Here’s the Facebook Live video in which I explain the Digital Detox Questionnaire. You’ll want to skip the first 45 secs of awkward silence. The wound on my head is the result of saving my family from an armed intruder walking into a cupboard. Despite valiant efforts, I was unable to blame my wife for this. More Digital Detox resources here.

Blogs

Passing of Rev. Dr. Iain D Campbell
I join the wider church in extending my deepest and prayerful sympathies to Iain’s wife, Anne, their children: Iain, Stephen and Emily, his mother, Lily, together with the wider family.

It is with immense sadness that we announce the passing of Rev Dr Iain D Campbell, minister of Point/Knock Free Church. Last Sunday Dr Campbell was transferred from the Western Isles Hospital to Glasgow where he passed away early this morning. He was 53.

What Professors Are Writing… No One Is Reading
Yep. True of theological journals too.

“Most Western academics today are using their intellectual capital to answer questions that nobody’s asking, on pages that nobody’s reading.”

Roe v. Wade Is A ‘Jealous God’ That Demands Blood And Generates Rage
As the late Chuck Colson wrote, “The right to an abortion has proven to be a jealous god. In exchange for sexual freedom, it demands everything else: cherished ideals, right priorities, the First Amendment, and even decency. It insists that nothing be spared in its defense.”

Today Is My Birthday Because My Mom Chose Life
“The terrified young woman who gave me life is my hero. She made a courageous choice to be my mother, even if it meant she could only remain in the role for a few days. The only tie she will ever have to me is her blood and her genes. Another woman, equally heroic, stepped into my life. She willingly became my mother, and made me her permanent daughter. Both women loved me. Both made choices that will affect my life forever.  Every day, thousands of women face similar decisions. Many demand control over their bodies and the “right to choose.” How do we convince them to make the same life-saving decision I’m eternally grateful my mother made for me? ”

4 Reasons to Soak Yourself in the Psalms
“If you don’t know the Psalter well, try spending a month or two or 12 in the Psalms. To read the Psalms in a month you’ll need to read about five per day. Most are pretty short, which should leave time for prayer, reflection, and reading elsewhere in the Scriptures. Even on the day you read the 176 verses of Psalm 119, it won’t kill you. Let’s join with God’s people through the millennia and again learn to sing the songs of the Messiah.”

Performing a “Time Audit” of Your Life
This looks like a good resource.

A Few Observations From My Recent Time in the Pit
Mike Leake writes honestly and helpfully about his latest descent into the darkness of depression:

At times I have to tap out. I have to say, “Man down!” And I have to plead with the church to pray for her wounded…like me.

Kindle Books

A Loving Life: In a World of Broken Relationships $3.99.

Loving the Way Jesus Loves $3.99.

The Faith of Christopher Hitchens: The Restless Soul of the World’s Most Notorious Atheist $1.99.

Here’s a round-up of articles to assist your digital detox. You can view more resources here.

If It’s Not True, Kind, Or Necessary, Don’t Share It On Facebook
Here’s a Catholic writer who regrets sharing posts that point out the weakness, sinfulness, or foolishness of another without even knowing whether it is true.  Before posting or commenting, she urges us to ask “Is it true? Is it timely? Is it necessary?” As for commenting, she’s staging a retreat:

Comments I’ve made on other peoples’ posts are just as sinful. I try to always be polite, but I waste time challenging people about ideas knowing it is almost always hopeless. Few people are willing to engage in real discussion today on both sides of the aisle. Most people are looking for self-affirmation of their views or are virtue-signaling. If someone challenges them, many choose to make angry or even malicious statements in response, a fact I could predict before I started. Therefore, I am leading another toward an occasion of sin. It is not defensible.

She concludes with a pledge:

I pledge today that I will not post, share, or “love” any mean-spirited image or statement that degrades another. I pledge that I will not provoke others into attacking while acting as though I am enlightening or engaging them. I pledge today to stop following those folks who continue to do the same (although I will still love them and let them know why). I pledge to work on myself, to focus on building people up while still giving criticism to people when they need it, but only in civil, loving, and respectful ways.

The Case for Boredom
Kevin DeYoung makes the case for boredom and silence, increasingly rare in the smartphone age. Boredom, he says, “provides the space for creativity, for mental wandering, for musings, ponderings and a lifestyle of prayer.” Our smartphones have destroyed all that:

It’s hard to imagine scrolling through social media throughout the day and checking email almost constantly have made me wiser, holier, and godlier, let alone a better husband, a better father, a better thinker, and a better Christian.

