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What would Jesus drink?

1/21/2016

I had been going to a bar for about a year. I would go at the same time every week and in the early evening when there wasn't a lot of women there. This bar was one of the tougher ones in the community and was known for having rough characters. However, during the time that I went, it was retired guys and men just getting off the factory day shift.

My activity at this bar had nothing to do with drinking alcohol. I abstain from alcohol, always have and always will. I felt God telling me that He wanted me to go there. I didn't go alone and would always take another Christian friend with me. I knew that it wasn't good to go alone so that if any rumors started, they could be easily squelched.

My church friends and I had garnered a reputation in this bar as not drinking but rather hanging out and talking to the guys that went there. I've noticed that men in bars aren't known for their social skills. There is a lot of just sitting there looking at your drink and watching TV. However, there were times in the conversations where openings to speak about more pressing matters came about. I remember sitting there and one gentleman came over to me and said, "you're one of those preachers that comes in here every week aren't you? Why do you come in here?" I responded, "I'm not a preacher but I am a Christian. I come in here because I could use some friends. I heard that this was a great place to make friends." Our conversation wasn't outstanding but it was significant. He came to the realization that there were at least a few Christians who were willing to be with him in a "normal" (his term) environment.

I had a friendship with one man in particular. He wasn't necessarily well-liked in that bar but he was tolerated. I found out that his life was rather troubling and that he had significant physical and emotional challenges. It seemed, over time, that he enjoyed talking with me. He would, even at times, initiate the conversation. I tried talking to him about spiritual things but he typically shrugged them off.

I prayed that God would give me opportunities to make an impact on this man's life. One time, I was in earnest prayer about what God could do with me at the bar, praying in the parking lot before entering. After about 30 minutes of discussion, this one man whom I spoke about in the previous paragraph said that he was gonna call a taxi so that he could go home. I thought to myself, "I wonder if this is one of the opportunities that God is given me to help him?" So, I offered to take him to his home. He complied and as I was driving, I asked where he lived. He started to direct me one way and then said, "I need to go by the carryout to get some beer to take home with me."

I gulped.

I didn't know what to say. I said a quick prayer in my mind: "Help!!!" I felt a peace come over me and was impressed that God wanted me to go ahead and let this man buy beer.

I drove into the carry-out and had them throw the case in the bed of my truck and my friend paid for it and off we went. As I was pulling out of the carry-out, I was hoping that nobody saw me. After all, people may think that I buy and drink beer!

I tried to strike up a conversation with my friend and he said how much he appreciated it that I was giving him a ride home. Yet, he continued to be fairly closed to a spiritual discussion.

After I dropped him off, I went to my church and talked to the associate pastor, a good friend of mine, and told him what happened. He said something that was very comforting, "you prayed for God to give you an opening. God did but not in the way you were thinking. God knew that you were going to that carry-out. God wasn't surprised, just you were."

I don't know what happened to my friend after that. I never saw him again. I heard, a few months later, at the bar, that he had passed away shortly after my last contact with him. He died of liver failure. All of his years of drinking had finally caught up with him.

I'm hopeful that my contact with him was meaningful. I'm hopeful that he came to know Jesus as his Savior and that I was instrumental in helping him reach out to God. However, I won't know until I get to heaven.

I'm hoping that when we get to heaven, there will be a bar there and my friend and I will be at the bar with Jesus, and we will be drinking Dr Pepper. The real stuff with cane sugar, not the caffeine-free diet stuff that I drink now. The good stuff...with greasy cheesy fries.

Beer? Not needed, there are no sorrows to drown in heaven.

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A caution for christians who drink alcohol

1/20/2016

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Something disturbing has crept into the american church and it’s not pretty.

Many Christians have allowed themselves to take drinking alcohol lightly.

Now before you start throwing the legalistic stones at me, let me first make the following clear:

I don’t believe drinking alcohol is a sin.

