The Glory of Sex - Sexual Purity

From the outset, this topic is not to judge or condemn. Not in any way. It is to remind us of the "pup" the world has bought on this topic and how to combat it.

Guys, let's start with some stats:

1. 12% of websites on the Net are pornographic (24,644,172 websites)

2. Every second $3,075.64 is being spent on porn and 28,258 internet users are viewing porn

3. 40 Million Americans are regular visitors to porn sites - 1 in 3 are women; 70% of men aged between 18-24 visit porn websites in a typical month

4. In the US, Internet Porn pulls in $2.84B per year, worldwide the industry is worth $5B

5.2.5 Billion emails per day are pornographic

6.25% of all search engine requests are pornographic related (60 million requests a day)

7. 35% of all internet downloads are pornographic

8. Utah has the highest online porn subscription rate per thousand home broadband user in the US (5.47 per thousand)

9. 34% of internet users have experienced unwanted exposure to porn via ads, popups and email

10. There are 116,000 searches for "child pornography" every day

11. The average age a child is first exposed to porn online is 11

12. 20% of men admit to watching porn online at work (13% of women do)

source: http://www.techaddiction.ca/files/porn-addiction-statistics.jpg

13. The US produces 89% of the porn websites in the world

14. Men are 6 times more likely to view porn and spend more time viewing it than women

15. 17% of women say they struggle with Porn addiction

16. About 200,000 Americans are "porn addicts" as defined by spending more than 11hrs per week online watching porn

17. Roughly 50% of those watching porn lost interest in sex with their partners, along with 1/3 of partners did as well

18. Porn addicts: 40% lose their spouse; 58% have a financial loss; 1/3 lose their jobs

19. Marital infidelity by porn users increases by 300%

20. 56% of divorces cases involve an addiction to porn sites by at least one of the spouses.

21. Severe clinical depression is found to be twice as likely in porn web site users.

22. Sex addicts; compulsive people are 23 times as likely to state that "internet porn was the worst thing that happened to my life"

http://www.techaddiction.ca/files/porn-addiction-stats.jpg


www.eros.org.au - is the Australian lobby group for the porn industry They are the "Adult Entertainment association lobby group.  "Join the EROS Association and help us fight for your adult business and bedroom rights"
(It's great to know they are fighting for my bedroom rights, i was concerned that they were actually trying to destroy it....)
What I especially love is the notion of the callout to "The Adult business" - funny, I thought porn was actually the opposite of acting like an adult.
What is also very noble of them is to donate "$1" to "Childwise" for every PopPorn 3D DVD purchased at the website.  It's akin to British American Tabacco donating $1 for every pack of ciggy's sold to support lung cancer research, or LockHeed Martin donating $100 for every cluster bomb sold to research skin graphing from war burns.

So gents, here we are, whatever you think of the stats above, and how true and deadly accurate they are, I would contest that it's bleak and Christian men and women are not immune.  The stats for people in the church are on occasions just as bad or not that far behind in many areas.

Guys I'm just going to jump straight into this and not beat around the bush:

Porn is an insidious evil.  It is has a spiritual element to it that is extremely powerful and hard to break. There is nothing good about it. It is not of God.  Soft, hard, mellow, mutual, whatever form porn takes there is nothing good about it.

Now we can debate what is considered pornographic material is, happy to do that, but let's start with something like this: Material that is sexually explicit, erotic in nature or by inference and designed to sexually stimulate and arouse.

Here's what I would describe an a-typical world view about pornography:

(to view who transcript, go to here: http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2012/s3499376.htm)

ALAN MCKEE, CREATIVE INDUSTRIES, QLD UNI. OF TECHNOLOGY: I would worry if pornography was the only source of information that a young person was getting about sexuality. On the other hand, as part of a healthy balanced diet, I don't think it's destructive.

REBECCA BAILLIE: Professor Alan McKee doesn't believe pornography is addictive in the same way that nicotine or heroin is. He says people watch material that reflects their own sexual identities.

ALAN MCKEE: Some people argue that if you start off by looking at mainstream heterosexual pornography then you'll be drawn on to then looking at sadomasochistic pornography and then looking at child pornography and then finally at snuff pornography where people are murdered. That's the slippery slide theory. There is absolutely no scientific evidence for that.


"CATHY": I love it and I watch it a lot. I knew very early on through what I saw in porn that I didn't want to stop. I still don't see it's an addiction for me. But I knew I definitely wanted to get more involved in it.

