I think the majority of men do not like to ask for help. We were notorious for failing to ask for directions even though we without a clue while driving to a place we had never been before. We had these things called maps which mostly stayed in the glove compartment or were wadded up into a large ball on the floor of our car behind the driver’s seat.
Maps were someone’s idea to help men to not have to ask for help in finding things. They were very popular for a long time because somebody started mass producing them and you could buy one at any gas station. They were not expensive because to charge a man a lot of money for something he felt certain he did not need would have been a waste of money. And to take one’s advice usually coming from the wife to stop and ask for directions was too big and bitter a pill to swallow.
However, as valuable as they might have been the main problem was once you unfolded it, it was nearly impossible to get it folded back to its original neatly folded form. The map above has 48 folds in it and should one unfold it while driving a manual transmission car, operating the gas, brake, clutch pedals, stick shift, while watching ahead, behind, to the left and to the right, having the windows down because there was no air-conditioning, with kids causing a raucous in the back seat, and the wife panicking in the front seat, trying to find the said end of the destination, and then refolding this massive piece of paper that you did not need in the first place, going 55 miles an hour on the highway was absolutely impossible…. but I digress.
Now we have Global Positioning Systems in our pockets with virtually a map of the entire world thanks to Google. And the very best part about it…one said driver doesn’t need anybody’s help finding any location because there is a woman in the phone who at the sound of your voice will tell you every single turn you will have to make to reach your destination. So, I wonder how many of you have changed that voice to a man’s voice, so you do not have to ask a woman for help?
How many times have you thought; “I don’t need your help.” I am guessing the vast majority of times it is while talking with your wife. Why is that??? We do need their help we just don’t want to admit it. It is kind of a battle-of-the-sexes thing because whoever asks for help is admitting they need help and we think that is a sign of weakness. Since when did we ever come to the place where we really do know it all???
Asking for help is a sign of genius. Nobody knows it all and everybody needs help, we just don’t want to admit it. Once we begin something while trying to figure it out on our own, because after all we for some unknown reason, still think we do not need help and only a pathetic loser would ever read…much less need the directions.
Now, this was partially true because a lot of directions are either impossible to read or too complex to figure out. The smartest person at any company putting out products that need to be put together is not the scientist, engineer, owner, and president…but the person who creates the instructions. And have you noticed??? A lot of directions now have no words, only pictures so that you don’t have to read and get confused…just see what the next step is.
Ok, I have said all of that, amusing as it was, to get to this point. We all need help. The problem is we think asking for help is a sign of weakness. The devil has convinced us that we should know on our own how to stop using porn even though it is one of the most powerful addictions on the planet. We think;
“I’ve gotten myself into this mess…I can certainly get myself out!!!”
No, you can’t!!! that is why you are reading this email or listening to this podcast. A wounded soldier bleeding to death on the field of battle is a fool to lay there refusing to ask for help because he or she is too ashamed to admit that the enemy got them in his sights and has critically wounded him. Almost every soldier in the Lord’s Army is hoping that they can just slowly die from this addiction and that the “no man left behind” idea should not apply to them.
My Lord have mercy…there are millions of Christian men and women around the world dying this slow death who refuse to ask for help because they are ashamed of their sexual sin. However, asking for help is exactly what you need to do. I am not saying stand up in front of the church, if we ever begin to regather again, with a bullhorn and pronounce to everyone you are a sex addict.
Not everyone around you needs to know. However, someone needs to know because you cannot fix this on your own. We are told to bear one another’s burdens, to confess our sins to one another, and to comfort each other with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.
Now let me make a suggestion to some of you that just might rock your world. Many of you read these emails or listen to these podcasts because they are somewhat entertaining. You may have struggled with this area, but you have improved by some means of counseling and some others around you to help you…and that is truly great. So, why not use the knowledge and experience you have to help someone else?
Why not join me in going into the world and making disciples as Jesus commanded. Join me in teaching the wounded men around the world by being someone who helps a person up who will die in their addiction unless you show up?
God is giving me a vision of what could happen if those of you who have been helped would begin to help others using the 180 Recovery Program and our Online Support Teams. Your church is probably not going to be the vehicle for this to happen, God only knows why, but we can make it happen. Everything is in place and available…all I need is more men who have made progress to have a heart to help other men around the world.
We have 12 Online Support Teams helping about 140 men with weekly accountability and daily support. However, there are only so many I can lead, and only so much I can do. I am talking to every one of you who just might have a heart for our brothers dying from their sexual brokenness and what they truly need is not only a biblical and Christ-centered program to follow…but another Christian man who can help them crawl off the Starting Line every day.
I am inviting those of you who perhaps have progressed out of your sexual addiction to join me in discipling others who are dying from this sin. 12 Online Support Teams is almost nothing when it comes to the needs of Christian men around the world who have nowhere to go and nobody they can turn to.
Do you want to find a true purpose for the rest of your days here on earth where you can make an incredible impact on men around the world without leaving your home, practicing safe social distancing, and yet make a HUGE difference in the lives of our brothers in Christ?
Then please email me and report for duty. Uncle John Needs You. Let’s go to war against the dominion of darkness and begin to experience the power of God and His Spirit using you to help the lives of just a few not-so-good men.
How about you joining an Online Support Team not for what you can receive for your life but for what you can give to our brothers dying from secret sexual sin? I will help you and I will train you. Imagine having an incredible difference in the lives of men instead of searching for more TV on which to binge and waste more of your time when you are desperately needed today!
New Online Support Team starting today at 4:00 PM Eastern Standard Time. Sit in with me using this Zoom link;
