As many of you are aware, I'm a student pastor in a small town in rural Oklahoma.

Anyways, a couple of weeks ago I took my students to our yearly teen camp in the summer. It's a total blast. Waterslides and hikes. Services and games. Board games and food. Basketball, volleyball, football, kickball, gaga ball, and more! Great speaking, amazing worship, and genuine closeness with the Creator. It's the type of break these kids need and a great time for them to grow closer to God and to each other. I love teen camp.

And part of the reason, I personally believe, that we have such a great time is because I am the only youth pastor that does this one, crucial thing: I take my student's phones away.

Now before you get all 'Rights and Politics' on me, hear me out. These students are BOMBARDED with subtle messages all over social media. They have streaks to keep, images that make them feel certain ways about their own body, and countless other distractions that keep them from what matters most. Even if you aren't religious, I bet you can still agree with me that everyone could use a breath of fresh air every now and then from technology.

Yes, I take my students' phones away to help them Encounter God more closely, but also to give them a break from their social life... and their parents. Seriously. Some parents are too far up their own kids butts.

The first year I did this, a lot of students hated it. But after the first night, everyone was chill with it. In fact, nowadays, I have students throwing their phones at me because they are so ready to be done with it for a week. I always offer for them to have their phones back on Wednesday for an hour or so to call their parents, but half of them don't even come get it back.

Look I'm not here saying iPhones are going to become the new Terminators. Technology is so useful and can be such a great plus to have in our culture. But so easily we let it control us. We let it dictate how we feel about ourselves.

Sometimes it's nice to put the phone down.

My vacation is coming up this next week. You can bet my phone will be turned off and I'll be enjoying time with my family, grilling out and fishing and sleeping in and staying up late and laughing and living.

Phones aren't alive.