today pornography in the united states is a multibillion dollar industry
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On the first day of college, the Dean addressed the students, pointing out some of the rules: “The female dormitory will be out-of-bounds for all male students, and the male dormitory to the female students. Anybody caught breaking this rule will be fined $20 the first time.”. - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
On the first day of college, the Dean addressed the students, pointing out some of the rules: “The female dormitory will be out-of-bounds for all male students, and the male dormitory to the female students. Anybody caught breaking this rule will be fined $20 the first time.”
He continued: “Anybody caught breaking this rule the second time will be fined $60. Being caught a third time will incur a hefty fine of $180. Are there any questions?”
At this point, a male student in the crowd inquired: “How much for a season pass?”
We all know that we live in a sexually saturated culture. We’ve come a long way from Victorian America, where bathing suits covered the entire body and where a scandal was seeing a woman’s knee.
In the 1950s, when a young entrepreneur named Hugh Hefner left his job at Fortune magazine to start Playboy, that opened the floodgates of pornography.
Today pornography in the United States is a multibillion dollar industry.
The US porn industry now earns $14 billion per year (more than combined revenues of ABC, NBC, and CBS. Or, more than combined revenues of NFL, NBA, and MLB).
Worldwide, pornography industry has larger revenues than Microsoft, Google, Amazon, eBay, Yahoo, Apple and Netflix combined. 2006 Worldwide Pornography Revenues ballooned to $97.06 billion.
Sexually explicit images are also piped into homes through cable TV, dish networks, and the internet. According to the New York Times one out of four internet users access pornographic web sites.
Every second $3,075.64 is being spent on pornography28,258 internet users are viewing
pornography
10 years ago there were an estimated 17 million porn Pages on the net; today, 420 million 20% of them involve child porn
The average child today first sees porn at age 11 (one study found it to be 8).
The porn industry now targets kids 7 – 11, to create lifetime addicted users.
Porn has been found to be more addictive and harder to break than addiction to cocaine.
Adolescents today receive approximately 14,000 sexualized messages each year.
American kids today are the world’s most sexually active kids, topping French, Spanish & Italian kids in a) pregnancies; b) abortions; c) STDs; d) self-reporting of frequencies.
Today’s kids believe that oral sex does not count as being sexually active.
300,000 children ages 9 – 19 are held captive for use in sexual slavery in the U.S.A.
Every 39 minutes a new pornographic video is being created in the U.S. $3,630,000,000 was spent by Americans in 2006 on pornographic video sales and rentals.
Sex is a powerful force. The advertisers harness it to sell everything from toothpaste to footwear. It’s the source of the big social debates in our day: abortion, homosexuality, same-sex marriages, and sexual abuse.
We need a clear understanding of the biblical standards of sexual purity.
Hollywood sneers at the idea of sexual purity and treats sex as normal as going to the bathroom. They have no respect or awe of this gift from God. Regardless of what they believe, holding to the biblical standards of sexual purity is physically, morally, and spiritually wise.
IMPURITY’S CRUEL DECEPTION (PROV. 5:3-4) MSG
The lips of a seductive woman are oh so sweet,
her soft words are oh so smooth.But it won’t be long before she’s gravel in your
mouth, a pain in your gut, a wound in your heart.
The “seductive woman” is literally the “other woman,” e.g. someone other than a man’s wife.
How does she seduce her victim? She speaks words of flattery. She appeals to his ego. She’s a “sweet talkers.” Her theme song is, “If loving you is wrong, I don’t ever want to be right.”
The “sweet talker,” whether found in magazines, movies, or in person, deceive victims into thinking that sexual indulgence is healthy, normal, youthful and produces happiness. It is a lie.
The “smooth talker” says, “We’re soon to be married. What’s a piece of paper? We should have a trial live in relationship to see if we are compatible.” Sexual indulgence reveals we have been deceived by a lie.
The "adulteress" in this chapter represents any source of sexual temptation. It could be a man or a woman. It could be the cover of a glossy magazine promising enticing pictures inside, or an email with an explicit message. It could be a romance novel or an attraction to your next door neighbor.
