Links & Quotes

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“How much foolish talking and jesting would at once end if we said, ‘Surely the Lord is in this place.’ … Let your recreation be free from sin; let your amusements be such that you can enjoy them while God looks on. If, too, we felt that God was in this place, how much oftener should we talk of Him and of Christ.” —Charles Spurgeon

“David celebrates God as the sovereign, ‘with-us’ God Who is absolutely for His people and determined to do them good. He is Father to the fatherless, Defender of widows, the One Who gives homes to the homeless and release to captives (Psalm 68:5-6). He gives them gifts, blessings, and salvation (vv. 18-20), and He calls them into His presence to celebrate His magnificence in worship (vv. 24-28). He gives strength for His people to do all His bidding (v. 28) and to know Him in His glory in the heavens (v. 33). Over His people Israel, God is strong, excellent, awesome, and powerful.” —T.M. Moore (emphasis added)

Fast Company published an article from Dr. Tim Elmore on how to bridge the gap between potential and performance. As always, his stuff is spot-on!

“Kids are getting turned on by watching video, but physiologically they are less aroused. We call it P.I.E.D.—Porn Induced Erectile Dysfunction.” —Dr. Philip Zimbardo. Check out this really fast-moving TEDx talk Dr. Zimbardo gave…

Links & Quotes

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“I try to live in such a way that if God sought one person on earth for a special assignment, He would select me.” —Jonathan Edwards

“If God has work for me to do, I cannot die.” —Henry Martyn

“There is, hidden or flaunted, a sword between the sexes till an entire marriage reconciles them. It is arrogance in us to call frankness, fairness, and chivalry ‘masculine’ when we see them in a woman; it is arrogance in them to describe a man’s sensitiveness or tact or tenderness as ‘feminine.’ But also what poor, warped fragments of humanity most mere men and mere women must be to make the implications of that arrogance plausible. Marriage heals this. Jointly the two become fully human. ‘In the image of God created He them.’ Thus, by a paradox, this carnival of sexuality leads us out beyond our sexes.” —C.S. Lewis

Pornography is NOT just something private. Porn affects everyone around you: My husband has chosen porn over me for 16 years.

Not only is pornography destructive to your personal relationships, but porn fuels the human sex trafficking industry. “Ultimately, the problem isn’t human trafficking—the problem is brokenness. As finite and flawed humans, we’re broken in just about every way. And it’s because of the brokenness in ourselves and our communities that exploitation can thrive.” Read more about the deeper problems behind human trafficking.

Ever been here: I Forgave, But It Doesn’t Feel Like It? Check out what this psychologist says about the healing that can come through forgiveness.

Keep an eye for these 7 subtle symptoms of pride.

 

Links & Quotes

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“People in the unbelieving world have witnessed a good bit of hypocrisy, shallowness, disingenuousness, dishonesty, and corruption among the members of the Church. Many of them have installed a spam filter on their brains which automatically blocks anyone calling himself a Christian as having anything meaningful or significant to say. The only way to remove that filter is through a credible life of goodness, sincerity, and love. … Our credible lives, by themselves, won’t lead anyone to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. For this, we must be bold to make God’s Good News known, and to make it make sense.” —T.M. Moore

A related post: 5 Big Things We Get Wrong When Talking To Atheists About God.

“God is a mountain spring, not a watering trough. A mountain spring is self-replenishing. It constantly overflows and supplies others. But a watering trough needs to be filled with a pump or bucket brigade. If you want to glorify the worth of a watering trough you work hard to keep it full and useful. But if you want to glorify the worth of a spring you do it by getting down on your hands and knees and drinking to your heart’s satisfaction, until you have the refreshment and strength to go back down in the valley and tell people what you’ve found. My hope as a desperate sinner hangs on this biblical truth: that God is the kind of God Who will be pleased with the one thing I have to offer—my thirst. That is why the sovereign freedom and self-sufficiency of God are so precious to me: they are the foundation of my hope that God is delighted not by the resourcefulness of bucket brigades, but by the bending down of broken sinners to drink at the fountain of grace.” —John Piper

Pornography destroys lives! Here are 5 ways porn devastates lives.

In his battle against pornography and gluttony, Jimmy Needham wrote, “Real freedom came for me when I began, by God’s grace, to see that my cravings were for more than just food or sex. All my appetites were, at root, for an all-satisfying God.” Read more in his post Our Odyssey Against Sexual Temptation.

“If America is to survive, we must elect…individuals who will seek Divine guidance in the affairs of state.” —Billy Graham

“God commands you to choose for rulers, just men who will rule in the fear of God. The preservation of a republican government depends on the faithful discharge of this duty; if the citizens neglect their duty and place unprincipled men in office, the government will soon be corrupted.” —Noah Webster

[VIDEO] John Maxwell shares one of my favorite anecdotes to make a good point about efficiency—

https://youtu.be/g_oY7ZJ51tY

Porn & Human Trafficking

We Need To Talk … About Pornography

Links & Quotes

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“It can be difficult at times to remember that people who are outspoken in their opposition to God and the Gospel, who have nothing kind to say about anything Christian, and who seem so angry whenever anything related to religion comes up—these people actually have a good deal in common with those of us who believe.” Read more from T.M. Moore in his post Common Ground.

