Ep. 285 - A Bold, Biblical Battle Plan Against Pornography

So I actually was reading a statistic earlier in the day that said between the ages of 12 and 17, 93% of boys have viewed pornography and are regular watchers of pornography. - 90% - Last, why? - Between the ages of 12 and 17. I remember John Piper when somebody was entering into his seminary, he used to ask the question, have you ever looked at pornography? And he changed that question to when was the last time you looked at pornography because he realized that it was closer to 100% of people, you state either have a problem with it or would look at it and most people would not claim they had a problem with it. They're just kind of dabbling in it or they're checking the things out. You do not need to go looking for pornography, it will come finding you. I believe that one of the greatest things that we can do is first acknowledge that there is a problem out there. Whether you have a problem with it or not, you do have a problem with it. There's a fight that is a raging war against your soul. Every single day, you need to be on your guard because it desires to sift your soul like wheat. (upbeat music) - Few things in life, friends, bring me more joy than discovering facts that I'm certain Ray Comfort does not know. Ray, I am so certain about this. I would almost bet your life on it. - Whoa. - That's how certain I am. - Ray, have you ever heard of the Indonesian black chicken? - That's the one with a fluffy up here up top. - No. - Oh, it's the one with the fluffy up here on top. - Yes, but no, too. - It's called the I am Camani. I am Camani, the Indonesian black chicken. You've never heard of it, Ray? - I may have, because there's a lot of different chickens. - No, no, not this one. - Oh, I feel so lucky. - I've gotta get-- - I'm reveling in this right now. - I've gotta get this chicken. - Okay, Ray, this is-- - It's so cool. - Could you guys please pray for my wife to she'll soften her heart when it comes to getting more chicken-- - Oh, okay. - Ray's chicken addiction. Okay, Ray, this is an all black chicken. - Ooh. - So all black feathers, black eyes, black beak, black tongue, black skin, black organs, even black bones. Even it's, do you know what you call this thing, Ray? - Yes. - What's it called, Ray? - A hand. - No. (laughing) - What's it called, Ray? - It's not the crop. I keep forgetting, I'm sorry, hey. - It's the head. - It's the color of the comb, Ray. Okay, and what are these things down here, Ray? - Color. - No. - The chicken has. - It's, yeah, it's eggs. - More things, Ray, does it know? - Yes. - Wattles. - They're called wattles. - I didn't know this. This is wonderful. - A chicken owner, as long as you, and you don't know this stuff, I'm educating you. - It's only been 40 years. - The comb and the wattles, right? - As a comb or a comb. - Oscar's looking at it. Show him, Oscar. - Ooh, this thing's crazy. - Isn't it crazy? - It looks like an alien. - It's just, this is a black, the meat's black, the bone. - Yeah, this is a black-- - The eggs are black. - I was gonna say, an egg's a black. - Yeah, the eggs may be fake on the owner. - So come on, is this natural? - I was on Google, it's gotta be real. (laughing) - Yeah. - That's not real. - It is real. - No, it's Israel. - Israel, Israel. Jerusalem. - Yeah. - Yeah. - I want to eat this. - Oh yeah. - Where did you find this? - It came up in my feed today. I don't know, just, I'm like, come on. I'm like, oh, I got so excited, Ray has no idea. - You been saving the link? - About the black chicken. - He's gonna have like 18 of them tomorrow. (laughing) - It's one of the rarest chickens. - And it's crazy. - Yeah, and even as a delicacy, because the meat is black. You call it meat, the poultry, the, yeah, I guess. - It's cool, right? - I want it. - The flesh is blank. - Look at him, when he moves his eyes back and forth, I'm thinking. - He's thinking. - He's all I could build a bigger coop in the front yard. - Oh yeah, the story in the Bible about building bigger barns. (laughing) - I like that. - It's a bigger coop. - Make sure I'm rich to live and end up building a bigger barn. - Yeah, oh man. So Ray, this is my question, why do you-- - Is there a dwarf chicken? (laughing) - A dwarf chicken. - Yeah, is there tiny chickens? - Oh, they're called, I forgot the name of them. - Seriously? - Bantoms. - Really? - Maybe type in Bantoms. - I don't believe you. - I'm serious. - Bantamoy. - You're just trying to pretend like something. - Someone do a Bantoms. - Bantoms. - Find it Oscar. But Ray, as Oscar searches for something that doesn't exist, my question to you is, why did you never use chickens for open air preaching like to draw crown? - I did. - You being sarcastic, aren't you? - Oh. - Wait, you're joking. - I'm not joking, I used to do. - You used chicken. Which came first, the chicken, or the egg had this rubber chicken I'd bring out and chicken. - Oh. - And then I have an ostrich egg that I used to use but it's just going to be worth looking for the chicken. - It's Bantam chicken. - I know you are, Mark. - I've still got it. - Where did it go? What? - Oh, Eddie. - In him gave it to me. - That is terrible. - We need to paint it black though now, after we do. - Look, there really is Bantam chickens. - No way. They are like birds. - Yeah, they really, they just look like ordinary chickens but they're smaller. - So Ray, go. - You should use those and the black chickens for open air preaching on your rock ground. - Oh, yeah. You can paint your chickens, polka dotted. - Piggins. - It's going to be against the law. So I say that chickens will be up to me. Peter. - Yeah. - Ray, give up your chickens. - Kid boy. - Kid boy in the, he says. - Ray, what would it, okay, seriously, what would it take to get you to give up your chickens? - If you'd wish. - The almighty came to you. (laughing) - Thank you Joe Biden. (laughing) Boy, he didn't hold to that, did he? - That was ridiculous. Mark, by the way, Mark, we need an update. What's going on with your new bird watching? - Oh, I love it. - There's an abdewash. - You may, absolutely love Ray. Mark got a bunch of bird feeders. - Oh yeah, you can tell what bird it is by the sound. - You can hear it in that to me, yeah. - It's so, it's really worth. - It is so amazing. - You've used that, Mark? - Oh, I used it all the time. - It's all the time for birds. - Yeah, it's called Merlin Bird. - So you just turn it on and it will turn on and it'll play all the birds that are birds. - Tell you what that is. - And it'll tell you, and it's actually, - Yeah, birds make three different types of sound. - So you picture it, looks like the bird. - What do you mean three? - Three different types of sounds. There's a call. (laughing) - Of