Oct 14- Matthew 5:27-28

Jesus said,

You have heard that it was said,

'You shall not commit adultery.’

But I say to you that everyone

who looks at a woman with lust

has already committed adultery

with her in his heart.

Matthew 5:27-28

We have a generation of chronic adulterers.

Why? Because pornography is a murderous modern addiction. 

It devours fine men. It is increasingly seducing more and more women. It is undermining true intimacy and too many marriages. It is even quicksand for strong pastors and legions of "good" churchgoers. 

We are a nation of addicts. 

And our children are the pawns of the deceitful logic that what one or two consenting adults do behind closed doors is their own business. 

Why?

·       Because the easy access to porn is enslaving our children. The online sites funded by this addiction aren’t just frequented by of-age adults. Too many children are too addicted at way too young an age. Thus, our children are our pawns. 

·       Because pornography is ruining real adult relationships with unrealistic expectations and the counterfeit satisfaction of intimacy. The net effect includes more out-of-wedlock sex, fewer marriages, and later more divorce. This means, in part, that because of pornography there's more fatherless children. (And this means children are again pawns … as fatherless households are one of the biggest predictors to things like poverty and drug use.) 

·       As people use more and more porn, it takes more and more “stimulation” to elicit the same "effect." This leads to increasingly "less traditional viewings" ... a spiral of addiction that too often progresses to child porn. (Are we complicit in making children pawns … even when “that” isn't our flavor of the moment?)

·       Similarly with higher stakes stimulation comes a rise in prostitution. And who is being used and trafficked most? Teens and children. They're the most vulnerable pawns of the growing sexual addiction in our culture. Internet pornography directly fuels sex trafficking and slavery – including the slavery of children. 

·       Furthermore, compromised adults abuse children. 

·       And likewise compromised teens abuse children too.

·       Compromised teens also abuse and cheapen one another. 

We need to quit winking at the titilation that defines our culture. 

We need to quit (passively) approving the deceitful logic that what one or two consenting adults do behind closed doors is their own business. 

We need to confess our own vulnerability and guard our own hearts. 

We need to get help for our addiction. (And statistics say that probably half of you reading this a compromised. It’s not time to be silent. It’s time to be freed.)

In Christ's Love,

a guy who found it

nearly impossible to stay pure

in an age when access to mess

was a thousand times more difficult

than it is today

... and a pastor who wants

to help us all do the impossible:

stay pure in an impure world

(Call me if you want help.

It’s confidential.)