You’re probably reading this right now cause the heading to this post either freaked you out or excited the daylights out of you!  C’mon you can admit to it – even to yourself if need be.

Truth is, porn addiction is in epic proportions in our culture today.  Even if you’re a Christian, you are not immune to it as statistics show that Christians – both male and female – are addicted to porn as much as anyone else on this planet.

To help combat this issue, Mark Driscoll of Mars Hill Church has made available a free ebook he has written over the years to help combat this issue – especially from a male perspective.  He is releasing chapters over the next few months – in conjunction to the current sermon series at Mars Hill Church called “The Peasant Princess” (website can be found here).  Once fully released, he will make the entire ebook free for download.

The website for the ebook is here and the introduction can be found here.  Be notified of chapters as they are released by subscribing to The Resurgence feed here.

This whole exercise will prove to be controversial to say the least. Human sexuality strikes us to the core of who we are and the way we practice our sexual desires impacts us greatly.  So to directly tackle this issue in a Driscoll style will raise a few eyebrows.  And he anticipates this as he has said:

“In closing, I want to say two things. One, a lot of folks will not like the content or tone of this book and I love them and wish them well. You get what you pay for and this is free. Two, a lot of young guys (and some older guys too) tell me they have been helped by this content and if God uses it to help some guys I would be overjoyed with that. So, let the critics fire away and I’ll gladly take the shots for the guys who are walking wounded in an effort to help them get their shield up and sword sharpened.”

You just got to admire the way Driscoll approaches this issue.  Anyway I hope you enjoy reading this free ebook and are edified and built up in this area of struggle for so many people.

I’ve posted earlier on the ESV Study Bible here.  I can’t wait for this little beauty to come out.  Almost everyday, there are updates to the ESV Study Bible blog showcasing the features and endorsements for this awesome resource.

But one resource that really got me excited is a video of the online version of the ESV Study Bible.  This resource is available for free to those who purchase a copy of the ESV Study Bible.  What an asset! Check out the video below:

If you’re a Bible geek like me, you should be jumping up and down by now!  What these guys have done in redefining what a study Bible should be in print form, they have also replicated online – and it’s free to those who ordered a copy!

Well I’ve ordered mine.  Click here to order yours through Amazon – the most cost effective way to order.

For those of you still using Internet Explorer, may I humbly suggest you upgrade your web browsing enjoyment and switch to two awesome web browsers – Firefox and Google Chrome.

Firefox is an awesome browser – heaps faster then Internet Explorer and with the added benefit of an awesome amount of add-ons to enhance your browsing experience.  Click here for a free download and check out the add-ons here.

The new kid on the block is Google’s own, Google Chrome.  It’s been said that Google Chrome is up to 9 times faster then Internet Explorer.  All I can say that this little beauty is a speed demon. Although it doesn’t include the plugins available for Firefox, this little baby is fast and minimal.  Click here for a free download.

I’m really looking forward to the upcoming sermon series at Mars Hill Church called The Peasant Princess.  Based on the the Song of Songs, Mark Driscoll will spend 10 weeks going through the details of this provacative text.

It’s been said that ancient Jewish Rabi’s weren’t allowed to study the Song of Songs until they were 30 years old as it contains explicit sexual material.  So listening to Driscoll spend 10 weeks on it should be fun indeed.

Mars Hill have a dedicated website to this series found here. In addition, they have produced a PDF outlining what they hope to acheive with this series.  To prepare us for the adventure, they have also released the following video promo to wet our appetites.

You can just tell that this will drive attendance to Mars Hill Church and hopefully this sex crazed world will get a better understanding of the way Scripture views intamacy.

I don’t usually dabble in US politics – unless of course it is to bag Bush

But I’ve seen this video being bantered about from SNL and I thought I needed to share it.  Hope you enjoy!

News headlines around the world have been screaming “the end of the world” in regards to the powering up of the CERN particle accelerator in Europe yesterday.

Many people I know have been on tender hooks waiting for the passing of this test to see if the world lives beyond this event – especially as there seems to have been valid safety concerns.  And it seems that the anxiety of the whole thing has taken it’s toll in an ugly way.

A 16 year old girl was so freaked out by the event that she drank pesticide and committed suicide thinking that the world would end.  My heart goes out to this little girl as she faced her fears during the last days of her life.

How I wished she knew the God of the Bible and realised that mankind, as dumb as it can be sometimes, will never be in a position to alter the destiny of the world as outlined in Scripture. Only God knows the beginning and the end of everything.  Anyone grounded in Scripture shouldn’t have skipped a heartbeat about this experiment causing the world to end.  God says:

“Remember this and stand firm, recall it to mind, you transgressors, remember the former things of old; for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose” Isa 46:8-10

Before this planet was around, God knew the beginning and end of it.  Think of it in this way.  If you were on the side of the road watching a parade go by, you would see the beginning, the middle and eventually the end of it as time passed by.

But God is not like you or me.  His vantage point would be like in the sky where He looks down and sees the start of the parade as well as the end – right before Him.  He can confidently say that 20 minutes into the parade, a float looking like a monkey will pass you.  Sitting at street level at the start of the parade and hearing God say this to you, you would need to accept this as faith – even though you can’t see the monkey float.

In a similar way, He has mapped out the history of the planet – from beginning to the end.  And He has taken the time to document this and publish it – it’s called the Bible.  And the Bible has the audacity of being the only “religious” document in the whole world of including vast amounts of prophecy.  Some of which has been fulfilled, some of which is being fulfilled and some of which will be fulfilled.

Mankind is sitting at street level and watching history parade itself in a linear fashion.  God has declared what will happen in the past, present and future – as only He is beyond time and can see the beginning and end in one glance.

And nowhere in scripture is a reference to mankind destroying the world before God accomplishes His purpose.  I wish this little girl knew of this before she downed the pesticide that took her life. I wish her parents were grounded in scripture.  I wish her parents knew Jesus – the ultimate accomplishment of God.

But they didn’t and she’s dead.

God is in control.  Not man.