REBECCA BAILLIE: 20-year-old university student "Cathy" and her boyfriend "John" both started watching pornography when they were 12 years old. Now they view it together.

"JOHN": A lot of couples do watch porn together and it can be a really healthy thing because a lot of couples don't communicate about sex and it's a really good way to bring up that conversation about what people like, what they don't like.

"CATHY": Being female, it is quite liberating to watch pornography and take hold of my own sexuality. A lot of what I now do in my sex life is because of the porn that I have watched.

RAJ SITHARTHAN, MEDICINE, UNIVERSITY OF SYDNEY: You're talking about a small minority or a small group of people where excessive viewing does become a problem. It's that group that we need to target on, not everybody who use porn.

RAJ SITHARTHAN: The starting age to view pornography was between 11 to 13 years, which actually surprised us given the fact that at such an early age people do seem to have some form of access to sort of look at porn material.

Another item to watch: 
http://www.sbs.com.au/insight/episode/overview/473/Generation-XXX

JENNY BROCKIE:   So Kirsten, are you saying that's everything's okay in the world of pornography? There's nothing in that world that you don't find disturbing?

KIRSTEN ANSCOMBE:  There are disturbing things but you're going to find out sooner or later. If you're going to be mature about it, like my mum gave me my first porn site and that was an educational thing. That was an educational thing for me. I didn't go looking for it.

JENNY BROCKIE:  How old were you when she did that?

KIRSTEN ANSCOMBE:  Me, I was about 14, 13, 14.

JENNY BROCKIE:   And why did you do that mum?

NICOLE ANSCOMBE: Because I wanted to tell her that is not reality really. What you're looking at, because everyone was talking about porn and she'd come to me and said "mum, kids are saying this about porn, that about porn", and I sort of turned around and went "well, Kirsten, number one priority is you've got to remember porn is not reality, it's a TV, it's not real. And I've tried to teach both my daughter and my son that this is all for show. These shows take weeks to produce; you're not going to go into a sexual relationship being able to be a porn star basically.

Dicko was stating on the show "Can of Worms", that he was informing his daughters that when it comes to oral sex, they should know that it's give and take and shouldn't just be her doing the giving. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g0wXprIPAf8
Instead he wanted his daughters to be dynamic sexually and be in control.  I do not know Dicko personally, but that seems rather unwise fatherly advice does it not?

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So there is just a snippet of the world view, or Australian western view. And you and I are sitting at home in the study, it's late, everyone's in bed and it's just you and the monitor.  It then moves to the smart phone at lunchtime, on the weekend and before you drive home from work.

She won't know, it doesn't affect the kids, it's only soft, there's no kids involved, it's not hurting anyone... but you hate that sick feeling afterward, the low comes in over the top and it's leaving you unsatisfied.  You start viewing women in a different way, wondering, fantasising, going there...

You turn on the TV, watch a movie, the sex scene comes on, and goes on and on... okay you get the picture, they had amazing sex, just met each other and it's liberated them...

You're in the car driving home and on the back of a bus is an ad reading "heavenly taste, sinful body" with a picture of a women in a bikini and you're mind is racing.

Sound familiar?

Sexual purity, it's a difficult business.  If we are to combat this at it's root, we can not do it without understanding the spiritual origins of it.

Satan: JC says he is the "Father of lies", that he comes to "steal kill and destroy".
Sex  and sexuality is such a MASSIVE MASSIVE MASSIVE aspect to our being, and Satan recognises this and uses it to deceive ourselves.

(As an side note, to one way of thinking, society goes on about not seeing somebody through their sexuality, but the person as a whole, especially to do with the LGBTI community.  This as a front to non-discrimination and equality. to which I agree in some circumstances.  The same is said for men and women at work in certain roles - "don't judge me by my sex".  But I wonder if we have bought the lie from Satan on this line too much so that our sexuality is completely irrelevant to all things - which it clearly is NOT, in fact it's extremely important. )

I would argue that our sexuality and sex is a HUGE aspect to our being and HUGE aspect to our health in marriage, kids, family, community, church, society. To consider otherwise, is foolishness. How might you say?  Just look at the dramatic damage porn and sexual dysfunction is having on the world?

So what do about it?

