We are seeing reports on the news for the past several weeks about the weather. If you live in the Midwest especially, the concept of rain is something you remember reading about in a textbook. At this point, many of us are longing for a catastrophic flood as described in the story of Noah. Lawns are drying out, swimming holes are being closed, and kids are staying inside due to the heat. It has been a very dry summer to say the least.

If we were to evaluate the spiritual condition of many Christians, summer seems to affect our souls in a similar way. The sun makes us somewhat lethargic and we feel as if God is temporarily on vacation. The dryness we see reflected in our local climate is mirrored within our hearts. It can be a discouraging time. Passion seems to be a memory.

In the 37th chapter of Ezekiel, a beautiful story is told about an intimate conversation between God and Ezekiel. Ezekiel was experiencing intense discouragement because of his lack of resources and feelings of inadequacy (in a nutshell). God, however, used this time as a teaching moment for all who may feel the same way.

In this story, God uses a valley of dry bones as an illustration about how only HE has the power to animate that which is lifeless. At the end of this depiction we see an energetic army ready to their next command….Every soldier brought up from dry bones. Imagine experiencing each tendon coming together, and each patch of flesh connecting….The awesome power would have been overwhelming.

In the times of our intense dryness, we must remember that God has the power to give us life and passion once again. We must also remember that God can use these dry times as teachable moments for not only us, but others we share our testimony with. I challenge you to find a way to reflect on God’s work during these times so that the process can be recorded. Later you will read the narrative as the story of God’s faithfulness and a reminder of His power.

The God that can create from nothing can bring you out of the dryness you are in. 

Trust Him.

This is reprint of a post by Rev. Landon DeCrastos.  You can find the original post with comments here:  http://otherwordsdotnet.wordpress.com/2012/07/17/dry/

BE HOLY.
BE A MAN.

The Church in my parts was shocked to learn recently that a brother who has been trained by a prominent evangelism group to the point that he was flying to California to participate in helping train others how to share the gospel with the lost and he was often found in various local churches teaching people how to share their faith, he was arrested for sexual molestation of various women in his practice and was found guilty by the court and sent to prison leaving behind a devastated wife and young children to take care of themselves.  At first, we thought the allegations were nothing but the enemy of our souls rising up against a strong brother who was seeking to preach the gospel to the lost.  This man would pass out tracts, preach on the streets, and would be found sharing Jesus in almost any place he went.  To this man, soul winning was a natural part of his life and he believed that disciples of Jesus should preach the gospel at all times.

And yet he fell.

I don’t know his heart today.  I personally did not know the man but only through mutual friends did I know about him.  I don’t know his heart nor whether today he is seeking the Lord.  I pray that he is.  This post is not about this man but simply about keeping Jesus as our focus and not anything or anyone else.  Jesus, not prayer, not the Church, not soul winning, not Bible reading, not memorizing Scripture, not giving money – Jesus alone is our salvation.  We must always keep that in mind.  Arminianism does not save.  Calvinism does not save.  Lutheranism does not save.  The Restoration movement does not save.  The Baptist church does not save.  Nothing saves but Jesus alone (Acts 4:12).

Our heart should be Philippians 3:8-11 where Paul the Apostle wrote,

Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.

Our salvation, our righteousness, our hope – all this comes from Jesus Christ alone.  It doesn’t come from being an evangelist or a preacher or an intercessor.  Salvation is in the person of Jesus and not anything or anyone else.  We must stay close to Him.  We must make Him our ambition, our delight, and our passion.

Perhaps this man above stopped doing this.  Perhaps he stopped loving our  Lord Jesus.  He got busy with “the ministry” and he forgot to love Jesus.  He forgot how to sit at the Lord’s feet and learn from Him.  So busy with life.  So busy with teaching people how to share Jesus yet he didn’t really love Jesus anymore or maybe he was simply too busy to sit and glean from the Lord.  I don’t know.  Only God knows.

