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Serve like Jesus

5/31/2017

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A great man once said to me, “Pastor, the church is the biggest business in the world because it’s God’s business and it’s not like any other business.” If you could have done life with this man for even one day, you would have understood a man with a kingdom-mind and a servant-heart. The idea is that when we model church after the world we fail the very people we’re called to serve. It is past time to leave behind the idolatry of corporate management structures and rediscover the vastly different way of servant-leadership modeled by Jesus.

The world is concerned with being served, the kingdom is concerned with serving. The world enjoys thrones, first-class seating, cruise ships, and penthouse views. The kingdom is concerned with the underdog and the marginalized. How did American church culture become so hierarchical and power-driven anyway? Jesus didn’t sit in a high spot, bark orders, and demand service. He picked up a towel and basin and washed people’s feet. He put his arms around folks and empowered them for life and ministry.

This isn’t a new problem, however. In fact it’s a natural human tendency to crave the false sense of security that comes with following a single voice. Too often churches idolize their leaders in an unhealthy way, and far too often leaders set themselves up to be idols. The temptation is not a new one. We see this modeled early in scripture when Israel cried for Samuel to appoint a king over them. So do churches today hand power over to individuals for the sake of security. In this, we fail to fully embrace Jesus’ insistence that his heavenly Father is already our king and leader.

Pastors and church leaders are called to be under-shepherds. I like the term under-leader because we are under the leadership of God through the power of the Holy Spirit. Jesus demonstrated this by living in submission to the will of the Father and releasing his rightful authority in order to live among his disciples as brothers and sisters, not commander-in-chief. This did not diminish his influence or authority. In fact, it greatly increased it. He spoke and ministered with anointing because he was intimately connected to something greater than himself.

Humility among co-laborers brings about a way of living in which every member of the community is not just allowed to participate with his or her gifts, but expected to do so. As his disciples, we must resist the temptation to wield power over others. Pastors and church leaders, it’s your job to equip people for the work of the ministry (Eph. 4:12).

Jesus empowered his disciples and told them that they would do even greater things than he did (John 14:12). Therefore, with the Bible as our map and the Holy Spirit as our compass, may we help real people experience real power that only comes from a real God. Lead like Jesus, not a corporate CEO. Make every day count. Empower others. Be the best under-leader you can be!

​This post was written by Rev Powell.  You can find his blog here:  brianlpowell.com



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Jesus conquers thru His Church

5/30/2017

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“And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.” Matthew 16:18 (NKJV)

Jesus says that the gates of hell will not prevail against His church. If you are like me, then you usually think about this as Jesus protecting His church. When we think of it like this, the picture is that of all the powers of hell attacking the Church and Jesus protecting the church so that it isn’t defeated. We think about Jesus’ great prayer in John 17 where He said that He had not lost any of the disciples that the Father had given Him (Jn 17:12). Jesus had protected them from Satan’s attacks during their ministry and time with Jesus.

Then you take this same picture to the book of Acts and you see the young Church come under some heavy fire. As the church in Acts grew, the persecution against the church grew. The persecution grew to the point that believers were losing everything for their faith in Christ. Some even lost their lives because of their faith in Christ. Despite the persecution, Jesus protected the Church. Then you take this view to the Church since the book of Acts and you find that throughout history various groups and governments have tried to exterminate the Church. Despite their best efforts to destroy the Church, Jesus protected it and it continues today.

While this is very comforting and it certainly is true, I feel it is an incomplete picture of what is meant here. While few of us have ever fought in a war, we have probably all seen war movies. So let me ask you a question. Are gates offensive or defensive? Do people carry gates into battle and use them to assault the enemy? Or do people use gates to defend themselves from the attacks of the enemy? Gates are defensive.

The picture here doesn’t seem to be that of the church being defended against the attacks of the devil. The picture here isn’t that of the poor pitiful church just hunkering down trying to mind its own business and the mean ole devil keeps attacking it so Jesus has to protect it. The picture isn’t that of the Church being in a defensive position but in an offensive one. The Church is the one doing the attacking. The Church is doing an all out assault on the strongholds of hell and it is winning. Jesus will build His Church and as He does the gates of hell cannot stop it.

Think about Jesus’ earthly life and ministry. He was never in a defensive posture. He was always in an offensive one. This seen in the many times the demons bowed before Him when the saw Him. This is seen when Jesus sent the disciples out to preach the Gospel and when they came back said He saw Satan falling from Heaven (Luke 10:17-19).

