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Day 10
Porn in the USA?
By Al Menconi
A
plague is sweeping across our country.
It is destroying marriages, families, careers,
ministries, and churches. The plague I’m
speaking of is pornography, and if the
statistics are correct, it has also become
the number one problem within the church
today.
With the easy access to the Internet
today, almost every family in America
is becoming vulnerable. The NUA Internet
survey reports that 75% of the hits on
the Web are looking for porn. That means
three quarters of all the activity on
the web right now involves
pornography! Read that again. Does that
bother you? Does it break your heart?
I wish that I could report that it
was different in the Christian community,
but research and the personal counseling
I have done, indicate that it is just
as bad with Christian men, and maybe
worse!
In my younger days, I knew a few guys
who went through elaborate schemes and
a great deal of trouble to acquire a ‘girlie
magazine’ and sneak it into their
room. And in times past, Christian men
resisted these temptations because of
the social stigma and shame attached
to it. To be seen in public going into
an XXX-rated theater or bookstore was
more shame than men wanted to face.
It is so much easier to fill our heads
with vivid sexual imagery today. All
it takes is a click of the mouse on our
personal computers in the privacy of
our own homes, and we can observe the
most perverted, XXX, sexual scenes imaginable.
Christian men have confessed to me
that they clicked on a porn site out
of a casual curiosity. They just wanted
to see what the excitement was all about.
Many of them became addicted almost immediately.
How much sex does it take before it
can be called pornography? How about
if I just put in one or two sex scenes
and insert them into a story about a
ship that hits an iceberg and sinks in
the Atlantic Ocean ? Is it still pornography?
How many sex scenes can you watch before
it affects you? Are you fooling yourself?
If you say you can watch sex scenes
and it doesn’t affect you, your
response illustrates just how much it
has already affected you. Colossians
2:8 says that if you subject your mind
to the empty philosophies of this world,
you will struggle with your
faith in Jesus and the joy of our salvation.
How is your faith in Jesus? How’s
your joy?
What are you entertaining yourself
with? I have talked to thousands of parents
who are concerned about the music their
children listen to, but often subject
their own minds to subtle forms of pornography.
It reminds me of a story about a psychiatric
ward that had a unique way to test the
mental competency of its patients. The
patient was put into a room in which
the sink is plugged and the faucet had
been turned on. The patient was given
a mop and instructed to clean up the
water that was spilling onto the floor.
Any patient who attempted to mop up the
mess, without first turning off the faucet,
was not considered mentally competent.
The same is true with us. If we don’t
first turn off the constant stream of
immorality that is flooding our homes
today, we will never clean up the spiritual
mess in our lives.
Reflection: How about
you? Are you trying to “mop up” weak
areas in your life without turning off
the faucet of immorality? Have you ever
visited a porn site? Do you believe you
have a problem with porn? Have you ever
confessed this to another Christian?
Would this be too difficult and embarrassing
to do? (Then you have a problem with
porn.) Is there a mature Christian male
in your life that you could trust with
these issues? Are you ready to discuss
these issues with him? Will you resolve
to do so at the earliest possibility?
Response: Do you
have safeguards on your computers to
protect you and your family from stumbling
onto porn and other harmful sites?
[If you don’t have a porn safeguard
on your computer, visit our site at www.AlMenconi.com and
we can recommend a very effective one
for you to try.]
Verse of the Day: Psalm 101:3,7
"I will set no worthless thing
before mine eyes. He that worketh deceit
shall not dwell within my house. He
that telleth lies shall not tarry in
my sight." (KJV)
I don’t believe there’s
a better verse to apply to television,
videos, video games, and many websites
today. How many ungodly philosophies
do we allow in our home through our television
sets and computer consoles?
Porn is especially a concern, even
in the Christian community. Many church
leaders believe that pornography is the
number one problem with men in the church.
These verses say that if it is worthless,
deceitful and/or spreading lies (especially
about biblical values), we shouldn’t
even allow it in our house. Period! If
we do, we are only asking for problems.
My family and thousands of Christian
families around the world have posted
a card with these verses above our TV
to help remind us to be careful with
our entertainment choices. You would
be surprised how it has helped us make
wise viewing choices.
If you would like one for your TV,
you can request a free copy from our
website at www.AlMenconi.com.
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