One of the repeated admonishments of Proverbs is to look down the road and see where our decisions will take us. Is it good or bad? Many have thought they met the man of their dreams only to learn he was their worst nightmare. Sexual sin is a crime of the moment. It is not thinking about the future.
What begins as delicious ends disgusting. Even mild unchastity leaves a bitter aftertaste to the conscience; the sword shows reinforces the idea that grief is the end result of an immoral relationship. If impurity was so satisfying, then Hollywood would be the happiest place on earth instead of one of the most miserable.
Honey represents words of seductive flattery that appeal to the person’s ego. Words like, "You’re special," or "You’re attractive," and "I want you" are words that drip with honey.
Sexual temptation is "smoother than oil." The source of temptation says all the right things, but there’s really a hidden agenda. Just like pornography is more about money than it is about sex.
When all is said and done, the sweetness is gone, and all that’s left is a bitter taste. Like a sharp sword slashes and cuts, in the end this temptation tears us up inside.
THE TEMPTATION TO LIVE OUTSIDE OF GOD’S BOUNDARIES FOR SEX ALWAYS LOOKS BETTER THAN IT REALLY IS.
IMPURITY’S CRUEL DECEPTION (PROV. 5:5-6) MSG
She’s dancing down the primrose path to Death;
she’s headed straight for Hell and taking you with her.
She hasn’t a clue about Real Life, about who she is or where she’s going.
http://www.sciencekids.co.nz/videos/nature/venusflytrap.html
There are devastating and deadly consequences of sexual impurity.
Sexual promiscuity takes a heavier toll on women than it does men. Women are more susceptible to STDs than men. For example, a woman is eight times more likely than a man to contract HIV from a single sexual encounter and four times more likely to get gonorrhea when exposed. Women are also more likely to suffer serious damage, such as sterility or cervical cancer, from STDs. A new infection strikes every 45 seconds in this nation.
Death in Proverbs can also mean she never experiences a full and meaningful life. What this woman wants is to be loved and accepted and secure. Her sexual impurity is actually taking her away from what she longs for.
The federal government says sex education should be taught in Kindergarten. Some states have already begun.
Our society is rejecting a moral code that is 2,000 years old.
The physical way God has created us clearly teaches that we are made for monogamous, heterosexual relationships. We are not created to have more than one partner. We are created for the opposite sex.
The farther we have gotten away from the Christian ethic the more we see the rise in sexual crimes, depravity and the diminishing of marriage. Women are as vulgar as men. The dress of the streetwalker has now gone mainstream in clothing, and modesty has gone down stream.
IMPURITY’S COMPLETE DESTRUCTION (PROV. 5:7-14)
So, my friend, listen closely; don’t treat my words casually.
Keep your distance from such a woman; absolutely stay out of her neighborhood.
You don’t want to squander your wonderful life, to waste your precious life among the hardhearted.Why should you allow strangers to take advantage of
you? Why be exploited by those who care nothing for you?
You don’t want to end your life full of regrets, nothing but sin and bones,
Saying, “Oh, why didn’t I do what they told me?
Why did I reject a disciplined life?Why didn’t I listen to my mentors, or take my teachers seriously?
My life is ruined! I haven’t one blessed thing to show for my
life!”
This father urges his son to steer clear of sexual temptation. Don’t even go down that street, he says. This is the same principle you hear about in AA and other 12 step groups when they say, "Don’t go where it’s slippery."
Then the father lists several of the consequences his son can expect if he gives in to the temptation. •Sexual sin drains our strength.
•Giving in to sexual sin also costs us money. Just ask Rev. Jesse Jackson, who now pays $3,000 a month in child support because of an affair he had. It comes through blackmail at times, when a person threatens to expose a person’s sexual indiscretion.
•According to v. 11 sexual sin cuts our lives short. The average life span for a homosexual man today is 42 years old.
•According to vv. 12 and 13, we’ll also have regrets.
•Verse 14 states we’ll experience public humiliation
WHEN WE STEP OUTSIDE OF GOD’S BOUNDARIES FOR SEX, WE END UP HURTING OURSELVES.
The basic advice this father has for his son in order to protect him from sexual temptation is to practice self-discipline.
