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Killing babies

4/12/2013

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In testimony that shocked Florida legislators, a lobbyist for Planned Parenthood explained that “her organization believes the decision to kill an infant who survives a failed abortion should be left up to the woman seeking an abortion and her abortion doctor.” But what else should we expect from an organization that has made countless millions of dollars off the killing of unborn babies?

As reported March 29, 2012 by the Weekly Standard, these legislators were “considering a bill to require abortionists to provide medical care to an infant who survives an abortion,” similar to the Born Alive Protection Act that Barack Obama voted against four times before he was president.

Rep. Jim Boyd was so taken aback by the testimony of Alisa LaPolt Snow, the Planned Parenthood lobbyist, that he said to her, “So, um, it is just really hard for me to even ask you this question because I’m almost in disbelief. If a baby is born on a table as a result of a botched abortion, what would Planned Parenthood want to have happen to that child that is struggling for life?”

She replied, “We believe that any decision that’s made should be left up to the woman, her family, and the physician.”

What? The baby survives an abortion in a Planned Parenthood clinic and is fighting for its life, and Planned Parenthood isn’t willing to say, “Yes, we want to see the baby’s life saved”? Of course not. If it was up to the mother and doctor to terminate the baby’s life inside the womb, why not continue the barbaric act outside the womb?

Rep. Jose Oliva, also incredulous, asked Snow, “You stated that a baby born alive on a table as a result of a botched abortion that that decision should be left to the doctor and the family. Is that what you’re saying?”

Snow replied, “That decision should be between the patient and the health care provider,” to which Oliva rightly countered, “I think that at that point the patient would be the child struggling on the table, wouldn’t you agree?”

Snow was obviously caught off guard and could only reply, “That’s a very good question. I really don’t know how to answer that. I would be glad to have some more conversations with you about this.”

In other words, even I can’t pretend to defend my own ridiculous position here.


This post was written by Michael Brown.  For the original post, go to:  http://townhall.com/columnists/michaelbrown/2013/04/01/planned-parenthood-confirms-its-babykiller-status-n1554041

BE HOLY.
BE A MAN.

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Temptation:  Practical Advice

2/23/2013

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There is an important principle in handling temptation.   Did you know that many times, you can resist temptation?  God tells us to submit to Him and then when we resist temptation, it will flee.

Resistance can be a matter of remembering this acronym:
                     HALTSS
                                                          
H - are you HUNGRY?  If your stomach is rumbling, if you feel weak from not having eaten for a while and you find yourself entertaining ungodly thoughts, go get something to eat.  The renewed energy will give you strength to think clearer.  If it's healthy food, you will feel even better than devouring a whole pizza.

A - are you ANGRY?  Harboring anger makes you susceptible to temptation.  I'm not saying anger is always bad.  But dwelling on angry feelings and not letting go of things puts you in a precarious position where its easier to say yes to temptation.

L - are you LONELY?  Being lonely causes a man to do stupid things.  If you find yourself doing things you need not do because you're chasing away loneliness, then find a good male friend and spend some time together praying for each other.  In this modern society, you will have a number of friends immediately available by Facebook, cell phone, texting, and/or email .  

T - are you TIRED?  When you're tired, your resistance to temptation is greatly weakened.  If you find yourself tempted to do something sinful, just go to bed.  Get some sleep.

S - are you SICK?  Take some medication to improve your symptoms.  It will increase your resistance to the bug of temptation.

S - are you SAD?  Find a good male friend and spend some time praying for each other.  Remember that the joy of the LORD is your strength.  

This is the principle to handling temptation:  submit to God and remember HALTSS  

You can't use the excuse, "I just couldn't help myself, after all I'm only human."   

God gave you a brain, you're not stupid.  
You're not an animal that just reacts.  


You can HALTSS temptation...

BE HOLY.
BE A MAN.


This posted was adapted from an article in the Grapevine in 1971


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Top Five Reasons to Grow Up and Get Married

2/12/2013

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I’m pro-marriage. I always have been, always will be and I’ll make no apologies for it. As a matter of fact, most of you should be apologizing to me. Yeah, I said it. Whether you're one with a successful marriage who's remained silent on its myriad virtues, or merely a single, lonely critic... America, you've got some 'splaining to do.

