I have to confess I don’t read a lot of books for entertainment. I read books to find answers to life’s riddles. I buy books like mechanics buy tools. I get them to show me how to fix stuff. I guess that’s a man thing. But that’s why I wanted to get this book.
All of us have noticed this problem, but we rarely say anything about it. It’s huge, but too few try to solve it. Men have become an endangered species in the church! When I have been asked about the problem, I’ve searched my brain for deep ecclesiological, anthropological answers. But from now on I am going to tell churches to stockpile Eric Redmond’s new release “Where are All the Brothers?”
The book is ingenious for its simplicity. Redmond doesn’t write to pastors and theologians so they can pontificate about the problem. Why do that? These brothers are already in church. He writes directly to men who are playing hooky—and not in a scolding, or demeaning way, but like a smooth lawyer who’s never lost a case because he knows his jury. Redmond knows his brothers, and he knows why they’ve stopped coming to church. So with honest answers, he point by point overcomes all of their objections. And the amazing thing to me is that he accomplishes this with chapters any brother will read because they are only a couple of pages long! If I ever get to meet Redmond, I am going to ask him to teach me the skill of being profound while keeping it real, clear, and brief.
If you are concerned about getting men back into the church, do what I am going to do. Stop talking about the problem, buy this book in bulk, and give it out to all of your male new visitors, your "come alone to church" married sisters, and then pray for God to bring a rain of men back into His church.
Pastor Robert S. Scott, Sr.
General editor of Secret Sex Wars: A Battle Cry for Purity
www.secretsexwars.com
Friday, July 25, 2008
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Press Release: The Secret is Out
By Takiela Bynum
The pornography epidemic is spreading like cancer on steroids. This plague is not confined by boundaries because it has touched many nations. It is not restricted by resources because there are outbreaks in every economic level from the ghettos of the cities, the condos of the suburbs, to the mansions along the shores. It is not limited by race because people of every shade can become its victims.
In 2005 Grammy Award winning, gospel music phenomenon Kirk Franklin shared his addiction to pornography with millions.
Each second $3,075.64 is being spent on pornography. The pornography industry is larger than the revenues of the top technology companies combined, including Microsoft, Google, Amazon, eBay, Yahoo!, Apple, Netflix, and EarthLink.
90% of children ages 8-16 years old admit to having viewed pornography online.
47% of Christians said that pornography is a major problem at home.
Like a drug, this addiction renders its victims helpless, destroying lives everywhere.
Offering hope to what seems like a hopeless situation, seven African American Christian leaders are on a mission to help their brothers win their wars against sexual impurity. General editor Robert S. Scott, Sr., Pastors H.B Charles, Paul Felix, Carl Hargrove, Brian Kennedy, Anthony Kidd, and Victor Sholar came together, each offering their own uniqueness and bringing their own experiences to the table, and compiled the book Secret Sex Wars: A Battle Cry for Purity (www.secretsexwars.com).
In a recent interview, Pastor Bobby Scott stated that men don't usually talk about their personal struggles. However, at the 2006 LA Men's Bible Conference, which became the inspiration for this book, they did. Men opened up to seek God's help to win their secret sex wars. This is one secret that is worth exposing. "We are at an epidemic level in terms of the HIV virus spreading through our heterosexual community. This is causing damage not only in the general communities, but the Christian communities as well. We've reached a point where we have to lay this issue on the table and address it squarely," said Pastor Scott. "We've seen various leaders in our community struggle, we've all been dealing with this issue in counseling sessions, and this is a topic that we've all been addressing in our churches. Many men and women are being affected by sexual impurity. Our culture is so sensuality-saturated that you can't go anywhere and escape some type of sexual temptation. Let's get together and have a clear and biblical response. The Word of God can set you free. Let's stop using water guns to put out fires. We need to pull the bazookas out and get victory over sexual temptation. "
When asked the question, What type of an impact would you like this book to have on the community? Pastor Scott answered, "To give hope. I want people to know that with God there is no sin that we can't overcome. I'm a living testimony. I was once a womanizer because the world told me that's what a man was supposed to do, but when I got saved, God changed me. He gave me victory. So if you're enslaved to sexual temptation and you don't think you can get out, know that you can. Jesus said that he can set you free, and He can, I am a living witness to that."
