Sex, Porn, and Freedom - Who Should Come?

We are less than a week away from our first Sex, Porn, and Freedom Conference. Many have been asking why they should attend. I think that's a question that deserves an answer.

This isn't like most Christian conferences. We aren't going to be asking anyone to confess or open up about their struggles. We're going to reserve those for smaller settings like men's or women's retreats or gatherings. Since this is a conference for both men and women, we are not going to do more than present information and the opportunity for a prayer of salvation. If someone wants private prayer, we will make accommodations in a separate room.

So, who should come? Everyone. It really is that simple.

• If you are an addict, come and discover that you are not alone and there is hope.
• If you love an addict, come and find support and tools to help.
• If you are struggle, find hope and peace.
• If you are in ministry, come and learn the truth about the depth and breadth of the problem and how you can help.
• If you're a parent, find out what your kids are facing today and where it's going.
• If you are curious, come.

This is for everyone. By coming, nothing is being admitted. If you struggle or know you are addicted, no one else will know. You will be surrounded by people who are addicted like you, those who've never used porn in their lives, and everyone in between. There is no shame in attending no matter who you are. No matter what, you can be part of the solution.

The truth is that we can no longer afford to be silent on the problem. For Jesus' Outsider Ministries, this is only a start, the first of many as we travel bringing a message of truth and hope.

Please, join us for this important conference. Pornography is destroying the Body of Christ from within and if we don't face it, the harm it does to our brothers and sisters could be irreparable. For more information, visit the special section of our site.

If you can't attend or still unsure, please contact me. We are willing to come and talk to any group with this same message.

Moving Forward

As of right now, we are up and running at about 50% capacity. We have the use of an older machine that allows some of the older versions of software to run but videos are still out of the question. Producing new episodes of Jesus' Outsider may be possible but we haven't had time to test it yet. We're putting everything we have into laying the groundwork for the Sex, Porn, and Freedom Conference so we can get that ball rolling.

We have been able to make several key updates to the Jesus' Outsider website reflecting the shift from being a podcast page to a full media, evangelistic, and conference ministry. Preliminary team bios are on the page for the start of our core leadership team with more to be added soon. As soon as time allows, we will also be adding a resource page with an Amazon store and a separate store for apparel. Big things are coming but they take time.

The SP&F conference must go forward. The need is huge. We have dedicated an entire page of the new Jesus' Outsider Ministries site to the conference with more content to come. We've been teasing a little of what we intend but it's time to go farther. Even at our reduced capacity, we know we must do everything we can to make this happen.

That means we need your help. In order to book a venue, musical talent, and cover other starting expenses, we need some resources. There are a number of ways you can get involved in helping us get the initial boost in bringing this much needed conference to Peoria and, as the Lord allows, beyond.

1. Individual Donation: Any amount helps, even as little as $5. There is a special PayPal link on the SP&F page on the Jesus' Outsider site.
2. Business/Ministry Sponsorship: We are looking for ministries and businesses who understand the scourge of sexual sin in our community to sponsor the event. A rate sheet is available for anyone interested.
3. Church Offerings: Allow us to come and share the vision for the conference and overall ministry with your congregation or appropriate committee. We also can bring a straightforward Gospel message for an evangelistic event.
4. Spread The Word: If you are not in a position to make a financial contribution, help us to spread the word about the conference and ministry. Like our Facebook page and follow us on Twitter. Share as many of our posts as possible with as many people as possible. In many ways, this is at least as important as direct financial assistance.

We need your help to make this happen. Please email Pastor Mike with any additional questions.

The Tyranny of The Urgent

I first came across the concept in business. There's a list of tasks that need to be prioritized and completed. Once sorted in to their proper order, the items on the list need to be checked off in order of importance. Inevitably, something happens that throws the list into chaos. Under normal circumstances, this usually isn't an issue because once the new issue is resolve, the normal priorities return. The problem happens when this happens over and over again. Urgent problems take the place of the truly important things that need to get done. This is the Tyranny of The Urgent and it's destroying lives in ways that few recognize. It's one of the most potent weapons in arsenal of the enemy.

The urgent gets in the way of the important and prevents us from actually getting anywhere. Often, the important that the urgent blocks is the very thing that will solve the urgent problem in the long term. To use finances as an example, someone takes a lot of odd jobs to solve immediate financial concerns but doing so prevents an actual job search. The urgent need of unpaid bills drives the decision to solve the short term problem because there seems like no choice. The urgent prevents the long term solution from coming to fruition.

People do this every day. More of us are governed by the this tyranny than we even realize. I have to confess that the last several months have found me in that position. My lovely bride and I have been facing a whole list of issues from health issues to financial problems that have been in the way of doing anything meaningful. Perhaps that's why I'm writing this post. I need to confess my own sins and at the same time try to bring you some hope that you too can overcome your tyranny through prayer and allowing the Lord to actually be in charge.

