It is time that this blogger has to do what almost every blogger has to do at some point or another. I’ve got to take a break from this. I’ve written about priorities on here before and it’s time to admit that this website isn’t my biggest priority right now.

When I started Undistracted Christian, I had big ideas and great intentions for the website. Then life happened. I just don’t have time for this right now.

Even if I did have time for this, I don’t sense any direction with it. If I resurrect the site, it will have to be with a new sense of purpose and direction. I just don’t have that right now.

What I do have a bigger sense of direction for is taking care of my family and focusing on my writing career. If you haven’t already, please check out my writing website. I’m currently finishing up my second novel.

Maybe one day I will have something to say on here again. Until then, you can always browse the archives. You still might find something useful in there!

Thank you to everyone who has read this site over the past year. I’ve made some valuable friendships over that time and I’m thankful for all of you who have followed along.

Love

Tyler

Photo Credit: Flickr user  alles-schlumpf

As I write this, I’m dealing with a lot of things physically, emotionally, and spiritually that I can’t completely understand. My body is sick as I am trying to recover from some kind of cold or allergies or something that has made me not 100 percent for the past five days, I have ridden a thrilling roller coaster ride professionally with my writing career in the past week, and I’ve lost sleep over a number of things including a well publicized suicide that you may have read about in the headlines.

As I was wide awake (for no good reason) well past midnight Saturday night into Sunday morning I realized that this was not just a physical or emotional battle that I was waging. This was spiritual. I don’t always recognize it, but this time I knew what was going on. I had seen God do some really cool things in my life over the past couple weeks and now I was being hit by the enemy. It happens. But how do we deal with it?

Photo Credit: Flickr user * Honest *

Recognize The Enemy

There was a verse that came to mind as I laid in bed with my eyes open, feeling restless and alone despite having a wife and child right next to me and an omnipresent God protecting me.

For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.

Ephesians 6: 12

Thankfully, I remembered the verse and knew what it meant. The world sees their problems for what they can see and don’t know how to deal with it because they don’t know what the real problem is that they’re facing. Christians can look to this verse and we know that there are angels and demons fighting over us. We are in a fight, not just with decaying bodies, mental and physical disabilities mixed with uncontrollable emotions, but with spiritual beings that we don’t fully understand.

God does not leave us without protection. He has given us His Word to look to for answers. In fact, He gives them in the following verses.

Photo Credit:  x-ray delta one

Defeat The Enemy

Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness,

and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace;

above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one.

And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God;

praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints

Ephesians 6: 13-18

In Sunday school, children often play dress up in the armor of God, and it is all fun and games. As adults, this is all too real. I’ve dealt with depression in my life. I’ve never considered suicide as an option on any level, but I’ve struggled with other things that have been difficult to overcome and I feel terrible for those who consider it in any way. God gives us better options. God gives us Himself. But we have to fight.

I hope you’re not dealing with anything like this today, but if you are ever going through something that you can’t seem to shake out of your mind, remember these verses. Etch them in your mind. Fight the good fight of faith. Seek God’s truth in His Word. Don’t let the enemy overtake you. We haven’t been left alone in this fight. Never forget that.

Photo Credit: Flickr user meantux

If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell.

And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and cast [it] from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell.

Matthew 5: 29-30

Sometimes it is best to let Jesus speak for Himself. Don’t let anything get in the way of your relationship with Him. Nothing is worth it.

Photo Credit: Flickr user mikebaird

We all want answers. In fact, most of us demand answers fairly regularly. But what about when answers just won’t come?

Most of our daily decisions are pretty easy. What do I want for breakfast? How do I get this dirt off my hands? What toy does my kid want to play with? We know that even if we make the wrong decision, we’ll get it right eventually.

Other questions aren’t so easy. What do I do with my life? How do I become successful? How do I repent of this sin and live a holy life when all of my attempts thus far have failed?

Then there’s the theological questions. How can Jesus be God and man at the same time? How can there be one God that is three distinct persons? How can God be completely sovereign and yet we have free will? Those questions have been boggling minds and causing many heads to be scratched for centuries.

We all want answers, but they don’t always come so easy. We don’t always see the finish line. We don’t always have something profound to say. What happens when we don’t have the answers that we are looking for right away? What happens when we aren’t meant to have all the answers right now? Where do we go from there?

When we do not know the answer to our question, it is these times that we must rely upon the answers that we do know. We do know that God has sent Jesus Christ do die for us. We do know that Jesus was resurrected. We do know that He lives in the hearts of His believers and that we are guided by His Holy Spirit. We know that it is His faithfulness that will get us through today. We know that we can trust in Him. He’ll get us to tomorrow. What more do we really need?

Photo Credit: Flickr user Rosaura Ochoa

You are reading How To Use Facebook To Share The Christian Message part of How To Use Social Media To Share The Christian Message a blog series.