course, calling other birds, and there's a song, whether you see. And then when they're being eaten. (laughing) - What about when they get ran over? - Same noise. - Okay. - Same sound. - That would say, "Rabe." - Sounds like a full bird that just ate something. - When I was at the Olympics, I asked my wife if she was good. - That feels good. - Fed the birdies and she did not. - She was, I know I saved it for you. And I go, "That's just because you didn't want to feed." - How long were you away? - At the Olympics, we were gone for two weeks. - They all died. - How often, Mark? - There's a lot of birds. - The birds outside birds, right? - Yeah, how often you have to replenish the seeds? - I did it this morning. I probably do it every two days, three days. - You remember the glove? - No, that often. - No, I couldn't figure it out. - I can't figure it out. - Oh, I can do it for you. - Mark, are you turning into a bird, Kay? - Oh, I love birds, yeah. - I'll go on a walk and then I play the little sound to hear the birds. - But seriously, you think about what this means to the birds of the neighborhood. It's like, I mean, you know, birds are running around looking, pecking, little here, little there. You're giving them like a full feast. - Yeah, my neighbor who loves birds himself, I went over to his house and I was talking to him and I go, boy, these birds, the fintches, they make such beautiful noises. I hate the fintches, I kill them. I'm like, wait, what? 'Cause I, the blue birds, I feel, I feed them little millworms right out of my mouth. I put a little millworm in my mouth. - I kill them. - I kill them. - That's why I have so many fintches over at my house. - And they know what they're riding. - I'm really concerned about, have you heard these parrots that have been migrating? - Oh yeah. - They are dry, they're like from Hacienda Heights or something and they come over. (dog barking) I mean, they are the most annoying, I'll kill those. - They're beautiful. We have a lot of swallows. - I mean, we're on this. - Yeah, do you guys have swallows? - When I'm eating. - I knew it. I'm like, okay, as you said that, I'm like, raise, raise, brain is going right now to think of a pun. - You have a lot of swallows, yeah. - Yeah, I'm so, I'll swallow the dog. (dog barking) - Unreal. Mark, why don't you get chickens? - He does. - I'm sure you're just. - I think we can have chickens in our area, can we? - No, I don't. - You need to just lay them? They lay eggs, do you know? - Wait, Mark, you have a weird smirk on your face. - I love fresh eggs. If Ray would ever bring the eggs, I'll eat them. We eat so many eggs at our house. But, I don't know. We, what's gonna happen? I guess the kids would have too much fun running after them. (laughing) - Get the chicken. - I'm running them by the hands. - Get the chicken, remember Rocky? - Oh yeah. - Jason the chicken. - Get the chicken. They're hard, they're actually hard to catch. - Yeah, very hard to catch. - Yeah. - And they run so fast. - Speaking of which, the dinosaurs. - Oh yeah. - The Olympics, I went to Switzerland and I was hiking the Swiss Alpha. - I owe it. - The kids. Me, myself and I, and then, - I was there too, actually. - And even. - Just not with you. - Yeah. - We did, it was a crazy hike where we had to use carabiners and strap into. - It's called something. What is it called? Do you remember? - I don't remember. - There's a specific name for that. - Anything you remember what it is. - It's extreme hiking. You were at Helmet with like a little GPS in it. So when you fall and you die, they can find the body. (laughing) - That's really good. - Yeah. - But while we were there in Switzerland, we came across Albert Einstein's house. - Oh yeah. - It was a museum. It was really, really cool. And they don't want you to film inside of it. So we had a pretend like we were taking photos and we were actually doing video. - What's the problem? - I don't know, but I picked you up a souvenir. - Oh really? - A artwork. - Yeah, he probably don't want to put it anywhere. - It's life size. - Other than inside the studio. But, - Ooh, look at that. - That is really nice. - All the photos though of him inside of his house look like they are a comfort. - Yeah. - Wow, they are a crazy, insane. - Yeah, Ethan and Tanya were saying, look at the light. - And when you were young, it was in relation. - Oh, when you had a mustache. - Yeah, you really did. - It was very strange. - When you see a Einstein look at like and a man riding a boy's bike (laughing) - A boy's a town. - A dude. - Yeah, while it may go grand, let it hang out. - Oh yeah. - It's the Jewish genes, right? - I'm not completely. - We see it. - We see it. - The hands, especially. - That is really cool. - That's the way it's. - And it's solar, so for those of you that obviously can't see it, that's sunlight or even like light from the light bulb. - Is that serious? - Makes the hand wave and touch the temple. You know, like he's thinking. - I figured you could either put it on your bike or put it inside a studio behind you. (laughing) - This is fun. - I'm like, it's sitting on the disk in the studio. - Oh yeah, I wanna say that. - Raise that camera. - All right, enough of the silliness, more silliness time for a cool, classy comment. This is from Miranda. Hi everyone. I've been watching the YouTube living waters and just witnessing channels for quite a while. I never tire of them. They are five stars plus. But this podcast, wow, I haven't turned it off. Ray, EZ, Mark and Oscar, you guys are bringing the Bible to life for me. All of you have given me so much insight and taken that which was in the dark into the light. - Did she name the podcast? - No, I have a lot of different podcasts. - I have lacked courage and boldness and witnessing far too long. I'm ready to move forward, onward. You are all well balanced, you are a well balanced team who bring out the best in each other, Miranda. Thank you, Miranda. - To be clear, I've seen Ray try to balance. He's not well balanced. - No, no. - Look at him, he's mesmerized. - I love that. - I like that. - I'm gonna write a book about this. (laughing) - Ray, you know what would be cool? Under that to put, stand up, I'm just a man. - Yeah. - I think that's somewhere for people to. - I do have a book called Einstein God in the Bible. - Yeah. - You know, he didn't like the God that says, "You shall not commit adultery," so you can guess why. (laughing) - He was an adulterer. - Yeah, you don't think about the person. - You married his cousin, people. - Yeah. - Yeah, after his first wife, yeah. - Yeah, crazy. - Yeah, but Einstein. - He didn't, he didn't, he used to get mad at his wife 'cause she would talk when he was trying to think. (laughing) And I can identify