Video Transcript: Your Porn Battle Plan

Today I'd like to tell you about my very first exposure to pornography. Is that an  awkward way to start? Because it feels awkward to me? Like, are we gonna go  there today? And yes, we are, I'll tell you about my very first exposure to  pornography. And for those of you who maybe you're about my age, you realize  that when we were growing up, you didn't have the easy access to porn that so  many people have today on mobile devices and such. For my age, you kind of  had to almost like stumble upon a discarded magazine, or have a friend who  had a dad that had a secret stash. I had a friend named Steven, who discovered his dad's secret stash. And Steven came to school to tell me Oh, my gosh,  you're not gonna believe what I've found, you'll want to come to my house to  look at it. That was a day. I hate to admit it. But I did not walk home from school.  But I ran home from school to Steven's house to see what he had found. And I  remember very clearly, even though it was decades ago, my first exposure to  porn, I remember looking going Oh, so that's what those are. And I felt this rush  of excitement. This thrill, this adrenaline hit this buzz. I didn't want to feel that  way. It wasn't premeditated. I didn't choose it. But that's what I felt. Then it was  followed by this very real sense of guilt and shame. Like I've done something  wrong, which was only amplified when I came home and my mom was waiting  for me at home. I said, Hi, my little sugar sweetheart, I love you so much. I didn't tell her but, Mom, I'm going to hell. I'm so going to hell. And that was my first  exposure to porn when I was maybe 10 or 11 years of age. And it started a war,  in my mind, of desiring to see something that was thrilling and exciting and yet  feeling incredibly guilty. I'm talking to warriors today. And the good news is that  you have the heart of a warrior, with a kingdom to advance and someone to  protect and a battle to win. And yet you have to understand though Warriors,  that you have a very real spiritual enemy. And his goal is to steal, kill and destroy he wants to distract you. Disengage you, discourage you, take you out of the  war, because a distracted warrior is always a dangerous warrior. And one of the  most common ways that our enemy will attack Warriors is with a battle in the  mind of lust is often triggered through pornography. And that's why today's title is this your porn battle plan? What's your plan, because every warrior goes into  war, with a plan for victory. The reality is, in all my years of pastoring great  people. I've never ever met a warrior who said, my goal is to abandon my post.  My goal is to become a slave to lustful images. My goal is to wreck my life, lose  the faith of the people that I love, hurt those who have trusted me, betray my  spouse, shame, my children. My goal is to be stripped of all spiritual confidence, to live in a sense of shame. My goal is to take everything that I value so much  and trade it for momentary selfish lust, no warrior has ever said that. And yet,  there are very good people who actually love God and do that all the time. In  fact, this little question, let's talk about Christian men and Christian women.  What percentage of Christian men and Christian women do you think view porn  monthly? We're not talking about like, three or four or five times a day, not like, 

um, you know, someone's really ragingly addicted, that we're talking about  someone that might really love God and go two or three weeks and then like,  stumble upon someone and look for a few minutes, and then I shouldn't have  done that. And then go a little while and then look again, what percentage of  Christian men and Christian women would you guess would battle with porn?  The answer is, according to studies, 64% of Christian men, and 15% of  Christian women will view porn monthly, or more. So, admittedly, from the  statistics, we know that men are generally more vulnerable to this. But the sad  thing is women are becoming increasingly vulnerable, often for a different  reason, based on my research and pastoral experience. It's often a girl who  feels curious feels like she wants to learn something doesn't want to be left out  and And then doesn't realize that she can become addicted very easily as well.  Those of you who are between the years 18 and 30, raise your hand 18 to 30  year olds Raise your hands. Unfortunately, in your age range, the statistic goes  up about 79% of those your age who are men, even Christian men will look at  porn monthly, or so. What do we realize that we need a battle plan against the  schemes of our enemy in order to win this victory so we can fight the battles that God has called us to fight? Today, we're gonna look at a guy that was an  amazing warrior. He was a man after God's own heart. What's interesting about  this guy is there were 929 verses about this warrior. The verses told us that he  was a poet. He was a musician. He was a worshiper, he wrote about half of the  Psalms. He was an amazing king, a fantastic leader. In so many ways. He was a brilliant and brave warrior. And yet, with all these amazing qualities, this man is  often remembered by something that is described in three out of 929 verses in  the Bible 929. And he's often remembered by what happened in three of them.  I'll show you the first verse to introduce the context of the story. And then there's  three verses for which King David, a great warrior, a man after God's own heart  is often remembered. Scripture says this II Samuel 11:1, in the spring,  everybody say in the spring, in the spring, at the time, when kings go off to war,  David sent Joab out with all the king's men and the whole Israelite army, they  destroyed the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah, but David remained in  Jerusalem. In the spring, when the King David should have been at war, he  stayed back at home. And here are the three verses that describe the tragedy.  One evening, David got up from his bed and walked around the roof of the  palace. From the roof, he saw a woman bathing the woman was very beautiful.  And David sent someone to find out about her. The man said, this woman she is Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite. Then David sent  messengers to get her, she came back, and he slept with her. If you know the  rest of the story, she got pregnant, David made a series of compounding bad  decisions. And that was the beginning of indescribable pain, for King David and  for so many others, a man after God's own heart. And he's often remembered by something described and three verses in the Bible. What happened? Essentially,

