Jody Lusk

Counteracting Clergy Sexual Misconduct in Our Churches

September 15, 2009 by Edwin Crozier 19 Comments

Usually Tuesdays are my Springboard for Your Family. Today, I want to take a little different approach and provide a springboard for your church family. The reverberations of last week’s discussions about Jody Lusk are continuing to impact me. On Sunday, I told my congregation that we need to view ourselves as a battalion of God’s army that is drawing together so we can go out and conquer sin and Satan by God’s grace. With that in mind, I’ve been continuing to study and research issues about sexual misconduct and abuse in churches and especially by preachers/clergy. It is truly a frightening prospect.

I want to share with you a particularly helpful site that was passed along to me by one of the members of the Franklin congregation. Baylor University has been conducting studies about Clergy Sexual Misconduct and their findings are amazing. Understand that the scope of this study is not about child sexual abuse, but about preachers, pastors, priests, and rabbis using their role as spiritual leader to prey on adult members. They found that 3% of women who have attended a “church service” in the past month admit to being victims of Clergy Sexual Misconduct since turning 18 years old. This should cause us to stand up and take notice.

Churches, we have got to start talking about this pink elephant in the room. I encourage you to begin by checking out the resources and stories found at Baylor’s site:

Baylor: Clergy Sexual Misconduct Awareness and Prevention

I want to share five things I have taken away from this research, though I’m sure there is much, much more we need to learn.

1. Establish healthy boundaries.

My family and I like to visit waterfalls. The danger of waterfalls is you have to have huge drop for the water to fall. Many of the waterfalls we have visited have fences and barriers along the trail. Even at the viewing area they have barriers with signs saying don’t cross. Why? Because people who go on the other side of those barriers fall to their deaths. We need to establish healthy boundaries. I don’t think this means we have to be so extreme as to have women on one side of the building and men on the other never to touch, shake hands, or even hug. But, at the same time, let’s not laugh at the extremes so much that we never build barriers allowing everyone to plunge into the ravine. I think James 2:2, 14 demonstrates a need to establish boundaries.

Especially establish healthy boundaries for those in leadership positions: pastors, preachers, deacons, teachers. Make it a boundary that they are simply not allowed to meet alone with a member of the opposite gender-not for counseling, not for teaching, not for working on a project. Make it a boundary that nobody teaches a children’s class alone where they cannot at least be monitored. Have a healthy boundary about taking children to the bathroom from class. I know in my next meeting with the elders here at Franklin, I’m going to ask for a window to be placed in my office door.

Please don’t whine to me about how you will never do these things and it upsets you that the congregation wants to put some boundaries in place as if you are a deviant. Healthy people don’t chaff at healthy boundaries. They recognize that boundaries provide two protections: 1) they protect against false accusations and 2) they protect against temptation you aren’t expecting so there will never be any true accusations. If you are going to buck against healthy boundaries, you probably need to take a closer, more honest look at your spiritual life. You may have a chink in this armor you want everyone to believe is sin proof.

***Edit: Make sure you check out Dan Allen’s suggested congregational sexual harassment policy in the comments section below and let us know what you think about it.

2. Refuse to hide behind a culture of niceness.

“Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things” (I Corinthians 13:7). Yes, but love does not turn a blind eye to the inappropriate. Sadly, many experience things that make them feel sexually uncomfortable, but instead of expressing it, they internalize it. They even blame themselves thinking they must be overly sensitive. “That brother is just showing his care for me. Besides, this is church, no one would do anything inappropriate here. I need to give him the benefit of the doubt.” Baylor called this having a culture of niceness. Yes, we should be nice, but it is not nice to make others feel uncomfortable sexually, and it is not nice to act like their feelings on the matter don’t matter.

Here is the key in my mind. If someone makes you feel uncomfortable, you are allowed to express that. Expressing that something made you uncomfortable is not an accusation of wrongdoing. It is not believing the worst about someone. It is not refusing to give someone the benefit of the doubt. It means you have a boundary and you are allowed to express it whether the boundary is an issue of personal space during a conversation or the fact that he rubs your back while talking to you or the fact that he is calling you at home. Some people are touchy-feely and that’s okay. But if their touchy-feely makes you uncomfortable, that is okay as well. You can tell them.

