227: Glen Davies – Technology As a Challenge To Our Faith (+ 7 Ways To Combat It)

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Welcome to Good Burger selfie
and talks.

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I’m Levi and I’m Chris and I’m
Brian, thank you for joining us

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this week.
On this podcast, we select one

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taco week to help us get the
Bible in our daily news feed.

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We post a new episode of the
start of each week with a short

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intro before.
Hand to kind of set the stage

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for the talk.
You’re about to listen to and

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now let’s talk more about this
week’s talk.

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Welcome to the good
christadelphians talks podcast.

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This is brother Brian.
This week’s talk is a Class by

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Brother, Glenn Davies, that’s
called technology as a challenge

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to our faith.
The class was given at the 2019,

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New Zealand Bible school and
this was sent in by

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recommendation.
So once again, we thank you for

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all the help in finding these
tremendous talks to help spread

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the words of encouragement.
Now despite what you may think

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from the title this is first and
foremost, not a doom and gloom

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kind of message that you might
presume.

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The brother will say you know
all Technologies bad refrain

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from using any of it.
Thankfully there is a healthy

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acknowledgement of how prevalent
and useful Tech is in all of our

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lives these days.
But it’s a really

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well-constructed message of
warning about how as we have

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adapted to the age of instant
gratification.

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Constant notification overload.
And clickbait messages and

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images.
He asked the question, what is

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that costing us from a spiritual
perspective?

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Are we becoming slaves to our
screens?

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Idols made of glass and plastic.
Or even being conditioned, like,

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mice in a laboratory to click
and click, and click, and click

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waiting for the next news
update.

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The next shocking headline, the
graphic image.

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I really enjoy that brother.
Glen manages to give practical

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advice all throughout.
And especially at the end, he

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has some very necessary and
hard-hitting truths.

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About the Temptations that
Brothers, in particular deal

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with, in regards to the
overabundance of pornography and

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the lust of the eyes that can so
easily, beset us and is in

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constant display in our modern
media.

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So there is as he says a
tremendous benefit to

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appreciating technology, as we
have seen in the past, couple

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years of Zoom, during covid.
And even with this podcast, But

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there’s a lot that were missing
if we opted to lean on our

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screens, instead of continuing
to read for ourselves.

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Instead of just Googling a verse
Meeting and talking with each

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other face-to-face.
And having a mind that is

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focused on serving other people
around us instead of head down

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serving ourselves.
As always, we hope that this

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does, strengthen your faith and
brightens your day.

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Brother Glenn Davies technology
as a challenge to our faith.

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So at least in Phoenix times.
Anyway, welcome everybody to our

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talk tonight and modified the
title slightly.

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That is, that was the lovely
little loot list of quotes.

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I was going to play in the
background while everybody was

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just sitting here to in the
voluntary.

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Maybe I can put that on at the
end.

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Instead.
So I modified the title slightly

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to three ways that technology
threatens our faith and seven

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ways to fight back because I
don’t really just want to stand

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here tonight and tell you what
the issues are really want to

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try.
And at least start presenting

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some practical things that we
can all be doing to fight back,

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and try and defend our faith.
Now, I’m sure that many of you

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particularly, maybe some of the
younger ones are probably

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thinking.
Oh, you’re on some old guys.

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He’s going to stand up there and
tell us how terrible technology

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is and all those young people
are glued to their phones and

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really, they should all log out
of Facebook and just go outside

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and play.
Well, unfortunately I am an old

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guy.
I can’t get away from it.

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Being said, he was going to be
turning 50 soon.

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Unfortunately, I did turn 50
this year so there’s no doubt

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about it.
I am an old guy, but the good

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news is young people.
I’m not so old and out of touch

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that, I don’t know.
That.

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Probably the only reason a young
person these days would log into

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Facebook, would be to see the
message to your mother or your

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grandmother.
And just between you and me,

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young people, that’s probably
your mother and your grandmother

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that I shall be telling to log
out of Facebook and go outside

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and play, but we’ll keep that to
ourselves for now, but you don’t

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need to worry that.
I’m going to stand up here and

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preach some sort of radical
digital digital detox that.

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We all have to throw away a
divisors because they offer such

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a terrible threat to our faith.
Because again, unfortunately I

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have to admit that I love
technology.

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So there’s no way that I’m going
to stand up here and preach any

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sort of radical digital detox as
I see it.

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And I’ve got no intention of
standing up here and making you

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feel guilty, just because you
have an Instagram account.

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However, I do think that
technology presents some real

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challenges to our faith and the
age, in which we live.

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And I also think that we’re
overdue for having some really

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serious discussions.
About that in order to be able

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to help each other to overcome
those challenges.

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And it’s some discussions at the
Bible school committee has had

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about, the obvious impact
technology is having on our

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faith and the need to actually
sit down and have some honest

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discussions about it.
But before we launch into that,

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and for those of you that don’t
really know me at all, just a

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little bit of background to
convince you, that I’m not

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actually a Luddite in Disguise.
I’m currently a software

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developer by trade.
So I spend probably around 40

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hours.
Hours a week glued to a computer

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screen.
Well, two screens actually.

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I’ve got a lazy eye so I can
look at two screens at once.

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And I’ve actually had a
smartphone since around 2008.

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Now that might not sound that
long ago, but 2008 is actually

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win.
The first iPhones became

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commercially available in New
Zealand was the iPhone 3G looks

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quite small and quaint these
days, isn’t it?

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So I was lucky to get one of
those as part of my work back in

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2008.
So I’ve been a smartphone addict

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for a few years longer than most
people in the Room.

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So potentially reasonably well,
placed to discuss the issues

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involved in owning such devices.
I’ve also got a Facebook

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account.
I too have to keep in touch with

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my mother.
I’ve got a Instagram account

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which I never really use.
I just thought I really should

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have an Instagram account.
I’ve got a Twitter account, I

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occasionally seen some tweets,
mostly work-related.

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So, as I said, I’m no way a lot,
right?

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But really, the comments that
I’m going to make tonight,

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hopefully will help us all in
the struggle to maintain our

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faith against the impact that
technology is having Now,

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tonight’s and not intended in
any way to be an all-inclusive

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summary of the issues.
And neither has it been to

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outline every single struggle
that you might have.

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It’s really just a start of the
discussion and God willing

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tomorrow night.
The idea of those discussion

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groups as we can take what we’ve
started here tonight and in your

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discussion groups, you can start
having some discussions about

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the actual issues that you have
and maybe some of the solutions

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to the issues that you’ll come
across.

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So with that introduction, let
me just Outline Three of the

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ways.
I think that technology is

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impacting our faith.
But before that, Let’s just have

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a quick look at three ways that
God wants us to develop in our

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faith.
Now one, we all know, and we

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read about in our opening, Psalm
God wants us to meditate on his

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word day and night as a way of
developing our faith and Brother

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David gave us a really good
introduction into the importance

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of that last night.
Secondly we need to build each

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other up in the faith.
God wants us to come together

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with the purpose of building
each other up and encouraging

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each other in the faith and
thirdly, what he wants us to do

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in order to maintain our faith
has to remain separate from the

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world.
He wants us to come out from the

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world separate from them in
order that our faith might be

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maintained now, What technology
does an opposition to that, as I

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believe it diminishes, our
ability to think deeply on God’s

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word, that provides a medium,
where we find it.

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All too easy to pull each other
down, instead of lifting each

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other up, and it puts the worst
that the world has to offer at

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our fingertips.
So, in order to make this

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evening as stress-free as
possible to the OCD Among Us,

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let’s start by having a look at
the first of these.

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Let me to take you on God’s
word.

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We don’t really spend need to
spend too much time going

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through the, the essential
requirement of this, for a walk

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in the faith.
Because as I said, Brother,

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David gave a good introduction
to this last night and we all

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know the importance of taking in
the word of God.

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It’s the word that develops, our
faith and our opening reading

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talks about that blessing, that
will come upon a man that does

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this, but it’s not just a
Mindless scanning of the text

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that God wants the word,
meditate.

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Translated from the Hebrew and
the King.

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James has the idea of to murmur
or by implication to ponder, God

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doesn’t want us to just read his
word.

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He wants us to take it in and
think about it, ponder it and

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think about what the
implications are of it for us

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and how we might apply it in our
lives.

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Now, a lot of you will know that
traditionally the Jews when they

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read the scripture would
actually do that murmuring and

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pondering out loud.
They would read God’s word out

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loud.
They would have a conversation

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with both themselves and And
with God out loud, in order that

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they could really come to grips
with what it was.

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They were reading and have a
real conversation with god.

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Now, of course, many of you are
probably way too shy and

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reserved to sit in a room,
talking to yourself and talking

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to God out loud.
But God still wants us to have

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that conversation.
Even if we’re just having a

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quietly inside our own hit and
the word gives us.

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Wonderful analogy doesn’t have
chewing the cud.

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It’s the idea of chewing over
the word.

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This idea of meditating.
On God’s word.

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But what’s the ultimate aim of
this process of chewing over

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God’s word in this way?
Well, he wants us to take so

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much of his word into our minds
and ponder it so deeply that it

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actually transforms the very
way, we think.

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And consequently transforms the
way we live our lives.

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Now, if we come over to Romans
chapter 12, the Apostle Paul has

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a wonderful little way of
phrasing.

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What it is that God is wanting
to happen and are constantly.

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Consideration of his word.
Where’s that?

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I’m sure.
You all know.

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Well, Romans chapter 12 and
verse 2.

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Be not conformed to this world
but be transformed by the

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renewing of your mind.
That ye may prove what is the

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good and acceptable and perfect
will of God.

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And this word here.
Transformed has this idea of

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renewing or Bing or to renovate
or to completely change for the

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better.
So to completely change our mind

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and most of you probably know
the Greek word behind it.

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Is the idea of metamorphosis
where the idea of the Us of the

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caterpillar comes from.
So caterpillar completely

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changes into a butterfly and God
wants our minds to be the same.

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Now, the really amazing thing is
that in our day and age.

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Scientists have proved that the
things we think, actually

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physically change our mind.
Of course, the Apostle Paul

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didn’t know this, when he was
writing this, he knew that the

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word of God could have an effect
on us, but scientists, and our

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donated proven that our thoughts
physically change the way our

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mind is Should now there’s one
really well-known and experiment

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in this vein and the taken by
Professor pass ql Lyon he was a

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professor of Neurology.
So what he did, he took a whole

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group of people that didn’t know
how to play the keyboard or the

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00:13:50,800 –> 00:13:53,800
piano and he taught them a very
simple Melody.

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And then he split the group into
halves and he said, like this

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group over here if every day you
can spend so much time actually

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00:14:01,800 –> 00:14:06,500
playing that tune and getting to
know it and he said this group

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00:14:06,500 –> 00:14:07,300
over here.
Here.

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00:14:07,800 –> 00:14:10,700
Could you just sit in front of
the piano and imagine playing

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00:14:10,700 –> 00:14:13,200
that tune every day?
It’s been the same amount of

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00:14:13,200 –> 00:14:15,000
time but don’t touch the
keyboard.

