Participants:
Series Code: TDY
Program Code: TDY018078A
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00:01 I want to spend my life
00:07 Mending broken people 00:12 I want to spend my life 00:18 Removing pain 00:23 Lord, let my words 00:30 Heal a heart that hurts 00:34 I want to spend my life 00:40 Mending broken people 00:45 I want to spend my life 00:51 Mending broken people 01:10 Hello and welcome to another 3ABN Today 01:12 program. We're so glad that you have 01:14 joined us this day. We just want to 01:16 thank you. It seems like- I think we say 01:18 it on probably every program: we appreciate 01:20 your prayers and your financial gifts to 01:23 the ministry of 3ABN. As Mr. Danny Shelton 01:25 always says or says often-he's the 01:28 president and founder of 3ABN-this is your 01:30 3ABN, because without you and your financial 01:34 support and prayers for the ministry, we 01:35 wouldn't be here. And of course, we always 01:37 look to Jesus Christ who is our Leader 01:38 and, of course, the Provider of 3ABN's 01:41 needs- oh, man. This is well over 01:44 30 years, actually. It's just incredible. 01:47 Now, today's program is an exciting one. 01:49 We're talking about media; media on 01:53 the brain- actually, really, I stole his 01:55 title from his DVD set. We have Scott 01:59 Ritsema with us today. It's a pleasure 02:01 to have you here. We're talking about 02:03 media and how it affects us personally, 02:06 our families. I even have beside me here- 02:08 shame on me-my cell phone. I need to make 02:11 sure my ringer is off and...it is now. It 02:15 seems like we're inundated with media 02:17 in this day and age. I know Jill and I, 02:19 when we're traveling down the interstate, 02:20 you see minivans going by with little 02:23 television screens that are folded down 02:25 from the ceiling. You see young children 02:27 with tablets, phones... It's just part of 02:30 society. There's a balance that we have 02:33 to take. Of course, what's 3ABN? 02:36 - It's a media ministry. - That's 02:38 right. We stream online... It's not 02:41 all bad, so how do we find that balance? 02:44 I liked what you have here that 02:46 Scott mentioned to us earlier, too-what 02:49 today's program is all about. - Absolutely. 02:50 We are so excited to have Scott Ritsema. 02:52 He is the speaker/director 02:53 for Belt of Truth Ministries which 02:55 encompasses not just media, but anything 02:58 that would fall under the truth category. 03:01 So, that's kind of a broad ministry! 03:02 We'll talk about that. I know you've been 03:04 here before, Scott, but we're delighted 03:06 to have you back here at 3ABN. This program 03:09 in particular, we're talking about 03:11 boundaries in media use and how we can 03:14 pull the whole family together. So, Scott, 03:16 we're just delighted to have you here. 03:18 - Well, thank you for having me. It's 03:20 a delight to be here. - And for those that 03:22 have attended ASI or GYC, you do seminars, 03:24 you speak... But for those of you at home 03:27 that maybe don't know who Scott is, this 03:30 may be your first time. "Well, I don't 03:31 know who he is." Let's hear a little bit 03:33 about him. So before we go to our music 03:34 and actually launch into media on the brain... 03:36 I actually like that; I'm sorry. Is it okay 03:38 for me to use that? - Use it. - Tell us 03:40 a little bit about yourself, your family, 03:42 a little bit of your history, and how you 03:43 started the ministry. - Well, I'm blessed 03:45 to have a lovely wife and three kids. 03:47 I was a teacher for a number of years, 03:49 and as I saw media becoming more and 03:52 more of an issue in my own students' 03:54 lives, that started to get me interested 03:56 in helping them and giving them information 03:58 about the effects of media. So, that sort 04:01 of led to this ministry naturally as that was 04:04 the information that was coming forth. 04:05 For the last few years, I've been in full-time 04:08 ministry now, primarily just speaking at 04:10 churches on the topic of media-this media 04:13 on the brain seminar, GYCs and things like 04:16 that; ASI-and the Lord just keeps 04:18 opening door after door because it's a 04:20 need. It's a very, very urgent problem 04:23 in our lives, in our homes, and so we 04:25 want to try to provide solutions and some 04:28 instruction from the Word of God. 04:30 Because really, the seminar is not about 04:32 media; it's about Jesus. Everything 04:34 we do is and ought to be about Jesus- 04:36 the One in whom we live, move, and have 04:39 our being. So, media becomes, often, a 04:41 stumbling block. It's this thing in between 04:43 us and Christ, so we've got to address 04:45 that. - And you can have a media addiction, 04:48 too, couldn't you? - You sure can. - So, 04:50 I'm thinking 100 years ago, 200 years ago, 04:53 this wasn't even an issue in the church. 04:55 But yet in the last few decades, it's 04:57 becoming more and more an increasing problem. 05:00 - Yeah, indeed. I mean, it's like the devil 05:02 had this saved for the last days. It is 05:05 interesting that it was the year 1844 05:07 that the first modern telecommunications 05:10 device was invented. Students of prophecy 05:13 know 1844 is a significant year in 05:16 Daniel 8:14, but most people don't know that 05:19 the telegraph was invented in that 05:21 very year-1844. Telegraph was the 05:24 text messaging of the 19th century. 05:26 So you might realize the Lord has a plan 05:30 for media, to use communications to 05:33 get the message of the gospel out to the 05:35 four winds of heaven. Praise God that we 05:38 have modern media for that use! We're 05:40 using it right now. Our ministry puts out 05:42 DVDs, so we really, really like using good 05:45 media; but also, the devil had a plan, 05:48 didn't he? Starting in 1844 to try to 05:50 disrupt what God is doing in raising up 05:52 this last days' remnant, so media becomes a 05:56 great scourge for many people-an 05:57 addiction with worldliness and dividing of the home- 06:00 all the things we'll talk about. There's 06:03 a controversy over media. There's a tension 06:05 here in how we use our media. - So not 06:08 only are we going to talk about today, 06:09 then, statistics and some of the interesting 06:11 facts that we deal within society today, 06:13 but you're actually going to show us ways 06:14 out. Is that correct? - Hopefully, yeah; 06:17 by God's grace. - Amen. That's exciting. 06:19 - I'm excited about this program. Before 06:20 we jump into our music, we have a 06:22 scripture. I asked Scott before the 06:24 program, "What's a scripture that, in 06:25 particular, you use in your ministry?" 06:27 That is Romans 12:2. So if you have your 06:30 Bibles, open up. We're in Romans 12:2. "Do 06:34 not be conformed to this world, but be 06:36 transformed by the renewing of your mind 06:40 that you may prove what is that good 06:42 and acceptable and perfect will of God." 06:45 So, Scott, why is this scripture 06:47 integral to your ministry? - Well, 06:49 there's two paths. There's the road to 06:51 life, which is narrow. Do we want to be 06:53 transformed and prepared for Christ's 06:55 soon coming? Or the choice is to go the 06:57 way of the world, which many will. The whole 06:59 world wonders after the beast in the 07:01 last days, and that road to destruction 07:03 is broad and many go through it. So, 07:05 we've got to ask tough questions 07:07 about our lives- particularly our media 07:09 use. Are we going to be conformed to 07:11 the way the world does it? 