There is another side of this. When someone expresses that our action has made them feel uncomfortable, we don’t need to view it as an accusation. We don’t need to get defensive and angry. We definitely don’t need to make accusations back, “You’re just too sensitive. You must have a problem if you’re going to interpret what I did that way.” We need to apologize and stop the action…period.

3. Let the older women teach the younger women.

I guess this could go under the healthy boundaries section, but it stands out so strongly to me that I think we need to state it. Have you ever noticed that Paul told Titus to teach the older men some things, teach the older women some things, and teach the young men some things. But he didn’t tell him to teach the younger women anything. Rather, one of the things he was to teach the older women was to teach the younger women (Titus 2:1-6). I think there was a reason for this. Paul was a believer in healthy boundaries as well.

Perhaps the most important boundary of all is that preachers do not need to take it on themselves to counsel, teach, help, direct women, especially women their age and younger. If they think they’ve got great insight into how to help younger women, they need to train older women in how to do that.

Sadly, whenever we think about someone needing spiritual counsel we think, “Call the preacher.” Do we not have any godly women who can counsel wives to love their husbands and their children? Do we not have any godly women who can encourage younger women in the faith and teach them God’s will from the scripture? Is the preacher the only person in the congregation who can do these things? If so, then the church has more problems than Clergy Sexual Misconduct. If so, that church probably needs to close its doors and let its members join with a congregation that has a healthier more mature membership (yes, yes, I know there are exceptions).

4. Do not blame the victims.

When leaders in the church sexually pursue members, no matter the age of the members, it is not an affair as if both are equally guilty. When a person in authority starts pursuing a subordinate sexually, it is an abuse of power. The vulnerable subordinate is not to blame. I don’t care how you cut it, we just cannot take responsibility away from the person in leadership. That person is the one who is responsible for what happened.

If something like this has happened in your church, the one abused by the preacher/clergy needs support and help now more than ever. Do not turn your back on them and their families. Do not get upset as if they brought the trouble on the church. They did not. They were victims. Yes, the offender has fallen prey to Satan and sin. Yes, the offender needs our help as well. But don’t do anything that acts like the victim is at fault. Lift that victim up and support her. Help her face all her confusion, fear, doubt and walk through it into God’s arms.

If you want to turn someone away from God forever, start blaming them for what the clergy did to them. Watch them wilt. Watch them blame God. Watch them learn that nowhere is safe for them, not even the church. Yes, you might see them leave and think you were right all along, it just proved they weren’t as spiritual as you. But all you actually did was kill a soul.

If you don’t know how to provide the support the victim needs, get them in touch with professionals and be supportive of it. You probably need to get them in touch with professionals even if you think you know how to provide support.

5. Above all, keep church safe.

The local congregation needs to be a sanctuary, a safe-haven for the hurting and broken. It is not to be a place that causes more hurt and brokenness. In fact, that principle itself is what causes a great deal of confusion when Clergy Sexual Misconduct happens. The victims, thinking they are in a safe place, start to doubt their own feelings of what is inappropriate because trusted spiritual leaders are leading the way in to sin.

We need to work to keep churches safe. That is what the other four principles are about. I know that is going to be hard because if a church is doing its job, it is going to be attracting sinners. Sinners do bad things even in the church. But we need to go out of our way to provide safety for members. That means providing a safe place to confess their sins. That means providing a safe place to be broken and find helpful counsel. That means providing a safe place to express hurt that has happened between one another.

Keep it safe.

Satan is attacking us. He is attacking churches. There are all manner of sides to this and we must lean on God that Satan doesn’t destroy us at any side of these attacks. We must not stand in arrogance as if we cannot sin. We must not neglect forgiveness when even the vilest of sinners repents. We must not sweep an epidemic under the rug as if it is not really a problem. Let’s stand up and fight. Through God, we will win.

Jody Lusk Has Released a Statement to WBKO

September 9, 2009 by Edwin Crozier 13 Comments

The past few days have seen a bevy of activity regarding Jody Lusk. I appreciate the conversations I’ve had both publicly at this site and privately. I appreciate the challenge to look at things from multiple angles and the realization that nothing said can ever encompass all that we need to think about as motivated by this situation.

I do want to pass on a statement that Jody made to WBKO in Bowling Green, KY. I have copied it directly from their site below.

