Man Arrested On Child Pornography Charges – Miami News Story – WPLG Miami.
cliffmich64’s Channel – YouTube
cliffmich64’s Channel – YouTube.
Our food pantry was given free “Ducks” tickets for all of our volunteers and this is our tahnk you to them! Pretty fun!
Motives for sexual sin Part 1 “The things we can’t have”
In Steve Gallagher’s book, “At the Altar of Sexual Idolatry” he describes four motives for why people engage in sexual sin and sensuality. The first motive that Steve describes is “The forbidden” or what I like to say is the “things we cannot have”. In our modern self-indulgent Christian world and culture, we have seem to have forgotten that Scripture does tell us that we cannot have everything that we set our eyes upon or desire in our hearts.
In the Ten Commandments the tenth commandment is “you shall not covet”. In the Exodus 20 narrative of the Ten Commandments we see that coveting your neighbors house was communicated first and then coveting your neighbors wife is second. (Ex 20:17) Then in the Deuteronomy 5 narrative of the Ten Commandments, God straight out says “You shall not covet your neighbors wife, and then He moves to the house, servants and animals. (Deut 5:21) I wonder if this is because 40 years had passed and Moses is now reiterating the Law to those going into the Promised Land and Moses had the experience of the sinfulness of sexual immorality in God’s people which destroyed them. (1Cor 10:8)
And what is covetousness? According to Colossians 3:5 it is idolatry. To put it simply it is, “having a great desire for something or someone which has not been given to you by the Lord and where you are willing to sin in thought or deed to have or experience it”. All things which we have comes from God… every perfect gift comes down from your Father in heaven” (James 1:17) and so what you do not have, God has not given to you; yet.
So how does this tie together with a motive for sexual sin? It ties together because every time you lust, every time you view pornography, every time you masturbate or commit adultery and/or fornication, you are sinfully trying to get someone who belongs to someone else. They either belong to another person in some way shape or form, but ultimately they belong to God, and He has not given them to you. So then you become guilty of covetousness which is idolatry and you are putting yourself and your desires above God in that moment.
God has not given you that person you are fantasizing about. God has not given you that person you are committing adultery with. God has not given you that person that you are masturbating to in front of their image or in your gallery of images in your mind. Sexual sin is a discontent with what God has given to you. And when you are discontent with what God has given to you, in any area of life, you then begin to covet what has not been given to you, and covetousness is idolatry.
How many Christians are worshiping idol’s instead of the living God? How many Christian men and women are discontent with what their Father has given to them, and begin to sinfully try to fulfill their own desires and cravings? The Christian heart in American and the western cultures are filled with covetousness, we want more, expect more, desire more and we have the preachers telling us we deserve more and more. We have become self indulgent and self fulfilling, even to the point where we begin to rationalize and justify our sin. If we don’t want to stay married, we divorce in order to find someone else who we desire. Rarely in the counseling of couples going through divorce do I hear that if they divorce they are willing to remain single for the rest of their life. Usually I hear, “I deserve someone better, someone nicer, someone more exciting…”
There are things which God says you cannot have, and in context to sexual sin, that means anyone to who you are not married. If you are coveting someone God has not given to you, to be married to and live until death do you part, then you must repent of covetousness. In Mark 7:18-23 Jesus tells us it is the things which are in our hearts which brings defilement to our lives. Confess your covetous heart before the Lord, confess you discontentment with what He has given to you; whether your spouse or your singleness and celibacy. Confess your idolatry where you have put the worship of other people above Him. Confess you self indulgent and self serving heart and ask Him to give you a new heart.
I know that if you go before the Lord with a true heart of understanding and brokenness that He will forgive you and He will uproot covetousness from your heart and you will experience a new freedom to resist the temptation of sexual sin. And He will give you a contented heart for what He has given your life, and you will be a better steward of the things He has given you.
Thank you from my heart for my 50th birthday party!
I just had my 50th birthday, and I desire to express a heartfelt “Thank you” to everyone who made my birthday a very special day.
First my wonderful wife, my children and grandchildren and family; Thank you for everything you did for me to make this birthday feel very special. Thanks to my mom for bringing me into this world 50 years ago.
Secondly, to my great leadership team and congregation. Thank you for participating in my 50th birthday. Thank you Dan Aguirre for the “Danno’s” BBQ; as usual it was great! Thank you Lorena Romero for my cake, it not only was beautiful but also very tasty. Thank you to my pastors and elders for planning everything and pastor Gabe for making the picture presentation of me through the years; it was humbling. And Thank you to my congregation for being there, serving, cleaning and just loving me as your pastor, I have the best congregation a pastor could have, everyone of you!
Lastly, thank you Lord for everyday you give to me to live. Let me live it with the grace you give and always give honor and glory to you!
Looking with intent…
One of the greatest stands a man can make against sexual sin is to appropriate the Grace of God for the purpose of self control of his eyes. We live in a highly visually sensual society where women are encouraged to be looked at and men are encouraged to look. Even in the Christian community, when appearance and modesty are brought up in conversation it solicits a reaction from both men and women. Women respond against being told that modesty should be considered because they interpret that as being told what they should wear by someone; and men respond against this conversation by saying it is no big deal how women dress because they can handle it.
