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Just how bad is it out there? And what really are we up against? Well, let me share with you some of the information I gleaned from 17 pages of fairly up to date statistics. [SLIDE 4] I learned first of all that sex is the #1 topic searched on the internet. Now I wasn’t really surprised to learn that---but the number of pornographic sites did surprise me. [SLIDE 5] I found that in 1998 there were 14 million pornographic websites. Five years later that number had grown to 260 million. The next year that number jumped from 260 to 372 million. If that rate of growth continues through the end of this year---when 2007 comes to an end there will be somewhere in the neighborhood of 700 million pornographic websites out there. And we’ve got a whole generation coming up---many to be married soon who have been gathering strange, unholy and unhealthy ideas about sex from the net---incredibly sad is that the [SLIDE 6] largest consumers of internet pornography are young people in the 12-17 year age bracket. [SLIDE 7] Folks 2.5 BILLION pornographic emails are sent everyday over the web. And while many people operate under the assumption that porn is a guy problem---the truth is [SLIDE 8] there are growing numbers of both men and women who are becoming addicted to internet porn. I don’t know about you [SLIDE 9] but it makes me wonder ---what’s next?
Besides the internet sexual immorality is being promoted via the adult movie industry. [SLIDE 10] Here in America we’re producing 11,000 new porn films every year and Americans are renting 800 million adult videos & DVDs annually. [SLIDE 11] HALF of all hotel guests watch pornographic movies. [SLIDE 12] And PORN accounts for 70% of the in-room revenue raised by hotels. ARE YOU BEGINNING TO GET THE PICTURE? [SLIDE 13] Cable networks provide pay per view services for those who don’t feel like they have to sneak off to a hotel to watch adult programming. [SLIDE 14] It wasn’t all that long ago that MTV launched a new channel---the LOGO channel which has been designed to appeal to and promote the homosexual lifestyle. [SLIDE 15] And in America the number of couples cohabitating went from about ½ million in 1960 to over 5 million by the year 2000. I’m not sure what that number is today. By the way I’ve got to say this about cohabitating---besides the fact it’s a sin---society has sold us a totally lame idea. Here’s what I’m talking about [SLIDE 16] in our culture people often speak of cohabitating---that is living together before marriage—in terms of a test drive. They say ---well now you wouldn’t go out and buy a car without taking it for a test drive first, would you? So doesn’t it just make sense to have a trial run before you commit to marriage?” [SLIDE 17] Now the idea of taking the relationship for a test run sounds pretty good when you think in terms of being the driver…but that’s where the analogy breaks down. [SLIDE 18] The idea of the test drive doesn’t sound so good when you think of yourself as the car. Get real. Cars don’t have feelings. They don’t have a soul---so if you take them back after a test spin---they feel nothing. But dumping people because you decided to look for a different model—that’s a whole different matter.
And while we’ve talked touched on the topics or internet pornography, the adult movie industry, homosexuality and cohabitation--- there’s so much more going on--- [SLIDE 19] there’s printed porn---STDs/AIDS…900 numbers…adult bookstores, strip joints, night clubs, prostitution and on and on we could go. But let me tell you what really concerns me most in all of this---it’s the indifference of so many Christians---the lack of voices speaking out against this tidal wave of immorality---even worse than the lack of voices are those voices of agreement. Believe it or not---[SLIDE 20] studies show that half of the people in our nation who call themselves Christians don’t see a problem with couples living together. [SLIDE 21] 39% think there’s nothing wrong with sexual fantasizing. [SLIDE 22] Incredibly more than 1/3 of today’s church going women have intentionally visited pornographic websites. [SLIDE 23] And get this ½ of church going men struggle with pornography.
And here in this seventh commandment, [SLIDE 24] the commandment where God says “You shall not commit adultery” is a clear call for God’s people in every generation to maintain sexual purity.
Teens: Two of the most common life-changing situations reported among Christian teens are stress (64%) and sin (59%). 64% of Christian teens chose to remain sexually abstinent until marriage while 54% chose not to use alcohol or drugs (51%) in ‘02. Those who struggle with abuse or parental conflict are significantly more likely to have used alcohol, cigarettes, or marijuana. Those struggling with abuse or broken relationships are significantly more likely to be sexually active. Christian teens with a father at home are less likely to struggle with abuse; be depressed as an immediate reaction to life-changing situations; have used alcohol or dated a non-Christian in the past 12 months. 83% of Christian teens feel that declining spiritual values and 79% feel marital problems and divorce are two of the country’s biggest problems. (A Glimpse In To Committed Christian Teens, Research Report, Christianity Today)
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NATURAL SAYS...JESUS SAYS...
The natural says that you must be conceived of a man and a woman, yet he was conceived of the Holy Spirit.
The natural says that your birth will bring your family joy, yet when He came He brought joy to the world and heaven. (At his birth, and angelic choir erupted in song, "Joy to the World, the Lord has come")
The natural says that he was delivered by His mother, yet His mother proclaimed that he would deliver her.
The natural says that you can get a drink of water, but you will thirst again, yet He told the woman at the well, If you drink of the water that I give, you will never thirst again.
The natural says that in this world you will have struggles, temptations, and unrest, yet He says that in me you will find righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.
The natural says that if you sin, you will pay the price, yet He came to pay the price for our sins.
The natural says that if you beat a man, crucify him on a cross, and bury ...
Inmates 4 times as many prisoners are released into society today as 20 years ago. An estimated 600,000 U.S. prisoners will be released in ’04 (over 1,600 are released daily). The Justice Bureau of Statistics estimates that 2 out of 3 released inmates were “rearrested within 3 years,” wreaking more havoc on victims. Re-arrests have hovered at 67% for the past 30 years. 3 out of 4 released inmates have a substance abuse...
