Berean Journeymen

It was so encouraging to see over 130 guys show up to begin contemplating our Personal Holiness in Times of Temptation on Monday night. Praise God!


Monday at 5:00PM I received a call from my wife; she had just turned on the TV and of all things that could be on, was a show investigating internet pornography. Through her sobs and tears, she shared a story of a 4 year old girl and an 8 year old girl being tied up and raped by adult men, all while being video taped. As sick as this was, just as disturbing is the fact that many, many other men were downloading that particular video. My wife (and I) realized how big and how important the issue of sexual immorality is; we saw how it affected so many innocent people and she proceeded to encourage and strengthen me for that night's men's meeting.

So who are the victims of our sexual sin? When we choose to jump into the waters of lust and pornography, who lies in the wake we create? It certainly is not us, our decision to sin caused the wake and we stand in the center…so who are the innocent bystanders that get side-swiped and overtaken by our waves of selfish, temporary pleasure?

At the very least, is it not our wives, our children and even the children of men we have never met?

How would you feel if that was your children being raped and watched by thousands of men? How would you feel if other men were pleasuring themselves as they looked with eyes of lust at your child? At some point, we have to face the dreadful fact that if we are viewing pornography of any type, we are doing the same thing in the eyes of God and in the eyes of fathers we have never met. Directly or indirectly we are feeding the demand and incentive for an industry led by Satan himself.

If we say, ‘fortunately my child is not impacted by that’, but then we still lust over women, are we not deceived? Do we not know that our sons are watching our every move? Do we not realize that our subtle as well as not so subtle actions are being adopted by our sons and any child within our influence, whether we’re aware of it or not? So what level of holiness are you and I passing down to our children and the next generation…the same level of holiness we are living.

And what about our wives…they are the closest to us and will be most impacted by our plunge into any type of sin. As men, it can be hard for us to understand the depth and breadth of the wounds we cause them by choosing to satisfy the evil desires of our youth, but it is even harder for them to understand how we can be so shallow and calloused when it comes to looking at other women. We all too easily break the connection between our lust and the object of our lust (let alone its sinfulness), but to our wives that is a connection that is inseparable.

Although we may not be able to explain our callousness, we must try to understand and feel our wives’ pain. Jesus said our lust is akin to committing adultery…how would you and I feel if our wife came home and told us they were having an affair with other men? Let alone at the frequency we may lust…every day…every other day…every week. How would we react? Would we not feel betrayed? Would our insides not be torn out? Would we not need time to sort out our feelings? Would healing not come slowly? This (and more) is what our wives feel when faced with our sin of lust or pornography and we must be sensitive to their pain.

Men, spring and summer is upon us and temptations are sure to follow...we are entering the heat of the battle...let us be intentional and diligent in our fight, and let us fight that battle together.

Why ask do you and I truly believe…why step back and consider whether we truly place our faith in God’s Word …why consider the trends of religion…why ponder such questions…shouldn’t we just be focused on Christ and his will and be done with the discussion?

I would say amen and amen, we should…the problem is many of us who claim to be Christians are not focused on Christ and his will…and the state of our lives, our families, the church and our country cries out as evidence. Somewhere along the line the body has lost its appropriate focus and havoc has been wreaked; so we ponder what is at the root of it such that sustainable change can take place. If we do not address the root, we are subject to continue floating in and out of subjectivity and consequently in and out of a focus on Christ.

We claim to believe the Bible and in the Son of God who summarized his commands and the prophets by stating, ‘The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ and ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ Yet as we look into the mirror of our own lives, does it reflect Christ’s summary? Do our internal thoughts, external actions and life passions reveal a true love of God and others? Does the decay taking place all around us stir us with both righteous anger and Christ-like compassion rooted in our desire to see God glorified and the hurting healed?

If not, then do you and I truly believe by faith the Word we profess? Because if the core of who we are embraced that belief, wouldn’t a natural outpour be a consistent focus on Christ and love of God and love of others?