(Editorial comment by Ironstrikes: I agree, drinking alcohol is not a sin. However, as a member of the Church of the Nazarene, I vowed before God and His congregation that I would abstain from the use of alcohol. I believe in honoring my vows.)

Of course, getting drunk is. Alcohol is one of the biggest killers in our society, and as always it continues to take a destructive toll on marriages and families.

But, there’s another problem:

The often overlooked sin that is rearing its ugly head are Christians displaying their love and consumption of alcohol to those around them in public and on social media, when there are many around them that struggle with this temptation and addiction.

The Apostle Paul addressed a similar situation when dealing with those in the church arguing over whether they could eat meat sacrificed to idols. Paul declared that even though they had the freedom to eat meat sacrificed to idols, they should love those that struggled with this practice enough to not do it front of them.

1 Cor. 8:9-13
But take care that this right of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak. For if anyone sees you who have knowledge eating in an idol’s temple, will he not be encouraged, if his conscience is weak, to eat food offered to idols? And so by your knowledge this weak person is destroyed, the brother for whom Christ died. Thus, sinning against your brothers and wounding their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ. Therefore, if food makes my brother stumble, I will never eat meat, lest I make my brother stumble.

We sin against other Christians and “wound their conscience” (as well as sin against Christ) when we openly act in a way that would cause them to stumble.

Now, before you say you only do this with others that are like-minded or with your spouse, let me ask the following questions:

Do you highlight or joke about your drinking in person or on social media (posting pictures of your margarita, wine or bottles of beer)?

Do you drink in public when there’s a good chance you might meet someone struggling with alcohol?

Like it or not, people hold Christians to a higher standard (as they should). Do you love alcohol so much that you’re willing to let your witness be tarnished? Do you love your “freedom” so much that you could care less how it affects another brother or sister?

This isn’t about rules being broken. This is about loving our brother and sister enough to limit our freedom in Christ so as to not cause them to stumble.

Would you consider this truth?

I love you and I don’t want anything to dim the light that’s shining in and through you.

This post was written by Pastor Nathan Rouse. For the original post with comments, go to: http://www.nathanrouse.org/a-caution-for-every-christian-that-drinks-alcohol/

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To drink or not to drink?

1/19/2016

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I decided many years ago totally to abstain from alcohol, and it is my opinion that all Christians would do well to make the same decision. I believe this issue is important because it relates to a broader, and thus even more significant subject—that of the modern church’s ongoing move toward becoming more and more like the world.

My Bias

In the interest of full disclosure, I am biased. I hate alcohol—not the taste (although to be honest, I hate that too), but what it does to people. The first funeral of a teenager that I conducted was of a young man killed by a drunk driver. I’ve had literally hundreds of counseling sessions with couples and spouses as their marriages teetered on the brink because of alcohol. I can’t count the hours I’ve spent in jails and prisons visiting inmates whose lives have been forever negatively impacted because of crimes they committed while under the influence. Even more hours have been spent in emergency rooms, trauma units, and at hospital bedsides, while ministering to victims of alcohol.

The horror stories I could tell could fill a book: the teenaged girl losing her virginity while drinking, the college student brain damaged after a fraternity initiation, the young minister involved in a terrible wreck after having just a couple of beers to relax, and scores of others.

Let me be blunt! I see absolutely no positive argument for something that will make you act like an idiot, smell like a brewery, fight like a fool, impair your motor functions, drain your bank account, give you a hangover, scare your kids, alienate your spouse, make you a danger to your fellow man, and has the potential to enslave you.

I wish I could tell you that all I know about this is from the vantage point of a pastor. Regrettably, I must admit that during my prodigal days drinking was very much a part of my social life, and for the same reason most people start drinking—peer pressure. I wanted to fit in.

I can also tell you the time I decided to quit. It was early one morning when I woke up in the middle of a street in front of a frat house across from the Southwest Missouri State University campus. I decided right there and then that drinking could get you killed. I was right.

