What Is Your Addiction?

Seems like we’ve got a bit of an epidemic on our hands. David Duchovney, Tiger Woods, Jesse James and now Bruce Springsteen. Anything familiar between these 4 men? These men are claiming to have contracted a newfound condition, which is called sex addiction.

Let me break it down even further and tell you what it is and what it’s not. First I will say that all men are addicted to sex, so yes, it is true these men suffer from the same thing all of us men suffer from. Men are inherently sexually natured, they thrive on it and if not kept in check leads to what these men are currently battling…… divorce. Actually every person ever born is addicted to sin. We can’t get enough of it, that is, unless God changes your sinful nature into a spiritual nature.

I will in no way condone or even give credit for the “sex-rehab: these men are or have already embarked on. These men are sinners against God and against their spouses. What God designed to be a reflection of the marriage between Jesus and His Church has been defiled and these men try to justify what they have done by calling it an addiction. Hogwash! Society now looks to what these men have done with a compassionate heart thinking “poor guys, they can’t help accidentally having sex with all of those women. They are the victims here.”

With the mentality of this being an “addiction” it joins the ranks of alcoholism and overeating. All of these things, if done outside the confines of their design, will bring destruction. Er, uh SIN. Call it what it is people. It is sin against a Holy God and trying to offer a man centered explanation is nothing more than justifying a wicked man. Check out Proverbs 17:5 for what God thinks of those that try to justify a man in sin. But this is just another example of societies downward spiral to destruction.

So, what can we do about this? All we can do is pray for these people, pray that God will be merciful and save them from their sinfulness. I will not entertain what these men claim to believe spiritually, because if it is not God centered it is false. If God was these men’s focus they would not be cheating on their wives and they would not have, to in turn, lie about their condition. I am not going all “Britt Hume” here, but these men need the God of the bible, just as we all did and still do. Outside of the grace of God, we would all be mired in sins trap. Only through the great richness of God’s love has He pulled me from my love of sin and focused me firmly in His Word and in His hands.

I can do nothing good without God’s mercy upon me; I was just as vile as all of these men before God saved me. I may not have ever physically cheated on my wife, but Jesus said that if you even look at a woman to lust after her, you have already committed adultery in your heart. (Matt. 5:28) Ouch. That kinda stings doesn’t it? He got to the heart of the situation, literally. Jesus was saying that your sins are not what people see, they are what is in your heart and mind. What people see are just the outward signs of the internal condition. He again addressed this with the rich young ruler (Matthew 19:16-22; Mark 10:17-31; Luke 18:18-30) but with his love of money. Jesus did not question his assertion that he had kept the whole of the law since childhood, He went straight to the young rulers heart, to his love of money.

Jesus said that your love of even your mother and father must seem like hate compared to your love of Him. (Luke 14:26) Can you say that? Or are the gifts of your family an idol to you? Through Jesus all things were created, so the Father, through the Son, gave everything you have to you. Do you love the gift more than the giver? Do you act like a spoiled kid on Christmas? With a “mine, mine, mine” attitude? Or do you praise God for His goodness to you? Being ever thankful for everything? Praising Him for the food you eat, the water you drink (or diet coke in my case) and everything else? (1 Cor. 10:31). If not, then you may be in the same condition as the rich young ruler. You may have a lot of idols in your life that you love more than God. This could be a sign that you do not truly know God, so I ask that you seek His Word and see that you are His. (2 Cor. 13:5, 2Pet 1:10). Repent and turn to God, seek and you will find Him, ask and it will be given.

Do not allow society to conform your mind to its lies. You must guard against these things and stay focused on the Truth of scripture. If it does not align with scripture it is false, no compromise. Call sin what it is and do not make it shiny call it addiction or anything else. It is sin, pure and simple and God hates it.

Hume-or Me For The Last Time

So, my third post on the Brit Hume “conversations” going around. I watched Wretched with Todd Friel and they showed a clip I had not seen yet. This clip was from The O’Reilley Factor and Hume does go into more detail and further explains his motives. I’ll be the first to admit that the comments to O’Reilly are a lot more straightforward than the other 2 clips I saw (last 2 posts). Here is the video:


In the first part of the video, he rehashes some of his earlier comments. But adds at around the 1:32 mark “Jesus Christ offers something that Tiger Woods badly needs”. YES! This is what the first 2 videos were lacking. Then goes on to really speak some truth, “If Tiger Woods were to make a true conversion – we would know it. It would show through in his being. And he would know it above all and he would feel the extraordinary blessing that that would be…” Once again, YES! Truth comes out from Hume. Just wish it would have came earlier and during all the interviews.

