Media Cleanse Buzz

There's already some great discussion going on about August's Media Cleanse, which will start in just a couple of days! Here are some highlights:

From Koleesa Amundson of Dogs, Wars and Femininity:

"I have done things similar to this very recently and have found it extremely worth while." 

From Sarah Lee Bryant of KBR Ministries:

"This is an important idea... for all of our life at all times, as believers. Thank you for hosting it and encouraging our generation to think Biblically and evaluate everything in light of God's precious, enlightening Word. One media cleanse I have done in the past was to completely fast from internet, except email, for an entire month. The Lord used this powerfully to redirect my focus to the pure wholeness of His Word, eliminating all the distractions of modern media. "O that my ways were directed to keep thy statutes! Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word." -Ps 119 Blessings to each of you who honor Christ by cleansing your temples."

From Andrew Romanowitz of Sons of the Remnant:

"Thank you... for encouraging us all in the obedience of Christ. Let me take a moment and say to my friends who have received this invitation that I would heartily encourage you to take this opportunity to re-evaluate your media consumption habits in the light of God's word.

It takes a lot less effort to be very, very scrupulous and keep the gates closed to that which is unwholesome and spiritually toxic in the world of media than it does to recover lost ground where you've made concessions, because you've eroded your convictions and compromised your conscience. 

Don't let those gates down; we must fight for every inch of ground against the world, the flesh, and the devil. Discernment does involve being able to determine truth and error, good and evil in what we consume. But being able to identify poison does not give us a free pass to consume it. 

If you have let those gates down, the fact is that you've become gradually desensitized in your mind. If you're vegging out over and over on media that teaches what is contrary to the commands of Christ, you need to consider whether you are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ. When lawless thoughts are introduced into our minds, how do we respond? With holy revulsion or at best passive disapproval? 

I've kept the gates closed all my life to lawless media. A couple of times they've begun to come down, but I've quickly closed them again. So I don't have as much de-toxing to do. The one area where I've made concessions is musical aesthetics, and because I have convictions on that matter, what I intend to do during this upcoming month is take a break from that music for which I've made concessions and re-evaluate how it has influenced me for good or for evil. I say this to point out that, in our media-saturated society, all of us have something that we can do to reform our lives in this area. Maybe what you're listening to isn't necessarily wrong in and of itself, but tends to shift your personal focus from serving Christ to pursuing your own pleasures. Maybe you've just been spending so much time with media that it's crowding out important relationships. Maybe you're consuming so much media that your mind is being weakened by passively receiving so much content, and your intellectual strength is weakened. These are all things to consider; content is not the only issue. 

While you're detoxing, instead of vegging out on entertainment, let me encourage you to spend some time listening to biblical instruction on making media choices in the light of following Christ. My friend Mr. Phillip Telfer has a ministry called Media Talk 101 which is dedicated to helping Christians with this very thing. Over the past few months they've begun to produce some podcasts which deal with a whole range of issues surrounding the obedience of Christ in the world of media. You can download these podcasts for free here..."  {Here's the link.} 

{Andrew posted a blog about the Media Cleanse. It's incredible. Please take time to read it.}

We have 40 participants and counting. Will you be one of them? You can join the event on Facebook or on Google Plus. 

This event is also being hosted on the following blogs:

Sons of the Remnant

Little Blots of Ink

Daughters of the King

(You still have an opportunity to sign up for

co-hosting by emailing me at ladylrae [at] gmail [dot] com.)

Join the Conversation

What do you think the standard should be for media consumption?

Make a Covenant With Your Eyes This August

I've been reading a bit about detoxing for health reasons. Eliminating toxins from one's body is beneficial for boosting energy, focus and the immune system.

While I've been doing pretty good diet-wise, I've begun to consume a lot of "junk-food" media. To a degree, I can see the consequences in my life.

"That would've been such a cute movie if it weren't for...
...and then that scene we had to fast-forward where...
...and there was that other scene...
...and, well, there was that fight with her parents...
...and she wasn't exactly modest...
...and he was pretty rebellious, wasn't he?....
...but they were sooo cute together!"
Sound familiar?

When I don't take the time to analyze and thoroughly "digest" the worldly media that I'm consuming, the toxic build-up often results in spiritual lethargy, loss of Kingdom-focus and becoming desensitized to sin.

The following verses convict me:

"Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity; and quicken thou me in thy way."

{Psalms 119:37}

"He that walketh righteously, and speaketh uprightly; he that despiseth the gain of oppressions, that shaketh his hands from holding of bribes, that stoppeth his ears from hearing of blood, and shutteth his eyes from seeing evil;"

{Isaiah 33:15}

"For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world."

{1 John 2:16}

"So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom."

{Psalms 90:12}

"Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children; And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour. But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints; Neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient: but rather giving of thanks. For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience. Be not ye therefore partakers with them. For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light: (For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth;) Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord. And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them. For it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret. But all things that are reproved are made manifest by the light: for whatsoever doth make manifest is light. Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light. See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, Redeeming the time, because the days are evil."

 {Ephesians 5:1-16}

For the month of August, we're going to make "a covenant with our eyes" to avoid any books and turn off any show/movie/song/website that portrays the breaking of God's Law as acceptable and/or funny. {The only exception will be the times when we are actively analyzing the media through a Biblical lens.}

Here's an idea of what that covenant will look like for us:

By God's grace, during this "cleanse" I will not be passively entertained by any media that portrays the following as acceptable or pleasantly humorous:

• Idolatry

• Blasphemy {the taking of God's name in vain or the light regard of God's name in phrases like: "oh my g--" and the like}

• Dishonouring parents

• Murder / hatred / lawless revenge

• Theft / piracy / cheating

• Lust / fornication / adultery / sodomy

• Dishonesty / deceiving legitimate authorities

• Covetousness / discontentment with godly institutions and standards

 In the event that the media I'm consuming takes a sinful turn, I will either take the time to honestly analyse and judge the message from a Biblical worldview OR I will turn my eyes away from beholding "vanity fair" and choose instead to invest my time in drawing nigh unto the Lord in study/prayer or to worship Him by engaging in Kingdom-advancing service.

"Kingdom-advancing service" here In The Thinking Tree means a lot of work in and out of the studio! Cauley said that she's looking forward to all we'll accomplish without the distraction of all those shows we've let slip in over the past few months. Prayerfully, we'll be able to redeem more time that can be invested in our home, business and ministry opportunities.

Would you like to prayerfully consider joining us in this month-long challenge by making the same covenant with your eyes?

Tips for Success:

1) Sign the covenant, and hang it up in a place where you'll see it and be reminded of your motivation behind participating. You can print our version of the pledge here.

2) Join the event. In a challenge like this, accountability is your friend. You can sign up for the event on Facebook or Google Plus and join dozens of other Christians who are participating this August. {There is already some pretty great discussion going on!}

3) Explain your decision to join the "Media Cleanse" to a family member. Siblings are especially good at helping keep one accountable! Perhaps they'll even want to join you!

4) Get motivated. I have never been able to absorb worldly media with very much comfort after listening to the message on this video. {Some of the images may be disturbing for littles. Please don't let the slide-show distract you from the important audio message that is presented here, in part, by Paul Washer.}

This event is also being hosted on the following blogs:

Sons of the Remnant

Little Blots of Ink

Daughters of the King

Looking forward to August,

P.S. Are you a blogger? Email me at ladylrae {at} gmail {dot} com if you'd like to to co-host this event! The requirements for co-hosting are few and simple, plus your blog will be linked in this post! {I'll have to do a quick check of your blog, though, to make sure I feel comfortable with linking to it.}

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