The Bible’s Counsel

Before we go any further let me state the obvious. I know that Jesus miraculously created wine as his first public miracle in Cana, and that a person could have consumed enough to get drunk. Yes, Paul told Timothy to drink a little wine for medicinal purposes. It is true that the Bible nowhere forbids the drinking of alcohol, only its abuse to the point of drunkenness. Paul said, “Don’t be drunk with wine, because that will ruin your life” (Ephesians 5:18*). It is also true that many people, including many Christians, drink only in moderation; a glass of wine with their dinner or a cold beer on a hot day. And I’m not suggesting that such will make you descend into the gutter.

But let’s consider the whole counsel of God concerning the use of alcohol. Proverbs 23:29, 30 says: “Who has anguish? Who has sorrow? Who is always fighting? Who is always complaining? Who has unnecessary bruises? Who has bloodshot eyes? It is the one who spends long hours in the taverns, trying out new drinks.”

There are six consequences listed in verse 29, all in the form of a rhetorical question, the first of which is, “Who has anguish?” The Hebrew word for anguish is an expression of despair and impending doom. It is no coincidence that 40 percent of suicide attempts are alcohol related. The wise man goes on to ask the source of sorrow, fighting, complaints, unnecessary bruises, bloodshot eyes; and makes it clear that the source is overindulgence of alcohol.

Most people in the ancient world drank alcohol. The Egyptians and Babylonians were manufacturing beer 3,000 years before Christ. But here’s something you need to know. Alcohol use changed radically in AD 700 when Arab chemists discovered how to distill alcohol, which led to the ability to produce highly potent concentrations. Thus the wine and beer produced previous to that was, for the most part, very low in alcoholic content. You could get drunk, but you had to drink a lot to do so.

However, today, if you buy a bottle of whiskey, liquor, or even wine, the natural fermentation is bolstered by the addition of distilled alcohol. New wine in biblical days had very little alcoholic content, and even aged wine had a low amount compared to today’s standards. Don’t take my word for it. You can easily research it using the Internet.

So-called “adult beverages” are very much a part of American social life. However, the advertising industry doesn’t sell intoxication, but fantasy; it doesn’t sell reality, but fiction. Ads for alcoholic beverages tout happiness, wealth, prestige, sophistication, success, maturity, athletic ability, virility, creativity, and sexual satisfaction—but these are the very things alcohol abuse destroys. Proverbs 23:31, 32 says, “Don’t gaze at the wine, seeing how red it is, how it sparkles in the cup, how smoothly it goes down. For in the end it bites like a poisonous snake; it stings like a viper.”

I haven’t even mentioned that millions of Americans are in bondage to alcohol because of their addiction to it. But listen to the closing verses of Proverbs 23: “You will see hallucinations, and you will say crazy things. You will stagger like a sailor tossed at sea, clinging to a swaying mast. And you will say, ‘They hit me, but I didn’t feel it. I didn’t even know it when they beat me up. When will I wake up so I can look for another drink?’” (vv. 33-35).

A Simple Question, A Larger Concern

Let me ask a simple question: Why should you drink? If you never take the first drink, you’ll never become addicted. If you don’t drink, even if you could handle it, you won’t be a stumbling block to those who can’t handle it (and I believe Paul said something about not causing your brother to stumble). And if you don’t drink, you won’t be supporting an industry that has caused untold heartache for millions of people.

Try a little experiment. Carefully read a city newspaper for the next seven days. Make note of all the stories of tragedy and heartache that somehow involve alcohol. Then, against that backdrop, try to defend its use. A quote often attributed to Abraham Lincoln is, “Alcohol has many defenders, but no defense.”

At the beginning of this article I suggested that this topic is representative of the broader subject of the church becoming more and more conformed to the world. I have a number of preacher friends who are social drinkers. I know of several churches that have changed their policy manuals to allow for social drinking. I’ve even heard it defended as a tool for evangelism (I wish I had the space to deal with that one).

But let’s be honest. Is it not simply an attempt to fit in with the world? What happened to “Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking . . . ”? (Romans 12:2, The Message).

