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Welcome to The Pour Over’s News Cleanse!
Easter’s coming… and it’s a pretty big deal. But it’s easy to let the joy of the season be drowned out by the noise of the day’s news.
Let’s quiet the noise and hear from God together. To prepare our hearts for Easter, we’ll reflect on Scripture, respond in prayer, and implement new rhythms of consuming news.
Ready to reset and protect your peace? Let’s dive in.
PONDER | PRAY | PRACTICE
The news these days is noisy.
Partisan, divisive, sensational, profit-driven news coverage is constantly competing for our attention.
And it’s winning. But we can’t blame the news media completely… we keep walking straight into the trap. Many of us wake up scrolling, listen in during our commutes, check updates at lunch, stream after dinner, and browse the feed as our heads hit the pillow. We amplify the noise, and it reverberates in our hearts.
These news habits beg the question: Whose disciple are you? On an average day, we may devote hours to every update and analysis, meanwhile spending 15 minutes reading Scripture, praying, or worshiping. For many believers, news outlets and personalities are louder and more demanding than the voice of Jesus.
The apostle Paul doesn’t mince words with his diagnosis: “Don’t you know that if you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of that one you obey—either of sin leading to death or of obedience leading to righteousness?” (Romans 6:16 CSB).
We have presented ourselves as slaves to the news noise.
But there’s good news for believers in Christ: “Our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin” (Romans 6:6 ESV). The good news is freedom from sin in Christ… but it comes through death.
Lent is a season of dying to ourselves. It’s a time of repentance and recalibration—of confessing our worldliness, acknowledging where sin has enslaved us, and confronting the dullness of our love for God. Before we celebrate Easter’s resurrection, we enter into a time of crucifixion.
These 40 days of recalibration are the perfect time to quiet toxic news. Every Sunday through Easter, we’ll be in your inbox amplifying the good news of Jesus and suggesting new patterns of relating to the headlines. We’ll pray and take small, practical steps toward news habits that keep us focused on Christ. Will you join us?
QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION
From 0-10, how loud is the news in your life? How loud is the voice of Jesus?
Read Romans 6. What good news does it offer you in the fight against sin?
PONDER | PRAY | PRACTICE
Righteous Father,
I have been drowning in news noise—
ears tuned in to the wrong voices and
eyes stuck to endless updates and infinite scrolling;
the constant buzz has dulled my affection for You
and led my heart into slavery.
Forgive me for how I walk right into it, again and again.
Thank You for freeing me through Jesus,
because I have been crucified with Christ.
Spirit of cleansing and renewal,
As I quiet the noise during this season of heart preparation,
reveal the ways I have made idols of knowledge and control.
Cleanse me of the toxic pollution that has
sharpened my anger and anxiety and left my love dull.
Turn my eyes to the humility and selfless love
Jesus modeled in His coming and His cross.
Redirect my time and recalibrate my affections
so that the explosive joy of Easter recaptures me afresh.
Teacher, Savior Jesus,
I seek your face.
Meet me and lead me to higher, holier ground,
for the glory of Your name.
Amen.
PONDER | PRAY | PRACTICE
Each week, we’ll suggest a practical step you can take to reset your relationship with the news.
Here’s your first step: until you hear from us on Sunday, fast completely from the news (yes, even from your Friday edition of The Pour Over!). Cutting the news out completely will help you get a sense for the hold the headlines have on you.
If a total fast doesn’t work for your life—maybe you’re a newsletter writer or a civics teacher—choose one or two days for a total news fast.