And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, Romans 1:27.
I hear a lot of comments that the Western World has become a modern Sodom and Gomorrah. Without any doubt we are beginning to experience the judgment of God upon us. It is God that turns men and nations over to sodomy. When he does so, it is done as a judgment against them or their fathers. Romans 1:26 is very clear on this; For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections. Yet, we have not quite got as low as Sodom did.
In Sodom the sin was mandatory. And they called unto Lot, and said unto him, Where are the men which came in to thee this night? bring them out unto us, that we may know them, Genesis 19:5. The ancient Jewish historian Josephus said that there were no children left in Sodom under the age of 12. The attitude of Lot's daughters seems to back that up. And the firstborn said unto the younger, Our father is old, and there is not a man in the earth to come in unto us after the manner of all the earth, Genesis 19:31. After being raised in Sodom, they didn't know that any man other than their father still practiced natural procreation with women.
We are probably not far from the time when civil authorities or their protected mobs mandate sodomy. A child might come home from school with a note stating that, "Little Johnny wouldn't cooperate in health class today". Nevertheless, we are not there yet. We are halfway to Sodom with our backs towards God. There are few crueler things that God can turn a man or a woman over to than to turn them over to lusts of their own hearts.
Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves, Romans 1:24. We have arrived there. I mean we. A year ago, I heard a pastor who had started 5 churches in Alabama state that 72% of men in Fundamental Baptist churches respond when privately polled, that they had viewed pornography in the last 7 days. He listed it as one of the great burdens with which he had to contend.
I found that distressing and difficult to believe. As I looked into the matter, I discovered that he was all too correct. We are a mess. Pornography is ubiquitous. That means that it is universally available. Poll after poll show that the same men who regularly attend good churches also view pornorgaphy on a regular basis. This will not bring judgment upon our churches, it is the judgment, God also gave them up to uncleanness.
For a while, I was using the figure of 72% of men in our churches. A group of young men who attended a special meeting here took me aside and set me straight. The figure might be 72% when old men unfamiliar with the internet are included in the poll, but for men under the age of 50, is almost 100%. Young men in their late 30s who had worked in the general public holding many jobs over time, and knowing hundreds of fellow workers told me that they didn't know anyone who didn't regularly look at pornography on an almost hourly basis. One young man observed that his contemporaries see it as so normal and casual that the apps are right on their phones in plain sight.
My church is small but fortunate in that we have many young men, married and single who attend regularly. For a few years many of them have met on Thursday nights and discussed the state of their souls, their common temptations, and scriptural insights. They regularly have 8-10 attendees, sometimes more. One of the pernicious temptations with which they have discussed among themselves has been pornography. It was universal among them.
A leader in the group had overcome his pornography addiction but only after he got rid of his smartphone and forswore the internet. That's right, he absolutely quit using the internet at all. A few years earlier, his wife had caught him looking at pornography and had been devastated. They worked out careful ways for her to monitor his phone and internet use to keep him away from it. About a year later, he came to her and told her that he was still viewing pornography. He had just learned better ways to hide it.
After her initial agony at the betrayal, she realized that this time it was different. He had come to her voluntarily. He is now pornography free, his wife trusts him and he is helping other men. You would think that young men who never miss church, regularly read their bibles, abstain from all appearance of evil, travel to hear special preaching services, and who attend such a peer group would not have a pornography problem. As those men who sought to set me straight explained, you would be wrong to think they were free from pornography.
Breitbart News recently cited a study by the British National Health Service in which they discovered that the average child begins viewing hardcore pornography at 13 years old. 10% of children start at 9 years old. Until recently, health authorities thought that viewing pornography was harmless or even a healthy diversion. Science has caught up with the bible. The viewing of pornography is destructive.
