Ben Pettit

70% of men struggle with internet pornography and 21% of women. Among Christians, you can bet these numbers are elevated. There is good news, it doesn’t have to be that way.

Internet monitoring has had a few faces over the years. One of the oldest out there is Net Nanny which could be a solution for some. If you have children and need filtering with parental controls then this may be for you.

There are two main programs out there for Christian internet accountability. Unfortunately there is only one real choice. Covenant Eyes and X3Watch are the two.

X3Watch is a joke. Plain and simple. Any one who knows how to press CTRL ALT DEL can get around this program. Yes, it’s actually that easy. Just find the program in your process list, end it, look at the questionable content and then restart the program. What good is that?

Covenant Eyes is the only software available that has the strength of Fort Knox. You cannot circumvent it, period. If you terminate the program, your internet access is then terminated. What about uninstalling it and reinstalling it? You need a 24 hour uninstall code available from CovenantEyes.com, after which your accountability partners are sent emails telling of your devious deed.

If you are a minister (aka a Christian) and you have ever struggled, had the thought to struggle, or are currently struggling with any of this, you need to get this software. It is not worth the guilt and shame you will experience from not being free from this.

Come back tomorrow for a follow up on this.

Never in a million years would I imagine I would be where I am now. Maybe you can relate to that. Still, short of of the job search and all, life is wonderful. Despite the occasional days of boredom, the pool life is pretty good. Here is an update on benjaminpettit.com the future of what’s coming and also what’s up in my life.

1. The blog content will be changing ever so slightly. I will be working on each coming post as a journalism piece. If I say something, I want to say it well. I am looking for others to trade ideas off of as well as someone to trade editing services with (I’ll send you the post before it goes out for you to make edits and reviews on). If you are interested in either of those opportunities, feel free to leave your info at the end of this post. (If you don’t have a blog and just like to edit a lot, then you could do it too!)
2. The content that I am not writing will be things that are currently really inspiring me. That is the “via” you will see at the bottom, aka I didn’t write it. No junk, just good good stuff.
3. I am currently exploring the book of Jeremiah and also the new testament books. Jeremiah in the morning and in the evenings the NT. Last night I was in 1 Timothy and tonight is 2 Timothy (and then so on and so on).
4. I feel largely convicted not to write random junk any more. Posting just to post is never a good idea.  I feel very convicted to back up what I am saying with scripture.
5. I am launching a brand new website in a couple weeks that will target a segment of my audio services.
6. Fixed the commenting system, you should no longer see double comment boxes.

“Blessed are those who mourn, For they shall be comforted.”
MATTHEW 5:4

“God wants us to experience His joy (John 15:11). Yet we cannot experience His joy until we have mourned over our sin. If we do not grieve over the weight of our sin, we have no concept of sin’s devastating power. If we treat our sin lightly, we demonstrate that we have no sense of the enormity of our offense against almighty God. Our sin caused the death of God’s Son. It causes us to fall short of what God intends (Rom. 3:23). It brings pain and sorrow to others, as well as to ourselves.

The Bible says that those who grieve over their sin will draw near to God (James 4:8-10). Those who mourn and weep over their sin are in a position to repent (Luke 4:18-19). There cannot be repentance without the realization of the gravity of sin. Regret for sin’s consequences is not the same as sorrow for sinning against holy God. Confession of sin is not necessarily an indication of repentance. Repentance comes only when we acknowledge that our transgression has come from a heart that is far from God, and we are brokenhearted over our grievous offenses against holy God.

Jesus said that those who are heartbroken over their sin will find comfort. They will experience new dimensions of God’s love and forgiveness. His infinite grace is sufficient for the most terrible sin. Do not try and skip the grieving process of repentance in order to move on to experience joy. God will not leave you to weep over your sin but will forgive you, comfort you, and fill you with His joy.”

via my devotional by blackaby.

One of my favorite lines from a movie is by Will Ferrell from Elf. Here we go…

Well, are… are you gonna sing a Song or something, Or can I just go back to work?

A song? Uh…
Yeah. Anything for you, dad, uh…
I… I’m, I’m here with my dad
And we never met
And he wants me to sing Him a song
And, um, I was adopted
But you didn’t know I was born
So, I’m here now, I found you, Daddy
And, guess what? I love you
I love you I love you!

Wow, that was weird.
You know, usually you guys just Uh, you know,
Put my name into jingle bells or something.

I ask you today to let this living text breathe into your soul today. After reading each sentence stop. Just meditate on what it means. My life has been shaped this morning by reading this. Don’t rush sentence to sentence, really get a deep understanding of what it means and even more so, how you can live it out today.

1 Corithians 13 taken from biblegateway.com, amplified translation used.

 1IF I [can] speak in the tongues of men and [even] of angels, but have not love (that reasoning, intentional, spiritual devotion such ^[a]as is inspired by God’s love for and in us), I am only a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.

    2And if I have prophetic powers (^[b]the gift of interpreting the divine will and purpose), and understand all the secret truths and mysteries and possess all knowledge, and if I have [sufficient] faith so that I can remove mountains, but have not love (God’s love in me) I am nothing (a useless nobody).

    3Even if I dole out all that I have [to the poor in providing] food, and if I surrender my body to be burned or ^[c] in order that I may glory, but have not love (God’s love in me), I gain nothing.

    4Love endures long and is patient and kind; love never is envious nor boils over with jealousy, is not boastful or vainglorious, does not display itself haughtily.

    5It is not conceited (arrogant and inflated with pride); it is not rude (unmannerly) and does not act unbecomingly. Love (God’s love in us) does not insist on its own rights or its own way, for it is not self-seeking; it is not touchy or fretful or resentful; it takes no account of the evil done to it [it pays no attention to a suffered wrong].

    6It does not rejoice at injustice and unrighteousness, but rejoices when right and truth prevail.

    7Love bears up under anything and everything that comes, is ever ready to believe the best of every person, its hopes are fadeless under all circumstances, and it endures everything [without weakening].

    8Love never fails [never fades out or becomes obsolete or comes to an end]. As for prophecy (^[d]the gift of interpreting the divine will and purpose), it will be fulfilled and pass away; as for tongues, they will be destroyed and cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away [it will lose its value and be superseded by truth].

    9For our knowledge is fragmentary (incomplete and imperfect), and our prophecy (our teaching) is fragmentary (incomplete and imperfect).

    10But when the complete and perfect (total) comes, the incomplete and imperfect will vanish away (become antiquated, void, and superseded).

    11When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; now that I have become a man, I am done with childish ways and have put them aside.

    12For now we are looking in a mirror that gives only a dim (blurred) reflection [of reality as ^[e]in a riddle or enigma], but then [when perfection comes] we shall see in reality and face to face! Now I know in part (imperfectly), but then I shall know and understand ^[f]fully and clearly, even in the same manner as I have been ^[g]fully and clearly known and understood [^[h]by God].

    13And so faith, hope, love abide [faith--conviction and belief respecting man's relation to God and divine things; hope--joyful and confident expectation of eternal salvation; love--true affection for God and man, growing out of God's love for and in us], these three; but the greatest of these is love.