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The Web is a dangerous place for Adults, Children, and computers alike.

Here is a short list of statistics that you should know. This is followed with a list of web blocking Software sites that may help you. But you must also have training and accountability programs in place to insure safety for your loved ones and we have included sites to help you with at also. In the future we will also include sites to download free computer and email (spam) protection. Last of all we have included web sites that have help for people that are struggling with the pain of pornography or sex addiction in their lives.

These Links will take you off our web site and we can not be responsible for their content. We believe them to uphold general Christian principles. If you find a link that you have a problem with please contact us with the problem.

Pornography is a $57 billion a year industry. In comparison, the combined revenues of all teams in the NBA, NHL, MLB, and NFL is $12 billion, and the combined revenues of ABC, CBS, and NBC is a mere $6.2 billion.
Internet Filter Review
Economic Values of Professional Sport Franchises in the United States
1 in 4 youth have unwanted exposure to inapprpriate pictures each year
The Internet Keep Safe Coalition
Nine of 10 kids aged 8-16 have viewed pornography on the Internet, often in the process of doing homework.
London School of Economics January 2002
Students were most at risk for cybersex compulsions due to a combination of increased access to computers, more private leisure time, & developmental stage characterized by increased sexual awareness & experimentation. Both computer classes & colleges might need to recognize this increased vulnerability and institute new primary prevention strategies.
Sexual Addiction and Compulsion: The Journal of Treatment and Prevention, March, 2000 ( available by subscription )
"Cyber-sex is the crack cocaine of sexual addiction"
Jennifer P. Schneider, M.D., Ph.D
The New "Elephant in the Living Room" Effects of Compulsive Cybersex Behaviors on the Spouse , from the book Sex and the Internet, 2002
"Cyber-sex reinforces and normalizes sexual disorders"
Robert Weiss, Sexual Recovery Institute
One in five children ages 10-17 have received a sexual solicitation over the Internet
Online Victimization: A Report on the Nation's Youth , sponsored by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. See also UNH Study Finds Many Youth Exposed to Sexual Solicitation, Pornography and Harassment on Internet , 19 March, 2001.
74 percent of commercial pornography sites display free porn images on the homepage.
Child-Proofing on the World Wide Web: A Survey of Adult Webservers, 2001, Jurimetrics (abstract).
Summarized in Youth and the Internet (Chapter 3, The Adult Online Entertainment Industry ), National Research Council, 2002.
The two worst things about the above statistic are that kids and adults can go to pornographic sites accidentally (many times purposefully) and see things that can poison their psyche. Unbelievably there is never protection to keep kids off the page. Sometimes (very seldom) the person will be asked to click on a button to declare that they are of legal age to view pornography. However, this takes them directly to the pornography without requiring any farther proof of age. This is something that should be addressed by our congress. You would think it terrible if a child could go into an “adult book store” and buy a pornographic video and all the proof of age demanded was to ask the question are you 21 years of age. The same is true for alcohol and tobacco products at the local store. Someone would go to jail for that and rightfully so. The seven or seven-teen year old should not be allowed entrance to any immoral place just because they state that their age is over 21 with no proof of age demanded. This includes the internets immoral content. This sermon over for now. Please contact your congressional delegation and insist that they do something. If you want my full opinion on what needs to be done please email me.
45 percent of 1,000 surveyed teens admitted parents are the biggest influence in deciding whether or not to have sex
88 percent of teens say it would be easier to postpone sex if they could have more open, honest conversations with their parents
Two-thirds of U.S. teenagers who have had sexual relations wish they had waited longer.
National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy, September 2003.
Brief
Full survey

Trust but verify is a very important concept when talking about nucular weapons and the internet is a nucular weapon waiting to attack your loved ones. It is a known fact that many computer savy teens know how to disable internet filtering software. The first two listed below are free and are said to be more difficult to disable. Remember to trust but verify.