'Cause that's 07:13 going to shape our mind, our thinking; 07:14 the deceptions will come through the 07:16 media, but the joy is when we break 07:18 free from those chains, we can find 07:20 the transformation that Jesus promises 07:22 us, and a new mind. - Amen. - Should we 07:27 go to some music? - Let's go to our song. 07:28 - All right. Who do we have right now 07:30 with us? - We have Jonathan Kasabasic 07:32 with us. He is an incredible anointing 07:34 on him when he sings. The song he will be 07:37 ministering is "Straight to the Heart." 07:50 When I'm down, when my soul's in need of rest 07:55 Come Your words of comfort and of hope 08:04 I see Your face always smiling back at me 08:09 A stream of light shining straight to the heart 08:16 Child of God, child of light 08:23 There'll be no more lonely nights 08:27 For you have brightened up my life 08:32 Take this gift, it is all I have to give 08:38 A prayer of love streaming straight to the heart 09:01 Over the years I've learned one important thing 09:06 It's that real friends shall never truly be apart 09:15 You were there in my darkest time of need 09:20 With a hand reaching straight to the heart 09:27 Child of God, child of light 09:34 There'll be no more lonely nights 09:38 For you have brightened up my life 09:43 Take this gift, it is all I have to give 09:49 A prayer of love streaming straight to the heart 09:55 A prayer of love forever straight to the heart 10:08 Mmm... 10:27 - Thank you, Jonathan. I tell you, God has 10:29 given you a gift. He sings so effortlessly. 10:32 We were commenting here on the set about 10:35 the gift that God has provided to him, 10:36 but also what a great message in song. So, 10:39 thank you very much. In case you are just 10:41 joining us today, we have Scott Ritsema 10:44 with us today. He's talking about media 10:47 on the brain, which is the title to one 10:49 of your seminars; is that right? But I 10:51 like it, because it's really media in society 10:53 is what he's referring to. Obviously, not 10:55 all media is bad. Christ has taken 10:58 it like 3ABN and your ministry and others. 11:00 We're using media to spread the gospel 11:02 around the world; but then Satan, like you 11:04 just mentioned, has taken it, as well. We 11:06 can be inundated. I think there's balance, 11:08 also, in how we use media, our cell phones, 11:11 our tablets, television, internet, all that 11:13 sort of thing. Well, we are so glad to 11:15 have you here with us today. - Well, 11:16 it's great to be here. I enjoy the folks here. 11:20 What a powerful ministry and a privilege 11:22 to be with you guys today. - Amen. - So 11:24 where do you want to launch out today? 11:25 'Cause I know there's a lot of statistics in where 11:27 we are in society. I don't know if you 11:28 want to start there? - You know, one of the 11:29 most interesting things that came across my 11:31 radar was the smartphone concept. We use it, 11:35 I like using media; this has brought some 11:37 conveniences, but they did a study at 11:39 the company that puts these phones out to 11:41 look at the brains of their phone users 11:44 to see what goes on in the brain while 11:46 people are using and thinking about their 11:47 smartphone. They found that the circuitry in 11:50 the brain for loving somebody, like your 11:52 relationships with a human being-your wife, 11:54 your child, whoever- is firing off when people 11:57 are thinking about their smartphones. 11:58 I thought, "Wait a minute. So he said 12:01 we are in love with our iPhones?" In LOVE 12:04 with them. That was Martin Lindstrom. 12:06 - Literally, the brain is actually- the 12:08 chemistry is in love with them. - Yes. 12:10 - Wow. - It's a bond that's happening. 12:12 "The two shall become one flesh," the Bible 12:14 says, right? We are to be one with Christ. 12:16 We are to be one as the body of Christ. 12:18 Now, maybe, we're becoming one with 12:20 our smartphones here because we are in 12:22 love with it in that sense of, now, maybe 12:25 the two have become one flesh where, "Does 12:27 it ever leave my hand? Is it always 12:29 available? Is this like the external 12:31 hard drive of my brain? Everything 12:33 goes here? Am I on it constantly?" Media 12:35 use has gone mobile now, right? I mean, 12:38 it used to be a problem. Now, it's ever-present. 12:40 It's total all-saturating in our lives to the 12:43 point where we're using it like this 12:45 and we're walking down the street. 12:47 People are running into each other and running 12:49 into things! In Salzburg, Austria, they put 12:51 giant paths on the lamp posts on the 12:53 sidewalks saying, "Hey, watch where 12:55 you're going." In Germany and Australia 12:57 and in other places, they had people-this 12:59 was a real concern- walking into traffic, 13:01 'cause they're on their phones, walking 13:03 into oncoming traffic. They had serious 13:06 discussions at municipal governmental levels 13:08 saying, "Maybe we need to move the 13:10 traffic lights from being up at eye level," 13:12 where we have all lived for thousands 13:14 of years. "Maybe we need the stop-and-go 13:16 walk signals to be at curb level." They 13:18 talk about doing this and I thought, "There's 13:20 no way." Then they did it. - Where? 13:22 - I think you have a graphic on this. 13:24 Germany, Australia, other places that 13:26 are starting to bring this in. 13:27 - There's actually a green stripe and 13:29 a red stripe. - Isn't that amazing? - That 13:31 is. - They talk about physiological effects 13:35 of this, too. The recent trends are 13:36 chiropractors and physical therapists 13:38 and child development people, pediatricians, 13:40 concerned about the posture, particularly 13:43 in the back of the spine near the top 13:45 of the spine, and forward head-or 13:47 the fancy term for it is hyperkyphosis. 13:50 The term they call it is 'text neck.' You 13:53 know, we're here like this. This is how 13:54 we live now. We used to look up here. Well, 13:57 now they need the traffic signals down 13:59 here 'cause we're here and we go out into 14:01 the traffic. We're reshaping the spine! 14:04 God's made us to stand erect. 14:06 That's good for organs, for respiration... Well, 14:10 I guess if we're coming forward and 14:13 down, not just as we age (which is normal 14:15 for elderly folks), but for young people. 14:17 They said this is a concern for young 14:19 people now. The evolutionists have their 14:21 chart of monkey becomes this, and 14:24 then becomes this, and they say over 14:25 billions of years, we became this. Well, 14:27 they're going to have to update their chart 14:28 'cause if we're coming back down, I guess 14:30 that would be de-evolution. Of 14:32 course, we don't subscribe to the 14:33 theory. We know the Bible teaches God 14:35 made us this way- Adam and Eve in the 14:37 garden-but those who believe in that 14:39 will have to update it and... - You're making 14:40 me want to sit a little straighter. 14:42 [laughter] - Me too. I'm always self-conscious 14:43 when I talk about this at churches. 14:45 Like, "Okay, I want to make sure I'm 14:47 standing up." - That's incredible. So it's 14:48 actually scientifically proven, though. I'm 14:50 just going back to what you first mentioned 14:52 about the brain and our device- our cell 14:55 phone or tablet. That is incredible. 