POP 401 - Watch & Pray

In this episode Tony shares the story of his recent heart attack. On a Monday morning Tony began to feel a tightness and uncomfortable feeling in his chest, which then escalated to his throat and jaw.  He eventually drove himself to the hospital, and as the day unfolded, it was confirmed that he had a heart attack.  This led to a heart catheterization and the placement of a stent in Tony's heart. Because of this situation Tony was not able to publish an episode of The Power of Purity Podcast for the past two weeks, and in today's episode he shares his story along with 3 key observations that have emerged in his thoughts as a result of this incident. (1) Every day we have is a gift from God, and we should not take our days for granted. (2) What should be the prioritites of our life? (3) There is "LOVE"! 13 Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” 14 Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. 15 Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.” James 4:13-15 13 For you created my inmost being;     you knit me together in my mother’s womb. 14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;     your works are wonderful,     I know that full well. 15 My frame was not hidden from you     when I was made in the secret place,     when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. 16 Your eyes saw my unformed body;     all the days ordained for me were written in your book     before one of them came to be. 17 How precious to me are your thoughts, God!     How vast is the sum of them! 18 Were I to count them,     they would outnumber the grains of sand—     when I awake, I am still with you.  Psalm 139:13-18   20 “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’ 21 “This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.”  Luke 12:20-21 The Lord is near. 6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God,which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:5-7

In this episode Tony shares 4 important observations from the resurrection of Christ that inspire great hope in our hearts. No matter what's going on in our lives or situations, we do not have to be afraid, because of the resurrection. We can both see and experience God's fingerprints and work in our own hearts and lives, and then, based upon what the Lord has allowed us to "see", we can then "go and tell" others. Sometimes we're afraid because of the difficult situations or circumsances of our lives, but God always makes his joy available to us, and this is really good news, because it's so much better to have joy in the midst of our fears instead of just having our fears by themselves. And we can rest assured that the Lord will reveal himself to us, because the very first person he chose to reveal himself to, after the resurrection, was Mary Magdalene, who had been possessed by seven demons. What happened on that day, the most significant day of human history, reveals a template of how God still works in the hearts and lives of his followers. Be blessed, in Jesus' Name, as you listen to these "4 Easter Observations"!

In this episode, which was recorded during Holy Week, Tony shares some reflections from Matthew chapter 21 concerning Palm Sunday. This was the day that Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey, and as he did the people shouted exclamations of praise, adoration, and joy! "Hosanna to the Son of David!" "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!" "Hosanna in the highest!" Among other key thoughts, Tony focuses on one intriguing observation from the passage, which is the prophetic quote that was written by the prophet Zechariah 500 years before the actual triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem. Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion!  Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem!  See, your king comes to you, righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.  Zechariah 9:9 Based upon this scripture, Tony reflects on the unusal way in which the animal that Jesus rode into Jerusalem is mentioned in the passage: (1) A donkey (2) A colt (3) A foal Why did Zechariah seem to go above and beyond the call of duty to provide such intricate detail concerning, of all things, the donkey that Jesus would ride over 500 years later?  The Jews of the day were waiting for the Messiah, their Savior and Deliverer, and that's exactly who Jesus was, but the way the Lord comes into our lives and situations isn't always the way we were expecting! 

Jesus was fully God, and fully human, both at the same time. Jesus, as a human being, lived in this broken and fallen world. And in his humanity, Jesus experienced temptation just like us. Because of this, we have a Savior who understands us. When Jesus was in the wilderness he fasted for 40 days. At the end of the fast he was hungry, and the devil came to him to tempt hm. The devil tempted his to "turn these stones into bread". Or said another way, the essence of the temtptation was for Jesus to take care of the legitimate needs of his physical body in his own way. As if the devil was saying, "You're hungry Jesus, so do what you need to do to take care of yourself!" And in much the same way, the enemy often comes to us and tempts us to take care of the legitimate needs of our own physical body in our own way. In this sense, the urge for a man to satisfy his legitimate sexual needs through the use of pronography is a similar temptation to "turn these stones into bread". Jesus set the example for us. Jesus was a man, and Jesus was tempted, but Jesus also resisted those temptations. The bible then tells us that we can also resist the temptations that come to us, because God will not allow us to be tempted beyond that which we can bear. You have the Lord in your heart and life if you're a Christ beleiver, and you can overcome temptations just like Jesus did!

