A Call To Arms - Part Two

This is a somewhat lengthy read ~ please, please hang with me though.

Don’t you just love to have recipes right at your finger tips when you can’t find your paper copy? I don’t know how many times I’ve misplaced a recipe and merely had to plug it into recipes.com and there "she" sat ~ I push the ‘print button’ and I have another copy in moments. What about when you hear a word for the first time ~ you can’t spell it much less know its definition ~ it’s so easy to just check out Webster’s Dictionary online and "bam" you’ve got the info. And I couldn’t even begin to list the benefits of email. It is so much faster than a phone call. If you have to call several folk with the same message it is an even better use of your time. And my favorite of all ~ blogging right here with all of you ~ my lifeline to many wonderful Christian ladies who bless me with their devotions, who guide me with their kind words, who love me and they don’t even know me. By far it is my favorite use of the internet ~ and there are several other enjoyable ways I use the world wide web ~ from using map quest to get driving directions to listening to Billy Graham, Charles Stanely, J. Vernon MeGee and a host of others preach across the cyber air waves. The internet has many admirable qualities.

And yet I wonder ~ is "easier" all it is cracked up to be? Today I was once again made aware of another good man falling into the devastation of pornography. Right now all I can think is "Oh how can it be?" The ease of viewing pornography on the internet seems to be one of satan’s most effective tools in destroying Christians and their families. One in two Christian men and one in four Christian women are addicted to porn. Those statistics are nothing less than shocking and staggering ~ and they don’t even include the many men, women, and children that view it off and on and are not addicted.....yet. It is hard to fathom that we are sitting in our church congregations with this secret sin having overtaken so many lives.

A friend of mine talked with me this week about her pastor who confessed that he had had an addiction with porn some ten years ago and now he has an accountability system set up to help keep him on track - everything that he writes and views on the computer is automatically copied into an email each day and sent to his wife and one of the deacons of the church. At some point and time he realized that in order to heal he would have to be held accountable. And this was a preacher. I’ve talked with my pastor lately and he is aware of other pastors who have left the pulpit because they couldn’t break the habit ~ and yet others who are still preaching and continue with this battle. Indeed the statistics do not limit themselves to just the church congregation ~ they reflect the church pastors and other leadership like deacons and trustees as well. This is all so overwhelming indeed.

I’m not convinced that folk realize just how serious this is. It is such a powerful and addictive vice ~ and the ramifications can be likened to the rippling effect left by a concrete block rather than that of a pebble or stone thrown into the water. Indeed, the affect is paramount and the tremendous harm that is done is mind boggling. I have watched more than one family affected by pornography in the home. Minds are altered forever. Families are broken. Healing is difficult to attain "in part" much less "in whole." It is simply devastating.

We must have a call to arms ~ for this is a spiritual battle of great magnitude. I am weary of hearing about the fall of one good soldier after another. Satan is picking Christians off one by one ~ and we must fight back. May we pray as if everything counts on our prayers alone. KNOW what your children are watching on TV. KNOW what your spouse is watching on TV. KNOW what everyone is viewing on the computer. Install filters on your computers that cannot be altered except by the computer administrator. Have an accountability system in place with your spouse. Don’t expect that they can have the strength to move freely within the internet without falling. Many a good man and woman has already fallen. And those images that they have placed in their minds will be with them for the rest of their lives short of a miracle.

Oh dear friends, take some precautions and insure that all is right in your home. In a world of ipods, cell phones, computers, and tv’s ~ the temptation is overwhelming. And no one - no one - is above falling. Lord bless you today as you take up arms to protect yourself and your own.