Put The Mud Pies Down

C.S Lewis said, “If we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.” As believers we have traded a seat at the most high table for mud pies in the slums. As God’s children not only does He give us 100% access to His throne room where we can come into His presence, He has prepared a place at the most high table for us to eat and enjoy our self’s. This table is set for the King of Kings and the Lord of Lord’s and because of our position in Christ we are able to dine at the table for free. You see the one who owns the table has already paid for our seat with His life. Many believers have come to believe the lies of the enemy that the world will bring us much joy, happiness and satisfaction. Also we fall for the same lies that the enemy told Adam and Eve so long ago, that God is with holding His best for us and doesn’t really love us. We are so quick to listen to the lie that the mud pies are so much better to eat than the feast that is at the table of the High King. We would rather play in the world with things of the world (Facebook, TV, Video Games, Money, Sex, Porn, Power, Drugs, Martial things etc.) instead of running around and playing with the King. We are half-hearted creatures that are satisfied by the worldly things then by the infinite joy that God give us. Colossians 3: 1-3 says, “If then you have been raised with Christ seek the things that are above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.” The two key words that jump out at me in these two verses are the words “seek” and “set.” We have to be seeking God daily by being in His Word and in prayer, and we have to set our minds on the truth of the Gospel. The Gospel is just not for non-believers, it is for believers and we have to be preaching the Gospel to ourselves every day. Put the mud pies down and run to the sea and sit at your spot at the table of the Most High God and enjoy His fellowship, joy, and don’t be tempted to run back to the mud pies. God loves you!

Violence and Silence

This past weekend as I was clean out my garage I came across a newsletter from the Voice of the Martyrs. As I was flipping through the pages one picture caught my eye; as I sat down staring at this graphic picture of a church in Kenyan that was attacked I just started to weep. I started to read the stories in the newsletter of a pastor in Uganda who had acid poured over his body, another brutal attack on another church in Kenyan and a young girl whose father, mother and sisters where murder because the father was a pastor in the Philippines. Everyday believers throughout the world are coming under great attack. Believers here in the United States really don’t know how good we got it. When we go to church we don’t worry about people coming and breaking the door down and throwing grenades into the church and start shooting people as the run out of the church like they did in one of the churches in Kenyan. After I finished reading the stories I started to think about how the enemy comes against the church overseas and here in the States. Overseas the enemy is using violence to tear the Church apart, and here in the States he is in stealth mode, sitting quietly in the church destroying it from the inside out. Pastors here in American don’t want to deal with the tough issues in the church; they want to stay away from certain topics because they are to taboo. Men are under attack, statics show that more than half the men in churches today deal with some type of sexual struggle. Most churches don’t focus on the men in their church, their focus is elsewhere. Here in the States the enemy doesn’t have to use violence to destroy the church; he has enough non-violent toys that are doing it for him. It is time for the Church in American to stop fighting against each other and to start taking on these taboo issues, and holding men, as husbands and fathers accountable. The enemies silence is deadly.

Porn Rapes The Mind

The other day I was asked to pray for a young child who came across some pornography on the internet. The curiosity lasted about two hours, but that was enough time for the enemy to set the hook. The good thing is the child did tell his parents what he did and so hopefully he will be able to get some help. Porn rapes the mind and will destroy not only an adult, but the emotional and mental wellbeing of a child. An addiction to pornography is chemically nearly identical to a heroin addiction. Let that sink in for a little while. A porn addiction is chemically identical to a heroin addiction. The human brain was not designed to handle the major dose of chemicals the brain unleashes when one is viewing pornography. Our biggest sexual organ is our brain, and studies have shown there is damage done to the brain and the brain’s chemistry is altered when one is exposed to pornography. Overtime one will become addicted to their own brain chemistry. Each time the brain receives a major douse of chemicals over time this will lead to future cravings. Dr. Norman Doidge writes in The Brain That Changes Itself, (From the Porn Circuit, by Sam Black) “human beings exhibit an extraordinary degree of sexual plasticity compared with other creatures. By “plasticity” he means that our brains and our sexuality are molded by our experiences, interactions, and other means of learning, which is why people vary in what they say, is attractive or what turns them on. The brain actually creates neural pathways that label a specific type of person or activity as arousing.” Addictions are learned, Sam Black writes, “With porn people have taught their brains that it is arousing.” So what are some of the chemicals that are released when one is viewing pornography? Dopamine, Testosterone, Norepinephrine, and Oxytocin are released.
Dopamine is the “I want it” neurotransmitter. Dopamine helps us to focus our attention on a certain task, when this chemical is released it makes us feel good. It is also a major player with our memory; it helps us to recall what is important in our environment and it helps us to remember the appropriate response to a certain stimulus. Testosterone is the, “male hormone,” and is dramatically increases during sexual arousal and desire. When the brain picks up on sexual cues, it increases testosterone. Norepinephrine is a neurotransmitter normally associated with stress and the fight-or-flight response. However, it also works as a hormone for sexual arousal and sexual memory, in which it helps brand emotional experiences in our minds. Oxytocin is a bonding hormone and is released during physical touch and at a climax. For those who struggle with porn, this hormone is bonding a person to an image, video or situation and not their spouse. Over time the brain will start to rewire itself for the addiction and will start to create new neuropath ways in the brain. What the brain is do is creating a super highway for these chemicals, and the body will start to crave these chemicals. So over time the body will need more and more to get high, so one normally will have to start looking for more extreme porn, or sex acts to get the high they are looking for. This is why the internet is so dangerous; you can never run out of images. For those who struggle with drugs they are going to eventually run out of their drug of choice and start to come off the high, not the one struggling with porn. They have an unlimited supply of images to keep the high going. Porn will rape one’s mind, and this is why it is so dangerous for children to get hook at an early age. Parents have to take precautions to protect their children, and remember filters cannot block everything out.