Sadly, marriage has become a punchline in today’s society. From referring to the wife as “the old ball and chain” to nearly every poorly written sitcom that we watch, the message we’re sending to today’s generation is clear… Marriage = no fun.

Men on TV constantly joke about how wives are incredibly expensive, demanding and overall vacuums of all things fun. By that same token, the women complain about their fat, lazy, insensitive husbands as they swoon over their trimmed, manicured and chest-waxed Hollywood counterparts.

Ever see a commercial with a wife and husband shopping together? Yeah, we always play the idiot.

I know plenty of people my age that will never get married because they genuinely believe the false cultural meme that marriage has sadly become. There’s only one problem. It’s completely untrue.

Even more of a problem, those who know it to be untrue often do nothing to correct the lie.

As someone who comes from a family of lifers (along with my wife), I just want to say, flat out…

… Marriage is a really good deal.

Let’s assume for a second that you don’t think of humans as inherently spiritual beings. So let’s remove the fact that married people claim to be happier, more fulfilled, complete and purposeful. Some of you are even thinking,

“Love? Who needs love!”

Okay. Here are a few purely statistical reasons as to why marriage (when done correctly) is conducive to an undeniably better life. Hold onto your butts.

1. You’ll be richer – Yes. Not only do married couples make more, save more, have a higher net worth and qualify for more benefits/financial incentives than lonely, single folk… but your kids will be richer too. Which brings me to my next point

2. Would somebody please think of the children!! – The single biggest indicator of child poverty is whether both original parents are still together. Not only that, but children in married households get better grades, are less disruptive in class and less likely to develop behavioral disorders than children from non-married households. So be married long and prosper. Your kids will too.

3. You’ll have more sex… A LOT MORE SEX – Okay so you may not want kids. You may despise them. I get it. Sticky hands. Let’s say you’re just another selfish, narcissistic bachelor (or bachelorette) who quite frankly, isn’t deserving of the unconditional love you may oh-so-luckily find. You just want the sex. Statistically, not only do married people have more sex, they have better, more satisfying sex. If the two of you should hold off on sex until marriage, those statistics become even more promising. Here’s a perfect example of where Hollywood gets it wrong. In the real world, while Alfie fruitlessly toiled away at picking up harlots from the bar, suffering a mean case of whiskey-wiener, Mr. Cleaver was getting busy on the regular. Them’s the real breaks.

4. You won’t be such a pathetic sloth – Married people are more productive. Married men in particular, have higher employment rates, work longer hours and receive better wages. It’s time to stop wading through puddles of your own filth as you reach for the hotpockets and have a dame whip you into shape. You’re welcome.

5. Don’t die sick, miserable and alone. This would seem to be self-explanatory. Sadly, it’s not. Young people think that being young and single is the “fun and free” time of your life, while marriage is something that can wait for the days when you’re ready to grow fat, boring and settle down. Married people not only live longer lives, they live healthier lives. There are too many factors at play here to even list. From married people statistically maintaining healthier weights, being more active and having lower mortality rates, to married women incurring less severe illnesses, enjoying better cancer survival rates and of course… lower rates of domestic abuse (as opposed to those merely cohabitating). Yes ladies, it’s true, living with an uncommitted, self-absorbed jackass can be hazardous to your health.

All of this to basically say that people need to start being more honest and vocal about the virtues of marriage. Americans need to stop feeding and buying into the lie that we’ve all been fed. Whether you’re young old, male, female, marriage (when done correctly) will make your life, and this country better off. The facts are undeniable. If the facts aren’t enough, maybe this’ll help…

Picture coming home every night to your best friend, your greatest fan, and your number one supporter. She (or he) makes each good day better, and each bad day good again. Every day, you get to live what is essentially a 24/7 sleepover party with the greatest friend you’ve ever had.

… Now add sex and sandwiches.

Get married, like, now.

