SEXUAL DETOX
A Guide for Guys Who Are Sick of Porn
Tim Challies
Cruciform Press | Released October, 2010
This book is dedicated to my sons generation, a generation of boys who will avoid the allure of pornography only by the grace of God.
Tim Challies
2010 by Tim Challies. All rights reserved.
CruciformPress.com | info@CruciformPress.com
In an age when sex is worshiped as a god, a little book like this can go a long way to helping men overcome sexual addiction.
Pastor Mark Driscoll
Mars Hill Church
Tim Challies strikes just the right balance in this brief but necessary work. His assessment of the sexual epidemic in our culture is sober but not without hope. His advice is practical but avoids a checklist mentality. His discussion of sexual sin is frank without being inappropriate. In a day when it can almost be assumed that every young male struggles with pornography, lust, and masturbation, this book will be a valuable resource. Im grateful for Tims wisdom, candor, and grace.
Kevin DeYoung
Senior Pastor, University Reformed Church, East Lansing, Michigan; Conference Speaker and author of numerous books, including The Good News We Almost Forgot , Just Do Something, and Why We Love the Church
In an era in which every man is online, pornography is not just a problem for Christian men; it is THE problem. All men face the temptation of this mind polluting, heart-hardening, soul-deadening sin. Many men, young and old, in our churches need Sexual Detox . This is a welcomed book. In a short, compressed format Challies identifies the toxic nature of this sin and offers practical, doable and, above all, gospel-centered hope for men. I want every man I serve and all the guys on our staff to read this book.
Tedd Tripp
Pastor, Grace Fellowship Church, Hazle Township, Pennsylvania; Conference Speaker and author of Shepherding a Childs Heart and Instructing a Childs Heart
The church, the bride of Christ, finds itself in a sexual age. Much as we Christians might struggle to accept this, sex is very nearly the dominant cultural currency of our day. Because we know that this is a perversion of Gods good plan, we might struggle to accept this realityand to confront it as we must. Sexual Detox is just what we need. It is clear, honest, and biblical, written with a tone that is knowing but kind, exhortative but gracious, realistic but determined. Those of us who work with youththe target market in the sex-saturated societyhave been given by Tim Challies a terrific resource for fighting sin and exalting Christ. We are in Tims debt. Heres hoping that this book and its emphasis on confrontational holiness will spread far and wide for the health of the church and the strengthening of marriages both temporal and divine.
Owen Strachan
Instructor of Christian Theology and Church History, Boyce College; Co-author of the Essential Edwards Collection
Thank God for using Tim to articulate simply and unashamedly the truth about sex amidst a culture of permissiveness. This book is simple and biblical in its approach to detox us of the lies we hold onto in this area of sexuality. Read it and believe it.
Ben Zobrist
All-Star Right Fielder, Tampa Bay Rays
Tim has worked hard to express these truths simply. You can thank us for that. He has seen from teaching us that we are simple guys who need a simple explanation of Gods desires for our sexuality. We are convinced that if you are a normal guy with normal guy problems and a normal guy worldview, this book will be helpful for you, as it has been for us.
John Cowle, Steve Funston, Nick Mitchell , and Julian Freeman
Twenty-something guys from the church in Toronto where Tim Challies is an elder (From the Foreword).
Table of Contents
Chapters
One
Two
Three
Four
Five
Six
Comfort for the Tempted
A Sermon by Charles Spurgeon on First Corinthians 10:13
FOREWORD
Why This Book?
Picture a group of 20-something-year-old guys sitting in a room brainstorming together on how to write a killer Foreword for an important book that has helped us replace worldly lies with biblical truth about sexuality. As we bat some ideas around, Steve brings out his famous half-cooked chocolate chip cookies and sets them before me, John, the token diabetic of the group. Immediately I am faced with a decision. Should I indulge and enjoy these chocolaty delights (the memories of which cause me to slip in and out of a mini flavour-coma) or should I resist and do what I know is the best thing for me?
This decision, like all decisions, is based on more than mere knowledge. It is based on belief. If I take a cookie, it means I believe that eating it is the best thing for meor at the very least, that the pleasure it will give is greater than the consequences to my health.
In Sexual Detox, Tim Challies addresses men who know that sexual fantasies, masturbation, and pornography are wrong, but choose to indulge in their sin regardless. The purpose of this book is not to get you to admit that sexual sin is wrongyou already know that. Instead, the purpose is to move you to believe biblical truth about sexuality and have these beliefs determine your decisions.
When you indulge in sexual sin, it reveals what you truly believe about sexuality. You believe that the pleasure of sin is better than the pleasure of obeying God by enjoying sex the way God created it to be enjoyed. You believe that the pleasure you derive from your sin is greater than the consequences your sin will have on you and those around you. You believe that your momentary pleasure is greater than the rewards the Lord has for youboth in this life and in the life to come.
We all know sexual sin is wrong but we need to understand why it is wrong and that God has created sexuality for something greater . To help us replace a worldly view of sex with a God-defined understanding of sexuality is the reason Tim wrote this book.
Why Tim?
Many of you will know Tim from his blog or from other books and articles hes written. You will already know that he is a gifted and compelling writer, able to present the truths of Scripture with clarity and conviction. What you wont know is what we have all seen through the years we have known him as a friend, mentor, and pastor. Tim is a man who works hard to study the truth, to apply it to his own life, and then to teach what he has learned and applied in order to help others. Because Tim believes these things, lives these things, and loves to bless other men in his life (like us) he is especially qualified to write this book.
Why You?
We are writing this Foreword to you to commend this book as highly as we can. Not primarily because it is some new cure-all, cant-miss, one-step solution to all your problems with sexual sin, but because it represents what Tim has taught us that has helped us: It is biblical truth. And that alone is what will change your heart, your desires, your beliefs.
Tim has worked hard to express these truths simply. You can thank us for that. He has seen from teaching us that we are simple guys who need a simple explanation of Gods desires for our sexuality. We are convinced that if you are a normal guy with normal guy problems and a normal guy worldview, this book will be helpful for you, as it has been for us.
The bottom line is that when we believe in our hearts that the biblical view of sexuality is better than our sinful view of sex, we wont cease to be tempted, but we will stop indulging in sin. When we believe that the joy of obedience and the rewards of purity are greater, the draw of sexual sin will be lesser. When we believe all that God has planned for us and our sexuality we will, in Christ, become conquerors over temptation.
