Russell Willingham - Breaking Free: Understanding Sexual Addiction and the Healing Power of Jesus

I would like to thank the many people God has used to impact my life. They have contributed to this book either directly or indirectly. Thank you, Trip Kimball, Roger Whitlow, Eric Nelson and Scott Falk, for pastoring and supporting me when lesser men would have kept their distance. Thank you, Bud Searcy, executive director of New Creation Ministries, for being my brother, mentor, friend and boss. Your life and teaching have shaped me more than you know. Thank you, Donna Ren Hopkins, my co-worker, for being the best friend and little sister a guy could have.

Thank you, Bob Davies, president of Exodus International, for greatly encouraging a first-time author and giving me practical guidance. To Mona Gansberg Hodgson and Virginia Muir for your editing expertise and invaluable suggestions. To Linda Doll at InterVarsity Press, who was the first to champion the book and see it through to its completion.

Thank you, Nick Ballew and Brian Nagel, for your love, friendship and support over the years. Thank you, Diane Ashmore, for knowing how to listen, how to speak and how to love. Thanks to all of the staff, leaders, board members and volunteers at New Creation Ministries for your hard work and encouragement. And, most of all, thank you to the men and women who have allowed me to tell your stories. I have been touched by your brokenness and courage.

Finally, thank you, Lord Jesus. You have kept every one of your promises and blessed me beyond my imagination. For any fruit that comes from this book I give you the credit. For any errors I take the blame.

All the surveys Ive read show the same thing: Huge numbers of Christian meneven leadersare struggling with various forms of sexual addiction. And, until recently, there were few resources to point the way out. Fortunately, this lack of help is now changing, and this book is an important contribution to the literature on this subject.

Russell Willingham is my favorite type of writer. He doesnt just point the way in an abstract, detached manner. Rather, he invites you to come along on a mutual journey of discovery, as he tells you the details of his own struggle and how God has turned him from a defeated victim into a triumphant overcomer. You will be fascinated to read about his life, and you will be filled with hope for your own struggles. Russell has also worked with many men dealing with similar issues, and he shares insights from his counseling sessions with numerous clients.

Whether you are struggling with sexual addiction or know of someone who is, this practical book will give you effective answers. After examining the dynamics of how we get trapped in sexual addiction, Russell shows us the way out through allowing God to heal the underlying root issues and finding accountability with other believers.

The pathway to freedom is not easy. Along the way we must examine family dynamics, look at the biblical basis for our true identity and wrestle with the implications of our dark side of sin and shame. We must take an honest look at our inner loneliness, then bring God into our areas of deepest need. Finally, we must be committed to lives of rigorous honesty.

The solutions in this book are not simple, but they are effective. They have been tested in the lives of other men before being offered here. I am convinced that after reading this book youll have the insights and practical tools to begin experiencing a whole new level of freedom.

Its my pleasure to recommend this volume to anyone who has felt hopeless, trapped and condemned by sexual addiction. You are holding the key to your freedom. Unlock it by absorbing and practicing the truths presented in thisand may God bless you with the same joy and liberty that he has brought into the lives of the author and many of the other men that youll meet in these pages.

Bob Davies

Executive Director

Exodus International North America

I see men and women every day who struggle with sexual issues. They are all in pain. They are frustrated and confused by behavior they dont understand. They are construction workers, administrators, laborers, pastors, salesmen, police officers, homemakers and missionaries; and they are all Christians.

What makes people who love God indulge regularly in sexual sin? Is it a lack of commitment? A lack of will power? Perhaps they are not really saved at all? Most of us are quick to diagnose their problem and offer a solution. But my experience has shown me that a common thread runs through their livesthey are lonely to the core. That loneliness has not responded to increased church attendance, more intense Bible study or rebuking the devil. It seems to hang on and claw at their insides until they find themselves doing the very things they vowed they would never do.

My heart has ached as I have listened to their stories. Ive also been angered by the ways they have wounded their families. Nevertheless, I have seen that these are people who genuinely care about morality but find themselves failing to live up to those moral principles. They have found little encouragement in the quick fix mentality of the Christians around them. Some of them, in a last-ditch attempt to find help before they abandon Christianity altogether, have come to us. Some of these same men and women are now finding freedom for the first time in their lives.