{"id":499,"date":"2022-05-15T12:09:48","date_gmt":"2022-05-15T17:09:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/matt-long\/?p=499"},"modified":"2022-05-15T12:09:50","modified_gmt":"2022-05-15T17:09:50","slug":"be-thou-my-television","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/matt-long\/2022\/05\/15\/be-thou-my-television\/","title":{"rendered":"Be Thou My Television"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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The Christian ska band Grand Incredible wrote a song called “Be Thou My Television.” \u00a0Some of the words are as follow. \u00a0“Words of life fill up my empty soul and set my spirit free. \u00a0And there’s a light in a black remote control that turns on my TV. \u00a0My salvation and my playstation are both competing for my attention. \u00a0It’s a given but I’ll still mention what came out of this decision. \u00a0I need to watch the television. \u00a0This was a tough one to decide. \u00a0Later I’ll sing ‘Be Thou My Vision’ if I’m not too tired… If my life gets tough or if I’m bored enough I might do important stuff.”<\/td><\/tr>
Referring to loving others, Romans 13:11 says, “This is all the more urgent, for you know how late it is; time is running out. \u00a0Wake up, for our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed.”Can I tell you something super embarrassing? \u00a0As we prepare to return to PNG, there are a lot of things I am thinking about missing, and many of them are good and worthwhile things, but one of them is having a plethora of TV shows to choose from to watch in the evening. \u00a0America is called “The Land of Opportunity,” but it is also “The Land of Endless Opportunities to Waste Time and be Entertained.”

Why is it so easy to be distracted from what really matters? \u00a0Some people say it is because of our culture’s addiction to technology, but I believe people’s addiction to wasting time and ignoring one another has always been a problem. \u00a0I’ve seen black and white pictures of people on a train, everyone with their nose in a newspaper. \u00a0I’ve read about people’s fear that, as books became more easily accessible, young people were going to spend all their time reading novels.

I think the real reason that we are so easily distracted from what really matters is twofold. \u00a0For one thing, it is so much easier to seek entertainment than godly living. \u00a0It is so much easier to turn on Netflix than to invite my neighbor over for dinner. \u00a0It is so much easier to lay in bed and scroll through Facebook than to get up and read my Bible. \u00a0It is so much easier to watch a funny video than to text a hurting friend. \u00a0For another thing, we are in a spiritual battle. \u00a0I think that one of Satan’s greatest tools to make Christians ineffective is distraction. \u00a0God doesn’t just want us to not sin. \u00a0He wants us to “do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do” (Eph.2:10b). \u00a0God has a mission for each of us, and it is an urgent mission! \u00a0Jesus is coming back, and I want to be ready!

That’s why we are saying goodbye to our TV shows and saying hello to the mission God has for us in PNG. \u00a0We want everyone to hear the good news about Jesus.

So let’s wake up! \u00a0Our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed!

Till all know,
Matt, Karissa, Ty, and Wyck

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Top\/Left: Our kids enjoying playing with their Missouri cousins. \u00a0Bottom\/Right: Another thing we’re going to miss about the U.S. is the food. \u00a0I just discovered “Most Stuffed Oreos”- WHAT?!

Praise God:
– Our work permits got approved! \u00a0Now we are just waiting on entry permits.
– We had a good trip to Missouri to see family
– Matt finished up his counseling classes for the year, and they went well
– He continues to provide for us

Please Pray:
– For our entry permits to be approved
– That Karissa’s new medication will help
– For Wyck’s upcoming eye appointment, that his vision is not worsening with not patching
– For upcoming doctor’s appointments and shots<\/td><\/tr>
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Please pray for more people to follow God’s call to become missionaries! \u00a0PNG needs more church planters and support missionaries. \u00a0Watch this video of a new believer in Papua New Guinea with a message for American Christians. \u00a0Copy and paste the link into a browser or click the button below.
https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/watch\/?v=332805972025413<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Christian ska band Grand Incredible wrote a song called “Be Thou My Television.” \u00a0Some of the words are as follow. \u00a0“Words of life fill up my empty soul and set my spirit free. \u00a0And there’s a light in a black remote control that turns on my TV. \u00a0My salvation and my playstation are both […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1074,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-499","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-uncategorized","7":"entry"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/matt-long\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/499","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/matt-long\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/matt-long\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/matt-long\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1074"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/matt-long\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=499"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/matt-long\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/499\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/matt-long\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=499"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/matt-long\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=499"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/matt-long\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=499"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}