Showing posts with label technology. Show all posts
Showing posts with label technology. Show all posts

Wednesday, October 2, 2024

How to Avoid Technology Overload - Martin Wiles

technology overload
For God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body. 1 Corinthians 6:20 NLT

Too much of a good thing can be harmful.

Exercise is good, but too much can damage the body. More importantly, it might damage relationships with others.

One Krispy Kreme doughnut won’t harm me, but eating a dozen a day most likely will. Where what I eat is concerned, most doctors will say, “Everything in moderation.” Eating a little along and along is better than binge eating.

Our day is not much different in the moderation area than was Paul’s. Idolatry, sporting events, drugs, alcohol, sexual immorality, gluttony. They were all available. So, Paul took the opportunity to remind first-century believers that their bodies were temples of God’s Spirit. He had bought them with the death of his Son. The least they could do was honor him with their bodies.

The current greatest “too much of a good thing” temptation is technology. An entire generation of digital natives is alive and well. Defined, they are the young people who have never known a time when the internet didn’t exist. Just as doctors once thought tobacco was good for us—and freely smoked in and out of the presence of their patients—but then discovered it was dangerous, so the same is now happening with technology.

Researchers have unveiled how much digital interaction, especially gaming, can damage our brains. The younger the brain, the higher the addiction rate and the more harmful technology is to the brain. Staring at and interacting with “screens” not only builds an addictive wall in our brain but also damages our eyes, leading to dry eye disease.

I use technology profusely and am certainly not an advocate against it. Through it, I can spread the gospel with one press of a button or touch of a screen. But I can get too much of a good thing like everything else. Moderation is necessary lest overload occurs.

Some suggestions to avoid technology overload: take a break from it every fifteen minutes, don’t give it to young children (It’s not a good babysitter), use it wisely, take it out of your bedroom at night (Analog clocks are still available), enjoy an analog activity (Board games are still sold), and go outside.

What’s one thing you can do to avoid technology’s overload?

Father, help me enjoy the good things you’ve created but not to be mastered by anything that steals my attention from you. 

Tweetable: Is technology overloading your brain? 


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Wednesday, October 12, 2022

Finding Quiet in the Turmoil - Martin Wiles

finding quiet in the turmoil
For the Lord your God is living among you. He is a mighty savior. Zephaniah 3:17 NLT

Finding quiet in the turmoil of life can challenge the best of us.

Technology is great until it stops working. My mornings run on a tight schedule. Up at 4:30 a.m., on the computer, and writing within a few minutes. At least, that’s the way I plan it. But sometimes, my computer has other plans.

One morning, I didn’t see the low battery warning, so a blank screen appeared in the middle of my writing. Startups with an older operating system take time. When I restarted and opened the document, what I had written had disappeared. Then updates began installing, and I had to restart again. By this time, I had decided to dump my favorite writing computer.

My wife happened to have a newer model she rarely used. We decided to switch. Then came the task of saving all my documents to a thumb drive and transferring them to her computer. Somehow, I managed to maintain a quiet spirit through it all—a significant improvement from how I would have behaved in my younger years.

In the entire scope of worldwide things causing turmoil, a malfunctioning computer and an interrupted morning seem insignificant—and probably are. Yet this could have led to turmoil in my spirit.

Zephaniah’s time was tumultuous. The ancient Babylonians bore down on Judah. The end wouldn’t be pretty. Turmoil would reign, but he assured them God would bring quiet amid the rampage if they trusted.

Turmoil comes in various shades. I’ve faced it in broken relationships I thought would never end, financial upheavals that seemed to languish eternally, and health issues that didn’t look like they’d go away. Yet, through them all—when I responded with trust, God gave me peace during what could have caused turmoil. I expect him to do the same for whatever is in my future.

When we place our source of turmoil in God’s hands, we acknowledge his control over the situation. Trusting him, regardless of our emotions or understanding, leads to quietness of spirit.

What are some ways you can entrust what causes you turmoil to God’s control?

Prayer: Father, we trust You for peace when times are troubled. 

Tweetable: Have you found quiet in your turmoil? 


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Saturday, January 16, 2021

Set Out for God - Martin Wiles

I have set the Lord always before me; Because He is at my right hand I shall not be moved. Psalm 16:8 NKJV

Some things I set before me regularly.

One is my computer. I lived without it more years than I have lived with it, but presently I can’t imagine doing life without it. It’s the first thing I set before me in the morning when I write, and it’s the first thing I put on my desk when I arrive at school to teach. I need it to take attendance, do lesson plans, research items for classroom discussion, and display information for the students on the overhead.

Two other items I position before me are my black and my red pens. Black for normal writing and red for grading. In a year, I use up several red pens.

Also put before me on my desk at school is my cup of coffee and my cup of water. I can’t imagine facing a day with no Java. One cup before I leave the house for work and another cup to sip on until around ten in the morning. Then, I gravitate to the water.