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00:14:15,500 –> 00:14:19,200
Just in your mind, think about
your fingers, moving over the

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00:14:19,200 –> 00:14:23,500
keys, the way I taught you to.
Now, the amazing thing is that

230
00:14:24,100 –> 00:14:28,200
after that completed that, that
time he used a technique called

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00:14:28,200 –> 00:14:32,300
transcranial magnetic
stimulation to look at the under

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00:14:32,300 –> 00:14:34,200
map, the underlying brain
structures.

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00:14:34,800 –> 00:14:38,200
And what they found was that
those people At just imagined

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playing the keyboard.
Their brain structure was

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00:14:40,900 –> 00:14:43,500
changed in.
Exactly the same way as those

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00:14:43,500 –> 00:14:45,300
people that actually played the
piano.

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00:14:47,100 –> 00:14:50,800
So there’s quite good evidence
to show that just thinking about

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00:14:50,800 –> 00:14:55,300
something has the same change on
your brain as actually doing it.

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00:14:56,000 –> 00:14:59,500
So in other words, our brains
are physically Changed by our

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00:14:59,500 –> 00:15:03,600
thoughts, we become
neurologically what we think.

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00:15:05,200 –> 00:15:08,800
So before we go into this a bit
further and have a look at will,

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00:15:08,800 –> 00:15:11,900
how it might technology.
Be hindering this process of

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00:15:11,900 –> 00:15:14,700
being able to change the way.
Our mind is structured through

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00:15:14,700 –> 00:15:18,400
our absorption and thinking
about the word of God, just in

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00:15:18,400 –> 00:15:20,000
contrast.
Let’s have a little bit of a

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00:15:20,000 –> 00:15:22,800
think about the traditional
reading process.

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00:15:23,100 –> 00:15:27,900
What goes on?
When we read a book now man

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00:15:27,900 –> 00:15:30,300
called Nicholas Carr wrote a
book called the shallows which

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00:15:30,300 –> 00:15:34,500
probably a large number of you
here have read and he outlines

250
00:15:34,500 –> 00:15:36,500
the process.
Is of traditionally reading a

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00:15:36,508 –> 00:15:40,400
book and this way he says what’s
so remarkable about book reading

252
00:15:40,500 –> 00:15:44,100
is that deep concentration is
combined with the highly active

253
00:15:44,400 –> 00:15:47,400
and efficient deciphering of
text and interpretation of

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00:15:47,400 –> 00:15:51,300
meaning, the reading of a sink
sequence of printed pages is

255
00:15:51,300 –> 00:15:54,500
valuable, not just for the
knowledge readers acquired from

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00:15:54,500 –> 00:15:57,600
the author’s words.
But for the way those words

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00:15:57,600 –> 00:16:00,900
said, I’ve intellectual
vibrations within your own mind

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00:16:01,100 –> 00:16:04,500
and the quiet spaces opened up
by the prolonged undistracted

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00:16:04,500 –> 00:16:08,600
reading of Book, you make your
own associations, draw your own

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00:16:08,600 –> 00:16:12,200
inferences and analogies and
Foster your own ideas.

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00:16:12,500 –> 00:16:16,800
You think deeply as you read
deeply reading a book as a

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00:16:16,800 –> 00:16:20,800
meditative act, but it doesn’t
involve a clearing of the mind.

263
00:16:20,800 –> 00:16:23,800
It involves a filling, a
replenishing of the mind

264
00:16:24,000 –> 00:16:26,800
reader’s, disengage their
attention from the outward flow

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00:16:26,800 –> 00:16:30,600
of passing stimuli, in order to
engage it more deeply with an

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00:16:30,600 –> 00:16:33,400
inward flow of words, ideas and
emotions.

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00:16:33,700 –> 00:16:36,500
That is the essence of the you
Anika mental process of deep.

268
00:16:36,500 –> 00:16:39,400
Reading to read.
A book is to practice process.

269
00:16:39,400 –> 00:16:43,100
A process of thought that
demands sustained unbroken

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00:16:43,100 –> 00:16:45,500
attention to a single static
object.

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It requires readers to place
themselves at what t.s.

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00:16:49,300 –> 00:16:53,100
Eliot would call The Still Point
of the Turning world.

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00:16:53,500 –> 00:16:56,300
You have to train your brain to
ignore everything else around

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00:16:56,300 –> 00:17:00,000
you to resist the urge, to let
your focus skip from one sensory

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00:17:00,000 –> 00:17:04,300
cue to another and you have to
forge or strengthen the neural

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00:17:04,300 –> 00:17:06,099
links.
Needed to counter your

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00:17:06,099 –> 00:17:09,800
instinctive distracted –
applying greater top-down

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00:17:09,800 –> 00:17:15,700
control over your own attention.
And as you listen to that, you

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00:17:15,700 –> 00:17:18,400
can see, we’ll see how nicely
that ties in with what God

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00:17:18,400 –> 00:17:21,500
requires.
Traditionally reading takes us

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00:17:21,508 –> 00:17:26,800
away into a quiet place where
our entire focus is on the words

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00:17:26,800 –> 00:17:29,300
before us.
And in that quiet place we can

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00:17:29,300 –> 00:17:33,400
mullo over those words and make
our own connections and draw our

284
00:17:33,400 –> 00:17:36,100
own inferences and make our own
analogies and really come to

285
00:17:36,100 –> 00:17:40,600
terms with what we’re reading.
Now, obviously that summary that

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00:17:40,600 –> 00:17:43,100
I read is just the views of
Nicholas, Carr and t.s.

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00:17:43,100 –> 00:17:47,800
Eliot, but I’m sure that you’ll
agree that that provides a

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00:17:47,808 –> 00:17:51,200
really good summary of what it
is to read a book or a longer

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00:17:51,200 –> 00:17:53,000
article.
You put aside all those

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00:17:53,000 –> 00:17:55,900
distractions and you’re totally
engaged in absorbed in the

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00:17:55,900 –> 00:18:00,900
words, nothing else matters in
those moments. now, my wife,

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00:18:00,900 –> 00:18:04,700
Nikki can certainly attest that
this is a fact, because if I’m

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00:18:04,700 –> 00:18:08,600
sitting reading a book, And she
comes to speak to me.

294
00:18:08,800 –> 00:18:12,800
I don’t hear a single word that
she says, because I’m completely

295
00:18:12,800 –> 00:18:15,100
absorbed in that book.
At that moment.

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00:18:15,100 –> 00:18:24,200
Nothing else matters.
Now, when was taking that into

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00:18:24,200 –> 00:18:27,100
consideration, how important it
is to be able to read in this

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00:18:27,100 –> 00:18:29,400
way.
Read deeply, the things of God.

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00:18:31,000 –> 00:18:36,100
When was the last time that you
sat down and got truly lost and

300
00:18:36,100 –> 00:18:41,000
reading the word or in reading a
book, when was the last time

301
00:18:41,000 –> 00:18:45,900
that you read a book of the
truth from cover to cover, or

302
00:18:45,900 –> 00:18:50,200
even read a complete article
from one of our Publications.

303
00:18:51,600 –> 00:18:54,400
When was the last time that you
memorized a section of scripture

304
00:18:54,400 –> 00:18:57,700
so that you might be able to
meditate and to murmur into two

305
00:18:57,700 –> 00:19:00,300
upon God’s word when you didn’t
have the written word handy,

306
00:19:01,500 –> 00:19:03,500
Now, for some of you here and
I’m sure for quite a few of you

307
00:19:03,500 –> 00:19:04,800
here.
You can you can quite

308
00:19:04,800 –> 00:19:06,300
confidently answer.
All that was today.

309
00:19:07,000 –> 00:19:10,200
I sat down this afternoon and I
did that or maybe you can say

310
00:19:10,200 –> 00:19:12,300
well last week I did it all last
month.

311
00:19:12,300 –> 00:19:17,600
I did that But I’m sure there
are many of you here that

312
00:19:17,600 –> 00:19:21,900
haven’t actually read a complete
Book for a number of years.

313
00:19:23,500 –> 00:19:25,500
There are probably some of you
here that haven’t actually read

314
00:19:25,500 –> 00:19:28,800
a complete article from
beginning to end for a number of

315
00:19:28,800 –> 00:19:32,100
years, and I have to confess
when I first came into the

316
00:19:32,100 –> 00:19:33,800
truth.
About 25 years ago.

317
00:19:33,800 –> 00:19:37,500
I was an Avid Reader.
I would read lots of the works

318
00:19:37,500 –> 00:19:39,700
of the Pioneers, I’d read lots
of Articles.

319
00:19:40,200 –> 00:19:43,500
I’d always also have a number of
other fiction and nonfiction

320
00:19:43,500 –> 00:19:45,000
books on the go at the same
time.

321
00:19:46,200 –> 00:19:51,200
But sometime in somewhere in the
2000s, I just stopped reading

322
00:19:52,100 –> 00:19:55,600
And I very rarely put picked up
a book and if I did it was just

323
00:19:55,900 –> 00:19:59,700
for some quick study to try and
find a nice quote for an exit.

324
00:19:59,800 –> 00:20:03,400
I very rarely read a book from
cover to cover and I very really

325
00:20:03,400 –> 00:20:07,900
sat down and read an entire
article and in the last couple

326
00:20:07,900 –> 00:20:11,400
of years I’ve had to make a real
effort to get back to reading

327
00:20:11,400 –> 00:20:14,000
books.
I’ve had to say to myself that

328
00:20:14,000 –> 00:20:17,900
this is something you need to do
in order to keep your faith.

329
00:20:17,900 –> 00:20:21,600
You need to get back into
reading, not only the word but

330
00:20:21,900 –> 00:20:26,000
works of the truth.
So why the shift away from

331
00:20:26,000 –> 00:20:28,200
Reading?
Why is it that so many?

332
00:20:28,200 –> 00:20:31,600
And the Brotherhood are not
reading the way we used to.

333
00:20:32,800 –> 00:20:36,000
Well, although there’s research
to show why this is happening.

334
00:20:36,700 –> 00:20:39,300
I think most of us, probably
know from personal experience,

335
00:20:39,300 –> 00:20:44,300
why it is without the need for
an external evidence and it’s

336
00:20:44,300 –> 00:20:48,300
the fact that the internet or
more specifically, the web and

337
00:20:48,300 –> 00:20:52,800
smartphones actively discourage
prolonged periods of deeply

338
00:20:52,800 –> 00:20:57,800
meditative reading and thinking
they in fact, encouraged quite

339
00:20:57,800 –> 00:21:01,700
the opposite, Nicholas Carr.
Again he states with me.

340
00:21:01,700 –> 00:21:05,000
Go online We enter an
environment that promotes

341
00:21:05,000 –> 00:21:07,900
cursory reading hurried and
distracted thinking and

342
00:21:07,900 –> 00:21:10,700
superficial learning.
It’s possible to think deeply

343
00:21:10,700 –> 00:21:13,600
while surfing the net, just as
it’s possible to think shallowly

344
00:21:13,600 –> 00:21:16,200
while reading a book.
But that’s not the type of

345
00:21:16,200 –> 00:21:21,600
thinking that the technology
encourages and rewards, but this

346
00:21:21,600 –> 00:21:24,900
isn’t just his opinion.
Research has been done that

347
00:21:24,900 –> 00:21:29,100
supports this view way back as
far as 1989 Believe It or Not,

348
00:21:29,400 –> 00:21:32,500
There was research done on the
the effects of reading.

