It’s not that I actually have a great deal to add to what has already been written, preached, tweeted or posted, but after praying diligently for my son this weekend who was stuck across the state with a bunch of other teen guys, I guess I will just say this…

Daddies and Mamas: your sons and daughters are in the midst of an invisible, but very real, war! The enemy who seeks to destroy us never stops. He will use whatever means he can to thwart God’s purposes for our kids. And one of his most active and crushing schemes of the day is to convince our sons that looking at pornography (even if it’s not touted as such) is not that harmful. And he also lives to convince the daughters of the King that they are somehow no longer beautiful enough. He works at this day and night.

Plead with fervor and consistency to the God of the universe for their hearts and minds! Don’t let up. Don’t give up. Pray everyday with passion and deep desire for them. Pray that our powerful God would “keep them from the evil one, and that He would sanctify them in the truth.” Pray that they would have friends to help them when they are weak. Pray for them to have leaders who are like Christ who will lead the way, and show them it can be lived out. Purity is attainable through the power of Jesus. Men can keep their way pure through the word of God. A young woman can find beauty, value and worth at the well of the Master. He has living water that will flow forever to protect her heart and mind from conforming to the world’s standards of beauty. But it is not easy at all.

My heart aches for them. As I heard my son share how hard it was to “keep his eyes from worthless things” in a room full of lost boys, I realized anew how difficult it is going to continue to be. He has a huge battle before him. If I don’t stand in the gap, if his dad doesn’t, and if he doesn’t fight like heck to overcome the temptation, it will consume him and could ultimately destroy him and his future. It will only get harder.
Thankfully, he was able to sit by himself in the corner of the room and text friends who helped him get through it. Thankfully he has a dad who cares and asks the hard questions. Thankfully he is still honest with his dad. Thankfully, this weekend he was victorious and full of integrity.

Oh, we must engage our kids … we must live it before them … we must pray without ceasing. A lost world is waiting for the gospel. The ultimate goal is that nothing would hinder the next generation of Christ followers from taking the gospel to the nations. But it begins with a pursuit of personal holiness in our lives and prayer for that same pursuit in the lives of those after us.
This issue really is a matter of life and death! May we see it as such …