14:57 They actually hook, I guess, stuff up to 14:59 the brain and have someone on their 15:01 cell phone, and the connection that the 15:03 brain is saying it would be like to a spouse, 15:04 to a child... Something like that. Wow, that 15:08 is incredible. - So, does it matter what 15:10 you're doing on your cell phone? - They 15:12 didn't control for the different activities; 15:14 it was just general cell phone use in that 15:16 study. It was the neuromarketing 15:17 department at the company that puts 15:19 out the smartphones. They wanted to see 15:21 how can we better market this to people? 15:23 So, Martin Lindstrom was the guy that was 15:25 head of that. He came out with a 15:27 long statement about that saying, "We are 15:29 in love with our iPhones now." So, 15:32 it became a very serious concern to 15:34 people who are thinking about human relationships 15:36 and where the boundaries between- what does 15:38 it mean to be human, even? - Well, I know 15:41 that even if I have left my phone down 15:43 somewhere-you know, I'm out, and it's 15:46 almost a little panicky because it's 15:47 my email, my texts on my phone. It's 15:50 like, "What happened to my cell phone? 15:51 Where is it at!? It's not in my pocket. 15:53 I must've left it somewhere." So, 15:54 there is, I guess, a bond, right? We 15:58 feel the need that "I have to have this." 16:01 - You know they have a name for that? It's 16:02 called nomophobia. So, it gives the fear 16:05 of not having your mobile phone. 16:07 "Nomophobia." - Thank you for that. I need 16:12 to write that down. I'll have to put that 16:14 on my back. - That's me! Yeah. - Well, 16:17 we're spending just sheer huge numbers of 16:19 hours here with our media. It was always 16:21 large numbers, but the last 10 years 16:24 or so, it's exploded. I remember seeing 16:27 statistics from 2007 where it was like 5 16:30 hours a day for the average teenager 16:33 using entertainment and social media 5 16:35 hours a day. - Which is a lot. - We 16:37 fast-forward to- yeah, that is a lot. 2016, 16:39 so this is a little old information. I 16:42 can only imagine what it is now. By 2016, 16:44 that had gone from 5 hours per day to 16:47 9 hours per day. - You're kidding. 16:49 - So almost twice as much. - Yeah! Almost 16:52 doubling in that 10 year period of time. 16:53 The teens particularly are immersed in just 16:56 living in this virtual place. 9 hours a 16:59 day of entertainment and social media. Then 17:02 parents! We gotta look in the mirror. We 17:04 say, "Well, how much time are WE spending 17:06 on this?" It's just under 8 hours per day 17:09 of entertainment and social media, 17:11 so not that much less than the teens. The 17:14 average parent is now spending more time 17:16 watching Netflix than time with their children 17:19 at all. You've heard of binging on Netflix 17:22 viewing, so it's become an all-consuming, 17:25 all-saturating thing where it's almost... 17:27 What's the point of talking about the 17:28 number of hours? It's all the time. 17:30 The teenagers keep their cell phone on 17:32 under their pillow at night with hopes that 17:34 if a notification comes in, it'll wake 17:36 them up and they'll be texting or they'll 17:37 be on their social media in the middle 17:39 of the night! So, we are now living 17:41 in this virtual place and losing a bit of 17:43 what it means to be human. - So, you 17:46 could say we're coming away from what God's 17:48 plan is for our children. - Yes; yes. - Talk 17:51 to us about God's plan for the family 17:52 and children versus Satan's plan. - God 17:54 created this family unit as the pillar, 17:57 as the key aspect of the social fabric 18:00 of this world. This is where the children are 18:03 raised and the values are established. God 18:05 made us in His image in the Garden of Eden 18:07 to be as He created us to be. The two 18:11 would become one flesh and be fruitful 18:12 amongst- multiply. God's design for the 18:15 family is so beautiful. We are to be together! 18:17 Deuteronomy 6 talks about that; it's this. 18:20 It says, "Parents, talk about God's Word 18:23 with your children as you rise up and 18:27 lie down and as you walk by the way," 18:29 and we are to be doing life as a family to 18:32 the extent that we can in our unique situations. 18:35 But God has a specific plan for the children 18:38 to play a key role, actually, in prophecy. 18:40 You read about it in the book of Joel. 18:42 It talks about these last day signs in 18:45 Joel chapter 2- of the end times. It 18:48 says that "Spirit will be poured out in 18:52 a special way upon your young daughters 18:55 and your young men." This mentions the 18:57 young people specifically! Malachi 4 also mentions 19:01 the family in a prophetic context. 19:04 It says that in the last days, just before 19:06 the "great and dreadful day of the Lord," the 19:09 coming of Christ, it says the hearts of 19:11 the fathers and the hearts of the children 19:13 will be turned toward each other again. 19:15 Oh, that's a beautiful prophecy. We can 19:17 fulfill that, but it implies that they're 19:20 turned away in the last days because 19:22 they have to be turned toward each other. 19:24 Jesus spoke of this when He said, "The 19:27 family will be struggling in the last days. 19:29 The man's enemies will be the members 19:32 of his own household. Mother will be turned 19:34 against daughter-in-law and father against 19:36 this and against that." 3 against 2 and 2 19:38 against 3, so we've got a divided, fractured 19:41 and struggling home in the last days; but 19:43 God has a plan to use the children. We 19:46 do a parenting seminar called, "Raising the Remnant." 19:48 It's about those children actually 19:50 finishing the work! "They will go forth 19:52 as an army of youth," 'cause this has to 19:55 happen first. We gotta reunite the family, 19:57 and fulfilling that prophecy is key. 19:59 The devil knows this, so he's always going 20:01 to try to disrupt God's plan. He always 20:04 has an attack on the children and young people 20:07 at key points in history. What about 20:09 when God was going to bring His people out 20:11 Egypt? Give them the Law in Mt. Sinai? 20:13 Start the nation of Israel? What did 20:15 Satan do? Inspired Pharaoh to have this 20:18 wicked edict of throwing babies in the river. 20:20 Herod did the same thing: destroyed the 20:23 children in and around Bethlehem. At the 20:25 key point in history, when Christ came 20:27 the first time. Well, here we are at what 20:30 you could say is the third key juncture 20:32 now! We're in the time of the judgment, 20:34 and we know there's an attack on the 20:35 physical lives of children, again, with 20:37 the lives of the unborn-50+ million 20:40 in America. More importantly than the 20:42 physical killing that happens throughout 20:44 history is Jesus said, "Don't be afraid of 20:47 the one who destroys the body, but the soul 20:49 is what matters." The children's minds are 20:52 under the assault of the enemy with this 20:55 last day media onslaught. - It's dangerous 20:58 because, really, you can have like we 21:00 mentioned earlier. There's a positive 21:02 that can be done through our phones, 21:04 through television; right? But it also 21:07 has to come to a balance. We have 21:09 3ABN, we have your ministry that doesn't 21:12 produce films but yet you use media, 21:14 like DVDs and such... - Seminars. - Yeah, 21:18 thank you. Seminars and stuff out, so 21:20 media has its place. We're talking about 21:22 families. I think it's really sad, 'cause 21:24 at restaurants-you've seen it too-where the 21:27 entire family is eating, but they're on their 21:30 device. You've seen that. I know that 21:33 even- I want to just go back to this just a 21:35 little bit on some of the statistics, because 21:36 even young children... There's stuff out 21:39 there for little babies for the parent to use 21:42 a device, a tablet, to entertain them. 21:45 And that's tragic. - Right! Somebody 21:47 sent me that, and I thought, "This is 21:49 satire. This can't be real." I knew it 21:50 was getting younger and younger and younger, 21:52 but then it was- here's the tablet 21:55 screen-based thing for babies for their 21:57 little bouncy seat! I said, "No way." 21:59 There it is. I thought that was not real, 22:03 but this is a real thing. You can buy 22:05 this. I don't recommend people do, I mean... 22:08 The American Academy of Pediatrics, for 22:10 many years, recommended that children have 22:12 0 screen time during babyhood and toddlerhood. 