cktimes.ca Archives for The Pastoral Lens
The Pastoral Lens
Men of Purity, Men of Power
Tuesday, May 6, 2003
On the last Friday and Saturday of April, I joined together with about 400 other men from various places in Southern Ontario at a church in London, Ontario for a very special set of meetings. What would draw so many men together for an intensive time of teaching and personal confrontation about – their sex life!? The answer is: a radical call to purity. There was a cost to this event, but come they did! I was amazed at how open and honest men were amongst their peers in the area of their sexuality. There was some negative press which preceded the event, touting it as an "anti woman" gathering, but in actual fact, nothing could have been further from the truth. In fact, many wives of the men who came had encouraged their husbands to do so. These women knew that a husband who is committed to sexual purity brings much blessing to the marriage.The event started on the Friday night with a call to confront the sins of past generations which had been passed through the family line and were manifesting in the lives of these men today. One after another stood up to testify how they had committed adultery, just as their father and grandfather had before them. They came forward, in front of the whole gathering, weeping and repenting of their sin. This time of cleansing seemed to open the door for the Lord to do a deeper work in each man present. The speaker challenged the men at the close of the Friday night session to bring their dirty magazines, books, videos, etc. in a garbage bag to the sessions the next day. These would be put in a bonfire in the parking lot during a special ceremony on Saturday afternoon.
On Saturday morning, the speaker addressed the issue of pornography and its devastating effects on marriages and families. Scores of men came forward to repent of all participation in pornography, including the internet. Later, men were asked to testify to the effects that pornography had on their lives and how the teaching at this seminar was leading them to freedom. Before the afternoon was over, a huge bonfire had been lit in the parking lot with armload after armload of objectionable material being cast into the flames. These acts were accompanied by shouts from the large crowd gathered, which included members of the press.
I came away from the weekend with a deepened sense of conviction to walk in a greater level of purity in my life. The Bible says, "Be holy for I am holy" (1 Peter 1:16). To be holy means to be set apart to God. I can't do that on my own, but the Lord has promised to help me. Our world is full of the stain and stench of sexual sin, but the Lord can help us overcome all of that if we will look to Him.