Think about the Church in the book of Acts. They were never in a defensive posture. They were always on the attack. Peter preached on the Day of Pentecost and 3,000 were saved (Acts 2). They were in the grips of the enemy, blinded to truth about Jesus until Peter preached the message about Jesus. Then they repented of their sins, believed in Jesus and they were saved. At that point, they had been snatched from the grips of the enemy.

Even when the Church was persecuted and was forced to flee from Jerusalem, they were on the attack. The Bible says that they went everywhere preaching about Jesus (Acts 8:1-4).  As they went from Jerusalem preaching the message about Jesus, people repented of their sins, believed in Jesus and they were saved. They went throughout the known world attacking the devils strongholds and freeing those that he was holding hostage.

Don’t buy the idea that the Church of Jesus Christ is a poor pitiful organization that is trying to mind its business, live its life and is mercilessly attacked by the devil but thankfully Jesus protects it. The Church is neither poor nor pitiful. It is the most powerful force in the world because Jesus Christ Himself works through His Church. The Church is also not trying to mind its own business and live its own life. The Church is on a mission to make disciples of all nations. This will never be popular and there will always be people who oppose it. Yet Jesus will work through His Church and He will conquer through His Church. It may not always seem like it but in the end Jesus wins and His Church gets to be a part of that.

This post was written by Rev Ross.  You can find his blog here:  stacyjross.wordpress.com



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Don't lose your marbles

5/29/2017

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John Maxwell in his book 17 Essential Qualities of a Team Player has a great story.  It is about a man, explaining to another how he keeps himself motivated and focused.  He decided to put some marbles in a jar.  Each marble represents a week of his life.  Every Saturday he removes a marble, this serves as a reminder of the passing of time and the need to be engaged at home as well as work, and every area of  life.
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This story so captured my attention that I decided to number the weeks that I have left in my present vocation as well as the rest of the days of my life.  No one knows how long they will live and no one has to remind me of this, I just conducted a funeral service two days ago. Yet based on four year terms, I have the next four years and I could serve for another four years, for a total of eight, I could also serve an additional four year term, but at this point not probable.  I know there are many variables, health etc.  The average life span for males my age is slightly over 78 years.  Which means some live longer, some less.  So I added the years and multiplied the weeks.  I now have two jars in my office.    The first jar represents the 416 weeks I may have left to serve as District Superintendent. Container number two represents on average how many weeks a male my age may live.  I know some may think this is depressing, let me tell you what is truly depressing: gliding along and not seizing the moments that the Lord has given us today!   Since placing the jar on my desk, I have been filled with a sense of holy urgency.  Time is moving, I must invest my time wisely and for the Lord.  I have learned as I have gotten older, that family and rest are a valuable way to spend some our time as well.  There is another jar in my office that contains marbles as well.  This jar represents the ten to eleven years that I may have left to spend after I leave my present position.  I do much better with visual reminders.

Here is what I do with the marbles,  whereas in the story that Maxwell told the guy pulled one marble out of the jar every Saturday, I pull one out every Monday.  Though Sunday is the first day of the week, for my adult life Sunday has represented the culmination of my week’s work.  You can spend your money, and go out and make some more.  When time is spent, there is no assembly line available to build more time. It is gone!  I know this sounds almost simplistic, but putting this jar of marbles on my desk has created within me a desire to remember to number my days.  Do not waste this moment or this day. Instead of wasting my time I want to invest it in my family, friends and the work of the Lord.  So I know if I waste time, I am not only losing time, I am losing marbles.  And whatever you do, please don’t lose your marbles!

The following represent how many weeks I may have if my health holds up and the people agree and I stay in my position until I retire and find something else to do.  I know that something unforeseen may take place, but this jar reminds me that I do not have decades left to serve, I have 416 weeks!  Please do not lose your marbles!  We are to be stewards of our time as well.

This post was written by Dr Ron Blake.  You can find his blog here:  wesleyshorse.com



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Uncle Buddy:  Chapter Five:  Lazarus - The Putrefied Man

5/28/2017

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We now have before us Lazarus, the putrefied man, and in this stage he represents the old sinner in the last stage of sin just before he drops into the pit of eternal despair. We have seen him first, a sick man, second, a dead man, third, a bound man, fourth, the entombed man, and fifth, a putrefied man. These are the five steps in the life of the sinner, from the crowing babe with the carnal mind in its heart, to the old sinner, reeking in sin and vice and dropping into the pit.

