Stephen Kuhn's Blog, page 55

Weekly Web (W)roundup

Each week, I roundup the best links, articles, and videos I find that are relevant to finding freedom from pornography addiction. Please note that by posting a link here it does not mean I agree with everything in the linked article. It just means I found it interesting enough to share.

Donny’s Ramblings: How Porn Affects Us—A List of Peer Reviewed Studies, as well as Magazine Articles 

“At the 2003 meeting of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, a gathering of the nation’s divorce lawyers, attendees documented a startling trend. Nearly two-thirds of the attorneys present had witnessed a sudden rise in divorces related to the Internet; 58% of those were the result of a spouse looking at excessive amounts of pornography online.”

XXXChurch: 3 Things That Kept This Pastor On Porn

“I can clearly remember the crushing weight of carrying my secret porn addiction onto the church stage each week. It felt like a million pounds on my chest. At times I wondered whether or not a person could die from stress. If so, I certainly felt like a candidate.”

The Gospel Coalition: That Relationship will not Complete You

“As you look on your singleness you can feel dissatisfied and even begin thinking of yourself as a second-class citizen because you lack your true soulmate. In an attempt to fill the void you spend months, and sometimes years, searching for the mythical “one” who will supposedly meet your needs and give meaning to your life.”

Pastor Bob Beeman: Repent! Wait … What?

The post Weekly Web (W)roundup appeared first on Belt of Truth Ministries.

In Christ, You Will Rise from the Dead

For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in Him. (1 Thessalonians 4:14)

What if I told you zombies were real?

Well, at least kind of real.

Now, don’t go running off to buy a chainsaw or a shotgun just yet. This verse doesn’t mean you need to worry about brain-eating zombies crawling out of their graves and chasing you into a pub.

But this verse does seem to talk about the dead rising from their graves, and that sounds an awful lot like zombies. So…

In order for us to understand what’s really going on here, we need to look at the broader context of this passage:

Since Jesus died and broke loose from the grave, God will most certainly bring back to life those who died in Jesus.

We can tell you with complete confidence—we have the Master’s word on it—that when the Master comes again to get us, those of us who are still alive will not get a jump on the dead and leave them behind. In actual fact, they’ll be ahead of us. The Master himself will give the command. Archangel thunder! God’s trumpet blast! He’ll come down from heaven and the dead in Christ will rise—they’ll go first. Then the rest of us who are still alive at the time will be caught up with them into the clouds to meet the Master. Oh, we’ll be walking on air! And then there will be one huge family reunion with the Master. So reassure one another with these words (1 Thessalonians 4:14–18).

When we read this passage in context, we can see that Paul isn’t talking about the dead coming back to steal life away from those who are still living (zombies); he is talking about Christ coming back to restore life to those who are physically dead (resurrection)!

You see, the early believers in Thessalonica were concerned that anyone who believed in Christ but died before His return would miss out on the resurrection and eternal life. Which is why Paul encourages them to rest in the truth of what God has promised us will happen when Christ returns:

those who have died after trusting in Christ will be resurrected first
living believers will follow closely behind
all believers will be reunited with their loved ones
all who are in Christ will be reunited with God!

So yes, my friend, the dead will rise. But they won’t be zombies, they will be resurrected children of God!

For a much deeper explanation of this passage, check out this amazing article from Keith Krell.

Who are you looking forward to seeing again after the resurrection?

The post In Christ, You Will Rise from the Dead appeared first on Belt of Truth Ministries.

Smart Quote: Nate Larkin

Thoughts on this quote? Feel free to discuss them in the comments below.

The post Smart Quote: Nate Larkin appeared first on Belt of Truth Ministries.

2 Reasons My Addiction Evolved From Fantasy To Reality

[image error]My addiction isn’t hurting anyone. It’s only pictures on a screen. It’s not like I’m cheating on my wife. There’s no way I could ever do that.

At least that’s what I told myself.

Right up until I had my first affair.

I never would have considered myself capable of being unfaithful to my wife. I loved her, found her attractive, and honestly wanted to be a Godly husband. I simply couldn’t fathom the thought of hurting her in that way.

So what happened? How did my addiction to pornography erupt out of the computer and evolve into multiple real-world affairs?

Looking back now, I can see two main issues that fueled my evolution from online to offline.

Read the rest of the article on xxxChurch.com

If you aren’t familiar with xxxChurch.com, they’re the #1 site on the internet offering biblical help for those who struggle with porn addiction. I suggest you check out all the great resources they offer to help you on your journey to freedom (after you read the rest of this post of course).

The post 2 Reasons My Addiction Evolved From Fantasy To Reality appeared first on Belt of Truth Ministries.

Weekly Web (W)roundup

Each week, I roundup the best links, articles, and videos I find that are relevant to finding freedom from pornography addiction. Please note that by posting a link here it does not mean I agree with everything in the linked article. It just means I found it interesting enough to share.

Christward Collective: Why Not Sin? 

“As a Christian, why not sin? We could give a myriad of answers to that question. However, the best answer is supplied by Paul in Romans 6. Paul could have talked about the misery that sin brings, the pain that it inflicts upon others, the consequences which flow from it, or the penalty that Christ had to pay for it. But that is not where he first turns.”

Breakpoint: The Pornification of the Church

“A group called Proven Men Ministries commissioned the Barna Group to examine current pornography use. You might want to sit down for this—Barna found that 64 percent of American men and 20 percent of women view pornography at least monthly. And for Christian men, that number is 55 percent.”

Covenant Eyes: My Husband Was a Porn Addict—How He Earned Back My Trust

“He had already tried, many times, to stop looking at porn on his own. He had prayed and asked God to take the desires away. He struggled for years. He got so frustrated that he finally gave up and quit trying to quit—all while working every day with Scripture as a Bible translator. Ironic.”