America’s No. 1 problem drug is not an illegal drug like cocaine, marijuana, meth, or heroine, as big a problem as they are. The No. 1 problem drug is a lethal one—alcohol. It causes more deaths and more addiction than any other drug. More than 55 percent of highway deaths are alcohol related. There are more than 17 million alcoholics in America, and that number is rising. And it is impossible to quantify the death, disability, psychosis, and relational harm done by alcohol.

No, the Bible doesn’t say, “Thou shalt not drink,” and you may be able to handle it. But what about your children who are introduced to the use of alcohol by your example and who are not able to handle it? I can point to many parents who would give anything to be able to go back and become abstainers if only for the sake of their kids.

Taking all this into consideration, isn’t it best to remember the words of Paul? “You say, ‘I am allowed to do anything’—but not everything is good for you. You say, ‘I am allowed to do anything’—but not everything is beneficial. Don’t be concerned for your own good but for the good of others” (1 Corinthians 10:23, 24).

________

*Scriptures are from the New Living Translation of the Bible, unless otherwise indicated.

This post was written by John Caldwell who is the retired pastor of Kingsway Christian Church, in Avon, Indiana. For the original post, go to: http://christianstandard.com/2012/08/to-drink-or-not-to-drink/

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50 reasons why I don't drink

1/18/2016

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I am a Christian and I don't drink. I am also a pastor and ex-alcoholic. I need to make that disclaimer right up front. Although it makes me biased, it also makes me an expert on this hotly debated issue.

Some of the worst "shudder moments" of my life have been under the influence, and as a pastor, some of the worst "shudder moments" I have witnessed in the lives of others have been because of alcohol. You have come too late to tell me it's God's best for a Christian to drink.

We are living in a church age where drinking has become "hipster" for some. Christian young adults post pictures of their signature drink on Facebook. Middle-aged Christian women name drop their favorite brand of Pinot Grigio to impress their wine snob friends. Churches send direct-mail postcards that read, "Give our church a shot!" featuring an edgy shot glass graphic. Even some pastors drink. Not this one.

I stopped drinking when I became a Christian 26 years ago. No one told me to abstain. I just knew it would be contradictory and self-defeating to my relationship with Christ. I had given my life to follow Jesus and nothing was going to hinder my walk. For me, it was a no-brainer.

This article is not a theological defense on the topic of Christians and alcohol (another article for another time), but it is a heartfelt plea. I humbly ask you to table any knee jerk, pro-alcohol, fight-for-my-right-to-drink arguments that you have ever heard, or made, and prayerfully consider this list.

50 reasons why I don't drink:

1. I can't be sober-minded if I'm not sober.

2. Alcohol has an assignment: destruction.

3. Alcohol is a depressant. Anything that depresses should be avoided at all costs.

4. I don't want to make my brother or sister stumble in the name of exercising my "Christian liberties." My choice to drink could lead to someone's demise.

5. Alcohol skews my judgment.

6. Alcohol leaves me worse, not better.

7. What I do in moderation, my children will do in excess.

8. Even the unsaved know I shouldn't drink. Bible in one hand, beer in the other—any lost person could point this out as a confusing contradiction.

9. Alcohol doesn't bring others closer to the Lord when they see me drinking, but further away.

10. Alcohol doesn't bring me closer to the Lord when I drink, but further away.

11. I want to be fully awake and ready for the return of Christ, not drowsy, sluggish and fuzzy.

12. Show me a family for whom alcohol has made a positive difference in their lives. You won't be able to.

13. I have never heard anyone say, "Wow, that gin and tonic made me feel so Christlike!"

14. I want to avoid all appearances of evil.

15. Alcohol makes it much harder for me to practice the fruit of self-control.

16. Alcohol causes me to lose my filter.

17. Alcohol is a legal mind-altering drug.

18. Alcohol is addictive.

19. Alcohol is a numbing agent for pain and sorrow only Jesus can heal.

20. Many regrets are associated with alcohol. (I can give you a whole bunch!)

21. No one has ever said, "If only I had taken a drink, things wouldn't have gotten out of control."

22. Alcohol causes me to act in ways I normally wouldn't.

23. Alcohol kills brain cells.

24. Alcohol is a counterfeit and provides a false peace.

25. The Bible says that no drunkards will enter the kingdom of God. Being drunk starts with one drink. I don't want to see how far outside the lines I can color when eternity is at stake.

