Disconnect to Reconnect

Introduction

If you’ll allow me, real quick before we get into the lesson to just share some words of appreciation with you. this family in Christ has been extremely hospitable. And I just want to thank you for that. Thank you so much for all the kindness, the encouragement, the mills, everything’s just been wonderful. I will share something with you, though, that you probably need to know. You’ll notice I’m kind of losing my voice. There’s a reason for that. you only have so many words that you should share during the day. I exceeded my words by Monday night, if you look at the length of my lessons. And so this is the kind of the my family’s way of saying, Dad, it’s time for you to shut up and keep it shorter.

And so I yeah, here I’m kind of running out of my voice. But there’s there’s something you need to know about that. You people pay attention way too good. Yeah, just too well. I mean, it’s just, and I don’t know if you’re in a daze and you’re just like, will this ever end? kind of look, but you look like you’re so into it, and I just want to say thank you for that. But you gotta be careful. That’s like that’s the reason you don’t feed the bears out in the wilderness. They keep coming back. And that’s what a preacher will do to you. but thank you so much. Thank you so much for your kindness. Thank you to the shepherds for the invitation to come.

And it’s just been a joy. It’s been great hanging around Tony and Cherry and just appreciate them so much. Now, he you do have a dig on me that you never jumped on this week. About three years ago, Tony called, and it was probably in around, I don’t know, May, June, whatever, and I get this phone call from Tony. He goes, Hey, just looking ahead for the calendar in October, you’re still planning to come see us, right? And I went, what? He goes, Oh, you’re just kidding. And I’m like, dude, I’m really I have no idea. I have no idea what you’re talking about. And it took me a while to convince him that no, I was actually being serious. And I didn’t, and I don’t know.

If I didn’t write it down, we will. So he said, okay, when’s the next time you could come? And I was like, three years. So he laid off of me on that, so I’ll throw it out there for you. That was all on me. I will not let that happen again. now that I know how much fun this group is, I just didn’t really want to hang around Tony. But you know, the rest of you are great. But thank y’all so much, Tony and Cherry. Just been a thrill hanging out with y’all, and God bless you and your work and all that you do. It’s been a lot, a lot of fun. Thirty years ago, as I was getting ready to go off to college, and I guess like anybody leaving home and taking off to college, you’re rather excited.

And I grew up in Lubbock, Texas, and I decided to go to school down in Tampa, Florida. And so I loaded up my car, and I, in fact, it didn’t take me more than 10 minutes to load up everything that I owned. But I made sure I had everything that I was gonna need for school, you know, all your golf clubs, which is important, your softball glove. I had the football cleats, the football, frisbee, basketball. I had all the essentials ready to go, but there was one other item that I made sure that I always took with me when I traveled. It was a friend of mine known as Rand McNally. And those of you that are older, you know who Mr. Rand McNally is. That’s a map book.

It’s a literal map book, kids. It’s you see them in the Smithsonian. They’re like little books, and they have pages on them where you can see maps and roads, and you look at it real good before you go anywhere to make sure you know where you’re gonna turn, and you kind of try to memorize it, you know, and sometimes you can look at it and you stuck it down the card, you know, right there in the door. Well, Mr. Rand McNally and I decided to leave Lubbock, Texas, and I went driving down to Tampa, Florida. I drove for close to 20 hours almost. It wasn’t quite 20 hours, but it kind of felt like it when I pulled into Hattiesburg, Mississippi that night. I got a hotel room and I went to this machine.

It’s it’s really cool. You’ve probably seen them in this in museums also. They’re called payphones. And I took the payphone and I talked to the operator and I said, I need to make a collect call. And I made a collect call home to talk to my parents, and the first thing my dad said is, Where have you been? Why haven’t you called us? I’m like, Dad, I’ve been driving. What did you expect? You know, so like I can talk to you on the road, you know, but I’m here, everything’s fine. And then I went ahead and drove all the way down to Tampa the next day. Just today. Just today, because of wonderful modern technology. I was able to take a little box that we call a cell phone and punch in an address and drive, well, it told me where to turn.

And along the way, I could say to my phone, call Cheryl. And it would call my wife. And I never had to take my hands off the steering wheel. And I talked to my wife all the way there. And then when she hung up, I played music. My music. That I liked music. All from that little box. Isn’t technology amazing? And isn’t it neat what we’ve seen in technology just over the past really 15 years when it comes to cell phones and all the other apps and things that we have? Well, I want to begin tonight to share with you just some fun things that you can get from social media. First of all, you can find pictures like that. Do y’all know who that is on the left there?