This post was written by Steve Crowder.  For the original post, go to:  http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2013/01/26/man-top-5-reasons-to-grow-up-and-get-married/

BE HOLY.
BE A MAN.


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How do I know when it's God's voice?

1/31/2013

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"How do I know when it's God talking to me or the devil?"  

             This is a question that I get quite a bit in my correspondence and
                                   conversations with people.






I have met different people who discern God's will or God's voice in curious ways:
  • One person told me that the plant on his microwave will blow in a certain direction that tells him the next thing he thinks/hears is God talking to him.
  • Another person told me that when he spends time in prayer, he has the window open.  If the curtains blow out, the answer from God is yes.  If the curtains suck into the window, the answer from God is no.  
  • Yet, another person told me that when he prays, he stands as still and as upright as he can and while he's praying about a decision, if he leans to the right, the answer is no.  If he leans to the right, the answer is yes.  
  • I have also had people (who were not psychotic) tell me that God tells them answers thru the people talking on the television.
  • Another individual told me that he looks for signs.  For example, he was contemplating whether to take a job in Wyoming and he saw someone wearing a Wyoming shirt shortly after praying.  He wondered if that was God leading.

Jesus had a little something to say about this.  He says that wicked and adulterous people are always looking for a sign.  It seems to me that much of what Christians call discerning God's voice amounts to not much more than folk religion.  Folk religion is unreflective religious beliefs based largely upon feeings, cliches, devotional literature and "evangelegends."

Folk religion is not God honoring.  In my discussions with those five people above, I can assure you that they came up with some pretty goofy ideas about what God was saying.  God is clear, He says if anyone lacks wisdom, we just need to ask Him.  As Christians, we now have the indwelling of God's Holy Spirit.  We no longer need to consult the urim and thummim.  Nor do we need to cast lots to make decisions.  

However, if you read my post yesterday, I wrote about how the devil tries to remind of our sins and failures.  

How, do we know when its the devil is giving us a hard time or God's Holy Spirit convicting us of something that needs to change?

The answer is simple.  The devil hates you.  God loves you.  Once you get that concept firmly in your mind, discerning which voice is which becomes less problematic.  

Now, I'm not saying that we have the devil on one shoulder and an angel on the other.  I'm not wanting this to be caricatured.  
My experience is often it is not the devil speaking to me but it is my own sinfulness getting in the way.  
My own sin nature speaks to me.  

Nevertheless, if you hear a thought that says, "you know, you really are a pathetic excuse for a Christian.  You are such a hypocrite, you are so selfish."  Does that sound like a hateful thought or a loving thought?  I can tell you that thought either came from your own sinfulness or the devil (or maybe even both).  Do you see what that thought does?  It cuts you down at the very core of your being it attacks you as a child of God.  It's like being blasted with a shotgun.

Now, let's say you hear a thought that says, "you know, you just spoke about how you didn't like that style of worship.  Did you consider that worship can take many forms?  You need to apologize for what you just said."  Does that sound like a hateful thought or a loving thought?  Do you see what that thought does?  It is clear and concise.  It doesn't attack you as a child of God.  It's like a single bullet shot right into your pride.  

So, are you seeing the difference?  When you have a thought and it feels like you have been blasted with a shotgun, that the thought was so diffuse, you can bet that it's not from God...

God's Holy Spirit is a sniper.  He shoots clean and hits his target.  There is no collateral damage.  

When the devil speaks, its to entice you away from God.  To destroy how you view yourself before God.  

When God speaks to you, it's to attract you to Him. 

Paul's words ring true when discerning the voice of God, "Therefore, there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus."

BE HOLY.
BE A MAN.


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Fleshly lusts - The Greek Way

12/7/2012

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Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul

Peter in speaking of "fleshly lusts" uses the words, sarkikos (fleshly) and epithumia (lusts).   Sarkikos describes the impulses, cravings, and desires of the carnal flesh.  Epithumia is a compound word.  Epi (over) and thumos (passion). Hence, epithumia describes a person so overcome by some passionate desire that he completely gives himself over to it.  

