Purity Tool Box – 2 Sam 11
Shared by the Men of SC
Jan 31, 2009
† No movie channels – cable subscription – fleeing is biblical – it’s not a sign of weakness
† Nathan – risked death to confront a king – accountability has to happen
† Confessing temptations – takes the fang out of Satan
† Who can you trust when your brain is lying to you – I need to be talked out of what I am about to do
† Turn off the TV in the hotel room when traveling
† No such thing as innocent flirting
† Make sure compassion doesn’t become passion when “ministering”
† Business Travel – make sure you know your spouse knows who is on the trip and what gender they are
† Keep the consequences in mind – they hurt
† You must know the weaknesses –the enemy will hit there
† American Family Filter – software filter on internet
† More careful use of email
† The more we have our THE WORD on our heart the more we have the WORD to pull from in times of struggle
† Get plugged in a small group in addition to the main Sunday assembly
† Reduce the image intake – if initial intake is reduced the less the “further intake will occur”
† You have to rid of the “trigger” points in your journey – if something “triggers” a thought and a temptation you have to rid your journey of trigger points
† Eph 6:13 – put on the full armor now to prepare for the day of evil – prepare now for future evil
† It’s not a secret sin – all are impacted
† Remember the initial love of your wife – remember her beauty
† Admitting the addiction – 12 steps
† Make better decisions on what is brought into the house
† Share your struggles and fantasies w/ your wife
† Jesus truly wants to heal you of struggles and baggage
† Psalm 32, 38, 51
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Friday, January 30, 2009
Screwtape
Alias
My Dear Wormwood: For your careful review, I have outlined below our strategies for destroying faith and family life. Destroy this secret message immediately after reading it. This classified material comes from the lowest regions. The chief way we attack the family is by neutralizing the protector. Once we neutralize the father, then the children are ours whenever and wherever we want them. And want them we do! Those despicable little ones make my black blood boil. Every time I see one of these wretched children, it reminds me of the Enemy's holiness and love of purity. Our plan is to attack their purity so that they will belong to us for all time. Therefore, we need only to neutralize the guardians of these little monsters - and then we can pollute their miserable souls. Thankfully, my enemies in the modern era are slow to realize the importance of a father in protecting his family. They play into our hands when they think that a father's protective role ended in the bygone era when he defended the family against wild animals and invading savages. This incredible ignorance is utterly delightful! Little do they know that a father's guardianship of his family is more valuable now than at any time in history. Spiritually, they are sound asleep. For a little while they paid heed to the Enemy's warning to Pope Leo XIII about our plans for the modern era. It even looked like we would be defeated when our enemies enlisted the aid of our arch-opponent Michael. Fortunately, most of our little targets have forgotten about the arch-opponent Michael, and our plans proceed apace. Towards the end of the century, just when our plans for destroying the faith by destroying the family were nearing completion, the Enemy sent that contemptible "pope for the family." Decades of work were at risk when for the first time in history a pope (Ugh! I hate that word!) wrote a letter directly to families throughout the world. Amazingly, he seemed to know just how to warn families about our subtle (and not so subtle) plans for destroying the family. When things looked as if our work was about to be undone - the most wonderful thing happened! The families of the world didn't even bother to read the contemptible pope's letter. Oh, how wonderful this was. In our lower realm there was rejoicing for months over the nearly complete apathy concerning this teaching. Now as we begin this new millennium, we must use technology to bring our master plan to completion by utilizing Internet pornography. Already we have spiritually neutralized millions of the Enemy's men with pornography. Over the next few years we can surely make millions more spiritual midgets, who we can then manipulate at will. With Internet pornography we can finally bring down the guardians of the Christian family. The fools still don't realize that the technological temptations are waging war against their very souls, bringing to completion an over-a-century long campaign to destroy the faith by destroying the family. Since it is working so exceedingly well, I suggest that we continue to use every technological innovation to pump pornography to Christian fathers. Just think of the wonderful new digital temptations we will soon be sending out over broadband! Remember, every