Media Free Parenting: A better life!

"Media is not the devil, but they are good friends!" That quote sums up how I feel about all the different types of electronic media in use today (yes even computers, and I do realize the irony). I am speaking from a vast field of experience, I have spend countless hours in front of a screen and I know first hand how it effects the life of all who are addicted to it. Yes, I said addicted. If you spend any considerable amount of time on a computer, watching tv, chained to a gaming system, or any other form of media and think that it is not an addiction then I have a challenge for you. If you think you are not addicted then here is what I challenge you to do, totally abstain from  all media for at least two weeks and see if you can make it, give it up completely and don't even touch it. I'll wait............................................................. couldn't do it could you? Had to see your show, or beat the next level, or whatever, am I right? Then that, my friend is an addiction and that is exactly what we are all doing to ourselves without even realizing it. That is what I was doing to myself and my family and without God's help I would have never been able to quit. I spent many wasted years in front of a screen "being entertained" and worst of all I let my children do the same. But thank the Lord that my household has been changed over the last year, we no longer own a tv, a gaming system, or even dvds (except a few home movies packed away in storage) and the improvement is unbelievable! If you are a parent reading this blog, please please please listen to what I am about to say. Media deprives your children of their childhood. I have personally witnessed a major change in my children's attitude, demeanor, health, character, and spiritual life since we have went "media free". They have been so much more active now that I am always amazed at how much they can fit into a day! They have taken an interest in things I never thought they would have cared about, like playing music. My boys are becoming really good piano players. And the funny thing is, we have had a piano in our house since before they were born and they never touched it, now they argue over whose turn it is to play it. My children are advancing in every other category as well, they are getting better grades in school, which is no surprise since they read books for leisure now. They are more social and their interactions with each other and other children has improved dramatically, now they actually talk through their problems rather than fight through them. Their health has greatly improved, as well as my own. Before we went media free, in the rare occasion that we did go outside to toss a football around, we were all exhausted after 5 minutes and had to come right back in and sit down for hours to recover. Now they can run outside non-stop for hours and I also am progressing in weight loss, just a little more slowly than them :) A very noticeable improvement in their character has taken place since we went media free. They are more caring, honest, hard-working, kind, patient, individuals than they ever were before. But the greatest improvement of all is that their spiritual life has changed completely, as well as my own. We now spend time in prayer and have a time of daily Bible reading and quoting, they are memorizing whole chapters of the Bible! Our time of daily devotions has given me an opportunity to connect with my children on a spiritual level and has allowed me to instruct them in the ways of the Lord just like the Bible tells me to do in Proverbs 22:6 "Train up a child in the way he should go; and when he is old, he will not depart from it." These things that I have listed are just some of the many, many changes that my family has went through over the last year or so. As a matter of fact, I am so media free that it has taken me weeks to write this blog because I spend very little time indoors on the computer. So I do not have the actual time to tell you of all the small miracles that we have experienced but, I encourage every to take inventory of your own lives today and see where they are headed. Are you part of a media-bound family that is devoting your life to something that has a such a negative impact and no eternal value? If so, then there is only one thing that you can do to improve you life in all the amazing ways I listed above, and that is to pray. I strongly urge you to pray right now for God to help with this life-wasting addiction, because that is the only way to ever get out. We can not do it on our own, but God is merciful and compassionate and He will help us if we only ask, I know because He did just that for me. Just remember what the apostle Paul said in Philippians 4:13 " I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me." Nothing is too hard for God!

The Finish Line - what really matters.

There are many times in life when we set goal for ourselves, some we complete and some we don't. It is a great feeling to accomplish an objective that you set for yourself, finishing what you set out to do. Today I have reached a goal that, at times I thought that I would never see the finish line, but though much determination I can now say I am a college graduate, 17 years after graduating high school. I realize that at this time of year this is a commonplace accomplishment and that there are hundreds of thousands of college grads out there right now saying the same thing. But my case was far from typical, in that I had a completely different set of obstacles to overcome, for instance how many grads can say that they went to college full time throughout their undergrad career while running a small business to support their wife and four children all while living 30 miles from campus. It kinda makes the usual roommate and laundry complaints I heard from my fellow students seem trivial, but even all of the situational  difficulties that I had to endure seem like nothing compared to something great that I experienced last spring. Last year I had a life changing experience that caused me to seriously consider dropping out of college, you see when I started working for this degree 4 years ago I was not spiritually where I should be and my motives for going to college in the first place were completely wrong. I started with the very common, but worldly goal of getting a degree to make more money. Now don't get me wrong, there is nothing bad about making money and having a good job to support your family. And I still do want a better job to be a better provider for my wife and kids. The difference is that I no longer have the life goal of having a high-paying career that selfishly consumes all of my time and causes me to neglect my family and keeps me away from doing something for God. My whole outlook on life has changed over the last year, and now I realize that serving the Lord is more important than anything else and all that matters on this earth is what you accomplish for Him. We are not going to spend eternity wishing we made more money, had a career, or spent more time at work. All that matters in the grand scheme of things is what are we doing for God, right now. The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 6:2 now is the accepted time, behold now is the day of salvation. All that is going to matter in eternity is not what career you had on earth, not what car you drove or how much money you had. There are only 2 things will that matter, where will you spend eternity in Heaven or hell and if you make it to Heaven, how many people did you take with you. These two objectives are my life goals, they are the career that I do not need a degree for, so although I am very grateful that the Lord has helped me to reach this finish line of receiving a bachelor's degree, my true desire is to make it to Heaven someday and I hope that everyone can cross that finish line with me. So if you are reading this and you do not know Jesus as your personal savior then I urge you to please reconsider the direction of your own life and change what finish line you will end up on one day when you die. Please give your heart to the Lord and you will be amazed at the difference He will make in your life, take it from someone who knows first hand, there is no greater goal than being a Christian.