I only want to love Jesus.  I know that apart from Him, I have no salvation (John 15:1-11).  Jesus is my only cure for this sin that abides in me (Romans 6:23).  The Lord Jesus alone bore my sins and died for me (John 5:24).  Jesus alone is the one who is able to cleanse me from sin (1 John 1:7).  Jesus is my faithful high priest who prays for me (Hebrews 7:25) as I abide in Him through faith.

Are you too busy to meet with Jesus and love Him a while?  He is our salvation.  He is our righteousness (1 Corinthians 1:30).  He is the one that we should adore and love.  The Father delights in us when we love His Son (1 John 5:1).  Don’t be robbed of spending much time with Jesus and learning from Him.  Stop and sit at His feet and praise Him for what He has done in saving us.  Don’t get too busy that you miss the pleasure of being close to your Savior.  This alone will keep you saved from the power of sin (1 John 3:7).

This is a guest post written by my friend, Seeking Disciple.  To go to the original post complete with comments, go to: 

http://arminiantoday.com/2012/06/30/even-soul-winning-is-no-safeguard-for-salvation/

BE HOLY.
BE A MAN.

Have you ever encountered someone who exerted an "us vs. them" mentality? You know the type. He treats you like a commoner, while he assumes that he is a much better, higher class of person. He pities your sad state of affairs, thinking that he will always be "better" than you. Oh, such people may never come out and admit such; but the attitude is present just the same.

This mentality is demonstrated in a variety of ways. The rich view the poor with half-hearted yet disdainful pity. A self-righteous person thinks of him- or herself as better than someone known for a particular sin. The person of a majority race views another person of a different, minority nationality as a lesser form of being. Someone who thinks he's accomplished a great deal during his lifetime may look upon others who do not "measure up" to his standards as less worthy of respect.    

These sinful, deceptive, superior attitudes have been plaguing the human condition for thousands of years. Even in the New Testament, when Christianity was blossoming, Christians had to be reminded to abandon an "us vs. them" disposition.

The apostle Peter, for example, being a Jewish man who, in the old Jewish order, would not have eaten with non-Jews, began, under the new Christian order, to eat with Gentiles. But when some "prominent" Jewish men came to his village, "he drew back and kept himself separate [from the Gentiles] for fear [of the Jews]" (Gal. 2:12). His actions led other believers in Christ to the same attitude and practice.

The apostle Paul called this "us vs. them" attitude hypocrisy (Gal. 2:13). Why? I can think of at least two biblical reasons: 1) all people are sinners on the same sinful playing field and thus all need a Savior; and 2) the gospel is for allpeople, not for the socially elite of any group. 

Paul states, "But when I saw that they were not acting consistently with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas [Peter] before them all, 'If you, though a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew [strictly following Jewish laws in order to be approved by God], how can you compel the Gentiles to live like Jews?'" (Gal. 2:14 NRSV) An "us vs. them" disposition is inconsistent with the truth of the gospel (Gal. 2:14). It denies the base reality of our fallen condition (i.e., the sinful condition of each and every person alive), promotes a deceptive self-righteousness, and is an affront to the holiness of God.

I think this sinful attitude is an affront to the holiness of God because He alone is worthy of absolute dignity. No human being could ever match His worth and excellence (nobility, majesty). When a fallen human being believes himself to be better than another fallen human being, he assumes the eminence of God Himself. 

Scripture informs us, however, that there is none who is truly righteous or good or eminent -- not one (Rom. 3:10). "And he [Jesus Christ] is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent" (Col. 1:18 ESV, emphasis added). We need to have our perspective priorities set aright. Only God is worthy.

Jesus' half-brother writes, "Let the believer who is lowly boast in being raised up, and the rich in being brought low, because the rich will disappear like a flower in the field" (James 1:9-10 NRSV). The so-called "lowly" in the world who trust in Christ have an eternal inheritance that cannot be diminished or taken from them. 

