Welcome to Digital Disconnect.
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It's such a joy to be with
you. I'm your host Scott Ritsema
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for episode #12 of 13.
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Boredom and the Bible is
the name of this session.
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You know there is
nothing more calculated
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to energize the mind
and strengthen the intellect
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than the study
of the Word of God.
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No other book is so potent
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to elevate the thoughts,
to give vigor to the faculties
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than the broad
ennobling truth of the Bible.
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If God's Word were
studied as it should be,
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men would have a breadth
of mind - men and women -
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a conviction of character,
and a stability of purpose
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that is rarely
seen in these times.
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I hope we love the Word of God.
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That is really
what it's all about
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for the Word of God is
that which testifies of Jesus
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in whom we live and
move and have our being.
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And I was thinking about
our relationship with God
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as it relates to the media inun-
dation that we've experienced
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in the digital age, and
I wondered: we use media
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as a tool to enhance
our Biblical understanding,
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to enhance our
knowledge of the truth.
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But is media becoming
a greater stumbling block
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in our relationship
with Jesus than it is an aid?
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We want to make
sure we get this right.
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So let's begin
with prayer and ask God
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to guide us as we
think about these things.
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Father in heaven, we ask for
a real sense of Your presence
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right now with us here,
with all those viewing this
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at home or listening in
their cars that they would know
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they have the
Holy Spirit with them
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speaking to their
hearts, drawing them to a deeper
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study and love of Your Word.
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I pray for that now
in Jesus' name, Amen.
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My wife and I moved to
California at one point
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when we were first married.
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Now I grew up in Michigan,
and Michigan does not have
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big mountains. Out West is where
you go to see the mountains.
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And I was always yearning for
and interested in the mountains.
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Well we got an opportunity
after newly married in Michigan
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to go live in California
where we stayed for 5 years.
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Now as I mentioned
we're living in Michigan.
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But when we moved out
there I was very excited
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to see the mountains. In fact,
the school that was hiring us
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they were really
talking up the mountains.
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"Oh, Southern California is
the greatest place in the world
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because you've got the
ocean right over there,
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the mountains right over
there. " "OK... sign me up! "
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So we're driving
in our U-Haul truck.
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We're heading
into the inland valley.
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We're about to see the San
Gabriel, the San Bernardino
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mountain ranges. And
it's June, and we're driving
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looking for these
mountains we've heard about
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and I'm like: "Honey,
where are the mountains? "
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I'm looking on my paper
map. Remember those things?
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The Rand McNally?
"The green swath is here.
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We should be
able... " Oh, I do see
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a faint outline of the mountains
peeking up above what I now
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realize is a bunch of
smog and haze and greyish-brown
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nastiness. "Oh, the
mountains were supposed to be
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so beautiful to behold. "
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That's what I was so
excited about: I wanted to see
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the beauty of the mountain
ranges in all their clarity
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and I see a faint outline.
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This is an apt analogy for many
people's spiritual experience.
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We know of the existence of God.
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We acknowledge His
presence but we don't see Him
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in all of His
beauty and goodness.
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We don't
experience the closeness.
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Well the most wonderful thing
would happen in the climate
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in Southern California...
two things actually.
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One would be the rains
that would come through.
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When the rain front would
come through it would actually
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clean out that air, clear out
that air in a magnificent way.
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And another thing was
the wind would blow through.
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The Santa Ana winds would come
through and clear out the air.
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Well in the Bible both rain
and wind represent something.
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They both
represent the Holy Spirit
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where Jesus said to Nicodemus:
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"The Holy Spirit will
blow where He pleases. "
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And the Former and Latter Rain
represents the falling of the
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Holy Spirit in the
last days, the Latter Rain.
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So let's think
about this for a second:
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what happened to the
view of those mountains
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when the wind and
the rain came through?
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Oh boy! The next day I'm
running to the front window
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and I'm saying:
"Honey, come look at this!
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It was raining down here
and it's snowing up there! "
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It doesn't do that in Michigan.
You get piled on by the snow.
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But we were so excited to see.
"Did they move the mountains
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90% closer? I mean,
they're that much more clear! "
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So what changed?
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Well something
happened in what's between us
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and the mountains, you see.
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Is God distant from us?
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No! The Bible says he is
"not far from each one of us. "
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Maybe there's
something between us and God.
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Maybe our media; maybe our busy-
ness; maybe our own selfishness.
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Whatever it is that is
clouding and "smogifying"
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our vision and view
of the Most High God.
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You know, the average
young person by the age of 21
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will have consumed
10,000 hours of video games.
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There are 5 million
gamers in the United States
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playing over 40 hours per week.
