Side note: Media Fast Check In!

How’s it going?

Has the stomach of your mind started rumbling from lack of media overload?

If you have already failed, don’t give up. Commit to the 21 days. Get connected with the rest of the group. Help them and let them help you stay focused.

Isaiah 40:29 says, “He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.”

You can’t stay strong, but God can. Let Him do it.

Now, if you’re just a slacker and did not commit to the “media fast” for 21 days and you don’t plan on doing it you should have gotten out. Yep, that’s right. You should have stopped taking this journey with us and gotten out of class. Listen, if you are not going to push life and step off into living with raging abandonment for Christ, then you are not going to benefit from this study and you will bring the group down.

So if you get out of our class then what do you do? Seek to know God. Pray that He will bring you to a point where you are ready. Stay in touch with us and let us help you get ready so you can try this again.

THE WORD

Okay, back to those who are still doing this.

Check this out: Matthew 12:33-37.

·       Look at the part about stuff “stored up” in you. How do you “store up” stuff inside you?

·       In what ways do things get into your mind and heart?

·       How can you store up good stuff?

·       How can you store up bad stuff?

·       At the end there is a lot of weight put on our words. Why? Why is what we say so important? What do our words tell about us?

So how does any of this relate to the 65 day media fast? (ha, just checking to see if you were paying attention.) The 21 day media fast – let’s see.

Think about the last couple of days.

·       Have you wanted to veg-out with the TV, music, or Web?

·       What has been your biggest desire to get into?

·       What did you do to fight the urge?

·       What is the Scripture you focused on?

This media fast, it’s tough.

But hey, know that you are not the only one. Call two people from class. See how they are doing and how their day went. Ask them the questions you just answered.

LIFE LINK!

And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

(Romans 12:2)

THE THING.

Write down all the cool things you can thing of about God. It can be stuff in the Bible, things you’re heard, or things that you have experienced with God. Write a list of those things.

That’s called praising God. Telling Him who He is in our lives and what we love about Him. Telling Him who He is also reminds us who we are and who we are not.

Check out the verse again: Romans 12:2.

Read it. Turn it into a prayer about your 21 day media gast. Write the prayer.

If you want, make a symbol to remind you of the 21 days. I have a pillow case over my TV so I can’t even see the screen. But try putting a card on the TV on computer with the LIFE LINK! and the date the fast is over (Oct. 17^th).

Do whatever it take. Stay strong. It is going to be tough. Help the people in the group. You can do it. No doubt. Run at the challenge full-speed and feel the burn of taking control of your mind.

“Cause what consumes your thoughts controls your life” – Creed, “What If”

Number 12: Give Away What???

MINE! That’s MINE! Some of the first words that kids learn. Everything… “Mine.” People argue that when babies are born they are innocent and sweet. Whatever! Those people don’t know the babies I know.

In Kindergarten they teach you to share. It doesn’t come naturally. It’s all about Me. Mine. We are born selfish, and it gets worse from there.

Do something right now. Real quick, where you are, look around and see the things that are yours. If you are not in your room and can’t get there to see your stuff, then visualize. Look at the stuff that is yours. Jot down a few of those things.

What do you own? What are some things that are yours?

THE WORD

Check out Mathew 6:19-24.

We try to get more and more stuff. The latest, the coolest, the best. First of all, it’s not ours. Nothing in this world is really ours. We may have it with is at the moment, but the Word says we are worried about collecting a bunch of junk. Second, it says that if we want to have a bunch of things, those things start to control us. We spend our time trying to get more, or we’re worried that someone else will take what we have. We forget about God.

The Word tells us to store up things in heaven. How? The things we are doing here in The Hardest Days are trying to teach us how to do that. We live the Word. All of it.

LIFE LINK!

And He said to them, “Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one’s life does no consist in the abundance of things he possesses.”

(Luke 12:15)

THE THING.

What are some things that are really valuable to you? Not expensive, but things that you hate to even think about giving up. It could be a shirt, a stuffed animal, a football, a poster, whatever. Look around. Ask God to show you things that you have that you can’t dream of losing.

