Making Porn Part of The Past...

Yesterday at The Connection Church, our lead pastor Cole Phillips continued our series The Ultimate Fighter: Beating Men's Toughest Battles by talking about The Eye Gouge. You can watch his message here. Basically, Cole talked about sexual temptation and how it can destroy men, families, marriages, and more. He was upfront and honest about the temptations men face and he spent a good bit of his message talking about the "elephant in the room of every church": Pornography. Most churches, for reasons I don't understand, rarely address these topics. But statistics show us that most men, churched or not, struggle in the area of dealing with pornography. Here are a couple tips to follow up Pastor Cole's sermon on some practical ways you can win the battle against an addiction to pornography.

1. First of all, you need to GET HONEST. Find someone who you trust and with whom you can be 100% honest and share your addiction and struggles with them. So many times men live in unnecessary guilt and shame in this area because they are afraid to get honest. When you get honest about your struggles you do two things: First, you can begin to learn from people who have been there and might have previously gone through the same struggles you are now facing. Second, you realize that there are a lot more people out there who've fought similiar battles and you are not alone in your struggles.
2. Second, you need to GET ACCOUNTABILITY. Once you've got a person you can be honest, open, and accountable with, you need to get some real online accountability. There are tons of sites that are great at providing online accountability or filtering for you in your struggle with pornography. Filter sites block certain objectionable material and allow someone to place a password on your computer to block these things. Most accountability sites take a record of any questionable websites you visit on your computer and send that list out to your accountability partners, via email, on a regular basis. These sites provide you with real, 24 hour accountability because you know that whatever you see online will be seen by others who are helping you through this struggle. The best website, hands down, for any online accountability, or anything dealing with porn addiction or sex addiction is XXXchurch.com. In fact, if you struggle with pornography, I encourage you to go to their site RIGHT NOW and click on the "Get Help" button.
3. Third, you may need to GET PROFESSIONAL HELP. For many men who've become addicted to porn, finding accountability through a trusted friend and through online filters or accountability websites just simply isn't enough. The addiction to pornography is real and can, like any other addiction, begin to control one's live to the point where trained, professional counseling is needed in order to beat this battle. If that's the case, find a Christian counselor in your area or call a local church in your area for a recommendation on counseling services. Whatever you do, don't let the addiction win. Get the help you need to beat this battle!

Here are some resources you can check out for fighting the battle against pornography and sexual temptation. Check these out for more help. Just click the title and it will take you right to the resource listed.

XXXChurch.com

SafeEyes Internet Filtering

Central Texas Sex Addiction Ministry

Every Man's Battle - Books & Resources from Stephen Arterburn

Questions You Can't Ask Your Mama About Sex by Craig Gross & Mike Foster