Interpreted, this means that your flesh is never content until it has completely taken you over and consumed you.  It is impossible to freely participate in only a little taste of sin and then walk free of it.  Once the flesh has been allowed to indulge in that sin, the cry of the carnal nature to indulge in sin once more will become stronger and stronger, ferociously working against you in its attempt to pull you deeper & deeper into sin until you are completely conquered by it.  

If you have one temptation that you have to constantly fight more than others, how did that fight begin?  Did you look at something or allow your flesh permission to do something that you knew was wrong?  Did you open the door to this attack yourself by not saying no to the flesh at a critical moment in your life?  What are you going to do now to shut the door to the devil and drive this battle out of your head and flesh?

It is a whole lot easier to avoid fleshly temptations that it is to uproot them once they get deeply rooted in your mind, will and emotions.  So if the world around you is crying out for you to participate in its sinful activities, remind yourself that you are just a temporary traveler in this world with no rights to participate in such activities.  

Make the choice to refrain from the works of the flesh.

By making this decision, thru the power of God's Holy Spirit, you can avoid horrific battles that others fight every day in their minds because they didn't say no to temptations that were offered to them.

This post was adapted from Sparkling Gems from the Greek.

BE HOLY.
BE A MAN.

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What is your goal?

11/27/2012

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It was kind of a surreal experience....   We had just arrived at our mission in Quito and here I was less than 48 hours later standing at the graveside of a man I didn't know and hadn't even met.

I watched as the gravedigger dug the grave by hand.  He would occasionally stop and put his chin on top of the shovel and seem interested in what was going on as he rested.  There was hardly anybody there.  Just the man's wife, a couple of other people, the pastor, myself and the Ecuadorian gravedigger.  Being one of the few English speaking churches in town, the widow called the pastor with whom I served on staff and asked that he do the funeral.   I was there as support.  

The story of this man's life ended sadly.  He was a very successful American businessman who had visited Ecuador frequently and ended up buying some lucrative property in Quito so that he could retire.  He had quite a nest egg.  His goal in life was to retire with his wife at this property in Quito and live a life of ease and luxury.  

What was interesting was that this man and his wife arrived in Quito about the same time my wife and I had arrived.  We may have even been on the same airplane.  What he hadn't considered, as he grew older, was that his health wasn't as good as it had been in the past.  Quito has an elevation of over 9,000 feet (btw - Denver has an elevation of just over 5,000 feet) above sea level.  People who visit Quito often come done with Soroche (altitude sickness).  The symptoms are very similar to carbon monoxide poisoning.  The stress of the Soroche that he was experiencing taxed his body and his heart stopped working.  

So, here we have a man who saved his whole life, gathered quite a bit of money and bought some nice property in Quito so that he could retire, and within 48 hours of achieving his goal, he died.  From what his wife described, it also appeared that he died without knowing Jesus as his Savior.  

Jesus talked about this.  He said, "Now what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your soul?"  

Jesus, who taught a parable about a man who amassed fortune and trusted in himself, said, "You fool!  You will die this very night.  Then who will get everything you worked for?"

Having a goal is not bad in and of itself.  However, if your goal excludes God and is just to please yourself, know that you may never reach it.  If you do, it won't last forever.  

Everyone dies.

Then there is reward or payment.

Yet, if you have a goal and it includes God and pleasing Him, you WILL reach it. 
 

"Don't store up treasure on earth..."  

Make heaven your goal.


BE HOLY.
BE A MAN

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Iron Mike Tyson inspired parenting

11/5/2012

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Iron Mike Tyson is one of the most iconic, controversial—and also most jacked-up—sports figures of all time. And I absolutely loved watching him fight. He had the unprecedented power to knock his opponent out with just one punch. He would send you crying to mama in the first forty-five seconds of round one. And if you weren’t careful…he just might spit in your face and go to town gnawing on your ear! (Just ask Evander Holyfield.) 