The root of the Tyranny is fear and worry. What happens if I don't do this? Can we survive if I let this slide? In many ways, as this world slides and the economy just continues to languish, more people will move into survival mode, the essence of the urgent. Fear justifies way too many decisions with finances and relationships. Worry eats us alive.

Like so many issues of life, the answer is simple but not easy. Jesus Himself gave it to us in the Sermon on The Mount. (Matthew 6:25-34)

“Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?

“So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?

“Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble."

As I said, the answer is simple but not easy. In truth, this is one of the more challenging teachings the Lord has given us. It's easier to overcome adultery than worry. The urgency that is driven by worry is what keeps us from doing what really needs to be done. The urgent is really a shut down. We get tied up, scrambling from one crisis to the next, never getting anywhere. All we seem to do is just spin our wheels. We were meant for better.

Jesus takes hold of our fears and worries and assures us that God knows our needs and will take care of us. There are times, even for the most spiritually mature, when this truth is hard to grasp. Financial, health, or relational issues get in the way. Here, the Lord is telling us not be worried about such things.

He tells us that God will meet our physical needs if we put His Kingdom first. In truth, all of our needs are found in Christ. The Father knows not only that we need food, clothing, and shelter but so much more. He will meet all of them. 

One of the laments I have taken up over the last several years is that so many important decisions have been made based almost entirely upon finances. This is more than simple budgetary concerns. It's been based upon finding enough money to solve a looming crisis. I'm ashamed to admit how little prayer went into most of them. Now, as the Lord is convicting me of my lack of faith, I look back and see how much damage foolish, prayerless decisions have done. I even see some of my recent choices going awry after choosing to trust God more only a few months ago.

That's when the enemy hits us with urgency. The first of the year, my lovely bride and I undertook a new step in life fueled by faith. It was a huge leap that had been basked in prayer. Two months in and we're facing a huge disaster. Questioning that choice is natural when it seems to go badly. We were hit with a series of health issues affecting by my bride and me. These problems had a profound negative effect on our finances. Combined with other unplanned problems, we've been forced to make decisions we didn't anticipate. Many of those choices at the points of decision went against our better instincts but, because of the problems we face, we made them anyway. In several, those decisions have exacerbated the long term problems. Now, we have to find a way back to the important through the clutter.

That's the problem we all face when we fall into the Tyranny. Now begins a process to reclaiming our position of trusting the Lord. Some of the choices cannot be undone easily. There will be resistance not just in the spiritual realm but the physical as well. This is to be expected whenever moving back to where faith guided decisions rather than urgency. That's why prayer for wisdom is essential. The Lord promises that whosoever asks for wisdom will have it given to them liberally. (James 1:5) That's what all of us need when getting back to the priorities He sets for us.

Allowing the Lord to set our priorities is how we break the cycle of tyranny. "Whom the Son sets free is free indeed." (John 8:36) The law of liberty means that we are set free from the constraints of sin and the world's system. That includes fear and worry, the root of the tyranny of the urgent. Walking out the law of liberty and shedding the shackles of this world is the abundant life Jesus promised.

If you are in this situation now or find yourself there in the future, prayer and faith are the only way out. None of the time management solutions I learned in all my years of business education are truly sufficient for breaking free. Trust me, I've tried. This isn't our first time in this mess but it's at one of our more critical junctures. Faith has freed us before and will do so again. It will just take time. The same is true for you.

Unexpected Delays

You may have noticed the lack of episodes since the start of the year. To put it mildly, life has happened. Everything planned for the first few weeks of this year has been pushed back to later in the month including scheduled episodes of Jesus' Outsider.

We've been hit with a series of health issues in our house with one of them fairly serious. My lovely bride had an eye stroke on New Year's Eve. We've spent a great deal of time with doctors, blood tests, and making significant changes in our lifestyle. All of our focus has been on taking care of her in the midst of planned changes that brought their own set of challenges. We have been fighting to settle into a new rhythm and schedule that has proven to be more difficult than we expected.

The blood tests did show what the cause of the blood clot that ended up in her retina. She had fairly high blood pressure, borderline high cholesterol, and high thyroid. We are taking steps to bring this under control. At the top of the list, we are praying for healing to restore her eyesight that we've been told will not happen. Only the Lord can bring the restoration that medical science says is impossible.

Of course, once we got past that, I caught the respiratory flu that's been going around. It's that one that lingers with you. Just as it appears to clear up, it comes back a few days later to wreak havoc again. Consequently, I have lost a lot of my voice. I sound very raspy. I do not know when I will have enough vocal power to record. I'm drinking a lot of tea with honey to try to heal my throat.

I will be back on the air as soon as my voice returns with sufficient strength to record. There is a lot that needs to be said. The world is changing rapidly and the church is either changing the way it changes or clinging to things that don't work. Both reactions have great hazards and actually feed each other. As I said, there is much to discuss and I hope to be able to do so very soon.