man addicted to pornography is caught in the snares of what the Enemy calls grave sin. With pornography we have crippled their ability to spiritually protect their families. After they are ensnared in pornography, their families (their marriages and their children) are vulnerable to our attacks. Sure, these men still appear fine on the outside as they go to church, but we know that their hearts have been captured by pornography. And since sons usually follow in the father's footsteps, the sins of the fathers will run down through the generations, and we can rest assured that the future generations will belong to us. A delightful by-product of pornography addiction is that it is so effective in creating turmoil in marriages. Of course, we have been attempting to destroy marriages as a vital part of our overall plan. A husband's pornography addiction has shown a unique ability to undermine trust and intimacy between spouses. The addiction creates turmoil, heartbreak, and bewilderment in the hearts of those detestable Christian wives. As far as Sundays in church go, there is only one thing to do. Just make sure things stay as they are - nice and quiet. The last thing we need are homilies about specific sins, like pornography. If a damaging homily is somehow preached, make sure you scramble any attempts to organize support groups to assist men unable to free themselves from our work. Just let the poor devils struggle alone - of course we know that they are not alone in their pornography addiction, don't we? Finally, we must keep up our guard against the Head of THAT family. Never forget how the Head of THAT family was used by the Enemy to ruin our dear servant Herod's plans to kill the so-called Holy One. There are centuries-old rumors from the upper regions that the Head of THAT family will be brought into service at a critical time in history. The last thing we want is a repeat of the first century. It has taken immense effort, but we have managed to thoroughly confuse modern man (and much of the church) about the meaning of true manhood and masculinity. We need impure men, especially fathers, to continue leading the culture towards our regions. We must therefore keep fathers from contact with the Head of THAT family, so that they don't have any effective models of manly purity and righteousness. Yet we need to be realistic in our strategies. If we cannot keep men away from the Unmentionable One, then at least we can chip away at some of the truth to keep things manageable for us. Keep their beliefs abstract. Men look up to tangible role models. Just be sure they don't discover the Enemy's perfect model for fathers, or our plans will get derailed. We can never hope to lead fathers devoted to that so-called "Just Man" deeper into the depraved delights of pornography. Yours Diabolically, Screwtape
My Dear Wormwood: For your careful review, I have outlined below our strategies for destroying faith and family life. Destroy this secret message immediately after reading it. This classified material comes from the lowest regions. The chief way we attack the family is by neutralizing the protector. Once we neutralize the father, then the children are ours whenever and wherever we want them. And want them we do! Those despicable little ones make my black blood boil. Every time I see one of these wretched children, it reminds me of the Enemy's holiness and love of purity. Our plan is to attack their purity so that they will belong to us for all time. Therefore, we need only to neutralize the guardians of these little monsters - and then we can pollute their miserable souls. Thankfully, my enemies in the modern era are slow to realize the importance of a father in protecting his family. They play into our hands when they think that a father's protective role ended in the bygone era when he defended the family against wild animals and invading savages. This incredible ignorance is utterly delightful! Little do they know that a father's guardianship of his family is more valuable now than at any time in history. Spiritually, they are sound asleep. For a little while they paid heed to the Enemy's warning to Pope Leo XIII about our plans for the modern era. It even looked like we would be defeated when our enemies enlisted the aid of our arch-opponent Michael. Fortunately, most of our little targets have forgotten about the arch-opponent Michael, and our plans proceed apace. Towards the end of the century, just when our plans for destroying the faith by destroying the family were nearing completion, the Enemy sent that contemptible "pope for the family." Decades of work were at risk when for the first time in history a pope (Ugh! I hate that word!) wrote a letter directly to families throughout the world. Amazingly, he seemed to know just how to warn families about our subtle (and not so subtle) plans for destroying the family. When things looked as if our work was about to be undone - the most wonderful thing happened! The families of the world didn't even bother