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In fact, if you
think about Satan
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being the one who wanted to be
in the position of the Creator
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but God creates
this world in six days,
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rests on the seventh day,
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and you've got all the
onlooking universe witnessing:
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"Yes, God is the
Creator... God and nobody else
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can do that, can they? "
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You can imagine all of
this: 1/3 of the angels -
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the evil angels - looking at
Satan and he's wanting to be God
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and he can't do
what the Lord just did.
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And he's wringing his hands
and he can't create a world.
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Well, fast-forward
to the digital age.
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I want to quote for you from
a book called Game Addiction
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where the secular writer
here says something that to me
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sounds very spiritual as if
Satan has created a counterfeit
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reality. He's become
a counterfeit creator
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by making a digital
immersion, a world in a place
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in which people
live. Listen to this:
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"Our minds are set
free to explore and exercise
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heightened abilities and senses
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in a space that still
looks and feels real. "
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He's talking
about in the video game.
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"Games take our senses beyond
the confines of reality... "
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Beyond the
confines of God's reality...
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"At the same time, those
sensations allow the inflation
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and extension of our conscious-
ness, unique ways of being. "
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So Satan creates a
virtual place where people go
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where they live where
they immerse their mind,
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their consciousness,
their interests, their time,
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their achievements, their
accomplishments, their very
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identity becomes subsumed
into that video game world
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in the extreme cases of
the massively multi-player
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online
roleplaying games particularly
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which is what that book
Game Addiction was about.
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It sounded spiritual, didn't it?
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Our minds are taken
beyond the confines of reality.
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It almost sounds what
you imagine Eve was thinking
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imagining she would be ascending
upon a higher state of being
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when she took of that fruit.
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Satan said: "You
can be like God. "
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Well, whether it has that
spiritual implication or not
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the bottom line is video
games are a massive addiction.
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In the Diagnostic and
Statistical Manual of the
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psychiatry community
they published a diagnosable
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addiction of
video game addiction.
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World Health
Organization the same thing.
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And you might say:
"How is that possible?
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It's not a drug. We
know about drug addiction.
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How is a video game an
addiction? It's not alcohol. "
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Well, actually there are seven
million more video game addicts
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in American than
alcoholics if you ask the AMA.
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But there are 2
different types of addictions
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that have been recognized
by the psychiatry practice
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for many years. One
is a chemical addiction
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and one is a process addiction.
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Gambling, pornography,
and, yes, video gaming.
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There's no chemical
being inserted into your brain.
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With a chemical addiction
you take the drug or the alcohol
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or the tobacco or
the caffeine or whatever
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and it causes a
chemical reaction in your brain
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when you take the chemical in.
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But you heard in
the previous session
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the process of
addiction of pornography
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it elicits the internal natural
drugs that mimic the drug from
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a street high when we
misuse the brains God gave us
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and become
pleasure-seeking hedonists.
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So this is what the
video game industry has done:
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it has made millions
of process addicts...
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addicts to a process addiction.
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And the reward
circuitry in the brain
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gets all messed
up when you do that.
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Dopamine receptors
start shutting down.
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The brain begins to
crave higher quantities of
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input of pleasure in
order to get the same hit
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just like drug addicts.
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Except video gaming is
maybe a little more insidious
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in the fact that #1
it's socially acceptable
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to play video games. We
induct our children into that
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from early ages. You
know, 83% of kids have
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a gaming console in their home.
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We don't see 83% of
kids being given tobacco
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when they're 8 years old.
Another thing about video gaming
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is it's a novelty addiction.
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Pornography is as well.
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Novelty meaning
a new experience.
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You're going to level up and
it's not the same old same old
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so it's endless new
experiences and novelties
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that can captivate the user.
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Another thing about video
gaming that is particularly
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dangerous is that
there's no satiation point.
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If somebody's
addicted to bingeing on
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unhealthy food or alcohol
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there comes a point where
there's a maxed-out point,
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a satiation point. Doesn't
happen with a video game.
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You can just keep on
playing. I've talked to many
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video gamers who have testi-
monies of where they've played
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all weekend. And I mean ALL
weekend with maybe 2 of the 3
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nights they got a
couple of hours of sleep
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and that's it. You just
keep on going deeper and deeper
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in the most extreme cases.
And you can be addicted to
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a low dose of a drug.
You can be addicted to
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you know a low dose
of video games as well.
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But you know you
think about the media,
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the digital tools that
we supposedly call them.
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With video games and with
other childhood media addictions
00:10:26.65\00:10:30.39
there's a quotation -
a couple of quotations -
00:10:30.59\00:10:34.10
from professional scholars.
Even just secular people are
00:10:34.30\00:10:37.83
blowing the whistle on
this. I want you to see
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the quotation from
Dr. Maryann Wolf who said:
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"No self-respecting
internal review board
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at any university would
allow a researcher to do
00:10:45.91\00:10:48.64
what our
culture has already done
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with no adjudication
or previous evidence. "
00:10:50.95\00:10:53.11
And what has our culture done?