Kevin also concludes with a pledge:

In the coming months I am making it my goal to be bored more often. I want to force my kids to be bored too. I’m not throwing away my phone. I’m not quitting Twitter or the blogosphere. I just want more space to endure (enjoy?) life’s dull moments.

The Secret to Digital Health
Referencing the work of Donna Freitas, Tony Reinke describes three categories of social media user:

The insecure: These social-media users struggle with “anxiety about their social standing, and fret about how they are seen by others.” In this state, anxiety festers. Depression rears its head. The insecure perpetually refresh their feeds to seek a new hit of self-validation, but find that when those hits of self-validation do come, they are short lived, and often bring the insecure face-to-face with the harsh reality of being (or feeling) ignored.

The ambivalent: The second group is represented by at least two distinct groups. First, Freitas found that college students in pre-med or pre-law, students with lofty and specific ambitions, tend to avoid social media or minimize it in their lives with ease. They simply have bigger goals to pursue. Second, another ambivalent group includes insecure phone addicts who eventually just burn out and shrug off and dismiss social media.

The thriving: So who are these “rare few” college students who are thriving and who seem to handle social media best? At the end of her book, Freitas says that these students “are the ones who are able to be ambivalent about it — those young women and men who can manage the self-promotive dimensions without too much stress, who can live with the pressures of constant evaluation, and who aren’t made so emotionally vulnerable by social media that its negatives wreak havoc on their self-esteem. Apathy has become a healthy mode of survival” (249)

The secret to digital health, says Tony, is authenticity and identity.

This is the book Tony quotes in his article: The Happiness Effect: How Social Media is Driving a Generation to Appear Perfect at Any Cost.

12 Low-Prep, Screen-Free Ways To Keep Toddlers Busy In Winter
“When your child has cabin fever, it’s hard to stay sane. Here are some fun, creative, TV-free ideas to keep everyone happy and entertained.”

The Gospel and Social Media: Part (1)
These posts have a positive aim:

I’m hoping that this series of posts can be a catalyst for loving conversations between brothers and sisters about how each of us can push the gospel deeper into how we think and use every social media platform. I’m praying that together we can see to it that Jesus engulfs every square inch of our lives – even those that only exist in a virtual society.

And here’s Part 2.

After 146 Years, Ringling Bros. Circus Announces End
After 146 years, the curtain is coming down on “The Greatest Show on Earth.” The owner of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus told The Associated Press that the show will close forever in May. Digital media is not the only reason but it’s a major one:

In recent years, Ringling Bros. tried to remain relevant, hiring its first African American ringmaster, then its first female ringmaster, and also launching an interactive app. It added elements from its other, popular shows, such as motorbike daredevils and ice skaters. But it seemingly was no match for Pokemon Go and a generation of kids who desire familiar brands and YouTube celebrities.

When online debate ate up my time
I’m sure most of us can identify with Kim’s grief over lost time and lost peace through online debate.

Blogs

Meet the Pro-Life Group Cracking Planned Parenthood’s Favorite Market | Sarah Eekhoff Zylstra, TGC
“A business executive, a technology guru, and a CEO consultant all walked into the pro-life movement. Using skills they’d honed in the for-profit business world, they began to do something no one else was doing: reach and influence what the industry calls ‘abortion-determined’ women, those who have already decided to end their pregnancies.”

Help Me Teach the Bible: Ligon Duncan on Numbers | Nancy Guthrie
Nancy Guthrie talks to Ligon Duncan in this podcast series about teaching on the book of Numbers.

Leading Meetings with Humility | Adam McClendon, For The Church
“…here are 3 truths we need to embrace to help us lead meetings out of more humble hearts. I truly believe that if we will really embrace these truths, we will find our meetings less tense and more productive, and we will find our teammates more receptive than we would have imagined.”

A plea for pastoral prayer | Jesse Johnson, The Cripplegate
“In writing this, I’m not arguing for liturgy, or saying that every service should have a prayer in this vein. But if you are a pastor, let me appeal to you to strive for excellence in the way in which you lead your people in prayer.”

The Early Symptoms of Spiritual Danger | Sinclair Ferguson, Ligonier Ministries
“Yes, apostasy happens. Sometimes the catalyst is flagrant sin. The pain of conviction and repentance is refused, and the only alternative to it is wholesale rejection of Christ. But sometimes the catalyst is a thorn growing quietly in the heart, an indifference to the way of the Cross, a drifting that is not reversed by the knowledge of biblical warnings.”

