Pornography — Exodus International Blog

I Found Acceptance And Fulfillment in Christ – Real Stories for January 2011 by Rochelle

January 4, 2011 By Randy Thomas

dove

This testimony appears in both our offline and online newsletters. To receive testimonies like this along with the full newsletter online via email or offline through the postal service please sign up here. --- When I was growing up, I was always searching for something - something to learn, to fill, to numb, to distract me from myself. From a young age, I was certain there was something wrong with me and I needed to fix it in order for people to like and accept me. I was convinced I was unlovable, but believed if I just tried hard enough, I could correct my flaws and finally be … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Church, Encourage, Gay, God, Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ, Lesbian, Post-gay, Testimonies, The Father, Youth & Young Adults Tagged With: Addiction, Community, Exodus, Forgiveness, Giving, God, Heart, Hope, Joy, Lesbian, Life, Love, Mom, Needs, news, Online, Parent, Pornography, Prayer, Relationship, Satisfaction, Soul, Teen, Testimonies, Testimony, Trust

Is Homosexuality Simply a Choice? – Real Answers Article for August 2010

August 26, 2010 By Angela Buchanan

This article appears in both our offline and online newsletters. To receive articles like this along with the full newsletter online via email or offline through the postal service please sign up here. --- Is Homosexuality Simply a Choice? by Angela Buchanan Yes. At least I thought so. To be honest, I had a hard time feeling compassion for someone who chose to engage in behavior that I couldn’t comprehend and frankly didn’t want to understand. Our lack of grace often comes from a place of ignorance – that was the case in my situation. Before I met Jeff, I didn’t know the … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Educate, Exodus Blog, Gay, God, Homosexuality, Lesbian, Post-gay, Youth & Young Adults Tagged With: Abuse, Change, Church, Compassion, Exodus, Gay, Grace, Healing, Heart, Homosexuality, Identity, Men, Needs, news, Porn, Pornography, Rejection, Relationship, Sexual Abuse, Sexual Identity, Sexual Orientation, Sexuality, Sin, Women

Masturbation: Is it Sin?

August 4, 2010 By Chris Stump

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*Posted originally at Exodus Youth. About seven years ago I attended my first Exodus conference. As I was looking at the multitude of workshops offered during the week I came across one entitled "Something, something...MASTURBATION". I can't remember the whole title, because I just saw that "m" word. I knew I had to go to that one. But of course when the time came to go I was filled with so much trepidation and shame. Would I be the only one in the workshop? I got up enough courage to go, and to my amazement, the room was so full, there was barely any standing room. It … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Encourage, Exodus Blog, Purpose, Support, Youth & Young Adults Tagged With: Addiction, Battles, Biblical Sexuality, Chris Stump, Christians, encouragement, Exodus Youth, Freedom, Gratification, Masturbation, Orgasm, Pornography, Sacrifice, Selfishness, Sexual Purity, Sin, Young Adults, Young People

Dear Gay/Porn Forum User

August 3, 2010 By Randy Thomas

confession

Yesterday's post on the disenfranchisement of Christian therapists and clients from professional counseling had a surprising source of linkage that drove a decent amount of traffic to the blog. The sources of the links: Two gay/porn sites. And I think it comes as no surprise I won't be linking back to them. :) I didn't investigate them to figure out what the purpose of these sites were or what is being said but given the URL of the addresses it was kind of obvious what the overall sites are about. So ... sincerely ... welcome! I can't quite figure out why yesterday's post would … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Culture, Encourage, Exodus Blog, Gay, God, Post-gay, Sexuality, Websites Tagged With: Addiction, Adultery, Christians, Counsel, Counseling, Covenant Eyes, Exodus, Gay, God, Gratification, Hope, Intimacy, Judgment, Marriage, Men, Porn, Pornography, Professional Counseling, Sexuality, Sin, Testimonies, Testimony, Video, Women, Worldview

Some Thoughts On Church/Denominational Conflict

July 28, 2010 By Randy Thomas

pastorhands

This post was inspired by Matt Kaufman over at the Boundless Line. He wrote, in response to the ELCA decision, a good question (emphasis mine): ... When should you leave a church on principle -- not for personal reasons (which we've talked about elsewhere on this blog), but for reasons of its doctrines or practices? And a follow-up question: Have you ever had to wrestle with this decision? That is definitely a tough question with plenty of potential variables. In the 18 years I have been a Christian I haven't ever left a church on "principle" (when I have it has been for personal … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Church, Culture, Equip, Exodus Blog, Exodus Church Association, Gay, Holy Spirit, Identity, Jesus Christ, Lesbian, Lutherans, Post-gay, Religious Liberty, Sexuality, The Father Tagged With: Battles, Bible, Books, Boundless, Christianity, Christians, Church, Clergy, Counseling, Culture, ECA, ELCA, Encourage, Evolution, Exodus, Exodus Church Association, Forgiveness, Friends, Gay, God, Gospel, Grace, Guide, Heart, Homosexuality, Hope, Jesus, Lent, Life, Love, Lutheran, Ministry, Needs, Old Testament, Pastors, Pornography, Post-modernism, Public Policy, Relationship, Resurrection, Sacrifice, Scripture, Sexuality, Sin, Study, Support, Testimony, The Gospel, Truth, Victory, Worldview, Worship