00:10:53.31\00:10:54.65
Introduce a complete
quasi-addictive set of attention
00:10:54.68\00:10:59.52
compelling devices without know-
ing the possible side effects
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and ramifications for
the subjects... our kids.
00:11:03.69\00:11:06.39
So in other words,
our kids are guinea pigs.
00:11:06.80\00:11:09.13
They're subjects in a
vast societal experiment
00:11:09.33\00:11:11.67
on addiction using media.
00:11:11.87\00:11:14.04
That's amazing. Another
quotation I want you to see
00:11:14.24\00:11:16.30
as well on the screen
from The Big Disconnect
00:11:16.50\00:11:18.47
by Dr. Catherine Steiner-Adair.
00:11:18.67\00:11:20.51
She says: "Talk
of addiction... "
00:11:20.71\00:11:22.11
We're talking about
childhood media use.
00:11:22.51\00:11:24.31
This is not hyperbole...
and event adults, too.
00:11:24.51\00:11:26.82
She says: "This is
a clinical reality.
00:11:27.02\00:11:28.65
As adults we may choose
to mess with our own mind
00:11:28.85\00:11:32.05
and gamble with
our own neurology
00:11:32.25\00:11:33.99
but I have never met a caring
parent who would knowingly risk
00:11:34.19\00:11:37.99
his or her child's
future in this way...
00:11:38.19\00:11:40.33
and yet we are handing these
devices that we use the language
00:11:40.73\00:11:43.93
of addiction to
describe over to our children
00:11:44.13\00:11:46.94
who are even more vulnerable
to the impact of everyday use
00:11:47.14\00:11:50.07
on their developing brains. "
00:11:50.27\00:11:52.17
And we've discussed the
developing brains of a child
00:11:52.37\00:11:54.54
how the limbic system
is becoming overactive
00:11:54.74\00:11:57.01
with all of the
hyper-stimulating screen time.
00:11:57.21\00:11:59.28
Entertainment television
and cartoons and movies
00:11:59.48\00:12:01.92
are already
stimulating enough. Video games
00:12:02.12\00:12:04.29
have a four-fold
increase of over stimulus
00:12:04.49\00:12:07.12
increasing the sleep
deprivation and stress cascade
00:12:07.32\00:12:11.83
more than even
entertainment television.
00:12:12.03\00:12:13.96
Then the prefrontal cortex
of not just the child developing
00:12:14.16\00:12:17.03
brain but we all
have developing brains.
00:12:17.23\00:12:18.93
We've seen in this
series that is hampered.
00:12:19.13\00:12:21.90
That is diminished...
the prefrontal function.
00:12:22.10\00:12:24.24
And the mental health
crisis of a generation
00:12:24.44\00:12:27.38
being upon us
largely due to the media.
00:12:27.58\00:12:30.15
Now the question of boredom
and the Bible in this session
00:12:30.35\00:12:33.15
takes us to the
issue of pleasure.
00:12:33.35\00:12:35.42
I want to show you a graphic
that shows the pleasure centers
00:12:35.62\00:12:38.25
of a normal brain.
They're nice and lit up
00:12:38.45\00:12:40.82
and orange there, but
look at the one next to it.
00:12:41.02\00:12:43.76
That's a drug user's brain.
00:12:43.96\00:12:46.03
Not a lot happening
in the pleasure centers.
00:12:46.23\00:12:48.53
In other words, you see
in that graphic what we know
00:12:48.73\00:12:52.00
from experience. People
who are addicted to something
00:12:52.20\00:12:55.54
find less happiness
in the rest of life.
00:12:55.74\00:12:59.31
There is always a quest
for the next hit of that
00:12:59.51\00:13:02.94
drug or that plug-in
drug or that mobile device.
00:13:03.14\00:13:06.15
And we become pleasure seeking
instead of enjoying the joys
00:13:06.35\00:13:10.49
that are
already right before us.
00:13:10.69\00:13:12.65
Studies have been done
on media use and pleasure.
00:13:13.05\00:13:15.56
The Kaiser Family
Foundation published a report
00:13:15.76\00:13:18.83
many years ago that the more
media the young people are using
00:13:19.03\00:13:23.33
the less happy they are
AND the more bored they are.
00:13:23.73\00:13:28.80
That strikes
people as a contradiction.