what the all mean, can I get what he had in the book? - Oh, I'm really in trouble, Ray. - Sorry. - Did we still have that Einstein thing where all of you are around? - Yes, I've got the book store. - Still. - Yeah. - Good call, Mark. You knew Ray would love that. - Was that? - Yes. - Yeah, on my list. - Just like him. - All right. Thank you Miranda, that was a blessing and time for one of your radically revolutionary resources, not yours, ours. Fight like a man. - You old little battle plan for personal purity. - Here it is friends, for those of you that are watching, not just listening, it's here guys, it's here. - Finally. - Yeah, they're exciting. - And yeah, so make sure to check that out. Get it for yourself, men, women, get it for men. And don't forget the Living Writers of the Mug and the Study Bible, all that. - Living Writers. - Stop. - All right, friends, today we are talking about, ooh, what do you know? A bold biblical battle plan against pornography. Pornography. Boy, that word just can really change the atmosphere. - That was very interesting. - It was like, yeah. But it's one of those words that must be used, it must be addressed because this is a massive, massive problem. We've talked about sexual morality kind of in general, we've had on pornography here and there. But today we really want to focus in on this. We want to hone in on it because it is destroying the world. - And your book is just so timely. Flight like a man, it's just such a great book. - Flight. - Flight like a can, whatever. - Something like that. Yeah, so yeah, we'll talk about the book because it ties into this as well. It's not gonna be like everything we talk about, obviously, but it's only what I'm gonna talk about. Is that it? - Yeah. - Oscar read the book. - I did on my flight home from Switzerland back to the US. I got to read a bite like a man. (laughing) - Oh boy. - How did you escape? People are gonna try to research the book. They find the wrong one. - It was really good. I do want to say I want to open by saying one of the things that I really appreciated is that before you even get into fighting, you know, the fight against pornography against lust, you spend a great deal of time focusing on biblical manhood. And you do a great job of describing manhood as a fight for virtue in your book chat GPT says, okay. (laughing) Oscar, you're not supposed to tell anyone. Now here's, I love this line. I got a question for you. Realmen demonstrate character, courage, commitment, conviction, devotion and loyalty. And what's more, they're willing to sacrifice for the sake of others and for causes greater than themselves. Most importantly, real men are willing to fight for what's right. And they do so with the energy and spirit of those indispensable attributes. So the question is like, when it comes to talking about fighting for purity, why is it helpful and important to start with the biblical definition of manhood? - Yeah, because scripture calls us to quip ourselves like men and to stand up and walk in true manliness and manhood. And today in our culture, there's been a twisting of what manhood really is. What is a man? I mean, think about it. To watch a Supreme Court nominee to be a justice of the highest court in the land of the most influential nation on the planet could not give the definition of a woman. You know, like I say in the book, Houston, we've got far more than just a problem. We have a catastrophe on our hands and one of epic proportions. So when we understand what men do, when you look at the biblical model of manhood, you see that men fight, you know, obviously men will fight physically to protect others. And to stand up for those that are a weaker, but they also fight on other levels. They fight for their family. They fight for the example that they set for their children. They fight for the glory of God. They fight for the integrity of the gospel. And so that's a part of it. And I try to draw that out in the book like, hey, we're called as men to fight. And I start by using the example of a man named John Baselon who was a hero, a marine world war two. And I get into what he did for the sake of his comrades and how he laid his life down on the line for them. It ultimately cost him his life, but the ripple effects of what he did still are impacting people to this day. - That's awesome. - Yeah. - So yeah. So this is an important topic. It's a heavy topic. But Mark, this is something that men need to face instead of run away from because that's what's happening. It's like either a sense of defeat or it's a sense of this is too pleasurable or it's a sense of nobody will understand me and no one can help me. - Throughout the years, the Ambassador's Academy has trained over 1400 believers from around the world to share the Gospel biblically and boldly. Now it's your turn. Join us next summer in Southern California for an intensive hands-on weekend of evangelism training in iconic locations where the Gospel is shared every week. Whether you're brand new or ready witnessing, you'll grow in confidence, passion and skill. Don't miss this life-changing opportunity. Visit ambassadorsecatemy.com to register. (upbeat music) - We need to be careful with that. We begin to think that nobody understands what I'm going through, nobody understands the fight that I'm in and that's not the case. I actually was reading a statistic earlier in the day that said, "Between the ages of 12 and 17, 93% of boys have viewed pornography and are regular watchers of pornography." - 90% - That's right. - "Between the ages of 12 and 17." I remember John Piper when somebody was entering into his seminary, he used to ask the question, "Have you ever looked at pornography?" And he changed that question to, "When was the last time you looked at pornography?" Because he realized that it was closer to 100% of people used to either have a problem with it or would look at it. And most people would not claim they had a problem with it. You do not need to go looking for pornography. It will come finding you. First John 1.9, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us for sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Admit to yourself, admit to God, admit to friends that it is very possible for you to fall into that category of looking at that regularly. We can talk about how to avoid that obviously, but first you have to acknowledge Here's my point that there's a problem. Yeah. And what are you going to do to avoid that problem? Because it's not going to say, you know what? I'm going to go easy on you. I'm not going to come your way. I don't need to tempt you in this area. I'm going to tempt you in a different area. No, be on your guard because your enemy is like a roaring lion seeking to