3ABN Today

Screen time is threatening our spirituality, our families, and our humanity

Three Angels Broadcasting Network

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Series Code: TDY

Program Code: TDY018078A


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


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Revised 2021-08-09