PASTOR JOHN COLLINS, LOVE THAT CROSS DAILY THOUGHTS: SOCIAL MEDIA

PASTOR JOHN COLLINS, LOVE THAT CROSS DAILY THOUGHTS:  Social Media

Years after Reverend David Wilkerson preached that the Internet was a distraction and a means to separate families, that television was becoming too violent for children to watch unsupervised, Pastor John Collins, of Love That Cross Ministries and John Collins Ministries, emphasizes that social media has become a means for separating families, promoting violence and bullying, and creating secrets.  The violence in Santa Fe Texas earlier this year is a symptom of the violence that children (yes teenagers are still not adults, and therefore our children), are exposed to.  The statistics now show that there are more children killed in school shootings than soldiers in combat zones in 2018, says Pastor John Collins.  The shooting in Annapolis, Maryland had the shooter’s history involved with a Twitter account. So far in 2018, there has been 199 mass shootings in the USA. When is it enough?

Pastor John Collins, evangelist, cautions that social media has been given too much control over our lives.  The amount of time that children spend on social media is detrimental to their development and to their socialization.  It separates us from our friends and our families, and children are being exposed to too much, too early.  Children are not being allowed to be children, are not being given the opportunity to grow through play, and adults are not taking the responsibility of teaching them about the Bible, God and Jesus.

Pastor John Collins cautions that social media content is provocative, negative, promotes vanity, and the medium itself takes away from the personal interactions that create relationships.  Look around the family room, if anyone is there as a family, and you will see that if someone speaks, others are engrossed in whatever is happening on a screen.  Multitasking is not the way to develop relationships.

 “As convenient as the Internet is, it is necessary to remember the danger of it as well. Children need to be children, have fun and play with other children. Kids should be educated about God and Jesus Christ and should be kept close and safe and surrounded by love. Be aware of what your children are doing and be aware of the example that you are setting.” ~ Pastor John Collins

Pastor John Collins writes:

“Having many things to write to you, I did not wish to do so with paper and ink; but I hope to come to you and speak face to face, that our joy may be full.” 2 John 1:12 (NKJV).

“Beloved, do not imitate what is evil, but what is good. He who does good is of God, but he who does evil has not seen God.” 3 John 1:11 (NKJV).

Communication has changed with the invention of technology that supports the World Wide Web with a push of a button. People all over the world use their phones and computers to express themselves on their social media and even our advertising has changed to accommodate your preferences all determined by your browsing history. There are apps for this and apps for that. Photos and videos are uploaded by the millions each day. Over 40 billion photos and videos have been shared on Instagram since its inception. And for all of the viewing capabilities and communicating capabilities that we have there is a breakdown in basic relationships that should sadden each and every one of us. Families aren’t talking at the dinner table, children are keeping secrets from their parents and parents are living secret lives that are created via the Internet. Gossip has exploded and bullies have new platforms and the levels of violence have escalated. Crime has increased with trafficking of victims, drugs and arms.

Betrayal comes cheap and easy for too many. Social media has created the ruination of many people and has even been the impetus for the suicide of many. We have become too obsessed with the Internet and given it too much power over us.

Photographs were not invented until 1826 and the first photo uploaded to the web was in 1992. Now, kids are obsessed with selfies and videos and that is truly a problem in our society. It just makes people more aware of their looks and it creates an obsession with vanity that is anti-biblical. Children are bombarded with technology here in America and in many countries around the world. The need to feed the social frenzy is all consuming and destructive. It is too easy to get bullied by others for looks, for weight, for clothes and for any other nonsense that seems relevant for the day. Too many pictures are too provocative and children seem to be wearing less and less as their ages creep up year by year. People are devoted to their appearances and to chronicle their lives through social media. It is ridiculous and it takes away from genuine interaction and genuinely valuable relationships that should be built.

Children learn from watching their parents and they are also guided by their parents. What happens when the parents are also consumed with social media, taking photos of themselves and their lives and uploading every moment onto the web? Technology has become a weakness for people and it has become a doorway to sin. The Internet has brought sin directly into our homes and our hands and we just can’t seem to put it down. It is not only the picture and video taking, the constant commenting and obsessive watching of others and what they do and say but it is not bringing out the best in people and it is not increasing the quality of relationships with people. As convenient as the Internet is, it is necessary to remember the danger of it as well. Children need to be children, have fun and play with other children. Kids should be educated about God and Jesus Christ and should be kept close and safe and surrounded by love. Be aware of what your children are doing and be aware of the example that you are setting. Children grow up too fast as it is and we need to be proactive by preparing them to know the difference between good and evil and to teach them to choose the good. We need to protect them and protect ourselves by creating a wholesome and loving home that is safe from the outside world and influences and acknowledge the superficiality of all that can be found in the pictures, videos and words that are uploaded by the millions each and every day. Get grounded in the truth of God and hold on to that.

“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” Hebrews 11:1 (NKJV).

LOVE THAT CROSS, PASTOR JOHN COLLINS

Preaching is not a popularity contest.  It is a battle to win souls for Jesus Christ and for God.  Pastor John Collins is a warrior in faith and fearlessly will stand on the Gospel and the words in the Holy Bible to bring people back to the foot of the Cross.  Pastor John Collins style of preaching is often loud, and it always reaches into your heart and makes you think, whether you like what he is saying or not.  Often Pastor John Collins will tell his listeners that he would rather offend someone and make them angry by telling them what they need to hear rather than padding the truth with what they want to hear.  There is a battle raging against the evil of this world.  Pastor John Collins is up in the front of the line, fighting for our eternal lives.  Pastor John Collins not only calls for revival of faith, Pastor John Collins calls for redemption of the Gospel, and Pastor John Collins is calling for change, now.

Pastor John Collins preaches from the heart.  His no nonsense style, as he says, “grabs you by the britches”, in old time revival-style preaching. Pastor John Collins is not going to preach and tell you what you want to hear, Pastor John Collins is going to preach and tell you what you need to hear to get yourself right with God, to find your way to the foot of the Cross, to seek the salvation of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  To Pastor John Collins, it is a matter of eternal life or eternal death, and the choice is ours to make. 

Sundays at 10:00 a.m. mountain time, Pastor John Collins can be heard on Heaven’s Country Radio at www.heavenscountry.com. Daily devotionals and thoughts by Pastor John Collins can be read on Facebook and Twitter.  Pastor John Collins brings an enthusiasm to the pulpit that is matched by no one.  “I get a little loud” says Pastor John Collins, and he gives a presentation of what the Bible represents: Pastor John Collins will “tell it, teach it as it was 2000 years ago.”  Pastor John Collins loves God.  As Pastor Collins puts it, the Bible is beautiful and everyone needs what it says.  Links to sermons, interviews, radio programs, articles, blogs, and Youtube recordings can be experienced by clicking on the links found within this blog.  Pastor John Collins can personally be reached for ministry, prayer, guest preaching and revival at jc65777@yahoo.com. 

Pastor John Collins is in it to win it for God!  Change is coming.