Sy Rogers: Submitting Your Sexuality to God

The post Weekly Web (W)roundup appeared first on Belt of Truth Ministries.

In Christ, You are Complete

So you also are complete through your union with Christ, who is the head over every ruler and authority (Colossians 2:10).

I can remember sensing something missing in my life as far back as my early teen years. As I grew older and my hormones began to take over, I started to believe that missing piece could be found in relationships.

All I needed to do was find a girlfriend and then I would be happy and my life would be complete.

Somehow, I finally convinced a girl to date me around my sophomore year of high school. I’d developed an interest in girls long before that of course, but all my previous attempts at charming them had failed miserably.

But now that I had a girlfriend, why did the hole remain?

Surely it must have been her inability to meet the need—or so I believed.

Inevitably, we broke up and I began my decade-long cycle of moving from relationship to relationship, hoping to find the right girl who would fill that void and complete me.

But no girl ever did, because no human relationship could ever fill the hole in my soul.

Yes, relationships are important. They can be a source of happiness, joy, and love in your life. But they can’t—and won’t—complete you.

Only Christ can truly complete you and make you whole. And the best part is, if you are in Christ, He already has.

When you were united with Christ, He filled that hole in your heart. Which means you don’t have to keep searching for the missing piece to your puzzle. You can finally be done with looking for the right person, the perfect job, or whatever else you are currently believing will fill the void and make your life complete.

You already are complete, because Christ has made you complete!

What areas have you unsuccessfully tried to fill the void with?

The post In Christ, You are Complete appeared first on Belt of Truth Ministries.

3 Ways Porn Destroyed Sex in My Marriage

I’m excited to announce that another post I wrote for xxxChurch.com went live this morning. If you aren’t familiar with xxxChurch, they’re the #1 site on the internet offering biblical help for those who struggle with porn addiction. I suggest you check out all the great resources they offer to help you on your journey to freedom. And, of course, check out my post on their site as well.

One of the lies I often hear is that pornography can be a helpful tool to spice up your sex life—especially in a monogamous relationship like marriage. After all, if you’re getting tired of the same meal, shouldn’t you pick up a cookbook for some extra inspiration?

This logic breaks down though, when you realize the purpose of sex (unlike food) goes much deeper than to merely satisfy physical desires. (Tweet This!) The purpose of sex is to bring you and your spouse together in a way that unites your entire selves together; not just physically, but emotionally and spiritually as well.

But what happens if you allow pornography to influence your marriage bed?

I tried.

It completely destroyed our connection.

Read the rest of the article on xxxChurch.com

The post 3 Ways Porn Destroyed Sex in My Marriage appeared first on Belt of Truth Ministries.

Smart Quote of the Week: Brother Lawrence

Belt of Truth Ministries.

Weekly Web (W)roundup

Each week, we roundup the best links, articles, and videos we find that are relevant to finding freedom from pornography addiction. Please note that by posting a link here it doesn’t necessarily mean we agree with everything in the linked article. It just means we found it interesting enough to share.

Christ and Pop Culture: Living in a World of “Little Boys With Their Porno” 

“Earlier this year, Arcade Fire released their highly anticipated double album Reflektor to considerable fanfare. While much of the subsequent attention has been focused on songs like the title track, ‘Here Comes The Night Time,’ and ‘Afterlife’—and understandably so—there’s one song on Reflektor that has stuck with me since my earliest listening sessions, but that seems to have flown under most critics’ radars: the bluntly titled ‘Porno.’”

Cripplegate: May I marry for looks? An Open Letter to Single Male Idiots

“I have been asked this same question by many of your ilk. To be more honest than I’d be if I were posting this answer on a blog, I confess I have made that same enquiry myself. The conventional wisdom I received was that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. That is true, but some beholders are idiots. I was one of them.”

XXXChurch: 8 Can’t-Miss Ways to Ruin Your Church with a Porn Problem

“If you want to see your church ravaged by a sex or porn scandal, then follow this plan and you are well on your way.”

D.A. Carson, Tim Keller, and John Piper: How Does the Gospel Conquer the Sin of Pornography?

The post Weekly Web (W)roundup appeared first on Belt of Truth Ministries.

In Christ, You Can be Deeply Rooted

Let your roots grow down into Him, and let your lives be built on Him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness. (Colossians 2:7)

Jesus once told a story about a farmer who was planting seeds. Some of the seeds fell on the hard path and were quickly eaten by birds. Some fell on shallow soil and appeared to grow just fine, but as soon as the hot sun came out they withered and died. A few of the seeds fell into the thorns and were choked out by the more aggressive plants.

Wow. Thanks for the bummer story Jesus.

Yes, if the story had stopped there, it would be a total downer. Thankfully though, the story doesn’t stop there.

Jesus tells us about a fourth group of seeds that landed in good soil. Fertile, life-giving soil, full of nutrients and moist with the water of life. These seeds not only grew, they produced crops that were up to 100-times more than what was planted!

What we often fail to realize though, is this story isn’t really about how to plant seeds. It’s about the condition of your heart.

Or, more specifically, has your heart been tilled and softened to receive the message of God’s grace?

The seed that fell on good soil represents those who truly hear and understand God’s word and produce a harvest of thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times as much as had been planted! (Matthew 13:23)

The moment you put your faith in Christ, the soil of your heart was transformed into good soil because of His presence within you! Which means you already have everything you need to establish deep roots into the water of life. Not because you’re a special seed (sorry), but because your roots are planted in special soil.

Has the message of God’s grace established deep roots in your heart?

The post In Christ, You Can be Deeply Rooted appeared first on Belt of Truth Ministries.