FELLOWSHIP vs. LONELINESS - Making the Right CHOICE

An excerpt of stats from a Boston Globe newspaper article...

"Loneliness is becoming a major health problem. In 1950, only 10% of households had just one person. In 1994, it had moved to 24%. Fewer than 10% age 25 to 44 live alone, but about 25% of those age 65 to 74 and about 40% for those over age 75. Some remain very happy- but supposedly only about 1/3. A 1990 Gallup study indicated that about 36% of Americans are lonely. More statistics:

• People who are isolated but healthy are twice as likely to die over a period of a decade as those not isolated. A study showed that the more isolated men are up to 25% more likely to die of all causes at any age versus non-isolated men. The odds for women are 33%.
• Living alone after a heart attack significantly increases the risk of dying.
• People with heart disease have a poorer chance of survival if they are unmarried or do not have someone to assist them.
• Women who are alone and have breast cancer live half as long as those who are not alone."

WOW! Those stats ALONE speak VOLUMES about the contrast between "being alone" vs. "being in fellowship" with others. That's direct impact on your PHYSICAL health! How much MORE impactful are the SPIRITUAL consequences of choosing to be isolated...away from regular fellowship with others? Note that "being alone" doesn't mean "unmarried." Single men and women have just as many opportunities as married men and women to be in regular "fellowship" or "social contact" with others. Living in "isolation" is a CHOICE...married or unmarried. It's a state of heart, mind, AND action. Gwen has written and spoken often about man's innate, GOD-ordained need for FELLOWSHIP. If you visit the Weigh Down Chronicles website and type "fellowship" in the search box, you'll pull up SEVERAL of Gwen's Posts that reference GOD'S desire for people NOT ONLY to have a right relationship under Him, BUT ALSO to find others who love GOD...and be in regular FELLOWSHIP with them. Jesus spoke of fellowship and lived a life of fellowship. He constantly was surrounded by people. Whether it was the Apostles and others who seemed to be with Him at every turn...or the thousands He spoke to, fed, and performed miracles for...or the one-one-one encounters with a woman at a well or a crippled man who wanted to walk...Jesus PURPOSELY put Himself in situations where He was interacting with others. And He is our example...isn't He?

Look at the boom that is internet "social networking." We've talked about it a lot on WDWB and in these Blogs. At the heart of social networking is a desire for people to CONNECT. For those who aren't as comfortable in big, person-to-person social settings, welcome to Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, Instant Messaging, Chatrooms, etc! NOW, the options for connecting seem almost endless! GOD has seen fit to allow the opportunity for fellowship to be INSTANT...SO...He must have a vested interest in the process. If the vast majority of EVERYONE longs to interact, then why the loneliness stats? We ALL have felt or we at least know others who have felt LONELY...even in the MIDDLE of LOTS of fellowship/social interaction. The world's most popular and supposedly "connected" entertainers, athletes, politicians, business leaders, and musicians often feel the MOST lonely. So what's the KEY...the ANSWER...the SOLUTION to conquering loneliness and living a life feeling TRULY connected? This Post by Gwen, "The Right Fellowship," gives us our answer. It is having the RIGHT FELLOWSHIP...the RIGHT CONNECTION...with the RIGHT PEOPLE! Fellowship in the Name of, obedience to, and love for GOD ALMIGHTY is the key. Do you want to NEVER feel lonely again? Stay CLOSE to these Weigh Down Ministry teachings, which POINT you to others who love GOD wholeheartedly. In THAT kind of fellowship, THAT interaction, THAT connection...there is peace, love, and fulfillment. It's TRUE...the Apostle Paul said it...that "bad company corrupts good character" (I Corinthians 15:33). And it also is TRUE...as Gwen writes in her "The Right Fellowship" Post, "The more you obey (GOD), the more you will want this daily walk and fellowship with GOD and the Saints. You will never feel lonely again, for you are not alone."

Stay plugged in and connected here. We LOVE helping people find others who share this love for GOD...and who have found a peace, joy, love, and happiness in their hearts that never goes away. From online coordinators to participants, everyone here WANTS to share with each other...and with YOU...how AWESOME this life is and can be for ANYONE! We'll talk MORE about the importance of FELLOWSHIP today on WDWB LIVE, 3:30pm CST. We hope you'll join us! If you can't listen to the LIVE airing, check out our PODCASTS, and you'll be able to listen later to today's and LOTS of our past LIVE Podcasts. Make the CHOICE to CONNECT with the right fellowship of people. It's essential to the life you WANT to live!

