the invisible
At the church that I am attending until we launch our church this coming Spring, they have been doing a series all summer called “Hot Topics”. They have basically hit on all the hot buttons right now in Church and culture. This weekend they ended with the final topic of “The Problem with Porn”. A guest speaker, Jeremy Johnson, spoke the message this week. He has an awesome ministry that helps women in the porn idustry that have given their lives to Jesus, to get out of the industry, which is very difficult once you’ve entered it. Anyways, the message was incredible and it brought light onto a subject most keep quiet about and never discuss openly, and even most don’t discuss it privately. It’s a very taboo, very secretive isssue. The big thing though is that this is the fuel that keeps the porn fire going…the secrecy of it. Once that secrecy is broken, it dramatically quenches the fire that burns for porn and when someone who is involved in it has a place that is “safe” that they can be open and honest about the issue, without judgment or guilt, it lessens the weakness that once held you so strongly when your struggle was in secret. . When people know your struggle, especially one that tends to remain so private, it really takes a lot of the temptation out of it. The enemy hates the light and when you shine it on the place he tends to reside the most and make visible that which was previously invisible, he cowers back into the darkness of the shadows, and as long as the light remains in these areas, the enemy will never return. The goal would be to become completely naked (no porn pun intended) before God and others so that the enemy will have no unnecessary “clothing” to hold on to. This can only happen in an environment that is grace-filled and non-judgmental. We all have to come to grips with our own sin and realize the great need we have for the Gospel of Grace, then apply that to our community and we are well on our way. The church needs to be a place where the worst of sinners can come and be vulnerable without even an inkling of being looked down upon or made to feel as an outsider. Jesus has a way of welcoming and wooing even the worst of sinners, and he does it with a Grace almost impossible to understand but very powerfully real! I thank Him for that Grace every day…without it I am nothing! Check out the podcast for the latest message, or past ones from Illuminate at www.illuminatelife.org. Grace and Peace! rock on- jeff