Takiela Bynum is the wife of Minister Marterrio Bynum and they have three children, T`eyrr (12), Marterrio II (8), and Marterrion (5). Takiela is the Visionary of www.HisBeauty4Ashes.org, President of www.BooksALatte.com and host of blog radio talk show L.A.W.S. Inspiration Station -- www.blogtalkradio.com/inspirationstation
For interviews contact
Pam Perry, Chief Visionary
Ministry Marketing Solutions, Inc.
248-426-2300
info@ministrymarketingsolutions.com
The pornography epidemic is spreading like cancer on steroids. This plague is not confined by boundaries because it has touched many nations. It is not restricted by resources because there are outbreaks in every economic level from the ghettos of the cities, the condos of the suburbs, to the mansions along the shores. It is not limited by race because people of every shade can become its victims.In 2005 Grammy Award winning, gospel music phenomenon Kirk Franklin shared his addiction to pornography with millions.
Each second $3,075.64 is being spent on pornography. The pornography industry is larger than the revenues of the top technology companies combined, including Microsoft, Google, Amazon, eBay, Yahoo!, Apple, Netflix, and EarthLink.
90% of children ages 8-16 years old admit to having viewed pornography online.
47% of Christians said that pornography is a major problem at home.
Like a drug, this addiction renders its victims helpless, destroying lives everywhere.
Offering hope to what seems like a hopeless situation, seven African American Christian leaders are on a mission to help their brothers win their wars against sexual impurity. General editor Robert S. Scott, Sr., Pastors H.B Charles, Paul Felix, Carl Hargrove, Brian Kennedy, Anthony Kidd, and Victor Sholar came together, each offering their own uniqueness and bringing their own experiences to the table, and compiled the book Secret Sex Wars: A Battle Cry for Purity (www.secretsexwars.com).
- Pastor H.B. Charles is the Pastor-teacher at Shiloh Metropolitan Baptist Church in Jacksonville, Florida.
- Professor Paul Felix is President of the Los Angeles Bible Training School and Professor of NT Greek at The Master's Seminary.
- Pastor Carl Hargrove is the Senior Pastor of Fairview Heights Baptist Church in Inglewood, California.
- Pastor Brian Kennedy has been the Senior Pastor at Mt. Zion Baptist Church in Ontario, California for the past 9 years.
- Pastor Anthony Kidd is the Pastor-teacher at Westside Bible Church in Los Angeles.
- Pastor Victor Sholar is the Assistant Pastor at the Los Angeles Community Bible Church.
- Pastor Bobby Scott is the Pastor-teacher at the Los Angeles Community Bible Church.
In a recent interview, Pastor Bobby Scott stated that men don't usually talk about their personal struggles. However, at the 2006 LA Men's Bible Conference, which became the inspiration for this book, they did. Men opened up to seek God's help to win their secret sex wars. This is one secret that is worth exposing. "We are at an epidemic level in terms of the HIV virus spreading through our heterosexual community. This is causing damage not only in the general communities, but the Christian communities as well. We've reached a point where we have to lay this issue on the table and address it squarely," said Pastor Scott. "We've seen various leaders in our community struggle, we've all been dealing with this issue in counseling sessions, and this is a topic that we've all been addressing in our churches. Many men and women are being affected by sexual impurity. Our culture is so sensuality-saturated that you can't go anywhere and escape some type of sexual temptation. Let's get together and have a clear and biblical response. The Word of God can set you free. Let's stop using water guns to put out fires. We need to pull the bazookas out and get victory over sexual temptation. "
When asked the question, What type of an impact would you like this book to have on the community? Pastor Scott answered, "To give hope. I want people to know that with God there is no sin that we can't overcome. I'm a living testimony. I was once a womanizer because the world told me that's what a man was supposed to do, but when I got saved, God changed me. He gave me victory. So if you're enslaved to sexual temptation and you don't think you can get out, know that you can. Jesus said that he can set you free, and He can, I am a living witness to that."