Yet the so-called "rich" in the world who trust in Christ will have no more (and no less) an eternal inheritance as well. Though the rich in this world may have more possessions now, they will have no advantage over the poor in God's kingdom (James 2:5). The "lowly" in Christ have been "raised up" to great spiritual heights (cf. Eph. 1:3), while the rich will "be brought low" -- i.e., die just like everyone else.

James went on to condemn partiality (James 2:1-7), concluding, "You do well if you really fulfill the royal law according to the scripture, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' But if you show partiality [favor some people, disdaining others], you commit sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors" (James 2:8-9 NRSV). 

We too often neglect Scripture's admonition: "For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of yourself more highly than you ought to think" (Rom. 12:3 NRSV). There is no "us vs. them." There are only fallen human beings among other fallen human beings.  

This is guest post taken from the White Picket Fences blog.  For the original post with comments, click here

BE HOLY.
BE A MAN.

BRIEF THOUGHTS ON OBSCENITY

I had a co-worker ask me yesterday why I don’t use cuss words.  He said to me, “I noticed that you don’t use any language that the other workers use.  You don’t say any obscene words nor do you talk about anything obscene.”  This opened the door for me to talk about Christ and how He transformed me when I was 17 years old.  I am no where near perfect (just ask my sweet wife) but I do love Jesus and I do long for the Spirit of God to transform me from glory to glory (2 Corinthians 3:18).  I praise God that He has changed me by His grace (2 Corinthians 5:17).

Why don’t I use obscene language?  I have many reasons but I will give briefly just a few reasons why I don’t.

1.  The Old Man Is Gone

I did use to cuss.  I cussed like a sailor.  I would use the Lord’s name in swear words and would blaspheme Him.  I got so use to cussing that I would often slip up at home in front of my parents and cuss when I was mad or made a mistake.  Cussing was a part of who I was.  But then Jesus saved and life was not the same.  He washed away my sins by His blood (Matthew 26:28) and He baptized me into His kingdom (1 Corinthians 12:13).  I became His disciple (Matthew 28:19-20) and my heart was to follow Him wherever He went and do all that He did (Luke 14:25-35).  He completely transformed me (2 Corinthians 5:17).  My mind was different (Romans 12:1-2; cf. Psalm 1:1-3).  My heart was different (Ezekiel 36:25-27).  My desires were different (Matthew 6:33).  My passion was for the Lord Jesus and for His glory (Philippians 1:20-21).  I immediately stopped cussing.  To me, cussing was what the old man did.  He was now dead.  I was now in Christ Jesus and was born again in Him (John 3:3-7).  The old man was gone (Ephesians 4:17-24).

2.  Let No Corrupt Word Proceed Out of Your Mouths

Ephesians 4:29.  That was what sealed the deal for me and cussing or any filthy language.  What is viewed as obscene words changes from culture to culture and from generation to generation.  It is not uncommon for people to say “hate” about all kinds of things or “stupid” to other people.  In our home, those words are almost not allowed unless used properly.  We don’t watch television in our home so my boys know nothing of filthy talking.  I rejoice in that.  I want my boys to follow my example and see that I don’t use the talk of the world.  My citizenship is in heaven (Philippians 3:20).  I am an alien and stranger to this land (1 Peter 2:11-12).  I don’t want the things this world wants nor do I want to talk like this world talks (1 John 2:15-17).

3.  Let The Words of My Mouth Exalt You

Psalm 19:14 says, “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer.”  I want my words to glorify Christ.  I am not perfect and I know that I say things that are not always pleasing to the Lord but my goal is perfection.  I want to exalt Jesus Christ in all that I say and do.  I want Him to be what the One that others see and hear when they see me (1 Corinthians 11:1; Ephesians 5:1-2).

I know these were brief thoughts but I pray that if you use obscene language, run to the Lord and ask Him to give you a new tongue that exalts Him.  Acts 2:4 says that on the day of Pentecost the disciples spoke in other tongues.  I am not getting into the Pentecostal debate here but there is something to be said about the fact that after the Spirit came the disciples spoke with other tongues.  I pray that all of us speak in a new tongue when we get saved.  I pray that the filthy talk that once was part of our lives is completely gone as the Spirit of Christ comes to abide in us.  I pray that our language is God-centered and exalts Jesus to others.  We are not reformed people but we are regenerated people by the Spirit of God (Titus 3:5-7).  Let us praise God in all that we say or do.