22:15 You can have good media as they get 22:17 older at the appropriate ages, but during 22:20 these very tender years, they're 22:21 getting accustomed to the world and 22:22 faces and the 3- dimensional objects 22:24 and everything; no screen time. But 22:26 recently, actually, that very same 22:29 organization said, "We're going to loosen 22:31 up our recommendations because we're aware 22:34 of the fact that now 96.6% of babies and 22:39 toddlers are using mobile devices of 22:40 some kind." - Say that again? - 96.6% of 22:43 babies and toddlers are now using mobile 22:46 devices. That shocked me to hear that! 22:49 - So they're changing their... - They loosened 22:50 it up. They've taken some heat for that. 22:52 I think they kind of are regretting that 22:54 they did that, because there's so many 22:55 studies on the harmful effects of more media 22:57 exposure in early childhood: the more 23:00 attention problems, 23:01 attention-deficit types of symptoms 23:03 in school age- and also, most importantly, 23:05 it separates us from our children. They've 23:07 done studies of, what are parents doing 23:09 with their kids when their kids are viewing 23:11 the media? I mean, the average child 23:13 is viewing 32 hours of television per week. 23:18 That's ages 2-5! 32 hours! They've found 23:22 that the majority of parents have 0 23:24 interaction with their children while their 23:26 children are doing that. - Of course, 23:28 'cause it's absorbing. - It is. - It's just kind 23:31 of an entertainment. It's- "Okay, I'm 23:33 going to go do this. Here you go. Let 23:34 me just give you this." It's almost 23:35 like a snack or food. - Babysitting. - Good 23:38 point. So tell me then- so family 23:40 and media. 'Cause we're not going to 23:41 be able to get away from this as a society, 23:43 I don't feel. As a family, you have 23:45 a wife and three children, so I know 23:47 that that's on your mind. How do we deal 23:49 with that? 'Cause we have cell phones, 23:51 you have yours, we have ours. How does 23:53 the family now, in this day and age, 23:54 deal with media? - Well, the first thing is, 23:56 we've got to have set boundaries on 23:58 the amount of time we're going to have 23:59 on this. You mentioned people eating together 24:01 and we're on our phones. - And the 24:03 children too! - Yeah! I mean, how about 24:05 mealtime device-free? Can we start there? 24:07 Even Steve Jobs, the founder and CEO 24:10 of Apple, was asked in an interview. "Mr. 24:13 Jobs, what do your kids think of this 24:15 new tablet that's coming out?" And he 24:16 said, "Actually, my kids haven't used 24:19 it. They haven't even touched it." 24:22 The interviewer couldn't believe what 24:24 he was hearing! He said, "Really. The 24:26 Steve Jobs family doesn't have like, 24:29 touchscreen walls? Your kids aren't 24:31 on their devices all the time?" He 24:33 said, "No. One of the things we insist 24:34 on is mealtime together, device-free, 24:37 and we have conversations! We try to have 24:40 meaningful conversations about this- about 24:42 whatever's going on in the world, in our 24:45 lives, and reach each other's hearts! That's 24:48 a basic thing. That's mentioned in Deuteronomy 24:50 6, also. It says, "Parents, talk about 24:52 these things with your children as 24:54 you rise up and lie down." Bedtime, 24:56 waking time; morning and evening worship; 24:58 as you walk by the way and as you sit. 25:01 Where do we sit together? Let's have 25:03 those mealtimes. In Psalm 128, it says, 25:06 "The children will be like olive plants 25:08 round about our tables." Why does it mention 25:11 tables? That mealtime is key. Getting kids 25:14 outdoors, too; playing together, doing things 25:17 outside together is key. The average 25:19 child- I should say 3/4 now. 75% of 25:23 children now spend less time outdoors 25:26 than prison inmates. - You're kidding. 25:30 - 3/4 of children now spend less time 25:32 outdoors than prison inmates. It's so 25:36 essential for children to have that nature 25:37 exposure. I mean, nature exposure 25:40 reduces symptoms of ADD, it provides 25:45 protection against depression symptoms 25:48 and stresses, improves cognitive abilities. 25:50 I mean, we even see social skills and 25:52 self-worth and, most importantly, their 25:54 spiritual connection with God in His second 25:57 book in nature, and here we are now 25:59 living in this virtual world where they're 26:03 outside less than prison inmates. Creative 26:06 play outdoors is key for children. 26:08 Learning to just play creatively, being 26:11 as free as lambs, as one of my favorite 26:13 books says. Now, when they're not 26:16 playing creatively, there's actually been 26:18 a 94% decline in creative play among 26:21 children aged 9-12. 94% decline is 26:26 almost 100% decline in creative play. This 26:29 is going to take its toll. I mean, we don't 26:30 really have studies yet on this generation 26:33 that's going to come up- what the effects are. 26:35 We know it's not good, but I think we 26:37 only really have scratched the surface 26:38 about the real impact of this. - Go ahead; 26:40 you were going to say something? 26:42 - So, if we talk about family and 26:43 media use, you're talking about boundaries 26:45 and setting those boundaries. I love 26:47 that: at the table, then saying, "Okay, 26:49 put these digital devices aside." You 26:52 talked about time outside and creative 26:54 play. What else can families do? - Well, 26:57 we want to ask ourselves, "At what ages are 26:59 children really able to be exposed to 27:01 internet?" I mean, a smartphone now 27:03 gives them instant access to anything 27:05 that they would want to find out there on 27:06 the internet. It was pretty striking to me 27:08 that Bill Gates' family... It's 27:11 interesting; all these tech guys have very 27:13 strict limits. Bill Gates' family- his 27:15 teenagers have only 45 minutes max of 27:19 internet use, and it was supervised. 27:22 Also, a lot of the top executives, whose 27:25 names people wouldn't know, but top executives 27:27 from eBay, Yahoo, Google- their children 27:30 attend screen-free schools and more 27:33 outdoor types of things, so we can 27:35 begin to just ask ourselves about our 27:37 general lifestyle. Not just mealtime 27:40 and finding times to play, but what 27:42 is our educational philosophy? Having 27:45 unrestricted, unsupervised access to internet 27:48 for young people is a very dangerous 27:49 thing. I mean, the average age of first 27:52 exposure to online inappropriate material, 27:55 if you know what I mean, is age 8. 