YouTube: To a New Degree

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I had every intention of writing my blogs consistently this year. I even congratulated myself on have gotten through the first few days of the New Year with such resolve.

Then what happened? Did I wax cold? Did the “fire in the belly” go out?

No.

I got the “YouTube Bug.” Yes – “that place” that many, many people belittle, judging its content to be a “guilty pleasure” that faithful Christians avoid like the plague.

Well, if my exploration of YouTube this past month is a “plague,” it certainly is not one I want a cure for!

Why is that?

Primarily because I have been using YouTube judiciously, picking and choosing what I view. I started out watching “The Snipe Life” (a snipe is a bird with a long, probing beak) because the host did an excellent job of interviewing the cast of The Chosen at the November Atlanta premier of Season 3. I had seen the premier (which consisted of the first two episodes of the season) in my own nearby theater, and I was interested in watching it again. By “chance” (I never really like that word), I came upon the above-mentioned podcast. It was riveting, so I searched for more like it. I soon discovered Isaiah Salvador (whose podcasts included helpful subtitles, for those who, like me, can’t always catch every word of the script), Joel Kramer (Biblical archeology), Ron Wyatt (startling archeological developments), Brandon Robbins (assessing elements of The Chosen), the “Relaxing Walker” (silent walking tours of Jerusalem and other Biblical places), two Messianic rabbis by the names of Sam and Tom, Rabbi Jason Sobel (“Mysteries of the Messiah”), Rabbi Jonathan Cahn (the Harbinger series), and several more.

The point of all this is that my Granny’s old instruction to “learn something new every day” is not only good instruction, but it is even easier in the modern world. True, cable TV is not free, and accessing YouTube is not always possible on one’s television set, but anyone with an internet connection can access YouTube on a computer, and the effort is well worth it.

So far, I have researched archeological digs all over the land of Israel, the Shroud of Turin, testimonies from Jews for Jesus, crocheting granny squares (I am working on a wave afghan right now) and preparing various dishes that involve cream cheese. I especially relish any filmed walking tours of Jerusalem, which I combine with several map-books of the Holy Land that I have purchased recently. In addition, I have reread books in my extensive library, which includes a 19th-century book by a Jewish rabbi converted to Christ by the name of Alfred Edersheim.

Sound interesting? You don’t have to follow my own path of intellectual curiosity. Choose something that interests and inspires you. Bear in mind that a Christian needs to draw closer to Christ Jesus. Do we draw closer to Him through the daily news? Do most sitcoms honor “clean” humor? Does the latest cooking guru swear a great deal? These might not be appropriate avenues of new information.

But God is definitely in the workings of all media; we just have to find those that honor Him. I know I’m not going off the right path when I say: give yourself a sacred “Degree in YouTube-ology”! It’s worth an hour of two of your time, either daily or weekly.

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