Mike Salvati, the youth pastor at my church, addressed the men at our church last Saturday morning on “The God of Truth and the Lies of Porn.” This 68-minute MP3 begins with a man’s testimony followed by Mike’s talk.

Mike presented “seven biblical truths to keep you from being lied to, from clicking and sinning against your great, holy God!” Here’s the outline:

1. Intimacy (sexual intimacy in particular) is God’s good gift (Gen 2:24-25; Prov 5:15-23; Heb 13:4).

• How has pornography distorted your understanding of God’s good gift of sexual intimacy?
• What is one way you can cultivate relational intimacy with your wife?
• When was the last time you thanked God for your wife?

2. Porneia is in you (Mark 7:20-23; James 1:14-15).

• How does knowing that porn is not just outside of you but inside of you change the way you think about battling it?
• If the problem is in your heart, what is the solution? (more…)

I got an iPhone this month, and it surpassed my high expectations. It’s amazing.

My 3GS model is 16 GB and weighs 4.8 ounces. That means that the little phone I keep in my pocket holds eight times as much space as the laptop I used from college through my first PhD (1998–2006).

If you have an iPhone (or iPod Touch), these resources may help you use the tool more efficiently.

1. iPhone Apps

The iPhone comes with several apps already installed, and over 100,000 apps are available through the iTunes Store.

Here’s a screen-shot of my apps as they appear iTunes (click on the image to enlarge):

• Cf. Phil Gons’s list of the main iPhone apps that he uses on his iPod Touch.
• My favorite apps include Logos Bible Software (more info), Google Mobile App, Dragon Dictation, Red Laser ($1.99), Dropbox, and Mint.com Personal Finance.
• There are many other useful apps that I’ve chosen not to use for various reasons (e.g., PIM, news, sports).

Here are some practices I’ve found to be helpful:

(more…)

Josh Harris makes a good case for that in this outstanding little book:

Sex Is Not the Problem (Lust Is): Sexual Purity in a Lust-Saturated World. Sisters, OR: Multnomah, 2003. 187 pp. Amazon | WTSBooks.

In Chapter 5, entitled “Guys and Girls: How Are We Different, and How Can We Help Each Other?”, Josh writes this in answer to the question “How Are We Different?” (pp. 84–85):

Though we have a lot in common, God made men and women gloriously different. We were made to complement each other. We have different strengths. We are “wired” differently sexually. (more…)

That’s what Beth Spraul argues (with appropriate nuance) in “You’ve Got Lies: Chick Flicks and the World’s Approach to Men and Marriage,” a six-page PDF hosted by Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington D.C.

She proceeds to discsuss “three powerful lies communicated to and believed by women through this genre of ‘chick-flicks’ as well as ‘chick-lit’ (literature)”:

• Lie #1: Men think of romance and relational intimacy exactly like women do!
• Lie #2: If I marry the right man, all will be right in my life.
• Lie #3: I will know that a man is right for me by feelings I get when I’m with him.

She closes by sharing her own courting experience.

Das ist gut, ja?

HT: Russell Moore and Carolyn McCulley

Joe Tyrpak, a gifted, godly young pastor and one of my close friends (e.g., he’s one of my accountability parters), recently posted a five-part series on fighting lust.

1. Call to mind the deceptions of sinful sensuality.
2. Call to mind the destructions of sinful sensuality.
3. Call to mind the delights of God-ordained sensuality.
4. Call to mind the eyes of God.
5. Call to mind my union with Christ.

Joe also recently preached a sermon on 1 Cor 6:12–20 entitled “Gospel-Controlled Sexuality.”

That’s the thesis of Randy Alcorn‘s The Purity Principle: God’s Safeguards for Life’s Dangerous Trails (Sisters, OR: Multnomah, 2003).

I read through this little 94-page volume in one sitting this evening. It’s outstanding. Alcorn’s approach to the issue of purity is biblically informed, sobering, wise, refreshing, and motivating.

Related: Alcorn lists the following resources on his website:

1. The Purity Principle Study Guide
2. articles on sexual purity: page 1 | page 2
3. Alcorn’s MP3s, PDFs, and PowerPoint presentation on sexual purity
4. Guidelines for sexual purity (Alcorn originally prepared this for his daughters.)
5. Links to resources for sexual purity
6. Selected Scriptures related to sexual purity