This post is written by my friend The Seeking Disciple.  You can find the original post with comments, here:  http://arminiantoday.com/2012/07/10/brief-thoughts-on-obsenity/

BE HOLY.
BE A MAN.

Musicians rarely use the “F” word if they want to receive radio play. The group Insane Clown Posse, when they wrote the song, “F--- the World” knew that it would never achieve popular status, using the “F” word 93 times in that song alone.  Of course, the members of ICP don’t claim to be Christians.

The first popular Christian musician who used the “F” word was Bono from U2 with his statement on national TV that the stage at the Golden Globe Awards was “f---ing brilliant.”  His statement raised a firestorm of controversy.  Because his statement was on live American TV, the FCC was involved and ruled that Bono did not violate FCC standards.  They concluded that the wording “f---ing” was used as an adjective not a verb, making it in the same classification as “bloody” which is commonly used on British TV. 

Next, there is Brian “Head” Welch who recently left Korn and started his own band because of his conversion to Christianity.  His song, Flush, has a very controversial video attached to it.  The video has lesbian behavior, scantily clad women and drug use in it.  The song makes no mention of Christ, just a dark, nihilistic portrayal of a sinful lifestyle.  The last line, “come on, get up, let’s change” is a reference to the life changing behavior that can occur when one opens his/her life up to the saving power of Christ.

I read Head’s autobiography and am impressed with his undying allegiance to our Savior and his commitment to reach an audience that would not normally listen to Christian music.  He’s dying to bring his Korn fans to Christ. 

Arguably, that’s where P.O.D. is coming from on this new album, Murdered Love.  P.O.D. has  a large Christian fan base but has always had a wider appeal to the secular world since the albums Southtown and Satellite. There have been rumors that P.O.D. has given up their Christian beliefs.  Many believe that P.O.D. will alienate their Christian audience.  There have been statements that a Christian should never use the “F” word.  The Christian world, from my observation, has not been terribly charitable to P.O.D.

Nevertheless, P.O.D. keeps cranking out terrific music.  This new album, Murdered Love, is no exception.  The title track, of Jesus’ crucifixion, is an absolute masterpiece and representative of P.O.D.’s finest.  However, my favorite track, “I Am” is just mind-blowing.  This is the song that has gotten P.O.D. into some hot water.  This is the track that uses the “F” word.  My heart breaks when I hear this song and it has nothing to do with the fact that P.O.D. uses the “F” word.  This song is meaningful to me because it is clear that P.O.D. understands the hurting sinfulness of our world.

Some people are saying that P.O.D. is just trying to reach a wider audience.  However, I believe that he is trying to shock his Christian audience out of their white, sanitized Christian bubble.  This song is written from the perspective of a person who has been horribly used, abused, and beaten down.  Here is a lyrical sample:

I am the murderer, the pervert, sick to the core,
I am the unclean dope fiend, I am the whore
I am the forgotten child, ravaged and raped and sex trafficked
Since I'm a little strange Daddy called me a faggot

Are you the One that's come to set me free?
Cuz if you knew who I am would You really want to die for me?
They say you are the cursed man, the One who hangs from this tree
But I know if this is the One and Only Son of God, so tell me who the F--- is He?

Don’t let the “F” word distract you.  This is the way that the used and abused of the world feel.  “I’m not worthy of anybody loving.  Plus, I live in hell and this God that you talk about doesn’t help me.  So, F--- this God!”  

Their anger is unmistakable. 

These are the people that we see every day, but walking around in our little Christian bubbles we refuse to interact with them.  They are the broken, dejected, dirty, the dregs of society.  They are the drunken, drugged, prostituted, sexually confused, homeless people that we tend to avoid.  How dare I get my hands dirty by interacting with them?!

