Christian LASIK surgery

High schoolers often ask me how they can have a victorious Christian life and witness to their friends?  Usually I respond with a quote from John Piper who says that whenever we got down in the dumps with our faith that we should "preach the gospel to ourselves".

I have an analogy that may help clarify this.  About 7 years ago I had LASIK surgery to correct my near-sighted vision.  Before the surgery, my eyesight was so bad that I couldn't see the alarm clock when I woke up in the morning, and was unable to legally drive without the aid of glasses or contacts.

Immediately following the surgery, I was ecstatic at how my life had changed:

1. I was now able to wake up and see everything around me, 
2. I could jump in the lake and open my eyes underwater, 
3. I could get sand in my eyes and wipe it out without ruining my contacts,
4. I didn't have to worry about bringing saline solution on a plane or long trips,
5. I could play sports without my contacts falling out or glasses getting broken,
6. I was free to wear sunglasses and goggles anytime I wanted,
7. I could go skydiving without my contacts flying out of my head,
8. I didn't have to visit the eye doctor every year or pay for prescriptions,
9. I was blind but now I could see!

But since that wonderful life-changing day, I have become so accustomed to all of the benefits that accompany the surgery, that I have forgotten what life was like before December 28, 2003.  

This relates directly to the Christian life.  Many times I forget who I was before Christ entered my life.  I forget all of the benefits of being a Christian which causes me to lose focus and joy in my everyday walk with God:

1. I am redeemed (Romans 3:24)
2. I am reconciled to God (2 Corinthians 5:19-21
3. I am forgiven! (Romans 3:25)
4. I am delivered (Colossians 1:13)
5. I am accepted (Ephesians 1:6)
6. I am justified (Romans 3:24)
7. I am glorified (Romans 8:30)
8. I am a citizen of Heaven (Philippians 3:20)
9. I am a member of a holy and royal priesthood (1 Peter 2:5,9)
10. I am a member of the family of God (Ephesians 2:19)

Forgetting that I could be on a path to Hell right now (and I'm not!) also makes me less of a witness to those around me.  You see, if I forget all the benefits of LASIK surgery, when someone who has glasses or contacts comes up to me and mentions how much they hate their eyewear, I will never say anything, and they will never know that there is a surgery that can cure them of their blindness.

If, however, I am constantly remembering that once I too was blind, then I will immediately tell them about this life-changing surgery.

As Christians, we have received LASIK surgery of the heart!  We must constantly remember what our lives were like before we met Christ, and share the Good News to a blind world who desperately needs to hear!

"O keep ever before me the life of Christ crucified."

-Thomas a Kempis

Sexual Addiction Screening Test

There is a tendency among Christian men to consider sexual sin as a "bad habit" that needs to be broken, when in fact it is usually an addictive behavior that needs to be addressed immediately.

Here are some questions to help you determine whether or not you have a sexual addiction.  This is what therapists call a Sexual Addiction Screening Test.  If you answer "yes" to three or more of these questions it would be beneficial to seek accountability.

1. Do you have a pattern of failing to resist the impulse to act out sexually?   YES   NO
2. When you do act out sexually, do you find that you do so to a greater extent, or for a longer period of time than you had originally intended?   YES   NO
3. Do you have a continual desire to act out sexually or have tried to stop, reduce, or control acting out sexually but been unsuccessful?   YES   NO
4. Have you spent an inordinate amount of time either trying to get sex, be sexual, or recover from some sexual experience?   YES   NO
5. Are you preoccupied with acting out sexually or preparing to act out sexually?   YES   NO
6. Do you find yourself acting out sexually even though you are expected to meet job, school, home, or social commitments?   YES   NO
7. Even if you know you have a social, educational, financial, mental, or physical problem caused by your sexual behavior do you continue to act out in that behavior anyway?   YES   NO
8. Do you find that you need to increase the intensity, frequency, number, or risk of sexual behavior to get the physical effect you want?  Conversely, does the same level of intensity, frequency, number, or risks of sexual behavior produce less of an effect?   YES   NO
9. Do you find yourself quitting or reducing your social, professional, or recreational activities because of your sexual behavior?  YES   NO
10. Do you find yourself upset, distressed, anxious, restless, or even violent if you cannot act out sexually, especially in the ways in which you have developed as a pattern?  YES   NO

If you would like someone to help you with accountability, please contact me (day or night my number is 574.274.9626).