Every Man's Battle Is it your battle too?
Are the Internet and Pornography damaging your marriage and family life?
This is a battle men can win! We have support groups meeting on Sunday morning and during the week. To get connected for encouragement and accountability, contact Dave Etchells at 770.827.1993(cell) or 770.928.8686 and hit '1' for private voicemail.
God's standard: How many of us measure up?
Sexual purity is important to God, a key part of His plan for how men and women are to live together and guard His precious gift of marriage. God's standard is clear, stated plainly in Ephesians 5:3 - "But among you, there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity."
Does that describe your life? For most Christian men today, it doesn't. Living a life of sexual purity in today's world is difficult, as we're subject to constant temptation, with little or no accountability. Television shows, movies, and print and TV advertising all assault us with sexual imagery and the implicit message that lust is natural, and of little consequence. The internet reaches into our homes and workplaces, placing sexual images a mere mouse-click away. Worse, unsolicited "spam" email delivers pornographic images to our computers without our asking.
Every Man's Battle is the battle for sexual purity in a world full of temptation. It's a tough battle, and one that's almost completely invisible to those around us. Invisible or not though, it has a very real impact on our loved ones and our walk with God. Every time you view porn or look at a woman lustfully, it breaks fellowship with God and quenches the action of the Holy Spirit. It also distorts relationships with women in your life, whether you're married or single.
Not just for "Super Christians"
It would be easy to write this off as idle moralizing, the sort of thing you'd hear from the Ned Flanders, "Super Christian" type of guy. Before you do though, consider who's writing this: The "EMB guys" at FBC are a bunch of real, pretty imperfect guys. - We've been through the mill of porn and lust and back out again, and have experienced everything from wallowing in porn to pretty complete "eye control" -- and everything in between. We're talking from our own personal experience. We've seen with all too much clarity what porn and lust have done in our lives, to our families, and to our walks with God. We've also seen the amazing peace and joy that came when we cleaned up our acts and got our eyes and our thoughts under control. We're not talking about some subtle change, or a heavenly reward that's hard to keep sight of in the midst of the daily shuffle. - We can testify that dealing with the issue of lust in your life brings real, tangible rewards right in the here and now.
Look at yourself
Here's a test: Have you ever noticed how cranky and short-tempered you get with your wife and kids (or girlfriend, or just co-workers, if you're single) after you've looked at porn on the internet? Be honest, now... You know what we're talking about, right? - That's the sort of "real, tangible" impact we're talking about above. Take how you are after you've looked at some porn. Now imagine yourself acting the exact opposite. Take away that angry, short-fused SOB, and you'd probably be a lot better husband, boyfriend, or dad, wouldn't you? Believe us, that's exactly how it works. We're all still a long ways from being perfect husbands, etc, but we're a long ways from being the unpleasant so-and-sos we used to be.
So what's Every Man's Battle all about?
The name "Every Man's Battle" is the title of a book by Fred Stoeker and Steven Arterburn that gave many of us our first clear view of "the battle," as well as a lot of very practical advice and techniques for dealing with the challenges all men face in this area. It so well describes the nature and dimensions of the problem, that we've adopted it as the name for our ministry.
The "we" here is a group of guys at FBC who've been through the muck and murk of lust, have largely come out the other side, and who now feel called to help other guys find freedom in this area.
What's on this site?
We've gathered a variety of resources for you here, and plan to continue adding to them as we go along. Here's a brief list of what's here right now:
- A 3-part study guide on EMB issues, designed for men's small groups.
- A list of resources for men struggling with issues of lust and porn:
- Internet resources and links
- Local counseling contacts
- Internet resources and links
- Our own contact information (We've "been there, done that" ourselves, you'll find help, not condemnation from us.)
- Ordering links for different books in Every Man's Battle series. (coming soon)
We each have a "next step" to take with God - Is this yours?
Primary contact Dave Etchells @ 770.827.1993