The reader will notice that there is no physical soundness left in Lazarus; he has corrupted throughout -- no soundness at all left in him, and when the old sinner comes to the last stage of life he has corrupted throughout and there is no moral soundness left in him, He is now qualified and prepared by the devil to commit any crime that Is known to the human family, and anything that the devil will dictate, he will do. He Is as corrupt morally as Lazarus was physically. I know some may draw back and say that I have overdrawn the picture, but I feel that I have not in the least, and for a few minutes let's look at Isaiah 1: 6, and see what the old prophet says about man in his last stage: "From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it; but wounds, and bruises, and putrefying sores; they have not been dosed, neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment."

Now reader, don't you see that the old sinner is in the same condition, morally, that Lazarus was physically? You just think of a man full of wounds and bruises and putrefying sores and of course it has reference to his moral condition, and not his physical condition, for no man could live if his physical man were in the condition that is described in the above text. But just look at the man as he walks the streets of the city, and you will see the saloon, the gambling house, the race track, the ballroom, the theater, the circus, bawdy house, the calaboose, the county jail, the state prison, the gallows, a broken heart, and a wrecked life, a ruined home, a lost soul, and the grave of the drunkard.

The old Book says that the child of God is to grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ; but the same Book says of the sinner that the last stage of that man is worse than the first. Don't you see Lazarus In all of the different stages in which we have followed him? When Lazarus first died you could wash and dress him and shave him and put a new suit of clothes on him, and pin a bouquet of lovely flowers on him, and he looked nice and respectable after he was dead; and so did your boy. After your boy chose sin and died he could hold a cigarette between his thumb and forefinger, and draw the smoke down into his lungs and blow out through his nose, and some people thought that he was alive; but from the standpoint of morality he was as dead as Lazarus was physically.

Again, when you look at Lazarus now you see a man  that you can t handle. There was a time when you could handle Lazarus, but it is not now. He says to you, Hands off, gentlemen, without saying a word to you, and you obey him and keep your hands off of him. Well, why can't we handle him now? somebody may say. Because he has putrefied, and that means hands off. How much like your son that is. When your boy first went into sin, you could handle him pretty well and he seemed to have some sound streaks left in him, but just look at him now. He says, Hands off, mother, and she has to obey him. You see that just after he went into sin he seemed to have some respect and some regard for the will and wish of his mother, but not so today. See, his manhood and money and health and friends are gone, and he is called by some people a bum, by others a jail bird and by others a criminal. He is now growing in sin and the knowledge of the devil and is making his last run for the pit and outer darkness.

He is now a graduate from the school of sin and holds in his possession a diploma signed by the devil. On the face of his diploma the devil himself says of this man that, he is qualified to commit any crime that is known to the human family; he further says of this man that he has no time to waste on old men and women and if you can't make him up a class of boys and girls that he will have to go on to the next village, for his time is precious and that he must catch the youths of the land before they get their eyes open; that he is prepared to teach all youths the latest arts in any line of sin that they may choose; that if you don't think that he can commit the  darkest and most devilish crimes that are known to the human family, all he asks is that you give him one chance only, and if he doesn't convince the most skeptical mind of hiss ability to commit crime then he will give it up.

That is a fair proposition of its kind, but the man is indeed stupid that would deny the above statement of the devil. Think of an American woman that would persuade her husband to have his life heavily insured and when all of the papers are fixed up and made payable to her at his death she slips into the room while he is asleep and with his own razor cuts him to pieces, cutting him seventeen times in the face and neck and over the heart until she sees him struggle to death in his own blood. I was in the city when the trial was going on, Of course any thinking man knows that the scheme was hatched out in the pit, and was among the first brood that the devil hatched off.

Somebody might say, why on earth would a woman do such a thing? Well, don't you see that Lazarus has putrefied? Don't you see that that woman was as corrupt morally as Lazarus was physically? Don't you see how ghastly Lazarus looks? Just turn and look at that old sinner as he goes down town to his trial. He has committed some crime and the officers are on the way to jail and to trial with him.

Matthew, Mark and Luke all describe a fellow that stayed out in the tombs. Now this fellow that is on trial  here in the city stays down in the slums, and is a slum runner when he is out of jail. You can look at the fellow and see he was born with the carnal mind in him; that his disease proved fatal, that he died, that he was bound, that he then went into the tomb of despair and that he has now putrefied and is as corrupt morally as Lazarus was physically.

