• Daniel Baker
Posted in Discipleship, Family, Marriage, Masculinity, Purity, Sanctification, Sermons
Last Sunday I preached on 1 Thessalonians 4:1-8, one of the most challenging passages on sexual immorality in the New Testament. The overall theme of the passage is on our holiness, but purity is the central focus of that holiness--at least, within this particular passage.
In the sermon we also looked at the category of lust from Matthew 5:28, I briefly mentioned pornography as one of the most significant issues of our day. It has made life treacherous for all of us regardless of our personal level of temptation. The ubiquity of the internet--through the obvious sources like mainstream browsers but also the less obvious sources like many third-party apps on smartphones and gaming consoles like PS4s, etc--has given the fallenness of our world all kinds of entry points into our lives.
It is an area that takes energy and intentionality if we are to keep our eyes and thoughts where they should be. Here is a list of resources that can be helpful in this ongoing battle:
Internet accountability and resources
Covenant Eyes (www.covenanteyes.com) - This is an accountability reporting service, has a filtering service you can add, and the website has a lot of articles and blog posts on the subject. Even a couple by me. They provide services for computers and smartphones.
xxxchurch (www.xxxchurch.com) - A good, newer service. Several men in our church use this.
Setting Captives Free (www.settingcaptivesfree.com) - A different kind of resource that provides more intensive, short-term support.
Books
Tim Chester, Closing the Window: Steps to Living Porn Free - Great book that looks at the topic of pornography in a broad manner while also giving great practical advice. Excellent advice on accountability groups.
Tim Challies, Sexual Detox: A Guide for Guys who are Sick of Porn - I haven't read this, but it's been received well.
Josh Harris, Sex is Not the Problem, Lust is - A great book that is transparent and filled with good application sections. A great strength is his emphasis on the promises of God as a way to fight the false promises of sin.
Denny Burke, What is the Meaning of Sex? - I read this book to prepare for the sermon and was greatly helped by the clarity of his writing, his excellent use of Scripture, and his interaction with key ideas and issues as they are being discussed both inside and outside of the church.
Parent Guides for movies, television, video games
These are three internet resources that offer "Parent Guides" on different media. The sites themselves aren't always G-rated, but they can be a great way to assess a movie you either won't have time to watch before your children do, or a TV show you shouldn't watch at all.
IMDB - www.imdb.com - Though this is a secular resource, the "Parent Guide" is excellent. It is explicit, but for modern TV shows and all movies, this is certainly better than being caught off guard watching a TV show that seemed like it was going to be okay. They have reviews on just about everything.
Common Sense Media - www.commonsensemedia.org - A good resource. Not sure of who is behind it. It seems to lack the specificity of Plugged-In or the comprehensiveness of IMDB. But one great benefit is that it reviews video games as well. I have found them accurate. It looks like they run smartphone apps through the same metrics.
Plugged-In - www.pluggedin.com - A great resource by Focus on the Family. It does a great job of telling us what we need to know. It's also helpful that it has added video games to its reviews.
If you have a book or resource that would help others, let me know. I can add it to the post.
Daniel
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