Media Update - AND In a World of "Interconnectivity," what is our Role as Parents?

YESTERDAY, we Blogged about the news that Weigh Down was featured on "The INSIDER" TV show last night. If you missed the show, CLICK HERE to watch the replay. It was wonderful, and the response from around the world is overwhelming! The story of Andy and Maggie Sorrells, with a combined weight loss of 550 pounds, ALREADY is an inspiration to lots of people who are getting started with Weigh Down! GREAT NEWS!

On with the Blog...
ALARMING STATS of the DAY regarding TEEN INTERNET COMMUNICATION - courtesy of netsmartz.org

• 71% reported receiving messages online from someone they don’t know.
• 45% have been asked for personal information by someone they don’t know.
• 30% have considered meeting someone that they’ve only talked to online
• 14% have actually met a person face-to-face they they’ve only spoken to over the Internet (9% of 13-15s; 22% of 16-17s).

When teens receive messages online from someone they don’t know, 40% reported that they’ll usually reply and chat with that person.

• Only 18% said they’ll tell an adult...

Is that a "wakeup call" or what? And those stats are from 2006! How much FASTER and EASIER has it gotten to communicate via the internet in the three years since those numbers were first reported? During a recent message given by Gwen in a PARENTING meeting, she asked the parents, "Are you hovering over and around your children?" And of course she was asking whether parents were more involved in their OWN wants and interests and activities...or were they constantly interested in and involved in what their own CHILDREN were involved with? Are we so "Facebooked and Twittered and MySpaced" with our OWN connections and friends that we've turned our faces from their activities and "trusted" the judgments of the PRECIOUS GIFTS from GOD that are our own CHILDREN? They're YOUNG. What were YOU like as a Teen? As we recall our own past wanderings, remember now that these young people have INSTANT ACCESS to ANY kind of "sensual indulgence"...NOW MORESO than at ANY time in history. If we truly LOVE our children, why WOULDN'T we be involved in every aspect of their lives...LOVINGLY guiding them and letting them know how much we're looking out for them and their best interest...letting them know how we ALWAYS want what is best for them! It truly is a LIE from satan to believe that hovering that closely to our children is bad for them. The exact OPPOSITE is true. It IS LOVE to raise your children with the same level of interest and personal attention that GOD has given to each of US. He has been incredibly PERSONAL with us...involved in every aspect of our lives. It's a wakeup call indeed...

Today on WDWB LIVE, we'll visit with REGINA SMITH, a parent herself of children ranging from the youngest grade school ages all the way up through college age. She'll have some great perspective on putting into PRACTICE these life-changing principles of being CLOSE to your children. The good, peaceful, happy relationships that she and her husband KENT have with their kids will inspire you. There is HOPE!

Communication - MY...How Times Have Changed! Or Have They?

STAT of the day...When it comes to "social networking" online (Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, LinkedIn for example...), here's the AGE group "preferred websites" breakdown by "generation." These stats are provided courtesy of www.emarketer.com.

OF THOSE SURVEYED WHO USE ONLINE SOCIAL NETWORKING WEBSITES...

• Generation Z (13-14 year olds) - 65% use MySpace, 61% use Facebook, 9% use Twitter, 0% use LinkedIn.
• Generation Y (15-29 year olds) - 75% use MySpace, 65% use Facebook, 14% use Twitter, 9% use LinkedIn.
• Generation X (30-44 year olds) - 76% use Facebook, 57% use MySpace, 18% use Twitter, 13% use LinkedIn.
• Baby Boomers (45-65 year olds) - 73% use Facebook, 40% use MySpace, 13% use Twitter, 13% use LinkedIn.
• World War II Generation (66 & older) - 90% use Facebook, 23% use MySpace, 17% use Twitter, 4% use LinkedIn.

INTERESTING stuff! What about YOU? What do YOU use to connect?

On with the Blog...

POLL RESULTS from LAST WEEK - "What is your favorite Weigh Down Seminar?"

• The BREAKTHROUGH Series won the vote, with a 42% response.
• The Legend To The TREASURE Series came in second place, with a 24% response.
• Weigh Down Advanced was third, with an 18% response.

THANK YOU FOR VOTING! ALL of the Seminars are FANTASTIC and LIFE-CHANGING. It's great though to hear from YOU about what your favorites are!

