“The moment you put your faith in what Jesus did on the cross for you, all manner of incredible happens to you. Near the top of the astonishing list of realities is this: You receive a brand new core identity. Your shame story, all of it, was eradicated at the cross.”

“Shame is an enemy that we all deal with and something that the porn addict is only all too familiar with.  One of the reasons that pornography maintains such a strong hold on men (and women) is the incredible shame that comes along with viewing it.”

“Those four words—can you help me—have the power to change our lives. The moment where our desire for change overcomes our insecurity about asking for help is the moment we discover a new sense of personal momentum.”

“As a Christian, it can be hard to know when and how to stand up for what, and when. It’s humility that brings us to God, but then we beef up our egos on the idea that we are the only people with truth. But the truth we’re privy to isn’t what we make it out to be. It’s not some unified political theory or certainty about how to react in every situation, it’s a simple message of God’s love for all.”

“The findings were intriguing because I am so quick to think the strongest are usually the quietest. Isn’t that how it goes? Whomever complains the least, whomever can stand the pain the longest without a word spoken, those are the individuals to aspire to be like? These silent individuals are the toughest of specimens.”

“Right now, in Christ, you are free. You must believe it. You are not doomed to digital dungeons. Don’t go online with palms up and wrists ready for sin’s chains.”

“I encourage you to make the time. Find the regular, standing appointment. Fellowship with the men in your church. Don’t be afraid of the awkwardness or effort it takes to do this. Modern research is showing us what God has told us all along: It is not good for man to be alone.”

“If we look at the core beliefs of a sex addict we see even more reasons for them to be angry. A sex addict believes he is an unworthy and unlovable person. He usually learned at a young age that he can depend on no one but himself. An exception to this is the addict with a doting parent (usually mother) who learned that he must be incapable of taking care of himself since she does everything for him…reinforcing the feelings of being unworthy. This kind of self-loathing once again is exhibited as displaced anger, usually directed toward wife, kids, or intimate objects.”

“Eventually, without ever losing this radical preference for celibacy, the early Christians came to realize that marriage, too, could be a way of pointing to the same resurrection hope. St. Augustine, who often (half the time unfairly, it must be said) gets a bad rap for being anti-sex, was the church father who saw clearly that finding a spouse, having sex, and starting a family could also point you toward heaven. Marriage itself, with sexual intimacy as its seal, could be a kind of parable of the way Jesus binds himself in love to the church as a whole.”

“The reality is no one – regardless of how strong their gift of teaching or keen their insights into the human condition – can be more practical than we are honest. This is not an indictment on their ability to teach, but on our ability to receive.”

“If you ask, how does the renewal happen? How does the mind of the spirit get altered so that I’m not in rebellion anymore, and I’m not finding more pleasure in me, but more in God? The answer is, the Holy Spirit comes and does a double work.”

“For Jesus, He has had that deep personal relationship with God the Father for eternity. Stretching back, beyond the dawn of creation, that connection was there. Except the one instance when it wasn’t.”

“Our relationship with Jesus is a lot like a cup of coffee. The goal is to transform water into something else. It’s simple. Beans and water. Put them together. But if you take some beans and drop them into water, have you made coffee? No. What you have is not the morning pick-me-up you were looking for, it’s soggy beans inside of dirty water. It’s not one new substance, it’s two objects occupying the space.”

“First, Christians should look at the energized and emboldened white nationalism movement, and at its fascist slogans, and condemn it—full stop.”

“His quote gives even more urgency for me personally to live out of my identity in Christ. To ask the questions that get to form when I am no longer fighting to prove that I am enough, or hiding from the things I fear will confirm I am not enough. When that game diminishes, such beautiful questions emerge.”

“Thomas Goodwin understood the human heart. He knew how easily Christians tend to feel defeated in life. He knew we naturally develop a sense that we are disappointing God, letting him down. He knew it is hardwired into us to view God as parsimonious instead of greathearted. But Goodwin also understood that the antidote to this debilitating cloud of ambiguity is provided by the Bible itself.”

“To see healing in our lives, homes, and cities, we must truly see God as our Father and know that we have access to Him through His Son, Jesus, our Brother. Only when we fully live from our identity as children of the Most High can we embrace His calling for our lives. Once we know we have a Father who deeply loves us and passionately pursues us, we can begin the process of embracing our high calling to make disciples.”

“It is rare that a couple enters marriage without a romantic and sexual history (with one another or with others) and these issues can be very difficult to discuss resolve. They can put an immense weight on a young marriage. Have you spoken to your future spouse about their sexual history in sufficient detail that you know enough? Have you asked and extended forgiveness for whatever sexual history you have accumulated?”

“A shocking, massive revelation for many people to hear that God cares about—even yearns for—the life of our hearts. That our hearts even matter to God is one of the greatest, most hopeful turns of faith that can come into our lives.”

“There’s one thing worse than not preaching about sex at all, and that’s preaching about sex in the way of these sermon titles (that we made up) listed below.”