Is porn bad for a Christian?
For the Christian that thinks the porn industry isn't so bad, I would refer them to Shelley Lubben's website. Shelley's an ex-porn star, ex-prostitude who came to Christ and now has a ministry to help educate people about what it is like to live/work in the world of pornography. She reveals that drugs/alcohol/sexual diseases run rampant and although they make good money they tend to blow whatever they make. The damage to these people's lives is devastating and some take their own lives after only a short career. After listening to her story, it's hard to claim no one's getting hurt by watching pornography. And whether we want to admit it or not, if we watch these movies we are watching someone's daughter/son in a legalized form of prostitution.
Having said all of that let me say that I’ve struggled with pornography most of my life. The Internet has made it a whole lot easier to get it as opposed to not just 10 years ago you had to drive some place or mail order.
As a believer in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17 – “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!”), we are called to not be of the world (see Galatians 5:16-26) and if we slip or fall into lust we must repent and turn from it. And not make the excuse that everyone does it...
Shelley recommends digging into the Bible for help. Her favorite Bible verse is 2 Corinthians 10:5 “We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”
Another ministry that helps with porn addiction is
Pure Life Ministries.
Pure Life Ministries.
I am currently using a porn filter (X3Pro) from XXXChurch which emails the websites that you visit to up to three accountability partners every week.
7 comments:
Pure Life Ministries ROCKS...I love those people. They are very straightforward and they will really put the Word on you, but also with a great deal of compassion, understanding, and patience. I really recommend Pure Life for everyone...I think anybody can benefit greatly from their teaching on the new and "transformed" life we are called to in Christ. They have a lot of free message downloads on the website and a free weekly podcast available through iTunes.
As usual, good stuff Steve.
Shelley Lubben has her perspective on the porn biz, but her view isn't a scientific study.
I guess her living through it and experiencing it doesn't count for anything?
I had a chance to hear Craig Gross (XXXchurch) speak at Granger Community Church a couple of years ago. I love what those guys are doing and I love the way they're doing it!
If a scientific study is what someone wants, read "An Affair of the Mind," by Laurie Hall.
Pornography almost destroyed her husband completely. About half the book is "her story." The other half is hard empirical science about the way pornography "shreds the soul to pieces" to quote J.I. Packer.
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=64583
Another aspect of this is that many pastors suffer from porn addiction. And if not taken care of, it can lead to the tragedy like at Prestonwood.
I was talking to someone at an independent IT support firm about monitoring Internet traffic and what they recommended and had done in the past. During the discussion, he mentioned that when they had put in routers that can track the traffic for a local Dallas church, they had caught a pastor surfing porn!
I'm a big fan of Pure Life Ministries. Steve Gallagher's book At the Altar of Sexual Idolatry was great.
Shelley Lubben is such an interesting woman. I've been talking to her over email for months now and she really has a wonderful story to tell. There does seem to be many women in the adult industry who recognize they need help.
Have you heard of Covenant Eyes accountability software? It simply tracks where you go online. Then each part of each Web page is scored for its content (the scores are based on obscene material). The way it works is you choose 2 or 3 people that you want to receive a detailed “accountability report” of all the places you've been online. These people then receive that report via email or they can access it whenever they want, 24/7 on the Covenant Eyes website. What this does is it allows you complete freedom to go wherever you want online without being blocked, but all the while you know you are being held accountable for where you are going. It takes away the anonymity and secrecy of online activity. This builds self-control online and trust in relationships.
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