home :: network :: newslettersDecember 2007 E-News: The Miracle of Mercy
December 2007 | Issue XII
December 2007
| Issue XII
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EMB Announcements
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Gateway to Freedom
Launch Announcement
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Purity Spotlight: The Miracle of Mercy
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Resource Spotlight: Every Man's Battle
Video
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Real
Answers to Real Questions
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Pure
Sex Radio Announcements
Every Man's Battle Workshop, led
by
Jonathan Daugherty, coming to
Learn more at
www.everymansbattle.com.
We are launching Gateway to Freedom in
south Texas. This 3-day intensive workshop is for
men struggling with pornography or sexual addiction.
The first workshop is scheduled for:
Learn more about Gateway to Freedom at
www.gatewaymen.com.
The Miracle of Mercy
by Jonathan Daugherty
A
little more than eight years ago my marriage turned
upside down. My world had been tilting for quite some
years prior to then, but it wasn't until the summer of
1999 that the lies and secrets that had been propping it
up finally gave way. This was the moment my hidden
sexual addiction was made known to my wife. The weight
of that news was forceful and virtually unbearable for
her. But my house of cards crumbling to the ground was
the catastrophic event that would precipitate a whole
new direction, a whole new life, both for me and my
wife. To read more of our specific stories,
click here.
What
might be the most miraculous discovery made along this
journey to purity was the wonderful mercy of God. I
wish I could give a full, accurate, exhaustive
definition of mercy, but I'm not a scholar. All I can
give is a picture of my experience of God's mercy, His
unrelenting favor through Christ that protects me from
His undeniable justice against sin. As I have
experienced God's mercy, and begun to understand it more
fully, my love and devotion to my Savior has increased.
I can't help but love God more when I know I am
sheltered by His mercy.
Mercy
is an amazing thing, a characteristic that seems to be
fading in our modern culture. We have become consumed
with having our "rights" upheld. We demand our right to
free speech, or health care, or a big mac, or whatever.
This "rights" mentality leads us into self-centeredness,
forgetting that we did not create ourselves, God did.
And before a holy God we hold no rights. He made us for
Himself, therefore our design from the beginning was
dependence, not independence. But God also did not
create us to be robots, for robots cannot freely give
love, and God did not want us to miss out on the best
that truly intimate relationships have to offer.
When
God created mankind He gave us a free will, meaning we
could choose how to live our lives, even if that meant
walking away from our Creator. We did walk away, and
many are still walking. But in God's wisdom and
sovereignty He displayed something that seemed contrary
to His righteous justice: mercy. God, being holy, has
perfect moral authority to judge all unrighteousness
with its due penalty, death. But He also possesses
perfect mercy, which triumphs over judgment when the
penalty is accounted for. And that is where God's
redemptive plan comes in.
Even
in the Garden of Eden, after Adam and Eve sinned, we see
God's mercy in action when He fashioned clothing to
cover their naked bodies. We then see His mercy
extending when He banished them from the garden (yes,
discipline can be a form of mercy), ensuring they could
not also eat of the tree of life and remain in their
unregenerate state for all eternity. And the rest of
the Bible tells of God displaying mercy time and time
again in protecting His people from the penalty of their
sin, when Abraham received his promised son Isaac and
spared his life when Abraham was to sacrifice him, when Noah and
his family were spared despite God's desire to wipe out
the entire world population, and when God sent Jesus to
pay the total price for the sins of the world. God's
mercy is powerful and present, even when we cannot see
or "feel" it.
In
all my years of sexual addiction I acted out in
detestable ways, blatantly cursing my God through
selfish and impulsive behaviors. My actions were
offensive to the holy God, and made me deserving of
severe punishment. But God's mercy spared me. I can't
explain why (only God knows the answer to that), but it
was His mercy that protected me from disease, protected
me from death, protected me from divorce, and protected
me from faithlessness. God's mercy, His kindness and
love toward me, a hateful and unlovable man, affected
transforming change in my life. It was His mercy that
did this, not His justice, not His law, not even His
love. His miracle of mercy extending to me, the most
undeserving of protection and care, is what transformed
my life.