Matthew 7:1

I get this question a lot when witnessing so I think it is needs explaining. People say all of the time "I thought Christians are not supposed to judge" this is usually said after any type of sin is pointed out to them. It doesn't seem to matter anymore what sin they are defending, if you tell  a sinner they are wrong then they fire back with this statement. They are, of course, taking the words of Jesus, whether they know it or not, from  Matthew Chapter 7 verse 1 where while preaching the sermon on the mount Jesus says " Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgement ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again." This scripture is generally taken either out of context, or misunderstood so when I try to explain this to someone who says that I am judging them because I have told them what the Bible clearly says is sin, then I use this example.... Imagine you are speeding down the highway, or committing any other crime for that matter, and a policeman stops you and gives tells you that you are doing wrong. If you were to say "I thought you were not supposed to judge" then of course the officer will say I am not your judge that is someone else's job, my job is to tell you that you have clearly broke the established law and therefore if you do not change your way you will end up in jail. I think that this example makes sense to many who are confused on this issue. As Christians we are not called to condemn and pronounce judgment on other for there sins, just as a policeman cannot give you a life sentence for any crime. But like the policeman, it is our duty to uphold God's law and we are well within our right to tell someone that if they do not repent of there sins and ask the Lord's forgiveness then they are going to face judgment one day, because where would any Christian be if they had not had someone kind enough to share the gospel with them. I also believe that if we do not have the compassion to point out to someone that they are breaking the established laws of the Bible then it could be that we ourselves will be judged one day, I don't want to see anyone die lost therefore I must be vigilant to spread the gospel and show God's love unless with what measure of compassion I give to others it shall be measured to me again in the soon coming Judgment day of the Lord. I want to hear Him say well done thou good and faithful servant, don't you? 

Busy Summer

God is good all the time! This summer I have been truly blessed. Our family has had the privilege of attending 2 youth camps and 3 camp meetings, and we have had an amazing time. I think there is no better way to spend a summer than in the presence of the Lord at a holiness service almost every night. I personally have used this opportunity to draw closer to the Lord than I ever have in my life and I have applied these verses to my life (Hebrews 12:1 Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, 2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.) and I have seen amazing results. The Lord has dealt with me to lay aside weights that used to seem so important, that now seem as foolish as trying to run a marathon while carrying a bowling ball. I am living proof that God can change anyone's hear t if they are willing and can then use them to do things that would previously seem unbelievable. I want to encourage anyone who reads this to spend some time in daily prayer drawing closer to the Lord and you will see what amazing things He has in store for you!

Triple play of happiness

Every individual is made up of three parts, the body, the mind, and the spirit. This is what makes us human and also why we have so many problems in the world today. Most people do not realize this simple fact and in turn, they neglect an important part of themselves. I know this is true because I was guilty of this myself. We go about our daily lives filled with unavoidable traps that are comforting to the body, and spend countless hours occupying our minds with every form of immoral entertainment imaginable, but we do nothing for our spirit. This is why most of the world is miserable and are turning to substances that alter their physical capacity and mental awareness to dull the spirit's cry for attention. I can speak from experience that true happiness is attainable! Anyone on this planet has within them the ability to be truly happy, you just have to follow a simple pattern. Start with improving the spiritual aspect of your being and the other two will immediately fall in line. Most people have it backward, I know I did, they try to please the body with so many things and when that doesn't work they try to occupy or destroy their mind to eliminate the ill effects of living for physical pleasure alone and this pattern only ends in sadness and depression. The physical and mental appetites for pleasure are never filled and they only lead to death and destruction. Without the help of your spiritual side you don't stand a chance. Most everyone knows these facts deep down, but they chose to ignore them or don't fully understand it. Just so we are clear about what I mean when I say physical and mental, unavoidable traps in our daily lives I mean things like lust, alcohol, tobacco, greed, pornography, drugs, mindless entertainment, hate, risky or demeaning behavior, envy, etc. Things that no one really wants to do but they always wind up doing them and then they are filled with regret. I don't think anyone when they are a kid wants to grow up to be a drug addict, a porn star, or an ax murderer, but if you spend your life ignoring your spiritual being, then those things can happen because it is an endless cycle of trying to find more and more new things that please the body and stimulate the mind. All of this can be prevented or stopped and it is not very difficult to do. It is very simple, so pay attention.... the only way to improve your spiritual being, and your whole life, is to pray everyday to God. He will listen to you and help you in unexplainable way. That is it, that is all it takes. Just do this one thing and your whole being, body, mind, and spirit, will be at peace and truly, completely happy and you will be a whole person.

You can make it!

I just want to let everyone know that God can make a change in your life, if you truly want Him to! If you have something that you are struggling with pray about it rather than try to do it yourself. I had things in my life that had me bound for over 20 years, and God took them away in an instant. I could not get over them in myself, I tried many times and miserably failed, but all it took was me determining to let God help me. I hope this encourages someone to give God a chance today to make a great change in your life. Just remember this verse..."And Jesus looking upon them saith, With men it is impossible, but not with God: for with God all things are possible." Mark 10:27

New Direction

I now have a new purpose in my life and therefore I feel that my blog must reflect that. So if you have been following this blog because you like to read sporadic rants about traffic, mixed with the occasional random copy&pasted jokes, then I'm sorry. But I don't think anyone will miss them and I did leave the one about the existence of God. Instead I hope you get some encouragement from reading the testimonies of how God is working in my life. Also from now on I will try to regularly update as well, instead of 3 posts in a week and then not another for six months.