“On your terms or God’s terms”: Digging deeper into God’s design for the human mind

Got an idea for a guest or topic?

If you would like to share your own story, complete the form on OCF’s “Be a Guest” webpage. Alternatively, if you have an idea for a guest or topic I should consider for a future episode of the show, send an email to [email protected].

Show Notes

CAPT Brent & Nicole Breining, USN (Ret.), return to the podcast today to continue our series on pornography and sexuality. If you haven’t listened to the first episode in this series, I encourage you to check out that episode first, get to know Brent and Nicole’s story, then return to hear today’s episode as we dive into the nature of addiction.

We discuss statistics and real-world case studies regarding the pornography industry that reveal the magnitude of its harmful effects on society and on individuals alike. Brent and Nicole then unpack terms and concepts such as the cyclone of addiction, the shame cycle, and neurochemistry of the brain that all point to God’s intricate design for His creation.

Check out the various resources mentioned throughout this episode:

• Restoring the Soul podcast: Part 1 with Tony Anderson, and Part 2 with Tony Anderson
• Fight the New Drug
• The Social Dilemma
• Pure Desire Ministries, through which Brent and Nicole help men and women heal from unwanted sexual behaviors and their repercussions

As you listen to this conversation with Brent and Nicole, here are a few questions to ponder in your personal time, with a small group, or with a mentor:

1. We refer to the statistic that 49% of rescued sex trafficking victims were forced to participate in the production of pornographic material. How ought that knowledge affect decisions to consume that pornographic material?
2. How does the pornography industry harm our perceptions of others as individuals made in the image of God?
3. Why might “rigid, disengaged homes,” per Brent’s description, often become an environment in which many individuals become sex addicts?
4. What habits can you establish to “live in this world of technology… but do it in a healthy manner,” as Brent says?
5. What sin struggles have prompted you to feel shame and hide from God and from fellow believers?