00:13:29.20\00:13:32.04
You might say: "Well, I
go and watch the big game
00:13:32.24\00:13:34.91
on prime time 'cause I'm bored
and I'm going to be excited
00:13:35.11\00:13:38.91
to watch it. " Or, "I'm going to
flip on the video game console
00:13:39.11\00:13:42.38
'cause I'm bored and I
want to cure my boredom. "
00:13:42.58\00:13:44.92
Or, "I'm going to
listen to some worldly music
00:13:45.12\00:13:47.42
to take me out of the
doldrums of boredom. "
00:13:47.62\00:13:50.66
We think the enter-
tainment media cures boredom.
00:13:50.86\00:13:53.40
The research is telling
us it increases boredom.
00:13:53.60\00:13:56.70
It is the CAUSE of the boredom
00:13:57.10\00:13:59.07
just like the drug user's
drug is the cause of the low
00:13:59.27\00:14:03.54
pleasure receptor function that
we saw on the previous graphic.
00:14:03.74\00:14:08.11
A provocative piece was
published in the Atlantic Mag.
00:14:08.31\00:14:12.21
called: "Has the Smartphone
destroyed a generation? "
00:14:12.41\00:14:16.28
This article Jean Twenge
asks the provocative question
00:14:16.69\00:14:20.82
and answers it from the
research. There have been
00:14:21.02\00:14:23.86
surveys that have been
done going back generations
00:14:24.06\00:14:26.66
asking the same
questions of teenagers:
00:14:26.86\00:14:29.60
"How do you spend your
time in doing this or doing this
00:14:29.80\00:14:32.47
or doing this? " and
ranking their happiness levels.
00:14:32.67\00:14:36.24
I want you to hear the
quote and see the quote
00:14:36.44\00:14:38.54
from the
magazine... from the article.
00:14:38.74\00:14:40.68
It said: "The results of this
survey could not be clearer.
00:14:40.88\00:14:44.35
Teens who spend more time than
average on screen activities
00:14:44.55\00:14:50.42
are more likely to be unhappy
00:14:50.62\00:14:52.85
and those who spend more
time than average on non-screen
00:14:53.25\00:14:56.86
activities are more
likely to be happy. "
00:14:57.06\00:15:00.60
Continuing the quote:
"There's not a single exception.
00:15:00.80\00:15:04.33
All screen activities
are linked to less happiness
00:15:04.73\00:15:10.01
and all non-screen activities
00:15:10.41\00:15:12.64
are linked to more happiness. "
00:15:12.84\00:15:14.84
So if you were
going to give advice
00:15:15.04\00:15:17.25
for a happy adolescence...
or frankly, this applies to
00:15:17.45\00:15:20.15
all of us...
based on this survey
00:15:20.35\00:15:22.38
the advice would
be straightforward.
00:15:22.58\00:15:24.59
Put down the phone;
turn off the laptop;
00:15:24.79\00:15:27.82
and so something - ANYTHING -
that does not involve a screen.
00:15:28.02\00:15:32.49
Oh, I love that advice
from Dr. Jean Twenge at SDSU
00:15:32.69\00:15:37.67
who has studied the adolescent
years in this generation Z
00:15:37.87\00:15:41.90
maybe more than any
researcher out there.
00:15:42.10\00:15:44.01
She wrote the book I Gen,
and a lot of generation Z,
00:15:44.21\00:15:47.38
the teenagers and young
college students of today,
00:15:47.58\00:15:50.48
have taken that very advice.
00:15:50.68\00:15:52.01
Put down the
phone; turn off the laptop
00:15:52.05\00:15:54.08
and do something - ANYTHING -
that does not involve a screen.
00:15:54.28\00:15:56.62
There was a survey that
was done of these young people
00:15:56.82\00:15:59.05
asking them: "How many
of you have at some point
00:15:59.25\00:16:02.06
in recent years given
up a social media platform
00:16:02.26\00:16:06.43
or taken a social media fast? "
00:16:06.63\00:16:09.30
And a full 1/3 of them
00:16:09.50\00:16:11.93
had chosen themselves to get
off of a social media platform
00:16:12.13\00:16:16.14
at least for a time.
00:16:16.34\00:16:17.67
I found that to be very inter-
esting because you can notice
00:16:17.71\00:16:20.84
your own dynamics or
do a little trial and test
00:16:21.04\00:16:23.98
and you can see
the annoyance of it
00:16:24.18\00:16:26.01
or the problems - mental
health - might be occurring
00:16:26.21\00:16:28.25
with that. But
the #1 and #2 reasons
00:16:28.45\00:16:32.65
that the teens gave for why
they gave up the social media
00:16:32.85\00:16:36.56
at least for a fast
or gave it up completely
00:16:36.76\00:16:38.69
was #1: It was a
waste of my time.
00:16:38.89\00:16:42.63
Yeah... we'll talk
about that. The average
00:16:42.83\00:16:45.40
user of the Internet
today using social media
00:16:45.60\00:16:48.70
is on there for hours a day.
