I have been on a 30 day fast of my iphone, music and PS3. People have asked me why take away these three things and you are still on Twitter, Facebook, read your Kindle etc. I felt that these were the three biggest distractions from me listening to God. I had one of those “if you want something to change in your life then do something different” moments so I decided to do something drastic for me.
I think the hardest thing for me to be without has been my music. I love listening to all kinds of music and at all volumes (although, loud in my truck is my favorite) Music, I have learned, also gets my mind focused when I am doing graphics on my Mac. It wasn’t until I was without my music these past weeks that I realized this fact. l also recognized how much time I was spending on my phone. I have 7 pages of apps and lots of games and distractions but need to curtail these things to a reasonable level and not always have to be checking my Facebook, Twitter or the condition of my Zombie Farm!
This blog was actually motivated out of a breakthrough I felt I had in my fast this morning. I was praying and reading my Bible and God told me that the reason why I, Brian, need “techno time-outs” is that I can get so wrapped up in what I am doing with the gadgets in my life that I forget to just simply sit back and listen to what the Holy Spirit is telling me. I am not saying that any of the gadgets I have are evil in themselves, but I do think they have the potential to steal my time and mess up the priority of Christ in my life. I also had God share with me that it was important for my future that I learn to listen to God in the midst of life. I am a pastor so I am bombarded with the issues of people almost on a daily basis but this was much deeper and broader than just ministry. I am not sure completely what it means but I got the message loud and clear. I preached in DC last week that if I was only known as a funny guy, the iphone/Tech geek, etc. and people didn’t know that Christ was number one to me, then I failed. I don’t want to fail in this life so I will do what I need to do to make sure I am tuned in to the best of my abilities to the Holy Spirit and what he says to me
Holy Crap 