is starting something new. 15:52 And exercise will help you start all those new things 15:54 and exercise can be one of those new things that you are doing. 15:57 New habits... a new way of doing life. 16:00 Remember the story of Annesha. It was re-writing the way we 16:04 do life in general. Not just removing media 16:07 but we're adding all sorts of wonderful things. 16:10 But speaking of simple physiological things we can do 16:14 Listen to this from Dr. John Ratey in A User's Guide 16:18 to the Brain. He says: 16:52 So even secular scientific authorities 16:55 are saying the same thing about exercise and he mentioned diet. 16:59 Oh, dare we touch that one? "Don't talk about what I put 17:02 on my plate! " Oh, this one...we struggle with this one, don't we? 17:06 But you know if we can overcome appetite 17:08 we'll have the mental and spiritual and moral power 17:10 to overcome anything that we face, won't we? 17:12 Listen to this quotation from Mind, Character and Personality. 17:35 Overeating defogs the brain. 17:38 It does things to the brain that make it harder to make good 17:41 choices to overcome the carnal nature. 17:44 Irregular eating, irregular sleeping, not having 17:48 set times of the day that we do these things 17:51 also has the same effect. 17:53 Now I want to quote from page 235 of 17:55 Mind, Character and Personality. 17:58 An excellent book on these things from long ago. It says: 18:32 Those are some strong words right there 18:35 about if we're overeating, eating unhealthfully 18:38 it's going to take its toll 18:39 on our ability to make good choices. 18:42 So what kind of good food choices can we make? 18:45 We all know what bad food is. 18:46 We don't even need to say it. 18:48 We're not thinking about the bad food... 18:50 we're focusing on the new thing we want to become 18:53 compulsively interested in, the new addiction 18:56 we can be addicted and do a new pathway. 18:58 How about a good quality breakfast? 19:01 High fiber: grains and fruits & nuts. Hmm, that's good stuff! 19:06 Did you know that people who eat a high-fiber breakfast 19:09 are found to be: 19:16 THAT is a good piece of news right there. 19:20 There's another quotation I want to share with you. 19:23 The influence of unhealthy food is to: 19:51 So you're getting the idea of quality brain food. 19:55 Complex carbohydrates and good nutrition for the brain 19:59 are going to give us the power to overcome the habits 20:02 of media use. There was a science publication 20:05 called The Annals of Neurology. 20:07 And in this one they looked at some of the 20:10 butter and red meat and these kind of things 20:12 we put in our bodies. And they found that those types 20:15 of fats reduced cognitive scores in the people that were 20:19 eating those versus people who were eating 20:22 nuts and avocados and even olive oil. 20:25 They were performing better than those who were indulging 20:28 on more of the rich indulgences. 20:31 So just some food for thought... pun intended. 20:36 I had the privilege to take some students to Ireland 20:38 as part of my academy teaching years. 20:41 I was a Bible teacher. The music teacher 20:43 set up this whole music tour for the young people, 20:46 and I got to go along and tag along with my wife. 20:50 I had chaplain duties, and so I got to be a part of it 20:54 and witnessed amazing things and incredible, beautiful nature 20:57 and the students singing in amazing places. 21:00 At the end we witnessed downright miracles. 21:03 At the end we had a debriefing session. 21:05 Everybody sits in a circle and we're about to head back home... 21:07 I should mention that before the trip began 21:11 the music teacher announced as being in charge of the trip 21:13 he said: "You're not bringing your phones. " 21:16 Oh... there was almost a revolution 21:18 and a revolt among the students when he announced they were not 21:20 allowed to have their phones on the trip. 21:23 "This is a mission trip. We're going to be focused on 21:25 our mission. " Well, during the debriefing at the end 21:29 they spoke of the miracles. They spoke of amazing things 21:32 but you know what the number 1 thing they said? 21:34 Often they were prefacing it with: "We don't really want to 21:38 say this in front of Mr. Ritsema but... " 'cause I was kind of 21:40 the Media on the Brain guy, embryonic in development 21:43 at that point. And they said: "We are really glad 21:47 that Mr. K, the music teacher, that you didn't require us... 21:50 that you required us to NOT bring our phones, 21:53 that you didn't let us bring our phones. " 21:54 "We are so thankful we didn't have our phones. " 21:57 Can you believe that? 21:58 We think: "I'm glued to it... so addicted to it. " 22:01 When you become freed from something 22:03 and you try something different 22:05 you might find a big surprise waiting at the other end. 22:08 It surprised the young people. Frankly, it surprised the adults 22:11 that they actually felt that way and shared that at the end. 22:14 We don't give them enough credit sometimes, do we? 22:17 Well, we used an analogy at the beginning of the series 22:19 of an optometrist's office 22:22 where you go into the appoint- ment and you don't have glasses. 22:25 You think you're seeing fine 22:26 but at the end of the little test he gives you 22:29 you come out going: "Oh wow! I actually CAN see 22:32 more clearly with the prescription you just put 22:36 in front of my eyes. Really? So that's the natural eyesight 22:39 and that one is the prescription. " 22:42 It surprises you when you try it out. 22:44 So maybe you're thinking about... and if you're not, 22:47 I want to encourage you to think about 22:49 a media fast of some kind. 22:51 In a previous session, we talked about Boredom and the Bible. 22:54 Is your experience with Jesus at peak level? 