Takiela Bynum is the wife of Minister Marterrio Bynum and they have three children, T`eyrr (12), Marterrio II (8), and Marterrion (5). Takiela is the Visionary of www.HisBeauty4Ashes.org, President of www.BooksALatte.com and host of blog radio talk show L.A.W.S. Inspiration Station -- www.blogtalkradio.com/inspirationstation
For interviews contact
Pam Perry, Chief Visionary
Ministry Marketing Solutions, Inc.
248-426-2300
info@ministrymarketingsolutions.com
Friday, July 11, 2008
Meet the General Editor of Secret Sex Wars: Book Signing!!!
Come out tomorrow, Saturday, July 11, 2008, meet Bobby Scott and get a signed copy of Secret Sex Wars: A Battle Cry for Purity. He'll be at Windsor Hills Christian Bookstore 4438 W. Slauson ave. Los Angeles, CA 90043 from 2-4 pm.
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Jesse Jackson’s Crude Comments about Barak Obama
Fox News reported that Reverend Jesse Jackson, in what he thought was an off the air remark, complained that Barak Obama was “talking down to black people.” Then he added, “I want to cut his nuts off.” I hope this sounds more biblical than self-righteous, but a reverend ain’t supposed to talk that way on or off the air. But this is Jesse, and he has been talking this way for a long time, and people even in the black church overlook it.
Now to his credit, Jesse did apologize for making what he called “crude remarks.” And the truth is that we all say things we shouldn’t. But Jesse’s disparaging off the air remarks reveal a lot about how off the mark he is regarding the real needs of the African American community.
What heinous misstatement did Obama make to warrant a tongue lashing from Jackson? Obama said to a predominantly African-American church on Father’s Day, “Too many (African-American) fathers are AWOL, missing from too many lives and too many homes.” And according to Jackson, that’s the crime that is worthy of castration! Come on Jesse! We need truth in the city to move forward if we are ever going to overcome yesterday’s battles.
Even the most superficial google scan will validate that most of the problems we face in the urban community trace their roots back to fatherless homes.
* 75% of all adolescent patients in chemical abuse centers come from fatherless homes.
* 80% of rapists motivated with displaced anger come from fatherless homes.
* 70% of juveniles in state-operated institutions come from fatherless homes.
* 85% of all youths sitting in prisons grew up in fatherless homes.
Do I need to continue? How is stating this obvious truth “talking down”? African-Americans can’t keep ignoring these facts if we are going to come up with real solutions. If brothers aren’t going to man-up, get married, and then have children, then men like Jesse ought to man-up and tell brothers to wait before they become another baby’s daddy. As a man called to helping families by preaching the Bible, I don’t agree with Senator Obama on many issues, but he couldn’t be more right on this one. All African American leaders have to start calling men to be responsible fathers and husbands. Especially reverends! It’s a man’s job to take care of his family, not the government's. The Bible rebukes men who don’t take care of their families (1 Tim 5:8), and teaches that God will judge those who keep having sex outside of marriage (1 Thessalonians 4:6).
In the final chapter of Secret Sex Wars: A Battle Cry for Purity, Pastor Brian Kennedy attacks the generational problem of men having babies without becoming fathers. He teaches, he pushes, he encourages, he shows us how to “Raise Our Sons to Walk in Purity.” We’ve got to end this generational curse of having children grow up without their fathers. This is the message that we need to hear in the city, and Jesse, every American ought to rally around it.
* Stats taken from http://www.therisingsoninc.org/products.html accessed July 10, 2008.
Now to his credit, Jesse did apologize for making what he called “crude remarks.” And the truth is that we all say things we shouldn’t. But Jesse’s disparaging off the air remarks reveal a lot about how off the mark he is regarding the real needs of the African American community.
What heinous misstatement did Obama make to warrant a tongue lashing from Jackson? Obama said to a predominantly African-American church on Father’s Day, “Too many (African-American) fathers are AWOL, missing from too many lives and too many homes.” And according to Jackson, that’s the crime that is worthy of castration! Come on Jesse! We need truth in the city to move forward if we are ever going to overcome yesterday’s battles.