if we're going to describe and define as clearly as we can, what happened in his  life, the same thing that happens in the lives of so many warriors. The first thing  is, we noticed David wasn't where he was supposed to be. So he saw  something he wasn't supposed to see then he did something he wasn't  supposed to do. And that costs so many people who ended up losing so many  things that they weren't supposed to lose. And it all started when he wasn't  where he was supposed to be. The king in spring, when kings go off to war,  David should have been at war, but instead he was at home. When do so many  of us get messed up? It's when we're not engaged in the battles that we're  supposed to fight your warriors. Every single one of you male and female  warriors, you've got someone to protect. You've got a kingdom to advance.  You've got a battle to win. But when we're disengaged from our God given  calling so often we're vulnerable to the selfish temptations of loss, David should  have been leading the charge. He should have been rallying the troops, but he  was disengaged. And that's the very reason so many of us are losing this battle.  What do I know about you? My guess is again, based on almost three decades  of experience, talking to people about this subject and many more, I'm going to  tell you what's very likely some version of your story. It won't be exactly right. But almost all of you will have some version of this story, where many of the details  would apply to you. There was a time at some point that you are very likely  exposed to something sexually impure. It might have been pornography like me  in the fifth grade. It might have been worse than pornography when someone  that you loved and trusted, took advantage of you and molested you, betraying  your innocence. It might have been that you're on a date with somebody. And  she smelled good. And he, he was a smooth talker. And it went from a little kissy. kissy kissy blahblah, to suddenly clothes, we're coming off. And the next thing  you know, you ended up doing something that you weren't planning on doing.  

Unknown Speaker 10:26 What you didn't realize at that moment is you actually  were wounded. You were wounded. You were hurt, you were injured, you were  emotionally wounded. You were mentally wounded, you were spiritually  wounded. It's a little bit like a computer virus. If a computer gets a virus, that  virus then infects the rest of the computer, what happens is now that you had  this wound, you didn't look at the gift of sex that God created in His holiness and beauty for marriage the same way. Because now you were injured, and your  thought life is slightly corrupted, you lost a little bit of your innocence. And  there's a war going on. Because there's a part of you that likes the thrill of the  sexual, whatever it is, the porn, the masturbation, the fooling around whatever it  is, because there is a positive, there's a thrill, and there's a feel good, and  there's a dopamine release. And that is often followed by this shame, and this  guilt, and maybe even the self disgust. And so you might have been  embarrassed because you didn't know who to tell. So you've kept it to yourself. 