“I am deeply sorry for my sinful actions and I am in deep shame. I have been asked what could possibly motivate me to do such a thing. I can’t quite explain why. Satan binds us to sin and what it is and what it really does. Being a preacher I know that God’s Word warns us about Satan and his ways. Unfortunately, until I experienced that first hand I didn’t fully grasp it. I was on a spiritual high as 2009 began but I let it all come crashing down, I let Satan have his way with me. My faith wasn’t as strong as I thought it was. Looking back on all that I’ve done it’s hard to believe this was me doing this. I had been hardened to sin and it’s consequences. On Saturday after the events of the day had transpired it all hit me like a ton of bricks – what I’ve done, the people I had hurt, especially my dear wife and kids who deserved none of this. Jail is bad enough, but the idea of not having them in my life is absolutely crushing, I cry everytime I think about them. I think about the young lady I had the affair with and hope she will be okay and that she can renew her commitment to God. I hadn’t studied His Word or prayed in months. I was so weak. Since being in jail I have cried out to God frequently and begged for forgiveness. I know He has forgiven because He promises in His word that He will. I have studied His Word more in 2 days that I had in the past 6 months. I feel much better spiritually but emotionally I’m a wreck. I can’t stand that I’ve put my family, the young lady’s family, and all my Christian brethren through so much pain. I hope people can look at my failures and learn from them. Never give in to any sin. Satan wants all of us to think that some sins are OK. But what seems like a small sin will always progress and lead to other sins. Don’t let him fool you. I ask for everyone to forgive me – my family, her family, my brethren, my friends, and my community. I realize that even with forgiveness there are consequences and I will face them. I hope that while in jail that God can use me for His glory to help some lost soul find Him. Please pray for me. Please don’t give up on me. I take full responsibility for my actions. There are no excuses.

Jody Lusk”

While we continue to pray for all those who have been hurt by Jody’s sins, the victim, the victim’s family, Jody’s wife, Jody’s kids, their extended families, the Auburn Kentucky church, the Auburn community, let’s remember to pray for Jody as well.

13 Things to Teach Your Children to Protect Them from Sexual Predators

September 8, 2009 by Edwin Crozier 6 Comments

Yesterday, you got to hear my initial thoughts about Jody Lusk’s sins from a preacher’s perspective and from a fellow sinner’s perspective. Today, in my Springboard for Your Family, let me share my thoughts from a father’s perspective.

I just can’t help but notice that Jody was my age and that the victim was my daughter’s age. Okay, he’s a year younger than me, and she was a year older than my daughter. But it is just too close for comfort. We just couldn’t get that out of our heads. On Sunday, Marita and I sat down with our little girl (whose not so little anymore) and had a good long talk with her. It grossed her out and she can’t imagine anything like that happening, but at least she now knows she can talk to us if she needs to.

Here is the problem. Most of the time, we try to protect our kids from this sort of attack by screening their friends. We have to know their friends’ parents. We have to meet their teachers. We want to be sure who they are with all the time. But let’s face it, who thinks they need to screen their preacher? And while I’m all for screening friends and friends’ families, I’m pretty convinced that is not going to protect our children as much as we would like. We just aren’t as good at judging character as we might like to think.

The best defense is a good offense. That is, prepare your children for the potential possibility. Here are some keys you need to pass on to your children.