That is your preacher. Yes. Yes. You were wondering, boy. Clark can’t share look skinny and scrawny. That’s your preacher in tights, ladies and gentlemen. You can get fun little pictures like that off Facebook or the wonderful message that his friends send to him like this, as somebody wrote, Beware of the eyes of March. It was not actually a warning for Caesar. It was a prophecy of Tony Mock’s birthday. You have a lot of friends, my friend. And then you have fun little pictures like this that you can see daily from families who like to show you the fun things going on in their life and how they are professional parents, obviously, by what they’re teaching their children. And then you have warnings like this. It was sure nice to know that the house that I was visiting tonight is snake infested.

I learned all that from Facebook. Kind of a fun picture you see there. I notice it’s the girls who are capturing the snake. Got to wonder where the guys are in the house, but I won’t say any more about that. And then this one’s a good one. That’s definitely got to be a winner for your church site right there. I like the way you advertise. But isn’t it neat? Without paying a dime, you can reach hundreds and hundreds, and if everybody is sharing an event, thousands of people with simply the click of a button. Technology is wonderful. It’s amazing. But if we were here tonight just to talk about how technology is wonderful, then it really wouldn’t be a sermon. And it wouldn’t really be important for us to discuss what is really one of society’s greatest challenges right now.

Because as often is the case, the blessing can easily become a curse. Tonight I want to share with you just some thoughts, and I’m really going to do it more in a class format or seminar format. It’s just going to be sharing with you just information. It’s not going to sound like hopefully preaching at all. But what I want to share with you tonight is some information that I believe is not just important, but it is essential that you understand and know about technology. And I especially want to speak to parents.

More often than not, this is the picture that you see in most families, even when you go out in public today. Everybody is looking into that little box. They’re looking into their phone. And even no matter how young they may be, they have a device, they have a screen, they have a tablet, they have a means of communicating with the world. And unfortunately, while there’s an opportunity there with communicate with so many people over the world, we sometimes fail to communicate with those that are right in front of us. How many times have you seen a picture like this when you go out to eat? What’s even amazing about a picture like that, I see it when I visit Disney World, which boggles my mind. That somebody would be with their family on vacation, but yet not with their family who is there with them.

According to recent surveys, daily phone usage is about like this. The average person will be on their phone almost three hours a day. The average person, and this doesn’t just include your phone, this can be an iPad or this can be another mobile device that you’re using in looking at a screen. That’s 86 hours a month. If you’re in college, that generation especially, and I can clearly attest to this by working with teens and college students, the average college student is on their phone over four hours a day. Ninety percent, 90% of all screen usage is not for pertinent information such as a map to find directions, or talking to your spouse so you don’t get in trouble when you get home. It’s about social media or entertainment.

At this rate, the average person by the end of their life will have spent five full years on their phone. Now, that doesn’t mean that they slept eight hours and they were on it the other. No. That’s five full years on their phone. I saw this on Instagram one day. It was a little blurb used by the college to promote the theme for the year. And I got to looking at that picture, and I was like, I am so glad that my children are there and they’re there and enjoying all this spiritual atmosphere that can come from a college that is focused on spiritual things. But then I got to look a little bit more closely at the picture. Look closely. Tell me what you see.

I’ll help you out a little bit. The kids are on their phones. They’re on their phones. Even at a time of devotion, they’re on their phones. I want to just say something real quickly to this family in Christ, since this is something that’s very important to me, and I knew this was coming even tonight. I watch people and I can see people. People think that the preacher can’t see you. It’s so funny. It’s so funny. And every now and then you have the person who likes to hide behind the other person in front of them, and they think if they can’t see you can’t see them. I find that person immediately.

But here’s my point. I haven’t seen anybody here on your phone during the lesson. And that is commendable. That is extremely commendable, and I thank you for that. And maybe I’m like an old fuddy duddy. I would rather use this as my book instead of this as my book for now. Not that there’s anything wrong with this. But say this when it’s an essential way, but that’s commendable for y’all. Isn’t that amazing, though? But I don’t want to give these kids a hard time. They’re no different than anybody else sometimes who’s in settings where they really need to be paying attention to something that is important. But why does that happen? Well, why can’t we at times just set our phone down? We can’t set it away and just leave it alone for 15 minutes.