If you are on a diet don’t go into a donut shop. Maybe the first time you saw a pornographic magazine it was by accident, but every time after that it has been a choice. There are many ways to protect yourself from being exposed to this temptation. Do everything you can to protect yourself.
http://www.wingclips.com/movie-clips/fireproof/nomore-addictions.
PURITY’S CLEAR DIRECTION (PROV. 5:20-23)
Why would you trade enduring intimacies for cheap thrills with a whore?
for dalliance with a promiscuous stranger? Mark well that GOD doesn’t miss a move you make;
he’s aware of every step you take.The shadow of your sin will overtake you;
you’ll find yourself stumbling all over yourself in the dark.Death is the reward of an undisciplined life;
your foolish decisions trap you in a dead end.
Everything we do is observed by God. Nothing escapes his gaze. God knows our “paths.” Literally, it means wagon tracks. Wagon tracks are made by constant use--referring to our habits. We may think we’ve covered our tracks, but God sees it all.
We’re also warned here that our choices have the potential of ensnaring us for the rest of our lives. Like a mouse caught in a trap, venturing outside of God’s boundaries is dangerous.
This ensnaring can take the form of:
a life of regret
a pregnancy, which changes your life forever
sexual addiction
The point of these final verses seems to be this. OUR CHOICES DETERMINE OUR DESTINY.
Our choices in life reflect the road we’ve chosen, and the further we go down that road, the more difficult it is to change to a different road.
PURITY’S CLEAR DIRECTION (PROV. 6:20-24)
Good friend, follow your father’s good advice; don’t wander off from your mother’s teachings.
Wrap yourself in them from head to foot; wear them like a scarf around your neck. Wherever you
walk, they’ll guide you; whenever you rest, they’ll guard you;
when you wake up, they’ll tell you what’s next.For sound advice is a beacon,
good teaching is a light, moral discipline is a life path. They’ll protect you from
wanton women, from the seductive talk of some temptress.
God gave us ethical absolutes for our own welfare, to protect us from the kinds of consequences we read about in these verses. God’s sexual boundaries are an expression of his love for the human race.
Watch your ways. Walk in the Word.
IMPURITY’S CALAMITOUS DISGRACE (PROV. 6:27-29)
Can you build a fire in your lap and not burn your pants?
Can you walk barefoot on hot coals and not get blisters?
It’s the same when you have sex with your neighbor’s wife:
Touch her and you’ll pay for it. No excuses.
IMPURITY’S CALAMITOUS DISGRACE (PROV. 6:32-34)
Adultery is a brainless act, soul-destroying, self-destructive;Expect a bloody nose, a black eye,
and a reputation ruined for good.For jealousy detonates rage in a cheated
husband; wild for revenge, he won’t make allowances.
The previous verses talk about a thief stealing food because he is hungry. They pity him but still require him to pay back what he stole 7X. He escapes with a fine. But the adulterer never escapes. He is sentenced to a lifetime of a disgraceful reputation.
God can and does forgive the adulterer, but the person still lives with the consequences of their sin.
A junior high school in Oregon was recently faced a unique problem in the girl’s bathroom. Each day, when the girls put their lipstick on in the bathroom, they’d press their lips onto the mirror in the bathroom, leaving dozens of little lip prints. Finally the principal decided something had to be done, so he called the girls into the bathroom and met them there with the school custodian.
He explained that the lip prints were a major problem for the custodian, who had to clean the mirrors every day. To demonstrate how difficult it was, he asked the custodian to clean one of the mirrors. He took out a long handled brush, dipped it into the toilet, and scrubbed the mirror. Since then there haven’t been any lip prints on the mirrors.
Solomon wants his son to see the outcome of not holding to biblical standards of sexual purity. Sexual impurity is like kissing a mirror cleaned with a toilet bowl brush.
Bruce Wilkinson, author of Prayer of Jabez, said:
Sexual immorality is a threshold sin. On one side of the threshold is immorality and on the other is purity. On one side are guilt, lying, deceit, addiction, and shame, an on the other side are freedom, honesty, transparency, liberty, and a clear conscience. Believers who are in bondage to immorality find that unless they experience victory in this area, they cannot grow in holiness or serve the Lord with passion and power…”
Wise Up About Sex--Timothy Peck
The Birds and The Bees--Ed Sasnett