My parents were missionaries to Iran so that’s where they were when I was born in 1964. At the age of four, I went outside to tell my six-year-old brother that it was time to eat. I found him dead from electrocution.
When I was five years old, my sister shared the gospel of Jesus with me and explained how my brother was already with Jesus because he had surrendered his life to Jesus. I desired this for my life and prayed with my Dad to become a follower of Jesus.
In the sixth grade, a troubled young man at my private Christian school in Iran got us all playing kiss tag and spin the bottle and these activities opened up doors for perversion that continued into my early twenties. I found it amazing that the church I attended during those years ignored the white elephant in the room. I knew that just about every young man in that church was struggling with at least self-gratification, maybe more, and none of the life-changing sermons we heard weekly even mentioned it once.
In 1990, I married a wonderful Christian woman. During the first years of marriage, I was still watching movies with immoral content. On three different occasions, while watching R rated movies, I was exposed to nudity which hurt my conscience and my walk with God. At that point, my wife and I committed to no more movies of any kind as we saw these as only a remedy to boredom and would eventually lead us to worse movies after we ran out of good ones to watch.
1993 to 2013 were very special years for me raising my 10 children, loving my wife, and loving my Jesus. No distractions, No Idols. It was bliss. When the internet showed up during those years, I wasn’t even tempted to seek out immoral content online. I was happy living in my debt-free house that God provided, delivering my own children, homeschooling my kids... basically living my "happily ever after".
In 2016, a principal of a Christian school convinced me that I could get a smartphone and be completely protected if I would install the K9 browser that he recommended to all the parents and students. I believed him. I found the principal was wrong. I found that I could pull up nude images with the K9 browser. In the name of protecting my children, I tried to figure out how to make the device safe for me and my family. It took 2 years, but I found a way to make my smartphone safe. I had an Apple device with parental controls, no Safari browser, and just a few apps so that I could conduct my business without any temptations. The only problem was that during my research to protect my family, I became ensnared by pornography. My wife suggested trying the Setting Captives Free Purity course. I started 58 days ago and have had a wonderful restoration taking place in my heart.
For many years, God's word has been my foundation. The Bible says to avoid sexual sin each man should have his own wife. ( 1 Corinthians 7:2) When I got married in 1990, I stopped self-gratification. When I cut off movies in 1993, pornographic temptations were eliminated because I wasn’t "going near her door" (Proverbs 5:8). So, I enjoyed 22 years of living "happily ever after" with God(1993 to 2015). Then I got blindsided for 3 years. What happened? Should I have never gotten the internet and a smartphone? Should I have let my wife do all the internet protection research? How can we live in a modern world and not be of it?
It’s an old fashion recipe, but it’s the only one that works. It may seem like old hat to some Christians, but Setting Captives Free is helping Christians return to their first love for safe and reliable Christian living. If you don’t stay on the firm foundation (the cross and the resurrection so you can marry Jesus) when the rain falls and the floods rise, you get washed away.
My pastor told me that from 1993 to 2015, I wasn’t a Christian but a Pharisee living in a form of godliness but denying the power of God (2 Timothy 3:5) because I was trusting in wisdom in God's word (1 Corinthians 7:2, Proverbs 5:8) to keep me pure. I disagree with my pastor that I was not a Christian, but I think there is truth in what he says regarding what we rely on for power to overcome strongholds.
Back in 2013 before taking the Setting Captives Free Purity course, I would have told you that “Jesus is the Word” (John1:1) and since 1 Corinthians 7:2 and Proverbs 5:8 are God's Word and His obvious advice for Christian sexual purity then I was obviously relying on Jesus to keep me pure. Right? Wrong.
Let me explain with an illustration. Let’s say I lived with my wife in the woods of Arkansas in 1745, 50 miles from anyone. By circumstance, I would be living out 1 Corinthians 5:7 and Proverbs 5:8. Obviously, I couldn’t view pornography, it wasn’t readily available. I couldn’t commit adultery because there was no opportunity. It would be a morally safe environment like the one I created with no movies and no internet but is this freedom?
Everyone can look like they are a Christian on a sunny day, but when the "rain comes and the floods rise" ie we live in a time when everyone lives and relies on smartphones and opportunities for sin abound. The flood waters of sin have never been higher or rushing faster. Biblical wisdom doesn’t work today for purity because it never was the actual foundation for power to overcome. Jesus, His cross, and His resurrection are the power, not good advice in the Bible. After all, Jesus went against Solomon’s advice and hung out with prostitutes.
So, my friend, you can try to create for yourself a safe environment like I did and have moderate success. Or, you can rely completely on the finished work of Jesus for power, accept his marriage proposal, and live happily ever after on earth with the Holy Spirit who is escorting you through the narrow path of life to the Marriage Supper of the Lamb.