Even though Iron Mike was unquestionably messed up, I couldn’t help loving him as a fighter and an athlete. Because no matter what else you could say about him, he genuinely had that “Eye of the Tiger.” The dude just loved to hit, scrap, punch you in the face, bite, trash talk, kick your booty, fight—and win! He simply stubbornly refused to lose. 

Hey parents, listen up: We need more Iron Mike Tysons in this world. 

Oh, you read that right. What I mean is we need parents who are willing to hit, scrap, punch, bite, and fight for their kids! (Of course, I don’t mean you should hit your kids.) 

But here’s who you should hit: the enemy who’s bent on stealing, killing, and destroying our families. And it’s totally gloves off with that punk. It’s Rumble in the Jungle, Thrilla in Manila, Sting in the Ring, Fight of the Century, all-out war! 

But instead of Iron Mike Tyson parenting, what we’re surrounded with today is lazy, apathetic, exhausted, busy, workaholic, God-dodging, materialistic parenting. Mom and Dad, it’s time you turn off that phone. Stuff that To-Do list in a drawer. Turn off the TV. Get your butt up off that couch. Lace up your boxing gloves… And FIGHT for your kids. 

Five Things Every Parent Needs to Fight for for Their Kids: 

1. Time. James 4:13–14 says, “How do you know what your life will be like tomorrow? Your life is like the morning fog—it’s here a little while, then it’s gone.” Make time for your kids today. Nobody’s promising you a tomorrow with them. 

2. Purity. Did you know that the largest audience for Internet porn is kids aged twelve to seventeen years old? Understand this: Satan has a dream, a vision, and a coordinated plan to take your kids out. He wants them checking out porn, keeping secrets, rounding second base and sliding into third, plunging headlong into promiscuity! Parents, please… dig deep and find the guts to FIGHT for your kids’ purity! 

3. Marriage. Is your marriage on life support? Are you at that point where the doc should just come in and pull the plug? Have you been secretly dreaming about some other person besides your spouse? Have you been having an emotional affair? What about a full-on sexual one? Then let me tell you what happens next: Fight for your  marriage! Or risk losing it all—including your kids. It really is just that simple. Sure, it’s tough. I get it. Things are jacked up. I get that maybe you’re not “feeling it” anymore. But one of the greatest gifts you can give your kids is modeling for them how to have a healthy, vibrant, passionate love affair—with your spouse! 

4. History. So, what’s your deal? Are you a yeller? Does your anger cause your kids to walk on eggshells around you? Are you a workaholic? Spiritually passive? Porn addict? Critical heart? You know that’s not who you want to be. So why are you still keeping that old man around? Kick him to the curb! Find out what it really means to be in Christ, and to have Him in you. You CAN change the pattern of history that has so far defined your life. Write the legacy that your kids deserve. But here’s the thing: You’re going to have to get bloody knuckles to make it happen. FIGHT! 

5. The Obvious. Fight to keep Jesus in the center of your family. The only thing trying to stop you is the whole world. Don’t let it. Push back. When the cares of this world try to start a fistfight with your family, you pull a knife. When they pull a knife, you pull a gun. Fight! Every day of your life, as soon as you get up, strap on your armor. (See Ephesians 6:10–18 to learn how.) Read God’s Word together, pray together, go to church together, talk about Jesus on the way to school, when you get up and before you go to bed. It's time to RE-UP.  Recommit to making Jesus the centerpiece of your life.

This post was taken from the booklet Sex, Lust and XXX:  Fighting for your kids' purity in a sex saturated world. 

BE HOLY.
BE A MAN.

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Be Somebody?

10/16/2012

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Have you ever felt the pressure to "be somebody"? I have, and I hated it. I still hate it. Have you noticed how subjective and relative "being somebody" actually is, depending upon who is telling you to "be somebody"?

The measure of success differs among varying standards of individuals. For example, to some people, being a doctor, nurse, lawyer, insurance adjuster, realtor, business owner -- or any other number of professions -- constitutes "being somebody." To others, as long as people are wealthy, they imagine themselves as "being somebody." The Kardashians come to mind immediately. 

