Intimacy, Transcendence… and why her needs are most important…
A post from Carol…
I’ve made a lot of mistakes and had tons of things go wrong in my life. The road to “recovering” myself has been long and hard. Along with prayer and faith in God, I had to believe in myself. That was easier said than done!
All too often we focus on the bad or negative things instead of on the good. It’s nice to have “big” good things to focus on. In reality, they usually are “little” good things. Sometimes the good things come as a compliment. If you’re like me, I couldn’t accept compliments or even kindness without wanting to cry. I didn’t believe people would be kind without having an agenda. (Being used stinks!) It took a long time to get used to people being nice without expecting something in return.
If you can take something good and focus on it, your attitude will become more positive. I just started a new job. It’s commission only (which is hard in itself), in a male dominated field, and requires cold calls or door knocking. This is my second week after training. I despaired last week even though I set a lot of appointments. I didn’t make much money.
The good part is that I got the appointments. The inexperienced part of me will get better as time goes on. The manager recognized me this week for setting appointments. I’ve even heard others in the office mimicking what I’m doing. Yeah! I’m doing something right!
I had been questioning myself and wondering why I was going through this. I can’t quit because this is the door God opened for me. He wouldn’t have put me there if I wasn’t supposed to be there. (All the other doors had closed). I don’t know if this is for a reason or a season. It could be I need more refining for something else. It’s not my place to question. My job is to be obedient.
I really wanted an “easier” job. I’m tired of working hard and getting nowhere (not to mention I’m getting older). I even questioned God why it had to be the hard way all the time. (Since I’m stubborn, that might be how He gets my attention.) I don’t want to be like the Israelites taking 40 years to see the Promised Land.
It’s been my experience that when I’m ready to give up, that’s when God is getting ready to do something. Pushing through and persevering is the hardest part. Romans 5: 1-5 says: “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope. Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.”
Long and short of it, don’t give up! God is getting ready to do something in your life. It’s time to be ready for it. Focus on the good and positive (no matter how small). While you’re struggling, think about your situation and ask God to show you what needs to be changed. Many times, the changes come from within us.
Attitude is everything! Are you willing to learn? Are you willing to be tested? Are you ready to be the best you can be? Are you ready to be victorious? I am! Heaven waits for those of us who don’t give up. Isaiah 40:31 says, “But those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint.” God bless you as you climb to the top of your mountain and overcome it! It’s worth the struggle!
An update from an old friend…
It’s been a couple months since our friend has published anything, but God has been doing amazing things in his life. I hope you enjoy his journey as much as I have…
………………….
Hi everyone it been a while since I have give you all an update. It’s been 6 weeks porn free and what a feeling of accomplishment. It’s been an uphill fit day by day I’ve had to fit a different battle. The biggest battle has been me. I know you think I’m crazy but the battle we fit against porn starts with us. How so? First the battle starts with will our will to be exact. I really didn’t want to be free because I thought I couldn’t be free. Did you get what I said; I thought I could not be free. I felt like this was the best I would ever get or be. The bible in 1 Corinthians 13: 12 Now we see a blurred image in a mirror. Then we will see very clearly. Now my knowledge is incomplete. Then I will have complete knowledge as God has complete knowledge of me. I first had to see what God saw. I hated what I saw; I became what I feared the most a person trapped with no way out, so I thought! When I finally saw what God and other people saw I got mad. Now I had been in that place before and a week later I was right back to viewing porn. So I started praying I asked God to forgive me and help me to forgive myself for getting hooked on porn and letting it become a god to me and me worshiping it more than the Lord Jesus Christ. Then I ask God to give me the will power to seek Him. By seeking God instead of porn I found the strength to start my journey to being free from porn and building a relationship with Jesus Christ. I got with my pastor and told him everything; how when I was a child I was molested to being hooked on porn. It was amazing for the first time in my life I felt the heaviness come off me and freedom take its place. Then I took it to the next level Sunday I went to the front and asked the lord to deliver me from it all. I started meeting with the pastor weekly and now we meet every other week. I had to give it all, like fake pride and fear that did nothing but hold me back. I found out the price I was paying did nothing but hold me in chains, going no ware. Every day I face new challenges but I am not doing this alone any more its Jesus living in me that gives me the power to overcome. My prayer for you is that you overcome the wall that is holding you in chains and that you will seek freedom through Christ Jesus. I almost lost everything before I found the will and strength to totally turn to Jesus and let Him do what He wanted to do which is set me free.