Our sanitized, white, perfect Christian world needs to be awakened.  The world is going to hell around us.  They are mad at the way we ignore them and they blame God because of our insensitivity and our hangups on the "proper" way that Christians are to talk and act.

With the song "I Am", I believe that P.O.D. is saying that God will hold us responsible for how we portray His impeccable character to a hurting world.

I am so glad for bands like P.O.D. who rock our world (in more ways than one) and help us to see that there is a dying world out there and we need to be making a difference.  People need to see that God cares, God loves and they are worthy of someone dying to save them.

Jesus died to save the world. 

Are you dying to share Jesus with this dying world?

Tomorrow, you will see another perspective on swearing from my friend, The Seeking Disciple.

BE HOLY.
BE A MAN.

I am the Lord, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight.  

God delights in kindness, justice and righteousness. None of this is easy for us to believe.

Kindness is difficult for some of us to imagine because we do not have extensive personal experience with kindness. We can imagine God as a weak, codependent, ineffective being whose specialty is being relentlessly nice to people. But what of the God who exercises kindness? What would that look like?

Justice is difficult for some of us to imagine because we have not had extensive personal experience with justice. In dysfunctional families justice is either chaotic or completely absent. But what of the God who exercises justice? What would that look like?

Righteousness is difficult for some of us to imagine because we have not had extensive personal experience with righteousness. We do not have instincts for doing what is right, we do not delight in doing righteousness, we expect it to be boring, dreary and out-of-date. We may delight in caretaking and codependent niceness, but is that the same as delighting in righteousness? Probably not. So, what of the God who exercises righteousness. What would that look like?

God is capable of delight. God is not the Unmoved One. God is the Most Moved of us all. God's compassion and kindness are free and full. God's commitment to justice is beyond all our imaginations. God pursues righteousness.

Learning to share in God's struggle for kindness, justice and righteousness will require significant changes for us. It cannot be done in a one time event. It will be a life-time quest. We will forget and remember again. We will run away and come back again. But each day in the struggle we will grow in our capacity for delight. Until, in the end, when God's purposes are complete, we will be filled with delight at the triumph of God's kindness, justice and righteousness

God of kindness, I want to understand you better.
God of justice, I want to live in solidarity with you.
God of righteousness, help me to delight in what pleases you.
Increase my capacity for delight, Lord.
Let me discover you afresh today.
Amen.

Copyright Dale and Juanita Ryan
National Association for Christian Recovery

BE HOLY.
BE A MAN.

When it comes to porn, the question facing many men and women is simple:  is it really wrong?  Is it really that big of a deal?  I mean, it’s just an image on a screen.  It’s not someone I know, or someone I’m having an actual affair with, so I’m still faithful to my future (or current) wife.  It’s just sexual release, like masturbation, and we all know that masturbation is not condemned in the Bible.  It’s not even mentioned. 

And isn’t sex a good thing, so what’s wrong in watching it happen?  I’m just admiring beauty.  And besides, I’m single, so what do you expect me to do with all this pent-up sexual energy?  It seems like a safe release until I ammarried.

I’ve heard all of this, and more.

So is it really that big of a deal?

Yes, and here’s why:

It is sexual sin.  Jesus made it clear that when we give in to lust, it is akin to the act itself.  It makes no difference whether you know the person or not; lust is not tied to relationship.

It is addictive.  The ubiquitous nature of porn is new to our culture, and to human sexuality, but it is becoming increasingly clear that it is highly addictive in nature.  As a result, it can not only begin to dominate a life, but can demand ever-increasing levels of exposure and ever-increasing degrees of experience to continue to stimulate.

It is degrading to women.  In pornography, women are treated as objects.  They are not fulfilling God’s dream for their life as His precious daughter, nor are they fulfilling His design for sexual expression and fulfillment.  You are watching a woman who is being sinned against, treated in a way that is contemptible to her heavenly Father (whether she sees it or not – and the fact that many may not only adds to its tragic nature).  And if you are a woman watching it for the men, it is equally degrading to them.