1. Designed to Be Addictive

And maybe you’re even like me. Even when you come into the assembly sometime, you’re your phone, you’ll hear it go, and you’re like, ah, can I look? Can I look? Can I look? And it’s so tempting. Why do I always crave to look at my phone? Well, the answer is rather simple. The device has been designed to be addicted. I am not a preacher preaching, oh, the world’s falling in. Here comes Henny Penny, oh, it’s going to destroy your mind. No. That point is made by those in the industry. Tristian Harris was a man who worked in this industry for many years. And in a TED talk that he released not too long ago, and you can actually pull it down on YouTube.

He shared how in the boardrooms of these technology companies, they’re seeking ways to make people stay on their devices longer. So here’s what you find when you come to a device that makes it different from the way we used to get our media sources. First of all, news feeds and videos never end. Did you notice that? It never ends. You can constantly scroll, constantly scroll, it never ends. If you remember when we were growing up in the dark ages where you had a newspaper, every other newspaper, it ended. It ended. In fact, you’re I would run and just grab the sports page and the comics, and after about 10 minutes, it’s over. Now what do I do? It ended. Do y’all remember? Do y’all remember what would happen at your when your television was on at one o’clock in the morning?

Anybody remember what would happen when you were growing up? Yeah. You would get the national anthem with a flag flying, and then static bars. And if you woke up in the middle of the night and you went and turned on the TV, you saw. Not anymore. Not anymore. All these things have been designed to be addictive. They appeal to us. And here’s what the devices do, especially social media and all the apps. They instill in us, and maybe it’s not so much instill in us, they perpetuate what’s already inside us, a desire to be approved. Okay. I won’t ask for a show of hands, but I guarantee you’re on social media and you’ve done this. You have posted a picture and you’ve gone back to see who liked it.

And every now and then you post a picture and go, that only got 12 lives. Sherry posted one and she got 32. Something’s going on here. I gotta have a better picture. Or I gotta take a better selfie. Did you know? Did you know that more people die taking selfies in the world every year than those who die in shark attacks? People have died falling off cliffs, they have died falling off buildings, they have been run over by trains because they had an overwhelming desire to be approved. You go to a page, you go to a page, and what you find within the page are numerous choices. Let me show you. This is our Facebook page for our camp, Florida College Camp. And you’ll notice we’re advertising the camp, and you can see all the kids, and you can see camp registrations coming open.

But look at what you see up and down the sides. Choices. Choices. Oh, here’s another group. Oh, here’s a bunch of friends. And notice how it always gives you suggestions. Suggestions. I don’t even know who that is, but they’re suggested to be my friend. Maybe I ought to check them out. And so out of curiosity, you go and check them out. And then you check them out and you say, Oh, there’s another friend I need to check them out. Check them out. And 30 minutes go by and you’ve checked out 14 people that are just weird. And you’re like, I’ve wasted 30 minutes of my life. How did that happen? Because it’s designed to do that. Go back to our list, and when you consider it, push notifications.

Well, what exactly is a push notification? It’s a flash, or it’s a tone, or it’s a vibration. And it reminds you that you have something new. There’s something new there. Better check it out. There’s something new. You better go look. It’s something new. Read me now, read me now, read me now, read me now, read me now. And you just can’t help but go, oh, I got to get up. Oh, that’s all that was.

But it’s designed to make you look. You know what apps and many of these social media apps are designed to do? Promote outrage. Why do they give you the news feed? And why do they put some of the articles that they do in the news feed? You ever wondered that? And what generally happens when all of a sudden there is a post on social media and all of a sudden there’s hundreds of people that have fought to it. Why are they there? Because there’s something that has promoted outrage. And so we get in a fuss or we get in a fight or we start a debate or we start an argument. And it keeps us on longer. And then there’s advertisers. Advertisers do everything that they can to make sure we stay online in the app so we’ll see their product.

Tristan Harris in his TED Talk said this. The CEO of Netflix. The CEO of Netflix said, our greatest competitor is Facebook, YouTube, and sleep. Do you catch his point? We’ve got to find ways to keep them from going to sleep. Anybody ever been on your device before you go to bed? I am so sleepy. Oh, I just can’t. But let me look real quick and see if there’s anything new. Anything new? Anything new? Anything new? Anything new? Anything new? Anything new? Anything new? Anything new? Anything new. Three in the morning. I am so sleepy. Because I’m addicted. How do you know when you might be addicted? Well, you might be addicted to your device. Did you panic when you all of a sudden don’t have it?

