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Several years ago the leader of a sizable city-wide men’s ministry picked me up at the airport. I was going to speak to 600 men at a breakfast the following morning and he was driving me to my hotel. During our thirty minute drive he said, “A naked dancing girl appeared on the home page of my computer. I don’t know where she came from or how to get rid of her.”
“I’ll get rid of her” I said. “And I can tell you how she got there.”
“How?” he asked.
“Someone visited a porn site and it followed them home.”
“It wasn’t me,” he said
“Probably one of your teenage sons,” I noted.
“No way!” he declared. “My kids would never look at porn on the Internet.”
“Well, if it wasn’t you or one of your boys, it must have been your wife.”
“I don’t think so,” he said.
Even though that interchange lasted less than thirty seconds he got so angry with my suggestion that he later gave me a severe scolding.
Maybe you too believe your kids wouldn’t visit Internet porn sites. If so, consider that, according to a recent article in “Mail Online“:
1. A third of 10-year-olds have seen explicit sexual images on the Internet.
2. Four out of five 16-year-old boys and girls regularly access porn online.
3. More than a quarter of young patients being treated at a leading private clinic are receiving help for addiction to online pornography.
4. One child reported that swapping hardcore images on memory sticks between pupils at his school is “absolutely rife.”
5. 26% of young people coming to a London clinic were hooked on Internet porn.
6. Over 60% of 11 to 16-year-olds have Internet access in their own rooms.
7. 41% of seven to ten-year-olds can access the Internet from their own rooms.
8. 12% of young teens were involved in sharing intimate images of themselves.
Last night I watched the most powerful video I’ve ever seen on the danger of Internet porn to our families. Please check it out yourself. You’ll never again think of porn the same. Here’s the link.
As husbands and fathers we must take action to protect our families from an evil that will forever scar our children and destroy their ability to develop and maintain a healthy, intimate and loving relationship with the opposite sex. While we can’t place our kids in a protective bubble that will guard them wherever they go, we can provide them with a safe home. We can create an environment where they feel free to discuss what they’re looking at on the Web. Or, we can try to do so.
Another step we must take involves keeping our own minds and hearts pure by not visiting porn sites ourselves. Since my book When Good Men are Tempted was first published, I have spoken to tens of thousands of men at conferences and millions more over the radio and television. I’ve recently noticed that more men are approaching me after events confessing a porn addiction.
The problem is getting worse … much worse. And we must draw a line in the sand and say, “Not me! Not my family!”
When Paul wrote, “Flee from sexual immorality” (1 Corinthians 6:18), he wasn’t making a suggestion. The question is, how do we do it?
For years I’ve been using Covenant Eyes, an accountability system to help me avoid porn sites. I’ve often noted, “I’m as safe on the Internet without accountability as a peg leg man in a forest fire.” While that visual image is funny, it represents a truth. Using Covenant Eyes, or another accountability system, means you’ve also got a friend who is your accountability partner. If you value the purity of your own soul and that of your family, get every computer and smart phone you own on CE.
A battle is raging for our families–let’s align ourselves with God and his army of men, women, and angels. It’s the only way we can be sure of victory.
Single guys and girls–if you’ve fallen, get up and protect yourselves. If you haven’t fallen–protect yourself so you won’t fall in the future.
Let’s be sure the wonderful gift of sexual intimacy is used in a way that pleases God and nurtures our soul and family.
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