Challenge Accepted.
This morning at Lifepointe Downtown I preached about rest. Not just sleep, but actual rest. The kind of rest that restores, renews and replenishes us so that we can continue to live the kind of lives we enjoy living. I talked about how if we are ever going to actually get rest and be able to rest in God we are going to have to remove distractions. Since I never want to issue a challenge or talk about something that I am not wrestling through as well, I have also accepted the challenge I issued today (a novel concept, right?).
So…starting tomorrow morning (midnight tonight) I will go Social Media Silent for 7 days. That means no Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Path, or FourSquare. Not just refraining from updating or posting, but no scrolling through to see what the rest of the world is doing. We don’t have cable, but Cynthia and I do watch a lot of movies, especially during dinner. We will be cutting that out as well. Which means, I guess…we will just sit and eat dinner and talk to each other…or something. Still not sure how that works 😉
My reasoning for this fast of sorts is simple: I am passionate about removing ANYTHING that gets in the way of me and God. As a matter of fact, I am passionate about removing anything that gets in the way of you and God. This isn’t a new concept really. Jesus was pretty passionate about this as well. He, sometimes violently (see temple tables), removed obstacles so people could actually connect with God. He torn down walls, physical and spiritual, so that we could fully connect with him and not have to jump through so many hoops.
This will not be easy (I’m going to have to just delete these apps from my phone) and to be completely honest I’m not super excited about it. According to Twitter I post around 6.4 times per day. That’s about once every 3.8 hours. That’s a lot. With that said though, I am excited about this opportunity to grow. I’m hoping to use this time to reconnect with God. To pray more. To learn more. To rest more.
If you’d like to get ahold of me please feel free to call (weird) or text me (that’s better). I will still be checking email. If we usually communicate only on one of those social networking sites then please call/text…or maybe we could meet in person…that’s crazy talk I know.
You can email me at ajviola@gmail.com and if you’d like my number you can ask via email and I’ll gladly send it to you.
See you in a week!
(There’s a good chance that when I come back I will probably be on a twitter frenzy. So, just be ready for that)
A.J. Viola's Blog 
You wil be missed but I love the challenge! May you be awakened in your spirit as you seek Daddy