00:16:48.90\00:16:51.04
The second thing:
too much negativity.
00:16:51.44\00:16:54.44
I found that interesting.
So they're finding more
00:16:54.84\00:16:57.05
happiness, more positivity,
more joy away from the media.
00:16:57.25\00:17:01.18
And we've seen that in studies.
We saw it at Pennsylvania
00:17:01.38\00:17:03.42
University, Denmark Study.
00:17:03.62\00:17:05.15
Take 'em off of social media or
take them down to very limited
00:17:05.35\00:17:08.16
amount and you
reduce depression, right?
00:17:08.36\00:17:11.09
So I want to show you
a video clip right now
00:17:11.29\00:17:14.66
of a family that
actually went on a media fast.
00:17:14.86\00:17:18.93
So these guys were
challenged: 30-day media fast.
00:17:19.13\00:17:22.77
And I want you to
hear how that goes for them
00:17:22.97\00:17:25.67
and hear from even the young
people how they feel about life
00:17:25.87\00:17:28.94
when they've been off
the media. Take a listen:
00:17:29.14\00:17:32.15
Three years ago I picked
up a copy of Neil Postman's
00:17:33.21\00:17:36.08
Amusing Ourselves to Death.
And he was a college professor.
00:17:36.28\00:17:38.09
One of the exercises
he'd have his students do
00:17:38.29\00:17:40.42
was to go on a... I believe
in the book it was a one month
00:17:40.62\00:17:43.32
media fast. So I decided
to do the exact same thing:
00:17:43.53\00:17:45.69
one month let's
just shut down all media.
00:17:45.89\00:17:49.50
No more television,
no Internet, no blogging
00:17:49.70\00:17:52.10
and anything that
was digitally related.
00:17:52.30\00:17:54.60
Our children were not
initially enthusiastic
00:17:54.80\00:17:58.04
about the media
fast. They were terrified.
00:17:58.41\00:18:01.41
Our first impressions were
shocked and a little bit scared.
00:18:01.61\00:18:04.91
But as we got a
little closer to the day
00:18:05.11\00:18:07.68
and we were praying about it,
we were thinking about it a lot
00:18:07.88\00:18:12.32
we were excited.
00:18:12.52\00:18:14.69
I don't think one of our chil-
dren would say: "No, we wish we
00:18:14.89\00:18:17.79
never had to do it"
'cause there is a benefit.
00:18:17.99\00:18:20.43
It just gives you perspective
on how much time you're spending
00:18:20.63\00:18:23.00
doing stuff. I couldn't
stop thinking about music.
00:18:23.20\00:18:26.13
Just wanted to turn on the
radio or just look up something
00:18:26.33\00:18:29.80
just for fun or
just watch a quick movie.
00:18:30.01\00:18:31.81
It was pretty
shocking how addicted I was
00:18:32.01\00:18:35.44
and I didn't like that at all.
00:18:35.64\00:18:37.35
As these sort of addictions
are building up, it kind of
00:18:37.55\00:18:40.02
helps to break those. It
is a fast and it takes time
00:18:40.22\00:18:43.92
and it's not just one day and
then you're through with your
00:18:44.12\00:18:47.42
pain. No... it keeps
going. But then once we get near
00:18:48.09\00:18:50.03
the end it's
easier. You enjoy it.
00:18:50.23\00:18:53.70
You really can
see the difference.
00:18:53.90\00:18:55.63
It's not just about taking away.
00:18:56.03\00:18:57.87
If all you do is
take away from your kids
00:18:58.07\00:19:00.47
something and leave them nothing
they're in no better spot.
00:19:00.67\00:19:03.51
They loved the extra time
of playing basketball with dad
00:19:03.71\00:19:07.28
or playing cards with me
00:19:07.48\00:19:09.34
or just working on extra things.
00:19:09.54\00:19:11.65
Our lives are so busy and noisy.
00:19:12.05\00:19:14.48
It brings a
quietness, and in quietness
00:19:14.68\00:19:17.55
is when you hear God's voice.
00:19:17.75\00:19:19.39
It is so sweet... the
silence. Not just the silence
00:19:19.59\00:19:23.39
but the peace! Because
if you're doing everything
00:19:23.59\00:19:26.26
and you have this
noise go through your head
00:19:26.46\00:19:28.16
you really cannot have peace.
00:19:28.36\00:19:30.00
And you don't know that you're
missing it until you have it.
00:19:30.20\00:19:33.03
The most important thing
for me: for my kids to have
00:19:33.23\00:19:38.37
is that they would love
God with all their heart
00:19:38.57\00:19:42.24
and know Him and live their
life in relationship with Him.
00:19:42.44\00:19:45.75
This has been so
good in our lives
00:19:45.95\00:19:49.48
and it hasn't
been boring at all!
