WEBVTT 00:00:04.639 --> 00:00:07.040 Welcome to the MetaCurch Podcast. 00:00:07.200 --> 00:00:08.160 My name's Clayton. 00:00:08.240 --> 00:00:10.320 I'm the pastor here at MetaCurch. 00:00:10.400 --> 00:00:18.000 And my hope is that today's podcast finds you at the perfect time in your life that God uses it to inspire and enlighten you. 00:00:18.160 --> 00:00:20.640 I hope that you enjoy today's message. 00:00:23.839 --> 00:00:26.000 Alright, well, welcome to MetaCurch. 00:00:26.160 --> 00:00:27.839 If you're new with us, my name is Clayton. 00:00:27.920 --> 00:00:30.879 I'm so glad that you guys have joined us. 00:00:31.039 --> 00:00:39.039 And I want to say welcome to all everyone who has tuned in, everyone in Helotus Online and at the 151 Saloon. 00:00:39.520 --> 00:00:42.880 Next week, we're starting a brand new series called Family Traditions. 00:00:42.960 --> 00:00:44.640 We're really, really excited about it. 00:00:44.719 --> 00:00:52.240 And uh today I had one more message before we jump into another series that has really been on my heart for some time now. 00:00:52.399 --> 00:00:59.520 This is uh another one of these messages, like we've been talking about sacrifice, and I had to get that out because it's so critical to our lives. 00:00:59.600 --> 00:01:09.120 And this is another one of those that is is worth understanding and and that has really weighed on me over the last few years as a pastor. 00:01:09.680 --> 00:01:17.200 This is the kind of message, you know, every once in a while we'll joke about uh how if you take notes and messages, you're getting like some extra credit in heaven or something like that. 00:01:17.359 --> 00:01:25.519 But this is one of those messages where I'm gonna walk step by step through real action you can take for life change. 00:01:25.599 --> 00:01:32.719 And so you might not have pen and paper, but you probably have a smartphone that you could put to good use and take some of these notes today. 00:01:33.280 --> 00:01:52.560 The reason that I'm discussing today's topic is because I've seen a trend, especially over about the last five years of ministry, and it's people coming to me in pastoral counseling uh sessions who uh are just beside themselves with how they are feeling about themselves and the world around them. 00:01:52.719 --> 00:02:07.359 People who are overwhelmed by anxiety, who are drowning in depression, people who just can't even believe the anger and the rage that is inside of them, people who feel confused, skeptical, divided. 00:02:07.680 --> 00:02:15.840 And here's the key factor is the trend I have seen is not in people who have always dealt with depression or always been angry people. 00:02:15.919 --> 00:02:18.639 It's it's something that is new inside of them. 00:02:18.800 --> 00:02:23.199 And they all say, I have no idea how I became like this. 00:02:23.439 --> 00:02:30.560 Like they weren't normally a nervous person, but now they're skittish and anxious about all aspects of life. 00:02:30.719 --> 00:02:38.719 They weren't normally an angry person, but now they feel like they could just explode on anybody at any moment. 00:02:39.520 --> 00:02:44.000 Now, a good deal of this lately can be blamed on the pandemic. 00:02:44.319 --> 00:02:56.960 But this is a trend I was seeing far before COVID, far before lockdowns and quarantines, and now the pandemic has just exacerbated the problem. 00:02:57.520 --> 00:02:59.840 Today I want to talk about information. 00:03:00.000 --> 00:03:32.879 And we are living in the information age, and I bring that up every once in a while because part of living out the purpose God has placed on your life is being able to accurately map out where you are in the world and where you are headed in your life, and one of the key defining aspects of where we find ourselves in history is that we are in the information age, and the techno technological advancements that have happened in all of our lifetimes are so significant we have no idea what we're dealing with. 00:03:33.360 --> 00:03:34.400 I'm not that old. 00:03:34.560 --> 00:03:36.879 I'm one of the older millennials. 00:03:36.960 --> 00:03:40.639 I'm I find myself kind of right on the edge between a couple of generations. 00:03:40.719 --> 00:03:44.400 And I don't know if you saw it, but there was a new term that was coined this week. 00:03:44.560 --> 00:03:49.280 It was trending all over social media, and it is about people my age. 00:03:49.439 --> 00:03:53.360 They're now calling us geriatric millennials. 00:03:53.840 --> 00:03:56.719 Any geriatric millennials in the house? 00:03:57.039 --> 00:04:04.479 Like, you feel too old to be a millennial, but you're not quite old enough to be Gen X, geriatric millennials, and people were really frustrated about this. 00:04:04.639 --> 00:04:12.879 Millennials were really up in arms about being called geriatric millennials, and I gotta tell you, I have never felt more seen. 00:04:13.039 --> 00:04:18.000 It is like there has never been a phrase that has described my life to a D. 00:04:18.560 --> 00:04:20.879 I wake up at five, I nap by 2 p.m. 00:04:21.040 --> 00:04:21.839 You know what I'm saying? 00:04:21.920 --> 00:04:24.160 Like, I I'm in it to win it. 00:04:24.319 --> 00:04:25.120 I love it. 00:04:25.360 --> 00:04:40.879 And it's so true, and there is a difference, and it's an important distinction because the people who are younger, the younger millennials below the geriatric millennials, they have one key factor that totally differentiates the way they see the world. 00:04:41.360 --> 00:04:44.800 They don't remember life before the internet. 00:04:46.800 --> 00:04:51.040 And like we're so immersed in it that maybe it's hard for you sometimes. 