Hopefully that got your attention…
With the events happening in our state recently, with two
precious girls being abducted in Dayton, Iowa and the opening of a “theatrical arts
club”; The Loft in Corwith, Iowa 8 weeks ago (named theatrical arts so you don’t
have to keep any clothes on while stripping for patrons)where women are being
trafficked in from Minneapolis and then stripping most of the night and being prostituted
out in hotels the remainder of the night, we are all waking up to the fact that
this is not just happening in the cities; New York, Chicago, San Diego etc…This
is a time for a shift in our thinking Iowa. (And anyone out there reading)
I never really
understood why in the bible it states often “flee from sexual immorality “the
bible states “to make a covenant with God with your eyes for guys to not look
lustfully at a woman”…I used to think it was just another of the don’ts on the
list one of which I have not always done. I have been enlightened to my naive thinking…It
begins with one look, and then another, one act and then another…and when given
into its full forge turns into hideous twisted and perverseness like we are
seeing in our communities…People are not born having this monstrous behavior of
hideousness only the capability. All of us are born with the capability of
doing evil and we all have done it. It’s called sin. When fully indulged in
this nature with hardened hearts to God’s love it gets ugly; that ugly. What
can we do about this?
Surrender. We are incapable of become good enough human
beings, let’s face it we have all fallen short in the area of sexual purity, I
know I have. And God didn’t say flee
from it so you never have sex, God created sex he wants us to enjoy it under
the right conditions of a committed marriage.
When we use sexuality and or bodies in a loose matter is when the lights
begin to go out.
Not all at once. For guys it can be one look at a girl with
little clothes on and then another on TV, Facebook, then a little porn, then a
little more, then when given fully over adultery, a night at the club, and then
a paid night and soon you’re hooked. The perverseness goes to these hideous
places of rape, sexual abuse to others, human trafficking and abductions.
For women it’s a little romance novel, a little fantasy in
the mind a little thought about him and before you know it your making slightly flirtatious conversation
with him, meeting with him and then your living in the gray and life is torn
in two. It’s giving our self away, thinking we are going to get love and only
getting used time after time. It desensitizes us and soon we are the victims of
sexual abuse, rape, or worse (sometimes we are the victims when have never been
exposed or let our guard down). Statics state one in three women are victims of
sexual abuse…
We must surrender to something greater than our self. To Jesus, who came because he saw what the evilness
of sin in humans would do to each of us preciously created in his image. He
died for the hideousness that is happening to Kathlynn Shepard and the girls
who will dance tomorrow night at The Loft, and the guys who will throw money at
them. He died for me when I dishonored
my marriage vows, He died for you. But
he didn’t stay dead he came back to life. And said believe in me I have overcome
the world. This dark world of lies, cheating, abuse, neglect, hurt, death, and
perverseness…There is a different way.
You don’t have to die in your sin. That is our only out… to call on the
name of Jesus and believe in the gift he gave of his life once and for all for
payment of every man’s sin.
And then to turn from sin and allow his redeeming love to
purify you over the course of the rest of your life. Flee from sexual immorality
and live a life of sexual purity having sex and enjoying it the right way.
Ladies…. Do not cause guys in our community to stumble. Stop
posting pics of yourself or others that could harm someone struggling. Men are visual
they don’t need any help in this area. Honor yourself and the men that you care
for by dressing cute and trendy, but appropriately.
Men make a covenant to God with your eyes and ask other men
around you for help. Admit if you are struggling with pornography to another
trusted true and honest friend, you are not a monster but you are traveling
down a road that only leads to the destruction of yourself, the destruction of
a healthy sex life, and the destruction of those you love.
Teach your kids to honor their bodies and talk about sex,
the right way to have sex...talk about why it’s so important all the time there
is a static that boys are beginning to use pornography around the age of 9-10
for the first time and becoming addicted by age 13-14 talk to your boys…A
comment one of my boys made when talking about this after talking about why it
was necessary to turn off the halftime show during the Super Bowl, “Mom it’s so
hard it’s everywhere we go.” This is a battle our sons have to fight everyday
they need our prayers, our teaching, our transparent honesty, and our example.
My oldest son called me a couple of nights ago and said., “Mom
I know you told us to wait to have sex until we are married and that’s how God
made it but you didn’t talk a lot about why we should wait. I want to talk about these things with you,
you need to talk about these things to my brothers. I want to have
conversations about this.” He’s 20. He finally said out loud what all children
yearn for, (even if they roll their eyes and sigh and it’s awkward)…they want
us (not TV, their friends, the internet, or the schools) but us to talk about
this with them.
Moms talk to your
sons. You alone have the ability to speak life and truth into their beings,
call them out as honorable men, worthy of God’s love and yours, be proud when
they do good and obey, encourage, and cheer them on with your words and
actions, challenge them and do not settle for mediocrity in your sons; they
were made for greatness. They have adventurous spirits and hearts for physical
force and battle, challenge them to stop battling virtual battles with their
thumbs on a screen and show them what a true battle is…go search for the
missing girl, pray for the family as a family out loud, take bug spray to the
rescue site, donate money that you would use for yourselves, or find a cause
that would interest your son’s heart and show him how to fight the darkness in
this world. Trust me on this one seeing your teenage son’s loving on orphans,
feeding the hungry, giving to your neighbor will bless you and them over any
entertainment you could provide for your family (still go out and enjoy life :)) Be the kind of woman
you want him to choose to spend the rest of his life with, so he will have an
example to be able to choose well. Repent to your sons your wrong ways of being
an example. Be respectful of their father whether you are married to him or not,
yeah even if when it’s hard.
Dads dance with your little girls twirl them around, tell
them every day of their inner and outer beauty specifically, they need your
words of affirmation or they will find it from another, they need the strong
protection of your warrior heart love for them or they will search it out in
another, they need you to be the example of the man you want to give them to
when they become women. They need you to romantically love their mother and
honor her. If you are not married to their mother they need you to show honor, sacrificial
love to her anyway…yeah bite your tongue until it bleeds and turn the other
cheek when necessary, vent to your grown up buddies your frustration but show
her honoring love. If you have blown it, it’s not too late, confess tell your
girl you’re sorry and start today.
Confess your sexual immorality to the Lord, he forgives, he
will not hold it against you. Go through a deep season of healing if the wounds
and the addiction runs deep, do the hard thing and flee, turn and keep in
turning…Allow the illuminating light of Jesus Christ to shine in your dark
places…and then take what was once darkness and is now light to someone who
does not yet have it…what will our world, our state, our town, our home look
like when we each personally take a stand of surrender and choose this?
(If this has moved you in some way private message me on Facebook
would love to hear your heart, and connect, or connect you to resources of
healing and transformation, training your kids etc….)