How do you preach in the face of snarls and scowls? | Brian Croft, Practical Shepherding
Short and to the point but maybe a pastor out there needs to hear just this.

New Book

Let the Children Worship by Jason Helopoulos

Kindle Deals

Get Real: Sharing Your Everyday Faith Every Day by John Leonard ($1.99)

Answering Your Kids’ Toughest Questions: Helping Them Understand Loss, Sin, Tragedies, and Other Hard Topics by Elyse Fitzpatrick and Jessica Thompson ($1.99)

What Do You Think of Me? Why Do I Care?: Answers to the Big Questions of Life by Edward T. Welch ($1.99)

Here’s a questionnaire with 29 questions to help you figure out how addicted you are to digital media (instructions below). I’ll be discussing this evaluation tool on Facebook live at 8pm ET this evening (Thursday). I’ll also be taking your questions about digital detox. I look forward to seeing you then.

To make the best use of it:

1. Download the pdf.

2. Have a look at the questions to find out what to measure each day.

3. Complete the questionnaire at the end of each day.

4. Total your points to find out where you are on the digital addiction scale

• 100+ You are passed-out drunk on data
• 60+ You are drunk and disorderly
• 0-30 You are sober and almost tee-total!

5. Repeat exercise a week later to see if you are making progress in your digital detox.

Download questionnaire here.

More Digital Detox Resources

Blogs

What Is Happening to Our Pastors? | Jamin Goggin
A solemn and sobering read:

“A pastor’s fall no longer impacts the local church alone (if it ever did). We live in the era of celebrity pastors whose platforms of influence stretch far beyond the walls of their local congregation, and who shake the earth when they fall off their pedestals. Their books are best-sellers and their sermons are heard online around the world. In recent months one such figure has ignited the evangelical blogosphere and twitter murmurings, Tullian Tchividjian. But it wasn’t long ago that Mark Driscoll was the tip of this spear. Their behavior has been well documented, the age of social media has made sure their sins would be unveiled before all. As a result of their sin, churches have collapsed, conferences evaporated, and, most importantly, lives have been deeply wounded. Again, the question that plagues us is, ‘How could this happen?’”

Keeping Short Accounts | Nick Batzig, The Christward Collective
Probably part of the answer to the article above. What do short accounts look like in the Christian life?

The Case for Boredom | Kevin DeYoung, TGC
“Try out silence in your life this week. Give aloneness a try. In our crazy busy, crazy connected, need-to-know-now! world, we need the sanity and sanctifying power of boredom every once in awhile.”

A Dying Man Taught Me How to Live | Ivan Mesa, TGC
I read When Breath Becomes Air on my recent vacation and planned to review it, but Ivan beats me to it.

“…one of last year’s bestselling books, When Breath Becomes Air, is about making sense of our mortality. Stanford neurosurgeon Paul Kalanithi—who died in 2015 at age 37, after a 22-month battle with stage-four lung cancer—wrote his book amid various cancer treatments and relapses, ultimately leaving behind an unfinished manuscript that his widow, Lucy, completed. “

Scientifically, When Does Human Life Begin? | Justin Taylor, TGC
“Three distinguished and brilliant professors have responded to the idea that there is no scientific consensus regarding the beginning of human life.”

Doctors Said Abort My Disabled Child, But He Became #MyUnintendedJoy | Elizabeth Gravely, The Federalist
“Women who receive severe or fatal prenatal diagnoses do not need abortion but support, such as palliative care, perinatal hospice, and programs like Isaiah’s Promise. The beautiful, although often brief, lives of children like Thomas are not meant to be taken before their time with abortion, but to be celebrated.”

Five Tips For More Productive Monotasking When You Work Alone | Bree Brouwer, Fast Company
Good one for pastors.

“When you’re the only one making choices about your schedule, staying on track can be tough. Here’s what the experts suggest.”

Depression as hard on the heart as obesity and cholesterol |PsyPost
“Depression poses a risk for cardiovascular diseases in men that is just as great as that posed by high cholesterol levels and obesity.”

New Book

Lost in Wonder: A Biblical Introduction to God’s Great Marriage by Peter Mead

Kindle Deals

A Quest for More: Living for Something Bigger than You by Paul David Tripp ($1.99)

The Supremacy of God in Preaching by John Piper ($2.99)

A Life Observed: A Spiritual Biography of C. S. Lewis by Devin Brown ($2.99)

On Guard: Preventing and Responding to Child Abuse at Church by Deepak Reju ($1.99)