00:04:51.199 --> 00:04:55.839 You might be 70 and you're like, oh yeah, we didn't always have the internet. 00:04:56.240 --> 00:05:00.079 It's like kind of recent, and the internet changed the game. 00:05:00.240 --> 00:05:07.519 And if you just think about 40 years ago, the way that we took in information, it was radically different. 00:05:07.759 --> 00:05:09.040 Radically different. 00:05:09.279 --> 00:05:18.240 If you wanted to really stay up to date on current events, you would start your morning by reading the newspaper, and all of Gen Z says, the what? 00:05:18.639 --> 00:05:19.600 That's right. 00:05:19.839 --> 00:05:21.920 There were papers delivered to your door. 00:05:22.079 --> 00:05:23.120 They were ginormous. 00:05:23.360 --> 00:05:25.680 You had to read in things that weren't emojis. 00:05:25.920 --> 00:05:27.680 It was a big deal, you know. 00:05:28.319 --> 00:05:37.680 And then if you wanted some more news, wanted to find out what happened that day, there were like two or three news channels, and they happened for a couple of hours at night. 00:05:38.160 --> 00:05:56.000 And if you wanted like to know more information about the world, you know, if you wanted to discover something about the Bermuda Triangle or a certain species of catfish, if you wanted to know how many miles we are away from the moon, you had to go to your encyclopedia. 00:05:56.480 --> 00:06:02.399 There were people who would knock on your door to try to sell you 75 pounds of books. 00:06:03.759 --> 00:06:05.600 The encyclopedia has no autocorrect. 00:06:05.759 --> 00:06:08.399 If you don't know how to spell it, you are just out of luck. 00:06:08.560 --> 00:06:10.480 This is how information happened. 00:06:10.720 --> 00:06:17.360 Our social circles were as big as the number of people that we could actually get to in real life. 00:06:17.839 --> 00:06:23.360 If you wanted to call someone, you had to have their phone number memorized in your brain. 00:06:25.360 --> 00:06:30.000 And so our information was extremely limited, like extremely limited. 00:06:30.319 --> 00:06:37.199 We could read books, we could read papers, we could study encyclopedias, we could watch about an hour of news, and that was it. 00:06:38.160 --> 00:06:40.959 And that was 30 or 40 years ago. 00:06:41.279 --> 00:06:43.120 And then the internet came along. 00:06:43.279 --> 00:06:48.959 And all the geriatric millennials remember not having a computer in the house, not even really knowing what a computer was. 00:06:49.120 --> 00:06:50.399 And then you remember the internet. 00:06:50.720 --> 00:06:57.279 And I'll tell you right now, if you've never dialed up to the internet, I don't want to hear about back in your day, you know? 00:06:57.439 --> 00:06:58.319 It's like what day? 00:06:58.560 --> 00:06:59.519 Thursday? 00:07:00.000 --> 00:07:07.120 Dialing up was so pointless, and the internet was so slow, and so we had a lot more access to information, but it was slow going. 00:07:07.680 --> 00:07:15.439 And around that time there's talk radio, and talk radio comes on, and so now you can turn on an AM station and you can get all the current events for hours a day on your way to work. 00:07:15.600 --> 00:07:17.439 But it was still rather limited. 00:07:17.680 --> 00:07:24.639 And then the internet got faster, and then the cable news networks became 24 hours a day. 00:07:25.120 --> 00:07:33.439 And now you have the internet, and you can get on anytime and you can Google anything in the world, and you can get access to all the current events at the click of a button. 00:07:33.600 --> 00:07:38.879 And you can turn on your television and you can see the current events any moment of any day. 00:07:39.199 --> 00:07:49.040 And it is worth appreciating that that is a massive, massive change in the level and the quantity of information that we began taking in. 00:07:49.920 --> 00:07:52.560 In 2008, Apple put out the iPhone. 00:07:53.040 --> 00:07:56.800 By 2011, everyone you knew had a smartphone in their pocket. 00:07:57.920 --> 00:07:59.680 That was ten years ago. 00:08:00.000 --> 00:08:07.920 Ten years ago, we put all of the information in all of the world collected across all of human history in our pockets. 00:08:09.680 --> 00:08:17.199 And the reason that I want to talk about this today is because we have no idea what that has done to us. 00:08:18.240 --> 00:08:31.680 When you look at how you actually study history and how you come to real scientific conclusions about things like sociology or how new technology affects us, you can't know truly until after it has happened. 00:08:31.839 --> 00:08:35.360 You have to look back and study it, and we're still in the middle of it. 00:08:36.799 --> 00:08:39.200 Five or six years ago, social media took over. 00:08:39.759 --> 00:08:43.279 Five years ago, you could find people who didn't have a social media platform. 00:08:44.080 --> 00:08:46.320 Now everyone has multiple. 00:08:48.000 --> 00:08:51.759 And they're just getting better, and they're getting better at holding our attention, and they're getting better at sucking us in. 00:08:52.399 --> 00:08:59.840 And now we're in a place where for many people their digital reality is more real than their actual reality. 00:09:00.399 --> 00:09:03.919 We have no idea the change that has taken place. 00:09:04.159 --> 00:09:10.480 We have no idea what this diet of constant information is doing to us. 00:09:11.279 --> 00:09:15.919 And 10 years in, we're beginning to see some evidence of it in the statistics. 00:09:16.480 --> 00:09:23.039 And mental health is absolutely falling apart in our country and falling apart in our world. 00:09:23.200 --> 00:09:26.480 Anxiety and depression are hitting unprecedented levels. 