to read the contemptible pope's letter. Oh, how wonderful this was. In our lower realm there was rejoicing for months over the nearly complete apathy concerning this teaching. Now as we begin this new millennium, we must use technology to bring our master plan to completion by utilizing Internet pornography. Already we have spiritually neutralized millions of the Enemy's men with pornography. Over the next few years we can surely make millions more spiritual midgets, who we can then manipulate at will. With Internet pornography we can finally bring down the guardians of the Christian family. The fools still don't realize that the technological temptations are waging war against their very souls, bringing to completion an over-a-century long campaign to destroy the faith by destroying the family. Since it is working so exceedingly well, I suggest that we continue to use every technological innovation to pump pornography to Christian fathers. Just think of the wonderful new digital temptations we will soon be sending out over broadband! Remember, every man addicted to pornography is caught in the snares of what the Enemy calls grave sin. With pornography we have crippled their ability to spiritually protect their families. After they are ensnared in pornography, their families (their marriages and their children) are vulnerable to our attacks. Sure, these men still appear fine on the outside as they go to church, but we know that their hearts have been captured by pornography. And since sons usually follow in the father's footsteps, the sins of the fathers will run down through the generations, and we can rest assured that the future generations will belong to us. A delightful by-product of pornography addiction is that it is so effective in creating turmoil in marriages. Of course, we have been attempting to destroy marriages as a vital part of our overall plan. A husband's pornography addiction has shown a unique ability to undermine trust and intimacy between spouses. The addiction creates turmoil, heartbreak, and bewilderment in the hearts of those detestable Christian wives. As far as Sundays in church go, there is only one thing to do. Just make sure things stay as they are - nice and quiet. The last thing we need are homilies about specific sins, like pornography. If a damaging homily is somehow preached, make sure you scramble any attempts to organize support groups to assist men unable to free themselves from our work. Just let the poor devils struggle alone - of course we know that they are not alone in their pornography addiction, don't we? Finally, we must keep up our guard against the Head of THAT family. Never forget how the Head of THAT family was used by the Enemy to ruin our dear servant Herod's plans to kill the so-called Holy One. There are centuries-old rumors from the upper regions that the Head of THAT family will be brought into service at a critical time in history. The last thing we want is a repeat of the first century. It has taken immense effort, but we have managed to thoroughly confuse modern man (and much of the church) about the meaning of true manhood and masculinity. We need impure men, especially fathers, to continue leading the culture towards our regions. We must therefore keep fathers from contact with the Head of THAT family, so that they don't have any effective models of manly purity and righteousness. Yet we need to be realistic in our strategies. If we cannot keep men away from the Unmentionable One, then at least we can chip away at some of the truth to keep things manageable for us. Keep their beliefs abstract. Men look up to tangible role models. Just be sure they don't discover the Enemy's perfect model for fathers, or our plans will get derailed. We can never hope to lead fathers devoted to that so-called "Just Man" deeper into the depraved delights of pornography. Yours Diabolically, Screwtape
More Tools
There are a couple other resources that I found really helpful:
Joshua Harris
Every Man’s Battle
Christians in Cable
The TV Channel Blocker
Joshua Harris
Every Man’s Battle
Christians in Cable
The TV Channel Blocker
Internet/Computer Filtering / Other Resources
SafeEyes – a one-time fee of $49.95 gets you this software
Setting Captives Free ISP
Integrity Online
pkFamily
Yahoo! Directory of filtered ISPs
NetNanny
Kids in Mind – my favorite site for pre-screening movies (guarding my eyes on the TV)
Family Safe Media – everything from power cord locks to TV timers to prevent physical access to media
Lowe’s – great place to find just the right size hammer for smashing any necessary TVs, computers, movies, CDs, etc.
Setting Captives Free ISP
Integrity Online
pkFamily
Yahoo! Directory of filtered ISPs
NetNanny
Kids in Mind – my favorite site for pre-screening movies (guarding my eyes on the TV)
Family Safe Media – everything from power cord locks to TV timers to prevent physical access to media
Lowe’s – great place to find just the right size hammer for smashing any necessary TVs, computers, movies, CDs, etc.