Oh my word, I left the house without it. I gotta go back and get it now. How can I exist? You know, our kids, when they grew up, that’s all they know. That’s all y’all know. Cell phones. My kids have actually asked us, how did you survive? How did you live without a cell phone? My wife actually didn’t have a cell phone until it was almost about the year 2001. I always had one or two when I was in the news business. Remember the old big flip phones, those big ones. Anybody remember a bag phone? Oh, yeah, and you carry it on your shoulder where you wanted to go. You know, you kind of had to hold up an antenna to get a signal as you work it around, you know.

But now if we don’t have it with us, we panic. You ever got a phantom pulse? Come on, you ever got a phantom pulse? I get it. It’s right here. I’ve carried my cell phone in my pocket for so long, my leg vibrates. And I’ll go down and go, oh, nothing. I’m like, what is going on? You’ve got a phantom pulse. I bet you have. Or you thought you heard it. You ever check it late at night, or you’re on it while you’re eating with others? Is there anything more rude than to be sitting with someone else at a table talking and conversing, and then you, yeah. Oh, yeah, you’re right. You’re right. -huh. I’ll do it in a moment. Is there anything more rude than that?

Got tech neck. Tech neck?

The old flamingo, but you’re not a flamingo neck. You ever been texting while driving?

2. When Anything Becomes Addictive, It Changes Our Behavior

You were willing to endanger your own life and endanger the lives of those around you because you had to see what was on the phone. You ever thought about how dangerous? How many times do you drive up and down the highway and see people texting? You can always tell when somebody’s on their phone, can’t you? They kind of slow down and they start drifting. You know it’s there. I want to drive up beside them and just lay on the horn. But then I’m afraid they’ll freak and they’ll drive off the road and I’ll feel guilty later about it. But then I catch myself when my phone goes off. Or somebody’s talked to you about it. You see, the reason it’s so important is not only is it something that can become addictive, but when anything becomes addictive, it changes our behavior.

There’s numerous sources for this, and if you want some of these sources, it’s easy to search. If I was to list all the sources, and I’m a news guy, and sources are extremely important to me. But if you want the sources, just search it and you’ll see it. But research has shown that people who are on their phones a lot are anxious. It changes their moods. They’re more likely to be isolated. I tell you that’s one of the things I see so much now in a difference between young people in this day and age than when I was growing up. And I know I sound like the old man. I know. Yes, I did walk up to school, up and uphill in the snow every day.

I already told you about snow story. Yeah, I was across lakes and everything else. I know it sounds like that. But kids have a harder time today communicating face to face with people. And even some adults have a difficult time communicating. Because why? We’re used to and more comfortable being on a screen. It lowers our attention spans.

Where every post, everything we promote is all about me. I’m on Facebook, Instagram, and I post pictures, and I love to post pictures of my kids, and I love to see pictures of your kids. But you know, you know in your heart when you feel it affecting your mood.

If an eighth grader was to come walking in here tonight, and they had four cigarettes in their mouth, going, and they just came on in and said, Dad, would you be a little concerned? Now, first of all, I have actually been in a church where somebody came in with a cigarette. I was a kid, and I was unfortunately my parents had one rule in church. You could set anywhere you wanted as long as it was in front of them. They said where Tony and Cherry said. So we were on the front row. And one Sunday, I’ll never forget it. It was during the sermon. I was like, do y’all smell something? And some guy had lit up a cigarette in the back. It was crazy. It was wild.

Cigarette. That smells like a cigarette.

But what if a what if a teenager came in tonight smoking a cigar? Well, first of all, we say, you can’t do that in here. That’s bad. But then the second thing you do, you go to their parents, and you would say, Do you not know how bad that is? And I guarantee you, somebody in here who either is a smoker or has fought with smoking or knows somebody who does, you would quickly say, that can be very addictive. Be very careful with that.

But yet when it comes to a cell phone, everybody gets one. Everybody gets one. Even though we see over and over again in the research that it definitely affects us, and it’s affected our young people, and it changes our mood, and it’s changed the way we live our lives. In fact, a survey was done not too long ago by ATT Internet. And they asked the question, what would you be willing to give up to keep your internet? If it came between this or the internet, what would you do? Well, 87% of people said, you know what? I’d give up chocolate. I’d give up chocolate. Forty percent said I’d give up sight out of one eye. 36% said they would give up all of their hair. For some of you, that’s not a problem.