As much as I am falling in love with Google Plus, Facebook is still the number one social media in the universe (for the time being) for a reason: not everyone feels like moving, so we all have to hang around a little bit. Well, most of us anyway. The younger generation is flocking to Twitter and Youtube and the savviest social media users are finding ways to make Google Plus incredibly profitable, but Facebook is where you will still find your mom and dad.

Let’s face facts. It was a miracle getting the folks on any form of social media, so getting them to migrate to something else will be nearly impossible. So we will all have a Facebook account until they finally make one mistake too many regarding privacy or over-saturation of advertising.

So the question we have to ask ourselves is this: how can we use the fact that we are stuck with Facebook to our advantage? By advantage I mean the most advantageous thing possible: sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ with friends and family.

Be Different

When I first joined Facebook it truly was social media. It was the place to find a party. Events were all the rage for a few years and then something happened. People started showing their true colors on facebook. People started ranting and raving. Political opinions and bitter assaults on customer service failures have become the norm.

What if we used Facebook differently than everyone else? What if I repent of this attitude? What if I started using Facebook to show the world that we’re different. We have Jesus.

I’m not talking about posting random Bible verses. I honestly don’t even read those when people post them. Some people do, I glaze over them. Those verses tend to mean a lot more to the people posting them than to me, so I ignore them.

So what do I mean?

How about we share more specific things about God in our lives? What if my status updates talked about all the things that God has blessed me with? What if every day someone logged onto Facebook they would see that God has made me different through the gospel of grace?

I bet I’d see a change. If not in them, at least in myself.

The Dream is currently available exclusively on Amazon Kindle!

I am probably going to be going crazy over the next few days getting it in front of as many eyes as possible, but I want to take this opportunity right now to tell the readers of this blog why I wrote The Dream.

First of all, I wrote The Dream because I had the time to write it. You may not know this about me, but I am a work at home dad. What does that mean? It means that my wife kicks tail at work all day while I take care of our 9 month old baby daughter and write as much as I possibly can whenever I can find the time. I blog, I write freelance articles, and apparently I’m a novelist now. Is that strange to you? It is strange to me, but that is where God has brought us at the moment. Where else would we want to be other than where God has us.

But why did I write The Dream? I mean, why did I choose to tell this story? Well, first, here’s the product description of the book:

“After years of toil working his way up the corporate ladder, Tim has his world turned upside down when his boss turns his back on him and personal tragedy sends him into a tailspin. Tim is forced to make some tough personal decisions while trying to make sense of his dreams.”

The main character was named after my best friend from childhood, Timothy Gleghorn, but the book isn’t about him. Some of the thoughts and actions in the book are similar to things I have experienced, but the book isn’t about me. In fact, the book is about anyone who has ever found themselves searching after the wrong thing in life, only to see it all disappear before their very eyes.

I wrote The Dream because I believe there are too many people going after the wrong things in life. I believe there are people who wish there was something more than what they’ve been told. I write The Dream because I believe in a hope that goes beyond what the world has to offer and I want the world to know.

I wrote The Dream because my hope is in Christ and every single person has a dream, a hope, and a choice to make.

I hope you will get the book, read it, enjoy it, and tell others about it. Thank you for your support!

Photo Credit: Flickr user Rosaura Ochoa

You know the Christian message, right? Of course you do. You’re a sinner. So am I. Jesus saved us from our sin by dying on the cross. We can be resurrected from our sin because He was resurrected from death. Now He is preparing a place for us in Heaven. You knew that. But do you know how to share the central message of Christianity on social media? You’ve probably seen it done the wrong way, but would love to do it the right way.

For the first time ever on Undistracted Christian I am going to do a blog series within a blog series. That’s right, we have reached the second level of Inception. As part of The Undistracted Christian Guide To Social Media I will be taking the next several weeks to focus on and examine how we can share the love of Christ effectively on each of these major social media outlets:

• Facebook

• Twitter

• Google Plus

• Pinterest

• Youtube

Yes, each of these outlets are powerful social media networks with hundreds of millions of users that are just dying for the love of Jesus Christ, even if they don’t know it, won’t admit it, or hate His holy name. God has given us the command to surrender our entire lives to Him, even our use of social media. Most of you already know that and want to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ online in some way or another. This series will take a look at each of the major social media networks in order to see how each one is different and how each one can still be used in a way that best reflects all that God wants to give us through His Son.

Before we get started, connect with me in the comments or on social media (links in the navigation menu bar) and let me know how you have used social media for the Kingdom of God and what has worked well and what has failed for you!

Today is a different day than most. I want to tell you about two projects that I have been working on diligently for a long, long time, but I am just now able to tell you about them officially.