27:57 8- year-olds are coming across this stuff. 27:59 - We're talking about pornography... 28:01 - Yes; indeed. - Wow. - So, it seems as 28:04 though the family- talking again about 28:05 the family and the media-we have to be 28:07 intentional, don't we? Because we can say, 28:10 "Well, yeah. We'll just try to avoid 28:12 having our devices at the meal table," 28:14 but it needs to be a purposeful decision 28:16 as a family. "Okay, we're going to put them 28:17 here, we're going to put them aside, 28:19 and we're going to eat together." 28:20 - Absolutely. - Even if the phone rings, 28:22 just let it ring. It'll be okay. So we have 28:24 to be intentional. Otherwise, it's just 28:26 easy- "Well, we'll do it tomorrow." 28:27 "We'll do it next week." We'll just 28:28 kind of keep them here; we'll just kind 28:30 of look at- ah, that's okay." We need to 28:33 put them aside. Spending time in nature- 28:34 be intentional about that. And as a family, 28:37 I remember my parents- it's probably telling 28:39 my age, because, really, there weren't 28:41 really cell phones. I think they called 28:42 them "bag phones" back in the day. My 28:45 parents were very intentional about 28:47 taking my sister and myself outside 28:49 into nature and just pointing out the little 28:50 things. We would look at a tree, and it 28:52 seems boring. It's just bark; but then 28:54 my dad would say, "Okay, now. See 28:55 that? Look at that little ant that's 28:56 crawling right up in the crevice 28:58 of that. And see that little moss 28:59 right here? It's growing on the Northside 29:01 of the tree. You see that? Let's look 29:02 at the roots! There's an acorn here. This 29:04 is an oak tree." You know, that type of thing. 29:06 I think it's intentional that we as a society... 29:10 Maybe we've lost some of that. It's 29:12 sort of like you said- babysitting. It's like, 29:14 "We're not quite sure what to do. 29:15 The kids are crying, they're bored; we 29:17 don't really feel- we're tired as parents. 29:18 Here, just... I don't know. Play a game 29:20 for a while." And that's sad. - Yeah. 29:23 Well, and then they become more bored with 29:24 nature because of the overstimulation of 29:27 the media. It's designed to do that. 29:29 - That's a great point. - The concept of 29:31 boredom didn't even- "I'm bored." That 29:33 was a phrase you wouldn't have found 29:35 200 years ago. Before the Industrial 29:36 Revolution, before everybody moved 29:38 into cities, people had this rural 29:40 lifestyle; the majority of the American 29:43 population were family farms, so there was 29:45 more connection with nature and less boredom. 29:48 In fact, if you go back hundreds of 29:50 years, the concept of boredom- they would've 29:52 even identified that as a sin. It's like, 29:55 "That's casting contempt upon the Creator and 29:57 His beautiful world. How dare you say 29:58 such a thing?" They had a term for it. 30:00 They called it '?' They said, "That's 30:02 a moral issue." We might just be struggling 30:05 with our overstimulated society where we find 30:07 ourselves bored or our children bored, 30:09 but the solution to that is, dial back 30:12 some of this overstimulating stuff 30:14 and start to find the awe and wonder 30:16 in beauty and nature again. - You mentioned 30:18 something a couple of minutes ago which 30:20 is interesting-a word- and you said 'depression.' 30:21 It's interesting because you would think with 30:22 being so stimulated and so much to do 30:24 and not being bored anymore, man; life 30:26 ought to be really good. But you mentioned 30:27 the word 'depression.' Why would people 30:29 be depressed? - Well, media does something 30:32 specific in the brain similar to that of a 30:34 drug. What's going on in the brain 30:36 when you're getting the hyper stimulating 30:38 media experience, something addictive- 30:40 something super exciting and pleasurable- 30:42 entertainment media, especially. What happens 30:45 is, it hits your pleasure circuit of 30:48 your brain with a flood of dopamine, 30:50 so over time, you become dependent 30:53 on those types of things to get the 30:55 pleasure, just like a drug addict will. So 30:57 other things, then, don't please. You'll 31:00 become more lackluster with life. Depression 31:03 rates start to go up. In fact, the more 31:06 media people consume- this is in studies. 31:09 Kaiser Family Foundation 2010 found 31:11 the more media consumed, the less 31:14 happy people are. So the more media 31:17 you consume, the less happy you are. We're 31:19 specifically talking mostly about 31:21 entertainment media: watching programs 31:24 like this, informational seminars and sermons, 31:26 isn't so much the concern, but it's 31:28 the entertainment culture where it's 31:30 the Hollywood this, video games that. 31:32 Video games become ESPECIALLY addictive. 31:34 That's an actual quantifiable addiction 31:37 in the psychiatry community-is video 31:39 gaming. Any addiction will leave a person 31:43 with higher levels of depression. - So... 31:48 Why can I watch 3ABN and that 31:52 doesn't addict me? If that makes sense. 31:55 But yet, I can watch something else, 31:58 maybe a video game as you just talked 32:00 about or a movie or something, and that 32:03 leads to more of an addiction? - What's 32:05 happening here in the brain particularly 32:06 is, thoughts are being enhanced. The 32:09 frontal lobe is being activated. When people 32:11 are thinking through what it is we're 32:12 presenting-spiritual themes-it's a different 32:15 area of the brain, so it's not the screen 32:17 itself that's the problem. It's the 32:20 type of media we're using. If it's a 32:22 theatrical, dramatic type of presentation, 32:24 entertainment-they're flashing a new image 32:26 on the screen every two seconds-it's 32:28 like there are things going on in the brain 32:30 there. The brain doesn't know how 32:32 to comprehend that and make a cohesive 32:34 narrative out of it, so it slips down into 32:37 a lower brainwave frequency (that they 32:39 call alpha) which actually has hypnotic 32:41 implications; we can talk about the 32:43 manipulation of the media and all of that, 32:45 too. This is a more sober and thoughtful 32:48 spiritual experience as opposed to 32:51 entertainment media that's intended and 32:52 designed for its stimulant effect. 32:55 - Okay, so that's through my eyes. 32:58 I know that some people like just to 33:01 even listen to something or something's got to 33:03 be in the room even if, all the time, 33:04 noise. They sleep with the TVs on, 33:07 just noise, music- is that bad, then? 33:10 Even if they're not visually looking at 33:12 it? - Music can be a great good. One 33:14 of my favorite books says that it can be 33:16 a great good, but Satan often uses it 33:18 as a snare. So, it really depends on the 33:20 type of music we're listening to. Having 33:22 background music- I had that this morning 33:24 as I was getting ready to come here. I was 33:26 listening to some of my favorite music, 33:27 and it sets the tone for the day spiritually. 