Of utmost importance, talk to them about sex. Let them get comfortable talking to you about it. You want to be the one they come to when they have questions.
Teach your children that it is natural to be curious about sexual things. There is nothing wrong with them being curious. Let them know you will answer any questions you can at age appropriate levels as they grow up. Tell them, however, that the appropriate place for really pursuing this curiosity is in marriage. Let them know what a joy it is and what a blessing it is to be able to reserve that curiosity for marriage. If you didn’t do that yourself, let your children know what damage was caused by your own inappropriately pursued curiosity.
Let them know appropriate touching boundaries. A great boundary I learned and have passed on is touching in soft places is out of bounds, while touching in hard places (like shoulders, top of the head) is probably okay.
Let them know that they are allowed to make a boundary about anything that makes them uncomfortable. They are allowed to tell people when they have made the child uncomfortable. And they are allowed to let you know if anyone has made them feel uncomfortable.
Let them know that if an adult exposes his or her private parts, that is not appropriate. If an adult asks the child to expose his or her private parts, that is not appropriate. Also let them know that it is not appropriate for anyone to show them, text them, or e-mail them pictures or videos in which adults or children are exposing their private parts. (Yes, you probably need to state the exception of doctors, but a parent needs to be present when the doctor is examining the child.)
Let them know that certain kinds of touching are just plain inappropriate and no matter what an adult says to coax them into it, they need to simply scream and run.
Let them know that if a stranger tries to grab them, no matter what the stranger says, they need to scream as loud as they can and run if they can. Even if the stranger says he will hurt them unless they stay quiet. We have explained to our children that if a stranger is taking them, he is going to hurt them anyway. Their chances of being safe are much better if they scream there in public than after they get put in a car or taken to a house. As a side note, you might even give them some advice about how to get away. For instance, if shoved into a car, the child doesn’t have to stay there, they can immediately crawl through to other side and get out there.
Let them know that an adult should be asking other adults for help, not kids. Adults don’t need the help of children to find their missing dog or to get directions to some street or address. If an adult asks for help, teach the child to back away and say, “I’ll get my parents. They’ll help you.”
Since you’ve talked to them about sex, remind them that it will be a wonderful thing for them when they get married, but it is not appropriate for anyone, especially an adult, to talk to them about or perform with them. Even explain to them some of the ways an adult might try to convince them to do something sexual. On Sunday, I told Tessa about a friend of mine in high school who was 16 or perhaps 17. A twenty-something co-worker pulled an awfully manipulative ploy with her. He knew she was afraid that if she was a virgin when she married, she might not know how to have sex. He offered to teach her. Notice, he didn’t offer to marry her. We explained to Tessa that she didn’t need to have fears about knowing how when she got married. Part of the joy of marriage is learning how with her husband. That was the part of the discussion that really grossed her out. To be honest, I was glad it did.
Let your children know that love doesn’t equal sex. Explain that if an adult really loved them, they would be protecting the child’s sexuality not exploring it or exploiting it. If an adult tells them this is what people who love each other do, let your child know that adult is lying. Let your children know that sex is not what everyone does who loves them. Even use yourselves as examples. That is, let the child know, “Do I love you? Do you love me? But it is inappropriate for us to do sexual things. That is just for mommy and daddy.”
Let your children know that it doesn’t matter who it is that does any of these things, older sibling, cousin, aunt, uncle, father, mother, preacher, teacher, older neighborhood kid, friend, friend’s family member, they can tell you about it and you will still love them. We, that is Marita and I, even tell our children while in each other’s presence that if the offender is one of us, they have our permission to talk to the other parent or even tell some other adult who has authority in their lives like the police or one of the elders in our church.
Let your children know how serious it is to lie about these issues, but that you will trust them if they tell you anything about what someone has done to them. Then do that.
Let your children know that if someone else has violated any of these boundaries or does violate any of these boundaries, it is not their fault. You will not hold it against them. They have done nothing wrong. They can tell you and all you will do is love them and help them deal with whatever has happened.

When you have this discussion, ask your children if anyone has ever done any of these things. Make it safe for them to be honest. If they need to, let them cry, let them rage, let them vent. If they tell you about something, please, do not think you have to handle this alone. Share your need with your elders in the church and get some professional help from a counselor with a Christian background.

Following these steps does not mean your children will never be violated. However, it is a great defense to inoculate them and prepare them. And it is of utmost importance that you let them get comfortable talking with you about all aspects of sexuality. As I said, you want them to come to you when they have questions.

Finally, if something like this has happened to your children or ever does, please don’t blame yourself. Oh, don’t get me wrong, I know that kids with poor home lives are far more susceptible to this kind of attack. Certainly, if you’ve been sinning in raising your kids in any way, you need to repent. However, let’s be honest, there is no such thing as a perfect parent. We all make mistakes. But our mistakes do not justify the sins of a sexual predator. The fault for sexual attack lies with the predator, not with the victim or the victims parents.

By the way, if you need help talking to your kids about sex, check out this associate link for a great book that will give you guidance on what to say to your children at all ages.

