Monday, January 23, 2017

the Hardcore

7 Reasons Every Church Website Needs a Porn Page based on 2 ratings Brandon Cox (website: BrandonACox.com) Jan 23, 2017 Scripture: none (Suggest Scripture) Tags: Brokenness Culture Outreach Pornography (Suggest Tag)  Yep. Porn. You read it right. Every church website needs a porn page – a page dedicated to pornography. A couple of years ago, I added a page about porn (yep, gracehillschurch.com/PORN) to our church’s website and began to optimize it for search engine results. Now, hundreds of people have found that page while searching for things like “arkansas porn” and “northwest porn” and various other related terms. Some have even found it while looking for “help with porn addiction.” Visit the Grace Hills Porn Page What’s on the page? Well, these basic elements: Words of encouragement for those struggling, along with an invitation to escape. Links to FightTheNewDrug.org and XXXChurch.com. A link to a strong, local Celebrate Recovery ministry. A link to ten of the best books about the struggle with pornography. Links to other local resources and ministries. An invitation to come to Grace Hills, “even if you just looked at porn.” We could do more. We could incorporate video testimonials, giveaways of free software, and links to messages where we’ve talked about addiction, lust, and pornography. But this is a good start. Here are some reasons why I believe every church ought to create a page like this… We talk about shining light in the darkness, but we don’t really enter the darkness much with the light. Google gives us a chance to do so by creating findable resources for those who are struggling. When we preach at people about their behavior but never preach to them with hope, we just create frustrated, disillusioned strugglers. When we don’t talk about an issue that a lot of people struggle with, we make it seem taboo, off limits, and that there is no help. People are looking for porn! LOTS of people. They need to know that what they’re searching for will never fill the void that Jesus can fill with his true, genuine love. It’s a gospel issue. It’s a sin issue, so repentance is necessary. We need to talk about this issue in a way that invites people to change rather than merely piling on more shame. Resources are out there! And the church has the people who need those resources. This is one way for us to build a bridge and plug people into helpful resources. Part of the church’s tendency to be anemic is the result of a ton of our guys feeling shame over their secret addiction to porn. Help them get free and see just how they can change the world. Men are struggling in this area more and more. Women are struggling too. Teenagers are struggling. Families are hurting. People in the industry are suffering. People are being bought and sold as slaves to help support this industry. We’ve gotta do something! Why not start a church porn page? Brandon Cox (website: BrandonACox.com) View Articles Brandon Cox is lead pastor of Grace Hills Church, a new church plant in northwest Arkansas. He also serves as Editor and Community Facilitator for Pastors.com and Rick Warren's Pastor's Toolbox and was formerly a pastor at Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, California. In his spare time, he offers consultation to church leaders about communication, branding and social media. He and his wife Angie live with their two awesome kids in Bentonville, Arkansas. 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