Free filtering programs

http://www.k9webprotection.com/index.html

http://www.radiance.m6.net/

Fee based filter programs

http://www.safeeyes.com/

Other sites that advocate safe internet parenting taken from the K-9 site

http://www.netsafekids.com
From the National Academies. An excellent source of education on where unwanted content comes from, and why you need to get educated! Includes information on how to report an incident if your child has been a victim of pornography, sexual predation, spam, Internet fraud, or harassment.

http://www.fbi.gov/publications/pguide/pguidee.htm
From the FBI. A Parent's guide to Internet Safety.

http://www.getnetwise.org
From the Internet Education Foundation. A site dedicated to educating parents and kids about online risks.

http://www.isafe.org
From i-SAFE America Inc. Endorsed by the US Congress, this non-profit foundation has developed a classroom curriculum and community outreach programs.

http://www.ikeepsafe.org
From the Internet Keep Safe Coalition. This site teaches basic rules of Internet safety to children and parents. Great for getting younger kids on the right track early.

http://partners.nytimes.com/library/national/science/health/051600hth-behavior-cybersex.html
A startling report from The New York Times Science section that highlights the dangers of sexually explicit Internet content. It's not just amusement; it's like a drug.

http://www.p-t-u.org
From Parent & Teen Universities, Inc. This site brings to the community the more disturbing facts about youth culture, and how important it is to get involved. Not just about Internet stuff. We saw the founder, Danny Holland, speak. If you can get him to visit your community, do it. Dynamic and engaging.

Coming soon here you will find list of freeware software programs to protect your computer from attacks that it may receive from the internet. The good news is that many of the worst attacks come from the sites that the above filtering software will prevent your computer from surfing into.

Spam software will be listed here as soon as I find a spam filter that works.

If you are struggeling either the pain of pornography of sex addiction in you life or the life of a loved one please check our these web sites for help.

Thanks to fish the net for these links.

http://www.xxxchurch.com/

Setting Captives Free - Providing Christ-Centered Hope and Freedom
Setting Captives Free exists to offer Christ-centered Hope and Freedom to those in the grip of sin through accountability to Bible-based Truth resulting in the true enjoyment of Life in and for the Glory of God.

Answers - Billy Graham

Book - When Good Men Are Tempted

Breaking Pornography Addiction

Center for On-Line Addiction
Resources for therapists and families, tips on Cyber-wellness, and Personal Therapy

Christians for Sexual Integrity

Christian Recovery Connection

Co-Sexaddicts Homepage

eXXit - Escaping the web of temptation

Fires of Darkness - Pornography addiction can be overcome!

Healing for Women - Hope & Healing

Heart to Heart

HelpandHope.org

How can I tell if I'm addicted to sex or pornography?

Is there a way to overcome my lust for sex?

Mastering Life Ministries

New Life Ministry

porn-free.org

Porn Prayer Support - Articles and support that will help the porn addict.

Pure Intimacy - A resource for those struggling with online pornography and affairs from Focus on the Family.

Pure Life Ministries

Recovering Couples Anonymous

Resisting Internet Porn

Sex Addicts Anonymous

Sex and Love Addicts Anonymous

Sexaholics Anonymous

Sexual Compulsives Anonymous

Struggling with pornography

S-Anon

The Center for On-Line Addiction

The Pleasure of Lust

When A Man's Eye Wanders - Radio Bible Class Ministries

XXXChurch.com takes direct approach with pornography

By Mark Landsbaum

CHRISTIAN EXAMINER

CORONA, Calif. — Two hip, admittedly “irreverent” pastors have stirred passions for three years waging war on pornography. They fight by loving the porn-addicted, and even porn purveyors.

Their strategy is laced with contemporary humor and ageless pathos, but not always warmly received by all Christians. Why not?

For starters, their Web site is called, “XXXChurch.com—the No. 1 Christian porn site.”

They titled their upcoming campaign, “National Porn Sunday,” hoping 200 churches will simultaneously discuss from the pulpit pornography’s evils, then invite parishioners back in the evening to see a documentary film explaining how Craig Gross and Mike Foster fashioned their Southern California ministry to rescue people from porn, offering love and, of course, accountability software, a 30-day confidential, “revolutionary new way to get help from pornography,” books, CDs and T-shirts.

The provocatively titled film reveals the seldom seen, troubled existence of porn stars and pornographers, but also of pornography addicts.

Lest anyone get the wrong impression, there is zero porn at XXXChurch.com because, “…We are here to give you truth and inspiration, not nude pics.”

Their ministry has taken Foster and Gross to a pornography convention in sin city itself, Las Vegas, distributing Bibles and trying to be salt and light. They joined forces with pornography filmmaker Jimmy D (real name Jimmy DiGiorgio) to create clever, contemporary videos, and their own story has been produced by secular filmmaker Bill Day, in what Gross terms, “a Michael Moore-type” documentary.