devour you to still kill and destroy you. And this is typically the avenue in the angle by which he attacks first. Right. So there's a problem out there. What are you doing to acknowledge the problem? How are you fighting it? So good, Mark. Right. You know, there are some young men that are listening right now, some young teenagers that have never ventured into that arena. I'd love for you to speak to the fact that if they allow themselves to start, it will be the worst decision they ever make in their life and that they can't handle it in terms of like turning it off once he turned it on. My advice to them would be to get the book bright like a man. Bright like a man. Easy as a boy. It's a great book. Yeah. I think we've got to take to heart the words of Jesus. He that serves sin as a slave of sin. And of all the things that can slave you, it's the sin of pornography looking with lust in your heart. I was just thinking this morning, the average Christian that loves the Lord doesn't desire to desire other women. There's something in me that wants to serve God with all my heart, but there's also something in me that's terribly wicked. And that's what lust seeks to unlock that wickedness of the human heart. And you've got to stop. You've got to get on yourself the feet of Joseph. Joseph didn't wait to resist temptation. He ran. And that's what he could do with pornography. And the problem is that you take your phone with you when you run. That's why it's such a temptation for this generation. And the only answer is the fear of God. To get in your heart and soul, the eye of the Lord is in every place, beholding the evil and the good. And so when you lust after a woman, you commit adultery with her in your heart. God's eyes. That's how serious it is. And lust is always a bedfellow of death. And when it's lust brings forth sin, sin, when it's finished and brings forth death, the wages of sin is death. If you can remember that when you're embracing lust, you're embracing death. You're embracing damnation. You're giving up your very soul for that pleasure. And it's not worth the pain. You know, Ray, I love the fact that you mentioned Joseph. And one of the highlights from Joseph's life is the fact that when he resisted Potiphar's wife, he said to her, "How can I do this thing and sin against God?" I mean-- You've seen the jewel meaning of that? No. I've written it in a book about Joseph, remember what it's called? It's the one where Joseph's coat is on the ground. He's been run over by himself. Yeah, that book, yeah. But he says, "How can I-- you throw a comma in there if it's not in there so you realize what's being said? How can I do this thing and sin against God?" Leading up to that, he says, "Your husband entrusted me with everything. The only thing he didn't withhold me from was you." So how could I do this thing? Betrayers trust and sin against God. Wow. And so when you fall into pornography, not only do you sin against God, but you're sin against your wife. You betray your wife. You betray all your friends and your Christian will. Wow. Yeah, you think of Joseph. I mean, he had full access to indulge his desires at that moment. And obviously, she wasn't going to go tell her husband. They were alone in the house. And she-- It was day after day after day. Yeah, she kept coming and-- And he was like, "You guys, he was good looking." One of us. But the fact that he-- not only did he resist her, not only did he consider his master and not only did he consider I'm going to be sinning against God, but he ran. Like he ran, he left whatever item of clothing, and she ripped off of them and he just went. Because the whole nation named after that. I ran. I ran. I ran so far away. So anyway, he pulled the force gum. Yeah. He started running and running and running. You know, I was thinking back, there's something that you say in the book, fight like a can of spam. [LAUGHTER] Oscar was holding onto that one for a long time. I like a can of spam. Oh no, man. The book is destroyed. Let's just end this episode right now. No, there's something-- you say something, which I'm going to quote in just a second. But it reminded me, you know, I grew up in a secularized upbringing. Meaning there was no Bible in my home. We never went to church even on the Christmases, the Mother's Days, the Easter's. There was just none of that. Like a moral and ethical framework was not taught to me. In other words, like the idea of saving yourself to marriage was a foreign concept to me. We're all growing up. And I suffered consequences because I indulged at a very young age. But when I became a Christian, my view of God and this is pre-Christian really leading up to it was like, he was some sort of cosmic buzzkill. Why is he going to hold back good things from us? Yeah. And of course, that's just such a sort of view. But the unfortunate reality is I think there is many Christians that probably have that view as well. Where it's like, oh, you know, I got to not look at pornography. I got to keep myself pure. And it just feels like God is holding me back from something amazing. And I love that you point out that that's not the case. You see in the book, notice the Lord didn't tell Adam and Eve that they could only eat at a certain time or only in limited amount of food at a given intervals or that they were only permitted to eat from a select-- I didn't quote this right-- a select specific days. He didn't crack open the door of permissiveness. He blew it off the hinges when he said of every and freely. God didn't just give, but he gave in a lavish abundance, providing for his dust-framed, handy work, an overflowing supply of riches from his divinely generous heart, a heart bursting with perfect and inquenchable love for them. I love that. How-- why is it so important for us to realize that God is inviting us into joy rather than holding us back from joy? Yeah. It's huge. It's key because, you know, like I've talked about before with Shadrach Meshach and Abednego when they chose death, chose burning, overbowing, they not only understood the providence of God and the power of God, but they knew the person of God. Like they said, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us. They trust in this power. But even if he doesn't, we won't bow. They trust in this providence because they said initially, our God whom we serve. They knew him. They knew his heart. They knew his character. And when your perception is like, oh, why does God want to keep me from the thrill? And I talk about that in the book, like all the arguments we come up with in our heart and mind, like why can't I enjoy this? Why can't I-- you know, but when you understand God's heart to protect us from harm, he created us. God designed sex. It's