thischristianguysbattle

Ok I've been reading this book. Its about struggling with the age old problem of men looking and lusting. Well that and keeping yourself within the boundaries that Jesus said.

"But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart." - Matthew 5:28

Jesus sets the bar high doesn't he. Tell me you'd agree with the WWJD there.

Where am I going here?

Well like all men I've had a problem with looking too much. Well not as much as certain men but I do look and of course there's the pressure that comes with this and the eventual release from this pressure.

Of course where I'm going here is masturbation and porn. Duh!

I'm single 34 and a virgin. Yeah thats right never even had a chance at it. Really. I'm not lying here.

So some of you are now thinking this guys got to be a porn king. Well I'm not that into it and before the interent I didn't have much at all. Then came the internet and well you can guess where that ended up. So for the last 4 years I've been going through a roller coaster of either faithfulness and control or ... well smut.

When I was on top of it all and in control I was happy and exultant feeling clean and pure. Of course the opposite of this was true when I was mired down in the muck.

I had been praying to God for a way out of this cycle to one day be free. Of course the first thought was that marriage would get me out of this but, I realised early that a woman was not going to be the answer here. I knew that this was a fight and of course I was aggressive enough to fight this out and I thought I had the will to do this.

Did you notice something in the last sentence there?

"I knew that this was a fight and of course I was aggressive enough to fight this out and I thought I had the will to do this. "

Lots of I's huh! I think I proved that I didn't have the will to do this. Eventually my prayers changed. From give me the strength to give me the tools to live your way. Recently the tools came and in the form of the book "Every man's battle". I was given it by a friend and he said it was an easy read and that I'd get a lot out of it. So I did.

I read it. And it was like, yes done that, done that, oh yeah I done that. It reads like your own struggle with morality and sex. The whole stuff about your eyes darting about latching onto anything with the right kind of curves no matter who it is, thats the first time I'd ever read that kind of honesty. The guys who wrote this book were totally open about their struggles with their eyes. It was very refreshing.

They have some straightforward techniques in dealing with your "roving eyes" and they are very helpful. But there is a warning here.

"This will not change you overnight."

These techniques will take time for them to become habit. They say about six weeks for the initial results. However as a man you will never be free from this struggle.

So I can hear you all ask "Has it worked for you?"

My answer is yes it has. But I have to work at it. I have to continue to practice the techniques of bouncing my eyes away, to swatting away those pesky thoughts and memories of past images and movies and pictures. Do I lose still. Yeah, but I know why I lose now. Cause I stop using the tools God has given me through this book.

So I say give it a read.
If your single though your going to have to deal with the fact that you don't have a wife to help you through this. Personally I found it hard that they didn't include the single man a bit more. I am thinking of a single mans version of this cause it really leaves guys like me in the cold. Literally we have to go through this cold turkey. So its different. Sure for me who's NEVER had sex with anyone but myself its a problem. But then what about men who have been there and done it. One moment your a player and then well your not. I can only imagine the attacks those guys are going to get.

I'm trying to implement these tools now. Its a slow progress and I've fallen a few times since this all started but I can see a way ahead. Its like I'm in a dark hole looking for a way out. Then suddenly there is a ladder I can climb, I can hear a good friend tell me that this is the way out. I still can't see a way out but I know that my friend sent the ladder down for me. All I have to do is hold onto my friends ladder and work my way out, rung by rung, one at a time.

Well thats "every man's battle".

I say do yourself a favour and buy it.

The begining....

I got the idea to start thischristianguy (tcg) during the evening service this Sunday. The reason for it was as a way to put out some of the ideas that I have been ruminating and struggling with.

I can't say I have all the answers and that they will be here on this blog. But I do know Jesus and that he does have the answers. All we have to do is get to know him and listen to him and follow his lead.

I have other blogs out there. They are for secular ideas and stories I like to tell. I want to be a story-teller. I have the imagination and the desire to do this but I need the outlet to become a better story-teller. Those blogs are that outlet.

This blog as I wrote before is for my thoughts and struggles with understanding my relationship with the God of Creation. Its a personal thing but I think its something everyone has to deal with. Even if you don't believe in God you are struggling with that unbelief cause He believes in you.

I've always wanted to put that on a T-Shirt.
Atheist : A person God believes exists.
This is mainly for shock value. I have other T-Shirt ideas like, Cricketers for Christ and Geeks for God. But their is more to the Atheist T-Shirt that I'll go into some detail right now.

I am a comic person, I read Batman and Spider-man have done for years. Now in those comics often there is a time paradox that often occurs and because a certain event did not happen some characters no longer exist or they are different. Another example of this is the first Back to the Future movie. If Marty McFly's parents don't kiss at the enchantment under the sea dance Marty and his brother and sister will cease to exist.

Now I can hear those of you who are not time paradox thinkers saying. "What is this guy getting at? First he was talking about God and Atheists and now he's mentioning Micheal J. Fox."

The link between time paradox and characters not coming into existence is this. In my understanding of the T-Shirt slogan "Atheist : A person God believes exists." If God didn't believe that the Atheist existed he would quite literally cease to exist.

Fortunately for all Atheists that's not how God works. God has given us all time too make our minds up whether we acknowledge His Son Jesus as the one and only savior of all, or decide for something else.

And that amazes me. If I was God I'd be out there getting in the face of all the Atheists and unbelievers. Hi! I'm God. You don't believe in me so I wont believe in YOU!. -Poof- they all vanish. My God isn't like that. He's the omnipotent God. All that we see in this reality is His creation. Yet in the middle of it there are those who He created who refuse to acknowledge him. Its gotta hurt like a stomach ulcer or worse like gall stones. God still loves these people who don't give Him the credit that is due. Thats why they are still alive, because we are all given the chance to make it right accept we are wrong that we have sinned and accept His Son Jesus as our Lord and Saviour.

I hope you either have made this decision or at least are thinking about it.

Blessings in abundance.

thischristianguy.