“The movie tells the story about pornography that the media don’t tell you,” Gross said in a recent interview. “We have a culture where (sex) is glamorized. Guys and girls grow up now thinking this is normal … in relationships. It’s a lie that they are sending us.”

Critics abound
But Gross’ and Foster’s message isn’t welcomed in all quarters. Gross said Trinity Broadcasting Network refused them air time, as did Pat Robertson’s 700 Club, until it was telecast, “on a day when Pat Robertson was not there.”

“We faced a lot of resistance from church groups, but that’s the kind of resistance Jesus found,” Gross said.

XXX Church approaches pornography, he said, in “a way the church hasn’t done before.”

Is that a good idea, or even necessary?

“I think the church is losing its influence on the culture today,” Gross said. “If we don’t catch up with the times and deal with topics in relevant ways, we’re in serious trouble … Triple X church is a bold, aggressive approach, but we live in a time when that’s needed. The church has sat around and waited for people to come to their buildings. It’s not how Jesus operated.

“We’re trying to get out there in dangerous places and meet the people … not just hang with people who know the truth. In three years over 50 million people have come to the Web site.”

Gross described the ministry’s targets as viewers of Howard Stern, The E Channel and MTV, and indeed their irreverent commercials have aired on programs considered vulgar by most Christian believers.

Reaching out to pornographers, Gross discovered Jimmy D’s “got two kids, an 8-year-old and a 20-year-old. And he wants to do the right thing … Jimmy D hasn’t met the Lord yet. I can’t expect him to quit his job because he met me. I can only be there to help this guy.”

Sin in the church
Gross contends those overtly involved in the porn industry have much in common with the 37 percent of pastors who “struggle with porn,” and many other believers.

“I see the same guy in Jimmy D as the guy sitting in church whose wife doesn’t know he’s struggling with porn,” Gross said.

The problem isn’t merely 25 million Americans visiting cybersex sites weekly, or 280,000 X-rated Web sites generating up to $20 billion annual sales. The XXX Church also targets what leads to porn addiction.

Mainline magazines today feature what “was porn five years ago,” Gross said. “The whole point of it is to get you ready for that stuff … The less clothes pop icons wear, the more popular they become.”

Nevertheless, Triple X tactics skirt some conventional Christian approaches when reaching out to the lost.

The XXXChurch.com Web site proclaims, “We have Bible studies and sermons that you can listen to and a prayer wall where you can post prayers. However, we refuse to have this be your typical Christian (expletive) Web site with crosses and Bibles all over the place and communicating things that most in the world can’t relate to….”

Similarly, the Web site flippantly explains its “doctrinal statement” this way: “Uhhhhhhhhhhhh. We believe what Billy Graham believes?!!?!”

Serving the lost
It may not be a surprise then to find that such a ministry is led by pastors willing to officiate a non-believer’s wedding, pornographer Jimmy D’s daughter.

“His daughter is not a believer, either,” Gross said. “We have no idea (what kind of service it will be). For us it’s an honor to be able to be involved in this guy’s life.

“Non-Christians are allowed to get married … I believe we’ll be able to share with them what Christ is all about and what His idea of marriage is all about … If you’re hung up on that, it’s ridiculous. I think He (Jesus) would rather do a non-Christian wedding than a Christian’s wedding. We’re all children of God. It would be the most horrible example of a Christian if we had an impact on this guy’s life and we’re asked to do his wedding and we didn’t do the wedding.

“I’m convicted by what I do. Anyone with half a brain would understand this is a great thing.”

Such emphasis on hip, culturally relevant strategies might raise the foundational question, “Is the Gospel sufficient?”

“I think the gospel by itself is enough to address every problem,” Gross said. “But making people aware of the gospel is the mission.”

Published by Keener Communications Group, June 2005

Christian Examiner™, P.O. Box 2606 El Cajon, CA 92021 • 619-668-5100 • Fax 619-668-1115
Email: info@christianexaminer.com • Web site: www.christianexaminer.com

Mail Snail Mail to:

Indian Oaks Christian Chruch

1401 W Lenlock Lane

Anniston, AL 36206

Phone:

Church: 256-820-3130

Cell: 256-239-4581

Home: 256-847-1245

Email:

berrycrowe@mindspring.com