Just like a coin has 2 sides - heads and tails - there are 2 different components that are virutally inseperable, which are sex and relationship. Or, said another, sex is intended to occur within the context of relaitonship, and this leads to a very important and undeniable reality, which implicates the importance of healthy relaitonship. Or, said another way, the healthier and more funcitonal the relationship is , the healthier and more funcitonal the sex will be that occurs within the context of that relationship. But there's another very important and undenial reality, which is the truth that relationship can be very challenging and difficult. What often happens in the context of relationship is what Tony is calling in this episode, the "X". The "X" is not good. The "X" is hard. The "X" is a disagrement, a difficulty, a tension, a fight, an argument, or a misunderstanding. And the reality is that every couple is going to experience, not just one "X" in their relationship, but many different "X's" over time. And therefore a very important question emerges, which is implicates the title of today's episode: What do we do with the "X's" when they show up in our relationship? In this episode Tony advocates that there are only 5 options on how to deal with the "X", and he shares those 5 options. Of the 5 options, there's one that's the recommended and outstanding option that can and will lead to the possibly of traversing the "X" in a healhty and productive way. Learn to deal with your "X's" in a better way, and that will lead to a healthier and more functional relationship, which will in turn create the environment that makes healthier and more functional sex possible! 

In this weeks short episode Tony reflects on a very interesting scripture found in the Gospel of Matthew. Jesus is in the Garden of Gethsemane. He's very sad and he's struggling because he knows what's about to happen. He leaves most of the disciples at a particular place in garden, and then takes Peter, James, and John with him a little further into the garden. As the following scene then unfolds, he asks these three disciples, three different times, to "watch" and to "pray" so they would not fall into temptation. Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation.  The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. Matthew 26:41  It's of significane to notice that Jesus connects two important spiritual disciplines here directly to the problem of temptation: to watch and pray. Or said another way, because of the temptations that are lurking around us, that can and will entice us, we must "watch and pray", and it's these spritual disciplines that can then empower us to resist these temptations. The word "watch" that Jesus uses here is defined as: to give strict attention to, be cautious, active, to take heed lest through remission and indolence some destructive calamity suddenly overtake you. Through the words of Jesus a powerful Kingdom formula therefore emerges: If we "watch and pray" we'lll be better equipped to resist temptation!      

This is Episode 400 of The Power of Purity Podcast! The Blood Arrow! If you were an Indian and you went hunting, you'd probably take more than one arrow in your quiver.  In fact, you'd probably want a whole quiver full of arrows, so you'd have plenty of shots ready if you needed them. In much the same way, people need many different "arrows" in their metaphorical quiver that they can draw upon in their struggle/battle agaisnt temptations.  We need to have a battle plan in place, before the temptation arises, so that when the moment of truth arrives we have some resources, concepts, and strategies we can immediately employ in the face of that partiuclar temptation.  These strategies are the "arrows" in our quiver, and in this episode Tony presents the concept of a new arrow to fight this battle: The Blood Arrow! The blood of Jesus is very powerful! The blood of Jesus brings us the forgiveness of our sins, makes us a child of God when we beleive in Jesus, gives us a relationship with living God, and even gives us the gift of eternal life. So, the strategy here is to call upon the blood of Christ in response to temptation.  Take out the "blood arrow" and unleash its power in the face of temptation! In this episode Tony shares 9 powerful scripture verses about the blood of Jesus, and 3 powerful songs about the blood of Jesus. The next time you're confronted with temptation, quote at least 3 verses about the blood, and sing a chorus about the blood, and you will be empowered to overcome... by the blood arrow! Nothing But The Blood of Jesus  There's Power in the Blood There Is A Fountain Filled With Blood - sung by Joni Eareckson Tada