General Resources
Setting Captives Free – a HUGE set of resources for Christians held captive by things of the world
Desiring God Ministries’ sexuality section – John Piper’s God-centered approach is a personal favorite
Pure Intimacy – Focus on the Family’s help on “recovering the heart of sexuality”
XXX Church – a less reverent (potentially offensive) take on the issues, strewn with blatant honesty and good resources
Every Man’s Battle – good resources, including quality books and conferences
Genesis Counseling – books, counseling, and other assorted resources
Accountability
x3watch – free software that reports your Internet activity to an accountability partner
x3watchPRO – x3watch for $15, with added tech. support, up to 3 accountability partners, and some other added options
Covenant Eyes – excellent software that reports your Internet activity to unlimited accountability partners and comes with lots of options for around $7/mo.
Desiring God Ministries’ sexuality section – John Piper’s God-centered approach is a personal favorite
Pure Intimacy – Focus on the Family’s help on “recovering the heart of sexuality”
XXX Church – a less reverent (potentially offensive) take on the issues, strewn with blatant honesty and good resources
Every Man’s Battle – good resources, including quality books and conferences
Genesis Counseling – books, counseling, and other assorted resources
Accountability
x3watch – free software that reports your Internet activity to an accountability partner
x3watchPRO – x3watch for $15, with added tech. support, up to 3 accountability partners, and some other added options
Covenant Eyes – excellent software that reports your Internet activity to unlimited accountability partners and comes with lots of options for around $7/mo.
Book Studies - Tools for the Journey
Not Even a Hint : Guarding Your Heart Against Lust by Joshua Harris (recommended by Kevin Conrow)
Lust can destroy our relationships and our lives. This book is for those struggling with lust or just facing temptations of lust. The author looks at how one can fight back against lust.
When Good Men Are Tempted by Bill Perkins (recommended by Jamie Johnson)
This book shows men how to master lust, achieve the holiness by following a plan for sexual integrity to achieve a purity in marriage, family, and revitalize their walks with God while strengthening relationships with their brothers in Christ.
Every Man's Battle : Winning the War on Sexual Temptation One Victory at a Time by Stephen Arterburn,et. al. (recommended by John Kuebler)
This book confronts the enemy of every man: lust. It offers practical principles for sexual purity, which involves courage, commitment, and self-discipline.
Eternal Impact: Investing in the Lives of Men by Phil Downer with Chip MacGregor (recommended by Jamie Johnson)
This book discusses leaving a legacy, which is built through discipling and mentoring, helping men discover Jesus Christ's role in marriage, fathering and relationships, and then become effective in fulfilling His command to make disciples (true significance as opposed to success).
The Man in the Mirror: Solving the 24 Problems Men Face by Patrick Morley (recommended by Jamie Johnson)
This book discusses issues pertinent to men: identities, relationships, finances, time, temperament, and integrity. It then offers making a lasting change.
Lust can destroy our relationships and our lives. This book is for those struggling with lust or just facing temptations of lust. The author looks at how one can fight back against lust.
When Good Men Are Tempted by Bill Perkins (recommended by Jamie Johnson)
This book shows men how to master lust, achieve the holiness by following a plan for sexual integrity to achieve a purity in marriage, family, and revitalize their walks with God while strengthening relationships with their brothers in Christ.
Every Man's Battle : Winning the War on Sexual Temptation One Victory at a Time by Stephen Arterburn,et. al. (recommended by John Kuebler)
This book confronts the enemy of every man: lust. It offers practical principles for sexual purity, which involves courage, commitment, and self-discipline.
Eternal Impact: Investing in the Lives of Men by Phil Downer with Chip MacGregor (recommended by Jamie Johnson)
This book discusses leaving a legacy, which is built through discipling and mentoring, helping men discover Jesus Christ's role in marriage, fathering and relationships, and then become effective in fulfilling His command to make disciples (true significance as opposed to success).
The Man in the Mirror: Solving the 24 Problems Men Face by Patrick Morley (recommended by Jamie Johnson)
This book discusses issues pertinent to men: identities, relationships, finances, time, temperament, and integrity. It then offers making a lasting change.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
