#sexuality

Pornographic Detachment

The past couple of decades have seen an unprecedented rise in the use of pornography and an associated decline in the social stigma that accompanies it. Pornography has been downgraded from scandalous to humorous, from aberrant to mundane. Rare today is the young man (or young woman) who has not at least dabbled in it. For an increasing number of people, it has become ubiquitous, habitual, often the first and primary means through which they explore and express their sexuality. …

The Transgender Craze Seducing Our Daughters

When historians look back on the twenty-first century Western world, surely few things will strike them as being more deranged and more sinister than its insistence that biology has no bearing on an individual’s gender. While society has long acknowledged the rare existence of gender dysphoria, a psychological condition marked by discomfort with one’s biological sex, it now celebrates full-fledged gender fluidity. Only our contemporary context could make sense of a phrase like “some men get periods” or a headline …

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12 Key Statements on Human Sexuality

I want to encourage you to read at least part of a denominational ad interim committee report on human sexuality. That may sound rather drab and difficult, but I am convinced you will find it both helpful and rewarding. It won’t even be particularly difficult. So let me set the context and then tell you why you should read it. In June 2019 the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in America adopted a recommendation from its Overtures Committee which …

Biblical Building-Blocks for Sexual Purity

There was a time in my life when I would often be called upon to speak on the subject of sexual purity, especially to groups of men—a predictable consequence of writing a book titled Sexual Detox. But over time I grew a little weary of the topic and happily moved on. Recently, though, I was asked to address it before the men of my own church. I decided I wanted to commit the majority of the time to small group …

When the Forbidden Woman Is in Your Home

The early chapters of Proverbs provide a vivid description of an encounter between a pathetic, foolish young man and a wily, adulterous woman. “At the window of my house I have looked out through my lattice, and I have seen among the simple, I have perceived among the youths, a young man lacking sense, passing along the street near her corner, taking the road to her house in the twilight, in the evening, at the time of night and darkness.” …

Affirming God’s Image

It’s sometimes amazing to consider how quickly societal mores change, how quickly an idea can go from unthinkable to acceptable, from having great social stigma attached to its acceptance to having even greater social stigma attached to its rejection. There may be no better example of this than transgenderism. Less than a generation ago, few would have dared suggest that there is no necessary link between biological sex and gender identity. Today, though, it is commonly believed that a person …

The Sexual Revolution Hits Another Speed Bump

Well, it looks like the sexual revolution has hit another speed bump. As it continues its long press toward completely redefining all we’ve ever believed about gender and sexuality, it has encountered a pretty significant issue. This issue appears to prove that many people are expressing loyalty to the revolution outwardly while actually denying it with their deepest and truest desires. Let’s take a quick look, then consider some of the implications. A recent study by two Canadian researchers attempts …

For the Pastor Knee-Deep in Immorality

A couple of weeks ago we received the news that another—yet another—well-known and highly-admired pastor had been removed from ministry after his elders learned he was involved in an extra-marital affair. Such incidents are all too common, though I suspect the frequency is related as much to the shrinking of the world as any great explosion of immorality. The internet allows us to find affinity with a greater number of people and, in the same way, allows us knowledge of …

Are You Godly Enough to Watch Smut?

The more time you spend reading history, the more you see how things that are considered normal by one generation are often considered scandalous by the next. The moral laxity of one age often gives way to the moral clarity of the one that follows. I’m convinced an area of moral laxity among today’s Christians is entertainment, and especially the general apathy toward blatant sexuality and nudity in our movies and television series. But perhaps “apathy” isn’t quite the right …

The Porn Problem

It was just a few years ago that the Christian world was blindsided as it learned about the size and scope of the modern-day porn problem. We learned that a vast percentage of young men, and an increasing percentage of young women, are immersed in porn and have been since their youngest days. We learned that many older men and women are into it as well. This led to a great number of books on the subject as well as …