God bless you. Some 30% said they’d be willing to lose a finger. Almost 30% said they would be willing to lose their sense of taste. I can live without sense of taste, but I can’t live without the internet. 23% would give up a dream job. 19% would give up love. Clearly, they don’t know what love is.

Or love for a job. Now, as crazy as that sounds, can you remember the last time you were without internet or without service? Did it affect you? Were you frustrated? Did you feel lost? Did you go to the front desk and say, What kind of business are you running here? So what is acceptable? According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, there should be zero screen time up till 18 months. That means zero. The American Academy of Pediatrics says between 18 months to three years, 20 to 30 minutes maximum a day. And that means maximum. All screen time culminated together, 20 to 30 minutes maximum, three to five years, definitely no more than an hour. Six and up limited. And the American Academy of Pediatrics says no screens in bedrooms.

None. Why would you open up to your child the opportunity to go anywhere in the world? And I mean anywhere in the world. No screens at the dinner tables, no screens one hour until one hour of play or exercise has taken place.

3. Some of Satan's Best Schemes Waste Our Time

I like it. I think it’s fascinating. He kind of gives you his insight into what the demon world might be like and how we are tempted by Satan. Here’s one of the quotes from the screw tape letters that was written many years ago. You ready? All the healthy and ongoing activities which we want him to avoid can be inhibited and nothing given in return. So that at last he may say, as one of my own patients said on his arrival down here, I see that I spent most of my life in doing neither what I ought nor what I liked. Unquote. Did you catch what he said?

We think sometimes Satan’s just trying to put all these evil things in front of us so that we’ll run off. No. Some of Satan’s best schemes are putting us in situations where we waste time doing things that we don’t even like. That we look back on and go, why was I even doing that in the first place? Or we knew we shouldn’t have been there in the first place, and it deceives us and steals our life from us. Micah. In Micah chapter 2 and in verse 1. In fact, here’s kind of a neat way of going back and looking at the Garden of Eden. Maybe it was an apple that was given to Eve. Maybe it was.

But in Micah chapter 2 and in verse 1, Micah writes, Woe to those who devise wickedness and work evil in their beds. When the morning dawns, they perform it because it’s in the power of their hand. Now, clearly, Micah the prophet was not talking about cell phones. But he was talking about idols. And the principle is still true, is it not? Of the things that we devise and put in our hands lead us farther away from the Lord. I want you to turn in your Bibles to Genesis chapter 11. I realize that up until now I haven’t used one verse of scripture, and this is a sermon. I know that. But I wanted you to hear all the information. All the information about addiction, about mood chains, about behavior, about what is acceptable and shouldn’t be acceptable from children.

4. The Tower of Babel

I want you to hear even what the world is saying about it and the world’s warnings about those things. Did you know that Steve Jobs, the inventor of all those apple products, refused to allow his own children to have a screen? And that there’s many in those high-tech companies who have the same boundaries for their own children. Why? Because they made it. And they know how it can rob us of our time. In Genesis chapter 11, we find a story that may be familiar to many of us. It’s a story of the Tower of Babel. And I don’t know if you’ve ever really looked into this story, but it is a little fascinating from the standpoint that what man was trying to do collectively, all the men that were on the earth, they were trying to collectively build a tower that reached up to heaven.

And God was so outraged with this plan that he not, he didn’t just kill the construction. He divided the people up and he divided them up with language. Has anybody ever looked at that story and gone, I don’t get it? Okay, so they were building a tower. Eventually it’s going to get so high that they’re going to have altitude sickness and get headaches and it’s going to end. Why would God go to such great extremes to spread them out? To divide them, to confuse their language.

He put man upon the earth. And man’s law was actually rather simplistic and simple. God said, I want you to be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. You see this in Genesis 1.28 as well as in Genesis 9.1. The command of God, be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.

But man doesn’t want to do that.

Man doesn’t want to fill the earth. Man doesn’t want to spread out. And so in Genesis 11 and in verses 8 through 9, it says, So the Lord dispersed them from there over the face of all the earth. And they left off building the city. And from there the Lord dispersed them over the face of the earth. You’ll notice, you’ll notice that the Lord has decided to spread them out. Why? Go back to verse 1. Because the whole earth was of one language and of one speech. Now, why is that a big deal? Why is that exactly wrong? Notice verse 4. And so they said, Let us let us come together. Let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its tops in the heavens.