349
00:21:32,500 –> 00:21:34,900
Hi.
Per text on comprehension for

350
00:21:34,900 –> 00:21:37,000
those of you that not so
technology.

351
00:21:37,000 –> 00:21:40,500
Savvy hypertext is really just
text with a whole lot of links

352
00:21:40,500 –> 00:21:42,700
in it.
So when you read a web page,

353
00:21:42,700 –> 00:21:44,600
there’s usually a whole lot of
bits that are a different color.

354
00:21:44,600 –> 00:21:47,900
Maybe with a line underneath and
your brain is come to understand

355
00:21:47,900 –> 00:21:52,100
that those things are links to
something more interesting or

356
00:21:52,100 –> 00:21:54,500
equally interesting and that’s
known it.

357
00:21:54,900 –> 00:21:57,900
And Technical speakers is
hypertext or a hyperlink.

358
00:21:58,900 –> 00:22:02,100
Now 1989 our studies showed that
readers of hypertext often end

359
00:22:02,100 –> 00:22:04,300
up clicking.
Directed lie through pages

360
00:22:04,600 –> 00:22:06,200
instead of reading them
carefully.

361
00:22:07,100 –> 00:22:10,300
And in some research, conducted
in 2001, the difference and

362
00:22:10,300 –> 00:22:13,800
comprehension rates between
reading hypertext and non

363
00:22:13,800 –> 00:22:17,800
hypertext documents.
And that research was clearly

364
00:22:17,800 –> 00:22:23,000
showed that with hypertext, the
absorbed and personal motive

365
00:22:23,000 –> 00:22:26,500
reading seems to be discouraged.
The reader’s attention was

366
00:22:26,500 –> 00:22:29,500
distracted towards the Machinery
of the hypertext and it’s

367
00:22:29,500 –> 00:22:32,600
functions rather than to the
experience offered.

368
00:22:32,800 –> 00:22:38,000
By the story and in 2007 similar
research was undertaken and

369
00:22:38,000 –> 00:22:42,000
their conclusion was that the
multimedia Technologies?

370
00:22:42,000 –> 00:22:46,400
So common to the web would seem
to limit rather than enhance

371
00:22:46,700 –> 00:22:55,100
information acquisition.
Now I’m sure a lot of you are

372
00:22:55,400 –> 00:22:57,800
just familiar with this from
personal experience.

373
00:22:57,800 –> 00:23:00,900
Like if you go on the web
looking for something you’re

374
00:23:00,900 –> 00:23:04,100
very really start reading at the
top of the page and keep reading

375
00:23:04,100 –> 00:23:06,100
and reading and reading until
you got right to the bottom.

376
00:23:06,500 –> 00:23:09,500
But who does that?
Nobody does that you read until

377
00:23:09,500 –> 00:23:11,600
you find the first link that
looks really interesting and

378
00:23:11,600 –> 00:23:15,200
then you click on it and open up
a new tab and then you read that

379
00:23:15,200 –> 00:23:16,700
for a bit.
If I another link and you click

380
00:23:16,700 –> 00:23:19,400
on it and open up a new tab and
before you know it you got 20

381
00:23:19,400 –> 00:23:22,200
tabs open and you never ever get
back to that first.

382
00:23:22,400 –> 00:23:24,400
Document that sounded
interesting but that you only

383
00:23:24,400 –> 00:23:28,400
skimmed over two lines of, it’s
just the way people read on the

384
00:23:28,400 –> 00:23:30,600
web.
They don’t read they skim

385
00:23:31,100 –> 00:23:33,600
looking for things of interest
and then following the first

386
00:23:33,600 –> 00:23:34,900
thing that they find
interesting.

387
00:23:35,900 –> 00:23:39,500
And in that process, really
nothing has been taken into our

388
00:23:39,500 –> 00:23:42,100
mind that we can chew on and
mull over in the way that God

389
00:23:42,100 –> 00:23:44,300
wants us to meditate animal over
things.

390
00:23:45,400 –> 00:23:48,800
And if we want the blessings
that come from meditating on

391
00:23:48,800 –> 00:23:51,700
God’s word, that is a
transformed mind or the mind of

392
00:23:51,700 –> 00:23:54,300
Christ.
Just then if the only reading

393
00:23:54,300 –> 00:23:56,600
we’re doing is skimming content
online.

394
00:23:56,600 –> 00:23:59,900
Then we significantly reduce
their chances of achieving that

395
00:23:59,900 –> 00:24:03,500
aim if we’re wanting to
transform our minds and the only

396
00:24:03,500 –> 00:24:06,200
thing we do is skim across stuff
on the web.

397
00:24:06,500 –> 00:24:09,500
It’s reasonably unlikely that
we’re actually going to achieve

398
00:24:09,500 –> 00:24:13,200
that aim.
Now, as well as the issue of not

399
00:24:13,200 –> 00:24:16,700
being able to read deeply on the
internet, think it’s really

400
00:24:16,700 –> 00:24:20,400
important to be also highlight
briefly the distraction factor

401
00:24:20,400 –> 00:24:23,700
of new technologies and it
really goes hand in hand with

402
00:24:23,700 –> 00:24:26,200
this lack of deep reading
because it’s all very well to

403
00:24:26,200 –> 00:24:28,600
say.
Well, okay, Glen’s convinced me

404
00:24:28,600 –> 00:24:31,300
I need to read a book so I’m
going to go home and I’m going

405
00:24:31,300 –> 00:24:33,900
to read a book and you sit down
and you read your book and you

406
00:24:33,900 –> 00:24:35,700
get through a couple of lines
and your fingers.

407
00:24:39,000 –> 00:24:41,700
So you look at it and follow
that link and then follow

408
00:24:41,700 –> 00:24:44,900
something else.
And check your email that tweet

409
00:24:45,000 –> 00:24:48,000
see what Donald Trump’s tweeted
and then you go back to the

410
00:24:48,000 –> 00:24:50,000
second paragraph and you get
through another couple of lines

411
00:24:50,000 –> 00:24:54,900
and then this is.
So if we don’t also look at this

412
00:24:54,900 –> 00:24:57,800
distraction Factor, we’re not.
There’s no point in trying to go

413
00:24:57,800 –> 00:25:00,300
back to the Deep reading from a
book.

414
00:25:01,500 –> 00:25:04,400
So firstly, it’s worth noting
that it’s in the best interest

415
00:25:04,400 –> 00:25:06,600
of the large corporations that
are driving technology.

416
00:25:06,700 –> 00:25:09,800
Ology to make us distractible as
distractible as possible.

417
00:25:10,900 –> 00:25:14,600
So, for instance, Nicholas Carr.
Again, he said about Google.

418
00:25:15,200 –> 00:25:18,400
Google’s profits are tied
directly to the velocity of

419
00:25:18,400 –> 00:25:21,600
people’s information and take
the faster, we surf across the

420
00:25:21,600 –> 00:25:24,300
surface of the web.
The more links we click in the

421
00:25:24,300 –> 00:25:27,200
pages, we view the more
opportunities, Google gains to

422
00:25:27,200 –> 00:25:31,300
collect information about us and
to feed us advertisements, its

423
00:25:31,300 –> 00:25:34,200
advertising system.
Moreover is explicitly designed

424
00:25:34,200 –> 00:25:37,100
to figure out which messages are
most likely to Grab our

425
00:25:37,100 –> 00:25:39,500
attention.
And then to place those messages

426
00:25:39,500 –> 00:25:43,400
in our field of view, every
click we make on the web marks,

427
00:25:43,400 –> 00:25:46,900
a break, in our concentration, A
bottom-up, disruption of our

428
00:25:46,900 –> 00:25:50,500
attention and it’s in Google’s
economic interest to make sure

429
00:25:50,500 –> 00:25:54,000
we click as often as possible.
The last thing, the company

430
00:25:54,000 –> 00:25:57,500
wants to encourage is literally
reading or slow concentrated.

431
00:25:57,500 –> 00:26:00,600
Thought Google is quite
literally in the business of

432
00:26:00,600 –> 00:26:05,900
distraction And, of course, now
that we have the power of the

433
00:26:05,900 –> 00:26:09,100
internet in a pocket, there’s
probably not many people here

434
00:26:09,100 –> 00:26:10,600
today that don’t have a
smartphone.

435
00:26:10,600 –> 00:26:13,900
So we have all of Google’s
technology in our pocket.

436
00:26:15,300 –> 00:26:18,400
It’s powerful and distracting
influence beckons to us night

437
00:26:18,400 –> 00:26:20,400
and day.
Now there’s a couple of

438
00:26:20,400 –> 00:26:23,900
researchers, Adam gives early
and Larry, Rawson they State and

439
00:26:23,900 –> 00:26:27,900
their book, The distracted mind
just glanced around a restaurant

440
00:26:27,900 –> 00:26:31,900
and look at people walking on a
city street, pay attention to

441
00:26:31,900 –> 00:26:33,200
people.
People waiting in line for a

442
00:26:33,208 –> 00:26:36,900
movie or the theater and you’ll
see busily tapping fingers.

443
00:26:37,000 –> 00:26:39,500
We act as though we are no
longer interested in or able to

444
00:26:39,500 –> 00:26:42,200
stay idle and simple simply do
nothing.

445
00:26:42,800 –> 00:26:46,200
We appear to care more about the
people who are available through

446
00:26:46,200 –> 00:26:49,700
our devices than those who are
right in front of our faces and

447
00:26:49,700 –> 00:26:52,200
perhaps more critically, we
appear to have lost their

448
00:26:52,200 –> 00:26:55,400
ability to Simply Be Alone with
our thoughts.

449
00:26:57,200 –> 00:27:01,400
What impact does that on have on
our ability to meditate if we’re

450
00:27:01,400 –> 00:27:03,400
constantly Attracted by these
things.

451
00:27:05,600 –> 00:27:10,500
But why is it that these digital
devices are so compelling and so

452
00:27:10,500 –> 00:27:14,200
distracting?
I have to confess that I find my

453
00:27:14,200 –> 00:27:17,700
digital devices, extremely
distracting and compelling.

454
00:27:18,200 –> 00:27:20,600
I have a lot of trouble tearing
my way.

455
00:27:20,900 –> 00:27:23,800
Myself away from him sometimes
a, why is it what makes it?

456
00:27:24,500 –> 00:27:28,700
So now Robert kolker, he’s an
investigative reporter.

457
00:27:29,100 –> 00:27:33,500
He wrote quite a long report on
the problem of being distracted

458
00:27:33,500 –> 00:27:37,100
by messaging while driving me
and he made this interesting

459
00:27:37,100 –> 00:27:40,800
comment distraction as the devil
in your ear.