00:09:26.639 --> 00:09:33.440 We are more anxious and more depressed than people who are living through a world war and a Great Depression all at the same time. 00:09:33.919 --> 00:09:37.039 Our suicide rates are going through the roof. 00:09:37.679 --> 00:09:49.759 And over and over and over again, people sit down across from me and they don't understand how their lives have taken the form that their lives have taken. 00:09:50.320 --> 00:09:54.559 We're all constantly taking in unbelievable amounts of information. 00:09:54.799 --> 00:09:59.679 This is a science experiment we're all running in real time that has never ever been tried before. 00:09:59.919 --> 00:10:04.639 We are the guinea pigs for the technological revolution, and I believe technology is incredible. 00:10:04.720 --> 00:10:11.679 And right now we are simulcasting to other venues and we are broadcasting onto people's phones the good news of Jesus Christ. 00:10:11.840 --> 00:10:14.240 Technology is a beautiful thing when used the right way. 00:10:14.399 --> 00:10:24.559 But if it is left untrammeled, if we don't understand the significance of what we are living through, then we will become victims of our technology. 00:10:24.639 --> 00:10:29.919 And we're seeing evidence of that in all of our own lives, and there's bias. 00:10:30.080 --> 00:10:34.960 All of the information is biased, and the news that you're taking in is biased. 00:10:35.039 --> 00:10:41.919 And I don't just mean political bias, and I don't care if you're like CNN or Fox News, there is a bias there, and the first bias is not political. 00:10:42.159 --> 00:10:44.639 The first bias is always profit. 00:10:45.759 --> 00:10:53.679 These are companies, and they gotta pay bills, and they gotta pay salaries, and they gotta make money, and they gotta keep investors happy, and so they have to get eyeballs to the screen. 00:10:53.840 --> 00:10:55.279 That's how they make their money. 00:10:56.080 --> 00:11:01.039 Advertisers will advertise when eyeballs are on the screen, and so they are fighting for your attention. 00:11:01.120 --> 00:11:08.399 And what that means is their first priority is not giving accurate information, it is giving enticing information. 00:11:09.039 --> 00:11:19.679 There was a study that was done across the developed countries in the world during the pandemic, and the question that the study was trying to discover is how were they reporting on COVID-19? 00:11:20.000 --> 00:11:21.759 This worldwide pandemic. 00:11:21.919 --> 00:11:29.840 And what they found is that every developed country split between good news and bad news almost exactly 50-50. 00:11:29.919 --> 00:11:31.279 There was obvious bad news. 00:11:31.519 --> 00:11:34.639 People were dying by the tens and the hundreds of thousands. 00:11:34.799 --> 00:11:36.320 Every day new things were locked down. 00:11:36.399 --> 00:11:37.440 There was obvious bad news. 00:11:37.519 --> 00:11:47.360 But there was obvious good news as well, and we got better at the therapeutics, and there were good stories coming out of it, and the vaccines were coming along, and there was good news and bad news in the developed countries of the world. 00:11:47.440 --> 00:11:54.720 They put out half good news and half bad news, and the one outlier, I bet you can guess, is the United States of America. 00:11:55.519 --> 00:11:58.960 Over 80% of the reporting was bad news. 00:12:00.799 --> 00:12:02.639 Over 80% of it was bad news. 00:12:02.960 --> 00:12:03.840 And of course it was. 00:12:04.879 --> 00:12:10.320 Because the first priority is not what is accurate, the first priority is what is enticing. 00:12:10.960 --> 00:12:14.159 And the internet was supposed to decentralize our information. 00:12:14.320 --> 00:12:22.879 And it did for a while, but now the big tech giants online are as big of a big business as anything else. 00:12:23.919 --> 00:12:25.279 And they run in algorithms. 00:12:25.679 --> 00:12:30.480 And the algorithms aren't concerned with accuracy, they are concerned with enticement. 00:12:30.960 --> 00:12:40.720 And so they sell division and they sell fear and they put it right into your hands for most people for multiple hours a day. 00:12:41.120 --> 00:12:43.360 This is what we're digesting. 00:12:43.600 --> 00:12:54.080 Information isn't just the news, it's your social circle, it's the people that you allow in your life, it's the gossip that you take in, it's the people that you follow and compare yourself to online. 00:12:54.799 --> 00:12:58.480 We're taking in more information than we know what to do with. 00:12:58.559 --> 00:13:00.320 It's information overload. 00:13:00.480 --> 00:13:01.759 Most of it is toxic. 00:13:01.919 --> 00:13:11.440 We get to the end of it all and throw our hands up, not able to understand how we are so anxious, depressed, divided, and angry. 00:13:12.879 --> 00:13:14.159 Today I want to talk about it. 00:13:14.240 --> 00:13:16.639 I want to see what scripture has to say about it. 00:13:16.879 --> 00:13:22.240 I also want us to really understand how this is affecting our life. 00:13:22.559 --> 00:13:25.360 Katie and I have some good friends, Lee and Christine Wong. 00:13:25.440 --> 00:13:30.080 And you guys know Lee Wong because he comes and preaches for us sometimes, but you might not know his better half. 00:13:30.320 --> 00:13:35.919 Christine is a PhD, she's a professor here in San Antonio, and she's also a counselor. 00:13:36.240 --> 00:13:41.039 She is a clinician, and she has studied the effects of this at a high, high level. 00:13:41.200 --> 00:13:46.720 She agreed to sit down with me and to discuss this issue to help us understand it at a deeper level. 00:13:46.879 --> 00:13:48.240 You guys check this out. 00:13:50.000 --> 00:13:59.440 So, Christine, tell us a little bit about what you do as a professor at Texas AM University here in San Antonio, and a little bit about what you do in your clinical practice. 