Pornography is drastically affecting America and the church. It is often the “dirty little secret” that is constantly being ignored and swept under the rug while it kills intimacy, marriages, and purity. The porn business is a $14 billion dollar a year industry. It is supposed to be designed for mature adults, but the reality is that it is killing America’s youth. The average age of a porn viewer is between 12-17years old. The average age a person is first introduced to pornography is 11 years old. The reason for these startling stats is because it is only a few clicks away now. It’s not like 20 years ago, when you had to look under your dad’s mattress or go into the XXX store with a ballcap pulled down low to cover your face so nobody knew you were there. Anybody with an Internet connection can have porn available in a matter of seconds without anybody knowing.
One of the best resources I have found that is fighting the fight against pornography and calling people back to God and holiness is www.xxxchurch.com. I strongly support these guys (one of the guys, Craig Gross, is on the Nightline debate mentioned above). Check them out.
Whether you are in ministry or not, we have to be proactive about protecting our purity in ministry. Here a couple of practical suggestions that I recommend you put into practice immediately in your home:
1.Put your home computer in a public area. This definitely applies if you arent married. Or don’t have a computer in your home.
2.Put some sort of filter/accountability software on your computer that monitors what websites are being viewed. XXXchurch.com has a FREE software for Mac and PC that is called X3 Watch. That software is an accountability software that sends a weekly email to an accountability partner of what websites you are looking at. The key is that your partner is somebody that will hold you accountable and you don’t want them to know you are looking at porn (I recommend your best friend, your pastor, your mom, etc).
I personally have X3 Watch on my personal computer. Mack (my best freind) is my accountability partner. Every week he gets an email that reports any questionable websites that I may have viewed that week.
It’s time we stop sweeping this epidemic that is drastically affecting our churches, our marriages, our teenagers, and our culture under the rug. Pursue holiness. Pursue purity.
2 comments:
Bravo. But this isn't just affecting boy teens. It's affecting pastors, fathers, mothers, girls... it's an epidemic.
Internet accountability is life-transforming. I love the way it changes the way I surf the web.
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