460
00:27:41,400 –> 00:27:43,700
Not always the result of an
attention deficit.

461
00:27:43,700 –> 00:27:47,700
But born of our own desires,
really stood out when I read

462
00:27:47,700 –> 00:27:51,500
this because we can easily
convert that into language would

463
00:27:51,500 –> 00:27:53,700
be happy with because of course,
we don’t believe in the devil

464
00:27:54,400 –> 00:27:56,600
and we know the devil is really
the carnal mind.

465
00:27:56,600 –> 00:28:00,400
So what he’s saying is Well
distraction is the carnal mind

466
00:28:00,400 –> 00:28:03,400
and your ear not always a result
of an attention deficit, but

467
00:28:03,400 –> 00:28:05,700
born of our own desires.
Eyes.

468
00:28:08,200 –> 00:28:12,300
Now.
Robert Coker.

469
00:28:13,400 –> 00:28:17,000
He probably just used this as a
bit of a throwaway line as far

470
00:28:17,000 –> 00:28:18,400
as I know, he’s not religious at
all.

471
00:28:18,400 –> 00:28:24,000
So he just really used this as a
turn of phrase, but I think it’s

472
00:28:24,000 –> 00:28:25,600
worth taking a look at this a
bit further.

473
00:28:25,600 –> 00:28:27,600
Because when we do look into
this, a bit further, it’s

474
00:28:27,600 –> 00:28:32,800
amazing how chillingly accurate.
This little phrase is when it

475
00:28:32,800 –> 00:28:35,900
comes to the addictive nature of
our devices.

476
00:28:36,400 –> 00:28:38,900
Now, Robert lustig, a professor
of Pediatrics.

477
00:28:39,600 –> 00:28:42,800
Had this to say about the
addictive nature of smartphones.

478
00:28:44,200 –> 00:28:46,900
He said the cell phones like a
slot machine in your pocket.

479
00:28:47,200 –> 00:28:49,200
With every ding, a variable
reward.

480
00:28:49,200 –> 00:28:52,900
Either good or bad is in store
for the user, the ultimate

481
00:28:52,900 –> 00:28:55,600
dopamine rush.
Now I’ve highlighted that little

482
00:28:55,600 –> 00:28:57,400
section.
There are variable reward

483
00:28:57,400 –> 00:29:01,800
because it turns out that this
is the key to everything beside

484
00:29:01,800 –> 00:29:05,300
area of a variable reward.
Now, just to give you a really

485
00:29:05,300 –> 00:29:09,500
simple example to explain it in
terms of email email gives

486
00:29:09,700 –> 00:29:13,500
Variable rewards when you check
your email inbox because

487
00:29:13,500 –> 00:29:15,900
sometimes you will check your
inbox and it will be empty.

488
00:29:15,900 –> 00:29:18,300
They’ll be nothing new at
disappointment.

489
00:29:18,800 –> 00:29:20,800
Sometimes you will check your
inbox and they’ll be a wedding

490
00:29:20,800 –> 00:29:24,600
invite from your favorite friend
and you’re so excited and happy

491
00:29:24,600 –> 00:29:26,200
that you’ve got, you’ve been
invited.

492
00:29:26,400 –> 00:29:30,300
Sometimes you might check your
inbox to see if you your job

493
00:29:30,300 –> 00:29:32,800
application has been received
and there’s a note to say that

494
00:29:32,800 –> 00:29:35,800
it has so that’s a nice little
hit that has been received and

495
00:29:35,800 –> 00:29:38,800
something to think about.
You might check in and find out.

496
00:29:38,800 –> 00:29:40,300
There’s a Jabra.
Section leader.

497
00:29:40,800 –> 00:29:43,100
So that’s a bit of a downer and
a bit depressing.

498
00:29:43,800 –> 00:29:47,100
So every time you check your
email, it’s a variable reward.

499
00:29:47,100 –> 00:29:49,300
You might get a really nice head
of dopamine cuz there’s

500
00:29:49,300 –> 00:29:51,200
something really exciting has
come in.

501
00:29:51,200 –> 00:29:53,700
You might get nothing or you
might get a real Downer.

502
00:29:54,900 –> 00:30:00,100
And it’s these fleeting rewards
that actually make things

503
00:30:00,100 –> 00:30:03,500
compelling and addictive.
And it doesn’t just apply to

504
00:30:03,500 –> 00:30:07,100
email this applies to most
modern social networking

505
00:30:07,100 –> 00:30:09,500
platforms and phone
applications.

506
00:30:09,800 –> 00:30:14,100
They all use this principle of
variable reward random and

507
00:30:14,100 –> 00:30:17,400
variable rewards because they
know that that’s the way to get

508
00:30:17,400 –> 00:30:21,700
you hooked.
So, how did they work out?

509
00:30:23,200 –> 00:30:27,200
That the way to get people
hooked was by using this idea of

510
00:30:27,200 –> 00:30:30,200
variable Rewards.
Well, interestingly enough, it

511
00:30:30,200 –> 00:30:33,500
goes right back to the 1950s
before these devices, even

512
00:30:33,500 –> 00:30:36,100
existed there was a man called
BF Skinner.

513
00:30:36,100 –> 00:30:40,400
He was a psychologist and he was
doing some interesting work in

514
00:30:40,400 –> 00:30:42,900
the education field.
He wanted to work out.

515
00:30:43,400 –> 00:30:46,400
What’s the best way to reward
students in order to get the

516
00:30:46,400 –> 00:30:50,200
best educational outcomes?
So how can we make students,

517
00:30:50,200 –> 00:30:53,900
learn better by varying the way
that We might reward them in

518
00:30:53,900 –> 00:30:56,500
some way, so he took two groups
of mice.

519
00:30:57,700 –> 00:31:00,100
And both groups of mice.
He trained to tap on a little

520
00:31:00,100 –> 00:31:04,000
lever and one group of mice,
when they tapped on the lever,

521
00:31:04,300 –> 00:31:08,200
he gave them a consistent reward
in a consistently timed way.

522
00:31:08,600 –> 00:31:10,700
Every time they tapped.
They knew that at that

523
00:31:10,700 –> 00:31:13,600
particular time, they would get
some food of a certain size.

524
00:31:14,500 –> 00:31:17,700
Now, the other little group of
mice, he taught them to tap to

525
00:31:17,700 –> 00:31:20,700
but this time he gave them a
variable reward at different

526
00:31:20,700 –> 00:31:22,900
times.
So sometimes they tap and get

527
00:31:22,900 –> 00:31:26,600
nothing, sometimes they tap and
get a really big tasty bit of

528
00:31:26,600 –> 00:31:28,700
food.
Sometimes that tap and just get

529
00:31:28,700 –> 00:31:32,100
a little tiny treat.
And interestingly enough, the

530
00:31:32,100 –> 00:31:35,200
mice that got the random
variable rewards became

531
00:31:35,200 –> 00:31:40,700
incredibly compulsive about
tapping, that little lever, the

532
00:31:40,700 –> 00:31:42,200
mice that got the consistent
reward.

533
00:31:42,200 –> 00:31:43,700
They just knew when they were
going to get something that

534
00:31:43,700 –> 00:31:45,200
attacked it, and they went away
and left it.

535
00:31:46,000 –> 00:31:49,600
The other mice with the variable
would just compulsively, tapped

536
00:31:49,600 –> 00:31:54,200
on the lever, even when he taken
that reward away permanently for

537
00:31:54,200 –> 00:31:56,900
quite some time, he stopped
giving the rewards but they just

538
00:31:56,900 –> 00:31:59,100
compulsively, keep tapping the
lever.

539
00:32:00,600 –> 00:32:05,000
Now, the funny thing is humans
exhibit.

540
00:32:05,000 –> 00:32:08,000
Exactly the same psychological
Behavior.

541
00:32:10,000 –> 00:32:15,200
So, technology companies make
taking maximum advantage of

542
00:32:15,200 –> 00:32:18,400
this.
They’ve taken this research from

543
00:32:18,400 –> 00:32:21,200
the 1950s and said, hey, this is
great because humans behave the

544
00:32:21,200 –> 00:32:23,600
same way.
So let’s give them really random

545
00:32:23,800 –> 00:32:27,100
and varying rewards and they’ll
get addicted to our products.

546
00:32:28,500 –> 00:32:30,800
Now that might sound like well
that’s just like an interesting

547
00:32:30,800 –> 00:32:35,400
little factoid.
But I think it’s something that

548
00:32:35,400 –> 00:32:38,700
we actually need to take a
little time to think about and

549
00:32:38,700 –> 00:32:43,200
Ponder exactly what that means.
And this particular instance, we

550
00:32:43,200 –> 00:32:47,100
behave exactly the same as mice.
We Exist exhibit.

551
00:32:47,100 –> 00:32:51,200
Exact our brains, do exactly the
same thing as a mouse brain.

552
00:32:53,500 –> 00:32:55,800
Now, we need to ask ourselves if
that’s the case.

553
00:32:57,100 –> 00:32:59,400
Which brain of ours is it’s
doing that?

554
00:33:00,600 –> 00:33:03,400
Now, we all have to two minds,
don’t be not necessarily to

555
00:33:03,400 –> 00:33:06,900
physical brains, we have two
minds, we have a spiritual mind

556
00:33:07,100 –> 00:33:11,800
and we have a carnal mind.
Now, I’m pretty sure that mice.

557
00:33:11,800 –> 00:33:15,100
Don’t have a spiritual mind?
Think we can probably even find

558
00:33:15,100 –> 00:33:18,200
some scriptural basis for the
fact that mice have no spiritual

559
00:33:18,200 –> 00:33:21,900
mind.
So there’s no doubt that it’s

560
00:33:21,900 –> 00:33:27,000
our carnal mind that makes us
compulsively and obsessively.

561
00:33:27,100 –> 00:33:31,100
Check our devices and distract
ourselves from what we really

562
00:33:31,100 –> 00:33:34,500
should be doing, which is
concentrating and focusing on

563
00:33:34,500 –> 00:33:38,300
the word of God.
And I think, when we think about

564
00:33:38,300 –> 00:33:43,000
it that way, Robert kolker was a
correct.

565
00:33:43,000 –> 00:33:46,900
Wasn’t a distraction as the
carnal mind in our area.

566
00:33:50,500 –> 00:33:53,400
And again, we if we look to
scripture, we can go right back

567
00:33:53,400 –> 00:33:55,000
to Genesis.
What did God say when he

568
00:33:55,000 –> 00:33:57,200
created, man?
He said, I want you to have

569
00:33:57,200 –> 00:34:00,900
dominion over the animals, and
of course, we know that was

570
00:34:00,900 –> 00:34:03,500
really just an analogy.
He wanted it to have dominion

571
00:34:03,600 –> 00:34:08,900
over the carnal mind.
And if we are compulsively

572
00:34:08,900 –> 00:34:11,900
obsessively, checking out
devices and being taken away

573
00:34:11,900 –> 00:34:15,600
from the things of God, then who
is it that has dominion over us?