00:14:00.000 --> 00:14:12.000 Well, I'm an assistant professor of counseling there, and we have master's level programs that prepare our graduates to be clinical mental health counselors, school counselors, and couples and family counselors. 00:14:12.240 --> 00:14:19.360 And so the courses that I teach are counseling techniques, and I teach our clinical mental health internship as well. 00:14:20.000 --> 00:14:31.039 My research interests include how we can incorporate spirituality and religion into the counseling session, as well as how we can best serve marginalized populations. 00:14:31.759 --> 00:14:39.919 I also do see clients for substance use issues usually concurrent with PTSD or post-traumatic stress syndrome. 00:14:40.159 --> 00:14:49.519 And so part of my job is to explore with a client how we can find safer ways to cope with our experiences. 00:14:49.919 --> 00:14:59.600 So in your own research and your own practice, how have you seen this pandemic change the way that people are interacting with media? 00:15:00.399 --> 00:15:09.039 Well, I know just personally, I remember the week that we had our stay home work safe order here in San Antonio. 00:15:09.519 --> 00:15:11.279 The news was on 24-7. 00:15:12.159 --> 00:15:18.639 When the mayor came on and the judge made that announcement, it was like, what is happening? 00:15:18.960 --> 00:15:22.639 There was a lot of uncertainty, a lot of fear and anxiety. 00:15:22.879 --> 00:15:31.759 So a way for me to kind of um control the situation was to watch the news and to read the news on my phone. 00:15:32.000 --> 00:15:38.159 So I know for me, I was just 24-7 as soon as I woke up, what's happening, what's going on? 00:15:38.399 --> 00:15:40.080 Do I need to go buy toilet paper? 00:15:40.320 --> 00:15:42.879 You know, like what's what do I need to do? 00:15:43.120 --> 00:15:45.440 And um it was that way for a while. 00:15:45.600 --> 00:15:56.960 And I remember me and my brother sending each other articles back and forth, um, reading medical journals to figure out like what's real, what's what's just the media um inducing. 00:15:57.200 --> 00:16:01.039 So um media consumption increased so much for me. 00:16:01.200 --> 00:16:02.240 I don't know about you. 00:16:02.559 --> 00:16:05.440 And then uh started working from home. 00:16:05.679 --> 00:16:09.840 Um many of us did, and many of us were also laid off from work. 00:16:10.080 --> 00:16:15.840 And so with being at home so much, um, what is what is there to do, right? 00:16:16.000 --> 00:16:19.120 We can't go anywhere, our normal modes of entertainment are gone. 00:16:19.279 --> 00:16:26.399 Uh, we can't hang out with our friends, so we're online, we're watching TV, we're streaming constantly. 00:16:26.720 --> 00:16:27.360 Yeah, yeah. 00:16:27.600 --> 00:16:29.679 And um the research backs that up. 00:16:29.840 --> 00:16:45.919 So uh I was reading that um I think for both kids and adults it increased, which makes sense because parents who now had kids at home, uh you had to figure out a way to entertain them for eight hours while you're working, which is really hard. 00:16:46.240 --> 00:16:59.360 And so um for kids um of all ages, that increased by by so much, um, as well as parents um watching the news while they're working as well, trying to see what's happening. 00:17:00.159 --> 00:17:05.920 What kind of effects have you seen from this increase in mass media consumption? 00:17:06.400 --> 00:17:20.319 Yeah, well, you know, uh it's the pandemic, and then we also had this civil unrest going on at the same time, and people out there protesting um systemic structures, and we had this very tumultuous election. 00:17:20.720 --> 00:17:29.680 So the news coverage was a constant, and and it makes sense that we tuned in more because we want to manage our anxiety, we want to see what's happening. 00:17:30.000 --> 00:17:38.720 Um, however, um, I know for me, I was trying to control it by learning as much as I could, but I wasn't feeling any less anxious. 00:17:39.039 --> 00:17:46.079 So I was still feeling that anxiety, and unfortunately, um, you know, there's some things where you're never gonna have certainty. 00:17:46.240 --> 00:17:49.279 It's always it's always gonna be ambiguous and you're never gonna know. 00:17:49.839 --> 00:17:54.160 So um so the result of watching that, I mean, I could feel the anxiety. 00:17:54.319 --> 00:17:57.519 You could feel the anxiety of consuming so much. 00:17:57.839 --> 00:18:00.079 Um, and the research bears that out. 00:18:00.319 --> 00:18:11.200 So the research indicates that the more media you consume, whether it's television, social media, streaming, etc., the more likely you are to be depressed. 00:18:11.519 --> 00:18:16.559 Um even with each hour, your likelihood goes up that you spend consuming media. 00:18:16.720 --> 00:18:19.599 And that's for both uh kids and adults. 00:18:20.720 --> 00:18:29.680 Yeah, it it seems like we're we're feeling anxious, we're feeling depressed, we're almost going to media for some kind of relief. 00:18:30.400 --> 00:18:37.279 But the research and even our lived experience is saying that uh it's actually having the opposite effect of the reason that we're going to it. 00:18:37.359 --> 00:18:53.920 And so I wonder if you could just kind of help us understand on a psychological or neurological level what's actually happening there when we're in in this constant state of media saturation and our levels of depression and anxiety. 00:18:54.000 --> 00:18:58.960 And we even saw suicide rates just really going through the roof during this time. 00:18:59.359 --> 00:18:59.680 Yeah. 00:19:00.000 --> 00:19:11.759 There's something that we call a depression spiral, where um you have just your environment, a life stressor that's happening, and let's say you start to think negatively about yourself, right? 