Mark Pendleton on the Peggy Denny Show discusses pornography addiction and the ministry resources available through His Wonderful Works – Part 1
Mark Pendleton’s Interview on The Peggy Denny show on WGGS TV on Oct. 18, 2017. Mark and Peggy discuss the threat of pornography, what parents can do to protect their children and the ministry of His Wonderful Works.
Stephen Arterburn talks about his sexual addiction and how God set him free and healed him. He discusses the root hurts that kept him bound and how God used Christ centered community to create vulnerability and reciprocity leading to healthy, non-sexual intimacy with others.
Noisy chatter and laughter of people all around us were another painful reminder everything was not all right. Tears pooled in my lap. I was unable to hold them back any longer. The once simple process of ordering felt overwhelming. I was at a loss for words. Why did I agree to meet her? Inside I longed to run back to the security I felt by hiding in my home, distancing myself from family and friends.
Weeks earlier this extroverted, confident woman received news leaving me hiding in my own closet. My daughter sent a text stating she was in a relationship with a girl. A vice gripped this Christian mama’s heart refusing to let go. The crushing news brought with it a heavy garment of despair and hopelessness. Wrapping itself around me like a cloak it sought to take my very breath. Then, unannounced, a tidal wave of grief crashed over me. I was taken under. With a mouth full of sand and the sting of salt water in my eyes, I found myself struggling to lift my head above water. I was left fighting against the current to stand.
Grief. It rudely interrupts our lives changing us forever. As the waves roll in so do our questions and thoughts.
Where is God in all of this? Why didn’t He stop this from happening to my child? What did I do wrong?
Does grieving mean I don’t trust in my Heavenly Father?
What will others now say? Is there hope? Will I ever feel joy again?
Is it possible to still maintain a loving relationship with my child and stand on my convictions and beliefs as a follower of Christ?
Comfort is found in knowing I’m not the only one who questioned God in a season of deep grief. Mary and Martha knew Jesus and walked with Him. Yet, they still questioned His whereabouts when they lost their brother. (See John 11:1-37) Jesus did not respond with condemnation or judgmental thoughts. Their loss of hope, diminished faith, and crushing grief was not reprimanded. Instead, He met them in their great sorrow and wept with them.
‘When Jesus saw her weeping, …he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. “Where have you laid him?” he asked. “Come and see, Lord,” they replied. Jesus wept. (John 11:37)
John 11:37 is the shortest verse in the whole Bible but offers us grace to be human, permission to grieve, and a greater appreciation for our Lord and Savior becoming like us in human form. Where is Jesus? He is right beside us weeping over our children with us. We are not alone.
His Wonderful Works is here as well. We desire to meet you where you are and walk this journey together. We may not have the answers to all the questions but we know the One who does. Through my story I will attempt to share my journey and lessons that I have learned with you. I hope you will join me!
Posted on October 10, 2017 | Author: Melinda Patrick | Director of Prayer and Parents Support
Joe Dallas equips listeners with the basic tools and concepts necessary for a Christ-like response to the Gay Christian identity. Joe brings us in for a transparent look at his journey from the downward spiral into sexual promiscuity to promoting the Gay Christian identity and finally to landing on the solid ground of his identity in Christ.
During Joe’s journey, The Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches was one of the first organizations that claimed both a Christian base and a pro-gay base and where he heard the pro-gay interpretation of scripture for the first time. He was confronted with men and women of all ages and all types who identified as Gay Christians. If you haven’t already, you will meet someone who says “I love Jesus, I have been born again, I believe the Bible is the word of God and I’m openly gay or I’m openly lesbian and God is fine with my lifestyle”. Joe’s in-depth teaching will better equip you to dialogue with people holding this position.
Joe begins with these terms and concepts to help us better understand and follow along with his discussion:
Gay Christian Identify – Terms and Concepts
Five Point Progression
Many people believe that if you are born again you will no longer have same sex attractions and desires. They often refer to the apostle Paul stating that “if any man is in Christ he is a new creation old things are passed away and all things become new” (2 Cor 5:17). While we do become new creations, the Bible also states that we will experience a struggle between the flesh and the spirit.
Joe puts it this way, “When someone tells me well I tried to pray the gay away and it didn’t happen. I would say who on Earth told you that was going to happen? All of us have sinful desires of the flesh sometimes we are completely relieved of those desires at other times we are allowed to still wrestle those desires. As time goes on they may diminish and other times they stay and at all times we are still told to crucify the flesh walk in the spirit and not live under the power of any particular sin.”
