Breaking Free

This has been an exciting year for us at Covenant Eyes, and a very rewarding year on Breaking Free. The blog has enjoyed hundreds of thousands of hits from almost 200 countries around the world.

Looking back, I want to bookmark some landmark moments for us on the blog. Thanks to everyone who contributed.

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Memorable Moments on the Blog

• “Women and Porn Addiction” Week – Back in August we spent a whole week dealing with the subject of women and porn addiction. Thanks to Crystal and Jessica for their candid 3-part interview with us about why women can become addicted to pornography. We also have a list of links for women who struggle, two book reviews, and guest posts from Leslie Ludy and Diane Roberts.
• “Pastors and Porn” Week – This month we dedicated a week to helping pastors who struggle with pornography temptations. We had a series of podcast interviews with experts such as Dr. Harry Schaumburg, Michael Cusick, Tal Prince, and Nate Larkin. We also featured a series of FAQs pastors often ask about confessing their struggles.
• “Fight Clubs” Week – I had the privilege of interving Jonathan Dodson, author of Fight Clubs: Gospel-Centered Discipleship. This is one of the best books I’ve seen on the subject of accountability.
• The birth of CovenantMusicians.com – We had an opportunity to network with some great musicians for this new project. Congrats to Taylor Jordan Campbell for winning our song writing contest.
• New Covenant Eyes videos – Our friend Jeremy Bout of Underhouse Studio made many good videos for us this year. Most of these are on our YouTube channel.
• The Library Porn Debate – Right in our own little community of Owosso, a public debate sparked over how restrictive library computers should be (for people attempting to view pornography). This debate caught some media attention as Covenant Eyes was caught in the midst of the discussion. Hundreds of people showed up for library board meetings. Finally a new library Internet policy was put in place last month.
• Iron Sharpens Iron events – Covenant Eyes’ employees traveled to dozens of ISI events this year. We’ve also been able to do some teaching at these events.
• Marmot Day – Okay, this was weird—don’t know what came over us. We had a great Marmot Day celebration around the office. Hundreds of people showed up for the festivities. We also received some hilarious videos for our video contest.
• Fun with Twitter – Our Twitter page has been a wonderful way for us to communicate with our Members.

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The Year of Podcasts

This year we saw the birth of Covenant Eyes Radio. I’ve had the amazing privilege of interviewing some of the finest minds in the country this year. Some were personal stories of tragedy and triumph. Some were expert voices. I hope these have been as enriching to our listeners as they have been to me.

Porn/Sex Addiction Experts

Some of my favorite conversations were with experts in the area of pornography and sexual addiction. I hope these interviews shed some light on what drives porn addiction and how the habit can be broken.

• John Freeman, president of Harvest USA
• Dr. Harry Schaumburg, founder of Stone Gate Resources
• Crystal Renaud and Jessica Harris (Women and Porn Addiction)
• Mark Kastleman, author of The Drug of the New Millennium
• Michael Cusick, founder of Restoring the Soul
• Michael Smalley, founder of the Smalley Marriage and Family Center
• Bill Perkins, author of When Good Men Are Tempted

Married Couples Damaged by Pornography

I’ve also spoke with a number of married couples about how pornography has harmed their marriages. We’ve heard a lot of positive feedback from other couples about how these interviews have encouraged them in their struggles.

• Chris and Cindy Beall
• Jeff and Marsha Fisher
• Traylor and Melody Lovvorn
• T and Veronica Benton of the White Collar Sideshow.

Conversations About Accountability

Over the last year I’ve had some enlightening conversations about how to have healthy accountability relationships.

• Nate Larkin, founder of the Samson Society
• Jonathan Dodson, author of  Fight Clubs: Gospel-Centered Discipleship
• Tal Prince, pastor and host of “Tal Prince Live”
• David Blythe, pastor and author of  The Secret in the Pew
• David Erik Jones, author of My Struggle, Your Struggle

Internet Safety and Youth Culture

I’ve spoke with a number of experts in the area of Internet use, safety, and responsibility.

• Dan Lohrmann, author of Virtual Integrity
• Steve Wright, author of reThink.
• Paul Watson, founder of Reaching the Online Generation

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My Journey to Freedom from Porn

Over the last year, I’ve had more time to meditate on the circumstances God brought into my life and the principles I’ve learned that moved me away from porn addiction toward a life of freedom. It has been a joy being able to look back and see God’s faithfulness.

• Getting to the Root of Lust – Confessions of a Porn Addict – Underneath my addiction to porn was really an addiction to me, a quest for personal validation in a fantasy world.
• Slavery to Pornography: The Battle to Break Free – Slavery to porn is not unlike the slavery Israel experienced in Egypt. Just as they longed to return to Egypt from time to time, so it is easy to draw back into the tempting world of pornography. My continuing battle is like theirs: I must fight the good fight of faith.
• How “Holy Lust” Trumps Unholy Lust – We are all born with an unquenchable desire for pleasure. We don’t satisfy our twisted desires for porn by pushing our desire for pleasure down, but by seeking and savoring “holy lusts.”
• Internet Porn, Magic Rings, and the Secret of Obedience – It is easy to let the Christian life become one of performance rather than obedience, and of conforming to Christian social norms rather than responding to the Person of Christ. Often it’s our secret sins (like Internet porn) that reveal what really drives us.
• Crucified with Christ: Overcoming Sin – This is a series of 7 posts I wrote for Lent this year. Each post is a reflection of the the beauty of the cross of Christ and how (through His sacrifice and death) He not only forgives us, but He transforms us.
• Why Are So Many Christians Addicted to Porn? – Perhaps there are elements of the Christian experience that somehow make porn addiction harder to grapple with.

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My Favorite Guest Posts

• Testimony about child porn - David Chetham is now serving time for involvement with child pornography. He was kind enough to share his story with us on Breaking Free.
• Is porn the same as adultery? – In a woman’s eyes, it just might be. This post, written by Mark Gaither, one of our regular authors, is a refreshing look at how women see using pornography as a betrayal.
• Porn and the law – Gerard Bradley works at Notre Dame as a law professor. He wrote an interesting post for us about major Supreme Court decisions that have changed the way pornography is legislated today.
• Free e-book on small groups – Pastor Bobby Scott was kind enough to review Why Small Groups? for our blog. This is a great resource for any individual or church looking to ramp up accountability groups in their midst.
• Do you know the real me? – Biblical counselor Rick Thomas is a regular author on Breaking Free. This post about being free to talk about “the real you” with others you trust is a must-read.
• Porn, Percussion, and Pig Men – Have you heard of White Collar Sideshow? I love these guys. T and Veronica Benton travel the country talking about the grim reality of porn addiction using their . . . er . . . unique style. T’s post spoke of how his porn addiction affected his marriage. Veronica’s post sparked quite a debate on our blog.