Even the most superficial google scan will validate that most of the problems we face in the urban community trace their roots back to fatherless homes.
* 75% of all adolescent patients in chemical abuse centers come from fatherless homes.
* 80% of rapists motivated with displaced anger come from fatherless homes.
* 70% of juveniles in state-operated institutions come from fatherless homes.
* 85% of all youths sitting in prisons grew up in fatherless homes.
Do I need to continue? How is stating this obvious truth “talking down”? African-Americans can’t keep ignoring these facts if we are going to come up with real solutions. If brothers aren’t going to man-up, get married, and then have children, then men like Jesse ought to man-up and tell brothers to wait before they become another baby’s daddy. As a man called to helping families by preaching the Bible, I don’t agree with Senator Obama on many issues, but he couldn’t be more right on this one. All African American leaders have to start calling men to be responsible fathers and husbands. Especially reverends! It’s a man’s job to take care of his family, not the government's. The Bible rebukes men who don’t take care of their families (1 Tim 5:8), and teaches that God will judge those who keep having sex outside of marriage (1 Thessalonians 4:6).
In the final chapter of Secret Sex Wars: A Battle Cry for Purity, Pastor Brian Kennedy attacks the generational problem of men having babies without becoming fathers. He teaches, he pushes, he encourages, he shows us how to “Raise Our Sons to Walk in Purity.” We’ve got to end this generational curse of having children grow up without their fathers. This is the message that we need to hear in the city, and Jesse, every American ought to rally around it.
* Stats taken from http://www.therisingsoninc.org/products.html accessed July 10, 2008.
Monday, July 7, 2008
Allyson Felix Blazes Her Way to Beijing
Co-author of Sex Secret Wars: A Battle Cry for Purity, Paul Felix,* is one proud father right now. Yesterday, his daughter, Allyson Felix, blazed her way onto the Olympic team, winning the 200 meters in 21.82 seconds at the US Trials in Eugene, Oregon.
There are nice perks to being a father. Just last week my daughter won her first softball tournament in a 12-and-under league. It was nerve-racking fun. They lost their second game and were moved to the consolation bracket and had to win their next four games to earn the championship. My daughter played catcher for the entire last three games. If you want to know what that feels like, the next time it is 90 degrees, put on a warm jacket and bend down in a squatting position for a couple of hours.
In the championship game, my daughter hit a ground ball to the pitcher, a routine out at first. As she powered her way towards first base, I don’t think I breathed the whole way. I have told her over and over again that she’s fast enough to beat infield ground balls, but to do that she had to run. Those words rang in my head, “don’t look honey, just run, don’t look, just run!” And boy did she run, and run, and run. The pitcher bobbled the ball seeing how hard she was running. She rushed to make the throw. The girl on first stretched to make the catch. It’s close. It’s too close to call. I’m still not breathing. The umpire yells, “she’s safe!” I exhale with a guttural yell. Yes, fatherhood has nice perks, and that was great fun. After our girls won, the dads smiled from ear to ear and high fived like we were 12 and under, and we had just won a world championship.
Now I can only imagine what it must have been like for Paul to watch his daughter blast out of the blocks and blaze (did I say “blaze” already?) her way to the Olympics. Beijing, here comes Allyson Felix and her chance to win perhaps three golds (in the 200, the 400 meter relay, and 1600 meter relay). It’s great being a father and even better when our children acknowledge their blessings come from God. As thrilled as Paul must be to know that his daughter made the Olympic team (a second time), I am sure his greatest thrill is seeing his daughter not run, but walk in the truth (2 John 4). That’s the greatest desire for every Christian father.
One of my favorite movies is Chariots of Fire. In the climax, Eric Liddell, who is a strong Christian, is warming up to run the 400 meters in the 1924 Summer Olympics. A teammate of his American rival slips him a note. It reads, “for those who honor Me I will honor,” 1 Sam. 2:30. That’s my prayer for Allyson, that God will grant her the grace to blaze a trail honoring Him by walking in the truth. The Christians at LACBC are very proud of Allyson and pray that God will grant her great success in the Olympics and before God.