It leads to other sins.  Studies are beginning to show that the effects of porn on men are more than temporary sexual stimulation:  as they see women treated as objects, they begin to treat women that way.  They become more sexually aggressive, leading to date rapes and expected “hook-ups.” 

It harms your relationship with your current, or future, spouse.  It is absolutely ridiculous to say that watching porn enhances a sexual life.  Instead, it cheapens it.  Those caught in its web testify to how porn quickly becomes a substitute for sexual intimacy with your spouse. 

It desensitizes your soul.  Sin of any kind desensitizes your spiritual life.  Continued exposure to a sin such as pornography is like shooting novocaine into your soul.  It deadens you and grieves the Holy Spirit in your life, forcing Him to withdraw His utmost filling in a way that diminishes His power and presence in your life.

It distorts sex.  Nothing reduces sex to lust more than pornography.  Yielding to such images is overwhelmingly addictive, like a narcotic that delivers a quick hit to the emotions or senses, but ravages you from within.  It destroys real relationships, real intimacy, real sexuality.

I’m a pastor. 

I talk with men who are dealing with the spiritual torment and guilt of engaging in pornography while trying to rationalize it away;

I talk with men who are having to fight it as an addiction;

I talk with men who are finding it is leading them to a warped view of women;

I talk with men who are experiencing its direct path to other sins;

I talk with men who are seeing its assault on their marriage;

I talk with men who are trying to awaken their souls from its deadening grip;

I talk with men who have distorted views of what sex is about. 

I also talk to the wives of these men – I’ve seen the hurt, the betrayal, the wounding to intimacy, trust and self-esteem.  And increasingly, I am having the same conversations with women who have become caught in its snare. 

There is little doubt to those of us who work with people, and those who are themselves caught in its web, how pornography is destroying the sanctity of sex and the glory of marriage.

And we haven’t even broached what it is doing to the coming generation of men and women who have been exposed to it at the earliest of ages over multiple years.

So is pornography really wrong?

In every possible way.

This post is written by Rev. James Emery White.  You can find the original post at this location:  http://www.crosswalk.com/blogs/dr-james-emery-white/is-pornography-really-wrong.html

BE HOLY.
BE A MAN.

We all have our hidden corners. You know, those secret and wicked sins in our life that look so attractive in the dark, so much so that we sometimes spend our whole life trying to keep them from the bright exposure of the Son. Indeed, we all have hidden corners. Some are just better at hiding them than others.

I was 9 years old when my secret began. I was a 4th grader with 6th grade friends, friends who had access to pornography and graciously let me indulge with them. They took me to a nearby park and there under the playground’s kid castle was a magazine. I imagine many reading this were my age or even younger the first time Satan got his foot in the door of their hearts using pornography. What I cannot imagine is just how much it breaks the heart of God to see little ones corrupted. From that day forward I was living with an addiction, an addiction that wouldn’t leave for many more years to come.

. . . .

The Battle had only Begun . . .It’s interesting to me that ultimately God would use this addiction to bring me into a relationship with Him years later. I came to know God at the beginning of my sophomore year of high school. I had one Christian friend in school who was truly walking with Jesus, and he took me under his wing. One day I was compelled to tell Him the things I was involved in. I hadn’t ever opened up to anyone about it and it was tough to confess. But, I mustered up the courage and spilled my guts to him on the way home from school. I hadn’t cried that hard in years. I remember being shocked as he told me that he struggled with the same thing, but that the difference between me and him was that, although he struggled with lust, he was already free from it’s power over him and I wasn’t. He told me about the liberty from sin and death that Jesus brought him, and that evening, with a broken and contrite spirit, I committed my life to Christ.

I suppose I thought from that day forth, everything would be smooth sailing: no more lust, no more porn, just freedom! I was wrong, and anyone who knows God can vouch for me. The battle had only begun. I found myself struggling even more than before, and now I had the added bonus of the conviction of God every time I sinned. If you are anything like me, you have felt incredibly frustrated at yourself in view of your sin. I began to live in a constant state of guilt and shame, always imagining the scowl of my God as He looked down on me from a lofty place.