I will still stand by my first two posts though, seeing how they were the first two instances that Hume had to speak the truth. If I would not have been watching Wretched (which thankfully now airs on DirecTV) I would not have known about the O’Reilly interview. This being the case is why the truth of the Gospel needs to be proclaimed in its entirety instead of jumping to the chase. I am not sure that Tiger sees himself as a sinner against a righteous God at this time. I am sure that he knows he has done wrong to his wife, children and now the many people that looked up to this man. But does he know that he has broken several of Gods commandments and will stand trial for these, without support from any lawyer or character witnesses? Does Tiger know that there is only One Advocate that we have to the Father?

Prayerfully God will use this situation to reach Tiger Woods. Someone can’t be saved if they don’t first know they are in danger. My prayer is that the Lord will put someone in Woods’ path that will be able to explain clearly God’s Holy Gospel. Not just a “turn or burn” message, but that God loves even adulterers and liars and those are exactly whom His Son, Jesus Christ died for.

This Is No Longer Hume-orous

So, I have watched the video of Brit Hume a few more times (see below), hopefully anticipating that I did miss something that would shed light to me. No such luck. I still think he was pushing a personal agenda for Tiger Woods, telling him that if he chose Christianity he could get back some respect and be forgiven too. WOW! Sounds like a good thing, except it’s not biblical. It is actually what I call situational decisionism, where based on a persons current situation a "decision" is made "for Christ" and they believe themselves to be a Christian. These people more often than not end up back in the same sins the were before their "decision". This happens a lot with people that are in jail, have a major crisis come up and make a lot of vows (God, if you do this, then I will do this for you), during health issues or many other situations where they make a momentary decision to change. It is just not a heartfelt change, it lasts only as long as the situation does, then it's done and they get back to their life.

Now there is a new clip from Hume in which he says “I don’t regret my statement at all” and then goes on to tell of his “conversion”…… kind of. He speaks of his son’s suicide 11 years ago and how devastating that was, understandably so. I will not make light of that situation in the least and just say that God uses many different means to reach the lost and also in true Christians lives. Make no mistake, there is nothing that happens that does not ultimately bring Glory to God. He said, “Throughout that whole, horrible time I had this sense that God was there for me, that He would rescue me, that He would save me. And He did. In ways that I couldn’t have imagined or expected; His imagination is always greater than ours.”

Hume then goes on to tell of the many cards, emails and words of encouragement he and his family received and the impact that made on him. He also states that in those correspondences he saw the Face of God. He then says something that I have been pondering since I heard it, sounds like something I had said countless times in my life before being truly and radically changed by God: “It was time for me now to face up to the Christian faith which I purported to belong to and try to face up to the implications of what I purported to believe and I have been trying ever since.” Those are some very “Brit-Centric” words there, a lot of self-effort, instead of reliance on Christ.

He then goes on to speak about Tiger and his losses. Not the endorsements or golf tour, but his reputation, wife and family. He says that Tiger is paying a “frightful price” for what he did. Then he makes a very tell, tell comment: “If you think about what Christianity is about, it’s about sinners. And, uh, Christianity is a religion for sinners and that Tiger Woods has an opportunity here and my prayer here would be that he take it.” That single statement turns Christianity away from being God focused and instead man focused. Christianity is not “about” sinners; it is “about” God’s love for us, His redemption, His sacrifice, His forgiveness, His mercy, His grace.

Hume actually does say something I do agree with. “If you’re trying to find the two most explosive words in the English language, they would be Jesus Christ.” He then speaks of a Baptist minister that said he had a “utilitarian” message and that it was wrong. To which he replied, “I don’t understand what he’s talking about”, which may be the first building block of my disagreement with Hume. Jesus Christ is divisive, because He alone is Truth, everything else is false and non-Christians pick up on that. That is why you can say God all day long (because everyone has their own view of who or what God is to them), but the moment you say Jesus, things change. Jesus said that no one comes to the Father except through Him. That leaves out every other religion in the world.

The Baptist minister that Hume mentioned was Welton Gaddy, Pastor for preaching and worship at Northminster Church in Monroe, LA (and also has “Leader of the Interfaith Alliance” next to his photo on the Washington Post website Hume reference). Reading over Gaddy’s comment I do agree partially with what he says, that Hume was using a utilitarian manner. By this, I assume, that he was saying that Hume was enticing Woods with the hope of forgiveness by the Christian religion, instead of Buddhism. Gaddy is correct in his statement “it (Christianity) is a holistic faith to be embraced and lived. Seeking the easiest form of forgiveness--though such a description of forgiveness in Christianity is woefully inadequate and misleading--is not a reason to become a Christian. The life of a Christian involves far more than a response to wrongdoing.”