*Paul Felix wrote the fourth chapter in Secret Sex Wars: A Battle Cry for Purity titled “Living According to the Will of God: An Ancient Battle Plan.” He is also the President of the Los Angeles Bible Training School and professor of NT Greek at The Master’s Seminary. Plus he officiated my marriage to my sweetheart, Naomi, 14 and a half years ago. God has blessed Paul with a super gracious and godly wife, Marlean, and two great kids, Wes and Allyson.
There are nice perks to being a father. Just last week my daughter won her first softball tournament in a 12-and-under league. It was nerve-racking fun. They lost their second game and were moved to the consolation bracket and had to win their next four games to earn the championship. My daughter played catcher for the entire last three games. If you want to know what that feels like, the next time it is 90 degrees, put on a warm jacket and bend down in a squatting position for a couple of hours.
In the championship game, my daughter hit a ground ball to the pitcher, a routine out at first. As she powered her way towards first base, I don’t think I breathed the whole way. I have told her over and over again that she’s fast enough to beat infield ground balls, but to do that she had to run. Those words rang in my head, “don’t look honey, just run, don’t look, just run!” And boy did she run, and run, and run. The pitcher bobbled the ball seeing how hard she was running. She rushed to make the throw. The girl on first stretched to make the catch. It’s close. It’s too close to call. I’m still not breathing. The umpire yells, “she’s safe!” I exhale with a guttural yell. Yes, fatherhood has nice perks, and that was great fun. After our girls won, the dads smiled from ear to ear and high fived like we were 12 and under, and we had just won a world championship.
Now I can only imagine what it must have been like for Paul to watch his daughter blast out of the blocks and blaze (did I say “blaze” already?) her way to the Olympics. Beijing, here comes Allyson Felix and her chance to win perhaps three golds (in the 200, the 400 meter relay, and 1600 meter relay). It’s great being a father and even better when our children acknowledge their blessings come from God. As thrilled as Paul must be to know that his daughter made the Olympic team (a second time), I am sure his greatest thrill is seeing his daughter not run, but walk in the truth (2 John 4). That’s the greatest desire for every Christian father.
One of my favorite movies is Chariots of Fire. In the climax, Eric Liddell, who is a strong Christian, is warming up to run the 400 meters in the 1924 Summer Olympics. A teammate of his American rival slips him a note. It reads, “for those who honor Me I will honor,” 1 Sam. 2:30. That’s my prayer for Allyson, that God will grant her the grace to blaze a trail honoring Him by walking in the truth. The Christians at LACBC are very proud of Allyson and pray that God will grant her great success in the Olympics and before God.
*Paul Felix wrote the fourth chapter in Secret Sex Wars: A Battle Cry for Purity titled “Living According to the Will of God: An Ancient Battle Plan.” He is also the President of the Los Angeles Bible Training School and professor of NT Greek at The Master’s Seminary. Plus he officiated my marriage to my sweetheart, Naomi, 14 and a half years ago. God has blessed Paul with a super gracious and godly wife, Marlean, and two great kids, Wes and Allyson.
Friday, July 4, 2008
African Americans Wage War Against Porn
When you are attacked, you have two choices—yield and give in or respond and stand. I write to plead with you to join the voices of the 7000 who haven’t bowed their knee and waved the white flag of surrender to the smut influence of our sensuality-saturated culture.
Secularists charge that Christians try to force a biblical morality upon them and try to legalize restraints of their freedoms. I honestly can’t fully dismiss that charge. Too often the church chooses man-made weapons to fight what is surely a spiritual battle. The apostle Paul did not do that (2 Cor. 10:3-5). My prayer for the church is that we respond like the apostle Paul by evangelizing our opponents, praying for those who stand against a biblical morality, and preaching the truth with love, compassion, and conviction.
