BY: RONILYNN BRISSEY-RAMOS

When we seek Him, He will be found. 
Luke 11:9-10 “So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened."
Notice something here. There is action BEFORE the gifts are given and received. 

Are you in need of a fresh word? A fresh anointing? A fresh vision? A fresh passion? Fresh love? Fresh patience? A fresh song? A fresh leap in your step? A fresh dance? A fresh drink? A fresh (fill in the blank)? 
We all are constantly in need of refreshment because we are always giving. Giving to family, work, service, etc.  

Have you ever considered that in order to receive anything, we must first press in and seek?  We must push past obstacles to find. We must be open. We must surrender. Surrender self-ish, self-ambition, self-will, self-ideas, self-wants, self-concepts, self-focus, self-desires, self-limits, self-dreams, self-hopes, self-fears, self- (fill in the blank).

Surrender definitions:
cease resistance, give up or hand over (a person, right, or possession), typically on compulsion or demand, abandon oneself entirely to (a powerful emotion or influence); give in to.

Surrender can be scary, very scary. That is where our faith and trust come into action.  Who and what do you place your faith and trust in?  If your faith and trust are placed 100% in God's unending love for you and Jesus' rock solid faithfulness to catch you when you "trust fall" into Him, then you can and will let go. You will let go with peace, joy, assurance, excitement, and anticipation.  

This September I am seeking new and deeper levels of surrender and I am encouraging you, my sister to join me. What area/s of your life is the Father calling you into new and deeper surrender? Will you bravely press in with me to the precipice and surrender,  let go and trust fall over the edge and see where God takes you? What God has for you?

Open your heart, open your mind, open your life...surrender.

Copyright ©2017 by Ronilynn Brissey-Ramos

"Porn is good for Christians!", exclaims a modern male, "Christian" blogger with hundreds of followers.
*I have intentionally left his name out of this post, as I do not wish to direct anyone towards his wayward beliefs.

Many of us will read this statement and respond with outrage, citing scriptures about lust and adultery i.e.: Jesus said, You have heard that it was said, ‘Do not commit adultery.’ But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman to lust after her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell... Matthew 5:28
 
Sadly, however, many others will read it and respond in agreement or uncertainty.  For those I would like to share what my incredible daughter, Christian Apologetic and humanitarian Victoria G. Jordan and her inspiring husband and pastor Joshua J. Jordan wrote in reply to this on-line blogger:​