Now, this may hurt: give it away! That’s right, give it away. Whatever you thing was, find someone to give it to. (Don’t go back and changer your thing now. Don’t be a pansy.) If it was a shirt, wrap it up, and give it away. If it was a childhood toy, same thing, find a kid to give it to. Ask if you need help.

Give Away Rules:

1.      It has to be something that is YOURS. Don’t give away a TV that belongs to your parents or a shirt that belongs to your sister.

2.    Make sure that it is valuable to you! Not in $$$ but something you have a bond with. It can’t be some blah thing that you think is just okay. It has to be something you really like.

3.    Let it be a secret. Don’t tell the person that it was you. Somehow, give ‘em the gift and keep it on the down low.

Think about what is happening here. The real deal.

·       How do you reel about giving up something you really like?

·       What do you think about losing this thing?

·       How do you think the person who ends up with your stuff will feel?

One more little sideling about the give-away. If possible, make it a top-secret mission. Don’t let the person know where it came from or why they got it. Just do it. Don’t tell a bunch of people, and if you give a shirt to someone that needs it in your school and they wear it, DO NOT tell your friends, “Hey look, he’s wearing that shirt I gave him.” Don’t be a dork like that. Keep it a secret. Today isn’t about the other person getting something.

It is about you letting go.

So let’s break it down.

1.      Find something that is important to you

2.    Search for someone or some organization to give it to.

3.    Give it away.

It’s that easy. And it’s that hard! But hey, it’s not your anyway. So give it up.

WHATEVER YOU CAN’T GIVE UP CONTROLS YOU.

Number 11: Frend-ventory

I was speaking at a large high school in Texas. After the assemblies I went outside to just chill and chat. I saw this guy that I just had to talk to. He said his name was Eddie.

Eddie was wacked. He had on shorts that came down below his knees with red and blue stripped sock that were pulled up over his knees. He was wearing a sweatshirt turned inside out with a stick figure sprayed painted on it. His hair was long and shaggy and stuck out from a knitted hat that hung down to his waist. I looked Eddie over and asked, “Why do you dress like this?” Eddie smiled and said, “Uh, dude, I just want to be different.” I looked over Eddie’s shoulder, and there were eight guys standing there that looked just like him. I said “How are you different? Those guys look just like you.”

THE WORD

You become who you hang out with most.

Jesus spent his days with the “sinners.” He reached out to them. The druggies, the whores, the drunks, the thieves, the bar hoppers, the lonely, the helpless – He wanted to touch all of them. He hung out in their neighborhoods and went to where they were.

But Jesus spent most of his time with twelve guys.

Out of those twelve, only 3 were in his inner circle.

Read Luke 9:29-36.

Did you catch it? God was about to show the world who Jesus really was. Jesus knew what was about to happen, and He took his best buds with Him. Peter, James, and John.

These guys were His closest friends. Jesus was tight with these three guys, because He knew they were sold-out followers. No, they weren’t perfect, but they believed Jesus and wanted others to know Him.

Did you connect the dots and see what is happening? Jesus’ best friends were Christians. Yeah, He would hang out with non-Christians, but the guys closest to Him were believers.

LIFE LINK!

Do not be misled: “Bad company corrupts good character.”

(1 Corinthians 15:33)

THE THING.

FRIEND CHECK!

·       Who are your best friends?

·       Who do you spend most of your time with? Share your secrets with?

·       Who knows you inside and out?

·       Are the Christians?

·       Are the sold-out, full-on followers of Christ?

See, all the disciples were followers. But Jesus’ best friends were not just followers; they were living in total abandonment, stepping off, and following Christ.

Ready for the hard stuff? Take a friend-ventory. If your closest friends are not believers, or they are believers but don’t act like it, you need to rethink the relationship. Read the LIFE LINK! verse again. How do you think that relates to your friends?

If your major pals are not Christians, they will bring you down. Hey the Word doesn’t say, “Good company will change bad character.” No, it’s the total flip side. The Word is truth. It’s real. Don’t ignore it just because it’s hard. Check your friends.

So what now? If you know that one of your deep friends is no following Christ with all they have, then you need to move them down on the friend chain. That doesn’t mean totally dis’ them and bounce them from the ranks of bud. What it means is stop spending so much time with them. You can’t open up your heart and ask for their honest advice, because what they say is not coming from God. Spend more time with solid believers. Get to know them in a deep core way so that you can help each other.