33:30 Music is a great blessing, but can become 33:33 a great snare, as well, depending on the type 33:35 of music we're using. Also, the multitasking 33:38 aspect can become a concern. If a kid's 33:42 trying to focus on their homework and 33:43 they got their rock music playing, their 33:45 social media on the screen over here, 33:47 they're popping in and out of the 33:48 internet over there, and the TV's on over 33:49 here, then we have a little bit of a 33:51 problem. - So talk to us about manipulation. 33:54 You mentioned that when we were talking 33:56 about the stimulation- how you have the 33:59 fast images and stuff. But what about the 34:01 manipulation? What's going on in media world? 34:04 - The founders of big media companies and 34:06 the big spokesmen, they've sometimes 34:08 been very honest and open and admitted and 34:10 BRAGGED about what they're trying to do. 34:12 The founder of MTV came out and said, 34:15 "At MTV, we're not trying to shoot for 34:17 the 14-year-olds; actually, we own them." 34:19 So, "we're not shooting for the 14-year-olds; 34:21 we own them." The guy who sort of gave us 34:25 modern public relations, modern advertising 34:27 industry-his name was Edward Bernays- 34:29 back in the 1920s. He said, "Our goal here 34:31 with the modern mass media" that was 34:33 starting to come out... He said, "Our goal 34:36 is to shape and control the group mind." 34:39 Romans 12:2, "Don't be conformed to this 34:43 world." He said, "We are governed; our 34:46 minds are molded; our tastes are formed; 34:49 our ideas are suggested" by what he called the 34:52 "invisible government." I know that sounds 34:54 kind of nefarious. It sounds like some 34:56 scheme, and that is really what it was 34:58 in his own words. He wrote about that in 35:00 his book Propaganda. He said, "This is 35:02 the goal." Satan's going to use that, 35:04 right? I mean, our battle is not against 35:06 flesh and blood, against these companies 35:07 and so on, but we do need to be aware 35:10 that they are victims in Satan's snare being 35:12 used as agents and tools to capture the 35:14 minds of the masses using 21st century media. 35:21 - Social media, also, is a huge thing. 35:23 We've touched on it; you've mentioned it 35:25 a few times already in this program. This 35:27 is amazing, isn't it, for you at home? 35:28 I mean, we're just here on the set. 35:29 It's just like, "Wow," 'cause it is what 35:31 we deal with in society as a whole. 35:33 I know you do too- most of you. I mean, 35:35 obviously, you're getting 3ABN into 35:36 your home, or maybe you're watching it 35:38 on your mobile device- internet-or listening 35:39 to it on the radio, but I know that as 35:41 a society, we are observant to this 35:43 all the time, so we just appreciate it. 35:45 All the information that you're sharing with 35:47 two of us today and to you at home, but 35:50 you also have ways out, and I like that. 35:52 We can talk about it and how we're just 35:55 inundated, and we've talked about some 35:56 solutions for the family, how to deal 35:58 with that-like mealtimes and being 36:00 intentional about spending time without 36:02 our mobile devices- but give us some more 36:05 information on how to maybe break free 36:07 of the addiction. - Yeah. Absolutely. 36:10 The key is two words: something better. 36:15 In fact, all the addiction recovery 36:17 people talk about how the key to recovering 36:21 from a habit is replacing it with a 36:23 new habit! It's fulfilling our lives. 36:28 The demon is cast out of the man; he 36:29 goes and gets 7 more, and more wicked than 36:30 himself and comes in and occupies that 36:32 place- the Jesus parable about just 36:34 leaving the house empty. - We don't wanna do that. 36:36 - No. When we get rid of something, we 36:38 fill our lives with something better, 36:39 and that is so endless. I couldn't possibly 36:43 come up with a bullet point list of all the 36:45 wonderful things this life has to offer as 36:47 God has created us in this world. He 36:49 said to Adam and Eve, "Of these trees you 36:52 may freely eat. There's one tree; don't go 36:55 over there." Sometimes we obsess on the one 36:58 like it's all about that one. "Well, I 37:00 can't live without entertainment media!" 37:02 "I can't live without hours and hours and 37:05 hours of social media!" Well, God says there's 37:08 a way better way to live. There's so many 37:11 things that you can do with your time to serve 37:13 others, to reach out to the hurting, to 37:15 have real relationships. I mean, we're spending 37:17 4 times more time on social media than 37:21 social! [laughter] It's social media! 37:24 4 times for every 1 hour we're socializing? 37:27 We have 4 hours of social media! So 37:29 just flip that script, you know? Start doing 37:32 real things. I mean, gardening, cooking, 37:34 building things, fixing things, entrepreneurial 37:37 ideas, caring for children, visiting 37:39 the elderly... Endless. We were meant to 37:42 not die after 80-100 years or whatever. 37:45 We were meant to live forever and 37:46 experience God's reality with joy. 37:48 So, God wants to bring us joy, and we gotta 37:50 focus more on that that He says, "I'm 37:52 not going to withhold from you any good 37:54 thing. I satisfy the desire of every 37:57 living thing." So He's provided us the 38:00 abundant life. If we follow His ways, we 38:02 will find the joy of Christ. It's hard to 38:05 come apart from some of this addiction at 38:07 first. Jesus says, "You will weep, you 38:10 will mourn, you will grieve while the world 38:12 rejoices," but your grieving will turn to 38:15 joy. There's that withdrawal time. 38:17 You gotta break free. You ask how to overcome. 38:20 You gotta actually cut it off; rip the Band-Aid 38:22 off, then focus on something better. 38:24 Some people might find, "Well, is it 38:26 an addiction? Is what I'm doing too much? 38:30 Is this something I should do a little bit 38:32 of? Find the balance? Or should I break free 38:34 completely?" One thing I recommend is 38:36 trying a 30-day media fast from 38:39 something that you're wondering, "Is it a 38:42 problem?" If it's worldly, if it's of 38:45 the devil, we don't fast from that. We 38:46 just break free and never touch it. But 38:48 if it's something where we're- 38:49 "God, is this something that is crowding out 38:51 Your voice? Is this something that's 38:53 obscuring my view of Christ and the 38:55 joy of the Lord and my salvation?" Then, 38:57 we would want to try a fast, then you can 39:00 tell at the end of 30 days, you have 39:02 something to compare it to, and you're doing 39:04 other things in the meantime. During that 39:07 30 days- so then you can actually test. 39:10 God says, "Test Me in this and see if 39:12 I will not open the floodgates of blessing 39:14 upon you." "Taste and see that the Lord 39:17 is good." My dad's an optometrist, and 39:20 he has people come into his office. They 39:22 say, "You know what, doc? I'm seeing 39:23 fine. I got great vision; no need for 39:26 glasses again." "But I'm doing my checkup 39:28 here;" he'll sometimes test them out and 39:30 they'll be surprised. They're looking at 39:32 that line; they're going, "Um... Is 39:34 that a G or a C? Um... Is that an F or is 39:37 that a hashtag?" [laughter] Then he 39:40 goes, "Which one is clearer? One or two? 39:43 Two or three?" And you know that whole 39:45 routine and you're like, "Well, 2 is 39:47 the clearest." Then he breaks it to you. 39:48 "2 is actually a prescription." So 39:51 now that you've tried something 39:52 different, this prescription actually 39:53 helps you see clearer. You said that was 39:56 the clearest." So when we have something to 39:58 compare it to, then we can- 'cause most 40:00 people, they think, "We're fine." Right? 