beautiful. It's wonderful. It's amazing. But you use it outside of its context, right? Like we've heard about fire in a fireplace is wonderful. That's good. Fire in a barbecue, cooking your savory food is beautiful. Fire running a rampant outside of those contexts is destructive. And so understanding God's heart, he wants to keep us from harm and destruction, will help our mindset when it comes to varying away from it. It reminds me of the C.S. Lewis quote, which I've said multiple times. And I absolutely love what she says. We act like God's this cosmic buzzkill, but we ultimately end up-- I'm going to butcher it a little bit here-- but he says something like, we ultimately end up playing it with mud pies in the slums when he is offering us a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased by our own desire. Exactly. Array, you give that analogy about the kid stealing from the father. What is that? Yeah. When someone says, I'm having sex with my girlfriend, and she says, well, what you've done is you have a little kid who's snuck into his father's bedroom and opened his wallet and stole a brand new $20 bill out from your dad's wallet. In truth, he had got that for you to give to you as a gift in the morning. And so you have taken something that was good and made it bad. God gave you the ability to have sex and the apparatus, and it's to be enjoyed within the confines of marriage. And you can have sex with your wife thousands of times and not be afraid of sexually transmitted diseases. But if you go around trying different women like trying new shoes on, you're going to get these horrible STDs that only want to talk about they're so bad. So there's certain things that God's given us as clues about the rules that he's given. You're given a car. You told us down the right side of the road and don't drink and drive. There are rules that protect you. And the rules that God's given in this word are to protect us. Amen. I would love if we could, in talking about your book, juggle up pan a flan. What are the practical steps? When somebody comes along and says, all right, I want to fight like a man. Where do I go from here? I've been struggling with this for years or nobody knows about this addiction. Where do I go, easy? What do I do? What is the first step perhaps in this fight? Yeah, well, you know, I talk in the book and my preface, how my aim in writing the book was to not only write something that was biblical and theologically sound because you have a lot of books out there on the subject, but sadly, they're humanistic. You know, it's all about, and especially now, there are a lot of secular books as the secular world is realizing, whoa, pornography is destructive. Duh, right? But it's like the world is now finally admitting it. And they're seeing from scientific research, like this destroys people. So you have a lot of books out there, but they're not, they're not biblically based. They're not theological. But along with that, I wanted a book that was practical. So you have some books that are really theological, biblically based, but there's no practicality. You have books that are practical, but they're not biblically based. So I wanted to hit that sweet spot of like, hey, this is rooted in Scripture, but this is also practical. That's why the subtitle is a bold, biblical battle plan for personal purity. You know, so you fight like a man and here's your battle plan. So in the book, I get practical and, you know, I begin by, I talk about the world, the flesh and the devil, there's those three parts. And then the last part is called six seas to succeed and a nope. And so, and that's a practical principle that I share. But, but you have to understand your enemy. You have to understand your nature. And, and then you have to understand God's calling on your life. And, and here's what it comes down to knowing God's will. And then deciding to be a doer of God's will. And, and Scripture is clear on that. This is first test Thessalonians 4 verse 3 and on. For this is the will of God, your sanctification, that you should abstain from sexual immorality, that each of you should know how to possess his own vessel and sanctification and honor not in passion of lust, like the Gentiles. And he goes on from there. So, people are searching everywhere. What's God's will? I want to know God's will for my life. It's his will that you be sanctified set apart from sexual immorality. That's clear and beyond, beyond description. Know your enemy. What is Satan's tactic, right? His biggest tactics are what he did with Adam and Eve. Oscar just alluded to that in the chapter he cited. But it was discontent, right? Has God said you can't eat of every tree of the garden, right? No, God said they could eat of every except for one. So, you have to understand discontent is one of the enemy's tactics. Then you have disbelief. Oh, you surely will not die. So, we disbelieve what the consequences of sexual immorality really are. And then, deification. No, no, you'll become like God. Atonemy. I get to do what I want to do. I get to make the call on what is righteous and what is not righteous. And then the battle plan, how do you fight that then? And so, I get into that in the book and I give detail on that. And then the world, you know, the world is coming at us with its ways and its wisdom. Well, how do we combat those? There's a way to do it. Understanding certain truths, not marching to the beat of its foolish mantras and its foolish ways. And then the flesh, you know, you have your flesh coming against you. How do you combat that? Well, you walk in the spirit and you will not fulfill the lust of the flesh. And then I get into how to do that. And then I get practical with the six seas. And maybe you guys hit me with questions on that. I could handle that. What are the six. In your book, surf on a spiral ham. What are the six seas? Are fun as spiral ham. Yeah. So, yeah. So the six seas are basically creation, cross, crisis, crown, crowd, and Christ. And I open up each one of those points. And then I have an alliterated sentence that goes along with it for men to memorize. So it's things to meditate on in those realms. And then it's a sentence to memorize that you meditate on regularly in your life so that when you're in the heat of battle, you're ready. Because this is a big problem. A lot of men, when it comes to pornography, are like someone who's deluded into thinking that they're on a cruise liner heading toward the shores of Bora Bora. When in reality, they're on a Higgins boat heading for the shores of World War II Normandy. And they're sontering off the Higgins boat in a bathrobe, some fluffy slippers, and a remote control in their hands. And they're going to get smoked. And so you have