Pornography on the Internet.

There was something God wanted me to confess to Rick Warren, but he was doing th
e best they could to avoid it. Rick and I had spent together the best of the aft
ernoon, and so the day ended, I started thinking that I was "out of danger." We
had just finished a record store and I thought we were about to leave the studio
when Rick said he wanted to record on a second theme: "What to do when a team l
eader has a moral failure." It was a particularly ironic, because what God wante
d me to tell Rick had to do with my own moral failure with regard to pornography
on the Internet. All day I was getting that sense of conviction, but now the pr
essure of the Holy Spirit was unbearable. While we were still putting together t
he package, I was arguing with God: "Do you really want to tell you?" I promise
to never do it again if you me from doing this. " Just when I was thinking this,
Rick took his cellphone and called his wife, Kay. Spontaneously, he said he wan
ted me to dinner and asked if it was okay that he would return home a little lat
er. At that point, I had total conviction. I knew I had to tell Rick, and that G
od would not let me go until he did. So, after dinner, I confessed my sin hidden
. I said no I wanted to stay trapped in the cave of pornography, he knew that th
at could potentially destroy my life and my ministry. I wanted to be outside thi
s circle of sin, but needed help. Rick, I immediately advised, and established m
ethods of accountability to help me stay clean, methods that were later formaliz
ed by my immediate supervisor. Imagine the relief that I had that night. Moreove
r, the fact of knowing that my progress would have to report to Rick, became
a strong deterrent to not to trip over this sexual sin. I admit this today, beca
use I want you to know you're not alone. A few weeks ago conducted a confidentia
l survey on our website www.pastors.com and the results suggest that a significa
nt number of leaders may be struggling with Internet pornography. It is a rampan
t problem within the church, and church leadership. If you're like me, you proba
bly would never buy pornography, but the ease and privacy ambiguous pornography
on the Internet, I absorbed so quickly and deeply as it is impossible to imagine
. If you are struggling in this area eventually will have to be Christ in you to
change your desire from the inside out. He does this with the strength of his l
ove, and does not want to succumb to temptation. I think the work of Christ in y
our life includes two very practical steps that you should give as God frees you
from this sin:
1. You have to admit someone.
For a moment I thought I could handle myself. Frankly, who wants to support this
kind of sin? With my years of believing I could imagine a way out of this. But
I kept falling into a cycle of despair, you might sound familiar, right? I bowed
my face before God, I swore I would never do it again. But then I convinced mys
elf that one last time I was not hurt, and quickly fell back into the thorny pat
h of pornography that sucks in the worldwide Web. I was not smart enough to avoi
d all pornography on the Internet, but I had enough knowledge to know that she n
eeded help to quit
quicksand. Do not be deceived: God is not mocked. A man reaps what he sows, and
what you do in the dark one day I will shout from the rooftops. The fact confess
stripped the power of sin. The Bible clearly teaches that while your sins remai
n in darkness, have uncontrolled power over you. I can testify that the failure
to bring to light your problems with pornography, you'll really reduce that doma
in. Understand me clearly, I'm not saying he no longer fight the temptation, but
now that my temptations are uncovered, the distant voices of sin are easier to
ignore, and since my sin has been exposed, confessed and forgiven, no longer I h
ave to worry about maintaining a reputation rather than seek help. A second reas
on to confess, is the first step to being healed of this sinful behavior. James
5:16 says "Therefore confess your sins to one another and pray for one another,
that ye may be healed ...".
2. You must make someone responsible.
Confess not mean that we will be free from temptations forever, and that is why
you have to establish a peer to which you have the obligation to report.€There
are a variety of ways that can help you make responsible: one by one, a small pr
ayer group, your leader, your wife, putting limits on your computer. I use all m
ethods available, and I advise you also do the same, because surely you want to
lock yourself inside yourself for good behavior, even before God to change the w
ay you want so you do not want more access to this pornography. In the way one b
y one, I have dealt with several friends and was very easy for me. My current su
pervisor in this responsibility is a friend named Paul, who is a Christian man,
very kind, but a tough former Navy lieutenant.
Once a month, I invite Paul to check out my Internet cache and see what sites I
visited. My wife also is an ally in this battle. Silvina crashes my computer and
it gives me the keys to enter. This means that most porn sites are blocked beca
use my wife has made the computer recognize them as such. Also, yes, this was em
barrassing, I gave a list of Internet addresses to porn sites that I used to vis
it. She created specific blocks for these sites, so that more could not access t
hem. Again, this eliminated much of my temptation. Now I felt very comfortable u
sing my own computer, but nervous when he used an unprotected computer. I'm happ
y for the blockades that brought my wife. And now God has changed my desires. He
did not do the overnight, could have done it: God is able to do it, but God was
slowly changing my way of saying, and went from an illicit desire of a desire t
o please. Along the way, He showed me that my use of pornography had less to do
with sex and lust, and more to do with anger and sinful attitude of free will. I
f you struggle with Internet pornography, please get help. Your life is far too
important to allow this persistent sin destroyed. And remember: There is nothing
concealed that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known (Luke 12:
2). Sooner or later the mask will fall and your true face will be known.
By John Walker