Answering a Question About Media Hygiene

We talked about media hygiene last week, and one of our members wrote this question on their Connect Card: “Knowing media is biased and profit from info they’re sharing, what do you listen to for the truth?”

If you’re looking for a minimal amount of news with less bias, go to thepourover.org and sign up for their emails. They try to offer as unbiased news as possible, keep it short, and only provide the news three days a week. Part of their philosophy is that the 24/7 news cycle is bad for our spiritual health, and we ought to read the Bible more than we listen to the news. They also have a podcast that reads the news to you. And they provide some Scripture throughout the news as a break for reflection and meditation.

If you want to go deeper, try the AllSides app. This app not only provides all sides on some of the top news stories, but it also hones our discernment skills.

I don’t get my news from TV, but some people I trust suggest BBC News. AllSides rates them at the center politically.

It’s not a news source, per se, but the Church Politics podcast will help hone your discernment skills as it covers two to three news items in depth each week. They are willing to criticize and praise both the political and theological left and right, and they talk a lot about how to think and act biblically in the political arena. In my opinion, they embody the “be wise as serpents and innocent as doves” ethic with their political savvy, commitment to fairly presenting the arguments of those with whom they disagree, and humility.

I have a lot of other podcasts and news sources I love and follow, but I’d have to offer so many qualifiers for each one that this post would get too long (and I don’t have time to do that right now).

Photo by Nijwam Swargiary on Unsplash

Snippet: An Often Overlooked Gift

Snip·pet | ˈsnipit | noun a small piece or brief extract.

This one is from Kaitlyn Schiess on the most recent (June 12) episode of The Holy Post Podcast which she co-hosts with Phil Vischer (of Veggie Tales fame) and Skye Jethani (author, speaker, pastor).

“I spent most of yesterday afternoon at a graduation party for a high school senior. And maybe a quarter of her party was friends her own age. 75% of it was families from the church. She knows how to talk to the adults. She knows how to play with the little kids. I just kept thinking, ‘What other possible community could you have where you really get to be around an intergenerational group of people.’

“And that shapes your socialization too, to not just learn how to talk to people similar to you or your age, but people who are very different from you. And I just kept thinking, ‘Wow, what a gift that she has gotten to grown up in this kind of environment.’”

I’ve had this thought so many times this time of year at graduation parties, in the “green room” between services (where students serve on the worship team), at our camps and retreats during games or meals, and in so many other places.

It makes me so happy!

Photo by JodyHongFilms on Unsplash