And let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth. The whole point, the whole point in unifying together, was to defy the command of God. God said, This first, we’re not doing it. God spread out, no, we’re going to stay right here together, and we’re going to do things our own way, and we’re going to live life the way we want to.

In which everybody is forced together.

It wasn’t good for them, even those that might be striving to do what was right. It wasn’t good for them to be there. What’s very interesting when you go back and you look at the lineage of Noah, Penileg, who you’ll go back and look at one of his great descendants going all the way back, his name actually means division. And so what you see is possibly in his days was the division. Their intent was to defile God, and they were separated for their own. I share this story with you. Just to help you see an important principle. There’s a reason why Paul preached to Corinth in 2 Corinthians 6 and 7, that you be in the world but separate from it. There’s a reason that you’re warned over and over and over and over again in Scripture to be mindful that evil companions will corrupt good morals.

And the whole point of that is this. If you are constantly association or associating with those that are evil, it will corrupt you. And being unified with everyone who has the same desire to defy God, it will corrupt you.

It has its curses. And isn’t it interesting to see now with technology? And again, don’t see me as some kind of alarmist, all right? I’m not trying to just be practical here with you. But isn’t it interesting now with technology that the world is being what? Unified again. In fact, even if somebody speaks a different language, all you have to do is go below their post and get what? See translation. Oh, hey, great. I can speak Spanish. And I can see exactly what they were writing. Where any thought can be perpetuated to thousands upon thousands upon thousands like that.

5. Beware of a Tower of Defiance

That should cause us to step back. That should cause us to ponder about what does Proverbs 4 tell us? Ponder the path of your feet. Let all your ways be established. I want to close out this lesson with just some warnings. I mentioned this to you a little bit earlier. Micah had this warning. Woe to those who devise wickedness and work evil on their beds when the morning dawns, they perform it because it’s in the power of their hand. We know he wasn’t talking specifically about technology. But it was a principle of idolatry. And it’s still true today. Isaiah 2 8 says, their land is filled with idols. They bow down to the work of their hands to what their own fingers have made. And in a way, are we not making idols unbeknownst to us with our fingers?

Things that are changing us and changing our mood and changing our families. I want to share with you a list. And those of you that are note takers, you’re going to have to forgive me because I’m going to move along a little quick on this, okay? So forgive me. You’ll have the slides if you want to look back to it. But I want to give this list a little bit of a qualifier. Okay. I want you to hear and understand that I use technology, okay? I’m not standing before you holding up a cell phone going, oh, Satan. Burn it. Get piles out there, burn it. If you’ve got technology, no. Just like when the TV was such a big deal when I was a kid and you heard warnings about television was also a great way to share the gospel.

There’s good things that can come from technology. But there’s a lot of bad things. So the list that I’m about to share with you, bad and then good, are just things that I’ve learned from observation, working with people, even challenges with myself and my own family. And so if there’s something on this list that you go, oh, that’s just the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard. All right. Alright. But I would like for you to think about it. Because it does have some wisdom behind it. I want us to beware of a tower of defiance when it comes to technology. And I want you to think of this. I personally believe you don’t need a cell phone until you turn 16 and you start driving. That’s my own personal belief.

And that’s when my kids got theirs. And they got it in very limited fashion. Mom and dad know every password, in fact, there really are no passwords, and there is constant access to everything that is posted or shared or done with their phone. And my kids are in college, okay. And we have a limited data plan. Now you’re thinking, well, that’s not the dumbest thing in the world. No. And you know what? We go over every month. And every month, whoever used the most pays the overage, which is never going to be me or my wife. So I don’t care if we go over in that respect. I’m not paying it. But I don’t think some things should be unlimited. Because of what they can promote, my opinion.

Most authorities on the subject will tell you a kid does not need a cell phone in any way, shape, or form until at least the earliest would be the eighth grade at the earliest, and the only then should be limited. You should never, ever text and drive. I realize that may seem kind of redundant to say to this crowd, but you do it, don’t you? Some of the saddest things that can be seen and witnessed are the accidents that I’ve been to in the news media. Where the person that perished was not the person that was in the wrong. And the saddest part about it is the person who is responsible has to live with it the rest of their life. Don’t share anything that’s even remotely immodest.

We live in such a narcissistic society. We want to share how our body looks all the time, even if, even if we’re trying to break the mold. It just boggles my mind what’s going on now in society. Granted, we live in a culture that is so vain that we have super thin supermodels all the time that are set up as these prized people. And so now our society’s gone to the total extreme that even those who are totally out of shape, they still want to show themselves off and say, I’m proud of who I am. And the way I show that is posting myself in my underwear all over Facebook. Really? That’s how you build up your self-esteem.