Even if the argument is true that “anyone can be a good parent,” that does not mean that marriage should be redefined. Check out this great post.

Pornography is devastating our country! If you live anywhere near Cedar Springs, please join us for a special presentation by Fight The New Drug on May 8. Get all the details here. Think porn is a harmless activity? Better read this.

Porn Is Stealing From Your Marriage

Fight The New DrugHere is a great article from Stephen Miller entitled 3 Ways Porn Steals From Your Marriage. Pornography is a disease that is devastating families!

Miller says, “This isn’t a how-to article on eliminating porn from your life. In marriage mentoring and counseling, I have seen countless men addicted to pornography. The ones who have successfully been delivered from that addiction all had several things in common. They recognized what their addiction was doing to their relationship with God, they recognized what their sin was doing to their relationship with their wife and they recognized the very real capability of sexual sin passing down through the generations to their children. They then after reviewing all the evidence, made a firm decision that they wanted pure relationships more than secret sin.” (emphasis added)

If you are in the Cedar Springs area, please join us on Friday, May 8, for a special presentation from Fight The New Drug on the dangers of pornography, and how you can defeat it from controlling your life. Get all the details by clicking here.

Please read the full article, but Miller lists these three areas porn hurts marriage—

  1. Porn steals honest, open communication
  2. Porn steal genuine, unconditional love
  3. Porn steals the holiness God intended for marriage

You must get rid of porn before it destroys your most precious relationships! Get the help you need today.

Don’t Click It!

Fight The New Drug parent flyerI’ve said this before and I’m going to keep on saying it: Pornography is NOT a victimless indulgence. You cannot say, “It doesn’t hurt anyone for me to just take a little peek.”

Yes, it does hurt. Pornography websites make their money by views. So every time you go to a website, you are keeping someone enslaved in an industry that uses, abuses, and then discards women and children.

Parents, you need to be aware of the dangers of pornography. Fight The New Drug is coming to Cedar Springs for a special presentation on Friday, May 8. Get all of the details by clicking here.

Shelley Lubben used to work in the porn industry, so she knows firsthand what’s going on. She flat out states, “So when people click [on porn], they’re contributing to sex trafficking, they’re contributing to STDs, they’re contributing to people who are mostly alcohol to drug addicts.”

Shelley goes on to say, “Of course different girls are gonna wanna say they’re empowered by their sex work, because what you can’t beat, you’re gonna join. You don’t want people to think you’re weak when you’re in porn; you wanna act like you love it and you love rough stuff, and you love being violated, and called degrading names. It’s all just a pack of lies. People do porn because they need the money, and most of them don’t have other options or education.”

Shelley was asked what she would say to someone who is looking at porn. Read her words carefully―

“You’re contributing to your demise. And to your family’s demise, and your wife’s. I can’t tell you how many porn addicts have lost their families and jobs. It’s really sad. And they’re contributing to children being raped. … Just think, right now as I’ve been talking to you, there are little children that are being drugged and raped. How could anyone click on porn knowing that?” (emphasis added)

You can read more of Shelley’s interview by clicking here.

Porn Destroys Women

Fight The New DrugWatching pornography in the quiet of your home is not a victimless crime.

Whenever you click to watch that video, another woman or child is further enslaved in a nightmarish life. You can set them free by refusing to watch that video!

In Cedar Springs, I invite you to join me on Friday, May 8, as we hear from Fight The New Drug about the dangers of porn, and what we can do to free ourselves, and to free these women and children …

https://youtu.be/Wv4xVourQ9g

Fight The New Drug

Fight The New DrugPornography is ripping off our culture.

It’s robbing youth of their innocence. It’s robbing women and children of their dignity. It’s robbing married couple of intimacy in their relationship. It’s fueling the sex trafficking industry.

Porn is a drug that is addicting, and its destroying lives!

Fight The New Drug is confronting this addiction head-on.

Science shows that the same parts of the human brain “light up” when someone views porn, as if they were taking drugs. This is what not only gives pornography its addictive nature, but then something even worse begins to happen: the law of diminishing returns kicks in.

The law of diminishing returns says that in order to get the same “high” someone has to take stronger drugs, or take them more frequently. So porn users have to look at harder and harder material, or they have to view it more and more often.

Fight The New Drug is coming to Cedar Springs. Local youth pastor Chris Anton has helped coordinate this much needed event to make students, teachers and parents aware of the drug-like dangers of pornography. The En Gedi Youth Center is making this event available on Friday, May 8, at 3:30pm in the Cedar Springs High School auditorium.

Here’s how you can help:

  • Pray for open hearts and minds at this event.
  • Give financially to help cover the expenses for this event.
  • Tell the teenagers, parents and teachers that you know about this event.
  • Attend this event with your teens.

Let’s help save our culture from the ravages of the destructive drug of pornography.