1. Understand the power of it from the Creator - ie. the Glory of it, the wonder and majesty of sex and sexuality
2. Understand the power of it in light of the spiritual implications - i.e there is a spiritual bond in the act
3. Understand there are demonic forces at play trying to draw you in  - i.e use the word of God to combat it along with practical strategies.  But one without the other is not going to work
4. See other women as your sisters, which they are, women of God and your sister.
5. Buy your wife something you'd like to see her in and take her out. Get on the front foot and "desire" after your wife....

1 Cor 6:18
1 Thess 4:3
1 Cor 7:5
Matthew 15:19
1 Cor 10:8
Gal 5:19
Eph 5:3

"God is faithful. And He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear, and will provide a way out so that you can endure" 1 Cor 10:13

Spiritual Realms in the Media

Guys,

I was sitting on the couch next to my beautiful wife just finished watching a documentary on TV via the ABC iView application.

As we're scouring the iView application for another show to watch, I was searching under the "Drama" section. And here's what I saw, watch now:

"Devil's Dust", "Demons", "Breaking Bad", "Kingdom", "Blade of the Immortal", "Shameless", "Hit and Miss", "Sinbad", "Strike Back", "The Slap", "The Strange Calls", "Waking the Dead", "Torchwood: Children of Earth".

Now hear me out, I am not trying to be overly spiritual and read too much into things, but what do you see here...? "Crime and Punishment", "CSI", "Bones", "Damages", ..... and then the movies about extra-terrestrial life, the last days, world armageddon and obliteration, supernatural evil forces, the battle of good and evil over the world (v's just a city or town).

To suggest Satan hasn't got his little hand around the media I think would be akin to suggesting Pornography is safe and harmless.

I love the fact that there is so much great Christian based media and content now that I can fill my mind with to replace Satan's subtle but ever encroaching stranglehold on lots of other media.

Very helpful resources

Guys,

For those that want to challenge their brains and feed your arguments and reasons for why you believe what you do and have your thoughts challenged and sharpened, here are 3 great sites / podcasts that I use:

Apologetics Podcasts & Multimedia content:

- Unbelievable - it's debates/interviews between Christian and Non-Christians on topics like: Did Jesus Exist, Creation, Atheism, Gay Marriage, Interviews with Jehovah Witnesses, Mormans, Muslim teachers, Atheists, etc
http://www.premier.org.uk/unbelievable

- Apologetics 315 - interviews with great apologetics on a broad range of topics
http://www.apologetics315.com/

- AllAboutGod Portal - full of fascinating material and content on a huge range of subjects relating to the world today and Christianity.
http://www.allaboutthejourney.org/
http://www.allaboutgod.com/

As Peter says we should be ready to have an answer seasoned with salt when questions of faith come our way.

Furthermore, there are super smart guys, that have constructed answers to questions that highlight the non-sensical nature of questions like: God doesn't exist, Evolution is a fact, Jesus was a myth, How can God allow suffering, What do the Jehovah Witnesses's believe, Egalitarianism

I really like the comment from Randall Niles who says, it's not that we have to win the argument, but rather engage and have a seasoned answer and point them to Truth to discover that for themselves. "Let every person work out their own salvation in fear and trembling".

Holy Spirit - Refresher

"In the last days, I will pour out my spirit" (Act 2)

We are a soul, that happens to have a body.

"You don't have a soul. You are a Soul.  You have a body" (CS Lewis)

"The Lord is Spirit and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom (from the Law).  And we with unveiled faces are being transformed into his likeness with ever increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit"
(2 Cor 3: 17-18)

"ministers of the new convenant - not of the letter but of the Spirit, for the letter (Law) kills but the Spirit gives life" (2 Cor 3: 6)

"For the god of this age has binded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the Glory of Christ, who is the image of God". (2 Cor 4:4)

"Yet the time is coming and has now come when the true worshippers will worship the Father in Spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshippers the Father seeks.  God is Spirit and the worshippers must worship in spirit and in truth"
(John 4: 23-24)

"For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.  We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God and we take captive every thought and make it obedience to Christ" (2 Cor 10: 3-5)

Guys we spoke last week about being "Spiritually aware", about being Spiritually attuned.  That is, to be cognisant that though we live in the world, like Jesus, he spent vasts amounts of his time explaining life and purpose, but (in-particular) the Pharisees couldn't "get it".

So I want to have a refresher on this topic, which I think really needs a few sessions on the Holy Spirit: His role, purpose, function, baptism into the Holy Spirit, Trinity, grieving the Holy Spirit etc.