We have now covered the five stages of sin and the five stages that we have seen Lazarus in are a type of the sinner from the day of his birth until the day of his death. You see Lazarus sick, dead, bound, buried, and putrefied, and you see the sinner in all of the above conditions, from the screaming child to the old sinner with the rope around his neck, as he was swung off of the gallows and went out into eternal despair without one ray of hope.

Robinson, Reuben A. (Bud) (2015-03-31). The Collected Works of 'Uncle Bud' Robinson (Kindle Locations 5791-5839). Jawbone Digital. Kindle Edition. 


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The Breath of God within us

5/27/2017

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When we speak about the Holy Spirit, we speak about the breath of God, breathing in us. The Greek word for "spirit" is pneuma, which means "breath." We are seldom aware of our breathing. It is so essential for life that we only think about it when something is wrong with it.

The Spirit of God is like our breath. God's spirit is more intimate to us than we are to ourselves. We might not often be aware of it, but without it we cannot live a "spiritual life." It is the Holy Spirit of God who prays in us, who offers us the gifts of love, forgiveness, kindness, goodness, gentleness, peace, and joy. It is the Holy Spirit who offers us the life that death cannot destroy. Let us always pray: "Come, Holy Spirit, come."

For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.  For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received a spirit of adoption, by which we cry, "Abba!"  The Spirit itself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God...Romans 8: 14-16 (NRSV)

This post was written by Henri Nouwen.  
​You can find his site here:  www.henrinouwen.org


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A way out

5/26/2017

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The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will . . . show you a way out so that you can endure (1 Corinthians 10:13).

The email began: “All, I try not to overload your reading with too many articles. But when I find one that is so good, I can’t help but to share it with you.”

Naturally, my interest was piqued, and I downloaded the article. But when I saw the title was “Four Temptations that Leaders Face,” honestly, I wasn’t too excited. I thought: Hmm . . . I don’t face many temptations. Boy, was I wrong!

Pastor Dan Reiland categorizes the temptations that leaders—and all of us—face, by using the following four “Ps”: Pressure temptations, power temptations, purity temptations, and people temptations. I can identify two of those as part of my own Achilles’ heel. While under pressure, I’m too easily tempted to lose my patience or become harsh with my words. And I’m often tempted to be people-pleasing rather than God-pleasing.

In 1 Corinthians 10:12-14, Paul provides some helpful counsel for how to handle temptations. First, he reminds us not to underestimate the danger of the situation or overestimate our own ability to handle it (1 Corinthians 10:12). We need to “watch and pray, so that [we] will not give in to temptation” (Matthew 26:41). Second, Paul encourages us by noting that our challenges are not unique. God is faithful, and He will help us. He won’t allow the temptation to be more than we can stand (1 Corinthians 10:13). Finally, we’re told that we can overcome temptation because God gives us the grace to do so. Every temptation is an opportunity to turn to God and His vast resources.

God, may we resist the power of temptation by Your power. Please show us the way out, and give us the strength to follow it. And when we falter and fail, grant us grace to run to You for mercy and restoration. In Jesus’ name, amen. —Poh Fang Chia
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MORE: Read Matthew 6:13 and 26:41 to see wisdom from Jesus on the way to handle temptations.

This devotional comes from Our Daily Bread.  You can find their site here:  www.odb.org



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The name of Jesus

5/25/2017

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When they heard this, the crowd and the city officials were thrown into turmoil. - Acts 17:8
 
I am not sure what it is, but there is something about the name of Jesus that truly means something. In the public sector, the name of Jesus has caused so much trouble, so many court cases, and corporate complaints. Why? I mean...it is just a word, right? It still is somewhat confusing to me, because there aren't names out there in textbooks, or who have celebrity status who bring about such a reaction.
 
When one says the phrase, "the name of Jesus" the common misconception is that they are only talking about the first name on Christ's birth certificate (if He had one). My name is Landon, but that word only goes as far as my unique identity. With Jesus, though, there is something more powerful going on. The name of Jesus not only refers to who He is, but is also refers to His purpose. "Jesus", broken down into the original language, literally means God saves, rescues or delivers.
 
