Sign of the Times

It still amazes me how time gets away from us. We are living in such a "connected" society yet when I step back from it all it seems that we are more disconnected than ever. I am not exempt from this phenomenon apparently. I was visiting with my mother recently and she said, "I never see you without that phone." She was of course referring to my trusty sidekick: my Blackberry. I can carry on at least 4 or 5 text conversations, while reviewing emails, editing documents, viewing the latest pictures of my favorite people and listening to my favorite music all from the palm of my hand. I stay up to date with latest news stories and social trends with the help of my CNN app and of course Twitter. All of this efficiency but at what cost?

I decided to use myself as a test subject to see just how much technology I can do without for 30 days. Let me be transparent, I am NOT going cold turkey. To tell you that I am completely giving up my Blackberry would be well simply a lie..but what I am doing what is often called a "world fast". I am eliminating television, Facebook and Twitter for 30 days beginning September 1st.

I am doing this for a number of reasons, but mostly due to something the Apostle of my ministry has been teaching lately. In our leadership training we have been focusing on the numbering of our days as well as guarding our hearts and spirits to ensure we are doing what is relevant and necessary to be effective Kingdom leaders. In response to this teaching I began to think of how many ways I allow myself to be influenced by outside forces which have the potential of deferring me from the goal of being effective in the Kingdom. Now I should say for the most part the people I interact with on my Social Network are like minded and provide a positive influence, in fact I am able to do effective ministry USING my social network; however, the amount of time that I spend on that medium definitely is taking away from time that can be spent actually speaking to someone, reading or yes just being quiet and meditating on the Word of God. 

So before I choose to teach on this subject I am going to become a student. I am quite sure it will be an adjustment, but I believe it is going to be an enriching journey & one that I will let you my readers take vicariously with me. I plan on blogging each day to let you know what I have learned and yes what I miss...

Wish me luck 6 days until I become....UNPLUGGED...

Favor & Blessings....

The Voice