26. Alcohol is a waster—money, gifts and talents, destinies and so on.

27. Alcohol leads to really bad behavior. It is a factor in 50 percent of violent crimes.

28. Alcohol distracts and derails you from living the victorious life for which Christ died.

29. Wisdom is the principle thing that I need to pursue at all cost; alcohol makes me stupid.

30. Alcohol has ruined many, many marriages.

31. The only influence I should be "under" is God's.

32. The Bible tells me to be alert; alcohol delays my reaction time.

33. If I don't start drinking, I'll never have to stop.

34. Alcohol severely tarnishes my testimony.

35. Don't want your teenagers to drink? Yep, same reasons apply to you.

36. God is holy; alcohol is not.

37. Alcohol and prayer don't mix.

38. Alcohol and Bible study don't mix.

39. Alcohol lowers my resolve to resist temptation.

40. Alcohol = Brokenness (broken lives, health, dreams and so on)

41. When the world sees us drinking, it sends the message that Jesus isn't enough.

42. Moderate drinking? How about moderate pornography or moderate heroin use or moderate lying or moderate adultery?

43. Christians are called to live a life of total surrender and separation from the world.

44. Alcohol makes me forget. It can make me forget that I am married, that I am saved and so on.

45. "I don't get drunk. I only have one or two drinks." If they didn't affect you, you would drink soda.

46. I should never look to the glass or bottle for joy, which can only be found in the Lord Jesus Christ.

47. Alcohol fills my mind with impure thoughts.

48. If it could hinder my faith walk or love walk or dishonor the lordship of Jesus Christ, I need to forsake it.

49. Alcohol doesn't help me run the race that Jesus has marked before me to finish with more accuracy. It does the polar opposite.

50. For any argument that tries to justify Christian drinking, there are at least 50 other reasons not to. The writing is on the wall. It's not God's best for Christians to drink.

This post was written by Rev Jamie Morgan. You can find the original post at: http://www.charismanews.com/us/54097-50-reasons-why-i-don-t-drink

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Sunday Meditation

1/17/2016

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Holiness and Living by the Moment

As soon as God, by his in-dwelling presence, becomes the inspiration and life of the soul, he inspires in it those thoughts and feelings, and those only, which are appropriate to the present time. To every moment of time there is but one mental state which is suited. Between the circumstances of the time and the correspondent attributes of the mental state there is, and necessarily must be, a relationship as wise as infinite wisdom, and as perfect as infinite adjustment. God himself cannot alter it, because he cannot deviate from the perfect to the imperfect. God, therefore, as the infinite giver, (that is to say, when he is allowed to be and is accepted as the infinite giver,) can give only what he does give; and can give it only at the present time. The life, therefore, which we live in God, is and can be only life by the moment. The stream flows forever, but it strikes upon the soul only at the given time.

The man who thus consecrates himself to God, and, in the exercise of faith, puts himself in the line of divine communication, so that he receives from God his knowledge, his feeling, and his purpose, is the truly holy man, because he is the whole man.

— edited from A Treatise on Divine Union (1851) Part 7, Chapter 10 by Thomas Cogswell Upham. You can find more of his work at the blog, The Hidden Life, managed by Craig L Adams at: http://thomascupham.blogspot.com

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The spiritual work of gratitude

1/16/2016

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To be grateful for the good things that happen in our lives is easy, but to be grateful for all of our lives-the good as well as the bad, the moments of joy as well as the moments of sorrow, the successes as well as the failures, the rewards as well as the rejections-that requires hard spiritual work. Still, we are only truly grateful people when we can say thank you to all that has brought us to the present moment. As long as we keep dividing our lives between events and people we would like to remember and those we would rather forget, we cannot claim the fullness of our beings as a gift of God to be grateful for.