So, when His name is mentioned, why are there such reactions across the globe? I think it is because people are comfortably acclimated to their captivity. It is an unpopular notion in our culture that anyone needs rescued. In fact, it is actually taboo to have the compassion to point out that people are drowning in a sea of lostness. People have told me that the words I say are somewhat judgmental simply because I am extending a hand and pointing to a way out of their pain. This is the reality we live in. The world is a dark place, and the name of Jesus says it all...God saves, rescues, and delivers.
 
Reach up...find your way out of the darkness. Call on His name and you will be saved. Also, lead others to the rescue.
 
Prayer for today: Father, please help me to be a part of your kingdom work. Help me no matter how unpopular your name is. Fill me with your power today. Amen

This post was written by Rev DeCrastos.  
​You can find his blog here:  www.ministrysauce.com


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Porn affects intimacy

5/24/2017

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The rapid proliferation of pornography is one of the digital age’s legacies; some 40 million people in the United States visit porn websites regularly, many of them emerging or young adults. Popular media have capitalized on cautionary tales about porn addiction and stories of boyfriends objectifying their girlfriends and wanting them to behave like porn stars. But studies confirm that the preponderance of young men—and slightly less than half of women—thinks that watching sexually explicit material is okay. 

That’s what Spencer B. Olmstead and his colleagues found when they asked college students about the use of pornography in future romantic relationships: 70.8 percent of men and 45.5 percent of women thought they would watch. In contrast, only 22.3 percent of men and 26.3 percent of women thought pornography had no role in a romantic partnership.

Men and women tend to disagree on two issues: How porn is watched (alone, in groups, with a sexual partner); and how often it is watched. As Michael Kimmel reported in his 2008 book Guyland, young men often watch porn with their peers and for different reasons than older men. Kimmel writes that “guys tend to like the extreme stuff, the double penetrations and humiliating scenes. They watch it together with guys and they make fun of the women in the scene.” In contrast, older men with more experience either watch by themselves or with a partner, and with what Kimmel calls “wistfulness” about their younger selves; they tend to prefer material “where the women look like they are filled with desire and experience pleasure.”

The Olmstead study found that women’s concerns had more to do with whether consumption of porn was limited than whom it was watched with. Men tend to think that watching porn has only positive consequences.

As reported by Nathaniel Lambert and others in a review of studies, women whose partners watched porn regularly thought less of those partners and saw porn as more of a threat to the stability of their relationship. On the other hand, other studies have shown that young men and women alike think that sexually explicit material can help them explore their sexuality and adds “spice” to what they do in bed.

Is watching pornography really as benign as people think? The following three studies reveal that it has a greater effect on relationships than those we usually discuss.

1. Porn-free relationships are stronger, with a lower rate of infidelity.

That’s what Amanda Maddox and her colleagues found in a study of men and women, ages 18 to 34, who were in romantic relationships. The researchers measured the levels of negative communication, relationship adjustment, dedication or interpersonal commitment, sexual satisfaction, and infidelity. In their study, 76.8 percent of men and 34.6 percent of women looked at sexually explicit material alone; 44.8 percent reported viewing it with partners. They found that people who didn’t view any porn had lower levels of negative communication, were more committed to the relationship, and had higher sexual satisfaction and relationship adjustment. Their rate of infidelity was at least half of those who had watched sexual material alone and with their partners. But people who onlywatched porn with their partners were more dedicated to the relationship and more sexually satisfied than those who watched alone.

2. Watching porn diminishes relationship commitment.

What these researchers discovered is that watching porn reminds you of all the potential sexual partners out there, which in turn lowers your dedication to the person you’re actually involved with. It also leads you to swap out the person who’s actually lying in bed with you for some fantasy person you’ve never met (and probably never will).

Does that sound healthy?

Nathaniel Lambert, Sesen Negash and others conducted five separate experiments to find out. In the first, they asked participants, age 17 to 26, who were in relationships (as long as three years and as brief as two months) about their porn consumption and measured levels of commitment. They found that porn consumption lowered commitment in both men and women, but with a stronger effect on men.

In their second study, they had independent observers watch videos of couples performing an interactive task—one partner was blind-folded and had to draw something while the other gave instructions. Among the observers, lower commitment was observed among porn users.

The third study only tested participants who had consumed porn. They had half the group give up porn for three weeks. The other half was asked to give up their favorite food, but were allowed to watch porn. The result? Those who had abstained from sexually explicit material showed increased commitment to the relationship at the end of the three weeks.

