By: Guest Blogger~ Church NotesHey guys! A Message for Christian Girls is partnering with an *amazing* app called Church Notes, an app designed to help you take notes during church and devotions in a distraction-free environment. Check out the article below to learn more! - Chris V Make it easier to stay focused on the Gospel by using Church Notes. No more toting a clunky Bible and notebook, and no more multiple, stressful, and time-consuming apps. Introducing Church Notes, a Bible Note-Taking app that lets you take detailed notes whilst listening to a sermon and complete your Daily Devotions. Church Notes makes it easier for Christians to celebrate the Gospel every day by having a convenient, easy, and all-in-one app for sermon and devotional note-taking. Church Notes includes English Standard Version, and more to come, to help understand God’s word more. Beta testers are pleased with Church Notes: “Beautifully designed, distraction-free and incredibly easy to use.”“...A PHENOMENAL BIBLE NOTE TAKING APP...” What can the app do? Create detailed Sermon & Devotional notes. Auto-Verse makes it easy to type in a verse and then insert it into your note by simply tapping the space button. Church Notes features are forever expanding and evolving. We are proud to offer our Beta version and allow Christians to test out the potential Church Notes has. We are excited for what God has in the future of Church Notes and to see this project turn into reality. Head to Church Notes website to download this app on IOS & Android. Want to learn more about Church Notes? Check out the Church Notes website here.
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By: Chris V A few months ago, I was at a teen community group at my church to hear what the Bible has to say on what my youth pastor calls a "hot topic" (issues that are prevalent in today's culture). That specific night, we were going over a huge topic in today's society: media. When we broke into different groups to talk about some discussion questions that the youth pastor had come up with, we started to talk about different kinds of media, more specifically, music. After going over several questions and talking about different kinds of music, some of the girls there started to ask the question: "Does God really care about what kinds of music that I listen to?" The Short Answer: Yes Yes, God does care about the music we listen to! In the Bible, we see several verses that command us not only to worship and sing to Him, but to keep our minds on pure things and Christ:
These are just a few verses, but they all lead up to a point! If you are a Christian, saved by and through Christ, you want to keep your mind focused on Christ and on things of Christ (Colossians 3:2). How can we do that when we're listening to music that's not God honoring? The answer is that you can't. If we're listening to explicit music, that language (which the Bible commands against, see Ephesians 4:29) gets stuck in our heads. If we're listening to trashy, sexually immoral music (which the Bible tells us to flee from, see 1 Corinthians 6:18), we'll find our minds wandering places where we don't want them to go. But, if we're listening to music that worships and praises Christ, our mind will be set and focused on Jesus, bringing us more towards Christ-likeness. (Added bonus: you'll be more likely to praise and worship God in your heart as well!) How Can I Apply This To My Daily Life? This is the part that kind of hurts, but we need to rip off that band-aid! If you are routinely listening to worldly, trashy, explicit music (and podcasts for that matter!), GET RID OF IT!!! From the verses seen above, worldly things like trashy, explicit songs hinder your walk with Christ. But, I'm not saying to never listen to music again! I'm saying to listen to the right kinds of music, music that is "...true...honorable...just...pure...lovely...commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise..." (Philippians 4:8). One type of music like this is Christian/worship music! Some great artists to check out are Cade Thompson, Keith and Kristen Getty, TobyMac, Leanna Crawford, Matthew West, and Michael W. Smith. Not only should we be listening to God honoring music, we should also apply the same, God-honoring concepts to the podcasts we listen to. Some amazing Christian podcasts that I love to listen to are:
When we consciously make decisions to listen to media that is God-honoring every single day, we can spiritually grow in Christ through Him! Delete those trashy playlists, unfollow those explicit artists (no matter how popular they are!)- and you may find your mind focused more on Jesus than on the fading things of this world. I'd love to hear from you! What are some ways you can put God-honoring media into your life? Let me know in the comments below!
Pxfuel, https://p1.pxfuel.com/preview/260/556/929/technology-social-media-technology.jpg By: Chris V This world is full of media, from movies to news and social posts. We have social media platforms at our fingertips: Snapchat, Instagram, Tic Tok... media is everywhere. Almost everyone tends to use some form of media, whether it be to catch up on news or "hang out" with friends in cyber-space. But do we ever think about what goes through our minds and hearts when we look at media? Do you think about how it affects your relationship with Jesus? Cautious Consumption This world has so many messages portrayed through media. While some of those messages can build you up, those messages can also tear you down. For example, Christian books, blog posts, and podcasts can build you up in your walk with God and encourage you in the faith. On the other hand, certain messages portrayed throughout the media (messages like "Your self- worth is defined by how many people like your social media posts" or "Parents just get in the way of you living your life") are a roadblock to growing in your faith and can often plant lies in your heart. The media can sometimes be a loudspeaker for Satan's lies he like to feed us girls! So, how can we filter our media choices to glorify God and grow in the faith? Check out the three tips below: #1: Check out reviews Before you watch Do you like to watch TV shows and movies? I do too! Unfortunately, some of the content in today's popular TV shows and movies are definitely not God honoring. For example, language (Ephesians 4:29), satanic activities (Leviticus 19:31), and sexual immorality (Hebrews 13:4) are some of the content found in some of today's media. So what are some ways to keep our viewing clean and God honoring? First off, you can ask a trusted Christian about a certain TV show or movie and if there's any content you should be wary of. You can also check out Christian reviews, like reviews from Plugged In, a media review site from Focus on the Family. #2: Check Out ACCOUNTABILITY Software Did you know that most girls find pornography when just doing homework? Or maybe when surfing through social media platforms? In Psalm 51:10, David says, "Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me." How can we do that when we see (or hear) all the nasty junk, like hate comments and suggestive photos, on social media, in songs, etc. One way we can filter media sources is to get accountability software. Accountability software filters out the junk you find on social media... or even just researching for your next paper that's due! In Focus on the Family's Brio magazine (June/July 2019 edition), Jessica Harris gives examples of several different accountability software sites that your parents can install: Net Nanny, Covenant Eyes, and Bark (a social media filter). The best part? They work on your phone! Another option is to get one of the phones Gabb Wireless sells. It doesn't have an app store or the Internet, which removes a whole lot of temptation from the picture. (I have one, and it works really well!) #3: Limit Your ACCess To The MEdia I have a friend who deleted YouTube from his phone because it was taking over his life. I once asked him how many hours he spent on YouTube so far in a day (keep in mind this was around 12:30 p.m.) and he was shocked to see he already spent four and a half hours on YouTube. Okay, you may not be spending as long as different social platforms, but it can be problem! You can easily become addicted and enslaved to your phone, preventing you from using your time to do other things, like glorifying God by serving Him with the God-given talents that He's given you. (See 1 Corinthians 12:1-11.) One way you can limit your time on media platforms (this includes the Internet!) is by setting timers on your phone. Most phones are able to set timers that allow you to spend a certain amount of time on the different apps you have. Once you limit your time on apps, you may realize how much free time you have! God Cares about media Girls, I can't express how important filtering your media choices is. God cares about your media choices and how it affects your heart and mind. He even left instructions in the Bible! The Bible tells us in Colossians 3:1-10 that we need to "Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry" (v.5). One way we can do that is by filtering the media we look at every day. David prays to God in Psalm 51:10 to "Create in me a clean heart... and renew a right spirit within me". David knew that his relationship with God can become "gunked up" without a clean heart, and that he can't keep a clean heart (because of sin) without the help of God. Will you make Psalm 51:10 your prayer in your life?
How have you filtered your media choices? What are some ways you can filter your media choices? Tell us in the comments below! |
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