P.S. If you are the perpetrator of any of these sins and crimes, I know this is not something that you want to do in your moments of sanity. I know you are filled with guilt and shame. I am certain you want to stop. Let me encourage you right now to do something about it. Don’t think you are now strong enough to never do it again. Get help immediately. Turn yourself in for treatment. Report yourself to the authorities. Find a counselor. Do something. I know you will likely lose your job. I know your friends and family may ostracize you if you admit to it. I know you may even have to spend time in jail. But that is far better than hurting another child again. And in your heart of hearts you know that is true as well.

My Initial Thoughts About Jody Lusk’s Sins

September 7, 2009 by Edwin Crozier 34 Comments

I’m sorry today’s post is so late. I try to get Monday’s post done over the weekend so it can be ready to magically appear at 8 am Monday morning. However, this weekend I learned of something that just made it hard for me to write. Even through this morning it consumed my mind so much I could hardly think of anything else. So, despite the fact that I know it will upset some, I’m going to write about what has been consuming my mind the last two days.

On Saturday morning, I learned about a brother in Christ, a preacher of the gospel, who had disappeared under mysterious circumstances. I had not even heard of the brother until that news report. I spent the day praying for him off and on. On Saturday night, I learned he had faked his disappearance in order to commit sexual immorality with a 13-year-old girl. My heart broke for him, for the girl, for their families, and for their congregations.

*****EDIT: If you have already read this post once, I am adding in a clarifying statement based on some private comments I have received. I want to clarify some things before you read my initial thoughts. I guess you could say I want you to hear my second thoughts before you get to my first.

I do believe what our brother Jody did was reprehensible and wicked. I do believe he should be prosecuted for breaking the law. I do hope he comes to realize what damage he has done to that little girl, to her family, to his congregation, and to his own family. I hope having seen that bottom, he will turn to the only power that can help him overcome this sin. Please do not take my post that follows to mean I am turning a blind eye to how awful this sin was. It is its awfulness that scares me and causes me to fear for my future if I dabble in sin. It is its awfulness that prompted my thoughts.

My prayers and my heart go out to the little girl and the family. The damage done to her is immense. The damage done to her family is equally immense. I am praying for them as they strive to recover from being victims of sin’s awful effects.

Please understand, my point in this post is not to defend Jody’s sin. My point is to help us see the warning that Jody’s sin should provide for us. With that in mind, I realize I probably can’t clarify enough to make everyone happy or even agree with me. But I hope you can at least see my point.

As news of this leaks out to more and more people, the responses will be myriad. Here is what saddens me the most. It breaks my heart to know how Satan is going to use this. Satan will twist this so that many people will glory in their own power. “I may have made some mistakes in my time, but at least I never did that.” Kind of sounds to me like, “God, I thank you that I’m not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers…” (Luke 18:11).

Instead of using this as a testimony for our own power, we need to see it as a testimony to the power of sin. We need to take the warning about what sin can do to us. Romans 7:14-24 describes this power. I’m going to include the whole passage here because we need to read it again and again.

“For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold under sin. For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.

“So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?”

This brings to my mind what God said to Cain near the beginning, “…sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it” (Genesis 4:7). Sin wants us. It wants to run our lives. If we give it an inch, it will take a mile. No wonder we must all concede what Paul says in Ephesians 2:1-3:

“And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.”

Every single one of us gave sin control. Every single one of us became by nature children of wrath like the rest of mankind. Do you see what this means? This means instead of saying, “I’ve made some mistakes, but I would never do that,” we need to be shaking in our boots saying, “That could be me. Sin could do that to me too.”

Perhaps the sin that has had control of you is not lust and immorality, but arrogance, outbursts of wrath, slander, malice, drunkenness, greed, materialism, gluttony, or on the list could go. It doesn’t matter what sin you have given control in your life, it will take you farther than you ever imagined and it will destroy you. How many gluttons have abandoned their families after a heart attack? How many materialists have destroyed their families in pursuit of more and more things? How many covetous have driven away every relationship they’ve had as they wasted their money on the lottery and at casinos? How many who consistently had angry outbursts ended up killing someone even in their own family? Did they flee with a 13-year-old? No, but was the end result much different?