The only problem is that sin grows best in the dark. So maybe, you started  justifying it, saying it's not that bad. It's not that big of a deal. And then if you're a Christian, you might have prayed, God takes this desire away, take this desire  away. But the desire didn't go away. And so you prayed some more, and you  made promises, I won't do it again, I won't do it again, and you didn't for three  whole days, or three weeks, or three months, or maybe even three years, you  had periods of what we might call sexual sobriety until you tripped up and did  something you shouldn't do. And you fell into sexual binges. Kind of like when  you eat one piece and say, well, now I might as well eat the whole thing. And so  you hoped that, hey, when I get married one day, then everything will fix itself,  then we'll get to be together seven, eight times a week. All my problems are  gonna go away. And then you got married. And your problem didn't go away.  Because you thought you were dealing with a lust issue. But it wasn't just a lust  issue. You were dealing with a wound that has not healed. David wasn't where  he's supposed to be. He saw something he wasn't supposed to see. He did  something he wasn't supposed to do. He was vulnerable. Just like so many of  us are vulnerable. When are warriors vulnerable? I'll show you a couple of times from this story and from Scripture. We as warriors, we're vulnerable. Whenever  we're overly confident. Those of you who think I don't need this is silly, isn't it  that you might be the most vulnerable when you're overly confident, imagining  King David's saying, hey, it's springtime. I know I should be at war. But Joab he's one of my best commanders. We've got more troops. They don't need me. I'll  just stay back. He was overly confident. The apostle Paul said this. He said in I  Corinthians 10:12, if you think you're standing firm, you don't have a problem.  You're never going to be vulnerable. He says, Be careful that you don't fall. Don't be overly confident. I used to be overly confident at times until God really did a  miracle. It's hard to describe that when I was 27 years of age or so right before  starting the church. I really wanted to be clean from this type of temptation. And I prayed God and Heaven do a miracle. I pray I would never ever have a lustful  thought again. And it's hard to is is to describe at the age of 27 God cleansed  my mind and to this day I have never had a single impure thought. I just made  that up. That didn't happen. Like, really? Pastor can we believe you like no, that  was a joke. Okay. No. Oh. I am always listen to me. I am always potentially  vulnerable. You Pastor Craig. Yes. The problem with Pastor Craig, he's still  pastor man, Craig, I tried to cast the man out of me and he just don't, he won't  go away. I'm always potentially vulnerable. And that's why as a warrior, I've got  to be honest, and I got to be wise. When I'm going into battle, I've got to know  that my enemy is going to set some landmines for me, I've got to be honest  about where I'm most vulnerable and wise enough to stay away from those  things. So what you want to do is you want to be very wise about what it is that  triggers you. What is it that you find yourself in real trouble along the way is it for you when you're like scrolling on social media? And then you know, he's hot or 

she's in a bikini? And the next thing you know you're in trouble? Or is it when  you're playing computer games late at night, and you're your spouse is asleep?  Or is it when you're traveling on business and you have a couple of drinks the  next thing you know you're vulnerable, or when you're in the hotel room, looking  through the TV stations, or like there's that, or when you're with your girlfriend  watching Netflix, and you're in shorts, and you got hair on your legs, and she's in shorts and her legs are smooth. And when smooth hits hair something happens, you know? And the next thing you know you're in trouble. Hey, if it's not awkward yet, just hang with me baby because we're going there today. Everybody, all  right, today just breathe in, I breathe in, breathe in 1, 2, 3. Breathe out, okay,  we're still alive, we're still alive. Female warriors, is it when you're reading a  romance novel about that fictional guy that doesn't exist anywhere. And you  compare him to your really very real dud at home, you know? Is it when you're  reading the article that says 15 ways to drive them while in bed? And suddenly  you start to go somewhere in your mind? What is it that triggers you? Warriors,  you have to understand that you are only as strong as you are honest. You're  only as strong. As you are honest, you have to be honest. What I want to do in  my own life, knowing that I'm a warrior with a mission from my God, I want to  acknowledge that my enemy will try to stop me and disengage me from the  battle. And so I'm gonna put some safeguards in my life as a part of my battle  plan. So I will not be as vulnerable to the attack to the enemy. So some things I  do. This is just common sense to honor my bride, Amy, and to honor my God,  and my pastoral calling, I'm not going to be alone with women, in any context.  We're not talking in my office, we're not getting in my car, and we're not driving  to a restaurant so we can sit across from each other and have intimate talk. I  know in the business world, that's kind of common and whatever, like maybe the business world needs to grow some brains. And recognize there's just no reason for that. Okay, sorry, if that offends you. For me, I know that I could be potentially vulnerable to look at things online that I shouldn't look at. So I've got my iPad,  I've got a mobile device, and I've got my computer. And I call them locked down.  They're locked down to the best of my ability. I've made it so that I can't access  something that I shouldn't look at. So on my mobile device, and my iPad, I can't  download apps, I just can't someone else has to put in a code. So I can't  download an app. Or I might look at something that's inappropriate. My social  media, there's like five or six people that have the codes to my passwords, all  my passwords, I've got adult content blocked, I can't erase anything. And if I try  to book a massage, it won't let me even do that. I can't do lots of things. Can't  even order a swimsuit and stuff like that. But anyway, there's ways around to  someone else can order my swimsuit, my computer, everything is tracked. So  what I've done is I put up safeguards and you're like, Pastor Craig, are you like  that weak and that vulnerable? And the answer is no. Not normally. Not most of  the time. But you never know. Six months from now, when I'm in a bad place 