00:19:49.68\00:19:52.95
We're not just saying
no media but we're saying
00:19:53.15\00:19:55.86
use it in responsible
and God-glorifying ways.
00:19:56.06\00:19:59.39
Amen! Can you agree with that?
00:20:02.56\00:20:04.70
Fantastic documentary
that that clip was pulled from
00:20:04.90\00:20:08.24
called Captivated
by Media Talk 101.
00:20:08.44\00:20:11.54
And I think
everybody - young and old - can
00:20:11.74\00:20:13.64
learn from that very
same experience that they had
00:20:13.84\00:20:17.65
in that trial that they
did... that test that they did.
00:20:17.85\00:20:21.55
And as you think
about some of the comments,
00:20:21.75\00:20:24.62
particularly the
young lady at one point
00:20:24.82\00:20:26.65
and she says that
she would go outside
00:20:26.86\00:20:31.03
because, you know, you
gotta replace the media
00:20:32.06\00:20:35.23
with something. She
would go outside with the Bible
00:20:35.43\00:20:38.47
and she would read the
Bible for sometimes hours
00:20:38.67\00:20:43.14
and ENJOY it!
00:20:43.34\00:20:45.57
I haven't heard a lot
of people talk that way.
00:20:46.44\00:20:48.98
The idea that the Bible
is "sweeter than honey: "
00:20:49.98\00:20:53.68
that's what it
says in Psalm 119.
00:20:53.88\00:20:56.35
That it's sweeter than honey.
00:20:56.55\00:20:58.29
So what are we
doing to our taste buds?
00:20:58.69\00:21:00.96
Our appetites as human beings
are trained. What are we doing
00:21:01.12\00:21:05.29
with our media use and
the stimulant effect of our
00:21:05.49\00:21:08.50
media use to make it so
that so many people universally
00:21:08.70\00:21:11.70
don't care to read?
00:21:11.90\00:21:13.37
Maybe especially read the Bible.
00:21:13.74\00:21:15.70
Well let's back up and
zoom out and think about
00:21:15.90\00:21:18.37
pleasure in general.
How does pleasure work?
00:21:18.57\00:21:21.21
In God's universe
in God's creation of us
00:21:21.41\00:21:24.01
did He want us to have joy?
00:21:24.21\00:21:25.71
Well, it says He created us
"for His pleasure and will. "
00:21:25.91\00:21:28.45
God is a God of pleasure.
00:21:28.65\00:21:30.02
He wants us to enjoy
His beautiful creation,
00:21:30.22\00:21:33.39
life as He designed it.
00:21:33.59\00:21:35.16
He is the true author of
joy, happiness, and pleasure.
00:21:35.36\00:21:40.10
Satan is the enemy of souls
00:21:40.30\00:21:42.66
and is about pleasure seeking
and hedonistic violations of
00:21:42.86\00:21:47.20
God's law under the
false name of pleasure
00:21:47.40\00:21:50.54
when really it just
leads to greater depression.
00:21:50.74\00:21:52.94
What kind of
things bring pleasure?
00:21:53.34\00:21:55.54
You ever had an opportunity
to sponsor an orphan?
00:21:55.74\00:21:59.51
Sponsor a child in a
school overseas in a needy place
00:21:59.71\00:22:02.35
where the child
doesn't have parents and you're
00:22:02.55\00:22:05.25
giving them an education.
You've got the little picture
00:22:05.45\00:22:07.82
hanging on your fridge and maybe
you start collecting those.
00:22:08.02\00:22:10.76
Pleasure follows when
you do that, doesn't it?
00:22:10.96\00:22:13.83
Altruistic deeds;
deeds of mercy of many kinds.
00:22:14.03\00:22:17.07
How about when you
study the Bible with somebody
00:22:17.27\00:22:19.47
and you share
the truth with them?
00:22:19.67\00:22:21.17
And they've never
seen the picture of Christ
00:22:21.37\00:22:24.07
and the Bible truth
that you are revealing...
00:22:24.27\00:22:26.41
that the Spirit of God
is revealing to them as you
00:22:26.61\00:22:28.64
take them
through the Word of God.
00:22:28.84\00:22:30.18
When you do that
pleasure follows, doesn't it?
00:22:30.38\00:22:33.11
How about when you
view a beautiful sunset
00:22:33.31\00:22:36.05
or a rainbow or a double rainbow
00:22:36.25\00:22:38.45
or name your favorite
captivating scene of nature.
00:22:38.65\00:22:42.59
You view that. You
ponder and give gratitude
00:22:42.79\00:22:46.80
to the God of
creation at that moment
00:22:47.00\00:22:49.03
and know His presence
with you and pleasure follows.