Paul Webster Visits Passion For Christ Movement in Los Angeles

May 4, 2010 By Randy Thomas

p4cm

For those that don't know yet, Paul Webster joined the Exodus staff a couple of months ago as our Director of Ministry Advancement. We are very blessed to have him join our team. Paul and his wife Susan live in Southern California and decided to visit the Passion for Christ Movement (P4CM) Church in Los Angeles. Here is an account of their visit: Sunday worship was spent visiting a vibrant young church in Los Angeles called the Passion for Christ Movement. This burgeoning fellowship is full of young people yearning to be transparent before Jesus and sharing their deepest hurts. Many on … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Church, Encourage, Exodus Blog, Gay, Identity, Jesus Christ, Lesbian, Post-gay, Sexuality, Testimonies, Youth & Young Adults Tagged With: Church, Compassion, ECA, Exodus, Exodus Staff, God, Gospel, Homosexuality, Honesty, Identity, Jesus, Jesus Christ, Joy, Lesbian, Lesbianism, Love, Ministry, Poem, Porn, Pornography, Sexuality, Testimonies, The Gospel, Truth, Video, Worship, Young People

HopeFloats – Renee Dallas Starts Another Online Wives Group

April 28, 2010 By Randy Thomas

Click to Visit WifeBoat

Renee Dallas sent the following out via email: Join me for our next WifeBoat Online Support Group May 18th-August 10th I've had many woman ask me how they could possibly cope after finding out the devastating news that their husband had been using pornography, having an affair or feeling homosexual attractions. These grieving wives have often felt there was no place to turn to talk safely and openly about what they were dealing with. Family, friends, and career concerns have been some of the reasons why. That's why I started the WifeBoat Online Support groups. In the confidential … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Exodus Blog, God, Marriage, Online, Post-gay, Spouses, Support Tagged With: Encourage, encouragement, Family, Forgiveness, God, Homosexuality, Hope, Marriage, Online, Online Support, Pain, Pornography, Renee Dallas, Sin, Support Group, Trust, WifeBoat, Wives, Women

The Joe Dallas Story: Freedom from Homosexuality (Video)

March 25, 2010 By Randy Thomas

The following is an episode featuring Joe Dallas on the Pure Passion television program: The Joe Dallas Story: Freedom from Homosexuality and Pornography, S2E1 from Pure Passion on Vimeo. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Bi-sexuality, Encourage, Exodus Blog, Gay, Homosexuality, Marriage, Post-gay, Television, Testimonies Tagged With: Freedom, Homosexuality, Joe Dallas, Pornography, Sexuality, Television

The Social Cost of Pornography

March 24, 2010 By Randy Thomas

scop

The following press release landed in my inbox about a very interesting study done by the Witherspoon Institute. From Design4 Marketing (a few comments after the quote): The Witherspoon Institute, located in Princeton, New Jersey, released on March 16 The Social Costs of Pornography: A Statement of Findings and Recommendations. The consultation was the first multifaceted, multi-disciplinary, scholarly exploration of pornography since the advent of the Internet. The consultation assembled leading experts in economics, psychology, sociology, and law to present a rigorously argued … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Culture, Educate, Exodus Blog, Sexuality, Video Tagged With: Abuse, Catholic, Encourage, Freedom, Love, Media, Muslim, Porn, Pornography, Print, Psychology, Public Policy, Relationship, Relationships, Research, Study, Video, Women

PBS Interview on Churches and Gay Youth

March 16, 2010 By Jeff Buchanan

Perdue

In a recent PBS Religion & Ethics segment on "Churches & Gay Youth," Pastor Bob Perdue of Old Dominion Baptist Church, an Exodus Church Association church in Bristow, VA, was interviewed by PBS correspondent Lucky Severson. While the segment is generally unbalanced and one-sided in its perspective, Bob responds with a gracious and truthful point of view. In preparing to post this article, I asked Bob to share a little of his personal story: I grew up in church and I grew up struggling with same sex attraction. While the problem was not spoken about specifically, the concept of … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Educate, Exodus Blog, Gay, Homosexuality, Sexuality, Southern Baptist, Television, Video, Websites, Youth & Young Adults Tagged With: Books, Church, Exodus, Exodus Church Association, Forgiveness, Gay, God, Grace, Homosexuality, Identity, Joy, Life, Marriage, Ministry, Pastors, Pornography, Relationship, Scripture, Sexuality, Truth, Youth