Yet another set of items positioned before me are my eye drops. To stave off glaucoma and to manage my dry-eye disease, I place three sets of eye drops in my eyes several times each day. They keep my eyes from blurring and my world from going black.

One other thing that rests before me—which I didn’t set there—are troubles. They seem to come on a regular basis throughout life. Just a part of the journey. Sometimes because of poor decisions. At other times because of living in a sin-decorated world.

The psalmist set a more important thing before him: the Lord. I’ve done that too. When I was nine, I made the decision to set the Lord before me. And with few exceptions, I’ve made it a practice to set Him before me regularly. When I don’t, life gets squirrely.

But how do I set someone I can’t see or tangibly interact with before me? When I read and meditate on Scripture, I set God before me. Those are His words, given to writers through the inspiration of God’s Spirit. This makes them important…life-giving.

I set God before me through my petitions. He knows what I need—and want—but He wants to hear the requests. This expresses my faith…and matures it.

Placing God before us consistently is essential. Doing it sporadically doesn’t give us the abundant life Jesus offers. Doing so requires intentionality, but it’s possible and results in the best life possible.

God’s storehouse is full of blessings He’s waiting to share with you. Set Him before you each day and experience them.

Prayer: Father, give us the faith to set You before us each day.

Tweetable: What are you setting out for God? 


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Monday, February 3, 2020

Love Unlocked - Martin Wiles


Series: Love Unchained

This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins. 1 John 4:10 NLT

Things went well … until I received the error message.

What better way to keep a five-year-old occupied while paying a hospital visit to see my brother than to give him an iPad and let him watch videos or play games? And that’s what my wife and I did. He was happy, and so were we … until the error message appeared telling us the device had been locked. Somehow Apple had perceived that someone had stolen the device, so they locked it. Unless I knew my password for my particular iTunes account, I was in trouble. I was in trouble.

A call to Apple didn’t help. They could unlock it, but wouldn’t unless I could provide proof of purchase. For a three-year-old device? Who keeps receipts for three years? Not me. My wife called the retailer from whom we had purchased it. Unless we could tell them the amount we paid, they couldn’t help. Nor could … or would … Apple. My iPad is now what’s called a “security brick.” Good for nothing but to sit on a shelf and look pretty.

Thankfully, God doesn’t lock up His love like that. As Jesus states, God’s love is all-encompassing: For this is how God loved the world: He gave] his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16). God loves the world He made, and He loves everyone He creates to live on it.

But God’s love is also selective. He loves all, but He doesn’t enter into a personal relationship with all. Many choose the wide path and reject the sacrifice John says God made on our behalf. When they do, they lock up God’s love relationship with them. God knows the password … and willingly offers it to us … but we have to use it through our belief in Him.

God’s love is active, too (Romans 5:8). He acted on our behalf by allowing His Son to pay our sin debt. Although the sin debt is paid, the payment isn’t credited to our account unless we ask God to apply the payment. Once I receive God’s love, my love for others will show actions as well. God’s love will flow through me to others.

God wants you to receive His love so you can experience life as He planned for you. Call out to Him now.

Prayer: Father, we receive Your love. Thank You for making such a sacrifice for us.



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Saturday, September 28, 2019

Enough Is Enough - Martin Wiles


So if we have enough food and clothing, let us be content. 1 Timothy 6:8 NLT

Enough is enough when focus is correct. When it’s not, it’s called discontent.

Every time I make an order from Amazon, I see the all-familiar words: “Customers who bought this item also bought…” Then I see the picture … or pictures.

When my wife and I updated (a word that’s all too common, meaning we did something we didn’t need to do) to a new smartphone, we didn’t stop with simply purchasing—or financing—the phone. The salesperson was more than happy to show us other gadgets customers normally purchase when they buy the phone. Such as a screen protector, an otter box, a holder for the back, a car charger. They even offered us a few bonus dollars so we could afford to purchase them.

Upgrade is the new 21st-century word for not enough. Paul disagreed. He lived in a time when people kept things until they broke. And if possible, they then repaired them and kept them a little longer. Coming from a man who once had wealth before he met Christ and decided to follow Him, Paul now said his contentment only depended on food and clothing.

Where Jesus stayed on a regular basis is anyone’s guess. He traveled about teaching, healing, and caring. He once said foxes have dens and birds have nests but that the Son of Man (Himself) had nowhere to lay His head. Yet, He had enough because He focused on doing God’s will.

Discontent comes when my enough is not enough. And my enough is never enough when I’m not focused on the right things. Jesus said the right things were loving God with my entire heart and others as myself. He did that, and so did Paul after meeting Christ on the Damascus Road.

Focus is the key. Rather than seeing the upgrades and longing for them, I must content myself with what God gives me. He promises to provide food, shelter, and clothing. I don’t have to worry about them. He normally gives much beyond that—or upgraded models of them.

The key is what we do with things. We can use them selfishly or selflessly. When we choose the latter, enough will be just what God gives us—along with the satisfaction of knowing we have used our things to advance God’s Kingdom by loving and serving others.