Introducing: The Dream

If you follow me on Twitter or Google + you may have notice me talking about this, but I have not mentioned it on here. I am officially releasing the details of my new book, The Dream, which is set to release on March 5th, 2013 exclusively on Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing, check out the book description below:

“After years of toil working his way up the corporate ladder, Tim has his world turned upside down when his boss turns his back on him and personal tragedy sends him into a tailspin. Tim is forced to make some tough personal decisions while trying to make sense of his dreams.”

Introducing: Tyler Scott Hess

What’s that? You say you know me already? Well, sure you may know the Undistracted Christian and maybe even know me as the Tyler Hess that reviews music, but until I mentioned The Dream you probably didn’t know that I have been embarking on a writing career. I have been doing freelance writing in addition to becoming a first time fiction writer, which lead me to starting my own website at tylerscotthess to help others who want to write novels.

I will update you all when the book is officially listed on Amazon. Neither of these projects means that I won’t be posting on here anymore. I plan to continue to update this blog on Mondays as I continue my current series on social media.

Thanks everyone!

Photo Credit: Flickr user Dunechaser

A few weeks ago I made the move to start using Google + because I don’t want to be left behind when I feel like a social network is on the verge of becoming important. Now I’m addicted and I’m not sure if there is any going back.

Nearly a month into using Google + I have come to the point where Facebook is like going back to my hometown and Twitter is like going to the mall. I have to visit my family and friends, but my hometown is a bit dated, there’s nothing exciting going on over there. Twitter is where all the cool kids hang out today, but there’s not a lot of substance going on there right now.

Google + is not perfect, there is no such thing as a perfect website or social media tool, it is merely an improvement upon Facebook and Twitter, just as Facebook was an improvement upon Myspace, and Myspace was an improvement upon Friendster.

What Google + has going for it right now is that the people who actively use it put the effort into it to make it work for them. The people who use Google + are in it for the long haul. They have seen the benefits and like networking with other future-sighted, hard working individuals.

The one question that most people will ask is “does Google + even have people using it?” Well, Check out this info-graphic created by blogger and Google + scholar Dustin Stout for one answer.

Is that shocking? Well, as surprising as that number is, it is probably somewhat misleading, yet encouraging. When any new user goes onto Google + they are probably going to notice that their friends and family haven’t rushed over to use Google +, so where is that number coming from? Remember that Google + is tied in heavily with Google’s other features, which is exactly why it has more potential in the future than Facebook and Twitter. Google has revenue outside of G+ so they don’t have to work over their users with promoted posts and sketchy privacy policies. What this info-graphic tells me is that people love Google and Google + will just get better over time.

That is what has sold me on Google + over Facebook and Twitter today. I want to be in on the future. The people who I follow on Google + have learned how to make it a productive social media, rather than a place to spout random, useless musings. When more people start really using Google + I will be able to sort them into circles that I actually want to follow and circles that I keep just to maintain friendships.

Google + takes work and commitment, but it is worth it. The best part is that I haven’t even maxed out the potential of Google + yet.

Have you tried Google + yet? Have you taken it seriously? What will it take for you to switch over today?

I came away with a reminder of something criminally hidden from the lives of Christians today.

Photo Credit: Flickr User Ed Yourdon

You are not alone

There were young men and women who desired to know God more than anything in their lives…and they were just as broken and scared as I was when I was there. They were dealing with sin in their lives. They were dealing with pride. They were learning the difference between law and grace. They were learning to be humble. They were learning how to be broken. They were learning how to be renewed. They were learning that they were not alone.

It takes guts to admit weakness

But it is the only way to get to where God wants you. God has not called the strong to serve Him. God is strong enough for all of us. He has called the weak. He has called the failures, the outcasts, the horrible messes of this world. At least, He has called the ones who are willing to admit it. He has called the ones who are willing to call Him back.

You are not alone, but not because of social media

We are a social networking society. We have Facebook, Twitter, Google +, Pinterest, and all the rest. Yet so many people feel so alone. You can have 500 friends on Facebook and cry yourself to sleep. You aren’t the only one. Social media is a great tool for interaction, but it will not fill your heart with gladness. Social media will not restore your soul.

Photo Credit: Flickr User Ed Yourdon

You are not alone

There is a pop rock band named Stellar Kart. They wrote a song a few years ago called “Me and Jesus”. They wrote it because those are the two people you can go to for proof that you are not alone. You can go to God and you can go to your brothers and sisters in Christ. If you’re a Christian, then you know this, but you might not always admit it.

If you think that you are the only one who is struggling with depression, drugs, sex, suicidal thoughts, loneliness, lust, anger, pride, or any other sin under the sun you are wrong. If you think that all of your friends have their stuff together you are wrong. These young men and women that I shared with on Friday night were the ones who wanted to be pastors and missionaries and ministers of God in all sorts of ways. So many of them felt like they were screw ups. They felt this way because they are screw ups. That is why we need Jesus. That is why we need each other. Because we need to know that we are not alone.

You need to believe that you are not alone.

Photo Credit: Flickr User Pink Sherbet Photography