to understand this is a battle. You never let your guard down. You never put down your weapons. You never turn your back. You're always fighting because the enemies alive and wants to destroy you. So I give the practicals and then I end it with something interesting. I'll see you're new. Is that a tease? Yeah. Oh, I've got a thought. I've even known it before. Yeah. The world's way of handling the problem of pornography is to talk about it being destructive. But that's not going to deter any men from indulging in the pleasure. You can tell them cocaine is destructive. They still take it. Yeah. So it regrets the destructive. Alcohol is destructive. It destroys. You can see how it destroys lives. Greed is destructive. You can turn people into the love of money. It's bad. It's a real marriage. People still give themselves to it. It's still indulged because human beings are basically stupid. What we've got to tell them is it's a sin against God. Amen. And that's what Nathan said to David when he indulged. You've sinned against God. And that's what he cried creating me a clean heart. I've got a. I never forget this. The night I was converted, I saw a sermon on the mount where Jesus said, "You've heard it said by them of old, you shall not commit adulterant." I remember thinking, "Well, I'll make it to heaven if there is one because I've never committed adultery." But then I read, "But I say to you, whoever looks upon a woman to lust for her is committed adultery already, whether in his heart." And the emotion that I felt was one of horrors. It wasn't sorrow. It was, "Oh, no." It's God saying, "This thing that gives me so much pleasure." And it gave me so much pleasure lust. It gave me so much pleasure. I thought I had a special gift because I look at a woman and get instant pleasure. Didn't have to dangle my feet as sharp peat like it did with fishing. I used to travel to try and get pleasure with surfing. Every two or three days you get great surf and it gives you pleasure. But with lust, it's instant. Instant gratification. It's great pleasure. So what we need to do is say the world is sinning against God and God will create a clean heart. And the thing that brought contrition to me as I look back was the cross. When I understood that's what God had to do, so I could be forgiven the sin that broke my heart. And that gave me the ability to find a place of godly sorrow which works repentance under life. Amen. Yeah, and Ray, you know, you bring out such a great point, right? In terms of those that know what they're doing is causing destruction, but they still do it. The greatest example of that is when you see a medical doctor who's like a chain smoker. Right. I mean, this guy understands physiology, understands biology. He knows what this is doing to him. He has treated patients with enphysema, with lung cancer, with gum cancer. I mean, he understands he's still smoking. You know, and so yeah, it's more than that. I talk about that in the book. You know, part of it is, yeah, you do recognize that, but it goes beyond that. And it comes down, yeah, to ultimately the fear of the Lord. It reminds me of like, how do we actually change? Where is transformation even possible? And the issue of the thing you mentioned, Psalm 51, I love that moment when David says to God against you and you only have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight. And this gets into your point of like, we always talk about it as destructive, but it's more than that. When David says that, you have to think like, wait a minute, what about the Shiba? You sin against her? What about your right? Yeah, he's dead. You sin against him and his entire family. You're the king. You sin against the nation of Israel. You're supposed to leave them with integrity. Without a doubt, David is not downplaying the sins that he's committed horizontally. But what he's doing is recognizing that his sin is first and foremost vertically. Right. And what's amazing about Psalm 51, and it starts out by proclaiming the steadfast love of God. And that's a love, Thomas Chalmers, talking about like how we actually change. How does how is transformation possible? He calls it an explosive power of a new affection. What we need to do is look to God and see how He has loved us. And that will create in our new hearts an explosive new affection for God that will rid us of those old affections. And the lust of pornography. And you, I love that you hit this at the beginning of the book in this little part called Hope for the Weary in the book, Bite Like Rose Ann. You say, you say, no matter how big or prolonged or shameful, your sexual sins have been. An overwhelming abundance of hope is available to you in the inexhaustible love and grace of God, the glorious gospel secured by the death and resurrection of Christ. not only redeems and regenerates, but also enables transformative change as it empowers you in ways you may never have thought possible. He's had love for you to talk to that young man right now, listening to this podcast and he's like, man, I'm living a double life. No one knows and I've tried to kill it before and I never have. Could you just remind him of the gospel and the power of transformation? Yeah, and I talk about that in my preface as well as that. The other thing I wanted the book to be was extremely gospel-centric because ultimately our hope is found in the gospel and the fact that the gospel is not just the instrument through which we're saved, it's the treasure house and the ever flowing fountain from which we live as God's people. So you extrapolate that in that, the power that raised Jesus from the dead is dwelling inside of you, that God has given you through the gospel, all things. A second Peter one tells us that pertain to life and Godliness. And so it comes down to understanding the gospel and then valuing the gospel, right? As I've quoted before, Paul Trep, value impacts behavior. So you come to that place where you meditate on the reality and the truth of the gospel, the price that was paid to redeem your soul, the greatness of God, the fact that you're going to stand before Him and give account for what you did with the treasures of the gospel. And so you live from the gospel, you understand the power that God supplies, you understand the forgiveness and the mercy that's there because that's another thing that often keeps men from walking in purity. They stumble and then they say it's over for me, you know, that's it. The gospel reminds you, he's paid for that sin and that he sympathizes with your weaknesses. That's a part of the gospel because he became a man like you. So he can come to the aid of those who are tempted. So what does that do? It makes you run to the Lord, cry out to the Lord and