Let God’s enough be enough for you.

Prayer: Father, focus our attention on loving You and others so our enough will be enough.




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Thursday, May 2, 2019

No Limits - Martin Wiles

For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16 NLT

I heard the fuzzy sound and knew I had connected, but that represented only a part of my challenge. 

I remember when internet usage was limited. Sitting before my computer, I clicked the connect button, waited for the fuzzy sound to stop, and then began calculating. Nothing alerted me to how long I had spent online except keeping up with the time. What I could afford to pay each month got only several hours a month—less time than I spend online in a day now. Keeping up was important because I couldn’t afford the cost of going over my allotted time. It was a banner day when companies started charging a flat fee for unlimited use.

When I received my first smartphone, I had to repeat the process with data. Fortunately, an app let me know how much data I had used and how long I had before the usage started over. Recently, my wife and I switched to an unlimited plan. I can pick up my phone, go online, and stay online as often and as long as I want. 

Limits are . . . limiting. God’s love isn’t. Jesus said its greatness encompassed the world and every individual in it. 

I’ve discovered the consistency of God’s love. Regardless of how I treat Him in my service and spiritual disciplines, He remains consistent in His attention to me. I’m glad God isn’t moody like I sometimes am—loving one minute but not the next. 

Within the consistency factor also lies the unmerited nature of God’s love. No one deserves it. We can’t be good enough to earn His love, our salvation, or a home in heaven. He gives because a significant part of His nature is love. 

No one can force God to love. His nature urges Him on. His rain—and many other blessings—falls on the godly and the ungodly. He loves freely and chooses to enter into an even more intimate relationship with those who love Him in return. 

God’s love and the many ways He expresses it gives us an example to pattern our love after. We’ll never measure up to His level of love, but there’s always room for improvement. The variety of love acts we can distribute are numerous and beyond our imagination. 

God doesn’t limit His love; don’t limit yours.

Tweetable: Do you limit whom you will love?

Prayer: Father, may the love we give to others mimic the love You give to us.


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Monday, April 16, 2018

Trying to Change the Unchangeable - Martin Wiles

Then we will no longer be immature like children. We won’t be tossed and blown about by every wind of new teaching. We will not be influenced when people try to trick us with lies so clever they sound like the truth. Ephesians 4:14 NLT
“He’s worse than a man with a remote.”
Although I have no scientific proof, I’m convinced children come into this world with different kinds of brains than I did fifty-seven years ago. I watch middle and senior age adults struggle to keep up with technology, to work a smartphone, or to use a computer. Then I watch my two youngest grandchildren—not yet two years old—take smartphones or IPads and maneuver them as if they’ve been to school and taken lessons.
One grandson’s favorite activity is going to kid’s YouTube and looking at video clips of Thomas the Train or Barney the Purple Dinosaur. My wife made the remote remark because he flips from one video to the next, rarely watching anyone for more than a few minutes. Perhaps evidence of the short attention span people have and of how technology has made attention spans even shorter. He loves to tap the various screens and slide his finger across the screen to achieve change.
But not all change is good. Surveys show a large percentage of Christians are unsure of their beliefs or that they have mixed elements of Christian doctrine with that of other religions. And the result is that we are being blown about by the winds of different doctrines.
While there are some things Christians disagree over and interpret differently—those things the Bible isn’t completely clear on, such as events surround the second coming of Christ—there are other things that are non-negotiable.
The virgin birth. If Christ was born with sin, He cannot save us. Nor did He sin thereafter. He was sinless and made a perfect sacrifice for our sins.
One way to heaven. Jesus said He was it. Many roads may have led to Rome, but they don’t to God. If there are many ways, then what Christ did was useless.
Eternity. Death doesn’t end our existence. God created us to live forever with Him, but He gives us the choice as to whether or not we want to.
Salvation. We are born sinners, and, left in that state, cannot have interaction with God. Our sins must be forgiven. Only Christ can accomplish that.
The Bible. It’s reliable. If there’s error in some areas, how can I trust it in any area?
Trying to change the unchangeable only leads to loss. Stake your life on the unchangeable.

Prayer: Father, we thank You for giving us truths that never change. 

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Friday, December 15, 2017

Flashback Friday - Teched by Technology - Martin Wiles

Teched by Technology

“Teched (touched) in the head” is an old Southern expression meaning someone is either mentally challenged or acting irrationally. 

According to the Los Angeles Times, many folks in the United Kingdom (and I’m sure the world) are “teched.” In 2008, the U. K. Post Office coined the term “nomophobia” (no mobile phone) to describe the fear of being without a cell phone. Of 1,000 people surveyed, 66% said they feared losing their phone or being without it (separation anxiety). Another 63% said they would climb through trash to find it, and 25% said they would physically fight a thief to retrieve it. (“Do you suffer from nomophobia?” Facts & Trends Summer 2013: 9. Print.) Read more...


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