Let's not be afraid to look at everything that has brought us to where we are now and trust that we will soon see in it the guiding hand of a loving God.

For further reflection...

"But Joseph said to [his brothers], 'Don't be afraid. Am I in the place of God? You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.' " - Genesis 50:19, 20

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We are still called

1/15/2016

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. . . for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God—Romans 3:23

As his men, we’re called to be like Jesus. We’re commanded to love just like he does (John 13:34-35).

That’s a tall order. It’s easy to feel less-than-qualified, what with all our faults and bad choices, both intentional and unintentional. In fact, it’s easy to feel totally disqualified. Our mistakes—we carry their shame, we try to forget them. But we can’t forget. So we hide them instead, hoping, at least, to appear qualified. But they’re always there. And the thing is, when everyone else is hiding their mistakes too, it can feel like we’re the only ones with failings. So, not only do we feel disqualified, we can also feel separate.

But our mistakes don’t separate us from everyone else. They actually connect us. Whether we admit them or not, they’re one thing we all share (Romans 3:23). Our mistakes make us human. They also don’t disqualify us from the call to love like Jesus. You see, Jesus knows our mistakes; we can’t hide them from him. And yet he calls us still. We must confess and repent the mistakes we’ve made—and try to make fewer going forward—but Jesus doesn’t give up on us because of our mistakes (Mark 2:17). And, in fact, our mistakes (and the darkness that follows) can actually prepare us for his call. They can prepare us to love. They can teach us compassion and humility. They can also give us the authority to speak, as men who’ve been through darkness and pain, and who’ve returned.

Okay, so what do we do?

Make a list. Write down mistakes you’ve made. Pray over them. Consider how you’ve grown from them. Consider how God might be redeeming them—how they might have actually prepared you to love and help those people for whom your heart moves.

Copyright © 2013 Gather Ministries, All rights reserved.
This post was written by Justin Camp of Gather Ministries. You can find their site here: gatherministries.com

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Jimmy Needham on porn addiction

1/14/2016

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The Revised Sexual Addiction Screening Test

1/13/2016

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To complete the test, answer each question by answering yes/no. The more you score yes, the more likely it is you have a sexual addiction. For more info, go to: http://foundryclinicalgroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/SAST-R.pdf

1. Were you sexually abused as a child or adolescent?

2. Did your parents have trouble with sexual behavior?

3. Do you often find yourself preoccupied with sexual thoughts?

4. Do you feel that your sexual behavior is not normal?

5. Do you ever feel bad about your sexual behavior?

6. Has your sexual behavior ever created problems for you in your family?

7. Have you ever sought help for your sexual behavior you did not like?

8. Has anyone been hurt emotionally because of your sexual behavior?

9. Are any of your sexual activities against the law?

10. Have you made efforts to quit a type of sexual activity and failed?

11. Do you hide some of your sexual behaviors from others?

12. Have you attempted to stop some parts of your sexual activity?

13. Have you felt degraded by your sexual behaviors?

14. When you have sex, do you feel depressed afterwards?

15. Do you feel controlled by your sexual desire?

16. Have important parts of your life (such as job, family, friends, leisure activities) been neglected because you were spending too much time on sex?

17. Do you ever think your sexual desire is stronger than you are?

18. Is sex almost all you think about?

19. Has sex (or romantic fantasies) been a way for you to escape your problems?

20. Has sex become the most important thing in your life?

21. Are you in crisis over sexual matters?

22. Has the internet created sexual problems for you?

23. Do you spend too much time online for sexual purposes?

24. Have you purchased services online for erotic purposes (sites for dating, pornography, fantasy and friend finder)?

25. Have you used the internet to make romantic or erotic connections with people online?

26. Have people in your life been upset about your sexual activities online?

27. Have you attempted to stop your sexual online sexual behaviors?

28. Have you subscribed to or regularly purchased or rented sexually explicit materials (magazines, videos, books, or online pornography)?