then you obey Him by getting accountability and by, you know, taking the steps to put to death this sin in your life, by His strength, power and grace. So good. That makes sense. Yeah. So Mark, the lure, right, of pornography today, we're living in an era where as opposed to when even we were kids, right? I mean, you might steal a video if you could because you couldn't buy it, right? If you weren't 18 or you might get a magazine from a friend whose dad had it stashed at home or whatever. But now at the, at the, just click of a button and it's not even you have to go to a certain place. Like Ray said, it's like these are now, these are appendages basically that we have a tag like part, they're part of our body, these phones. And the high, high clarity, quality, graphics and just that all of that now, it's like men are put in a position where they have to recognize they're in the crosshairs at all moments. Yeah, I mean, I can order that better. I was waiting for you to stop it. It just kept getting better. Actually. The accessibility of corn is undeniable. It, you do not have to go searching for it. It will find you out in nose real live. It reads your mind, if you would. You know, and somebody tell me recently that they were on Facebook and a picture or video had popped up right there on their screen, which is not even allowed within Facebook. It just happens. It's just there. It desires to sift you while you're sleeping. The enemy is planning in your book how to lead a ninja clan. Oh, it's never going to get old. Me and Keith, rushing something till it's twice dead, blocked up by the roots. My mum just wants to say. I actually went a weep for my book. Like my poor book. Right a rocket van. I really want actually, I'd love for you because we don't have a lot of time left. I'd love for you to address that person just says, I'm just not buying into it easy. I'm not buying into into what you're saying because I've tried too long to try to give this up and I just can't give it up. I've tried. Where does that person go right now who's saying that? Listen to this. And it's 40 minutes in and it's just saying, guys, you have not hit me. I'm not moved. So I would say, stop believing the lie. Stop believing the lie that you can't. Let me prove to you that you can. If you were guaranteed $100 million, unquestionably, in fact, Elon Musk is putting up the money. $100 million. It's put in an escrow account. There's no like, oh, I changed my mind. It is there, right? If you go six months without looking at pornography, you will get $100 million. Those of you listening right now, men, that have been saying for ages, oh, I can't say, you know for certain without the shadow of a doubt, you will do whatever it takes to not go search out pornographic. You would throw your phone in the trash for the $100 million. Yeah, you'll do whatever. You'll go lock yourself. Right? So, wow. Okay, let me take it. Like, let me take it in another direction. This is good. Every time you look at pornography, you lose a body part. Like, oh, there goes my ear. Oh, bye-bye, nose. I really loved you. There goes an eyeball. Oops. There goes my right arm, my left arm, my right leg. Are you kidding me? If you knew every time you click on pornography, you lose a body part. You know, well, everyone's going to know what you've been doing first of all. Everyone's going to be like, man, he's really been struggling. But you know, you're just the head. You know you would stop looking at pornography. So don't say you can't because it's calling God a liar. If you, again, if you claim to be a believer because he said he's given you his spirit and the fruit of his spirit is self-control. It's not that you can't. It's that you won't. And then tell you recognize that you can, you won't. So there should be a greater motivation than something physical, right? Which there is, right? I mean, well, we've been called into a relationship with God. A relationship that is pure. Yeah. You know, we start talking about, well, listen, you don't understand the destruction that it's going to cause. You're right. And this idea of destruction has become like this nebulous, unclear idea and thought. And I did it last time. Nothing happened to me then, right? Or I've already done this. I've already had sex with my girlfriend. I might as well do it again because nothing happened. He made me like this, you know? Well, role does pernfasting have in the midst of this battle. They're huge. And I talk about that where I talk about, you know, the battle against the flesh because you know, how do you, how do you not give into the flesh? You walk in the spirit. What does it mean to walk in the spirit? You involve yourself in the things that the Spirit of God is involved in. And what are those things? Well, the Spirit is involved, obviously, in the Word. It's called the sword of the Spirit. The Spirit is involved in using our spiritual gifts, the Spirit gives gifts to whom He wills. The Spirit is involved in evangelism. When the Spirit comes upon you, you will be my witnesses. The Spirit is involved in fellowship, the fellowship of the Spirit. And the Spirit is involved in prayer. We do not know how to praise. We opt for the Spirit and our seats for us with gronings too deep to utter. So yeah, prayer, right? Crying out to God in accordance with what His will is, right? We just learned in First Testament, the Lelonians 4, that it's His will that we abstain from sexual morality and our sanctification. And first John 5 tells us that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if He hears us, we have the request which we've asked. So we demonstrate faith by praying in accordance with God's will and recognizing His, His, our source of help and hope. And yeah, what do we do? How often we say, "I want to overcome these things in my life." Okay, are you praying over it? No. Do you fast over it to break those bonds? No. Are you memorizing scripture on that topic? Not really. Are you reading any books on the subject? No. Are you getting accountability on it? Uh-uh. Oh, I have cancer and I hate cancer, but I don't get my chemo treatments. I don't do my homopathic if you go that route, whatever. There's different views on that. But I don't do anything and I really want to overcome my cancer. No, you don't. It's suicide by cancers, what you're doing, really. But you're just pretending like, no, this is a cancer that is destroying men. It's destroying families. It's destroying the glory of God. Look, if you don't care about the destruction for yourself, how selfish you have to be, not to look at your wife and your children and your family, your parents, and the glory of God. So we can, we just won't, but we need to. And we have that saying that you can't prevent