PORN!
Hello,
My name is Ben and I struggle with porn addiction! Now that I have your attention, lets get to the blog. For the next couple weeks I want to share my thoughts and my life experiences with everyone when it comes to porn and related topics. I feel like this is one of those things that no one is really willing to talk about honestly and bluntly, but that’s what we are going to do here.
Porn has always been put on the back burner of topics to discuss, especially in the church and that really needs to stop! So many people especially teens and young adults struggle with this issue, and its time we started doing something about it. The 1st step is to talk about it!
My goal for the next couple weeks is to bring hope to to those who struggle with this issue, and hope to those who have a loved one who has this sturggle in their life. I know from experience that this is a very hard situation, and I have lost/screwed up many things because of this addiction. But, there is hope! That I can promise. I have been porn free for 36 days now. I never thought that I could do that! And now that I have, it is an amazing and freeing feeling. There is hope.
I want to leave you with one last statement, and that is no matter what you may struggle with, God loves you and will never leave you! This is amazing.
Blessings,
Ben
Unchristian
Just thought this interview was good. It pretty much is right on. As christians we really have gotten a bad reputation as being judgmental. We are the only ones who can change this. I urge you to watch this interview a couple times and really think about what he has to say.
Blessings, Ben
Love and Starbucks
Love: a profoundly tender, passionate affection for another person; to need or require; benefit greatly from. (www.dictionary.com)
I was sitting in Starbucks the other day drinking my usual Chai latte. I wasn’t really doing anything, except sitting in a chair, at a table listening and watching people. Behind me sat a girl, prolly 12 or so and what looked like her grandparents. They were talknig about all kinds of things, but mostly the conversation was about how this girl needed to be better and act nicer and so forth.
It wasn’t very interesting to me until I heard her start talking about when she stays at her moms house she never gets to see her. The grandpa told her the usual “your mom loves you very much and has to work” kinda thing. The thing that really got to me was when this girl said “I know she has to work, but I just wanna see my mom, and I miss her so much.”
This made me sad just over hearing this. All this little girl wanted was love. She wanted it anyway she could get it.
People need love; everyone. Even the people that you hate, or think have no compassion for anyone need love. My thought for the night is this: love others. Thats all it is. Love others. Whether they are going through a tough time, or just need help with something, the best and first thing you can do is love them. Show them what Godly love is. I know this is easier to say than to do, but if you can show love, many other blessings are going to come.
1 John 4:11 (The Message)
11-12My dear, dear friends, if God loved us like this, we certainly ought to love each other. No one has seen God, ever. But if we love one another, God dwells deeply within us, and his love becomes complete in us—perfect love!
Blessings, Ben
Prayer
I’ve been thinking a lot about prayer recently. Not so much as how to go about doing it, but more about why we don’t do it enough. For anyone who has gone to church before, we all have heard that if we have any problem, all we have to do it PRAY. But why don’t we?
I know for me personally, until recently, I really didn’t pray very often on my own, if at all. This wasn’t intentional, it’s just how it was. I went through my life trying my best to be a good Christian and doing the right thing, and for the most part it was working. I always wondered though how someone cold feel so intimate with God the entire day. The only time i could truly feel close was during the time of worship at the weekend church service. During the week however, I would feel distant a lot of the time.
Until a couple weeks ago when I decided to pray on my own, and it felt good. It was lie all of the sudden i was closer to God. And then I started praying more and more. I noticed a couple of things when my prayer life actually existed.
1) I felt a closer, more intimate relationship with God
2) God was actually answering MY Prayers!
Obviously prayer isn’t the only part of a relationship with God, but it is a huge part! If you don’t currently pray that often, try it just for a week or two. You are going to notice a change in your relationship with God. I’m sure a lot of people are skeptical about this, but what is there to lose?
Blessings,
Ben