No, this isn’t going against what we said in the C.G.

Think about it. Connect the dots. Struggle with the idea.

Put them together and it makes sense.

Make sure your best buds are growing Christians so you can push each other to be like Christ. Then, when you hang out with non-believers, they can see Christ in you.

Make sense? Prove it by doing it.

Number 10: The C.G.

You’re cruisin’ with your buds. You are looking at the directions and turn on what you think is the right street, only to realize that you are big-time lost. You look around the neighborhood, and there’s graffiti splashed across every wall and sign. Windows are broken out of buildings, and there’s trash in the streets. Homeless people are standing around a fire lit in a vacant lot. You are in the ghetto.

You keep watching. Everyone seems to look alike. They talk alike. They are staring at you, too, because they know that you don’t belong there.

It’s a city within a city. Stores, restaurants, houses, everything is there. No reason to ever leave the ghetto. They have their own ways, their own problems, their own rules. It is both a security and a prison.

THE WORD

Don’t miss what is happening. Christians have created their own ghetto. Think about that. Look at the story again and really think about it. A Christian Ghetto (C.G.). What would it look like? If there were actually a place, a Christian Ghetto, what would it look like? What would be the symbols, language? How would you know you were in the C.G.? What would the buildings, the people, and the streets look like?

We as Christian have created our own ghetto. We have our own Christian schools, Christian newspapers, Christian TV shows. We have our own language, look, our own way of doing things. We don’t even need to leave our Christian community. We have everything we need. We have separated ourselves from the world so that we don’t have to venture out. We are safe in our ghetto. When strangers come around, we stare at them because we know they don’t belong.

Check out the Word. Look up Matthew 9:9-13.

These religious people were flipping out all over Jesus because he went out of the C.G. and was hanging with people from another hood. The Word is so straight on. We are supposed to step out of our own little world and reach out to those around you.

LIFE LINK!

Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

(Matthew 28:19)

THE THING

Get out of the C.G.

Mix it up. We say we are going to change the world. How? We go to Christian school, Christian concerts, have Christian friends. It’s all “Christian.” How are we going to change the world, if we don’t even know there’s a real world?

So what now? Some questions.

·       What is the last thing you did that put yourself in contact with non-Christians. I don’t mean like you went to the mall shopping and there were probably some there. But where you really got to trade vibes – connect.

·       When was the last real conversation you had with someone who was not a Christian? Ordering a value meal doesn’t count. I mean, where did you last get past the superficial Hollywood acting job everyone fronts and really get deep?

·       Brainstorm time. What are some ways that you could get out of the C.G.? What are some things you could do to get out there and mix it up?

What’s our deal? Are we supposed to witness to the saved or the lost?

Don’t be so Christian that you forget about the world! Take Christ to them.

Number 9: 1/2 Day Getaway

      High school football. Nothing like it. The smell

of October in the air. The lights, the cound, the frenzy. Oh,

don’t get me wrong. I never stepped foot on the field during a

game. I may be stupid, but I’m not crazy. I am built like a pop-

sicle stick with legs. Zero f-ball skills. But man could I talk. So

I spent my Friday nights up in the press box. (we called it the

bird’s nest.) I would give fans the lowdown from up high.

My first game in the bird’s nest I was chatting along, the door

flew open, and there stood the coach. Wait, the coach? Wasn’t

he suppose to be on the field? I felt like I was on a crashing

airplane and the pilot decided to step our for a moment. I

shouted, “Coach, what are you doing here!?” He stared out

onto the field and mumbles, “I needed a fresh perspective.” I

looked down at the sidelines and sure enough, chaos. Players

and coaches running around. Band playing. Parents shouting.

Cheerleaders cheering. Chaos. He needed to step out of the

situation, get away from everything, come to the bird’s nest,

and get a fresh perspective.

                             THE WORD

                     Take a time out, and look up Luke 5:12-15. Read it.

Did you see the Friday night frenzy? Jesus was on the playing field. There were parents shouting for Jesus to touch their

kids. There were cheerleaders cheering Him on. The assis-

tant coaches (disciples) were running around giving orders.