Joe’s teaching ends on a powerful note from Dr. Paul Morris who says, “but if I were a homosexual Christian this one question would bother me, am I interpreting scripture in the light of my proclivity or should I be interpreting my proclivity in the light of scripture?”
Nebuchadnezzar said, “Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who has sent his angel and delivered his servants who trusted in him. They disobeyed the king’s command and yielded up their bodies rather than serve and worship any god except their own God. Therefore, I make a decree: Any people, nation, or language that utters blasphemy against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego shall be torn limb from limb, and their houses laid in ruins; for there is no other god who is able to deliver in this way.” Daniel 3:28-29 NRSV
Conflicting Worldviews
The world and God see sex in completely different ways. The way we view and interpret life and pretty much everything in it, including relationships, morality, and God, is called a worldview. At the core of a biblical worldview is the understanding that God is real and not only that He’s real, but that He’s good and morally perfect. In the story above, King Nebuchadnezzar’s worldview was shaken up when he witnessed the miraculous deliverance of three devout Jewish young men who many believe were in their late teens when they were taken into captivity. They would have rather died than follow the crowd. These three young men were commanded to bow down to a statue, otherwise known as an idol, and they refused. Their civil disobedience landed them in a fiery furnace. If you’re not familiar with the story, be sure to read Daniel, Chapter 3 (https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Daniel+3&version=NRSV). But what about the other Jewish people who were captured and brought to Babylon? Why weren’t they standing in line with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego waiting to be thrown into the furnace? Just as in our day, they were already adopting the beliefs and behaviors of their neighbors or they obeyed for fear of losing their lives if they took a stand. Sound familiar?
It’s just a statue. What’s the big deal?
Now, replace “a statue” with “sex”. The enemy has been spreading the lie that, “Sex is no big deal,” for thousands of years. Maybe you’ve heard it. Maybe you’ve thought it. Maybe you’ve even believed it. Let’s be honest. Sex is a big deal. People are married and divorced because of it. People (male and female) are kidnapped, tortured, and abused because of it. Babies are born and babies are aborted because of it. You can be blessed by it or traumatized by it. If you have a relationship with God, then you probably have some sense of a right and a wrong when it comes to sex. Children innately know that it’s wrong for Mommy or Daddy to have an affair. “And [Jesus] said: ‘Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 18:3 NIV The world’s attitude toward sex has become cold and hard-hearted. Maybe yours too. To understand God’s purpose for sex, we must soften our hearts and become like little children.
But, what if it’s consensual and there’s no chance of pregnancy, what’s the harm? The truth is the harm is great. Having sex outside of a covenant marriage between a man and woman who love and trust each other opens us up to illness and death, and not just STD’s!! It may feel good to begin with and we say to ourselves “see, I didn’t get hurt”, but what the enemy knows is that, when you take the first bite of the forbidden fruit, you will want more and more and more. Eventually, he will use sexual temptation to draw you further and further away from God, yourself and the purpose God has for your life. And, he will use it to destroy you psychologically, emotionally, spiritually and physically. What’s more, like being pulled out to sea by the undertow, the further out you get the harder it is to get back to shore. When Satan told Eve “surely you won’t die” Genesis 3:4 after tempting her with the fruit from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, he questioned what God had said and used it to bring doubt into Eve’s mind about God’s goodness and love for her. Eventually she and Adam took the bait and, well you know the rest of the story.
The truth is God does LOVE us and wants the absolute best for us! The problem is we don’t always believe that. When we come to the realization that He loves us, we begin to trust Him. When we trust Him and follow His leading, our faith grows. As our faith grows, our worldview changes and we begin to see things differently. We begin to understand the reasons behind God’s rules and the spiritual, emotional, psychological and physical consequences of not following them. All sin is rooted in a lack of faith. We don’t trust God to take care of us or others, so we take matters into our own hands. We turn our backs on God and find ways to justify our wrong choices. “Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who has sent his angel and delivered his servants who trusted in him.” The story from Daniel applies to sex because it is a story about integrity. The three young men knew that God was real; they trusted Him; and they made a very difficult choice to not follow what the world around them was doing. Apparently, the rest of the Jewish people in captivity bowed down to the statue. We are living in a morally insane world and we must choose who we will bow down to and serve, either the Creator or the created.
No matter where you are in your sexual life, from those trying to save themselves for marriage and feel like they’re navigating a minefield to those who have been “hooking up” for years and feel something is not quite right to those who are looking to escape a life of abuse and even prostitution, God is ready to meet you where you are. He LOVES you! No matter what path you’ve taken or what mistakes you’ve made, know that God can redeem any situation. You can trust Him, because He is real, and we’ll say it again, He really does LOVE you!