Smartphones

March 15, 2026
 
Reflections from the Heart of Allan Redenius
Here is a surprising fact.  Did you know that the computing capability of the smartphone you carry in your pocket has about 1,000,000x the computing capability of the computer used to land the first men on the moon with Apollo 11 in 1969?  Isn't it too bad that man's intelligence has not expanded exponentially like the intelligence of a smartphone?
 
As with most things, the smartphone can be used for good or for bad.  Indeed, for our children, and of course for some adults, the usage of such a phone is addictive.  For instance, if ever you use Facebook, you soon realize that once you enter its forest, you are lost, seemingly forever, among the trees.  No wonder human production is low.  With its addiction, comes exposure to the dark side of the world.  As marijuana is a gateway drug to more debilitating drugs, exposure to one perverse website on a smartphone can lead to an addiction to whatever sin that website promotes.
 
And to think that many parents give a cell phone to their children at a very early age with no monitoring or supervision.  The usage of a smartphone by a child becomes the babysitter for the parent.  Do they not realize that once something is seen, it cannot be unseen?  You cannot unring a bell that has been rung.  Parents must know what their children see!
 
Anonymity often leads to boldness, and we often see this as the smartphone is all too often used as a bully pulpit.  Have we forgotten that words can be hurtful?  Those who write hurtful words often excuse their slanderous language under their right to, “freedom of speech.”   On September 12th, 1789, Benjamin Franklin wrote, “That freedom of speech is a personal right.  However, it does not give a person the liberty to “affront, calumniate (vilify), and defame” a private person.”
 
As you consider Benjamin Franklin's wisdom, consider James 3:5 (LB).  “So also the tongue is a small thing, but what enormous damage it can do.  A great forest can be set on fire with only one tiny spark.”  To those of you who use social media as your bully pulpit, may the Lord cool your tongue. 
   
In His Love,
Pastor Allan
 
©2026 Allan Redenius, All Rights Reserved