The Message of the CROSS

You know the scenario: The room is empty. You’re alone. You look over at your folded laptop sitting idle on the desk, and the urge for sexual release that has been intensifying all day collides with the seductive thought of indulging in porn yet again. You think to yourself, “I know it’s sin, I know I’ll feel horrible afterwards, I know the satisfaction won’t last.” And yet, so often the scenario ends with turning on the computer, typing in a website’s URL, and taking part in the dark porn experience again. As I lived out that scenario many times, and as I have walked with men who experience that on a weekly, if not daily, basis, the question we must ask is, “Why was our conviction of sin, our knowledge of Scripture, our joy in the gospel not enough to keep us from consciously, actively sinning against God again?” Why We Fall The sins of lust, pornography use, ...

The base meaning of the word entertainment is “to hold.” It’s a term for maintaining interest. To entertain is to capture and hold one’s attention. And we naturally find the passive watching of television more appealing than labor. Entertainment holds us. But the on-demand access we have for a lifetime of captivating entertainment literally at our fingertips also raises really important questions about what is it that most holds my attention. Does God have any chance at competing for my attention with the allure of Hollywood? Thus, this question from a listener named Craig. “Dear Pastor John, hello! I know that I have begged for Christ to receive my heart and life. My repentance is sincere. I have stopped my willful sinning, and I am doing everything I can to live a holy life. My question is about my desire and satisfaction in spiritual discipline and worship. I prefer entertainment to time with God. That’s the honest truth. Time with God feels like labor. Entertainm...

Where do your thoughts come from? Our conscious thoughts always come from somewhere.  That’s obvious enough , you might think. My guess, though, is that much of the time it’s not obvious to you at all where your thoughts are coming from. Of course, sensory and information input give you frequent food for thought (like this article is doing right now). But what about the thoughts demanding your attention first thing in the morning, or last thing at night, or the compulsive thoughts that dictate your behaviors? I’ll give you a personal example. During my morning prayer time, it’s not uncommon for me to suddenly realize I’ve stopped praying and am now engaged in an imaginary conversation with myself or someone else regarding something I’m currently concerned about. When I try to stop and get back to praying, it can be very hard — my thoughts are demanding my attention. You know what I mean, because you experience this too. Such thoughts often have what feels like a gravita...