Hume is really misrepresenting Christianity. He seems to be emphasizing the religion, rather than the Reason for the religion. I see this played out all the time, be it what Hume has been saying or others that worship the Bible instead of the God that wrote the Bible. I am sure that if you would ask Hume or any of these other people if God were their focus, they would say undoubtedly YES, God is our focus. But actions speak louder than words. Why not say it and live it to begin with? Hume has stated that Christianity can do all of these things for Tiger Woods, but no mention of what Jesus’ redemptive work has done. Lots of “come to Christianity for forgiveness and redemption”, but nothing of Christ’s forgiveness and redemptive work on the cross for us.

As I stated in my first post on this subject, I am sure Hume means well. This does show the state of Christianity in these days. It’s not about Christ anymore, it’s not about the Object of our faith, it is faith in a system, a method, a formula or a certain belief structure. If a persons motive for anything is something other than God, it is sin. Hume is as misguided as most people that sit in pews on Sunday mornings, the teachings of scripture is not there any longer. God’s judgment is taking place and He is removing His Spirit from the world, giving way to these false beliefs, that have a form of godliness, but are vastly different. They have just enough truth to deceive. What better way for Satan to deceive than by using professing Christians?

I make a plea to the few that God leads this way to my meager blog – stop the deception. Cry out to God to empower you to take a stand for Him and the return to what true Biblical Christianity is. Stop turning your head to false teachings that corrupt the Word of God, do not allow people to blaspheme our Father’s Holy Name by saying they are Christians in one breath and in the next spew lies, curses or dirty jokes. Pray that God will rise up His people like never before to stand in the footsteps of saints past like Luther, Calvin, Stephen, Spurgeon, Paul, Whitfield, Edwards and Lloyd-Jones. God doesn’t use extraordinary people He uses people extraordinarily.

Brit Hume Tells Tiger "Turn Or Burn"

I know Brit Hume meant well, but c’mon already. Jesus is not a cure all for your problems. Do not tell someone to come to Jesus to save your marriage, get you out of trouble, for recovery, to break your addictions or anything less than seeing yourself as a miserable sinner that can not save themselves.

Hume made a few remarks during a Fox News broadcast, Not nearly the “Turn or Burn” message sinners need and actually Hume missed the mark by a mile saying, "He is said to be a Buddhist. I don't think that faith offers the kind of forgiveness and redemption that is offered by the Christian faith. My message to Tiger would, 'Tiger, turn to the Christian faith and you can make a total recovery and be a great example to the world." I cringe my teeth hearing stuff like that. While on the surface it appears like a good motive, but it is nothing more than showing how the American gospel/ easy believism is so prevalent.

Actually quotes like this are expected from the likes of Joel Osteen or Rick Warren. From a news guy though? All the research I have done on Hume states nothing of his Christian faith and contrary to popular belief – being on Fox News does not mean that you are a Christian (Glenn Beck=Mormon, Bill O’Reilly=Roman Catholic, Sean Hannity=Roman Catholic, Greta Van Susteren=Scientologist).

I’m sure I’ll get some flack for talking about Hume, but this comment may have actually damaged Christianity more than helping. I am all for talking about Jesus be it on the Radio, a ball game, NASCAR race, school and even a news program on national TV, but PLEASE do not misrepresent God, do not offer people a better life if they “choose Christ” or make it seem like God is an addition to ones life to make them prosper in health, wealth or to heal your problems. Christians are never promised any of that and that kind of draw was only added when preachers stopped proclaiming the Word of God in Truth and Righteousness. They had to come up with devises to get decisions and fill the church rolls, if not they would be out of a job. So what to do? “Yeah, let’s target the peoples emotions and offer them things that will make them feel better about themselves and tell them God will cure everything and fix everything.” Heresy! God is not an accessory that you put on and take off as needs arise.

Just stop already with this type of message to the world. Proclaim God’s Truths and allow the Spirit to work. Don’t fish for emotional decisions and promises of health and wealth. Speak to a person’s soul using the Word of God, show them that they deserve nothing but the fires of hell but that God did make a Way. He sent His Son to take their sins upon Himself. The spotless Lamb, sinless and blameless that bore our sins on that tree to save us from that fiery pit. It is really simple after someone knows they are lost, they then must do only two things – repent and trust in Christ. In those two things one dies to themselves and gives God rein of their life, submits to Christ as Lord and then rests in Him. Give the complete Gospel and don’t butcher to not offend, I promise you when their life is over they will be screaming and cursing you for not offending them.

Tiger Woods, Media Darling And A Victim Himself? What?

Okay, I’ll admit it. I was contemplating doing a blog post on Tiger Woods a day or so after the car crash story broke, but decided against it. I was going to elude to the fact that the story seemed really fishy and how everyone in the news media also seemed to be falling for the whole thing. I even did a little photo editing of a Tiger picture, giving him a black eye and swollen lip, then again I balked and did nothing.