00:22:49.23\00:22:52.33
How about you
enjoy some family time?
00:22:52.53\00:22:55.14
You take an afternoon off
and you get a meal and you go
00:22:55.34\00:22:57.77
outside and enjoy beside a lake.
00:22:58.04\00:23:01.04
There's actually a
quotation, an admonition I read
00:23:01.24\00:23:04.15
one time, and it says:
"Parents should take their
00:23:04.35\00:23:07.28
children out on
a lovely afternoon
00:23:07.48\00:23:09.95
under a spreading tree
and have a meal together
00:23:10.15\00:23:12.45
in a beautiful place. "
00:23:12.65\00:23:13.99
And some people say:
"Well when you read counsel
00:23:14.12\00:23:16.89
like that... You know,
when you read instruction
00:23:17.09\00:23:19.66
that God has
inspired into your life
00:23:19.86\00:23:22.93
well it's some sort
of legalistic thing. "
00:23:23.13\00:23:25.40
I said to my children one day:
00:23:25.60\00:23:27.57
"We're going to take very
seriously these admonitions
00:23:27.77\00:23:30.51
and I'm going to
follow this strictly. "
00:23:30.71\00:23:33.21
And most kids go: "Oh, no, what
are they going to take away? "
00:23:33.41\00:23:35.71
"We're going to go... Dad's
not working this afternoon,
00:23:36.71\00:23:39.68
we're going to the lake. "
00:23:39.88\00:23:41.22
Pleasure follows.
00:23:41.28\00:23:43.25
How about when you study
the Word of God for yourself
00:23:43.45\00:23:45.52
and you pray like the
Psalmist prayed? "Open Thou
00:23:45.72\00:23:48.16
mine eyes that I
might behold wondrous things
00:23:48.36\00:23:50.83
out of Thy law.
" Pleasure follows.
00:23:51.03\00:23:53.60
Invest in a marital
relationship. Pleasure follows.
00:23:53.80\00:23:57.97
Attend a joyful
wedding celebration.
00:23:58.17\00:24:00.30
Accomplish a difficult task.
00:24:00.50\00:24:02.24
Enjoy a nutritious
meal that you didn't cook!
00:24:02.44\00:24:05.14
No... or that you DID cook
and put some hard work into.
00:24:05.34\00:24:07.64
Pleasure follows.
00:24:07.94\00:24:09.54
Now why do I keep saying
that refrain pleasure follows?
00:24:09.74\00:24:12.98
Because it's the
cart and the horse.
00:24:13.18\00:24:15.18
Our culture puts the
cart before the horse.
00:24:15.38\00:24:17.85
"I'm going to seek
pleasure and that's the end.
00:24:18.05\00:24:20.09
That's out
front; that's the goal.
00:24:20.29\00:24:21.69
That's where my sights are
set; I'm seeking pleasure. "
00:24:21.89\00:24:24.46
But that's not God's design.
00:24:24.66\00:24:25.99
You seek God. Pleasure follows
like the cart follows the horse.
00:24:26.16\00:24:29.80
It's as simple as that.
00:24:30.00\00:24:31.33
And God wants us
to maximize our joy.
00:24:31.57\00:24:34.97
You see, Satan has this
reputation as being the one who
00:24:35.17\00:24:38.14
is going to deliver
pleasure and God is the killjoy.
00:24:38.34\00:24:41.98
THAT IS SO FALSE!
00:24:42.18\00:24:43.55
That is absolutely incorrect.
00:24:43.75\00:24:45.61
God wants to maximize our
joy in the present and eternal
00:24:45.81\00:24:49.82
experience that
He has to offer us.
00:24:50.02\00:24:51.62
Satan isn't any
good at it anyway.
00:24:52.02\00:24:54.26
The analogy is
a caffeine addict.
00:24:54.46\00:24:57.33
I was a Mountain Dew addict.
00:24:57.53\00:24:58.89
Hi... I'm Scott and I
was a Mountain Dew addict.
00:24:59.09\00:25:01.30
I used to wake up first thing
in the morning. I would drink
00:25:01.70\00:25:03.90
the Mountain Dew for breakfast.
00:25:04.10\00:25:05.60
I would have the buzz
to be able to take notes
00:25:05.80\00:25:08.70
first period in class.
I'm talking 12th grade here.
00:25:08.90\00:25:11.61
I'm 18 years old and
I'm not eating breakfast
00:25:11.81\00:25:14.81
and then I crack another
"pop" as we call it in Michigan.
00:25:15.01\00:25:17.88
Maybe you refer to it
as soda or Coke... although
00:25:18.08\00:25:20.08
I have to take issue with you.
It's not Coke it's Mountain Dew.
00:25:20.28\00:25:22.58
Anyway... I was a
Mountain Dew addict.