574
00:34:17,199 –> 00:34:19,800
I think that’s something that we
all need to take the time to

575
00:34:19,800 –> 00:34:24,400
ponder and think about, and what
ways, do our devices have

576
00:34:24,400 –> 00:34:28,400
dominion over us.
Now, the psychologist a man

577
00:34:28,400 –> 00:34:32,300
called Newark IL L, not exactly
sure how to pronounce his name.

578
00:34:33,000 –> 00:34:35,300
But he, he’s got some
interesting thoughts and his

579
00:34:35,300 –> 00:34:38,800
book indestructible about the
distractions of Technology.

580
00:34:39,400 –> 00:34:42,900
Now, interesting enough, this
person is most famous for a book

581
00:34:42,900 –> 00:34:46,199
that he wrote called hopped how
to build habit-forming products.

582
00:34:46,600 –> 00:34:49,000
Now, This psychologist is the
man that told all of the

583
00:34:49,000 –> 00:34:51,000
technology companies to go back
to Skinner.

584
00:34:51,699 –> 00:34:54,800
He said if you guys want to make
your applications and your

585
00:34:54,800 –> 00:34:57,900
products completely addictive,
look at the sky scanner so you

586
00:34:57,908 –> 00:35:00,200
wrote this book hooked and all
the technology companies picked

587
00:35:00,200 –> 00:35:02,900
it up and they all use these
variable rewards.

588
00:35:03,500 –> 00:35:07,100
Now, he’s now written another
book called indestructible about

589
00:35:07,100 –> 00:35:11,900
how to break away from The
Addictive Technologies, so he’s

590
00:35:11,900 –> 00:35:15,400
making money on both ends.
Interestingly enough, though, I

591
00:35:15,400 –> 00:35:17,900
have heard him speak and he
said, When he wrote the book

592
00:35:17,900 –> 00:35:21,200
hopped, his intention was for
companies to produce

593
00:35:21,800 –> 00:35:24,100
habit-forming products which
were beneficial.

594
00:35:24,700 –> 00:35:28,200
So he was thinking about the the
exercise Market, how can we get

595
00:35:28,200 –> 00:35:30,100
people to buy a bit of
Technology?

596
00:35:30,100 –> 00:35:32,700
That’s habit-forming, which will
be beneficial for their health.

597
00:35:33,300 –> 00:35:36,700
He had no idea that the other
technology companies were going

598
00:35:36,700 –> 00:35:39,700
to pick it up and make people
form, completely pointless and

599
00:35:39,700 –> 00:35:42,100
useless habits.
So, partly, the reason why you

600
00:35:42,100 –> 00:35:45,800
wrote the second book about how
to break free from those is, is

601
00:35:45,800 –> 00:35:50,100
to try and Tell the other side
of the story and trying to make

602
00:35:50,100 –> 00:35:52,200
amends for the fact that he
caused the problem in the first

603
00:35:52,200 –> 00:35:55,900
place.
But he makes this interesting

604
00:35:55,900 –> 00:35:58,300
point.
He notes, that, although, modern

605
00:35:58,300 –> 00:36:01,700
Technologies, provide an easily
accessible distraction, the real

606
00:36:01,700 –> 00:36:05,100
underlying issue is that we want
to be distracted.

607
00:36:06,100 –> 00:36:08,800
Particularly if the thing we are
trying to do or the thoughts, we

608
00:36:08,800 –> 00:36:12,700
are dealing with a painful large
part of distraction as attempt

609
00:36:12,700 –> 00:36:14,900
to escape something painful on
our part.

610
00:36:15,900 –> 00:36:21,300
And again Robert kolker he says
something different, something

611
00:36:21,300 –> 00:36:24,800
similar, we’re distracted
because we want to be be because

612
00:36:24,800 –> 00:36:28,300
it’s fun and it obfuscates real
life.

613
00:36:29,000 –> 00:36:31,200
Why else would they sell so many
smartphones?

614
00:36:36,200 –> 00:36:41,400
And norell.
He basically says, if we want to

615
00:36:41,400 –> 00:36:44,000
overcome this problem with
distraction, the first thing we

616
00:36:44,008 –> 00:36:47,700
need to deal with is why is it
that we want to be distracted?

617
00:36:48,900 –> 00:36:52,100
Maybe we struggle with deep
reading and meditation and quiet

618
00:36:52,100 –> 00:36:54,700
time with God.
Because in that time of

619
00:36:54,700 –> 00:36:57,800
quietness, it’s went all out and
they and anxieties about our

620
00:36:57,800 –> 00:37:00,200
unworthiness and our failures
and our past hurts.

621
00:37:00,200 –> 00:37:04,000
Come to the surface.
I know a lot of people for whom

622
00:37:04,000 –> 00:37:07,700
that is the problem.
As soon as they sit down and try

623
00:37:07,700 –> 00:37:10,600
and get into a quiet space,
that’s when they’re their

624
00:37:10,600 –> 00:37:13,500
carnal, mind takes over and all
sorts of anxieties and issues

625
00:37:13,500 –> 00:37:15,900
come to the surface.
So they struggle with that.

626
00:37:15,900 –> 00:37:19,100
So distraction is can take them
away from that.

627
00:37:19,500 –> 00:37:22,600
Mindless binging.
On YouTube videos is a really

628
00:37:22,600 –> 00:37:26,100
easy way to distract ourselves
from our own thoughts and it

629
00:37:26,107 –> 00:37:28,700
provides an escape from our
internal demons.

630
00:37:29,600 –> 00:37:32,500
So we can’t just remove
technology from our lives.

631
00:37:32,700 –> 00:37:35,700
If we don’t examine our
underlying motives for need

632
00:37:35,900 –> 00:37:39,000
Distraction.
And if we try and do that, we’ll

633
00:37:39,000 –> 00:37:40,600
probably just find another way
of us.

634
00:37:40,600 –> 00:37:43,600
Another way of escaping those
things, which might be even

635
00:37:43,600 –> 00:37:47,800
worse, which reminds us of
Matthew chapter 12, doesn’t it?

636
00:37:47,900 –> 00:37:51,600
The idea of the house swept
clean and it was limp left

637
00:37:51,600 –> 00:37:54,100
completely empty.
Then the demons that came back

638
00:37:54,100 –> 00:37:56,900
with 10 times worse.
If we just try to take the

639
00:37:56,900 –> 00:38:00,000
distractions of technology away
from us and don’t work out what

640
00:38:00,000 –> 00:38:03,500
it is, that that draws us to
them, we could upend up with

641
00:38:03,500 –> 00:38:06,700
worse escapes.
Now, of course for those in the

642
00:38:06,700 –> 00:38:09,800
world around us, this doesn’t
really present that much of a

643
00:38:09,800 –> 00:38:12,500
problem because most of them
have nothing better to do.

644
00:38:12,500 –> 00:38:15,200
Anyway.
As an aside, it’s sort of

645
00:38:15,200 –> 00:38:16,900
interesting that there are
actually people in the world

646
00:38:16,900 –> 00:38:19,900
that are worried about this
issue of the fact that we’re not

647
00:38:19,900 –> 00:38:22,300
reading deeply anymore of the
fact that we’re distracted.

648
00:38:22,800 –> 00:38:25,600
But largely, when you look at
it, you have to say, well, you

649
00:38:25,600 –> 00:38:27,600
might as well be distracted by
your smartphone because you’ve

650
00:38:27,600 –> 00:38:29,700
got nothing else.
This is just another version of

651
00:38:29,700 –> 00:38:31,700
eat drink and be merry because
tomorrow you die.

652
00:38:32,300 –> 00:38:35,300
But for us who are wanting
develop the mind of Christ.

653
00:38:35,800 –> 00:38:38,400
Does checking your smartphone
every minute or two during a

654
00:38:38,400 –> 00:38:41,500
time of study and meditation
does that help?

655
00:38:41,600 –> 00:38:44,700
Or does that hinder?
The process is that small piece

656
00:38:44,700 –> 00:38:48,400
of plastic and glass in your
pocket, your slave or your

657
00:38:48,400 –> 00:38:51,700
master.
The scripture says faith comes

658
00:38:51,700 –> 00:38:54,600
by hearing and hearing by the
word of God and if modern

659
00:38:54,600 –> 00:38:57,700
technology is inhabiting, our
ability to take in and meditate

660
00:38:57,700 –> 00:39:01,200
on God’s word the in surely, it
has the potential to be a

661
00:39:01,200 –> 00:39:04,700
serious threat to our faith.
So what are some of the ways

662
00:39:04,700 –> 00:39:07,300
that we can start to combat
that?

663
00:39:09,800 –> 00:39:15,000
well, I know I personally have
to Devote specific time for

664
00:39:15,000 –> 00:39:17,700
undistracted, reading at the
word and the works of the truth.

665
00:39:17,700 –> 00:39:22,100
And the meditation we need to
get back to being a community of

666
00:39:22,100 –> 00:39:25,200
readers each and every one of us
needs to be a reader.

667
00:39:27,100 –> 00:39:30,200
Now, I’m not saying that we have
to throw away technology to do

668
00:39:30,200 –> 00:39:32,600
that.
I bought myself a Kindle reader

669
00:39:32,900 –> 00:39:36,800
because I love the convenience
of being able to buy ebooks

670
00:39:37,600 –> 00:39:40,400
because I see your book.
I want to read it, two minutes

671
00:39:40,400 –> 00:39:44,200
later, I can read it, I don’t
have to pay the postage surface,

672
00:39:44,200 –> 00:39:47,300
a whole lot of money and wait
for weeks, but the Kindle is a

673
00:39:47,300 –> 00:39:49,800
single-use device.
All you can do is read a book on

674
00:39:49,800 –> 00:39:53,000
it so there’s no distraction
there’s no temptation to quickly

675
00:39:53,300 –> 00:39:56,100
flick over and check my email so
to get back to reading.

676
00:39:56,100 –> 00:39:58,700
We do necessarily have to do
that completely without

677
00:39:58,700 –> 00:40:03,800
technology.
Now, I think one thing just a

678
00:40:03,808 –> 00:40:07,100
little easy tip is if you are
wanting to get back to some

679
00:40:07,100 –> 00:40:10,500
reading, as put your phone in
another room, there’s some

680
00:40:10,500 –> 00:40:13,100
really interesting research done
recently with some exam

681
00:40:13,300 –> 00:40:16,700
students, taking exams.
Now, some of the students were

682
00:40:16,700 –> 00:40:20,000
allowed the phone on the desk,
some of them are allowed the

683
00:40:20,000 –> 00:40:23,700
phone on the desk, but turned
off some turned off and turned

684
00:40:23,700 –> 00:40:26,300
over.
Some are allowed the phone under

685
00:40:26,300 –> 00:40:29,600
the disc and some had to put
their phone in a different room.

686
00:40:31,200 –> 00:40:35,900
Now the only ones where those
different options improve their

687
00:40:35,900 –> 00:40:40,000
exam outcomes was when the phone
was in a different room, those

688
00:40:40,000 –> 00:40:44,200
that had the phone turned off
and turned over same exam result

689
00:40:44,200 –> 00:40:45,700
as those that had the phone
turned on.