I read this post in its entirety, as well as your post about the 10 common arguments against porn. I would like to comment on the following statements.
First, “Christian blogger says porn use is good for Christians.”
Next, “79 percent of men between the age of 18 and 30 look at porn.”
Finally, “But then we have to ask ourselves a question. How do we know if an activity is wrong? Well for us as Christians there is one answer to this and that is we must measure our every thought, word and deed by the Bible.”
I can consent that your final statement is true. Based on the truth of the final statement, I seek to disprove the validity of your statement that, “porn use is good for Christians.” Now, I intend to lay out multiple points that are substantiated by the Bible. Since you state that, “we must measure our every thought, word and deed by the Bible.”
Based on your statements I have a question: What is the biblical purpose of marriage?
Answer this question for yourself before you continue reading.
First point:
According to the Bible, the purpose of marriage is to model the relationship between Christ and the Church. This statement is based on the following scripture.
Ephesians 5:21 and submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ. 22 Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord, 23 because the husband is the head of the wife as also Christ is the head of the church – he himself being the savior of the body. 24 But as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything. 25 Husbands, love your wives just as Christ loved the church and gave himself for her 26 to sanctify her by cleansing her with the washing of the water by the word, 27 so that he may present the church to himself as glorious – not having a stain or wrinkle, or any such blemish, but holy and blameless. 28 In the same way husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29 For no one has ever hated his own body but he feeds it and takes care of it, just as Christ also does the church, 30 for we are members of his body. 31 For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and will be joined to his wife, and the two will become one flesh. 32 This mystery is great – but I am actually speaking with reference to Christ and the church.
If the purpose of marriage is to model the relationship between Christ and the Church, then Christ can be likened to the husband and the church can be likened to the wife. Since you argue that, “porn use is good for Christians” then through the use of this analogy you are positing that it would be good for Christ to take another wife, or that the Church should seek to gain pleasure from sources outside of Christ. This of course, is idolatrous.
Now before you argue that this is not idolatrous I would like to point out the biblical book of Hosea where God likens his relationship with the Israelites to the marriage of Hosea. Hosea 3:1 states, “Then the LORD said to me, ‘Go again, love a woman who is loved by her husband, yet an adulteress, even as the LORD loves the sons of Israel, though they turn to other gods and love raisin cakes.’
You see, sexual intimacy and the relationship between God and his bride are intimately intertwined. Therefore, if you make any argument about sexuality, you must consider it in the context of Christ and his bride.
By using this argument, masturbation can be proven to be sinful as well. Masturbation of the male would be Christ pleasing himself and not seeking after a bride. Masturbation of the female would be the Church failing to seek intimacy with her Savior and instead taking pleasure in herself.
Second point:
Your sexuality is designed only to be expressed in the context on marriage.
You see sexuality is designed only to be expressed in the context on marriage because it is meant to depict a picture of Christ and the Church. Masturbation and pornography miss this illusion because they are “solo” acts.
Third point:
Masturbation and pornography are acts that fail to meet the standard of the greatest biblical laws.
Luke 10:28-29 states, “He answered, ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself. ‘You have answered correctly,’ Jesus replied. ‘Do this and you will live.'”
The bible defines love saying, “4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 8 Love never fails” (1 Cor 13:4-8).
Masturbation and pornography are not patient as they are seeking immediate personal gratification. They are dishonoring as they place your own needs above the needs of your spouse, or future spouse. They are self-seeking. Who does masturbation benefit but the one partaking in it to relieve a sexual urge?
I say this not to condemn you but out of love. I truly believe that by advocating for this teaching you are not only destroying yourself, but other Christian men and women who are misled by your teachings. I pray that they Holy Spirit will lead you into all truth and will soften your heart of stone that is caused from partaking in sin on a repetitive basis.
Additionally, I noticed that you do not have a theology degree. Additionally, you did not mention being licensed or accredited by any denomination. I hold both of these distinctions. I would say to you that while I agree that lay people can teach the Bible, I would argue that you should interpret scripture using the Wesleyan quadrilateral in an effort to make your teachings more sound. The quadrilateral encompasses: (1) scripture, (2) tradition, (3) reason, and (4) experience. You are taking a stance on an argument that is both against scripture and the Christian tradition. When one goes against the Christian tradition, that individual is more than likely wrong and the collective Church body is more than likely correct.
Finally, based on experience there are numerous harmful aspects to pornography. Secular social scientists have studied the effects of porn and I have shared a few of those studies below. You need not use the Bible to prove that pornography has harmful effects.
According to studies cited by the American Psychological Association, “those who frequent porn sites more often are more likely to view sex as a purely physical function and to view women as sex objects” (http://www.apa.org/monitor/nov07/webporn.aspx).Furthermore, “(i)n one study surveying 471 Dutch teens ages 13 to 18, the researchers found that the more often young people sought out online porn, the more likely they were to have a “recreational” attitude toward sex–specifically, to view sex as a purely physical function like eating or drinking” (http://www.apa.org/monitor/nov07/webporn.aspx).This article goes on to say, “when pornography use becomes excessive, romantic relationships can suffer. Destin Stewart, PhD, and Dawn Szymanski, PhD, at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, surveyed female college students and found that those who perceived their boyfriends’ porn use to be problematic experienced lower self-esteem, poorer relationship quality and lower sexual satisfaction” (Sex Roles, 2012, http://www.apa.org/monitor/nov07/webporn.aspx).


Additionally, you made statements saying that this behavior is not addictive in your other article and this has been proven to be scientifically untrue. According to an academic article entitled, Neuroscience of Internet Pornography Addiction: A Review and Update, “Many recognize that several behaviors potentially affecting the reward circuitry in human brains lead to a loss of control and other symptoms of addiction in at least some individuals. Regarding Internet addiction, neuroscientific research supports the assumption that underlying neural processes are similar to substance addiction” (Love, Laier, Brand, Hatch, & Hajela, 2015).
Praying for you.
​Victoria & Josh