00:25:22.78\00:25:25.49
And the biggest problem wasn't
just the crash that followed
00:25:26.09\00:25:29.26
and that I didn't
actually have much energy.
00:25:30.13\00:25:32.43
I'll tell you: later on in
life when I made some reforms
00:25:32.63\00:25:34.80
in diet and health
I found: "Oh, wow! "
00:25:35.00\00:25:37.83
So living without
the caffeine sugar high
00:25:38.03\00:25:40.84
actually I have more energy.
If you would have told me that
00:25:41.00\00:25:44.37
back then I'd be like:
"What are you talking about?
00:25:44.57\00:25:45.97
I'm getting the energy from the
rush from the Mountain Dew. "
00:25:46.17\00:25:49.14
No, you can live
with a higher energy level
00:25:49.34\00:25:51.85
without that stuff.
Really? Well, try it out.
00:25:52.05\00:25:54.88
I did try it out and
found: "Wow! It works! "
00:25:55.08\00:25:57.02
But that wasn't
just the only problem:
00:25:57.22\00:25:59.22
the high followed by the crash.
00:25:59.42\00:26:00.86
That's the pleasure
seeking drug addict experience
00:26:01.06\00:26:03.93
media addict experience
analogized by the Mountain Dew
00:26:04.23\00:26:08.00
addiction that I
personally experienced.
00:26:08.20\00:26:09.93
But you know, when I was
drinking the Mountain Dew
00:26:10.13\00:26:12.90
or take your pick...
Your... you know, luxurious
00:26:13.10\00:26:16.24
dessert indulgence
addiction. Whatever it is that
00:26:16.44\00:26:19.84
ruins your taste buds.
00:26:20.04\00:26:21.88
I did not want to eat real food.
00:26:22.08\00:26:23.75
After drinking Mountain
Dew, you know, give me a pizza.
00:26:23.95\00:26:26.35
Give me, you know, Lucky Charms.
00:26:26.55\00:26:28.15
Give me something
exciting to the taste buds.
00:26:28.35\00:26:30.69
Little Caesar's pizza
or Dominos or the Pizza Hut
00:26:30.89\00:26:33.79
or whatever. Today I
still love pizza by the way.
00:26:33.99\00:26:37.73
People who know me might
be like: "Pizza's his favorite
00:26:37.93\00:26:39.96
food. " I try to eat the
healthier pizza but anyway...
00:26:40.16\00:26:43.10
I didn't want to eat broccoli.
I didn't want to eat vegetables.
00:26:43.30\00:26:47.34
The Mountain Dew
spoiled the appetite
00:26:47.54\00:26:49.90
for the real thing.
00:26:50.11\00:26:52.01
You see the analogy
Boredom and the Bible?
00:26:52.41\00:26:54.94
The Bible is sweet as honey.
00:26:55.34\00:26:57.05
SWEETER than honey to our taste.
00:26:57.45\00:26:59.51
But many people don't
taste the sweetness, do they?
00:26:59.81\00:27:02.02
What's the problem?
00:27:02.22\00:27:03.55
Well, it says in Hebrews...
I'm sorry, in Proverbs
00:27:03.59\00:27:07.22
chapter 27 that a sated man -
00:27:07.42\00:27:10.93
a satisfied man, a satiated man,
00:27:11.09\00:27:12.79
the person who's been full -
00:27:12.99\00:27:14.33
loathes the honey. Can we
actually come to the point
00:27:14.46\00:27:17.67
where we loathe the Bible
if the Bible is represented
00:27:17.87\00:27:20.10
by honey? Oh yes...
many people are bored by it
00:27:20.30\00:27:22.44
because we're sated
with something else.
00:27:22.64\00:27:25.21
The Mountain Dew addiction
made me have a distaste
00:27:25.61\00:27:27.74
for the broccoli. You've
eaten your dessert first;
00:27:27.94\00:27:30.35
you don't want the entree.
00:27:30.55\00:27:32.28
I want to show you a brain
scan though that brings hope.
00:27:32.48\00:27:34.62
One month off of the addiction
00:27:34.82\00:27:37.95
and the pleasure
receptors start coming back.
00:27:38.15\00:27:40.22
Fourteen months off and
several months in between
00:27:40.42\00:27:43.12
you're really starting to get
more pleasure there, aren't you?
00:27:43.32\00:27:46.39
So the joy and happiness of
life really starts to return
00:27:46.59\00:27:50.10
or maybe starts to
come for the first time
00:27:50.30\00:27:52.13
and you don't even
know the difference.
00:27:52.33\00:27:54.00
Jesus says: "I will satisfy the
desire of every living thing. "
00:27:54.20\00:27:57.77
He opens His hand and
satisfies our every need.
00:27:57.97\00:28:01.71