00:19:11.920 --> 00:19:16.000 You think negatively about yourself, so maybe you start to withdraw. 00:19:16.319 --> 00:19:22.799 Um, you start to withdraw, you don't do the things that you once enjoyed, and when you do that, you feel worse. 00:19:23.359 --> 00:19:27.440 Um you start having worse thoughts about yourself or about your situation. 00:19:27.759 --> 00:19:29.680 Um, so maybe it's difficult to sleep. 00:19:29.920 --> 00:19:31.359 And what happens when we don't sleep? 00:19:31.759 --> 00:19:38.079 We're more irritable if we can't think right, um, which causes the spiral to go further and further down. 00:19:38.319 --> 00:19:43.920 And so it's a very, it's a very real spiral that we can quickly fall into if we're not careful. 00:19:44.880 --> 00:19:55.119 So we have this depression spiral, and so it's like we get depressed, and then we tend to go to things that actually make us more depressed. 00:19:55.279 --> 00:20:01.039 And so that's that's the news, or that's social media, or that's comparison, and I feel bad because I'm comparing myself. 00:20:01.279 --> 00:20:07.200 And so, since I feel bad, I go back to social media, which is where I compare myself, so I feel even worse about myself. 00:20:07.359 --> 00:20:18.880 And it it it sounds on the surface kind of easy, like stop doing that, you know, but all of us in our lived experience know it's not that easy. 00:20:19.119 --> 00:20:29.039 And I guess from from your research and your clinical work, you know, what is what's happening inside of us that is just making it so difficult to break free of that? 00:20:29.680 --> 00:20:33.759 Well, we once understood our brains to be static and unchanging. 00:20:33.920 --> 00:20:37.839 Once we reached adulthood, we thought our brains were just fully developed and that's it. 00:20:38.160 --> 00:20:40.720 Now we understand that we have neuroplasticity. 00:20:40.880 --> 00:20:45.440 And neuroplasticity is the brain's ability to grow and change over time. 00:20:45.920 --> 00:20:53.680 So what happens is every time you think a thought, have a feeling, um make a decision, have a behavior, your brain makes a connection. 00:20:53.839 --> 00:20:58.240 It makes a path, and that path is made stronger every time you repeat it. 00:20:58.480 --> 00:21:07.759 So if you are, for example, um making a choice about what to eat for dinner and you choose a hamburger over a piece of broccoli, your brain makes that connection. 00:21:07.920 --> 00:21:14.880 And every time you repeat it, that connection gets stronger and stronger and stronger, and it becomes harder to take a different path. 00:21:15.039 --> 00:21:18.000 And so that's what's happening inside our brains. 00:21:18.720 --> 00:21:38.240 Wow, so it's and we know that these apps are programmed to make it easy and to make it addicting, and we are almost programming ourselves then by taking in this media, thinking that we're doing it to learn, thinking we're doing it for our own benefit. 00:21:38.640 --> 00:21:48.960 But really, it sounds like what you're saying is we're almost tethering ourselves and forming our brains to become dependent on the very things that are making us anxious, making us depressed. 00:21:49.200 --> 00:21:51.200 Yeah, and I don't know if you've ever caught yourself. 00:21:51.359 --> 00:21:55.359 I know I have, or I've pulled out my phone for something, and I don't even know why I did it. 00:21:55.599 --> 00:21:59.200 Like it was just it was just a habit to pull it out, and I'm saying, why am I doing this? 00:21:59.359 --> 00:22:01.200 and it was just Body on autopilot. 00:22:04.559 --> 00:22:18.720 Christine sees patients all of the time who are significantly upset with the form their life has taken, where they find themselves, the way that they make decisions, the way that they navigate relationships. 00:22:18.880 --> 00:22:24.720 And there's this direct link to the information that they are taking in. 00:22:24.960 --> 00:22:30.480 What Christine is describing is a truth that Jesus taught us about a couple thousand years ago. 00:22:30.720 --> 00:22:46.640 In Mark chapter 7, Jesus says, For from within, out of people's hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immoralities, thefts, murders, adulteries, greed, evil actions, deceit, self-indulgence, envy, slander, pride, and foolishness. 00:22:46.880 --> 00:22:51.440 All these evil things come from within and defile a person. 00:22:51.680 --> 00:22:55.279 This is a pretty incredible passage of scripture. 00:22:55.440 --> 00:22:58.000 This is the first century AD. 00:22:58.319 --> 00:23:00.799 This is a pre-science world. 00:23:00.960 --> 00:23:06.000 They don't understand biology, our neurology, our psychology, our sociology. 00:23:06.079 --> 00:23:07.519 They don't understand any of that. 00:23:07.599 --> 00:23:11.359 And so a murder is something that takes place outside. 00:23:11.599 --> 00:23:14.000 It's something in the external world. 00:23:14.480 --> 00:23:18.640 Robbing, adultery, those are things that take place outside of you. 00:23:18.720 --> 00:23:30.640 And yet Jesus, who is the agent of creation, who knows all, is teaching this truth at a level that they could understand that all of those things actually begin within. 00:23:31.920 --> 00:23:39.200 We're talking about information because information puts us in formation. 00:23:40.319 --> 00:23:44.160 Information puts your life in formation. 00:23:44.799 --> 00:23:56.240 And we are in this technological revolution that we don't understand, that we have no idea what it's actually causing, or the depth of problems that it might create. 