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Home My WebLink AboutThe Citizen, 2016-02-04, Page 16PAGE 16.THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 2016. From the Minister's Study The dangers of are many: Dow pornography By Pastor Ernest Dow Living Water Christian Fellowship (EMC), Blyth God created a beautiful world for us to look at and admire. He also created other people, including family, friends, and neighbours, for us to love and serve and get along with. But the devil has corrupted both our environment and our relationships. Since our earliest forebears we are "born with the bents", with evil desires. We get tempted to turn our eyes to shameful things, and use or exploit other people in degrading ways for our own self -gratifying pleasure, rather than build them up. Pornography is one manifestation of our fallen tendency to seek pleasure in the wrong places. Mind you, as time progresses and culture's standards shift, it would seem pornography is becoming more acceptable and "mainstream". A recent survey found that, when ranking a list of morally unobjectionable items, teens and young adults felt not recycling was more unacceptable than viewing pornographic images! Use of pornography is too prevalent, in the church as well as in general society. Christianity Today reports Barna Group did a study of nearly 3,000 adults and teenagers, including 432 pastors and 338 youth pastors. They found about 27 per cent of Christian men actively seek out porn at least once or twice a month, compared to 47 per cent (basically half) of men in the general population. For women, that's six per cent of Christian women, 12 per cent of women in general. 18 per cent of married Christian men actively search for porn more than once or twice a month, compared to 21 per cent of single men and 30 per cent of teenage boys. Half of teens, and 70 per cent of young adults, come across porn at least once a month, regardless of whether they seek it out. 26 per cent of teens age 13-17 view porn at least once a week (that's about a quarter). That jumps to 38 per cent of adults ages 18-24. One-third of teenage girls and young women said they searched for porn at least once a month. Mobile technology has made it very easy for pornography to spill over from passive observance to active participation, as in the advent of "sexting". Two-thirds of those under 24 reported receiving a sexually explicit image from someone they knew, while 44 per cent (almost half) said they had sent one. The same Barna survey found that Church leaders are not immune: 14 per cent of pastors and 21 per cent of youth pastors admit they currently 1V- Chridiary Tel 'u ip Feb. 7: Gal. 5:16ff, 6:7ff "Sow to �' ,`%.1 Please the �5�44r�4'�'` 'fit, Spirit, N — Reap a Good Harvest" Evangelical Missionary Church Tues. 7:30 pm Small Group at G&M Lisle's Wed. 10:00 am "Coffee Break" Women's Bible Study at CRC Sun, Apr. 10, 7:00 pm "FaithdmSong" Christian Music Concert at CRC 10:30 a.m. - Worship & Sunday School n at 308 Blyth Rd. (former Church of God) I I Pastor: Ernest Dow - 519-523-4848 getlivingwater.or) struggle with using porn. Five per cent of pastors (one in 20) said they're "addicted"; that more than doubles to 12 per cent for youth pastors, over one in 10. Should we be alarmed? Is this cause for concern, that not just a significant portion of the general population, but also a surprising amount of those in the church — even those in the church's leadership — appear to be hooked on porn? Pornography is wrong on a social level in that it abuses vulnerable women and children who are caught in the sex trade. Not only are they violated in the original production of the material, required to do degrading and shameful acts — they are violated afresh each time the image is viewed and propagated over the internet. The Bible, by contrast, teaches us to love our neighbour, to treat them as we would like to be treated (the Golden Rule) — and we would certainly not want to be manipulated and coerced in sexually abusive and exploitive ways ourselves. (Ga1.5:14; Matt.7:12) Pornography is hurtful and damaging on the family and personal level. The local news recently reported a Fergus man was charged with possessing and making available child pornography. It can happen easier than you think! Let's suppose you opt to watch an erotic movie online using a torrent — a means which not only puts a copy on your machine, but makes it available for others online. Unbeknownst to you, some slightly underaged youth were used in one scene. You may find the police knocking on your door and your computer seized. Later you are charged for possessing and distributing child pornography. Suddenly you are restricted from having access to your grandchildren, attending their school plays, etc. Perhaps you are convicted, in which case the mandatory minimum sentence would apply. You find yourself serving nearly three months of jail time. You are now labelled a convicted pedophile. And all for watching one pornographic movie! If you think this sounds far - ANGLICAN PARISH OF NEW BEGINNINGS BLYTH Trinity (, 9:15 am Church Office 519-357-4883 BRUSSELS St. John's 11:15 am Church Office 519-887-6862 Everyone Welcome! www.nabcom.ca/church COME WORSHIP WITH US! You re c/nvited a join Ids eon 61Pols ,i,p SUNDAYS Morning Service Evening Service 10:00 am 7:30 pm BLYTH CHRISTIAN REFORMED CHURCH Minister: Pastor Gary van Leeuwen Hwy. 4, Blyth www.blythcrc.ca 519-523-4743 EfueaaeCQ eosurc2teCc'fiy e&e eitaftee You're Invited to come worshiy with us •=1 Sunday, February 7 Brussels Business & Cultural Centre at 10:30 a.m. and 6:30 p.m. Sunday School for children 4 to 12 years of age at 9:30 a.m. Childcare provided for infants and preschoolers during the sermon. Coffee & cookies after the morning service. For additional details please contact Pastor Andrew Versteeg 519.887.8621 Steve Klumpenhower 519.292.0965 Rick Packer 519.527.0173 • Huron .pel chapel.con 111 fetched — it has happened to a personal acquaintance of mine in another part of the province. Imagine the damage done to this man's relationships in his family and community; the shame and disgrace. Users have found that pornography undermines their own physical intimacy with their spouse. It has a progressive, addictive effect: the type of viewing that originally led to sexual arousal no longer satisfies, so more exaggerated forms BRUSSELS are sought, and increasingly sordid activities viewed. Meanwhile one's attraction to one's spouse can suffer, introducing sexual dysfunction into the relationship. In this sense, when we use porn we are not only hurting others, we are also unwittingly eventually hurting ourselves. The Apostle Paul warned, "Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a man commits are outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against Continued on page 18 United Church WORSHIP SERVICE AND SUNDAY SCHOOL 11:00 am All Welcome Minister: Rev. Gary Clark, BA, M.Div. Bulletin notices: 519-523-4224 blythunited@tcc.on.ca Church bookings: 519-887-6377 Other concerns: 226-963-1175 MELVILLE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH BRUSSELS Rev. Elwin Garland SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 7 We invite you to join our church family in: Worship & Sunday School - 10 am Coffee & Snacks - 11 am Fridays 11:30 am - 1:00 pm - Soup & More 2 - a free community meal held in Melville's basement, and made possible by the Brussels churches working together. Nursery care available 519-887-9017 Blyth United Church Est. 1875 Worship Service & Sunday School at 10 a.m. Sunday, February 7 "Ground Control to Major Tom" Sunday, February 14 "The Unwanted Cali" ALL Welcome MINISTER: Rev. Gary Clark, BA, M. Div. OFFICE: 519-523-4224 THE CATHOLIC PARISHES OF NORTH HURON AND NORTH PERTH CORDIALLY INVITE YOU TO ATTEND HOLY MASS. OUR SUNDAY LITURGIES ARE AS FOLLOWS: Brussels: St. Ambrose Saturday 6:00 p.m. 17 Flora Street Wingham: Sacred Heart Sunday 9:00 a.m. 220 Carling Terrace Listowel: St. Joseph's Sunday 11:00 a.m. 1025 Wallace Avenue N.