The
past eight years have been quite a journey. There have
been many ups, plenty of downs, and innumerable sideways
and inside out moments. But the constant thread
throughout it all has been God's mercy, His favor on me
through Jesus that protects me from the penalty of
eternal death
that I so certainly deserve. This keeps me pressing
forward, pressing in to God and others in the daily work
of living a life of purity and holiness. I claim no
right to happiness, peace, or fairness, for these are
not mine to demand. Instead, I proclaim my utter and
total dependence on the merciful God who, for whatever
reason, chose to pour out His affection on me. This I
proclaim and this I cling to, and this is where I find
my rest, my joy.
Are you
in need of a miracle this Christmas season? Then let
the air you are breathing be your reminder that the God
of the universe is mercifully giving you this moment to drop to
your knees and receive the best gift ever given, the
gift of eternal life and joy through faith in Jesus.
Invite Him in, embrace His miracle of mercy, and enjoy the best
Christmas ever!
Every Man's Battle Video
by Stephen Arterburn & Fred Stoeker
The
challenge every man faces...
The fight every man can win.
This video series is
a great resource for men in small groups wanting to
tackle the tough issue of living a life of sexual purity in an impure
culture. This video resource is broken down into 8
weekly sessions that lead men into meaningful discussion
and life transformation.
Each Leader Video
Kit Contains:
Price: $139.00 plus S&H
Click here for ordering info
IMPORTANT DISCOUNT CODE: bebroken
Please enter the above discount code to
receive $20 off your order, and to help further the outreach
of Be Broken Ministries. Sonlight Productions makes a
donation to Be Broken for every EMB Video sold using 'bebroken'
as the discount code. Tell your friends!
Real Question:
Based on the pattern regarding the
replacement of sin with truth, what is the replacement for
sexual lust?
Real Answer:
My first thought that came after
reading your question was a passage out of Philippians
chapter 4. Verse 8 encourages us, "Finally, brothers,
whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right,
whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is
admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy -
think about such things." So, the opposite (or
replacement) of sexual lust is to fill our mind with
truth, nobility, righteousness, purity, loveliness, etc.
In other words, fight lust with the truth.
We are also encouraged in Galatians to
walk in the Spirit, and in so doing we will not gratify
the desires (or lusts) of the flesh (Gal. 5:16). And we
are told of this war going on inside of us between God's
Spirit and our sinful nature (v. 17). But if we
surrender to the Spirit of God it produces fruit of
love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, and self
control (that last one, self control, really addresses
the issue of sexual lust well).
If you get to thinking about sexual
lust it really is a form of lying and stealing. You are
lying about God's design for sexuality by believing that
sex was created for selfish indulgence. And you are
stealing by capturing images in your mind of someone's
wife, mother, daughter, etc. to use for self-centered
gratification. So, in essence, you could take the same
directives given in Ephesians 4 for dealing with lying
and stealing and apply them to sexual lust. When lies
about sexuality come to your mind you combat them with
the truth from God's Word. When tempted to steal images
for selfish gratification you instead work to offer a
blessing to others in need.
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Do you have a real
question you need answered? If so, email it to us at
questions@bebroken.com.
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Lee Preston, of
Shadow
of His Wings Ministry, is going to be a regular
guest on the Pure Sex Radio broadcast every 4th or
5th show. These
programs with Lee will focus on helping listeners
who are
struggling with same-sex attraction. We
recently recorded several shows that will air in
2008. The first broadcast, You Were Not
Born Gay!, is slated
for airtime January 5, 2008. Get the word out,
as we know of no other radio shows
willing to tackle this subject with honesty and
hope...
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We are looking for part time help in
expanding the Pure Sex Radio program. This
Radio Outreach position will work in our home
office in San Antonio roughly 10-12 hours a week.
Must have computer experience with spreadsheets,
word processing, and be Internet savvy. Must
also be comfortable talking on the phone to decision
makers in the radio business. If you, or
someone you know, is interested in applying for this
job, please call our office at (210) 822-8201 or
email us at
jobs@bebroken.com.
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Spread the Word! If you like
what we're doing, educating people about living a
life of sexual purity, then contact your local
Christian talk radio station and tell them about
the Pure Sex Radio broadcast. Then, email us
at
tellastation@puresexradio.com and give us the
call letters, city, and state of the station you
contacted. We will follow up with the station
manager to see about adding our program to their
schedule.
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