a bird from flying over your head, but you can prevent them from making a nest in your head. Yeah. Your hair. I think that kind of ties into your nope principle. Yeah. Right? Maybe you can address that. Yeah. So the nope principle, essentially how it came about, I was counseling a man who was really struggling with, you know, with different issues. And I said, how are you doing with pornography? He said, yeah, I'm doing pretty good. I said, how are you doing with lust? Like, as you're going about your days, you want to, he said, ah, not doing, not doing too good there. And I go, man, you know what? There just comes a point where we as men have to say, nope. Like, you know, and I just, this is, I was just having this conversation with them and just came to my mind. So you just have to say, nope, like, I'm not doing this. I'm done with this, you know, and to have that attitude. And I saw that it resonated with him. And it really, it kind of stirred my own heart up with just that right to zeal for purity. Anyhow, the next day I'm leaving home heading toward the office and these, these two young ladies jog past my car wearing barely anything. And I just instantly found myself going, Nope, out loud. I told the young man, I said, "We need to even say it out loud." And so as I continued driving, I thought in my mind, I thought, "Man, I wish there was an acrostic that would tie in with the word nope that would mean something and help men." And as soon as I thought that, it popped into my mind. Nope, N-O-P-E, not one peak even. Not one peak even. - I've been saying peep. (laughing) - I love having peeping. - It's the peep too. - Yeah, the peep part of the peep. - So we've been on a wrong, oh yeah. - I've been telling people, "How do you guys think?" - It does work, easy, I've used it. - Yeah, and I've shared it with several men, and I've had many men say to me, that this has changed my life. Because you say it out loud, which commits you, and nope has an attitude with it, as opposed to no. If someone says, "Hey, can you do this for me?" And you go, "Nope." It's like, whoa. - It's like saying to the wicked deceitful human heart, this is, "Oh, just look at that lady, because she got a mustache." - Right, curiosity. - I talk about that in the book too, yeah. So, but then, why nope? Why not one peak even? And everyone's different, some men are married, others aren't, whatever. But for me, as a married man, I talk about that in the book too. It's attached to something. So I say, "Nope, not one peak, even why." It's because of what I love, and what are the five things I love? So I imagine my hand going out to reach the handle of the plow, from Jesus said, if anyone puts his hand in the plow, looks back, he's not worthy for the kingdom. So I envision my hand going out to reach the plow, and each finger represents one of these loves. And as I say, each one, I'm envisioning my finger curling around the handle, to tell the whole, my hand is just tied against it. Nope, not one peak, even why, because I love my Lord, I love my lady, I love my lineage, my children grandchildren, those that went before me, those after me. I love his lambs, God's people, and I love the lost, those that I'm to be a witness to. - That's lovely. - So because, so because I love all of those, nope, not one peak, even, not with my physical eye, not with my mind's eye. And as you begin to, you know, distance yourself from those things, the more you grow and holiness and purity and strength resist. - I'm gonna talk to our graphic artist and see if he will create a wallpaper, or the Bible verse on it, so you can put it on your iPhone, the first thing you see, if your right eye causes you to send, pluck it out and cast off. - Oh, that's good, right. - And that comes directly after, whoever looks upon a woman to lust us, Matthew 5, 29, the other verses, 28, and Jesus is saying, if you're your right eye, you're best eye, and you think about, we've all got best eyes, we've got best hands, try throwing with your left hand. - Yeah. - It's horrible if you're right-handed, it just doesn't work. You said, if your right eye causes you to send, pluck it out. And then he says, cast it from you, don't put it down where you can pick up and slip it back in the slot. Cast it from you for it's better to enter heaven without an eye than go to hell with both your eyes. And then he brings out where the worm never dies and the fire is never quenched. That should put the fear of God. So if we get a wallpaper created, we make free of charge along with your book. - Yeah. - It might be good to have on your phone 'cause you gotta go through that gate to get to your phone. - Amen, right, that's a really good idea. And let me just say, men, those of you listening, this book is full of hope. - That's a cool fight like a man, a bull biblical battle plan for personal purity. But it's full of hope. The real impetus behind it is, look, no matter how far you've gone, no matter how much you've blown it, there is hope in the Lord. It's not a book that beats you down. It's, again, it's gospel-centric. So it's given you the gospel. And I wanna urge you to get it. Look, let me be candid. I get zero money from this, as you purchase it through living water. So I'm not pushing this so I can make money. I want you to be impacted by this book and to give it to other men so that God will use it to change lives. I've been humbled by the response. It's got Dr. John MacArthur's endorsement. I said, "Every man needs to help this excellent book offers. The Forward was written by Ken Ham from Answers and Genesis, the Ark Encounter and Creation Museum, Kirk Cameron endorsed it, Ray Comfort endorsed it. - Mm-hmm. - And others, Pastor Jack Hibbs, Mike Fibarez, Tony Wood, Todd Friel, Owen Strand, Phil Johnson, Justin Peters, my pastor, Phil DeCorsi. So please check it out. And whether you do or not, men, repent, get right with the Lord, let him transform you, we've gone over, yes, Ray. - And not only get it from livingwaters.com, but you can go to Amazon.com. And if you go there to get it, leave a comment, it really helps. - Comments are really important. Yeah, so go and leave comments 'cause that helps propel the book. I've been amazed by the it's ranking. It was number one in sexual health recovery and like in the top, in fact, of all books that were on Amazon, it was number one, 1,800 out of 32.8 million titles. And it was in the top 50, top 100, actually top 30 and a number of different categories. So I'm blown away by success so far. So check it out, friends. And that's about it. Thank you for joining us. We'll see you here next time on the Livingwaters podcast, where we have no idea, except for today, except for today. What we're doing. (upbeat music) (upbeat music)