690
00:40:46,400 –> 00:40:49,800
If it was under the disc, same
diminishing exam, results as

691
00:40:49,800 –> 00:40:51,500
those that have the phone on the
desk.

692
00:40:51,600 –> 00:40:54,500
The only time when exam results
improved was when the phone was

693
00:40:54,500 –> 00:40:57,400
out of the room.
Having your phone in the room

694
00:40:57,400 –> 00:41:01,100
and turned on is just as
distracting or turned off as

695
00:41:01,100 –> 00:41:04,400
just as distracting as having it
in the room and turned on

696
00:41:04,600 –> 00:41:07,700
because your mind knows it’s
there and your mind knows what

697
00:41:07,700 –> 00:41:11,000
it might be missing and it’s
desperate for that variable

698
00:41:11,000 –> 00:41:15,400
reward and because it’s such an
in such easy reach, it’s easy to

699
00:41:15,400 –> 00:41:19,200
give in and check, where is it?
It’s in another room completely.

700
00:41:19,200 –> 00:41:21,500
It’s a bit more of an effort to
break from what you’re doing and

701
00:41:21,500 –> 00:41:27,500
go and check another quick.
That’s worth trying is the

702
00:41:27,900 –> 00:41:31,500
Pomodoro Technique.
Strangely named Pomodoro means

703
00:41:31,500 –> 00:41:34,000
tomato, apparently, because the
person that came up with it used

704
00:41:34,000 –> 00:41:38,000
a little timer, which was in the
shape of a tomato, but the basic

705
00:41:38,000 –> 00:41:42,400
concept is that you, you set the
timer for 25 minutes and you sit

706
00:41:42,400 –> 00:41:46,500
and read undistracted for 25
minutes and when the timer goes

707
00:41:46,500 –> 00:41:50,400
off, you have five minutes to go
and do all the checking of email

708
00:41:50,400 –> 00:41:53,300
on the destructive things you
want to do, and you come back

709
00:41:53,300 –> 00:41:55,600
and you set the timer for
another 25 minutes.

710
00:41:56,200 –> 00:41:59,800
And then you have another five
minutes and it’s just a little

711
00:41:59,800 –> 00:42:03,000
time management thing of trying
to force you into concentrating

712
00:42:03,000 –> 00:42:06,500
on one thing and you know that
there’s an end to that time

713
00:42:06,900 –> 00:42:08,800
appearances.
It’s a good technique that works

714
00:42:08,800 –> 00:42:13,100
for a lot of people, I won’t go
through a lot of other ways that

715
00:42:13,100 –> 00:42:17,300
we can, we can do this.
But the book I mentioned, from

716
00:42:17,300 –> 00:42:20,900
this guy new eel, indestructible
as is worth a read.

717
00:42:20,900 –> 00:42:24,100
If you’re looking for various
ways that you can break out of,

718
00:42:24,900 –> 00:42:26,600
The distracting habits of
technology.

719
00:42:27,500 –> 00:42:29,500
I think the other thing is that
we need to acknowledge and

720
00:42:29,500 –> 00:42:32,600
accept, whatever.
It is that prevents you from

721
00:42:32,600 –> 00:42:38,100
seeking a quiet time with God
and that drives your need for

722
00:42:38,100 –> 00:42:41,000
distraction.
And that’s probably the most

723
00:42:41,000 –> 00:42:43,800
difficult thing for us to do,
but I think we, if that’s your

724
00:42:43,800 –> 00:42:47,100
issue, then that’s what needs to
be dealt with rather than just

725
00:42:47,400 –> 00:42:49,300
trying to get rid of the
distracting technology.

726
00:42:51,800 –> 00:42:55,100
So moving on to the second
point, then building each other

727
00:42:55,100 –> 00:42:58,200
up, of course one of the key
reasons we have a closure so we

728
00:42:58,200 –> 00:43:00,800
can come together around the
word, build each other up in the

729
00:43:00,800 –> 00:43:03,700
faith and they’re obviously
times when this can be done at a

730
00:43:03,707 –> 00:43:06,300
distance, we don’t have to be
face to face the Apostle.

731
00:43:06,300 –> 00:43:11,300
Paul wrote letters to the
closures, but for some reason

732
00:43:11,900 –> 00:43:15,300
online communication seems to
provide an all too easy Forum

733
00:43:15,300 –> 00:43:16,800
where we can pull each other
down.

734
00:43:17,400 –> 00:43:20,700
Now if you’ve ever had the
misfortune Fortune of reading

735
00:43:20,700 –> 00:43:23,400
some of the online Christian
christadelphians discussion

736
00:43:23,400 –> 00:43:27,000
forums, you’ll know exactly what
I mean, all too often brotherly,

737
00:43:27,000 –> 00:43:30,500
love care and concern, is
replaced by promotion of one’s

738
00:43:30,500 –> 00:43:33,700
own opinion, and the character
assassination of others.

739
00:43:34,300 –> 00:43:36,100
Now, this isn’t unique to
christadelphians.

740
00:43:36,100 –> 00:43:39,700
Interestingly enough, the
psychologist Elias a Bugatti, he

741
00:43:39,700 –> 00:43:42,700
identifies these very issues in
his book, virtually you the

742
00:43:42,700 –> 00:43:44,600
Dangerous Powers of each
personality.

743
00:43:46,400 –> 00:43:49,600
And he says, the way we see and
evaluate ourselves as changing

744
00:43:49,600 –> 00:43:52,300
as a function of the new
personality traits born and

745
00:43:52,300 –> 00:43:55,800
nurtured in the virtual world
world, these include an

746
00:43:55,800 –> 00:43:58,600
exaggerated sense of our
abilities, a superior attitude

747
00:43:58,600 –> 00:44:01,200
towards others.
New moral code that we adopt

748
00:44:01,200 –> 00:44:04,500
online a proneness to impulsive
behavior, and a tendency to

749
00:44:04,500 –> 00:44:09,200
regress to childlike States when
faced with an open browser.

750
00:44:10,000 –> 00:44:14,300
Now he goes on to say, The
totality of my experiences as a

751
00:44:14,400 –> 00:44:18,000
psychiatrist treating internet
Related Disorders, and as a

752
00:44:18,000 –> 00:44:22,900
researcher has convinced me that
fundamental psychological shifts

753
00:44:22,900 –> 00:44:26,400
are occurring within us as we
spend time online or using

754
00:44:26,400 –> 00:44:29,300
related, digital media.
These shifts unfold

755
00:44:29,300 –> 00:44:33,400
spontaneously, almost naturally.
Nobody teaches us to become more

756
00:44:33,400 –> 00:44:38,300
daring, or less diplomatic over.
Email that just happens.

757
00:44:39,600 –> 00:44:44,000
Protected by an anonymity bound.
Only by how quickly they can

758
00:44:44,000 –> 00:44:45,600
type.
The next insult members of

759
00:44:45,600 –> 00:44:47,400
online.
Communities often feel empowered

760
00:44:47,400 –> 00:44:50,900
to engage and cruel out verse,
that would violate their sense

761
00:44:50,900 –> 00:44:56,000
of decency in the real world.
Now, some of you may have been

762
00:44:56,100 –> 00:44:59,000
may be lucky enough to never
have experienced that sort of

763
00:44:59,000 –> 00:45:01,500
behavior in an online
environment from your brethren.

764
00:45:02,500 –> 00:45:06,200
But those of you of you that
have experienced that what did

765
00:45:06,200 –> 00:45:10,000
that do for your faith?
When you saw your brethren

766
00:45:10,300 –> 00:45:13,200
behaving in ways that you knew
were totally inappropriate

767
00:45:13,500 –> 00:45:17,400
towards other Brethren and when
you behave the same way

768
00:45:17,400 –> 00:45:22,400
yourself, What do you think the
impact is on your brethren when

769
00:45:22,400 –> 00:45:24,600
they see you behaving like that
online?

770
00:45:26,000 –> 00:45:28,200
Now some of it of course has to
do with the separation of

771
00:45:28,200 –> 00:45:30,100
written language from verbal
cues.

772
00:45:31,000 –> 00:45:34,800
And according to some
experiments at the New York

773
00:45:34,900 –> 00:45:38,200
University School of Business,
email communication, which by

774
00:45:38,200 –> 00:45:42,700
definition lacks, the benefit of
paralinguistic cues such as

775
00:45:42,700 –> 00:45:47,300
gesture emphasis, and intonation
is more easily understood

776
00:45:47,300 –> 00:45:50,600
misunderstood than verbal,
communication, especially when

777
00:45:50,600 –> 00:45:53,500
users are trying to express
subtleties, like sarcasm and

778
00:45:53,500 –> 00:45:56,800
humor.
The result published in 2005 and

779
00:45:56,800 –> 00:46:00,200
the Journal of Personality and
Social Psychology strongly

780
00:46:00,200 –> 00:46:03,800
suggest that people are
overconfident in their ability

781
00:46:04,100 –> 00:46:08,000
to communicate sarcasm.
Seriousness, anger and sadness

782
00:46:08,000 –> 00:46:14,600
over email, Guilty. those of you
from North that know me would

783
00:46:14,600 –> 00:46:19,300
know that I’m By Nature, very
sarcastic, and cynical.

784
00:46:20,200 –> 00:46:22,800
And on more than one occasion.
I thought that I was more than

785
00:46:22,800 –> 00:46:26,400
capable of communicating, my
sarcasm and cynicism in an email

786
00:46:26,400 –> 00:46:32,800
message and to my shame.
That has ended in tears.

787
00:46:34,200 –> 00:46:37,600
So now I’m very aware of the
fact that I am in no way capable

788
00:46:37,600 –> 00:46:39,600
of communicating sarcasm via
email.

789
00:46:39,700 –> 00:46:41,700
So I do my best to try and avoid
that.

790
00:46:42,200 –> 00:46:44,900
I am also working on not being
quite, so Casta can person as

791
00:46:44,900 –> 00:46:47,600
well.
Probably, none of you have

792
00:46:47,600 –> 00:46:51,200
noticed that.
It’s a work in progress.

793
00:46:53,200 –> 00:46:55,600
The issue can be further
exasperated.

794
00:46:56,900 –> 00:47:00,800
A Bugatti goes on to say by the
language, which we use.

795
00:47:02,000 –> 00:47:04,800
He says well-knit speak or text
but most of you are very

796
00:47:04,800 –> 00:47:07,100
familiar that when you quickly
typing online or in a message

797
00:47:07,100 –> 00:47:10,500
you it’s easy to use
abbreviations and he says that

798
00:47:10,500 –> 00:47:13,300
their lack of any serious edit 8
editing and they’re focused on

799
00:47:13,300 –> 00:47:16,600
speed before any other
consideration and symbols that

800
00:47:16,600 –> 00:47:20,200
are open to interpretation defy.
The rational aware mind and

801
00:47:20,200 –> 00:47:23,300
cannot be considered an integral
part of our personality.