What an awesome prayer gathering and communion experience we had this morning! In new ways it just stretched me and challenged how real my beliefs and my God are to me. Praise God!


Do you and I believe, with all sincerity, do we truly believe in all that Jesus has done and all that the Holy Spirit is and all that the Father is going to do? As I look at my own life, at our church, at our nation through the lens of the Bible we profess…I ponder whether we truly believe the claims we make.

Do we believe that Jesus, the Word, was with the Father in the beginning when all things were made and then became flesh and lived among us? Do we believe when Jesus came to earth that the blind received sight, the lame walked, the incurable were cured, the deaf heard, the dead were raised, and the good news was preached to the poor? Do we believe that this same Son of Man was crucified, died, was buried and on the third day rose again in fulfillment of the scriptures? Do we believe if we join Christ in that death and die to ourselves, that we can join him in new life? Do we believe that by his grace we are covered by his blood, but yet that same grace is by no means a license to walk in sin but rather aids in our walk of obedience and holiness?

If we say yes, we believe…then what are we doing with that belief? Has it become true faith? Has that faith become complete as evidenced by Christ-like deeds laced throughout our lives? Is our faith adequately sized for the true power that lies within the object of our faith? Is our pursuit of God’s face and our dedication to holiness sincere and vigorous? How deep is our appreciation for the sacrifice He did not have to make and what has that appreciation manifested? Has our old life been buried and our new life been lived? If not, why not?

Lord, I plead…forgive my unbelief, help me believe.

Do we believe the Holy Spirit is the third person who makes God, God? Do we believe this same Spirit was the given gift to those whom believe and obey God, both the Jew and the Gentile? Do we believe we are not alone in this world because the Holy Spirit, who marks us with Christ’s seal, lives within us? Do we believe when we live by the Spirit we can actually experience love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control? Do we believe the manifestation of the Holy Spirit is given to each in the body of Christ with different kinds of working for the common good, just as He determines – whether it is wisdom, healing, prophecy, teaching, tongues, etc? Do we believe there is more to be had and each can be filled with the Holy Spirit, experiencing his power in greater ways?

If we say yes, we believe…then what are we doing with that belief? Are we pursuing more of the Holy Spirit in our lives? Are we seeking the Spirit’s counsel in times of need? Are we leaning on grace and the power of the Spirit in our holiness pursuit? Are we choosing to be led by the Spirit and not the flesh so we can taste the fruit of the Spirit? Do we eagerly desire the greater gifts? Is our desire to be filled with the Holy Spirit reflected in our requests, thoughts and actions? Do we trust in and experience the Holy Spirit as those in the first century? Does our hope overflow by the power of the Holy Spirit? Has our old life been buried and our new life been lived? If not, why not?

Lord, I plead…forgive my unbelief, help me believe.

Do we believe the Lord God is the Alpha and Omega, who is, and who was, and who is to come? Do we believe a day is coming and right soon, when Jesus will come with the clouds and every eye will see him and the peoples of the earth will mourn because of him? Do we believe the urgency in his call for believers to repent and obey what was received and heard? Do we believe and heed his warnings not to tolerate sexual immorality fore He knows our deeds and will repay each accordingly? Do we believe his command to stay faithful even to the point of death so that we may be given the crown of life? Do we believe there are great battles to come? Do we believe he who is Faithful and True, who bears the name King of Kings and Lord of Lords will lead the armies of heaven into battle and capture and ultimately destroy our enemy? Do we believe each of us will face the true and just Judge and be judged according to what we have done?

If we say yes, we believe…then what are we doing with that belief? Where is our urgency? Where is our appropriate fear of the great I AM? Where is the consistency in our humble and repentant spirit? Where is our commitment to have sexual immorality purged from our lives? Where is the vigor in our pursuit of God and obedience and holiness? Do we see that many of God's calls and warnings are to us so-called ‘believers’? Has our old life been buried and our new life been lived? If not, why not?

Lord, I plead…forgive my unbelief, help me believe.