Sincerely a brother that is overcoming and being set free
It’s not all a guy thinks about…
Ok. I know that not everyone has an hour to sit around and listen to some audio. But hey… we’re talking about sex here, and I know that every night thousands upon thousands of people spend hours checking out the porn on the internet. So it is possible.
Please enjoy this talk on sex and intimacy that I deliver in churches… complete with the slides that accompany it. It’s almost like you are actually there… oooohhhh.
I’d love your feedback.
Intimacy, Transcendence, and other things we can’t live without… from Chadwick Walenga on Vimeo.
Intimacy, Transcendence, and other things we can’t live without… from Chadwick Walenga on Vimeo.
Adult Industry Medicine gets ‘boarded up’…
Former porn actresses from Pink Cross as well as former HIV+ performers have been speaking out courageously and it seems state officals are finally listening! This is a HUGE win against the illegally operating and fraudulent porn clinic (AIM) where mostly young women and men are tested for STDs and offered limited care by a fradulent “Doctor” Sharon Mitchell who makes false promises, “We keep the adult entertainment industry safe.” (Read more about this shut down HERE)
Getting started: MSFL670
Last week, you may have seen the story on the news about an ongoing ‘relationship’ between the owner, strippers and employees at The Foxhole and the pastor and congregation at New Beginnings Ministry in Warsaw, Ohio. Just in case you didn’t, here is a synopsis of what things have looked like the past four years:
- Ohio strip club dancers in bikinis protest at church that has been picketing them for 4 years.
- The owner of an Ohio strip club and some of his dancers started protesting the church a couple weekends ago.
- Women in bikinis sat in camp chairs Sunday outside the New Beginnings Ministries church to protest and greet the congregation as they arrived for woship.
- Tommy George owns the Foxhole strip club in nearby Newcastle. He says he and his employees decided to start coming to the church because they were fed up.
- Bill Dunfee, and his congregation have come with bullhorns, signs and video cameras for posting customers’ license plate numbers online.
Here is a video to give you a visual of the situation.
For those of us involved in the front line work of reaching out to the sex industry, when we see a story like this, we pay attention. As a pastor, I am paying attention to the pastor in the situation thinking, ‘ok, Bro… you now have the spotlight… and the nation is watching. Show them Jesus.’ It seemed, however, that I was going to have to pray harder to see Jesus’ love shown through the Church to those in the strip-club.
So… we pray.
Late last week, a dear friend, Maria sent me a message about some of the women she works with in a ministry called JC’s Girls out of The Rock Church in San Diego were going to head to Ohio to reach out to the people involved, and make sure that the strippers from The Fox Hole knew that they had a precious place in Jesus’ heart. (Find JC’s Girls on Facebook)
So… we pray.
Texts from Sheri and Annie started coming in on Saturday about the atmosphere on the ground from Warsaw, which needless to say was lacking in love between the Church and the people from the Fox Hole.
So… we pray.
JC’s Girls loved on the women and owners of the Fox Hole, and lives were opened and touched for Jesus. We were praising God for the power of His Love. And then a text came through that said that Sheri and Annie were able to spend some time with Pastor Dunfee and members of his congregation during their protest of the strip club on Saturday night. JC’s Girls offered the Christian some pizza and began sharing with them the reason that they came from California to Ohio. What happened next was miraculous.
Pastor Dunfee invited Sheri and Annie to come speak to the congregation the following morning during the church service.
So we pray…
I’ll just let you see what happened next:
Love wins!
So… don’t stop praying… the road to reconciliation can at times be long… but possible… Read here…