emotionally or mentally or spiritually, I'm traveling somewhere and late at night,  you never know. So, why in the world would I resist the temptation in the future  that I have the power to eliminate today? I'm a warrior. I've got a battle plan, why would I wait to fight off something later on. If I had the power to eliminate that  battle today, come on warriors. Use your brain. We don't run into battle without a plan. A warrior is vulnerable when we're overly confident. Secondly, we're  vulnerable whenever we feel entitled. Think about King David, can you imagine  him feeling entitled, I am the king. And this is a very complicated job. I've got so  much weight upon me I'm working hard and my wives multiple ones like, Isn't  one enough, Mr. David. But anyway, my wives aren't meeting my needs. And so  I deserve a little something, something on the side, I'm going to justify this, I feel  entitled for you, it might be like, you're not married. And all your friends are  playing Chitty Chitty, bang, bang, right? They're hooking up and saying, you're  saying, Hey, I'm not doing that man. And so since I'm not doing that, this is just  my one little thing. I just kind of look at this, I just kind of, you know, this is this is  my release is not really that big of a deal. I could be doing so much worse, and  so you justify it. Or you might be married to a guy who doesn't really engage  with you emotionally. So you justify what you do. Or your wife may not be  meeting your needs, and you are a man with your needs. So you justify getting  your needs met in some inappropriate way. David decided to go up to the top of  the palace. It would not have been unusual for a woman to take a bath but you  can almost see his line of thinking. I think I'll go up and get some night air and  just look around and see if I see anything and he did. He saw Bathsheba. Just  seeing someone attractive is not a sin, but he didn't just see he looked intently.  And the reason I know that is because the Hebrew word translated as saw He  saw her bathing is the word ra'ah. And ra'ah doesn't mean like, look and look  away ra'ah means to go, oh, it means to stare intently. I pronounced ra'ah like  this. Ra'ah! That's what he did. You've seen some people ra'ah before, right?  That's what he did. And you may say that's not that big a deal. He's just looking.  He was just looking not touching. He saw something he wasn't supposed to see. Which led him to do something he wasn't supposed to do. Jesus was crazy  passionate about the subject of purity. It starts with the eyes. Jesus said, This  sounds crazy. But he said if you look lustfully at a person, you've already  committed adultery in your hearts. He said, If your right eye causes you to sin,  gouge it out. Dear God was he being literal? Oh, God, I hope not. Can you  imagine you walk into work? You see another guy? He's got a patch on an eye.  So do you you're like Christian? Yeah. Chris. Yeah. What he's saying is, take  this seriously warriors. This can sideline you. It changes the way you think. It  distorts what's real. It poisons what's pure, objectifies people. It dishonors God.  And it robs you of what you really really want. Which is intimacy. Not just  sexually, but relationally. And spiritually, as well. We don't just fight sexual  temptation. You read all these verses about fight temptation, fight temptation, 

you fight temptation. When you read about sexual temptation, the Bible says  flee. Flee, don't fight, flee.  