802
00:47:23,300 –> 00:47:26,500
As we have always known it, a
language, there’s both

803
00:47:26,500 –> 00:47:29,700
impoverished and childlike runs
the risk of encouraging

804
00:47:29,700 –> 00:47:31,600
impoverished and childlike
Behavior.

805
00:47:31,700 –> 00:47:35,000
Has, as many people seem to
retreat to the virtual world

806
00:47:35,000 –> 00:47:39,000
play throw a tantrum will be
lazy rather than be provocative,

807
00:47:40,000 –> 00:47:43,000
rather than to be profitable
work towards a purposeful goal

808
00:47:44,700 –> 00:47:46,800
now.
I think we really need to be

809
00:47:46,800 –> 00:47:48,700
mindful of these things as a
community.

810
00:47:48,900 –> 00:47:53,300
So what Some of the things that
we can do to try and combat this

811
00:47:53,300 –> 00:47:55,000
issue.
Well, I think it really

812
00:47:55,000 –> 00:47:57,300
important one.
And one that I try and practices

813
00:47:57,300 –> 00:48:02,300
to actually pause before sending
a brother sends you a message

814
00:48:02,300 –> 00:48:05,000
that really gets your back up or
he said something to you at the

815
00:48:05,008 –> 00:48:06,800
meeting.
It’s really easy to quickly.

816
00:48:06,800 –> 00:48:10,800
Type A the perfect response
which is really going to put

817
00:48:10,800 –> 00:48:13,600
them in its place and tell them
where he’s gone wrong and hit

818
00:48:13,600 –> 00:48:17,100
the send button, does the north
lot of wisdom and taking the

819
00:48:17,100 –> 00:48:21,500
time to actually pause before
sending and And maybe pretend

820
00:48:21,500 –> 00:48:25,900
that that email is just as
valuable as the Scrolls and

821
00:48:25,900 –> 00:48:29,200
parchments that Paul wrote on.
He couldn’t afford to make a

822
00:48:29,207 –> 00:48:31,600
mistake with his writing because
it was an awful lot of work to

823
00:48:31,600 –> 00:48:34,700
rewrite it.
So maybe there’s that’s a good

824
00:48:34,800 –> 00:48:37,500
thing to think about.
What would the Apostle Paul be

825
00:48:37,500 –> 00:48:39,000
doing if he was writing this
response?

826
00:48:39,000 –> 00:48:42,900
He’d take the time to think
about it and then maybe take the

827
00:48:42,900 –> 00:48:47,600
time to just write it down and
text document, not in your email

828
00:48:47,800 –> 00:48:52,200
inbox and save it on your
desktop and Walk away for an

829
00:48:52,200 –> 00:48:54,300
hour, two hours, maybe, even a
day.

830
00:48:55,600 –> 00:48:59,300
And I’d say that if you do that
on all of those instances,

831
00:48:59,300 –> 00:49:03,200
you’ll probably only send two
percent of those emails because

832
00:49:03,200 –> 00:49:05,300
by the time you’ve cooled down
and you thought about it and

833
00:49:05,300 –> 00:49:07,300
when you come back to your
desktop and open it, you think

834
00:49:07,500 –> 00:49:14,100
well I’m glad I didn’t see in
that and really if we do this

835
00:49:14,800 –> 00:49:18,100
the really great thing is that
our Brethren get up built and

836
00:49:18,100 –> 00:49:20,400
uplifted without us having to do
anything.

837
00:49:21,600 –> 00:49:23,200
They’ve got no idea how much
better.

838
00:49:23,200 –> 00:49:25,800
They feel that day because of
the fact that We didn’t send

839
00:49:25,800 –> 00:49:29,800
them the email, so it’s a great
way to build up your brethren

840
00:49:29,800 –> 00:49:31,500
the faith without doing
anything.

841
00:49:35,000 –> 00:49:38,900
And the second thing I think, in
a digital age, we really need to

842
00:49:38,900 –> 00:49:41,800
remember this talk in person
wherever possible.

843
00:49:42,800 –> 00:49:45,300
That’s just so much better to
talk face-to-face.

844
00:49:48,300 –> 00:49:50,400
Arranging brothers.
Made this decision.

845
00:49:50,400 –> 00:49:52,200
A few years back.
We had a couple of instances

846
00:49:52,200 –> 00:49:56,100
with a reasonably in-depth
discussion going on, an email

847
00:49:56,100 –> 00:49:59,800
going around in circles and
getting more heated and more

848
00:49:59,800 –> 00:50:02,200
heated.
And after that we made the

849
00:50:02,200 –> 00:50:05,600
decision that all of those types
of discussions must be

850
00:50:05,600 –> 00:50:08,300
face-to-face.
The only thing is the arranging

851
00:50:08,300 –> 00:50:11,200
Brethren email to each other a
minor matters of arrangement.

852
00:50:11,200 –> 00:50:14,200
The meeting is going to start a
bit later next week or somebody

853
00:50:14,200 –> 00:50:15,600
wants to borrow the data
projector.

854
00:50:16,400 –> 00:50:19,200
Everything else is deferred
until we can meet face-to-face

855
00:50:19,700 –> 00:50:23,100
because once you can actually
see each other hear the tone of

856
00:50:23,100 –> 00:50:27,000
their voice, that’s so much
easier to talk together as

857
00:50:27,000 –> 00:50:29,700
Brethren and to know exactly
what each other’s thinking.

858
00:50:31,100 –> 00:50:33,700
And in relation to that, for
those of you that are really

859
00:50:33,700 –> 00:50:36,400
tempted to contribute to
christadelphians discussion

860
00:50:36,400 –> 00:50:39,100
forums with people on the other
side of the world.

861
00:50:40,700 –> 00:50:44,400
Just walk away because generally
the only reason you want to

862
00:50:44,400 –> 00:50:48,400
contribute to that discussion.
As Pride, you want to prove to

863
00:50:48,400 –> 00:50:50,500
those Brothers, on the other
side of the world that you know,

864
00:50:50,500 –> 00:50:53,800
the answer to this question.
And they don’t.

865
00:50:56,300 –> 00:50:59,000
And the only reason we’re
contributing as Pride, then we

866
00:50:59,000 –> 00:51:02,500
should just walk away and let
spend that time instead helping

867
00:51:02,500 –> 00:51:05,400
somebody in your Ecclesia.
Go and visit somebody in your

868
00:51:05,408 –> 00:51:07,300
work Leisure and talk to them
face-to-face.

869
00:51:07,600 –> 00:51:10,800
That will achieve far more than
arguing with a brother on the

870
00:51:10,800 –> 00:51:12,600
other side of the world that
you’ve never met.

871
00:51:14,300 –> 00:51:21,100
So, racing to the end.
The third point.

872
00:51:24,700 –> 00:51:29,200
Remaining separate.
Now, there are numerous warnings

873
00:51:29,200 –> 00:51:31,400
in scripture about remaining
separate from the world.

874
00:51:31,400 –> 00:51:34,800
In order to remain wholly, like
for instance, Leviticus 20, we

875
00:51:34,800 –> 00:51:38,400
don’t have time to look it up,
ye shall be holy unto me for, I

876
00:51:38,400 –> 00:51:41,900
am Holy and have severed you
from other people that you

877
00:51:41,900 –> 00:51:44,400
should be mine.
And the quote from first of

878
00:51:44,400 –> 00:51:46,700
John, which I had on my opening
slide, everything that’s in the

879
00:51:46,700 –> 00:51:48,700
world.
It’s not a father.

880
00:51:50,200 –> 00:51:53,000
Now when I first came into the
truth christadelphians will

881
00:51:53,000 –> 00:51:55,600
really strong.
I’m not having a television like

882
00:51:55,600 –> 00:51:58,100
a lot of Christian.
Laughing house, has refused to

883
00:51:58,100 –> 00:52:01,200
have a television because that
was bringing the world into your

884
00:52:01,200 –> 00:52:03,700
home.
But in contrast, the internet

885
00:52:03,700 –> 00:52:07,100
and smartphones, which offer
access to far worse of the world

886
00:52:07,100 –> 00:52:10,100
than television ever did have
made their way into our homes,

887
00:52:10,100 –> 00:52:12,800
and it’s like almost without a
peep from us.

888
00:52:13,600 –> 00:52:16,100
And I think part of the issue is
the television was a single-use

889
00:52:16,100 –> 00:52:18,700
entertainment device.
We could say we can do without

890
00:52:18,700 –> 00:52:19,600
that.
We don’t need it.

891
00:52:20,400 –> 00:52:22,900
But internet and technology is
multi-use.

892
00:52:22,900 –> 00:52:25,100
There are valid reasons why in
our day and age.

893
00:52:25,100 –> 00:52:28,000
We actually need it.
So many things are using moving

894
00:52:28,000 –> 00:52:32,800
to online banking.
But we need to be really aware

895
00:52:32,800 –> 00:52:37,400
of the dangers that presents.
Now, I’m not going to suggest

896
00:52:37,400 –> 00:52:39,200
that we throw away.
Our smartphones in the way.

897
00:52:39,200 –> 00:52:43,000
We got rid of Television, we do
have it to make sure that we are

898
00:52:43,000 –> 00:52:46,300
100%.
We’re of the dangers that are

899
00:52:46,300 –> 00:52:50,400
coming into our house now
because it’s a mixed audience

900
00:52:50,400 –> 00:52:51,800
tonight.
I’m going to speak in it.

901
00:52:51,800 –> 00:52:55,200
Slightly catch language about
this next section, but I think

902
00:52:55,400 –> 00:52:57,800
most people here that need need
to know, will know what I’m

903
00:52:57,800 –> 00:53:00,200
talking about.
So, the corruption of the The

904
00:53:00,200 –> 00:53:01,500
world that the internet opens
up.

905
00:53:01,500 –> 00:53:03,100
There’s nothing new in most
ways.

906
00:53:03,400 –> 00:53:06,300
So when Balaam was unable to
curse, Israel, Israel curse

907
00:53:06,300 –> 00:53:09,500
themselves with the women of
Moab, David.

908
00:53:09,500 –> 00:53:13,700
A man after God’s Own Heart, he
fell to the temptation of the

909
00:53:13,700 –> 00:53:15,600
lust of the eyes.
The Corinthian Brethren had

910
00:53:15,600 –> 00:53:18,300
Temptation paraded before them
on a daily basis.

911
00:53:18,700 –> 00:53:24,500
When the temple prostitutes came
through the city, Now the

912
00:53:24,500 –> 00:53:28,100
technology that we have enables
us to commit exactly that same

913
00:53:28,100 –> 00:53:33,400
sin but within one subtly
different way, enables it to do

914
00:53:33,400 –> 00:53:37,500
that and secrecy we can commit
the lust of the eyes and secrecy

915
00:53:37,800 –> 00:53:39,900
the Israelites.
In the plains of Moab had to do

916
00:53:39,900 –> 00:53:41,600
it in plain sight of their
Brethren.