In this episode Tony shares the SECOND greatest gift you could ever give to God, which is the submission of your will to his will. When God decided to create human beings, he did most amazing and remarkable thing when he decided to give us free will. God did not make us robots. He did not program us so we would have to love him and obey him. Instead, he gave us free will so we would have the choice, and we could then choose to love him and obey him or we could choose not to. In this way, when we do choose to love God and obey him, and when we do choose to surrender and submit our will to him, it's among the greatest gifts we could ever give him. This was the original temptation in the Garden of Eden, when the serpant essentially tempted Eve to exercise her will independently of God. "Why should God have the right to tell you what you can and cannot do?  If you eat this fruit, you can be like God!  You can decide for yourself what's right and wrong!" And a good example of this from the bible is the example of Jonah, because when God told Jonah what he wanted Jonah to do, Jonah decided he did not want to submit his will to the will of God, and Jonah went in the completely opposite direction! And another good example fo this from the bible is Mary, the mother of Jesus, because when the angel Gabriel announced God's plan to her, she immediately surrendered and submitted her will to the will of God, and thank goodness she did! The SECOND greatest gift you can ever give God is the submission and surrender of your will to his will, and at the end of this episode Tony extends an invitation to you concerning the FIRST and greatest gift you could ever give to God!

In this episode Tony shares a concept / idea / strategy that has helped him tremendously in his personal life... in his walk with God... in his purity walk... in his mental and emotional equilibrium for at least the past year. The Power of Music! God made us, and gave us a heart. And God made music, and music, in a mystical way, is a powerful language of the human heart. There's music in heaven, and there will be music for eternity. It's almost as if we wouldn't know how to be human if we didn't have music. From the earliest days of humanity, humans intuitivly discovered the importance of rhythm and beat, even if it was as simple as  beating on a drum. There is rhythm, and melody, and cadance, and beat. And this is the importance of worship, because the music can quite literally transcend our thoughts and reasoning to transport us into the very presence of God. In this episode Tony shares how music can powerfully and profoundly effect our brain chemistry to release the feel good chemicals - dopamine, oxytocin, seratonin, and endorphins - that can help us regulate our emotional state, and our choices, in healthier ways. Tony shares how he's been experiencing music (and dance) in a new, and deeper, and healthier way that's contriubted significantly to his metal, emotional, sexual, and spritual self-regulation. It's a powerful and significant concept / idea / strategy that can and will help you in so many different dimensions of your life. Superstition - Stevie Wonder Mustang Sally - Wilsn Pickett I Wish - Stevie Wonder Let's Stay Together -  Al Green I'll Take You There - The Staple Singers Chain Breaker - Zach Williams Redeemed - Big Daddy Weave Redeemer - Nicole Mullen Shattered - Blanca The Power of Music!

In this episode Tony shares 2 important metaphors. The first one concerns the game of chess. When you're playing chess, the objective is to get your opponent in "checkmate". This means he doesn't have any moves left. In this metaphor Tony compares our relationship with God to the game of chess. In one sense God is attmepting to get us in "checkmate", which means we surrender completely to his will, plan, and Lordship for our life. God's was is better than my way. And in an interesting turn of events, it can often be the sexual area of a man's life that God uses to finally get that man in "checkmate". It's when we become desperate enough as a result of our struggle with sexual brokenness, compulsion, and addcition, that we often come to the place where we're finally ready and willing to do the work we need to do that will allow God to work in a deeper and more powerful way in our heart and life than ever before.  CHECKMATE! The second metaphor is taken from the wonderful movie, The Wizard of Oz! When the farmhouse crashes down, and Dorothy opens the door and steps over the threshold, the movie changes from black and white to color, and she delivers the most significant line of the entire movie: "Toto, I don't think we're in Kansas anymore!" In this sense there's a kind of "before and after" in each one of our lives. The metaphorical "Kansas" (in black and white) represents the old way we used to live our life, and the metpahorical "Oz" (in color) represents the new way of life God has intended for us. It's the way of God and the way of his kingdom. We're in a new and different place we might not really understand, but we're finally positioned to experience the life, healing, restoration, and redemption of God in our heart, life, and sexuality like we've never experienced before!