29. Have you been sexual with minors?

30. Have you spent considerable time and money on strip clubs, adult bookstores and movies houses?

31. Have you engaged prostitutes and escorts to satisfy your sexual needs?

32. Have you spent considerable time surfing pornography online?

33. Have you used magazines, videos or online pornography even when there was considerable risk of being caught by family members who would be upset by my behavior?

34. Have you regularly purchased romantic novels or sexually explicit magazines?

35. Have you stayed in romantic relationships after they became emotionally abusive?

36. Have you traded sex for money or gifts?

37. Have you maintained multiple romantic or sexual relationships at the same time?

38. After sexually acting out, do you sometimes refrain from all sex for a significant time?

39. Have you regularly engaged in sadomasochistic behavior?

40. Do you visit sexual bath-houses, sex clubs or video/bookstores as part of your regular sexual activity?

41. Have you engaged in unsafe or “risky” sex even though you knew it could cause you harm?

42. Have you cruised public restrooms, rest areas or parks looking for sex with strangers?

43. Do you believe casual or anonymous sex has kept you from having more long-term intimate relationships?

44. Has your sexual behavior put you at risk for arrest for lewd conduct or public indecency?

45. Have you been paid for sex?

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The stages of porn addiction

1/12/2016

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Research shows that there are five predictable steps a man goes thru as he becomes addicted to pornography. I'm not saying that everybody who looks at pornography becomes addicted to it. However, porn has a powerful effect on men, their relationships and how they view women. There is some research to indicate that pornography has a higher addiction potential than cocaine and harder to quit than cocaine. It is believed that's how Ted Bundy got started. When the porn he was addicted to wasn't enough anymore, he tried the real thing — rape, and then murder. When he succeeded, he did it again. And again. Pornography addiction is very serious.

Five stages of addiction

Early exposure. Most guys who get addicted to porn start early. They see the stuff when they are very young, and it gets its foot in the door. The earlier a guy is exposed, the higher the chance for addiction.
Addiction. Later comes addiction. You keep coming back to porn. It becomes a regular part of your life. You're hooked. You can't quit. You convince yourself that porn is normal and that everyone does it.
Escalation. After a while, escalation begins. You start to look for more and more graphic porn. You start using porn that would have disgusted you when you started. Now it excites you. You start getting into sadism, bondage, bestiality,etc. You may even start mixing drugs with your porn experiences. There is a very LARGE connection between cocaine use and sexual addictions.
Desensitization. Eventually, you start to become numb. Even the most graphic, degrading porn doesn't excite you anymore. You become desperate to feel the same thrill again but can't find it. The "highs" that you used to get last such a short time, that they feel almost nonexistent.
Acting out sexually. At this point, many men make a dangerous jump and start acting out sexually. They move from the paper and plastic images of porn to the real world. They have affairs, one-night stands, multiple sexual encounters, etc. They may even start to stalk women, unable to differentiate their sexual fantasies from reality. Finally, they move to committing unwanted sexual activity and are arrested for their behavior.

Some of you reading this may have already developed an addiction to porn. If you see any of the patterns I've described above in your life, you need to put the brakes on right now. Is porn beginning to control your life? You can't put it down — you keep going back for more? Perhaps you find yourself needing to see increasingly graphic pornography. You're masturbating more and more often. You're starting to take risks or act out physically for sexual thrills. If you see yourself at any point on this progression, you are in serious trouble, and you need to realize it — and get help.

This information is taken from the TROUBLED WITH site of Focus on the Family. You can find this entry by clicking here.

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What would Jesus drink?

A caution for christians who drink alcohol

To drink or not to drink?

50 reasons why I don't drink

Sunday Meditation

The spiritual work of gratitude

We are still called

Jimmy Needham on porn addiction

The Revised Sexual Addiction Screening Test

The stages of porn addiction

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