{"id":91614,"date":"2025-10-27T22:10:29","date_gmt":"2025-10-28T03:10:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/?p=91614"},"modified":"2025-10-27T22:12:55","modified_gmt":"2025-10-28T03:12:55","slug":"are-our-devices-keeping-us-from-real-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/are-our-devices-keeping-us-from-real-life\/","title":{"rendered":"Are Our Devices Keeping Us from Real Life?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\t<p>by Scott Smelser<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Are our DEVICES keeping us from REAL LIFE?\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/2q-vdiRLGyw?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Technology, social media, and AI have blurred the lines between what&#8217;s real and what&#8217;s fake. From fake friends to fake intimacy, today&#8217;s world is full of illusions that keep us from living the life God actually designed for us. Phones, games, and the internet aren&#8217;t evil-but they can easily become traps. Many people, even adults, are trading genuine purpose, love, and connection for pixels and pretend experiences. Jesus warned about this kind of deception long before smartphones existed. He called us to live real lives-pure, grounded, and devoted to God. If you&#8217;re tired of fake living and ready to rediscover what&#8217;s real, this message from Scott Smelser will challenge and encourage you. Scott shares wisdom in these areas: <\/p>\n<ul dir=\"ltr\">\n<li>How to overcome digital addiction <\/li>\n<li>Christian perspective on technology and social media <\/li>\n<li>Why real life matters more than virtual life <\/li>\n<li>Biblical advice for purity and parenting in the digital age <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>by Scott Smelser Technology, social media, and AI have blurred the lines between what&#8217;s real and what&#8217;s fake. From fake friends to fake intimacy, today&#8217;s world is full of illusions that keep us from living the life God actually designed for us. Phones, games, and the internet aren&#8217;t evil-but they can easily become traps. Many&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1028,1488],"tags":[665,29,226,107,1513,1361],"class_list":["post-91614","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-parenting","category-video","tag-child-rearing","tag-parenting","tag-pornography","tag-raising-children","tag-relationships","tag-social-media"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":92089,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-it-still-possible-to-raise-godly-children\/","url_meta":{"origin":91614,"position":0},"title":"Is It Still Possible to Raise Godly Children?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 13, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Darrell Smelser via\u00a0InLight Media Marriage is hard on its own. Parenting is a tough job in and of itself. However, with the world being so divided and complex, cultivating a godly family feels even more challenging these days. How do we navigate the various challenges that come with parenting\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Parenting&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Parenting","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/parenting\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":62413,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/parenting-mistakes\/","url_meta":{"origin":91614,"position":1},"title":"Parenting Mistakes","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 24, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"by Scott Smelser The Family","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Audio&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":93042,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-there-a-better-answer-to-gender-confusion\/","url_meta":{"origin":91614,"position":2},"title":"Is There a Better Answer to Gender Confusion?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 5, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"by Scott Smelser via InLight Media There's a lot of confusion out there these days about gender-what it is, where it came from, and how it should be defined. But what if there's a solution that transcends divisive human opinions? In this video, we step back from the murky waters\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Video&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Video","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/video\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":92424,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/where-did-we-come-from\/","url_meta":{"origin":91614,"position":3},"title":"Where Did We Come From?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 2, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Dale Smelser via InLight Media Where did we come from-a Creator or a cosmic accident? In this video, Scott Smelser explores three simple, self-evident facts about origins. These everyday observations-supported by Romans 1:20-show that God's power and divine nature are clearly seen in creation. From fingerprints to hummingbirds to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Video&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Video","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/video\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":62408,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/discipline\/","url_meta":{"origin":91614,"position":4},"title":"Discipline","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 23, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"by Scott Smelser The Family","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Parenting&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Parenting","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/parenting\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":62417,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-children\/","url_meta":{"origin":91614,"position":5},"title":"The Children","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 25, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"by Scott Smelser The Family","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Audio&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91614","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=91614"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91614\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=91614"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=91614"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=91614"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}