The last two studies focused on the effect of greater attentiveness to alternatives on potential infidelity and infidelity itself. And yes, people who watched porn were more likely to engage in flirting (and more) outside their relationships in one experiment; and more likely to cheat and hook-up in the other.

3. The fantasy alternative leads to real-world cheating.

In another study, Andrea Mariea Gwinn, Nathaniel Lambert, and others further explored the nature of the other alternatives imaginatively offered up by pornography. They suggested two possibilities: First, that seeing physically attractive and sexually available partners on screen may heighten a person’s perceptions of his own possible partners. And second, that porn may make the idea of multiple sexual partners more appealing—another wound to a committed relationship.

And that’s exactly what they found.

In one study, the researchers found that people who thought about porn they’d watched reported having better alternatives to their current relationship than those who didn’t. A second study showed that, over time, exposure to porn was a robust predictor of infidelity.

More strikingly, the team found that both thinking about possible partners and acting on the impulse to find those alternatives operated separately from dissatisfaction with one's current relationship and partner. In other words, even though one's own pasture may be plenty green enough, just the thought of a greener one can be enough to send one roving.

You might want to keep that in mind if you’ve been watching the hard stuff or if you've become inured to seeing your partner just flip open his laptop "just for fun.”

Pornography is not as benign as you think, especially when it comes to romantic relationships.



This post is from Psychology Today, written by P Streep.  The original post can be found at:  http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/tech-support/201407/what-porn-does-intimacy

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Is porn addictive?

5/23/2017

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"Pornographers promise healthy pleasure and relief from sexual tension, but what they often deliver is an addiction, tolerance, and an eventual decrease in pleasure."  - Norman Doidge, MD, The Brain That Changes Itself 

It wasn’t very long ago that doctors and researchers believed that in order for something to be addictive, it had to involve an outside substance that you physically put into your body, like cigarettes, alcohol, or drugs. 

Once we got a peek into the brain, however, our understanding of how addictions work changed.  It turns out, cigarettes, alcohol, and drugs have more in common than you might think. Sure, on the outside, some are poured into a glass while others are lit on fire and smoked. But once they’re in the body, they all do the same thing to the brain: flood it with a chemical called dopamine. That’s what makes them addictive. And porn does the exact same thing. 

You see, your brain comes equipped with something called a “reward pathway.”  Its job is to motivate you to do things that keep you and your genes alive—things like eating or having sex to produce babies.  The way it rewards you is by releasing dopamine into your brain, because dopamine makes you feel good. 

However, just because your brain has adapted to motivate you to do something doesn’t mean it’s always good for you. For example, your brain produces higher levels of dopamine when you have chocolate cake than it does for whole-wheat bread.  Why? Because 3,000 years ago, high-calorie foods were really hard to come by, so when our ancestors found them, it was important that they eat a whole bunch while the getting was good.  These days, a bag of Oreos is only as far as the nearest supermarket. If we gorged on them every chance we got, chances are we’d get heart disease, gain weight, and develop a bunch of other health problems.

Porn is basically sexual junk food. When a person is looking at porn, their brain thinks they’re seeing a potential mating opportunity, and pumps the brain full of dopamine.  And unlike healthy sexual relationships that build up over time with an actual person, porn offers an endless stream of hyper-sexual images that flood the brain with high levels of dopamine every time the user clicks to a new image. 

Setting your brain up for an overload of feel-good chemicals might sound like a good idea at first, but just like with junk food, what feels like a good thing, in this case isn’t at all. Because porn use floods the brain with high chemical levels, the brain starts to fight back. Over time, the brain will actually cut down on its dopamine receptors—the tiny landing docs that take the dopamine in once it’s been released in your brain.  As a result, porn that once excited a person often stops having the same effect, and the user has to look at more porn, look at porn more often, or find a more hardcore version—or all three—to get aroused. 

Eventually, as the brain acclimates to the overload of dopamine, users often find that they can’t feel normal without that dopamine high.  Little things that used to make them happy, like seeing a friend or playing their favorite sport, can’t compete with the dopamine flood that comes with porn, so they’re left feeling anxious or down until they can get back to it. 

On top of that, dopamine doesn’t travel alone. When the brain is getting a hit of dopamine, it’s also getting new pathways built into it with a protein called “iFosB” (pronounced delta fos b). 