It was chaos. Jesus was right in the middle of it all. so what

did he do? He took off to the “bird’s nest.” He needed a fresh

perspective, so He got away from it all

It was just Him and God.

Have you ever called a time-out on your life to get a new per-

spective? Have you ever taken a ½ day and stepped away

from it all? I don’t mean get away to the mall or with your

buds to the beach. I mean just you an God?

                   If you have           When was it?

                                                Where’d you go?

                                                What did you get out of it?

LIFE LINK!

Now in the morning, having risen a long while before

daylight, He went out and departed to a solitary

place; and there He prayed.

(Mark 1:35)

          Write it down. Memorize it. Visualize it. See Jesus getting up

in the morning, quietly sneaking out to pray.

                   THE THING.

            ½ Day Getaway.

           

A good friend told me, “Dude, if you’re too busy to pray and spend time with God, you’re just too busy.” He taught me to get away and spend time with just me and my Father.

Spend a ½ day away from everything with just you and God. Get alone, sing praise songs, pray, read the Word, talk with God, shut-up and listen to God. Write down the thoughts that come to your mind. Ask about things that are happening in you life. Tell Him what you think. Just be with your Dad.

Use what we talked about earlier: prayer and Bible Surfing.

This is going to take some planning. It isn’t easy to get away by yourself for that long. But plan the time. It could be Saturday morning. Friday night. You pick the time. Look at your calendar now. Plan your time with God. What day are you going to do it? Where are you going to be? What are you taking with you? What time are you going to start and stop?

½ Day Checklist      This will totally help you focus on the Father.

·        Bible

·        Paper

·        Praise Music

·        Journal

·        Pen

·        Something to snack on – so you don’t get hungry and distracted

What do you think will happen when you get away? What will

be the biggest issues you have about actually doing it?

You are going to be wow-ed by what will happen when you get a new perspective. This isn’t going to be a one-time thing. Do it once a month. Set aside the time in advance. Plan next month’s date now! That way when someone asks you to do something next Saturday morning, you can say, “Oh, I can’t. I am hanging out with a friend of mine.” Make it happen.

You have until Sunday to figure out when, where, what, and all that stuff, so get planning. When we get together next Sunday tell the group about your plans.

PLAN IT. DO IT. GET A NEW PERSPECTIVE. YOU WILL BE AMAZED.

Rewind

How’s your lifestyle? Are you still putting new life in a new lifestyle?

-Revisit Number 3

Number 8: Bible Surfing

Bible Study

What’s that all about? Anything

with the word study in it

sounds boring to me.

I think the reason it’s called

Bible Study is because no one

knows what else to call it. The

Bible is not something to be

studied in the way you study your

boring Biology textbook. It is something to be explored.

Hey, that’s it. Bible Surfing. That’s what we will call it.

It is no longer Bible Study; it is now Bible Surfing.

Bible Surfing.

The Bible is an adventure. In it you will find sex, violence, hate, greed, love, power, forgiveness, compassion, winning the game against all odds, fighting ‘til you can’t fight anymore, even saving a little boy from a government death warrant. It’s all there.

In the middle of all these stories is a common theme, “Become Christ-like.” The more you study – uh, I mean surf – the more you surf the pages of the Bible, the more you understand about God.

THE WORD

Read Hebrews 5:11-6:3.

Get out the Word and read it!

This pretty much lays it out. When you are a new believer you

need milk – and you need someone else to feed you. Hebrews

said that when you first begin surfin’ the Bible, it is okay to count

on church pastors and Bible teachers to show you what’s in there.

But notice that it is also quick to say that you need to learn to feed

yourself. You need to get into the Word on you own and stop

being a baby.

So how do you do that? How do you start Bible Surfing on your

own? People do it many different ways. I’ll throw a few at you

and you find what works for you.

No matter how you surf, always start in prayer

asking God to show you His truth in His Word.

Topic Hopping

Think about a topic you are interested in: Love. Friends, Sex.

Forgiveness. Hope. whatever you want to know more about.

Pick a topic. Then find as many verses talking about that topic as you

can. Look in the concordance. (It should be in the back of your Bible.)