But who, really, are the Kardashians? What is their claim to fame -- money? Does wealth define a person? If someone is wealthy, is that an indicator of worth or prestige or honor? Is an individual finally "somebody" if he or she is wealthy or famous?       

One of Jesus' half-brothers was a man named James. Certainly being the half-brother of Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world and Son of God Himself, indicated that he was "somebody." Not only did James call himself "a servant [or slave -- doúlos] of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ" (James 1:1), but he also wrote: "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). James was unimpressed with wealth and social status or prestige.

He also argued against prejudice and favoritism, implying that such people are not true believers in Jesus Christ, and thus not saved:
My brothers and sisters, do you with your acts of favoritism really believe in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ? For if a person with gold rings and in fine clothes comes into your assembly, and if a poor person in dirty clothes also comes in, and if you take notice of the one wearing the fine clothes and say, "Have a seat here, please," while to the one who is poor you say, "Stand there," or, "Sit at my feet," have you not made distinctions among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts? (James 2:1-4 NRSV) James could abide no semblance of what culture perceived as "being somebody." He explained that God has chosen "the poor in the world to be rich in faith and to be heirs of the kingdom that he has promised to those who love him" (James 2:5 NRSV). Treating the unfortunate with disdain or dishonor is a dishonorable and despicable act in God's view.

James added, "Is it not the rich who oppress you? Is it not they who drag you into court? Is it not they who blaspheme the excellent name that was invoked over you?" (James 2:6 NRSV) Sadly, too many believers grant preference to wealthy and "notable" persons while neglecting the poor and needy every day. Daily we pray, in the sets of Suffrages, "Let not the needy, O Lord, be forgotten; nor the hope of the poor be taken away" (BCP, 98). The "poor" and "needy" deserve our full attention, not the wealthy and famous. 

The apostle Paul was no advocate for favoritism either: "For if those who are nothing think they are something, they deceive themselves" (Gal. 6:3 NRSV). If Christ, the Savior, is "everything," then we are free to count ourselves as "nothing." If we think we are "somebody," when actually we are "nobody," we only deceive ourselves.

Jesus is somebody. I am nobody. "He must increase, but I must decrease" (John 3:30). You are loved not because you are somebody but because He was, is, and always will be somebody -- somebody who loves His creation. You are loved not for your accomplishments but because your worth derives from the Worthy One Himself.

Though I am a sinner whom Jesus saved, by grace through faith in Him, compared to Christ I am nobody and nothing, nor do I care to be somebody by the standards of this culture. "I would rather be a gatekeeper in the house of my God than live the good life in the homes of the wicked" (Ps. 84:10 NLT). Christ alone deserves all honor, prestige, preeminence and worship.    

This post was written by William W. Birch.  For the original post go to:  
http://www.wpfences.com/2012/10/be-somebody.html


BE HOLY.
BE A MAN.

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Actively Hope in the Gospel 

10/10/2012

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“Walk in the Spirit.” In the original language, Paul’s phrase literally means, “walk as you have been walking in the Spirit.” How had the Galatians been walking in the Spirit? In Galatians 5:5 he says, “For through the Spirit, by faith, we ourselves eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness.” Keeping in step with the Spirit, therefore, first has something to do with hope. 

During anti-porn week, we identified from secular research what viewing porn does to a person.  

This week presents practical advice of how to stay away from the influence of porn.

The gospel Paul declared is a message of anticipation and expectation, what Paul calls the “hope of righteousness.” Our great hope is that one day Christ will judge the world (Acts 17:31). He will destroy sin and death forever. He will recreate the world, and we will be just like Him (1 Cor. 15:51-55). This is our astounding hope. 

For Paul, faith in the gospel does not merely mean we assent to these grand promises but that we give ourselves wholly to them: we center our lives on them. Far from being a passive thing, faith is active. It engages the mind and the heart. As the author of Hebrews says, faith is the assurance and essence of things hoped for (Heb. 11:1): it is the delightful conviction that the things we hope for are real. 

