The book is authored by Neil T. Anderson and Mike Quarles. I’ll talk about the other books I’ve read by Neil T. Anderson, but this post is about this book.

First and foremost, this book has been very eye opening for me. It is not a very long book, only about 150 pages, but it is powerful. I don’t have any problems with drugs or alcohol, so these addictive behaviours don’t effect me, but I have had a long history of sexual sin, so this is the lens from which I see when I read a book like this.

Here are just a few of the lines that I have underlined in the book:

pg 12 – “This is one of the greatest tragedies of addiction: Growth in character and emotional development are arrested.”

pg 29 – “Sexually addicted people crave another look, but when they hve had their fill, they tear up the pictures and vow to never look again – until tomorrow”

pg 50 – “The Lord loves us too much to allow us to walk in darkness and live a lie”

pg 60 – “[We have] the impression that eternal life is something we get when we die, which is not true. Read 1 John 5:12 (NIV) ‘He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.’ Every child of God is alive in Christ right now.” (emphasis is from the book)

pg 76 – 1 Cor. 6:19-20 “We are no longer slaves to sin. We are bond servants of the Lord Jesus Christ. Only when we realize this truth and embrace it are we able to make the kinds of choices that allow us to live inthe freedom theChrist purchased for us at the cross”

All this led me to read Romans 7, 8 & 9. And these chapters really emphasized to me that I don’t have to die to sin, that happened on the cross and when I accepted Christ as my savior. So I don’t need to die to sin, I just have to accept that I already have.

Next, the chapters in Romans showed me another important fact. Something that I have always known, but realized that in the area of sexual purity, I have not put into practice. This is that I am a slave to Christ. Simple enough right? But in the area of sexual purity, I have been a slave to sin, and let it rule me. But about a week ago I started, as part of my daily ritual, to claim the members of my body to Christ, and reject any notion that sin has power over my body. If Christ is for us, who can be against us? Right?

So what does this mean in a practical sense? In means that when I have felt the need to act out, I simply remind myself that I have surrendered my body as a slave to Christ, that I am a temple of the Holy Spirit, and in fact, I’m a member of Christ. And would a member of Christ sin in any way, much less fill their eyes with smut, lust after what they see, and even defile their “member” while doing it.

What do you think of that? Is that a motivator for you? Leave a comment and tell me your thoughts…

Hello everyone. Due to financial difficulty (underemployed) the d0main name, livefreeinchrist.com, expired and I was just able to get it back and online. My hosting was still there, so everything is as it was before, which is fortunate. It’s also fortunate that nobody took my domain before I could get it back. (or perhaps it’s a horrible domain name, in that case, it’s not fortunate, and I’m just an idiot for re-registering it) Well, I have a couple of bucks floating around so the big spender I am spent the almost $30 for 3 years of registration.

Anyway, enough of the geeky stuff. A LOT has been happening and I’ve been dying to post but have not been able to due to the above paragraph. Rather that spit it all out in one insanely long post, I think I’ll dribble it out as I go forward.

In a nutshell… in dealing with Internet Pornography, I decided enough is enough, I’ll tell that story later. But long story short, I meet with a men’s group now, as well as a Christian Counselor, and both are going very well. I wouldn’t say I’m cured yet, but I’m miles ahead of where I was before, which leads me to something I’ve been thinking about…

… or has God been prompting me? I’m not sure yet, so I continue to pray for clarification, but I’m wondering if I should make LiveFreeInChrist.com into Live Free In Christ Ministry and help other men to be free from sexual sin as I’m becoming free. I live in Phoenix so I would focus on Arizona, I think, but if I go this route, it would be time to be a podcaster again, blog more often, and generally change this site to be a resource and a way to help rather than just tell my story.

Yes, I know there are other ministries out there and podcasts out there on this subject, but I’m really looking to God for guidance on this. If He says do it, nobody can tell me otherwise. I’m just not sure if these are my thoughts, or nudging thoughts from God.

So this is what is on my mind. I would appreciate your prayers as well. If you have any thoughts, please comment on this post and lets discuss.

Most of all, thanks for stopping by, I really appreciate it.

I heard about this when it happened but never heard any of the details. Last Sunday we sang the song Healer in church so I looked it up on YouTube and this is what I found:

This really speaks the lengths that, if unchecked, we can go to cover up our sin. Especially pornography. It is much more socially acceptable to be addiceted to drugs or alchahol. Not that it is that much easier to confess to, I’m sure, just not as much of a stigma.

This is a strong reminder to me to continue to do the best I can and Live Free in Christ.

I’m having a heck of a time right now. Seemingly failing at life big time. REALLY, REALLY, struggling. I had part time work up until the end of December. I was “getting by” with that. But right before Christmas, my ex-wife said I couldn’t get the kids any more. Again. Part of it is with my ‘just getting by’ I wasn’t paying child support. So all of the money I had in the bank for some food, gas, phone, and car insurance suddenly disappeared because somehow the Child Support Enforcement agency can take money from my account, and the bank charges $100 for this “service”. Now I have a negative balance, and about $15 in my pocket with no income on the horizon. My car tags need to be renewed by the end of the month. I’m due for an insurance payment. You get the idea? I’m on the short-list for one job, but nothing guaranteed, obviously.

So I’m struggling. I just read this: http://www.ccesonline.com/castyourcaresonhim.htm. It was somewhat helpful. One article summed it up well, Small problems, big God. I like the sound of that! I also read an entry regarding casting my cares on God in Our Daily Bread which is very good. Nice an concise.

So I’m focusing on my bright spots. I stay with a friend, so when it comes down to it, my food and shelter are free. That is SO great. I also have a fantastic girlfriend. She is also having her own financial struggles, but she has income coming in, so it’s not nearly as bad. We are able to help each other to deal with struggles in this season of our lives.

Just trying to live free in Christ… against all odds it seems at times.

I just listened to a sermon by John Piper .  I found out about it through an email sent by Setting Captives Free .

It talks about that we are see ourselves as not defeated but to "fight your sin like a victor, not a victim."  This definitely something I strugge with.  I am so defeated often because I am sinning, so why should God hear my requests when I can’t do right by him and mess up multiple times a day with a specific sin, not to mention the sins I don’t even consider because I can’t get past this big one.

Fight like I’m a victor, not a victim.

So I just signed up for “The Way of Purity” at settingcaptivesfree.com which will, if you investigate, give you a clue as to the continual sin I struggle with.  I have attempted to take this course a couple of times in the past, but was never able to get through it.  I just signed in again, and saw I was last on day 44 of 60.  But now I go back to lesson 1.

Here is to praying for relief, for me, God, my kids, and my future wife.

I’ve had this domain for a long time, wondering what to do with it.  Now I’ve decided to keep a simple blog about my attempt to live free in Christ.  In fact, this is really more than that.  I’m attempting to turn over a new leaf.  I’ve had a continuous sin for quite some time, and I’ve tried many things to defeat it, but nothing has really worked.  So now… I’m really trying to get real with myself, and get real with God, and trust that He can deliver me.  So this is me, putting my full trust in Christ, and trusting that through Him, I can Live Free in Christ.