Monday, December 29, 2008
Lust is not a Loving God
Saturday, November 29, 2008
Grace Greater than Fear
CNN) -- An evangelical preacher killed his wife several years ago and
stuffed her body in a freezer after she caught him abusing their daughter,
according to police and court documents.Anthony Hopkins, 37, was arrested Monday night at the Inspirational Tabernacle Church of God in Christ in Jackson, Alabama, just after he had delivered a sermon to a congregation that included his seven other children, officials said.
He faces charges including murder, rape, sodomy, sexual abuse and incest.
http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/07/31/preacher.freezer/index.html
Grace and Peace,
Job
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Solo Recovery?
I believe that it may be possible for Christ to offer a spontaneous healing to someone that is struggling with sexual sin just by asking for forgiveness and having a repentant heart. However, that is not what I have found to be the case in my own recovery and in the lives of the many men that I have had the privilege of being surrounded by in recovery.
It is only now after two years that I am beginning to appreciate the very thing that I was so frustrated about for so long. I have realized that through this journey of frustration and pain I have been able to learn many lessons that I can hopefully pass on to other men who choose to fight this tough battle as well.
For many years I would go to 1st John 1:9,
“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our
sins and purify us from all unrighteousness”
“Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you
may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.”
Thoughts?
James
Monday, November 17, 2008
Porn Again Christian
This free e-Book was written by Mark Driscoll of Mars Hill in Ballard, WA, and is free for download, printing, and distribution.
From the amazingly clever title to Mark's way frank way dealing with sexual sin, this book is pretty much right on. Plus, it's hilarious.
http://relit.org/porn_again_christian/
one of my favorite quotes from the book:
"...what you do with your eyes and your penis is not simply your business. If you belong to
the Lord Jesus Christ then there is urgent kingdom and gospel business for you to be
about and neither time or money for you to waste while standing on the sidelines with
your pants around your ankles looking for a bottle of lotion."
....FINALLY!!.... wow, honesty and humor. Turns out it's ok to laugh about porn and our abysmal failure as men in this area.
peace and grace,
Job
Saturday, October 18, 2008
What's the big deal??!!
This blog, if not obvious, is about shining a light and creating a discussion over the issue of porn and lust, from the perspective of real-live sinners in need of the Real-Live Jesus.
So why is porn a big deal? Most of us have heard the statistics. Here are some interesting/frightening ones:
Worldwide visitors to pornographic web sites 72 million visitors to pornography: Monthly
80% of 15-17 year olds have had multiple hard-core pornography exposures
There are 116,000 Daily Gnutella "child pornography" requests
47% of Christians who said pornography is a major problem in the home
(http://www.familysafemedia.com/pornography_statistics.html)
Is it a bigger problem if you're married as opposed to being single? If you're single is porn an acceptable form of release that prevents pregnancy and disease? If married, is it an acceptable way to keep from having an affair? These rationalizations sound reasonable.
So, is it a big deal? If Job lived in our culture would he change that verse to say, "I've made a covenant with my eyes to not look lustfully at a live girl, but digital girls are ok...nobody's getting hurt"?
Is anybody hurt by looking at pictures/videos of women (or men) digitally fulfilling our sexual fantasies? If I visually consume that stuff, am I hurt by it? Are those around me hurt by it? Does it somehow toxify my soul? Or is it victimless?
Does being a man of God leave room for secret sexual sin? Are godliness and porn compatible as long as I keep the problem to a minimum, and confess it occasionally? If we know it exists in our churches, what do we, as men, do about it?
grace and peace,
Job