My One Thing: Jerry Sinclair

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Transcript

Stephen: Hi guys. Steve here with Belt of Truth Ministries. I’ve got Jerry Sinclair on the line. Jerry is from Faithful and True down in Jacksonville, Florida. Jerry, what’s the one piece of advice that you would give to somebody struggling with porn addiction?

Jerry: Well, Steve, it’s something that I think is a little surprising to some, but I want to share it with anybody that’s hearing this message – whether it be the porn addict, the sex addict, the adulterer, or the victim, the wife of someone. And that is there is no magical cure. But what advice I would say is that there is no real answer to sexual sin, no single one. I know you’ve had a lot of interviews over the last several weeks, months. But it’s a fact that the word magic really does not appear in the scripture as a single word. It’s always a part of a word, part of the word mystic or mystical or magical. The truth is that we are not immune to sexual temptation. Now probably 85 percent of the population has no problem with it. They deal with it. They have a struggle. They see something that may or may not trigger them. They deal with it, handle it, and then move on. They’re not addicted to it.

But for the true porn addict, for the sex addict, for the one who struggles, I want to give you some hope, and that is don’t look for the magical cure. Don’t look for the word deliverance even in the vocabulary. The word deliverance is overused in our post-modern biblical word. But it’s more of a word that deals more with pain, with sickness, and also with captivity. But the word deliverance has very little to do with sin or temptation. I’ll quote scripture that I think would be very appropriate here. Hebrews 11:35b says, “And others were tortured but did not accept deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection.” James 1:12 says, “Blessed is the man that endureth temptation, for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised him that love him.” 1^st Peter 1:6 says, “Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations.” 2^nd Corinthians 10:5 is the one that’s really used a lot in scriptures. It says, “Casting down imaginations (or fantasies), and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.”

I think one of the things that we have to remember about captivity is we think about world wars, conflicts between nations. When they take someone captive, they’re smart enough to really tell their captives they don’t want to shoot them. They don’t want to put them on a firing squad. They want to interrogate them. And I really encourage anyone that’s struggling with sexual sin to take their thoughts captive and then find out what is it your soul is really trying to tell you. What are you trying to obtain? What is it that you really want as a goal? Now the average sex addict, the guy out there in the street, might say, “Well, I’ve just got this huge sexual need, and I’ve got to get it fulfilled.” I would say the apostle Paul deals with that very, very distinctly. When he talks about those that are single [inaudible – 03:32] so that you get closer to the Lord. And then if you must [inaudible] anyway [inaudible]. But then, all of a sudden, your attention is going to be focused to your spouse, not as much to the Lord. So there is always an outlet. There is always a release. There is always a place for someone to go. And that’s why I like Psalm 9:9, “The Lord will always be a refuge for the depressed, a refuge in the times of trouble.” [inaudible – 03:59] scripture though that I want to really encourage people with, and that’s Proverbs 11:14 where the scripture says, “Where there is no counsel, the people fall. But in the multitude of counselors there is safety.” I think many people that watch videos like yours and read on that line and try to pray their way out of this by themselves are really going down the false pathway that leads to destruction, the pathway of fall, because the pathway of fall is which you don’t go down by yourself. But getting amongst other men that struggle with the same problem, if you’re a woman watching this and you struggle with pornography, getting around other women that struggle with this is also important. Now I realize that’s not always easy, but that’s really what you need to do. People in the church don’t always understand this. They really kind of avoid it. And church has been known for that for generations. But even in today’s enlightened world, it’s still an uncomfortable topic for many people. But if you get around people who are struggling the same way as you are that have maybe been down the path, the journey of recovery a little bit longer, they’re going to offer you a lot more wisdom than you doing it by yourself.

And finally, I compare this to try and play basketball against LeBron James. If you try to play basketball with LeBron James one-on-one, you’re going to get stuffed every time. You won’t get a shot off. He’ll score 20 points, game over. But if you’ve got four of your buddies that were also in recovery, struggling with the same thing you’re struggling, and LeBron James [inaudible – 05:27] and try to play 5 on 1 against LeBron James, you’ll get some victories. You’ll get some shots off. Your buddy gets some buckets. [inaudible] the final victory [inaudible]. There has really been no cure for this. There’s no magic bullet. There’s no shot we could take [inaudible]. It’s just a constant daily practice of doing the right things and eliminating the wrong things. And that’s kind of what I like to share with guys. Remember, there is no magic bullet, no magical cure. There’s no one answer. It’s just constant daily practice of doing the right things and eliminating the bad things in our lives.

Stephen: Great. A lot of great points there. I love what you had to say about taking thoughts captive and that analogy that when prisoners are taken in war, you don’t shoot them; you interrogate them. And that’s exactly what we need to do with our thoughts and figure out what is the desire underneath the desire? What’s driving you to the pornography? When you start dealing with that, you’re going to have a lot more progress in moving towards freedom than if you’re just constantly trying to eliminate desires or things like that.

Jerry: That’s an important word, progress [inaudible – 06:38] we look for. God is [inaudible]. So we don’t have to seek perfection. All we have to do is make progress and let God kind of take some of the things and take the pressure off of us. If we allow God to do that, I think we’re going to see a lot more freedom and a lot less [inaudible].

Stephen: Absolutely. Well, Jerry, can you tell people where they can find out more about you online?

Jerry: Our website is 904true.org. I encourage people to go there. You’ll find some information about us and some contact information as well. If they want to contact me directly, our hotline 24 hours a day is on a recording machine. That number is 904-443-0246. People can call us, contact us, especially if you live in the Northeast Florida area or you know someone that’s struggling with this. Even if you live outside the area, I have a lot of resources and friends and contacts in the various parts of the United States, in Canada, that would love to be able to connect you with someone that might be able to help you down this journey if you’re all alone.

Stephen: Great. Well, thanks for all that you’re doing and for putting yourself out there to help other people. I appreciate what you’re doing in the kingdom. So thanks again for your time, Jerry.

Jerry: Thank you, Stephen.

Stephen:  See you.