00:23:56.960 --> 00:24:01.359 And it's time to just ask, what are we putting inside? 00:24:02.160 --> 00:24:06.480 What is the information diet that you are currently on? 00:24:06.799 --> 00:24:16.880 If it's true that information puts us in formation, then we must become intentional about what information we allow in our lives. 00:24:17.200 --> 00:24:23.920 Everybody knows that the food you put in your stomach is going to affect your life. 00:24:24.240 --> 00:24:32.319 You cannot eat cake for breakfast, cake for lunch, cake for dinner, cake for midnight snack every day, all day. 00:24:32.480 --> 00:24:35.759 You will die and not like a long time from now. 00:24:36.079 --> 00:24:37.680 We all know that. 00:24:37.920 --> 00:24:53.599 And yet we consume toxic information hours and hours a day as if it will not have just as critical of an impact in the person that we are becoming. 00:24:54.160 --> 00:24:57.359 What information are we feeding ourselves? 00:24:59.200 --> 00:25:08.079 Are you tired of the endless string of tragedies that are constantly coming in front of you that you can do nothing about? 00:25:08.240 --> 00:25:17.279 Are you tired of demonizing half of the population of the country just because you have a difference of political opinion? 00:25:17.759 --> 00:25:22.400 What you allow in your mind makes its way to your heart? 00:25:23.279 --> 00:25:28.960 If you are on a diet of constant fear, is it any wonder that you are just riddled with anxiety? 00:25:29.039 --> 00:25:36.160 If you are on a constant diet of comparison, is it any wonder that your self-worth continues to deteriorate? 00:25:36.319 --> 00:25:43.759 If you are on a constant diet of pornography, is it any wonder that your marriage is struggling and lacking intimacy? 00:25:45.279 --> 00:25:48.160 Jesus says it starts from within. 00:25:48.720 --> 00:25:55.599 Information puts us in formation, it shapes and molds and forms our life. 00:25:55.920 --> 00:26:00.559 And what Christine just told us is that's not just a metaphor. 00:26:00.880 --> 00:26:08.400 The information that you are taking in day after day is actually shaping and molding your mind. 00:26:08.559 --> 00:26:18.079 It is creating new neural connections and shaping the person who you are slowly but surely becoming. 00:26:30.480 --> 00:26:30.960 I get it. 00:26:31.039 --> 00:26:31.839 I really do get it. 00:26:32.000 --> 00:26:36.400 Maybe church is not your thing, but I promise you this question is worth your time. 00:26:36.640 --> 00:26:37.759 You're already here. 00:26:37.920 --> 00:26:49.680 You might as well contend with the question of whether or not you are actually happy, satisfied, and fulfilled with the form that your life has taken. 00:26:51.680 --> 00:26:53.839 Are you good with your life? 00:26:54.400 --> 00:26:56.880 Are you happy with how things are turning out? 00:26:57.440 --> 00:26:59.599 Are you content in your work? 00:27:00.960 --> 00:27:03.599 Do you look forward to your relationships? 00:27:04.400 --> 00:27:08.559 Do you have a real framework for making critical decisions in your life? 00:27:09.279 --> 00:27:12.240 Are you happy with the state of your mental health? 00:27:13.440 --> 00:27:18.559 If you are unhappy with the form your life has taken, there is a solution. 00:27:18.799 --> 00:27:22.000 It starts with changing what informs. 00:27:22.880 --> 00:27:28.079 Because that information will put your life in formation. 00:27:28.319 --> 00:27:31.039 And today I want to suggest three steps. 00:27:31.359 --> 00:27:43.359 And these are three steps that if we will really take them, number one, it says that we are a movement that is serious about actually meeting our potential as individuals to make an impact during our time on earth. 00:27:43.680 --> 00:27:55.920 These are three steps that can change the form of your life because it will give you a meaningful way to challenge the information you allow into your life. 00:27:56.240 --> 00:27:58.559 We're gonna start in Romans chapter 12. 00:27:58.640 --> 00:28:12.000 The Apostle Paul wrote to the church in Rome and he said, Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God. 00:28:12.319 --> 00:28:15.519 Do not be conformed, be transformed. 00:28:15.599 --> 00:28:28.960 And whether you are going to be conformed to all the patterns of this world, I'm gonna suggest that's a really bad idea, because if you just open your eyes and take a cursory look at what is going on in the world around you, I don't think that's the path you want to walk down. 00:28:30.240 --> 00:28:42.400 Whether we are conformed to this world or transformed into the person we were created to be comes down to how we are informed by what we allow inside of us. 00:28:43.200 --> 00:28:54.880 And so if you take nothing today seriously, and if you take no actual steps towards managing your information intake, you will be conformed. 00:28:55.119 --> 00:29:02.480 It is the natural order of things, it is like gravity pulling you towards what the rest of the world is doing. 00:29:02.640 --> 00:29:08.880 It is the current of culture that you will get caught up in, and people are conformed to villains or to victims. 00:29:08.960 --> 00:29:15.680 And we know the villains, they're very easy to spot because they take what does not belong to them from the people who need it the most. 00:29:15.920 --> 00:29:20.079 Others are conformed to the victims, and we celebrate victims now. 00:29:20.240 --> 00:29:22.000 We celebrate victimhood now. 00:29:22.160 --> 00:29:38.480 We celebrate people who, with no initiative on their own, love to raise their own social status by talking about all of the things that haven't gone right in the world, and so you can be a victim, or you can be a villain, or you can be transformed into the hero that God created you to be. 00:29:40.079 --> 00:29:48.640 And your mind is more powerful than you can imagine, and the fuel for your mind is the information you allow inside of it. 00:29:49.359 --> 00:29:53.039 And so, step one, we must delete what defeats. 