Researchers such as Gary Wilson are discovering the destructive nature of viewing pornography. His book, Your Brain on Porn: Internet Pornography and the Emerging Science of Addiction spells out the destruction wrought. Addiction to pornography has forced the medical community to change the definition of addiction. We have learned that people are not addicted to heroin, crystal meth or crack. They are addicted to the dopamine rush that those substances give them. Pornography delivers the same rush of dopamine to the pleasure center of the brain as any addictive drug does.
If you can imagine addicts being able to get their relief without needles, without hangovers, without stealing money, and without breaking the law, you can understand pornography addiction. Wilson tells us of Chinese Websites and Social forums dedicated to men seeking freedom from porn. There are cd over 3 million men on these sites. Universally, they find that if they can go for 90 days without viewing porn, a few things happen.
Their ability to remember things returns. Men who view porn lose many cognitive functions, memory being the chief among them. Their attraction to their own mates returns. Their erectile dysfunction goes away. Yes, erectile dysfunction is a common malady among porn users. If you take a look at all of the advertisements out there today for pills and other devices to fix such problems, you will note that they are aimed at young people.
God made our brains to be marvelous instruments. When a person gets too much of something, our brains release a chemical to retard our desire for it. Think of your favorite cookie or candy. You know from experience that after you have eaten too many, you lose your taste for it. God did that. That chemical tamps down your desire for that particular thing. Porn users quickly learn that whatever they have been viewing loses its zing in their minds. In order to get the same level of satisfaction they must delve deeper and deeper into the perversions offered for viewing.
After a man or woman has viewed pornography for a while, they can no longer tell anyone the types of things that they have viewed. The debauchery is too vile. Because they are not injecting anything into their arms or swallowing any pills, they don't realize that they have a classic addiction that is just as addictive as heroin.
I recently heard a quotation from a young construction worker (not from church) who is in his early 20s. When one of our men was discussing porn usage with him, he stated that he would far rather watch porn and relieve himself than to lay with his girlfriend. I was assured of a couple of things. The young man's girlfriend is very pretty and willing, but that didn't entice him. His reaction is common. I have now heard it from multiple sources. Because of pornography, we are halfway to Sodom. Men are leaving the natural use of the woman. They are, lovers of their own selves, 2nd Timothy 3:2.
Wilson and many other researchers tell us that these men often view porn for hours while casually massaging their own privy members. They work to avoid spilling their seed. They keep themselves in an erotic state for extended periods of time. They become useless for procreation. They become cognitively dysfunctional and they become utterly perverted. Their wives can see a change in them as they become more distant and heartless. Our churches are full of such men. As we preach against the sexual wickedness of the world, the world has counterattacked and overthrown our own men.
Ancient Greek culture and some modern cultures such as our troops found in Afghanistan only use women for procreation. They get their pleasure through sodomy. Women are only occasionally touched and that is more of a chore than a pleasure. Our churches are now full of that same rot.
I was recently contacted by a young youth pastor from a good out of state church. He had been listening to our church website Onesoulatatime.net and had finally come to repentance and gotten saved. After rejoicing with him, I solemnly warned him to get rid of his porn. He explained that the first thing he did after getting saved, was to come to his wife with each of his devices and worked with her to make them porn free. I didn't have to ask if he used porn. He's in the age group. He was using.
It may be that out of every 100 or so young men with smartphones, internet access and private time that one of them is porn free, but that would be rare. As our respective nations crumble before the sickening onslaught of sexual deviancy, our churches have been gutted by the same.
To understand the weird unspeakable stories that we hear about as both children and adults mutilate themsleves to appear as the opposite sex, think what it must be like for a person who has practiced porn viewing since they were 9 or 10 years old. Think of what it is like after they have practiced vile habits with their friends and even relatives for a few years until their inner emotions are destroyed beyond recognition. In their agony of mind and heart and in their confusion, teachers and doctors tell them that they can be surgically adapted to their feelings.
As churches have lost their ability to reach our neighborhoods, the devil has not lost his ability to overthrow our people. If you are a porn user you need help. If you are an older pastor or church member who finds this odd and over wrought, open your eyes.