There are also lots of sites on the internet that will give you verses

about topics. Karen or I would be glad to help you find a book that has

topics connected with verses. Look up all the verses. Read what the

Word says and write down what you get out of the verses. See how

you can apply it to your life.

                   Book Review

                Pick a book in the Bible you want to surf through. Start at the

                   beginning of the book. Find out who wrote it. Why did he write

it? Where was he? (Some books were written from jail!) Start

reading through the book asking questions about what’s going

on. If something catches your eye, look at it closer and find

some other Scripture that tags that same issue. Read the whole

book as a… wee, as a book. don’t try to take one little piece

and figure out what it means. Read it all so you can understand

what is really going on.

People Watching

Heard any interesting stories of people in the Bible? Look’em up. Get to know

them. How about David? He was a murderer, sexed up another dude’s wife, got

her pregnant, and was a poster boy for lying, yet God called David a man after

His own heart. Why? How about a trash-talking donkey? It’s in there. Look up

their stories. Learn from the lives of Bible people.

                             Head Games

                        Hey, this is important – memorize Scripture! When you

see a verse that just rocks your world write it on a card.

Get it in your head. This will help you in  your real life.

God uses those verses that you learn. He will bring them

into the front of your brain when you need them. Don’t ask me how it happens. It’s a God thing, and He is in control of your circumstances and your thoughts. That is what the LIFE LINK! is all about. Getting the Word connected to your life.

DON’T GET IN A RUT. MIX IT UP TO KEEP IT FRESH.

Whichever way you are surfing through the Bible, constantly ask yourself questions:

       Who? What? When? Where? Why? How?

Ask those about the author. Ask about what’s going on. We miss a lot of what is going on in the story because we just read the words. Use your imagination. Try to see everything that is going on. Put yourself in the scene. If you were there, what would you be doing? How would you be acting?

Read the Bible from different perspectives.

Like the parable of the lost son who comes back home, read

it as if you were the son leaving. Try to see what he was

feeling and thinking. Then read it from the dad’s point of

view. Then read it as the son who stayed behind. Feel the

way he felt. Then maybe read it from the view of the ser-

vants who worked for the father. There are so many view-

points in every story. see them all.

                   MAKE IT FUN. SURF THE BIBLE. RIDE THE

ADVENTURE. KNOW MORE ABOUT WHO GOD IS AND

WHO HE WANTS YOU TO BE.

          Start now. Every day do some kind of Bible Surfing. It may be a little

weird at first. But, like the Word says, it is like learning to feed yourself.

You’ve seen a baby when he is just learning to use a spoon. Not the most

graceful thing. But he’ll get better and so will you.

          Write down a short prayer about Bible surfing. Ask God to help

          you do it, show you cool stuff and make it fun.

          Start surfin’ the adventure.

Number 7: Prayer

What is prayer?
Break it down in the simplest form.
Prayer is a conversation with God.

Why is praying so hard? Or why does it
seem so weird? You can chat up your friends all day
long. What’s the deal with hablando (gringo, that
means talking) with God?

What do you think?
Why do you feel it is so difficult to pray?
                    For me, it’s because God doesn’t have skin. I can’t
                    see Him with my eyes.
                    And I can’t hear Him with my ears. It’s hard for me
                    to stay focused on talking with Him.

          

         Is Prayer Important?
    Test:
    When a war begins, what do our forces try to take out first?
    a) the military leaders    b) communication methods    c) missiles, planes, artillery

    Answer:
    b) communications
        If they cannot communicate they
        are defeated

SATAN KNOW THIS. AND THE #1 THING THAT HE WANTS TO DO IS TO
KEEP YOU FROM COMMUNICATING WITH THE FATHER.

                    

                  

                   What are some ways that you think Satan keeps you
                   from praying?

                   The biggies for me are getting too busy and sleeping
                   too late.

                   What about you?

How do you pray? How do you focus on talking to a Father that you cannot see?

          There are lots of “methods” people use. None of them are magic or
          make you super holy. They are just ways to help stay focused.