Essentially, iFosB’s job is to help you remember to do things that feel good or are important.  While dopamine is motivating your brain to do things and rewarding it for doing them, iFosB is quietly leaving trail markers in your brain, creating a pathway to help you get back there.  When this happens with healthy behaviors, it’s a very good thing. However, as little as one dose of many drugs will also cause iFosB to start building up in the brain’s neurons, and of course porn’s powerful dopamine surge causes iFosB to build up as well. 

The more a user looks at porn, the more iFosB accumulates,  essentially beating down the brain pathways leading to using, making it easier and easier for the user to turn back to that behavior, whether they want to or not. Eventually, if enough iFosB accumulates, it can “flip a genetic switch,” causing irreversible changes in the brain that leave the user more susceptible to addiction. 

And for teens, the risks are especially high, since a teen brain’s reward pathway has a response two to four times more powerful than an adult brain—which means teen brains release even higher levels of dopamine. Teen brains also produce higher levels of iFosB, leaving them extra vulnerable to addiction. 

This post is taken from the website, http://www.fightthenewdrug.org

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Study shows link between porn and sexual dysfunction

5/22/2017

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Young men who prefer pornography to real-world sexual encounters might find themselves caught in a trap, unable to perform sexually with other people when the opportunity presents itself, a new study reports.

Porn-addicted men are more likely to suffer from erectile dysfunction and are less likely to be satisfied with sexual intercourse, according to survey findings presented Friday at the American Urological Association's annual meeting, in Boston.

For the study, researchers surveyed 312 men, aged 20 to 40, who visited a San Diego urology clinic for treatment. Only 3.4 percent of the men said they preferred masturbating to pornography over sexual intercourse, the survey found.

But the researchers found a statistical relationship between porn addiction and sexual dysfunction, said lead researcher Dr. Matthew Christman. He is a staff urologist with the Naval Medical Center in San Diego.

"The rates of organic causes of erectile dysfunction in this age cohort are extremely low, so the increase in erectile dysfunction that we have seen over time for this group needs to be explained," Christman said. "We believe that pornography use may be one piece to that puzzle. Our data does not suggest that it is the only explanation, however."

Christman said the problem could be rooted in the biology of addiction.

"Sexual behavior activates the same 'reward system' circuitry in the brain as addictive drugs, such as cocaine and methamphetamines, which can result in self-reinforcing activity, or recurrent behaviors," Christman said.

"Internet pornography, specifically, has been shown to be a supernormal stimulus of this circuitry, which may be due to the ability to continuously and instantaneously self-select novel and more sexually arousing images," he added.

Watching too much internet porn can increase a person's "tolerance," the same as with narcotics, Christman explained. Regular porn watchers are less likely to respond to regular, real-world sexual activity, and must increasingly rely on pornography for release, he said.

"Tolerance could explain the sexual dysfunction, and can explain our finding that associated preferences for pornography over partnered sex with statistically significantly higher sexual dysfunction in men," Christman said.

Pornography also could be setting up unrealistic expectations in young and inexperienced men, causing libido-sapping anxiety when real-world sex doesn't measure up to filmed fantasies, said Dr. Joseph Alukal. He is director of male reproductive health at New York University in New York City.

"They believe they're supposed to be able to do what goes on in these movies, and when they can't it causes a great deal of anxiety," Alukal said.

Pornography use varied widely across all the men surveyed. About 26 percent said they view pornography less than once a week, while 25 percent said one to two times a week, and 21 percent said three to five times weekly. At the other extreme, 5 percent said they use pornography six to 10 times a week, and 4 percent said more than 11 times a week.

The men most often used a computer (72 percent) or a smartphone (62 percent) for viewing pornography, the survey found.

A separate survey of 48 females found no association between pornography and sexual dysfunction, even though about 40 percent said they also watch pornography.

The findings about young men raise concerns that teenagers' sexuality could be affected if they're exposed to pornography, Christman said.

"There does appear to be some conditioning that can occur with exposure to internet pornography," Christman said. He recommends that parents spend time with their kids, stay tuned into their interests, and block their access to porn.

Men who are concerned that pornography might be affecting their sex life should seek counseling, Christman and Alukal said.

"Presently, mental health professionals and those with a focus on dealing with addictive behaviors may be best suited to help individuals with pornography addiction," Christman said. Some reports have shown that sexual function can improve if an affected man stops viewing porn, he added.

This study was reported on Medical Express:  medicalxpress.com/news/2017-05-link-porn-sexual-dysfunction.html



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