00:29:53.119 --> 00:29:57.279 If you're taking notes, we must delete what defeats. 00:29:58.240 --> 00:30:05.519 And there's a lot of good information out there, and and we're really just gonna swing for the fences on step one, because this, I think this is the hardest part. 00:30:06.400 --> 00:30:08.960 And I'm not saying don't be informed. 00:30:09.200 --> 00:30:11.599 News itself is not bad. 00:30:11.839 --> 00:30:16.079 However, there are things that are informing your life. 00:30:16.240 --> 00:30:27.759 There are people that you follow, and there are shows that you watch, there are podcasts you listen to, there are people that you spend time with that have absolutely no redeeming value. 00:30:27.920 --> 00:30:29.759 They are nothing but toxic. 00:30:29.920 --> 00:30:36.640 And if they have no redeeming value, then they will lead to your defeat, and you don't need it. 00:30:37.119 --> 00:30:55.680 And your life matters too much for your life to be destroyed by bad actors in the world, by biased opinions in the media, by fear-mongering, and sellers who want your attention but don't care about your potential. 00:30:56.960 --> 00:30:58.880 And so it's time to delete it. 00:31:00.000 --> 00:31:08.640 And every one of us probably has 30 to 70 percent of the things that we are following that, if we were honest, have no redemption. 00:31:09.359 --> 00:31:13.119 And that is the filter for deciding what to delete. 00:31:13.519 --> 00:31:16.160 Is there any redemptive value? 00:31:16.319 --> 00:31:19.839 Does this add value in any way to my life? 00:31:20.000 --> 00:31:25.839 And if you can't answer how it does that, immediately delete it. 00:31:26.559 --> 00:31:37.359 If you have to like stretch your mind to your intellectual capacities to try and rationalize why you should keep watching, keep listening, or keep scrolling, delete it. 00:31:39.200 --> 00:31:54.480 And there are people who could completely change their mental health just by unfollowing, by one intentional afternoon of screening everyone they follow and unfollowing the people who are doing nothing but adding toxic information to your mind. 00:31:55.359 --> 00:32:01.200 You are being sold as much fear and division as possible because that is what keeps you scrolling. 00:32:01.759 --> 00:32:03.119 Happy videos? 00:32:03.519 --> 00:32:07.920 Like a video of a puppy taking a nap with a duck, you know? 00:32:08.799 --> 00:32:11.759 All that makes you want to do is go live your life. 00:32:12.000 --> 00:32:14.079 That will make you close the app. 00:32:14.880 --> 00:32:17.039 If you close the app, you win. 00:32:17.759 --> 00:32:19.200 But the app loses. 00:32:21.680 --> 00:32:28.640 And the question is, are you going to allow yourself to be defeated by something that you actually have control over? 00:32:28.960 --> 00:32:40.799 Life is hard enough without bombarding ourselves with toxic information that will put your life in toxic formation. 00:32:40.960 --> 00:32:43.440 Step one is to delete what defeats. 00:32:43.599 --> 00:32:46.160 And that's an important first step. 00:32:46.480 --> 00:32:47.440 But there's more. 00:32:47.599 --> 00:32:52.240 After you have deleted what defeats, you have to begin to curate your content. 00:32:52.480 --> 00:32:53.920 To curate your content. 00:32:54.160 --> 00:32:56.880 And maybe you're not familiar with the word curate. 00:32:57.200 --> 00:32:59.920 The best way to think about it is to think about a museum. 00:33:00.079 --> 00:33:03.839 At a museum of art, there are art creators. 00:33:04.000 --> 00:33:09.759 Those are the people who, you know, paint the pictures and mold the clay and draw the drawings, you know. 00:33:09.920 --> 00:33:14.640 Those are the art creators, but every museum has art curators. 00:33:14.880 --> 00:33:18.880 And a curator doesn't actually paint or draw or sculpt. 00:33:19.039 --> 00:33:34.559 What a curator does is they take all of the different art pieces and they painstakingly, meticulously and intentionally decide which pieces pair with which other pieces, what room they go in and how they should be displayed. 00:33:34.720 --> 00:33:43.759 And a great art curator can take good art, surround it by other good art, and make all of it exponentially better. 00:33:44.000 --> 00:33:58.400 When you walk into a room or an exhibit at a museum and it does something and touches you and moves your emotions, it's part creator because they made the art, but it is part curator because they chose where it went. 00:33:59.680 --> 00:34:02.000 The content is being created for us. 00:34:02.160 --> 00:34:04.319 The question is, are we curating it? 00:34:04.640 --> 00:34:11.360 Are we intentional and meticulous and precise about what content goes where? 00:34:12.239 --> 00:34:27.199 In Philippians 4 it says, finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there's any moral excellence and if there is anything praiseworthy, dwell on these things. 00:34:27.360 --> 00:34:27.920 You know what that is? 00:34:28.079 --> 00:34:29.519 You know what Philippians 4 is? 00:34:29.760 --> 00:34:32.480 It is the curation criteria. 00:34:34.559 --> 00:34:43.519 If what you're allowing in your life does not pass the Philippians 4 test, then move back to step one and delete what defeats. 00:34:43.920 --> 00:34:57.119 But if it is lovely and if it is pure, and if it is honoring, and if it is praiseworthy, and if it edifies you, and if it builds you up and pushes you towards your potential, those are the things to allow into your life. 00:34:58.079 --> 00:35:05.119 We're so desperate to be liked, we're so desperate to be accepted and appreciated that this is how we choose our friends. 