So for today, here's the context: If I am, first a spirit, soul, person(ality), with a physical body, then what are the implications?
That is, my body is essentially, hosting my soul, my spirit.  It is the physical manifestation of the workings of my person.
In other words, God could have decided to host my spirit in a different physical structure, but He didn't, we are in the Image of God.

Now when you think about it, the materialist, says, "not so", the mind and body are one (monism), we are the working of matter and space, of no external consequence or purpose.  Rationality, morals and love are self made concepts. The implications to that are profoundly illogical and irrational, but that's a whole other topic.

But God who is outside time and space, is Spirit and it is by his Spirit the universe, through Jesus, came into existence.
"Not by might, not by power, but by my Spirit" God says.

Jesus, spoke in spiritual truths, that is, he said "the truth will set you free".  But many didn't get it, that is, they didn't comprehend it, or accept his teaching or truths.  Truth is truth, it can not be anything else, it is immoveable. Jesus spoke truth.  "I am the way" "God loved the world" "I have come to give life" "I am the Son of God"......

When we hear truth, we recognise it, it strikes a chord in our spirit, soul, person. It resonates.  It convicts us.  It does not condemn us. "Where the Spirit is, there is freedom".

When we see someone healed, a marriage restored, incredible provision, the dead raised, a person released from drug abuse or a hardened criminal turn to Christ, that is physical witness of a Spiritual event.  The power behind that spiritual event is the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit is SO SO important in our day to day walk.  Otherwise religion either comes in and hijacks our faith, or we dull our spirit to materialism and reject God altogether.

Which is exactly what Satan does, through argument and rationality to the physical.  He is sneaky (the father of lies), in turning what God has set up (structure, reason, love, purpose) to discredit the very structures God put in, in the first place.  The argument goes something like this from Satan to mankind's thinking/beliefs: "I am rational, therefore I believe that because I am rational, I can not believe or accept there is a God or divine creator, because rationally that doesn't make sense"

So what does Paul say "Though we live in the world, we do not wage ware as the world does.... instead we take captive every argument and thought and make it captive and obedient to Christ"

On so, so many levels the issue of the Holy Spirit is fundamental to our walk as men of God.  IF WE DON'T HAVE THE HOLY SPIRIT IN US OR IF WE DON'T COMPREHEND AND ENGAGE WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT, WE WILL BE SPIRITUALLY DEAD.

What does that mean?

Our fruit will be that of the world's.

Simple example: Family member, friend, colleague, associate, neighbour does something wrong towards you. Could be a small annoying thing or something big, could be suicide, could be stealing your idea at work, you pick it.

A relationships counselor might take you down several paths of counselling (if it really caused you grief) and if they had any sense, suggest you forgive them.
A close friend might empathise and feed your desire for revenge or hatred.
A family member might show sympathy and say nothing of what to do.

But really, Christ says "Father forgive them, for they know not what they do" while he's being crucified. And you and I know Truth: forgive me my sins, as I forgive those who have sinned against me". Yet we want  revenge, retribution, justice, sense of entitlement to retaliation, and on Satan goes....
"To err is human, to forgive is divine" (Alexander Pope - 1688-1744)

Forgiveness is a spiritual act - it goes outside our physical, mental physiological sphere.  Now to the person outside of Christ, without the Holy Spirit, it doesn't mean they can't forgive.  At times, mankind aligns itself with Spiritual truths from God and get's blessed by them.
But the difference is, people who have the Holy Spirit, are enabled to "do greater things than these"  (heal, create wealth, bless others, restore, rebuke, prophesy, call out demons off people, speak in tongues....)

If we are to Worship God in Spirit and in Truth, I take that to imply that I will not allow my Spiritual relationship be hijacked by the materialistic prism that dominates our culture.  If I am being transformed into His Likeness, from Glory to Glory, then the only way is via the Spirit.

What does that actually mean?

- Get baptised into the Holy Spirit (not essential, but highly recommended!) (Acts 8:15-16)
- Fill your mind with Spiritual Truths: Bible, Church
- Speak, relate to the Holy Spirit, learn to listen, hear His Voice.
- For me, it's good to sacrifice/give up things/fast for a period something to refocus
- Look for opportunities to release the Holy Spirit (whatever you lose on earth will be loosed in heaven and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven) i.e. pray for someone to get healed, restored. Declare God's word into a situation. Ask the Holy Spirit to give you wisdom or helpin forgiving someone.