Serving in the urban community of Los Angeles I am often confronted with opportunities to pray and preach against immorality. I write now because of such an occasion. I read an article yesterday from Bil Mooney-McCoy. He is the director of Safe Families TechMission http://safefamilies.org. This is my favorite one-stop anti-pornography website. It is really comprehensive and helpful. In an article posted on this site titled “Black Church Responds to Internet Pornography Companies Targeting Black Communities,”1 Bil charges that porn company, Club Pink, has registered the domain names MartinLutherKing.com and JesseJackson.com. The porn industry commonly uses this tactic to insidiously snake their way onto the screens of unsuspecting Internet uses. In this case, the targets are African-Americans and even children doing research on Martin Luther King.
Is this appalling to you? Does it disgust you? In this case, do you think that Christians or Porn marketers are the ones forcing their morality or lack thereof on those who don’t want it? Do you think it’s wrong if Christians call attention to the porn industry’s deceptive practice of relabeling smut to entrap the unsuspecting?
Christians have a God-given mandate to (1) live free from immorality (Eph 5:3, 7-8) and (2) to raise their children in the fear and admonition of the Lord (Eph 6:1-4). Therefore, we must resist our culture’s attempts to force its lust for immorality upon us. So practically what must we do? Attack those who are trying to seduce us and our children? No, the Bible teaches just the opposite. We must pray for them and pray for our protection and for God to hinder the efforts of porn producers who seek to entice our children and us. We must also boldly appeal to them evangelistically, proclaiming that Christ died to save sinners from a life of immorality and that God will bring His angry judgment against all who persist in participating in it (Eph 5:6).
I thank God for the efforts led by Safe Families and the African-American Christians who stood against the hijacking of Martin Luther King’s name to use it against the African American community. And I pray that more believers, especially African American Christians, will join the war against porn.
1Click this link to read this shocking article:
http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=miamitoday.story&STORY=/www/story/05-17-2006/0004363977&EDATE=WED+May+17+2006,+01:04+PM
Secularists charge that Christians try to force a biblical morality upon them and try to legalize restraints of their freedoms. I honestly can’t fully dismiss that charge. Too often the church chooses man-made weapons to fight what is surely a spiritual battle. The apostle Paul did not do that (2 Cor. 10:3-5). My prayer for the church is that we respond like the apostle Paul by evangelizing our opponents, praying for those who stand against a biblical morality, and preaching the truth with love, compassion, and conviction.
Serving in the urban community of Los Angeles I am often confronted with opportunities to pray and preach against immorality. I write now because of such an occasion. I read an article yesterday from Bil Mooney-McCoy. He is the director of Safe Families TechMission http://safefamilies.org. This is my favorite one-stop anti-pornography website. It is really comprehensive and helpful. In an article posted on this site titled “Black Church Responds to Internet Pornography Companies Targeting Black Communities,”1 Bil charges that porn company, Club Pink, has registered the domain names MartinLutherKing.com and JesseJackson.com. The porn industry commonly uses this tactic to insidiously snake their way onto the screens of unsuspecting Internet uses. In this case, the targets are African-Americans and even children doing research on Martin Luther King.
Is this appalling to you? Does it disgust you? In this case, do you think that Christians or Porn marketers are the ones forcing their morality or lack thereof on those who don’t want it? Do you think it’s wrong if Christians call attention to the porn industry’s deceptive practice of relabeling smut to entrap the unsuspecting?
Christians have a God-given mandate to (1) live free from immorality (Eph 5:3, 7-8) and (2) to raise their children in the fear and admonition of the Lord (Eph 6:1-4). Therefore, we must resist our culture’s attempts to force its lust for immorality upon us. So practically what must we do? Attack those who are trying to seduce us and our children? No, the Bible teaches just the opposite. We must pray for them and pray for our protection and for God to hinder the efforts of porn producers who seek to entice our children and us. We must also boldly appeal to them evangelistically, proclaiming that Christ died to save sinners from a life of immorality and that God will bring His angry judgment against all who persist in participating in it (Eph 5:6).
I thank God for the efforts led by Safe Families and the African-American Christians who stood against the hijacking of Martin Luther King’s name to use it against the African American community. And I pray that more believers, especially African American Christians, will join the war against porn.
1Click this link to read this shocking article:
http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=miamitoday.story&STORY=/www/story/05-17-2006/0004363977&EDATE=WED+May+17+2006,+01:04+PM
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