          Some people use the word ACTS. The letters stand for words that
          give direction for praying:
                   A- ADORATION
                   C- CONFESSION
                   T- THANKSGIVING
                   S- SUPPLICATION

                             I like PARTS better.
                                      P- PRAISE
                                      A- ADMIT
                                      R- REQUEST
                                      T- THANKS
                                      S- SHUT UP

P - Praise is all about God. Showing Him the love and telling Him how wonderful, powerful, and loving He is. It is singing to him, shouting, dancing, just givin’ it up for God. Telling people what we like about them is a good way to start any conversation. If you get stuck, read some of the Psalms. They are all about praisin’ God in good and bad times.
“Praise the Lord!
For it is good to sing praises to our God.
For it is pleasant, and praise is beautiful.”
(Psalm 147:1)

A - Admit the sins you have committed. This is where you tell God where you have messed up. If you are stuck on how to start try reading Psalm 139:23-24 first. It says, “Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me and know my anxieties; And see if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” Ask God to show you what you need to confess We can be good at hiding or ignoring our sins). If you pray this and mean it, He will show you things – so be ready. Ask for forgiveness and let God clean up your sin.

“If we confess out sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).

R - Request stuff. This is where you ask god for things. Ask Him about things you need, want, and desire. Pray for things and ask for things for others. Be bold. He is our loving Father. He is a giver. So whatever it is, ask.
“Yet, you do not have because you do not ask” (James 4:2b).

Thanks. Tell God thanks. Thanks for the cool stuff He has done. Thanks for tress, family, a raise, whatever. This is the time to tell God thanks for doing so much for you that you sure don’t deserve. Gratitude is a beautiful thing.
“Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good!” (Psalm 126:1)

S - Shut up! This is where you shut up and listen. Most people don’t hear anything from God because they never stop talking. This is what really makes praying a conversation and not just a monologue to God.
“Be still, and know that I am God.” (Psalm 46:10a)

Let’s unwrap a couple of other issues about prayer. First, get a prayer
journal. Yeah this will help with the focus, but it will record what
you and the Father talk about. You can break your journal into five sections.
One for each: Praise, Admit, Request, Thanks, and Shut up. As you pray,
open up to the section and put the words down on paper.

Or you can put everything on the same page and use a different page
every day. Hey, do whatever works for you. Mix it up. Don’t just get into
the same thing over and over. Snooze-fest! Make it fun. Try new things.

P Praise. Listen to music. Sing to the Father. Read Psalms or try to write your own. Focus of what you know God is – powerful, loving, your Father, your strength.

A Admit. Read Psalms 139:23-24. Write down the sins, the stuff that you did, that are not Christ-like. Then look at those things and think about how you got into the situations that allowed you to sin. Ask your Abba, your Dad, to forgive you.

R Request. Ask! Ask for big thing, little things, everything. Write down what you ask and the date. Keep praying for those things until you get an answer. The reason to write it down is to know when it is answered. This way you remember to look for an answer. Then when you get the answer, write it down next to the request and the date it happened.
                   Important: Many people say, “God
                    didn’t answer my prayer,” when what
                    they mean is God didn’t give them what
                    they wanted. God can either say “yes,” “no,”
                    or “wait.” If he says “No,” people get upset
                    because God didn’t answer their prayer.
                    Yes He did. He said NO!

T Thanks. If something cool is happening, write it down and say thanks. Say thanks for the simple things, your parents, your car. Walk around sometimes and look at nature. Throughout the day, look for things to say thanks about.

S Shut Up. This is the hardest part nut the most important. Sit with your pen and paper, turn the music off, and try to clear your mind of distractions. Ask the Holy Spirit to bring things to your mind. Write down what comes. Read over your requests. Ask God what he thinks about each one. Read scripture and write what pops into your mind. The more you do this, and the more you are quiet and listen, the more you will hear. God is talking. You will become more confident that what you are hearing is God. You’ll be able to know what is Him and what is not. 

This isn’t some magical formula that gets you what you want. This is just one way of doing it. You don’t have to do it like this. Find out what works for you. Know that any praying will be clumsy at first. Satan hopes you will get bummed and quit.

THE THING.
Pray. Everyday. Commit to spend some time with God in conversation.
(That means He gets to talk too.) don’t let Satan break the communication.
Get charged. Pray.
                   Rewind:
                   The toughest time will be the first sever days. Hang in
                   there. It will get easier. – Media Fast