My Epic Journey

Came across this great article from the guys at www.xxxchurch.com.  I will be mentioning this at our P.A.T.H. meeting this Sunday (3:00–4:45 @ Grace Point Community Church).

Did you get your kids Porn for Christmas?

By Kevin Outland

I bet you never thought to ask yourself, “Did I get my kids porn for Christmas?”. I’m pretty sure you didn’t wrap up a stack of Playboy magazines and put them under the tree or put porn DVD’s in your kids stockings. Or did you?
Sometimes we don’t think or don’t know about the unintended consequences of the gifts we give our kids. For instance, did you get any of your kids a new cell phone for Christmas? Does the cell phone have Internet access? If so, you gave your kids porn for Christmas. Did you get any of your kids the iPod Touch for Christmas? If so, you gave them porn for Christmas. Did you get your kids a new computer for Christmas? If you didn’t buy a filter to go along with it, you gave them porn for Christmas. Why did I pick Cell Phones, the iPod Touch and Computers? They’re popular gifts and can crack the door open to the world of porn.
Cell Phones: Most cell phones have Internet access and filtering porn on cell phones is a real challenge. Some cell phone carrier’s, like AT&T or Verizon, have parental controls available but you may have to pay extra (AT&T charges $4.99/m per line) for the service and each cell phone may have a different way to implement the filtering. So grab your kids Christmas cell phone, call your carrier and find out how to block porn and other inappropriate websites on their phone.

iPod Touch: The iPod Touch has parental controls but it’s pretty much having Internet access turned on or turned off. So grab your kids’ iPod Touch, access the Parental Controls and turn off the Internet. There is a company, SafeEyes, that’s coming out with Internet filtering for the iPod Touch and the iPhone. So when that comes out get it so your kids can safely surf the web on those devices. For more information about this mobile Internet filtering software from SafeEyes follow this link: www.safeeyes.com/iphonedemo.

Computers: Without Internet filtering software on your kids PC they can access a ton of porn and other inappropriate content. And if you got them a laptop they can access that type of content just about anywhere. So grab you kids PC and load up an Internet filter from SafeEyes by clicking here. Then go download X3 Watch from XXXChurch for extra protection. It’s not a filter but will tell you, via email, if your kids are going to inappropriate websites (click here).
Now that you have a little more information ask yourself, “Did I get my kids porn for Christmas?” If so, now you know what to do to make your Christmas gifts porn free.

At Grace Point, we thrive as a ministry on our Life Group ministry.  The importance of getting together as a group of peers with a passion to hold each other accountable, breathe life and love to each other and to both cheer and weep with each other cannot be overstated.  I know our students grow deep and are challenged in their respected EPIC Journey (Life) Groups but even more important is Anna and my need for small community interaction.  As our ministry, both Grace Point and EPIC, continues to grow it is necessary to find a place in the Life Group setting.

I was reminded again of this in a reading I was doing for grad work. Clinton and Ohlschlager, in their book, Competent Christian Counseling, state:

Within a community committed to acceptance, education, and appropriate discipline and consequences for conduct unbecoming a disciple of Jesus Christ . . . people are brought to maturity.

The spiritual reparenting required is often best accomplished through cell (life) groups, that assemble for the purpose of Bible study, encouragement, exhortation, worship, and the practice of a series of spiritual disciplines within a circle of accountability (Foster, 1988; Willard, 1998).  In keeping with our giftedness, no member of the believing community is excused from involvement with these groups or the means of personal spiritual growth they seek to establish (Ephesians 4.14-16) (p. 113)

Our Pastor of Discipleship, Tom Houser, does an AMAZING job fostering and training our community of believers on the importance of the Life Group community.  For more information on Tom’s thoughts and guidance check out, http://runinsuchaway.com/.