I remember speaking at a Bible college as a visiting lecturer in the early 1980s. During one week of teaching, I had three different female students approach me and confess that they each were having an affair with a youth pastor or senior pastor in their church. It was like cold water thrown in my face. I think the Lord strategically brought those contacts into my life to help me realize I needed to address this issue.
Now that was in the 1980s, when we didn’t yet have the internet. We were in the very early days of renting videos. At that point, I started comparing our culture to ancient Corinth, where you could go out into the streets and supposedly find a thousand priestesses of Aphrodite—prostitutes who would throw themselves at men passing by. Today, with TVs, VCRs, DVDs, especially the internet, and now even cell phones, the immediacy and the amassing of pornography is greater than anything we could have imagined.
A couple weeks ago on a Saturday night, I spoke on the topic of sexual purity at my home church. The following clip from that message is one of the less popular statements I’ve made on this topic, but one that I believe is very important for parents to heed. The second clip is from the next Sunday and contains some follow up thoughts.
EPM Note: For those who would like to read comments posted on this blog before it moved from the Blogger address, see below:
Anonymous said...May I say--girls may not have the same problem with visuals that boys do, but there is much to protect girls from, as well. Chat rooms lure lonely girls looking for relationships with guys. AND the internet is available on many cell phones. Also, most teens can figure out how to bypass your password and how to surf the internet invisibly so that you can't check out their history.
May 20, 2010 2:25 PM
Marla Taviano said...Thank you, Randy. I don't think ANY of us should have our computer in a place where no one can see us while we're on it.
Any site I look at or any correspondence that goes on (Facebook, Twitter, e-mail), I ask myself, "Would I be comfortable if my husband (or daughters) were standing over my shoulder looking at/reading this?"
May 20, 2010 3:02 PM
Heidi Bylsma said...Hi, Wendy. Thanks so much for the vimeo links. I was able to view the videos that way. I am glad that Randy has the courage and conviction to speak the truth--even in the face of opposition. The Enemy of our souls hates our families and wants to rip them apart. The fact is, if we don't have a pro-active way of keeping pornography out of our homes it is likely already in there...somewhere. It may be through a Sunday newspaper Nordstroms ad special for lingerie or unsolicited catalogs in the mail, or through our computers...even the ads of what should be innocuous websites show far too much skin and are designed to entice the uninitiated. I soooo agree with Randy! We don't do ourselves or our kids and their future spouses any favors by sticking our heads in the sand. This is a very real threat. The internet is now carried in the pockets of people everywhere they go...how are we protecting ourselves and our children? It is scary... But another thing Randy is right about...there IS healing. I have seen it!
May 20, 2010 8:38 PM
ian said...Totally agree with you, and it amazes me how few people realise this. In fact, while this may be more significant for adolescent boys, I think the "porn in the cupboard" argument applies to us all, most of all men.
May 21, 2010 6:14 AM
Pooka said...I understand and vouch for everything you said here from personal experience. Thanks for being honorable and devoted enough to say what parents need to hear.
May 21, 2010 2:43 PM
Stephen said...Thanks for being bold and honest on this subject. I got into pornography for that same reason when i was in junior high - i had a computer, with internet access, in my room. It took me over 8 years to overcome the addiction. My parent could have easily prevented it if they would have know.
Throughout college i realized that almost every solid, Christian guy i knew had a history of looking at pornography. It's rampant, and it's essential that we talk about openly and honestly like you have. Thanks!
May 24, 2010 4:29 AM
Mark Sandy said...Thank you so much for your boldness in speaking the truth! Esp. about TV programs that are viewed as so acceptable and "harmless" by so many. I totally agree that to get those things out of reach for our children, we parents have to be willing to say no to them ourselves! WE don't need that trash in our minds any more than they do! Very well said. I love your passion for protecting the purity of our children. It is a battle that we MUST fight.
Sheryle
May 25, 2010 1:05 PM
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