Last week, we explored the surprising reality that although it seems like we have no control over the things preventing us from making the changes necessary to overcome our addictions, it’s actually more often the case that the crises themselves are a part of whatever addiction we’re wrestling. I remember a time early in my recovery from pornography addiction when I had promised to housesit for a...
Following Fantasies
“What are you really looking for?” Chris was in the midst of searching for pornography when he ended up on the phone asking an older Christian brother for help. Chris had struggled with viewing porn for so many years at this point, and he’d tried and tried to break free from his habit. Yet here he was again. He thought what he was looking for was self-evident, so his friend’s question seemed so...
Engage in Better Fantasies
I wrote last week about the importance of moving the battle line from resisting porn to resisting sexual fantasy. Far from being benign, sexual fantasy is dangerous because it is where a person disconnects from reality and moves into unreality. And so sexual fantasy is both what opens the door to porn and what fuels it. When we engage in sexual fantasy, we place illusionary images over-top real...
A Bigger Problem Than Porn
People everywhere are starting to get serious about pornography addiction. But for everyone who struggles with porn, they have a much more dangerous problem. Sexual fantasy. We need to talk more about this. I think we typically don’t, both because fantasy is very personal and because people don’t think fantasy is very significant, especially in comparison with the “weightier” problem of...
The Reality Of Desire
“Jesus turned and saw them following and said to them, ‘What are you seeking?'” ~John 1:38 Do you know what you want? For what do you wish? What do you seek? Each human being, every day of their life, wrestles in some way, shape or form with desire. As human beings, made in the image of God, the pull of desire is built into us, it is part of our DNA. Because desire is God...
Path Through The Wilderness
Path Through The Wilderness, authored by Regeneration’s Northern Virgina Director, Rev. Bob Ragan, offers a fresh approach to help you experience the love, peace and freedom you desire. We want to be loved and to love well. And we each experience competing and conflicting desires, some that move us toward the life we want, and some that point us away from that life. We can also face overwhelming...