Walking in the Spirit means we stir up this hope in us, or as Paul says, we “eagerly wait” for it (Gal. 5:5). We all have hope, but it is not a perfect hope. We all suffer from the distractions of the world and sin. It is for this reason the apostle Peter urges us: “set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ” (1 Pet. 1:13, italics added). 

Practically speaking, this means just as we have fed our minds on pornography, we should now feed our minds on eternity. Just as we have spent hours engrossed in sexual media, we should spend time filling our imaginations with the eternal promises of God. We must, as Paul says, set our minds on the things of the Spirit (Rom. 8:5), on the glories of our inheritance as God’s children (v.17). 

It is amazing how this renewed hope combats the mind-warping impact of pornography. When our imaginations are filled with anticipation of the coming kingdom of God, we become more and more determined to taste this future hope in the here and now. The apostle John reminds us that though we are now children of God, “what we will be has not yet appeared,” but we know when Christ appears we will be like him, because we shall see Him face to face (1 John 3:2). He follows this glorious promise with the practical application: “Everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure” (1 John 3:3). Knowing we are destined for an eternity of breathtaking purity and holiness, we purify ourselves here and now because we want to have a taste of this future hope. 

As intense as pornography is, it cannot compare to the life-sustaining hope we have in Christ.  Far from shutting down our desires in what we never dreamed of, C.S. Lewis reminds us:

" Indeed, if we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased....Do you think I am trying to weave a spell? Perhaps I am; but remember your fairy tales. Spells are used for breaking enchantments as well as for inducing them. And you and I have need of the strongest spell that can be found to wake us from the evil enchantment of worldliness."

Tomorrow, we talk about the power of God's Word.

This post is taken from the booklet, YOUR BRAIN ON PORN by Luke Gilkerson.  The booklet can be found at:  http://www.covenanteyes.com/brain-ebook/


BE HOLY.
BE A MAN.

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10/8/2012

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Last week was anti-porn week here at Ironstrikes.  I hope that you were able to read about the five topics:

1.  Porn and sexual satisfaction
2.  Porn and fake relationships
3.  Porn and women
4.  Porn and cruelty
5.  Porn is insidious

Readers have asked about the Zillman-Bryant study from which these five posts were taken.  In the early 1980s, Dr. Doll Zillmann of Indiana University and Dr. Jennings Bryant of the University of Alabama wondered whether continued exposure to video pornography had any impact on people's sexual beliefs and their attitudes towards women.  For their experiment, 80 male and 80 female college-age participants were divided into three subgroups, and each group was shown 4 hours and 48 minutes of media.  

1.  The first group, the “Massive Exposure Group,” was shown 36 non-violent pornographic films over a six-week period. 

2.  The second group, the “Intermediate Exposure Group,” was exposed to 18 pornographic films and 18 regular films over a six-week period. 

3.  The third (control) group, the “No Exposure Group,” was shown 36 non-pornographic movies over a six--week period

You may be saying, "that is an old study, what relevance does it have to today?"

At a 2011 conference, Dr. Mary Anne Layden commented about Zillmann and Bryant’s 25-year-old research. “When this study was done, what was called the ‘Massive Exposure Group" -- seeing five hours of porn over  a six-week period -- "I now call that the Friday Afternoon Group."

Her statement is far from an exaggeration.  A recent survey of 29,000 people at North American universities, shows 51% of men and 16% of women spend up to five hours per week online for sexual purposes, and another 11% of men spend anywhere from five to twenty  hours per week. What used to be “massive” exposure is now common practice.

Furthermore, the Internet has not only increased the public’s exposure to porn, but has also changed the way it is consumed. Dr. Jill Manning believes Zillmann and Bryant’s findings have greater applicability in the modern age because Internet porn tends to be more interactive and consumer-driven. Viewers can select exactly who and what they want to see, custom-tailored to their greatest specifications.

This week, I will be giving four solid tips in helping to curb your vulnerability to porn.

This post is taken from the booklet, YOUR BRAIN ON PORN by Luke Gilkerson.  The booklet can be found at:  http://www.covenanteyes.com/brain-ebook/

BE HOLY.
BE A MAN.

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