Am I the only one that sees the danger in that narcissism, not to mention it’s immodest and ungodly. See what society does to us. How many of us see in our teens and in those maybe who are friends of our teens who are constantly posting pictures that are so inappropriate? But they so desire attention and affection. It’s why they do it. Never go to a dark alley. Never, ever go to a dark alley. It’s an abyss. Gaming porn or a private encounter. If you’re having a conversation with someone that you would not have openly in front of your spouse or your parents, you are in the dark alley. You’re in the dark alley. Be mindful that everything you like reveals your heart. The picture that you like, the situation you like, the event you like, the things that you like, it reveals your heart.

I’m on Instagram and Facebook for many reasons, but one of the main reasons I’m actually on many of those things, and I stay on them, is it helps me keep up with my campers. And I see what they like. I see what’s important to them. Mr. Phil’s a stalker. Yes, I am. I’m called a good dad. It’s exactly what I am. And I’m very mindful of what I like. Don’t argue. Don’t argue. Social media and those kind of platforms are not good. Have you ever seen somebody in an argument on a Facebook rant ever go, oh, you know what? You’re exactly right. Thank you so much for setting me straight. You’re right, I have voted for the wrong person. Oh, what was I thinking?

You are dead on. Thank you, thank you. No. It never happens. In fact, typically it makes us matter. And how many of you, if you’re honest, have ever lied awake at night going, I can’t believe what they’re saying. Ah, I can’t believe it. I’ve got to reply, I’ve got to reply. And I thought of a good reply later, and I’ve got to go right and I’ve got to write it down so I can get it back on there. Because it consumes us. If you think in some way it needs to be discussed.

Do it in a manner of Matthew 18. Talk to them privately. Not to the whole world. Don’t share fake news. I tell you, folks, that drives me crazy. Most of what can be shared is fake news. If you, oh yes, I always do. That guy was a snake. Yeah! You share it, and it’s just something somebody made up, and all you gotta do is go to Snoopes or anything else and figure out how bogus it is. We all want this news agency to be responsible for this kind of news and this news agency, this kind of news. And then we get just drawn in so quickly. And brethren are sharing flies. Don’t criticize people. Be very mindful of criticizing somebody in a forum like that. Avoid political dates.

Don’t be preachy. Don’t tell me how religious you are on Facebook. Oh, I’m just so most spiritual. Let me tell you how many people I fed today. I just got up this morning about 3 a.m. I just started feeding the homeless all over the city. Then I went over here and I gave these people so much money. And then I went to this corner and I started preaching Jesus to them. And then we were first, and I hugged this guy and had hugged it a year, and then I went to Chick-fil-A and I paid for the person’s bill behind me. I’m just so good today, I can’t stand it. Who cares? Have you ever read the Sermon on the Mount about claiming all your good deeds before the world?

It’s not the place to be preaching. Be mindful of arrogance and sarcasm. It doesn’t go over very easy. And you may think it’s a joke, but if they can’t see your face, it doesn’t feel like a joke. Be careful of daily post. Now, I know a lot of people post daily. I am not digging you. But I say that to you from simply this point of view. Be careful that you’re not getting addicted. Be careful that it’s not turning into narcissism. Be careful that it’s not becoming your life. Now, sometimes you’ve got to be on it because it’s part of your business, or it’s something you’re promoting, or it’s something important. In fact, a lot of advertising is done on social media now. I get that.

6. Build Wonderful Bridges of Hope With Technology

But be a good judge of you and just don’t waste your time. But here’s what you can do. You can build wonderful bridges of hope with technology. I believe it’s there. And I believe when it’s used in a mature way, in a responsible way, in a very adult way, it can be a wonderful tool. I’m not going back to Rand McNally, just so you know. I don’t go, boy, I sure miss those days. I’m not going to go back to collect phone calls. Because I think there’s some good that can be done. Share joy and gratitude. Share it. Rejoice with those who rejoice. Share the love of the Lord. Share your gratefulness. Share your joy. Share your peace. Share. Share these things. Be an encouragement to others.