00:35:05.280 --> 00:35:06.719 Oh, you want to be friends with me? 00:35:06.880 --> 00:35:08.719 Okay, and that's your new friend. 00:35:08.880 --> 00:35:11.519 Like, that's it, that's the whole test. 00:35:13.199 --> 00:35:14.960 This is how people are hooking up. 00:35:15.119 --> 00:35:22.719 It's like, I don't know if I like you or would marry you or even want to date you, but you find me just barely attractive enough to have sex with me? 00:35:23.039 --> 00:35:23.360 Okay. 00:35:24.960 --> 00:35:27.760 What if we curated our relationships? 00:35:28.000 --> 00:35:29.519 What if we were intentional? 00:35:29.679 --> 00:35:34.960 What if we were trying to build something out of them that actually did something for our lives? 00:35:36.400 --> 00:35:39.599 What if we curated our social media content? 00:35:40.159 --> 00:35:41.840 Because everyone has a bias. 00:35:42.000 --> 00:35:43.199 Everyone has a bias. 00:35:43.519 --> 00:35:44.800 You have a bias. 00:35:44.960 --> 00:35:49.039 And the more that you try to convince me you don't, the more I will not believe you. 00:35:49.199 --> 00:35:50.480 Everyone has a bias. 00:35:50.639 --> 00:35:52.800 And so you have to balance your bias. 00:35:54.000 --> 00:35:56.559 You have to negotiate what is newsworthy. 00:35:56.800 --> 00:35:58.639 Not everything is worth your time. 00:35:58.800 --> 00:36:00.880 You have to screen your sources. 00:36:01.119 --> 00:36:04.400 There's a great example right now because there's another conflict in the Middle East. 00:36:04.480 --> 00:36:08.320 And man, you go online and everyone is either over here or over here. 00:36:08.400 --> 00:36:12.960 And the people over here hate the people over here, and the people over here hate the people over here. 00:36:13.039 --> 00:36:16.480 And I'll give you a hint the truth is always somewhere in the middle. 00:36:16.719 --> 00:36:21.840 And you'll never find the middle if you don't battle your biases, and you'll never find the middle if you don't screen your sources. 00:36:22.000 --> 00:36:30.400 And if you don't care enough about it to do like five minutes of work to find the best resources on both sides, go back to step one. 00:36:30.559 --> 00:36:31.519 Delete what defeats. 00:36:31.599 --> 00:36:32.480 It's not worth your time. 00:36:32.639 --> 00:36:35.440 You have too much of a life to live, you have too much of an impact to make. 00:36:35.519 --> 00:36:41.599 There are too many people hurting who need the people of God to stand up, step up, and do something about it. 00:36:41.840 --> 00:36:44.880 And so you have to curate your content. 00:36:45.920 --> 00:36:51.840 We have to seek to understand both sides because God has called us to reach both sides. 00:36:53.039 --> 00:36:56.800 Philippians 4 is your curation criteria. 00:36:58.239 --> 00:37:02.880 Balance your biases, screen your sources, negotiate what is newsworthy. 00:37:02.960 --> 00:37:05.519 And finally, and this is another hard one. 00:37:05.760 --> 00:37:11.199 Once you've deleted what defeats and curated your content, you have to limit your listening. 00:37:11.679 --> 00:37:24.320 In Colossians 3, it says, so if you have been raised with Christ, seek the things above where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God, and set your mind on things above, not on the earthly things. 00:37:24.480 --> 00:37:30.559 And in order to seek the things above, we must set our mind on God. 00:37:31.039 --> 00:37:33.679 And we learned this over the last three weeks. 00:37:34.320 --> 00:37:39.119 That we are called to seek God's kingdom and God's righteousness first. 00:37:39.599 --> 00:37:45.360 God over everything, building his kingdom, orienting our life towards the highest possible good. 00:37:45.519 --> 00:37:48.000 And that means setting your mind. 00:37:48.880 --> 00:37:58.079 Not being conformed, but being transformed, dwelling on the things that are above, the things that will lift you up and push you towards your purpose. 00:37:58.239 --> 00:38:00.800 You have to limit your listening. 00:38:02.320 --> 00:38:07.280 And some of us have no idea what God wants for our life because we never make room to listen to Him. 00:38:08.000 --> 00:38:14.159 If we're going to set our mind on God, then we actually have to have some space for God in our life. 00:38:14.320 --> 00:38:17.360 We have to put down the phones and turn off the TVs. 00:38:17.519 --> 00:38:20.559 We have to begin to listen. 00:38:22.239 --> 00:38:26.719 If we're serious about seeking, we may have to set limits. 00:38:27.440 --> 00:38:37.280 Did you know that you could hand your phone over to your spouse and they can set a code and put time limits on your apps? 00:38:37.599 --> 00:38:40.480 Oh, you mean let them infringe on my own freedoms? 00:38:40.800 --> 00:38:41.440 Yes. 00:38:43.199 --> 00:38:46.559 Do you care about the life you've been given or not? 00:38:47.920 --> 00:38:50.079 And it's like, well, I have a long drive, you know, and that's what I do. 00:38:50.159 --> 00:38:52.800 I just listen to listen to something else. 00:38:53.119 --> 00:38:54.800 Download an audiobook. 00:38:54.960 --> 00:38:56.800 The Bible will read to you. 00:38:57.119 --> 00:38:59.840 Sit in silence and pray and seek God. 00:39:00.480 --> 00:39:01.519 This is hard, man. 00:39:01.599 --> 00:39:03.280 I'm terrible, terrible about this. 00:39:03.440 --> 00:39:06.960 I'm taking in content all of the time, and it's curated content. 00:39:07.119 --> 00:39:08.400 It is curated content. 00:39:08.480 --> 00:39:10.079 I'm trying really hard. 00:39:10.400 --> 00:39:11.280 Let me tell you something. 00:39:11.360 --> 00:39:18.800