40:02 "I'm fine now as I am." But trying 40:04 something different might awaken us to 40:07 the fact that, "Hey, I wasn't as fine as 40:09 I thought- God has something better in 40:12 store for me even than I'm living now. 40:14 - I love what you said there. It's 40:16 so powerful, because media is an addiction. 40:19 I can say that from firsthand experience; 40:21 I've shared this publicly. I was 40:24 addicted to soap operas. Shortly 40:27 after Greg and I got married-and I 40:29 tried to hide it from him like I didn't want 40:30 him to know, 'cause I knew it was ungodly. 40:32 I knew there was nothing of Philippians 40:34 4 in there. "Whatsoever is true and honest and 40:37 noble and right." I knew that, but I 40:39 could not stop- physically. I could not 40:42 stop, 'cause it wanna see what the story 40:43 is. "What's going to happen tomorrow? 40:45 What's the story coming?" So, Greg and I in 40:48 our own home- now, this is our own 40:50 personal decision- but we made the 40:52 choice, "We've got to get rid of the 40:54 television." 'Cause if we don't do that, 40:56 I'm going to go back to that. Now we have 41:01 3ABN but we don't have anything else 41:02 so that way I'm not tempted, as it were, 41:05 to go back to that. So, I love what you 41:08 said. "You have to make a choice to 41:10 break free" of whatever it is to make that 41:14 decision and then replace it with something 41:17 better. So, that's powerful, Scott. 41:19 - There were those folks in the book of 41:20 Acts. They were involved with spiritualism 41:22 and witchcraft, and they had all these 41:24 witches' scrolls. They just had to get 41:27 rid of those; they burned them up. If 41:29 we've got Hollywood stuff in our homes 41:30 and we've got violent video games and all 41:32 of these very worldly things, worldly music, 41:34 just getting rid of it, getting it out of 41:36 the home- it brings a spiritual power, 41:39 too, 'cause then we're not advertising 41:41 to the devil, "Hey, come on in." "The 41:43 holy angels delight to dwell in a home 41:45 that is a sanctified environment," so some 41:47 people do that-get rid of the TV screen 41:49 altogether or, particularly, those 41:51 videos and those worldly things that 41:54 are of the devil. - So you were talking 41:57 about a media fast. That's intriguing; 41:59 I like that. How would you counsel someone 42:02 that- 'cause, you know, Jill and I don't 42:04 have a landline anymore- most people don't have 42:06 landlines (where you actually hook your 42:08 phone up to the wall). We actually get our 42:11 calls on our cell phone, and the e-mail 42:14 and all that here, so I can't just get rid 42:16 of this, my device; otherwise, I wouldn't 42:17 get a phone call for 30 days. So how 42:19 would you deal with someone, then- I 42:21 obviously don't just lock my cell phone 42:22 up for 30 days and I look at it, ring 42:24 ring ring and all that kind of stuff. So, 42:25 a little practical on that- how would 42:27 you give advice to someone like me? Let's 42:29 say- let's role-play a little bit here. 42:30 - Well, you pick the thing that you want 42:32 to fast from. I mean, the phone is a 42:33 multi-faceted thing, so you wouldn't fast- 42:35 say, "I'm going to do a social media 42:38 fast." So what I would do is take 42:40 all the apps off my phone. Remove my 42:44 social media apps from my phone. 42:46 - So I'm not even tempted to... - Exactly. 42:48 Then, maybe you're fasting completely 42:50 from social media... I had a friend who 42:52 said to me, "Change my password for me so 42:56 I can't log in." "Okay, I'll be the 42:58 guardian of your password for 30 42:59 days." You know what this person 43:01 did after 30 days? "Don't tell me the 43:03 password. I want to stay off for longer, 43:04 I've found a better balance in my life 43:07 without it." This person was more 43:08 addicted to it. Some people can do social 43:10 media in balance; maybe we'll talk a 43:12 little bit more about social media. Some 43:13 people, it's gotta be a fast. It's gotta 43:16 be totally break-free. Some people can do 43:18 a fast and then come back. Just removing 43:21 it, some people will find a balance where, 43:23 "I'm only going to use social media 43:24 on my computer so it's got a location 43:27 where I only use it for a certain amount 43:29 of time when I'm there at a set 43:30 time of day." Those are some of the 43:32 practicalities of the media fast 43:34 that some people have done. - We're 43:35 running out of time. - We are. - So, you 43:37 want to touch on social media a little bit 43:38 more then? We've only got about 8 minutes 43:40 left in this segment. - This statistic is 43:42 huge. There's a 2.7 times increase likelihood 43:46 for depression for people who are 43:48 heavy social media users. 2.7 times. 43:51 - What's heavy? What's considered heavy? 43:53 - I don't have the numbers on that, 43:55 but we're talking hours a day. - So, 43:57 not just, "I do half an hour on Facebook," 44:00 or, "I do a quick Tweet," or something 44:02 like that. We're talking long... -Yeah, 44:03 yeah. 2.7 times more likely to be depressed. 44:06 Social media has become a thing where 44:09 it's an ever-present thing; it's always 44:12 there on the phone, always giving us 44:13 notifications... Another thing some people 44:15 do is just remove the notifications so they're 44:18 intentional when they go there, but it can 44:20 still suck you in with endless feed, 44:21 right? So being cautious and aware 44:24 of how this is impacting us... We 44:26 now have a generation that has come on that 44:28 is the most socially connected-officially, 44:30 right? That's what we're told; the most 44:32 socially connected 'cause you have 44:34 hundreds of friends on Facebook, right? 44:36 - That should be a good thing, right? 44:37 - Yeah. Well, guess what. It's the most 44:39 lonely generation ever recorded. Why? 44:43 Well, the founders of these social 44:45 media companies, they went on record recently 44:48 just a few years ago- a couple years ago- 44:50 in interviews, and they were ashamed of 44:52 what they had done. They were regretting 44:53 it. They said, "When we were founding these 44:56 organizations, these social media platforms, 44:59 we were aware of what we were doing; we're 45:01 going to make it just so that they get the 45:04 dopamine hit at the right time to keep them 45:06 on the platform for longer. We're going 45:08 to give them this sense of inadequacy 45:10 like they need to get that reinforcement 45:12 from people: the likes and the shares and 45:15 all of that. You know what we've done 45:18 by moving all of the social onto the social 45:20 media platform? What we've done is we have 45:23 torn apart the fabric of society." That's 45:26 a direct quote from one of them- Sean 45:27 Parker and others. They've come out and 45:29 said, "We are ripping apart the social 45:30 fabric of the society." They say God only 45:34 knows what we're doing to our children's 45:36 brains. I said, "Yeah, God does know;" he 45:40 meant that as an expression, but God 45:42 does know. The impact of this on children- 45:44 I mean, we're seeing suicide rates going 45:46 up-skyrocketing. And not just young people, 45:48 but younger children, now. Because when you 45:50 don't get that reinforcement of your 45:52 identity and your sense of self-worth 45:54 in the social media, it really hurts people. 