NEW POLL for THIS WEEK - "What is your favorite method of COMMUNICATION?"

CLICK HERE to vote! We'll track the results and post them at the end of NEXT week.

TODAY on WDWB LIVE, 3:30pm CST on WDWB, our Web Radio station, we'll be talking to people in different age groups about their preferred means of communication...and how we've adjusted to the "times" we're living in. It'll be a fun discussion. Don't miss it!

It's fascinating to watch, right before our very eyes, the EXPLOSION of changing technology. King Solomon said that there's "nothing new under the sun." How would his words apply to these incredibly fast-growing, ever-popular communication methods? Basically, GOD put inside the hearts and minds of nearly EVERYONE He ever created the desire to CONNECT with others...ESPECIALLY those who are like-minded with you...those who share your interests. So that desire to COMMUNICATE is not new, of course. It's a means to an end. Whatever technology is developed over time, the END or GOAL has remained the SAME...nothing NEW about it. For a true follower of GOD and Jesus, life should be about following the leading of GOD...wanting to be close to Him...emulating the life of His Son Jesus Christ. What a TIME we are living in! GOD has seen fit to allow technology to make communication nearly INSTANTANEOUS for many parts of the world! WHY? So that we can use our CHANGED LIVES to make HIM KNOWN that much FASTER to a hurting world! Whether it's face-to-face conversations, cell phones, social networking, e-mail, texting, instant messaging, or writing letters, "there is nothing new under the sun." It's all about being a light, being led by GOD'S Spirit, and letting that be known in our words and actions.

SO - whatever "communication methods" we prefer, may we make the END GOAL of ALL of it line up with the words of JESUS CHRIST, in the book of Matthew, Chapter 28 -

"All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." - NIV

Facebook, Twitter, & Blogging...Oh My!

STAT of the day from www.techcrunch.com - For the month of June, what was the MOST VISITED website in the world?

It's the GOOGLE family of websites...with...get this...844 MILLION unique visitors!!! That's not you at your computer visiting Google 50 times in a month and counting that as 50 visitors. No matter how many times you hit Google in June from your computer, that's ONE "unique visitor" hitting the site a bunch of times. 844 MILLION unique computers! That's just short of the population of CHINA! Needless to say, "searching" the internet is HUGE, and so as CHRISTIANS, what will WE do to use this as a way to share about OUR CHANGED LIVES?

On with the rest of the BLOG.......

Okay...so we are really DIGGING this whole "social networking" phenomenon! Yesterday on WDWB LIVE (our in-studio LIVE Web Radio Show...airing each weekday at 3:30pm CST), we talked about the IMPACT of social networking and how Weigh Down is totally on board with our own Facebook page, a Weigh Down Twitter page, a Gwen Shamblin Twitter page, this Blog you're reading right now for Weigh Down Radio...AND we shared some stats about how TEENS are using it. You can CLICK HERE to download our LIVE Radio PODCASTS and listen any time you want! All of this fast-moving, ever-growing ability to communicate really is a wake-up call for any of us to realize that if we are SERIOUS about being a LIGHT for GOD in a hurting world, then EMBRACING this technology, not rejecting it or viewing it as a "fad" that will go away, is a calling for us. We as a Staff here at Weigh Down see it as a MUST! It is how we will reach this younger generation, and it is how we can stay CONNECTED all around the world with those who share a wholehearted commitment to GOD. SO - let's get some feedback from YOU. How often do YOU use internet "social networking" sites like Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc.? Post your comments below...and offer up any helpful TIPS that can guide NEW USERS into maximizing the experience of staying connected...AND how to MANAGE your TIME on those sites. It really can take up LOTS of time, and so balancing it all in moderation...just like we're learning to do here in Weigh Down with eating, spending, etc...is a KEY to an ENJOYABLE but not overwhelming experience! Check out WDWB LIVE again today at 3:30pm CST. We'll visit with TEDD ANGER, our Director of Marketing and Public Relations, about how he uses social networking as a tool not just for communication, but for evangelism. He's got some great suggestions from a frequent user standpoint. DON'T MISS IT! Last thing - We're doing a FREE LIVE WEBCAST -"Weigh Down LIVE" - on Wednesday, September 9th. E-mail your QUESTIONS for Gwen to info@weighdown.com, post them here, or call the office toll free at 1-800-844-5208. She would LOVE to hear from you!