Unknown Speaker 23:32 If you run into a bear, my recommendation is you run.  You're like, Hey, I've been I've been doing kickboxing lesson while I'm in  Vietnam. Now as to why sexual temptation is okay. You don't fight it. You Run  Forrest. You run. You get you get out of there. He wasn't supposed to be where  he was also new info. See? If you feel the weight of this right now, little  heaviness, you're thinking Ah, should skip church today. And the little voice is  saying Don't let anybody know. Don't tell anybody. What I want to say to you is  this. Especially the men, why are you talking to the men? Because I can so  want to come on men. Be men of honor. Be men of integrity. Come on, ladies.  Let's fight for purity. Let's honor God in all that we do crave, crave the freedom.  Aren't you tired of covering your tracks and wondering, When are they going to  find out? How have I gone this long without anybody knowing? Aren't you Are  you tired of the emotional distance that it creates? Aren't you tired of the spiritual drag that you feel? You want to represent God but you just feel completely  insecure? cause there's this weight holding you back. Eventually, David got  there took another man a prophet getting up in his business. And finally, David  confessed. Scripture says the Psalm 32:5, David says, finally, finally, I confess  my sins to you, God, I confessed. And I stopped trying to hide my guilt. And I  said to myself, I will confess my rebellion to God. And what did God do? He  said, in you, oh, God, you forgave me. All my guilt is gone. I hope somebody will give praise to our good God for His grace and His mercy. In other words, no  matter how trapped you feel, no matter how dark it is, our God is there for you.  There's always hope. There's always potential for healing in Christ, come on  warriors, fight. Let's fight like people of God, for such surrender and just justify  this. Let's have a plan. We are warriors. What is your plan? Very simply five  things. It's simple. And some of you, you will do this and you will find victory. The first thing we do Warriors is we confess to God. And the good news is scripture  says, our God, He is faithful and just to forgive us and purify us from all of our  sins. That's how good our God is. When you confess, God hears your  confession, and he forgives your sins. The second thing we do, number one, we  confess to God, the second thing we confess to the right, people, we confess to  the right people. James said this, he said, confess your sins, one to another, and pray for each other that you might be healed. Do you see the difference? We  confess to God for forgiveness, but we confess to people for healing. Come on  warriors. How long have you been battling this? If you're not winning? It's  because you need the right people around you. We were not designed to fight  alone. I need warriors in the battle with me. That's why we're in life groups.  That's why iron sharpens iron. That's why I don't just need my bride. But I need 

a few men that can kick my butt. And it generally takes more than one to be  quite honest.  

Unknown Speaker 27:28 I need someone who can call me on it and confront  me. You confess to the right people. Third thing you do is you remove the  triggers. Don't be stupid. Come on. Don't be stupid. If you continue to lose on  the same path, get off the path. If I'm up into David's business, David, no night  strolls on the rooftop. Remove the triggers. Number four. Get the necessary  help. Whatever it is. Come on. Make the phone call. Look them up online. get  counseling for you for your marriage. Listen, you gotta go to rehab. Let's get it  done. Come on. Let's get it done. Number five. You let the goodness of our God  heal your wound. Will this be an easy battle to win? No. You may fight this battle your whole life. But with Christ, there is freedom. With Christ. There is joy. With  Christ. There is real sexual intimacy in a marriage that honors God. In Christ,  there's emotional intimacy, both with your spouse, and with your Father in  heaven. With Christ, there is healing female warriors. If you got to battle the  porn, let's call it what it is. Let's work your battle plan. And I'm going to speak  directly to the female warriors just for a moment from the perspective of my male warrior friends. I would love to invite you ladies into the fight to fight with us and  occasionally on our behalf because we need your help. And here's what's going  to happen somewhere somehow there might be a confession a husband, a wife, a wife, a husband, a friend to a friend. And ladies, what I know about you is if  there's an important man in your life who says I've sinned in this way. Your first  reaction will be anger. Disgust fury rage. You might feel like insecure Am I not  enough? How can you do that to me? And every single one of those feelings are completely justified. No doubt about it. But I pray, you can deal with those  feelings. And on the other side of those feelings you can look across at a  warrior, who's not just some kind of jerk, loser pervert, but a warrior who's been  wounded and loves you enough to ask you for help. Because listen, we need  each other. Don't fight for purity alone. Warriors. You're not weak. You're not a  victim. You don't take shortcuts. You deny yourself. You make sacrifices. You're  a warrior. You never ever surrender. Your mind will always be a battlefield. But  you are its commander, you are not its slave, who are you? Warriors. You're an  overcomer by the blood of the Lamb. And by the words of your testimony and  the power of Christ, you can do all things through Christ who gives you strength, you're more than a conqueror in Christ Jesus, because the very same spirit, that raised Christ, from the dead, it dwells inside of you, warriors, the enemy isn't  attacking you because you're weak. The enemy is attacking you because you  are a warrior. You have someone to protect. You have a kingdom to advance,  and you have a battle to win, you may fail yes, you may fall Yes, you may  stumble. But with Christ, you rise to fight again, because you are a warrior and a warrior may not win every battle. But a warrior never stops fighting. And when 