45:57 That's bullying, or whatever-even just 45:59 not getting the reinforcement and 46:02 the approval of the crowd on social media. 46:05 In social media, it's very much a group 46:07 type of thing where there's a lot of 46:10 pressure. It becomes a problem when people 46:12 spend a lot of time on there. It can become 46:14 an addiction for many people. With this 46:17 lonely generation- this struck me as 46:18 WEIRD. Like, this didn't exist 10 46:20 years ago-the fact that people are now 46:22 cuddling with strangers. There are apps where 46:24 you can go and find hookups in your area, 46:27 because people want to be snuggled and 46:28 touched and loved and hugged... - They 46:30 do it with their cell phone? - With 46:31 strangers! You can find strangers in 46:33 your area to go- they have professional 46:34 cuddlers who hire out their services 46:36 to this lonely generation! And I thought, 46:38 "THAT didn't exist 10 years ago." It's 46:40 not that widespread. - We don't recommend 46:42 that. - No! You know what? This is why we 46:45 gotta be gathering together in churches. 46:47 Our ministry, we put on a free video 46:50 seminar, trying to get people together in 46:52 churches (maybe we'll talk about that). 46:54 - Yeah, let's talk about that. - I mean, 46:56 we don't want people cuddling with strangers. 46:57 We want to give people a big hug in appropriate 47:00 love and affirmation of brother and sister 47:03 in Christ in our churches and in our 47:05 homes. - Scott mentioned something 47:07 to us as we were getting ready to 47:09 start this program. We said, "Are you 47:10 sure?" But he actually has a DVD. Tell us 47:13 a little bit about that, that you are 47:15 willing to give away, free of charge, limited 47:18 supply. Is that right? Or as long as it 47:20 lasts. - We have a number of them, and 47:23 as many people as email us until we 47:25 get- or till we run out... So, we just need 47:28 a shipping address to send it to. So, 47:30 just e-mail us and we'll 47:32 send you a free DVD, 'cause we're only 47:34 covering so much. This'll be more 47:35 thorough coverage of the media on the brain 47:38 topic. - What is the DVD on that you're 47:40 going to be sending out? - It's Media on 47:42 the Brain overview. It's a single disk 47:45 overview of our full 6 DVD series. That's 47:49 our free one we send out to anybody that 47:52 asks. - Praise the Lord. So, I know 47:54 in just a moment, we're going to give the 47:55 contact information, but what is your 47:56 email address? - It's BeltOfTruthMinistries@gmail.com 48:07 - We encourage you right now to e-mail 48:09 BeltOfTruthMinistries@gmail.com and they will send out 48:14 a free overview DVD of the Media on the Brain 48:18 seminar. That will be free to you; all 48:21 they need is your address. But it's 48:23 a limited supply, so as they have supplies. 48:25 First come, first serve. - We'll help everybody 48:30 out even if we run out, we'll give you 48:31 something. - Thank you, Scott. You also 48:33 have- that's an individual one; that's 48:35 an overview, but we also have this Media 48:37 on the Brain that people can get, as 48:39 well, which is a 6-part series? - Yup. - Okay. 48:42 Talking about the dangers of media on 48:44 the brain. I love this, "Conformed or 48:46 transformed; by beholding, we become 48:47 slaves." Ooh. "The spirit of the music 48:51 industry, musical manipulation, the 48:53 counterfeit reality, how to escape the 48:55 pleasure trap." What other seminars do you 48:57 have available? - As soon as we did the 48:59 media thing, we realized we need some 49:01 counsel in and along the lines of parenting 49:02 and true education and helping the family; 49:05 helping the young people, particularly. 49:07 Those are some of the ones that are 49:08 really heavy on my heart on the topics 49:10 of parenting and true education-overcoming 49:12 lust and other habits, current events and 49:16 prophecy. Oh, I love talking about that. 49:18 I'm a history guy. I used to teach 49:19 history, government, economics, so yeah. 49:22 We get into a lot of different topics. 49:23 - Amen. So you have the free video seminar 49:26 that you can send to people; but in addition, 49:28 you also do seminars on media churches. 49:32 - Yeah. Having traveled extensively and so 49:35 many doors open, I praise God for all 49:37 the churches who've said, "We want you 49:39 to come and do this live." I've enjoyed 49:40 that hundreds of times. It's a great thing, 49:43 but the ache and the sadness in my heart 49:45 the whole time is always, I can't 49:47 possibly reach every church. Other ministries 49:51 have come out with a great idea, like a 49:52 video seminar on recovering from 49:56 depression. That kind of thing is out 49:58 there, and that concept. I thought, 49:59 "Lord, this is perfect. Let's do the same thing," 50:03 'cause people are in desperate need of 50:04 construction on media and parenting and 50:07 these other things, "so let's do a free-" 50:10 we do it free. Video seminar series at 50:13 churches. People just reach out to us. We 50:16 actually help make promo information, 50:19 fliers, and coordinate the times and dates 50:22 for the screenings of our seminars. 50:25 Another fun thing I do is, for every church 50:28 hosting one of the free video seminars, 50:30 I do a little recording of myself, 50:32 just a little two-minute thing, saying, "Hi," 50:35 to the people there by name. So, I make 50:37 connection with that location. They go, 50:39 "Wow! The seminar speaker is talking 50:40 to us. It's more of a personal thing." 50:42 It's been a real hit. I hear phrases all 50:47 the time-and praise God for this-it's 50:49 not the medium for the message; it's 50:52 the message of the truth. They say, 50:53 "This information is literally life-changing." 50:56 I've heard churches say, "Thank you 50:58 so much for that," 'cause it's free. 51:00 It's easy to get done. You want people 51:02 to come out for a Saturday, Sabbath 51:04 evening vespers. Make a media seminar- 51:07 believe me. You'll get people coming 51:09 out, 'cause they know this is an 51:10 important topic. - So here, you're 51:13 not traveling, but yet a church can 51:15 put on a local seminar that is 51:18 all your material and it's free. 51:20 - Exactly. - Praise the Lord! What a 51:22 blessing. - This is exciting. - I can't 51:23 believe our time has gone so quickly. 51:25 What we want to do now is put up the 51:27 contact information for Belt of Truth Ministries. 51:30 We want to encourage you to support this ministry 51:33 with your finances, with your prayers. 51:35 If you would like the free DVD that he has 51:37 offered, if you would like the free seminar 51:40 at your church, or you would like to get in 51:42 contact with Scott Ritsema, here is 51:44 how you can do just that. 51:48 If you would like to obtain your free DVD 51:51 copy of Media on the Brain, or if you 51:54 would like to invite Scott Ritsema to 51:56 conduct a seminar in your church, you 51:58 can reach him in a variety of ways. 52:01 Visit his website BeltOfTruthMinistries.org 52:08 You may e-mail him at BeltOfTruthMinistries@gmail.com 52:14 or call him at (616) 238-5058. 52:20 If you'd like to write, please address 52:22 your letter to Belt of Truth Ministries 52:24 11333 Backus Road Lakeview, Michigan 52:30 48850. |
Revised 2021-08-09