Five years ago, if anyone had asked our brother, Jody, about sacrificing his family, his work, even his soul in order to have a few moments of pleasure with a 13-year-old, he would have reacted exactly as we do today. “Absolutely not. I’ve done some bad things, but I would never do that.” Yet, he did. That makes me think of I Corinthians 10:12, “Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall.” Today, I want to say, “I’d never do that.” But if I let sin have control, that is exactly where sin will take me. If you let sin have control, that is exactly where it will take you. If your favorite flavor of sin is some other matter, it will destroy your life in some other way. It will lead you to do things you had never imagined. We cannot control and enjoy sin at all.

This is not just the obligatory reference to King David, but think about him for a minute. Here was a man after God’s own heart. But he let lust weasel its way in to that heart. I don’t know exactly what happened. Perhaps it all happened in one fell swoop of sin’s axe. He may have seen her, called for her immediately, and before the night was over had committed the sin. But I can also imagine a different scenario. He lusted for Bathsheba, thinking how great it would be if she were one of his wives. He fed that lust a little bit by inquiring after her. He found out he was one of his mighty men’s wife. So he tried to put it out of his mind. But he lusted some more. He argued with himself about how wrong it was. But that lust kept tickling his heart. He finally called for her. I can even imagine that the first time she came he didn’t do anything but meet her and perhaps flirt a little. Finally, he committed immorality with her. Then, to cover up what he had done, he didn’t fake his own death; he actually killed the woman’s husband. At least our brother Jody didn’t do that. This is the power of sin in our lives.

Sadly, many of us think we can control and enjoy some level of sin. Let this story be a warning to us. Sin will take over. It will take us where we don’t want to go. None of us is immune from its power. In the end, it will destroy us.

My friends in 12-step-recovery programs have a saying about their addiction. They explain that they only have three choices: 1) locked up, 2) covered up, or 3) sobered up. That is, if they stay in their addiction it will either send them to jail or kill them so their only solution is sobriety. While Christians everywhere will be saying, “I’d never do that,” my friends in recovery will be saying, “Have I done that? Not yet.” They will understand if they don’t surrender their acting out behavior to God and start giving him control, there are all kinds of things they think they would never do that they eventually will. This attitude shouldn’t just be for those recovering from alcoholism, sexaholism, gambling addiction, or drug addiction. This attitude should also be in all of us who are recovering from our sin enslavement. (Dare I say sin addiction?)

Let me say something specifically to anyone who is reading this whose favorite flavor of sin is right up this alley. If lust is your problem and you’ve been looking at pornography, let me assure you, this could be you. It will be you if you don’t surrender this sin now and start surrendering it every day. Take a good long look at where sin took even a gospel preacher. I guarantee you when he became a Christian 15 years ago, he thought he would never commit the sin of lust and immorality again and that he would never, ever do anything like he did this weekend. But sin is relentless and progressive.

If you are a preacher and you’ve been looking at pornography, do not say to yourself, “At least I’ve never done that.” If you keep looking at pornography, you’ll do something like it eventually. That is what sin does. You cannot control and enjoy it. It will control you. Please, no matter what it costs you get some serious help for this.

However, Paul didn’t end Romans 7 with despair. He asked the question who will deliver me from this body of death. Then he gave an answer in Romans 7:25: “Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!” Jesus can deliver us.

This doesn’t mean Jesus will simply forgive us. No, it means Jesus will actually deliver us from the body of death, the body that is being controlled by the law of sin. Let me tell you what won’t deliver you. You won’t deliver you. You aren’t strong enough. You can’t set up enough rules, enough accountability partners, enough safeguards to deliver yourself from a sin-controlled body of death. The lion is attacking you (cf. I Peter 5:8). Quit thinking you can beat him. Instead, retreat into the only protection you have. Let God be your fortress of protection (Psalm 18:1-3). Put on the armor of God and be strong in His might, praying with all perseverance and petition (Ephesians 6:10-18). Live by faith in Jesus, not by faith in your power to keep Jesus’ rules, but by faith in Jesus (Galatians 2:20) and He will deliver you from your body of death.

Don’t let this story cause you to glory in your own supposed power. Instead, if you haven’t done anything like this, thank God for His grace that He hasn’t let your sins take you this far. Develop some respect for the power of sin, recognizing that it could have been you, and start surrendering it to God. Give praise to God for His power that despite all of sin’s power, we can rule over it by the power of God.