you continue to fight with the people of God, you will see the victory of Christ  because whom the Son sets free, is free. Indeed. So Father, we ask, in the  name of Your Son, Jesus, to help us do battle together, protecting God the  wound that you would heal it, and we will honor you in purity, fighting the battles  you've called us to fight as you're praying today in all of our churches. I wonder  how many warriors male, female, young and old, those of you who say I want to  honor God with a life of purity in Christ, I hope it's everybody, would you lift up  your hands right now just lift them up all over the place. God, I thank you for  warriors, who will have a battle plan, who will never ever overestimate their  strength nor underestimate the enemy. But recognize we have an enemy who  devises scheme schemes to trick us trap us, distract us, destroy us. So  therefore God, we will honor you searching your heart your work, confessing our sins to you, to the right people in our life groups, in our in our accountability,  relationships, getting the help that we need, with wisdom, removing whatever  temptation might trap us. And God, believing in faith  

Unknown Speaker 33:11 that today is the beginning of healing, that you would  start to heal these sexual wounds God that we could live for you. And purity with honor and intimacy, and strength to fight the battles you call us to fight. Help us  heal together God by the power of your risen Son, Jesus. As you keep praying  today, at all of our churches, nobody looking around, there are those of you  you're gonna recognize. You need spiritual help, you need direction. I remember feeling just this, this this deep sense of shame. years ago, trying so hard to be  good enough for God. And no matter how hard I tried, always gonna do the  wrong thing. And I had to come to recognize that I couldn't be good enough on  my own. No matter what, whether this is an issue for you, or something else,  none of us can be good enough on our own. And the good news is that our God  is so loving and so full of mercy, that he didn't leave us on our own. But he  became one of us in the person of His Son Jesus, who was without sin, the  greatest warrior in the history of the world, gave his life died and rose again, so  that anyone who calls on that name that is above every name, in the name of  Jesus, anyone who calls on his name, would be saved, forgiven, transformed,  not just saved from their sins, but save for a life of purpose, to battle and engage in the spiritual battles that matter to the heart of God advancing his kingdom,  and all of our churches are those of you you're tired of being ashamed. You're  tired of the weight of your guilt. You're tired of living a life without purpose. And  you recognize you're here today because there's a battle going on for you the  forces of darkness against the kingdom of light and all you need to do is say yes Jesus I'm on your side I turn from my sins I give my life to you, all of our  churches those who say yes, I want your grace I want your forgiveness. I want  your your power Jesus I give my life to you. That's your prayer. Lift your hands  high now all over the place and say yes, up here. God bless you right back over 

here. Here both of you praise God for you guys. Others of you today, right back  over here, sir. A warrior boy into the kingdom right here the others my gosh,  Somebody give God some praise. Church Online, you click right below me. Both of you right back over here. Come on, come on. Come on. Come on, come on. If you weren't today, all of our churches just stand to your feet. You're engaged  and ready for battle. Stand to your feet. And let's pray together with those being  born into God's army. Pray Heavenly Father, forgive all my sins. Jesus saved  me. Set me free. Fill me with your Spirit. So I could do your work. So I can live in your will. So I could show your love. My life is not my own. I give it all to you.  Thank you for life in Christ. In Jesus name. I pray Could somebody get a little  louder? Give a little victory roar. Give our God praise for new life in Christ. Hey,  thanks for joining us here at Life Church. You know as a church, it's always our  heart to see you continue to grow in your relationship with Christ, we have a  great resource to help you do that. It's called Life.church/next. There you can  find all kinds of resources to help you continue to grow in your relationship with  Christ. And we'd love for you to subscribe and be a part of our online community. Again, thanks for joining us and we'll see you next time.