In Romans chapter 12, all of us are encouraged to be the encouragement. Be the person who builds upon. Speak with grace. You know what it means to speak with grace? It means to speak in a favorable way that sometimes isn’t deserved. You know, like when a lot of people say to me when I’m when I’m sitting at the back of the building and they come out, that was a really good sermon. You’re a great speaker. Thank you. Because I didn’t like it. I don’t know where you’re. You’re so sweet. I appreciate sweet people. What a great place to be kind. What a great place to offer even the grace. Promote good things. Isn’t it cool? You can promote a sermon. You can promote spiritual action. You can promote the church.

You can promote good deeds. You can promote opportunities. I love it when I find out about opportunities to help other people.

Member of our congregation who was very important to us and we all loved. And one of this man’s children started a little funding thing. It was centered around instead of giving flowers, if you would like to give money, all the money that is given will go to his favorite charities. And I jumped all over that. And what was neat was it was shared with the click of a button and it reached hundreds and hundreds of people instantly. And by the time I went back and looked at where it was the next day, it had already made thousands of dollars. Isn’t that cool?

Promote the good things. Use it to build stronger friendships. Now that’s what I love about it the most. I get to keep in touch with friends like Tony. I get to keep in touch with people that I know. I get to I get to be acquainted with people that maybe I always see every now and then, and I get to rekindle that friendship and I get to communicate with them and share with them. What a great tool. And you know what’s so great? And guys, if you’re like me, don’t you love texting where you don’t have to have a long conversation with somebody? Isn’t that great? You know, you ever answer the phone, you go, hey, how are you? Great. You having a good day? Oh, great.

How about your day? Oh, yeah, things are going well. What you been doing, what you’ve been doing, and you finally go, hey, are we going to the game party? Yeah, okay. Thanks. All right. Now all you gotta do is take. We’re going to the game Friday? Yep. Done. We have a deacon at church that will send us the longest text. I think he’s half female. But he sends these long texts. He’s an encounter, is what he is. I mean, he’s just the most. Every time you get a text from him, you’re like. My phone dies while I’m reading it. And I feel so bad when I reply to one of his long messages. Okay.

But it is pretty cool.

We actually text during our services back home. I gotta confess. I have to keep my phone with me. Because we are blessed with so many visitors and so many people who are working within our congregation. I’ll get a text during the service that says, hey, so and so’s who is here. What’s their wife’s name? I’m so in there. Judy. Thanks, you’re the man. And they run over there and talk to them. Or look. Three o’clock. So and so’s here. Got them. On it. It’s great. It has its advantages. Encourage spiritual things.

To truly let your light shine. What an opportunity to do that. To be the city that is think of the responsibility you have as a child of God.

You ever gone back and maybe looked through your news feed or gone back and looked at your pictures or gone back and looked at your posts and just tried to look at it from this 10 point. Is that what a Christian would really do?

Seek to comfort and aid the weak. I personally don’t think any kind of social media or any kind of forum like that is a platform to air all your problems. But some people do. They need help. That’s an opportunity to encourage. To lift them up. It’s also neat how you can use technology real quick to send a note of encouragement to somebody real fast. There’s really no, we sometimes say, Oh, I didn’t have time to write a note. Oh, I wish I. It doesn’t get any easier than technology. Encourage the weak. Take advantage of educational resources. There are some great podcasts. Did you know you can take college classes free? Free if you want more education. There’s some good podcasts that you can listen to. And there’s great places you can go to learn good teaching.

And hear good teaching. Isn’t that neat? Take advantage of it. Maybe the next time you take a trip, you download a lot of podcasts. That’d be really good to listen to. Anybody done that? I do it all the time. Overcome evil with good. Overcome evil with good. May we not be building the Tower of Babel or a Tower of Defiance. May we actually be building what is good, instant venting, instant contact, instant communication, instant news, instant resources. Anywhere in the world we live, it has its challenges. An instant is generally not good for us.

Conclusion

But this instant is to come back to the Lord and have instant forgiveness, to have instant cleansing, to have instant hope, to have instant life. I tell you what, folks, if you really want to talk about communication and how wonderful it is, the greatest communication has always been there for all of us. That at any time we want, we can go instantly to the throne room of our Heavenly Father and talk to Him as long as we want to share with Him. And then whenever you want, instantly you can listen to Him.

So that we could be forgiven. And if tonight you have never received that forgiveness, I want you to understand it happens in an instant. From death to life in an instant. When your sins are washed away in the blood of Christ. Maybe we need to reconnect. And to get there, we need to disconnect with the world. And if that’s you tonight, and if we can help you in any way, won’t you come while we’re standing sitting?