Flash forward a few more day, now I can’t stand it. It is not really Tiger that upsets me (any more than any other person that cheats on their spouse does anyway). It is the media once again. Kind of half listening to the news this morning at work I kept hearing Tigers name. When I then inclined my ear a little more I all that seemed to be the topic was Tiger and his “sex addiction”, how Tiger is now a victim because he has a chemical imbalance in his brain that causes him to be a sex addict. Actually it wasn’t something new to me to hear, it is called having a Y chromosome or better known as being a man.

So allow me to explain Tiger’s real problem. He is a man. That’s pretty much it, but I don’t think I can stop there and must elaborate a tad. See, men are really sexual creatures, it is a very common characteristic of men to have wandering eyes and minds. It is our nature, it can’t be denied and it is very difficult to keep in check. This is a heart issue as Jesus said in Matthew 5:28, but it is not an excuse. I too am bombarded with females that seem to be wearing Barbie clothing at the mall, at the grocery and yes, even at some churches. These women flaunt themselves and a man has to consciously divert their eyes to a different area. So this is the issue that Tiger has, he just carried it out in the physical area as well as his mind. To put it bluntly, he is a sinner. What I am not sure of is his professing spiritual beliefs.

Evidently he does not hold fast to Christian principles, which is really the main concern here. Tiger needs Christ. Just like I was in need of a Savior, my wife was in need of a Savior, my pastor was in need and every other person that has been converted was in need of a Savior. Tiger needs to be saved and he also needs to kept being saved. “What? How can you keep being saved Jeff?”. I’m glad you asked.

Salvation is not only being saved from a fiery eternity in hell. You are also being saved from a sinful life…. Daily! When God actually converts you, you will then be justified through Christ, but that begins the sanctification process in which you start becoming more like Christ and less like you. So many professing Christians seem to really be lacking in this part of the Christian life. Actually if they are not in a sanctification process, never started it, then I would say that they were never converted in the first place. A continual lifestyle of sin can only mean one thing. A disbelief in the God of the Bible, so you can’t be saved if you don’t believe in the God of scripture. When someone is born again as Jesus spoke of in John 3. So being born of the flesh we are creatures of sin and being born of the Spirit we have a new nature to seek to please God instead of ourselves. A really simple concept that is often overlooked.

How many times have you heard that someone backslid, lived in sin their whole life BUT are still saved and going to heaven. Blasphemy! That is a gross misuse of the name of Christ in calling that person a Christian. I know firsthand, because that was me from 8 years old until I was 38 years old. I lived a life of sin all the time claiming Christ as my Savior. I even prayed every night, regardless of what bed I was in or what chemical or liquid was guiding my thoughts, I could always seem to squeeze out a “God please forgive me for sinning today. I’m sorry. Please give me_____________.” I was very deceived and very wicked and very blasphemous. No, I never took God’s Name in vain as most people think it, but I did when I said that I was a Christian. Praise the Lord He took the scales off of my eyes. Not quite the Damascus Road revelation Paul had, but quite the transformation non-the-less.

So back to Tiger. Tiger does what comes natural to him, other than hitting a golf ball very well, he sins very well too. He can’t help it, it’s his nature. He was born a sinner and remains a sinner, until He repents of his sins and trusts in the God of the Bible through the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross to atone for his sins. Simple, yet not readily stated these days. So all the talk about a sex addiction is only partially correct, he is addicted to sin in general and sex with women other than his wife is just how he manifests his sinfulness. Other sinners have different manifestation of their sinful hearts - lying, stealing, blaspheming God’s Holy Name, pornography, drinking, drugs, and so on. It is a heart condition and my prayers go out to them, not just Tiger Woods, but all sinners that are in need of a Savior.

Just one plea to the media (not that they will ever read this, but hey> It’s worth a shot). Stop making excuses for people that live sinful lives. A sex addict is a sinner. A thief is a sinner. A cheating husband is a sinner. A bank robber is a sinner. An alcoholic is a sinner. A drug addict is a sinner. A (insert sinful lifestyle sin here) is s till a sinner. They all sin against A Holy God that will one day require payment for their sins. There are only two possibilities on that Day. 1.) You will either stand before God and try to explain away your sins and plea how many “good” things you did to try and outweigh the “bad”. or 2.) You will fall on your knees and cry for your Advocate 1 John 2:1, Christ to make your case for you. #2 is the only Way, because #1 is a eternal death sentence. Oh, and one more thing about #2, the Father has already forgiven your sins if you are truly converted, He will not hold you accountable for the sins that you fell into, because they were written on Cross and blotted out by the Blood of Christ Acts 3:19. WOW! And AMEN!