The Resolute Issue

JANUARY 2016

MORE THAN CONQUERORS

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. - Romans 8:37

When you're fighting porn addiction, you first and foremost need to know that the biggest part of the struggle - the guilt and sin - has been taken care of by Christ. You are, from the moment that truth is in you, a conqueror.

With that foundation of Christ's victory, you continue to fight, and at the beginning "not doing it" seems like the highest goal. Getting through the next day, the next hour, the next temptation without losing the battle against lust is the first and only priority, and rightfully so. Desire after desire and decision after decision, you are a conqueror.

Brick by brick, decision by decision, you who fight pornographic addiction build on the love, mercy, and grace of Jesus - a foundation well-suited for supporting your efforts. Slowly (and not without struggle, miss-step, repentance, and restoration) these decisions become habits. Habits become behaviors which inform our view of life. All of a sudden, you're no longer focusing on "not doing it," because "doing it" no longer holds you captive the way it did before. You are becoming something that might be referred to as "more than conquerors."

Shifting from "having an unhealthy view of sex" to "trying to stop having an unhealthy view of sex" and then to "developing a truly godly view of sex" is the same as being more than conquerors. It is being leaders, ushering in a healthier future that is not mired in the battles of the past. Is there still temptation? Yes. Are there still consequences? Yes. But the future is brighter because the foundation is the unshakable love of Christ.

You can stand, focused and resolute, on his mercy. You can be more than a conqueror - through Christ.

CtC 2016 State of the Ministry Message

by Chairman Mike Novotny

"Did you have a chance to check out the Conquerors through Christ website?" I asked the young man sitting in my office. I assumed he would nod his head. After all, he heard two sermons from our Conquerors through Christ sermon series, attended a special CtC presentation at a local high school, and went home with a CtC business card in his hand two, if not three, times!

But he didn't nod in affirmation. Instead, he replied, "Well...no. I didn't feel right checking out the site."

"Oh," I said, trying to hide my surprise, "and why is that?"

"Because," he admitted, "I'm still struggling with porn."

And that, friends, is reason 1,037,812 why Conquerors through Christ needs to exist. The work we carried out in 2015 and the plans we have for 2016 are not just nice. They are needed. And as long as beloved souls like that young man fill the Church of God, the message of CtC will always need to exist.

I suppose I could convince you with the statistics about the average age a kid first sees hardcore porn (11) or the number of pastors who didn't preach last Sunday because of their problem with porn (a lot) or the rising percentage of Christian women who struggle with porn (20%) or a thousand other sad numbers.

But I would rather tell you about that young man. He is an every-Sunday, church-volunteering, raised-in-a-godly-home, fully-aware-of-CtC's-desire-to-help, son of the Most High God. Yet, porn somehow told him he is not good enough to get help. Not yet. Not until he fixes himself.

There is something uniquely sinister about sexual impurity. It has a way of luring you into the darkness, covering you in its filth, and then making you too ashamed to step back out into the light. No wonder dozens of people who sat around you in church last Sunday are silently struggling. Porn kills. It kills our honesty, our community, our self-control, our souls.

But there is hope. For that young man. For us. For you.
Before I tell you the rest of his story, let me tell you about the amazing grace God has poured out on CtC over the past year. While we rejoice in the blessings we never personally witnessed, we also want to celebrate the blessings God allowed us to see. They include:

Presentation Frenzy - Churches and schools continue to see the urgent need for CtC's message, and invitations came flying into our inbox in 2015. By God's grace, CtC presenters Dan Schoeffel, Pat Schlosser, and Mike Novotny were able to share the good news of God's love for sexual sinners at (1) the Urban Pastors Conference of Milwaukee, (2) Fox Valley Lutheran High School, (3) Bethany Lutheran College, (4) Martin Luther College, (5) the WELS National Leadership Conference, (6) Luther High School (Onalaska), (7) Great Plains Lutheran High School, (8) the Pacific Northwest Pastors' Conference, (9) Minnesota Men of His Word, (10) The Point of Grace Campus Ministry (Milwaukee), and (11) Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary.
Digital Push-Back - Under the excellent leadership of CtC team members Kent Reeder and Hilary Samsa, CtC's digital ministry pushed against internet impurity with Christ-centered resources for sexual sinners and those who love them. The CtC website passed the 20,000 hit mark and CtC's Facebook page following increased by nearly 500%! Most importantly, the new CtC eNewsletters and eBulletins are reaching a growing audience with timely encouragements about honoring God with our bodies.
Boots on the Ground - More and more, CtC hears news of Christians using CtC materials to bring God's grace to their own churches, schools, and homes. One pastor sent this encouraging email-"This afternoon all I did was meet with one man after another who confessed pornography sin to me of all kinds and I have these little [CtC] business cards that I can hand out and follow up with people and help them understand how to hopefully move beyond these things in the power of the gospel. If you ever wonder, 'Why am I doing this? Why am I spending all of this time?', I just want to let you know that your ministry is having an impact, and it's a real important one. So, as somebody who has just been on the front lines with people, thank you!"
Love for Loved Ones - CtC not only desires to help sexual sinners escape the porn trap, but also wants to help those who are hurt by another's sexual sin. That is why the CtC team worked to provide more book reviews, blog posts, and FAQ's to encourage those who are patiently walking alongside a loved one who is caught in the web of porn.
Running out of Jerseys - The CtC team has grown from a small group of less than ten to dozens and dozens of guest authors, contributors, promoters, and future presenters. Nearly everywhere CtC goes, someone offers, "How can I help? Porn did __________ to me, and I want to help others avoid that pain. So, what can I do?" Check out our recent eNewsletters for examples of the growing number of allies for CtC.
Sex and the Seminary - One of the more miss-able, but essential blessings of 2015 was the shift in culture at Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary. Due to the amazing work of Prof. John Scheutze, CtC has shared its values and vision with future pastors for the past few years, and those seeds are bursting with a harvest of blessings. These future pastors are more comfortable talking about porn and more motivated to help their future congregations talk openly and evangelically about sexual sin and the one who died for sexual sinners. By our count, every future pastor who sees the need to talk about porn equals hundreds or thousands of souls that will hear what they need to hear!

I would boast more in the Lord, but I might break the internet with amount of words needed to describe God's grace to CtC this past year! Needless to say, we are in great debt to the One from whom all blessings flow and to all of you who have prayed, presented, promoted, and pushed CtC to reach one soul after another with the gospel.

But what about that young man? Despite all the celebratory statistics, he still was caught up in the habit and the shame. That's why CtC refuses to relax. The harvest is plentiful, and God's people need to hear our message! Therefore, CtC has bold goals for 2016. They include:

A Mobile Version - With most of CtC's web traffic coming through mobile devices, team members Dave Hochmuth and Jason Tesch are doing the hard work of rebuilding a better, mobile-friendly CtC website.
Parents Plan - Leveraging the Seminary thesis of Pastor Paul Krueger, CtC team member Kent Reeder is crafting a plan for parents, providing practical steps from the earliest years to help children honor God with their bodies and escape the damage porn always causes.
Training Camp - With so many people begging to redeem the pain porn caused in their past, CtC is developing its first-ever Training Camp, an eMinistry to equip an expanding CtC team of presenters around the nation. This training camp will instill the values and provide the materials so that CtC friends in every state can get equipped with the tools they need to spread the message of mercy to their churches, schools, and families.
Early Prevention - Two CtC team members will travel to Colorado this summer to present at the National Youth Rally. These presentations will help God's young sons and daughters avoid the path so many of older Christians wish they wouldn't have taken!

And a bunch of other awesome stuff! These goals are aggressive for the CtC team, so we are praying God provides both the people power and the personal energy needed to make sure everyone knows there is help for the worst porn user at CtC.

Are you interested in helping us achieve those goals? Want to help your church and/or school find forgiveness and hope in Jesus? Check out this link for great ideas to bring CtC's message to your town. Without you, we couldn't possibly reach every struggling-marriage, every secret-keeping student, every guilt-ridden pastor, everyone that needs help.

But I can't leave you without the rest of the story. That young man, the one who didn't think he was good enough for CtC, got help. After I read Zephaniah 3:17 ("The Lord takes great delight in you!"), I sent him home with a CtC card, a visual reminder of his next step. I expected him to check it out, but I didn't expect what happened a few days later...

"Pastor!" he smiled, finding me as soon as he walked into church, "Pastor! It was like a light switch! I was tempted to look, but I just thought, 'This is pointless," and I walked away! Thank you so much!"

After church, he couldn't leave without tracking me down again. "Pastor, thank you. Thank you so much."

So, as we begin this new year, perhaps I should share the thanks with you. Without you, CtC wouldn't be a prayer-backed ministry that reaches bodies and souls one by one with an ancient message that gives eternal hope.

"The sexually immoral will not inherit the kingdom of God...And that is what you were! You were washed; you were justified; you were sanctified in the name of Jesus Christ!" (1 Corinthians 6)

Merry Christmas to all! And may our 2016 be a porn-free year!

A Conqueror like You,
Pastor Mike Novotny

WHAT'S THIS?

The habit-changing email list is 22 days of emails from CtC that are encouragements for people who are trying to break the habit of using pornography.

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