917
00:53:42,400 –> 00:53:45,600
The Corinthians risk being seen
by their Brethren as they walked

918
00:53:45,600 –> 00:53:50,400
up to the Temple of Aphrodite.
We, however, can gaze upon all

919
00:53:50,400 –> 00:53:52,800
that the world has to offer in
the Obviously have their own

920
00:53:52,800 –> 00:54:00,000
home and nobody will ever know.
So we think And the trouble is

921
00:54:00,100 –> 00:54:01,700
that temptation is all around
us.

922
00:54:01,700 –> 00:54:06,100
When we go online and the
pictures and the images and the

923
00:54:06,100 –> 00:54:10,300
words had specifically designed
to tempt the lust of the Flesh.

924
00:54:11,000 –> 00:54:14,100
And once we take that move of
clicking on those things, the

925
00:54:14,100 –> 00:54:19,200
flesh is not happy at once more
and it wants worse.

926
00:54:21,000 –> 00:54:24,000
And the trouble is that we can
deceive ourselves with thoughts

927
00:54:24,000 –> 00:54:26,400
about, that’s not wrong because
I’m not doing anything.

928
00:54:26,400 –> 00:54:30,500
I’m just looking That’s okay.
I’m just looking.

929
00:54:30,500 –> 00:54:32,100
I’m not really doing anything
wrong.

930
00:54:33,100 –> 00:54:36,900
But of course, it’s impossible
to look on things like that

931
00:54:36,900 –> 00:54:40,400
without having related thoughts
and Christ taught the Folly of

932
00:54:40,400 –> 00:54:42,100
that thinking didn’t even
Matthew 25.

933
00:54:42,800 –> 00:54:44,300
Again, we haven’t got time to
look it up.

934
00:54:44,300 –> 00:54:47,900
I say unto you, that whosoever
looketh on a woman to lust after

935
00:54:47,900 –> 00:54:51,900
her, hath committed adultery
with her already in his heart.

936
00:54:52,900 –> 00:54:55,300
Now some of you might be sitting
here thinking well how could

937
00:54:56,200 –> 00:54:58,200
Brethren.
Possibly look at some of those

938
00:54:58,200 –> 00:54:59,800
things that the internet has to
offer.

939
00:55:00,700 –> 00:55:03,800
How could they possibly do that?
It’s obvious that they shouldn’t

940
00:55:03,800 –> 00:55:08,500
be doing it but we need to
remember before we condemn and

941
00:55:08,500 –> 00:55:12,200
judge that as has already been
mentioned David, a man after

942
00:55:12,200 –> 00:55:15,700
God’s Own Heart fell in the same
manner that OB has a great

943
00:55:15,700 –> 00:55:18,300
phrase that he David did it on
the rooftop and we do it on a

944
00:55:18,308 –> 00:55:22,700
laptop, but it’s exactly the
same sin that we falling.

945
00:55:23,900 –> 00:55:26,600
To and Brethren that are trapped
in the sand.

946
00:55:26,600 –> 00:55:28,500
Need help.
Love and compassion, not a

947
00:55:28,500 –> 00:55:31,300
judgment.
And if some of you here tonight

948
00:55:31,300 –> 00:55:35,600
are struggling with this problem
and private before you condemn

949
00:55:35,600 –> 00:55:38,400
yourself, as somehow less worthy
than your brethren.

950
00:55:38,400 –> 00:55:42,000
Because of this, remember all
have sinned and fallen short.

951
00:55:42,000 –> 00:55:45,400
We are all unworthy.
And just remember, no temptation

952
00:55:45,400 –> 00:55:49,100
has taken you, but such as is
common to man, but God is

953
00:55:49,100 –> 00:55:51,500
faithful, who will not suffer
you to be tempted above that,

954
00:55:51,500 –> 00:55:54,300
which able but will with the
Temptation.

955
00:55:54,300 –> 00:55:57,800
Also, make a way to escape that
you may be able to Bear it.

956
00:55:58,100 –> 00:56:01,800
Don’t draw away from God if you
struggle with this problem, you

957
00:56:01,800 –> 00:56:05,700
need to draw near to God instead
and pray that he will show that

958
00:56:05,700 –> 00:56:09,700
way of Escape that will work for
you, which may not be easy.

959
00:56:09,700 –> 00:56:11,000
Lots of Professionals in the
world.

960
00:56:11,000 –> 00:56:13,900
See, this particular problem as
an addiction, it’s just like,

961
00:56:14,100 –> 00:56:17,600
alcohol and drugs and as a
cliche as we need to make sure

962
00:56:17,600 –> 00:56:21,300
we’re not naive and think that
this couldn’t possibly be a

963
00:56:21,300 –> 00:56:23,100
problem for anybody in our
Ecclesia.

964
00:56:23,600 –> 00:56:27,000
We need to be aware that this
can be a problem and we need to

965
00:56:27,000 –> 00:56:31,100
be prepared to help people with
compassion Hearing in a

966
00:56:31,100 –> 00:56:36,200
non-judgmental way, just two
quick points.

967
00:56:42,300 –> 00:56:46,700
Sorry.
Ways that we can overcome

968
00:56:46,800 –> 00:56:49,400
overcome, this particular
problem, I haven’t got time to

969
00:56:49,400 –> 00:56:54,700
look in detail, but just taking
a little analogy from Hezekiah

970
00:56:54,700 –> 00:56:57,800
when sennacherib came against
the city here, as well as

971
00:56:57,800 –> 00:57:00,000
praying to God.
He undertook some certain things

972
00:57:00,000 –> 00:57:03,600
to do to help the city.
And one of the things he did is

973
00:57:03,600 –> 00:57:06,900
he went out and he stopped the
water supplies and sennacherib

974
00:57:06,900 –> 00:57:09,400
as an analogy of sin and out at
our lives.

975
00:57:10,600 –> 00:57:13,800
What if he’s like I was doing
was taking away something that

976
00:57:13,900 –> 00:57:16,000
That could keep sennacherib
alive.

977
00:57:16,300 –> 00:57:20,000
So we need to take away,
whatever it is, that keeps that

978
00:57:20,000 –> 00:57:22,700
sin alive that feeds it.
And of course, there are a

979
00:57:22,707 –> 00:57:26,800
number of ways we can do that.
We need to again, if we fall

980
00:57:26,800 –> 00:57:30,200
temptation to those things, if
we’re alone, we need to put a

981
00:57:30,200 –> 00:57:33,200
device in a different room often
will power.

982
00:57:33,200 –> 00:57:35,400
Won’t be enough to stop us
falling prey.

983
00:57:35,700 –> 00:57:39,300
We need to remove ourselves from
the issue in those times of

984
00:57:39,300 –> 00:57:42,400
weakness.
And of course, as families.

985
00:57:43,300 –> 00:57:46,300
We need to filter the internet
that’s coming into our house.

986
00:57:47,400 –> 00:57:51,700
The smallest thing we can do to
stop the supply, is to actually

987
00:57:51,700 –> 00:57:53,700
put a filter on our home
internet Supply.

988
00:57:55,000 –> 00:57:58,600
And here’s a car.
Also built up the defense’s.

989
00:57:58,600 –> 00:58:01,000
You might say, well, putting on
internet filter on is building

990
00:58:01,000 –> 00:58:04,500
up the defenses, but I think
really building up the defenses

991
00:58:04,500 –> 00:58:08,100
as about building our conscience
because the only thing that can

992
00:58:08,100 –> 00:58:12,500
defend us from falling prey to
the sin of Temptation of looking

993
00:58:12,500 –> 00:58:15,600
on the things that the world has
to offer on the internet as to

994
00:58:15,600 –> 00:58:19,300
have a conscience that tells us
that we can’t do that, that it

995
00:58:19,300 –> 00:58:21,900
is wrong.
That that is an abomination of

996
00:58:21,900 –> 00:58:26,200
my God’s eyes and I want to be
holy like He is Holy and our

997
00:58:26,200 –> 00:58:28,400
conscience needs to be
strengthened so that we could,

998
00:58:28,400 –> 00:58:31,600
we can do that.
Won’t go any further into that,

999
00:58:31,600 –> 00:58:34,700
because I believe that’s the
subject of brother Marx talks,

1000
00:58:35,000 –> 00:58:39,600
so just quickly in conclusion.
Apologies for going slightly

1001
00:58:39,600 –> 00:58:41,900
over.
I blame the incorrect dongle.

1002
00:58:45,200 –> 00:58:48,000
As we’ve said, I think
technology can be a threat to

1003
00:58:48,000 –> 00:58:50,500
our faith, and three ways, it
diminishes, our ability to think

1004
00:58:50,500 –> 00:58:53,800
deeply on God’s word, that
provides a medium, where we find

1005
00:58:53,800 –> 00:58:56,800
it all too easy to pull each
other down and it puts the worst

1006
00:58:56,800 –> 00:59:00,700
the world has to offer at our
fingertips and the seven ways we

1007
00:59:00,700 –> 00:59:06,000
can start to combat this.
Devote specific time to

1008
00:59:06,000 –> 00:59:09,300
undistracted, reading
acknowledge, and fix, whatever

1009
00:59:09,300 –> 00:59:10,500
it is.
That drives their need for

1010
00:59:10,500 –> 00:59:14,000
distraction, wait, and consider.
Before sending online,

1011
00:59:14,000 –> 00:59:18,700
communication talk in person.
Wherever possible, make no

1012
00:59:18,700 –> 00:59:22,100
provision for the flesh.
By limiting, our access to the

1013
00:59:22,100 –> 00:59:25,000
things on the internet and build
up our defenses by the

1014
00:59:25,008 –> 00:59:28,200
developing of our conscience and
the seventh thing, which I

1015
00:59:28,200 –> 00:59:31,700
haven’t touched on already and I
think almost the most important

1016
00:59:31,700 –> 00:59:33,900
is that we need to start being
more.

1017
00:59:34,000 –> 00:59:37,400
A much more honest with each
other, about the Temptations

1018
00:59:37,400 –> 00:59:40,100
that we face in our age.
And we need to be willing to

1019
00:59:40,100 –> 00:59:43,400
admit when we are personally
struggling and be willing with

1020
00:59:43,400 –> 00:59:47,000
meekness and humility to help
those that struggle.

1021
00:59:47,400 –> 01:00:03,200
Thank you.
Thank you for listening to the

1022
01:00:03,200 –> 01:00:06,200
good Crystal.
And talks podcast, we hope this

1023
01:00:06,200 –> 01:00:09,300
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1024
01:00:09,500 –> 01:00:12,000
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1025
01:00:12,000 –> 01:00:14,900
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1026
01:00:14,900 –> 01:00:16,800
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1027
01:00:17,600 –> 01:00:20,400
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01:00:20,400 –> 01:00:23,500
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1029
01:00:23,500 –> 01:00:25,500
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1030
01:00:25,500 –> 01:00:29,300
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01:00:29,300 –> 01:00:33,000
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01:00:33,008 –> 01:00:36,000
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01:00:39,100 –> 01:00:43,500
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01:00:46,300 –> 01:00:48,400
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1037
01:00:48,400 –> 01:00:51,200
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1040
01:00:57,300 –> 01:01:00,100
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1041
01:01:00,100 –> 01:01:00,400
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