Job 31:1 says, “I have made a covenant with my eyes; why then should I look upon a young woman?” A covenant with my eyes? What does that mean, how is that done? A covenant is a binding agreement and pledge; it has depth, somberness and integrity. It is more that just waking up in the morning and thinking about being on guard about what you look at during the day. A covenant promotes a solid change of life and lifestyle, not just a cautionary warning that says, “you shouldn’t be looking at this.” A covenant changes the way you live and function in life. Consider the covenant of marriage; “forsaking all others and keeping only unto your spouse as long as you shall live.” Now that mandates a few things; no more dating, no more flirting, no more independence, no more availability for intimate friendships with a woman. It also mandates exclusiveness to one woman who is the focus of your desires, thoughts and attentions.
So when Job says he made a covenant with his eyes, he understood that the eyes feed his soul, whether for the good and benefit or the evil and destruction of his soul. Job understood that this meant a resolve to eliminate all unnecessary associations with environments which would promote any kind of temptation. Let’s face it, when a man is in sexual sin, the eyes play a significant part in that sin. Primarily the sinful heart is the issue, but the eyes are feeding the heart. And I have found that most men I counsel struggle at eliminating visual things from their life; television, movies, locations, internet… men will fight tooth and nail at keeping some access to these things justifying the reasonableness of doing so. They say that it is just, “unreasonable, not practical and too rigid to take such a strong stance concerning their entertainment and relaxation habits. Even wives resist at the thought of not watching their favorite programs or going to their favorite places for the sake of their husband who is in sexual sin. To me, that is just pure delusion. If you think you can overcome sexual sin while feeding the lustful heart you are deceived. This is a must, a necessity and a scriptural mandate to make a “covenant with your eyes.” And that means an absolute forsaking of all things which titillate the lusting soul. If you are serious about conquering sexual sin, then you must become serious about forsaking all other stimulus.
Psalms 101:2-3 says, “I will behave wisely in a perfect way. Oh when will you come to me? I will walk within my house with a perfect heart. I will set nothing wicked before my eyes; I hate the work of those who fall away; it shall not cling to me. A perverse heart shall depart from me; I will not know wickedness.”
In this Psalms we see some important points for a strategy to live out on a daily basis, let me highlight them for you.
- To be wise in our behavior; to be blameless in our motives and intents of our heart.
- Foolish reasoning will keep you in bondage. It is not foolish to know that you cannot handle something because of sinful propensities, that is wisdom! Foolishness and pride go together and lie to you saying you can handle it, and then ensnare you into sin.
- You must rely upon the grace of God for every decision and stand you make to kill lust in your heart:Â “Oh, when will you come to me?”
- Most sexual sin and temptation happens behind closed doors, in secret and isolation. And it is because of the idolatrous heart of lust that men begin to worship at the altar of sexual idolatry in their homes or in places of reproach.
- The covenant of setting nothing wicked in front of your eyes in a imperative, a command, especially for those who struggle and wrestle with sexual sin. The determination is this: “I will set nothing.” This is not a suggestion, and if you are serious about victory in your life, then you will walk this out in obedience and eliminate all the carnal reasoning in your mind.
- You must begin to cultivate a “hatred” or at least a dislike of the “WORK” of those who are not serving God; not the people but their work. It is amazing how many Christians are enamored by the product of those who do not serve God; from the movies to their music and to their pornography, Christians are a fan of the work of the wicked. You must begin to hate this work and do not allow it to take hold in your heart. A great barometer for your desire is if you cannot live without watching or viewing the work of the wicked. If you think you cannot live without seeing the latest blockbuster movie coming out, then you love the work of the wicked.
- Create singleness of heart to love God, serve Christ and purify your heart and flesh. This becomes your primary motive of daily living.
- Cleansing your conscience from dead works so that all of the remembrance and images of wickedness are taken out of your heart so that they are not easily accessed in your thoughts.
If you are serious about becoming free from sexual sin and enslavement you will begin to challenge the things which you look with intent at.
Back to Blogging
Well it has been some time since I have posted anything, but I have felt convicted and re-energized by God to launch out into this world again. I hope to bring a concise, frank and transparent feel to a sometimes wordy and argumentative medium.
I am a common man who proclaims an uncommon God and Savior. So I will use common thoughts and words to confront the sinfulness in the church, whether in the pulpit or the pew; not to condemn but to awaken us out of our slumber in sin; and I will endeavor to bring clarity to the complex world of being a father or step-father, of which I am both.
So pray for me as I once again reach out to those seeking answers, solutions or just awakening from slumbering while it is still day!
Sola Scriptura: The Scripture Alone is the Standard.
Soli Deo Gloria! For the Glory of God Alone
Solo Christo! By Christ’s Work Alone are We Saved
Sola Gratia: Salvation by Grace Alone
Sola Fide: Justification by Faith Alone
Pastor Eric Hensley
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