22:57 Or is there some room to grow? 23:00 And could it possibly be our media choices 23:03 that are causing some of that smog and haze between us and God 23:06 that could actually if we make those media changes, 23:08 increase our love for and ex- perience of Jesus in our lives? 23:13 Maybe our pleasure and joy in life is being numbed & muted 23:17 by the hyper stimulating pleasure seeking culture 23:20 in which we live? And it's innocent media maybe. 23:23 But they did a study in 1954 called The Milner Study. 23:26 They had mice, and they hooked up to the mouse's 23:29 brain a little wire that was connected to 23:31 a lever. And the mouse could tap the lever and literally 23:34 it would send an electrical signal into the nucleus accumbens 23:37 of the brain where the mouse feels pleasure. 23:39 And the mouse quickly learned: "Wow! I tap that lever 23:42 and I feel good! That's an easy, quick-fix way 23:45 to pleasure. Whoo! Yeah! " 23:47 So la de dah de dah. "Ooh, I want to go back. 23:49 Let me go back to the lever. Oh yeah, that's good! 23:51 That's good... now what shall I do? 23:53 Shall I eat my mouse food? 23:54 Nah, it doesn't taste that good. I just want my lever. 23:58 Should I run on a wheel and live a normal mouse existence 24:01 for a little while? No, no, no, no... 24:02 I just want the lever. " The mice became totally addicted 24:04 to the lever, totally consumed with it, 24:06 and they were literally stopping the consuming of food. 24:10 They stopped eating their physical nourishment 24:14 that brought them life and all they wanted was that lever. 24:17 What is our physical nourish- ment that brings us life? 24:20 The Word of God. 24:22 Are we not consuming that like these rats 24:25 'cause we've got something else we're busy with? 24:27 "I'm too busy. The Bible's kind of dull. " 24:29 Well, that's 'cause we re-wired and mal-wired our brain 24:33 into a state of altered and "negativized" - 24:38 that's not a word... it is now - 24:39 tastebuds. Our tastebuds seek that which is 24:42 OVER stimulating. Well, I have some good news for you. 24:46 God can re-wire our tastebuds. 24:49 I want to quote from a publication called 24:52 Review & Herald where it speaks of this very thing. 24:56 We read: 24:58 "If we do not receive the religion of Christ 25:01 by feeding upon the Word of God, 25:04 we shall not be entitled to an entrance into the city 25:06 of God. " How are we saved? By faith. 25:08 Grace and faith through Jesus Christ. 25:11 We have to behold Jesus Christ in His Word. 25:13 "If we are not receiving the religion of Christ... " - 25:16 salvation by His merits - 25:18 "by feeding upon the Word of God 25:20 we shall not be entitled to an entrance into the city of God. 25:23 Having lived on earthly food, having educated our tastes 25:25 to love worldly things, 25:27 we would not be fitted for the heavenly courts. 25:30 We could not appreciate the pure, heavenly current 25:32 that circulates in heaven. 25:34 The voices of the angels and the music of their harps 25:37 would not satisfy us. 25:39 The science of heaven would be as an enigma to our minds. " 25:42 You know what an enigma is? This is... people would be 25:45 transported to heaven who have educated their taste 25:48 to love the things of the world 25:49 and they would find it so dull and uninteresting up there... 25:51 it would not satisfy us we just read... 25:53 they would find it a mystery. "Why do people like it 25:56 up here? " An enigma. "Why would anybody like it here 25:59 in this place? Where are my video games? " 26:01 "Where? I can't get on my social media? 26:03 I've gotta check my notifications! 26:04 Where's my entertainment? " 26:06 Again, there's nothing evil necessarily about communicating 26:08 via Smartphones, but is that addiction captivating us 26:13 to the point where we're losing our taste for the Word of God? 26:16 My wife did a fast from social media for 30 days. 26:21 She asked me to lock her out of her Facebook account. 26:24 At the end of that she said: "Honey, don't tell me 26:26 the password. I've been cured of my addiction 26:28 to Facebook and all the dynamics of negative social 26:32 psychological stuff that goes on in there. 26:34 I'm happier now! " 26:35 We know another mother who uses it in moderation 26:39 in the morning only. You remember all the questions? 26:41 At what times of day? For what duration of use? 26:44 And how frequently? This mother says: "I'm committed 26:47 to only going on their once at one specified location. 26:49 It's not following me everywhere I go notifying me, 26:52 interrupting me. I have 30 minutes in the morning 26:55 some days if I'm ready: if I've exercised 26:57 and gotten the day ready for my child, for my home school, 26:59 etc. " So maybe you're thinking about a media fast. 27:03 Now you've gotten rid of the toxic stuff. 27:04 You get that out of your house. Remember the story 27:06 of the pastor and the witch. We don't want that stuff 27:08 in our house, but are their innocent video games? 27:11 Let's give it a try... go without it. 27:13 Or pick something to say: "I'm going to make a plan; 27:16 I'm going to make a schedule. " You know, King Jotham became 27:20 mighty, the Bible says, because he prepared his way 27:22 before the Lord. Prepare the way before our children and we do... 27:25 I want to share with you: scottritsema@gmail.com 27:28 I'll walk you through the Dr. Dunckley media fast, 27:32 the three-week media fast 'cause we're out of time 27:34 to really get into all the details of it. 27:37 But preparing something better for those children: 27:40 a lot of your time and attention. 27:42 Better things: books and Play-Doh and nature 27:45 just like Annesha did and her family. 27:47 And God will give us a greater experience with Him 27:50 is the promise of His Word. We will weep and mourn 27:53 while the world rejoices. It will be hard at first 27:55 but our mourning will turn to joy. |
Revised 2021-07-27