It has been said that in sexual addiction we exchange intimacy for intensity. One of our deepest and most fundamental needs is intimacy, but we settle for the intensity of a sexual thrill, a rush, a pseudo connect, a dalliance wearing a mask of intimacy. We have gone to bathe in the desert sand, deluding ourselves that it is the beach. Here again, we have sought to satisfy a legitimate need in...
Desert Training
Last week we talked about how walking away from sexual sin can feel like walking into desert – and why this is necessary. If you missed that post, you can read it now here. I closed last week’s post by saying that only in battle can we rid the land of the enemy. We must let the desert train us for this battle. God is available for intimacy with you. True, lasting, committed intimacy...
Walking Away From Sexual Sin
Walking away from sexual sin can feel like walking into a desert. Even logically, we second guess ourselves. Why are we walking away from a sure thing, a ready and present pleasure (even other-worldly pleasure) for what seems like a dry, dull, colorless, barren place? Why am I leaving the oasis for the desert? In our better moments we remember the oasis is just a mirage, and...
Being Human: a Story of Sexual Liberation
The story of sex — the real story, not the debased version the culture is selling — is so significant it has the power to change how we think about ourselves…and how we relate to God. It is one of the most misunderstood narratives today. To understand this, we must understand our creation. Genesis 1:27 states, “So God created mankind in His own image, in the image of God He created them; male and...
Different Ways
There are two primary courses offered to life in the full. The enemy (the world, the flesh, and the devil) has a way. And God has a way. Both include death. Sin’s way, the enemy’s way is life now, death later. Or we might write it this way: Sin’s way is “life” now, death later. We know this from experience with our sexual sin. We indulge, enjoying the “life,” the thrill, the adrenaline, the...
Learning the Language
To our shame, we have participated in wielding God’s good gift of sex as an instrument for evil. We have gone on and on presenting our bodies to sin as instruments of unrighteousness. We have been the man bringing this most treasured and sacred gift of his own sexuality to throne room of sin for whatever unrighteous purposes it has in mind. Christ has come offering Himself on our behalf...