. . . .

A Vision of Jesus...There was one night in particular that was quite difficult for me. I was still in high school. My parents had gone to bed and I was alone in my room with my computer. I got off the computer, having stumbled again, and hit my knees right by my bedside. I remember crying out to God in the darkness of that room. I told him I wasn’t worthy of Him. I told Him how I just kept on sinning against Him and it seemed like total victory was nowhere in sight. I didn’t deserve Him, and I knew it. I remember wanting Him to just leave me in my sin. He was too perfect, and I was too wicked.

That’s when it happened. As clear as I can see right now, I had a vision. I saw myself kneeling by my bed, broken, hurting, and ashamed. And then, I saw the Lord Jesus, Maker of Heaven and Earth, come and kneel beside me. No words were spoken. All He did was put His hand on my back, and we knelt there in silence. I was so moved by that simple gesture of God that I wept, and wept hard. In that simple, silent vision God spoke louder to me than ever before. I sensed Him saying to my heart, “I’m near. I care. I forgive you.” In a lot of ways that was the beginning of the end of my addiction.

Recently this experience was the topic of a song I wrote called “Before And After,” which can be found on the CD Not Without Love.

From that moment on I began to walk in some very liberating principles. The first is this: “There is therefore now NO condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1).

When we begin to understand that this cloud of guilt over us isn’t from God but from our own misunderstanding of His character, and when we begin to understand the nature of our salvation, then we have one less inhibition that keeps us from fully walking in obedience to God. Our God is for us through Christ. We are as “saved” now as we ever will be. We are His. Let that truth sink into your bones today.

Another sweet truth I learned that gave me great victory is this: Our Father is pleased with baby steps. Could you imagine a father getting mad at his 1 year old because he was having difficulty learning to walk? The thought is absurd! Any little progress the child made, the father would rejoice with him and encourage him to go further. I believe it is the same way with God. He is our Father and we are His children. As it is with earthly children, we too start off as spiritual babies, and the progress we make in this life, though small to be sure, our Father rejoices in it. No longer do we need to fear the judgment-laden, wrathful heart of an angry God. We are children in the household of the King and He loves our progress.

. . . .

Resources for Struggling Addicts...Understanding these things along with some helpful resources, was crucial to me finally seeing victory in my life. When I entered college I redoubled my zest to beat this addiction with God’s help, and soon I was going a couple weeks without falling, then a couple more, until one day I was just done altogether with it. That was a little over 3 years ago now and I haven’t fallen back into the snare of pornography. Though the journey hasn’t been easy and I am still fighting the battle of lust every day, I am walking in victory because of the power and promises of a loving Father and the freedom provided through His Son.

For anyone who is interested, there are a couple of great resources I always recommend to help get free from pornography addiction.

• The first is a book by Joshua Harris called Sex Isn’t The Problem, Lust Is (formerly titled Not Even A Hint). I’ve bought this book for so many people, it’s almost innumerable. It’s a tremendous tool to defend against the sin of lust in a way that is biblical, grace filled and, most importantly, non-legalistic. A must-read for anyone struggling with this sin.

• Secondly, there is a website called SettingCaptivesFree.com that functions as a site devoted entirely to helping people with addictions through a biblical perspective. They have a 60 day sexual purity course called “The Way of Purity,” which helps people fight against sexual addiction, including pornography. Each person is given an online mentor who has done the course themselves and completed a mentor course. The theology is sound and the programs they have are powerful. Plus, its free.

I hope you’ve been challenged and encouraged. Liberty from lust (and its manifestations in pornography addiction) is not only possible, it is yours already for the taking in Christ.

. . . .This post is written by Christian song writer and performer Jimmy Needham.  For the complete post go to:  http://www.covenanteyes.com/2008/11/13/before-and-after-finding-freedom-from-porn-addiction/

BE HOLY.
BE A MAN.