Resisting Temptation

“Is Everyone Getting High?” That’s the title of a recent article in The New York Times. The article observes:

The old distinction between medical and recreational drugs is breaking down… It’s becoming impossible to count all the options we have these days for altering our consciousness with chemicals and plants. You can buy ketamine from club drug dealers on your phone, or by mail from online medical clinics to treat depression. Alongside vapes and gummies, C.B.D. dispensaries sell kratom, an herbal stimulant that some people use to boost work productivity and others to detox from opioids. Cannabis sellers may or may not be legally licensed, and may also sell psychedelic mushrooms. Some people source their Xanax or Adderall from sites on the dark web, others from a physician. Those seeking an alternative to coffee can head to a kava bar to sip an herbal narcotic long used in traditional Polynesian medicine.

And almost anyone get the drugs from easy sources. The article continued:

Today, drugs no longer need to be scored in wraps or baggies from sketchy neighborhoods; they can be ordered online through anonymous browsers and appear in your mailbox in professionally labeled packages. You don’t need to buy your college roommate’s Valium; you can buy it with your smartphone and a cryptocurrency app.

At first glance, Rolf Klasson, a gray-haired Swede who hobbles around on his walker, looked like an easy target. At least that's what two would-be robbers thought as they accosted him at a cash machine.

One of the thugs waved a knife while the other thug told Klasson to turn over his wallet. They didn't know that their victim was also the former European light-middleweight boxing champ.

Klasson warned them, "This isn't going to go well." When the men scoffed at his warning, he knocked one of them to the floor with a sharp right hook before laying the other out with a left jab. A police officer later said, "They came after the wrong guy."

Possible Preaching Angle:

This is a great little story to open up a sermon on the victory of the cross or spiritual warfare.

Earlier in 2024, many of us watched replays of the tragic collision and collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore. The accident led to the loss of several lives and caused enormous damage and disruption. As footage emerged, it was striking to see how immediately and totally the bridge seemed to come down. It looked like it happened all at once. The bridge had been constructed without any redundant support structures. The tragedy revealed that all of its supports were essential. Knock any one of these out and the whole thing will fall.

We might say something similar about Paul’s teaching in 1 Corinthians 6:9–11, one of the key biblical texts that addresses same-sex sexuality. This is not the sole focus of the text—Paul is talking about various sins—but it nevertheless provides essential foundations for how we should approach this whole issue as Christian believers.

In today’s climate, the church cannot afford to neglect Paul’s words. Paul provides vital teaching in 1 Corinthians 6 about same-sex sexuality. None of his words are wasted. Each facet of his teaching needs to be upheld alongside the others, like vital supports of a bridge. Neglecting any one will destabilize our approach.

YouTuber Tom Scott says the Strid at Bolton Abby in Yorkshire, England “is the most dangerous stretch of water in the world.” Standing in front of this harmless looking stream, he acknowledges it doesn't look like much. And he's right. “But I stand by it,” he says, “because the water is so deceptive, and so pretty, and there's a path that leads straight down to it and that jump looks very, very possible.”

Scott acknowledges that there are bodies of water that have taken more lives. But he still insists that this is the most dangerous. The reason: most of the times if a body of water is treacherous, you can see the danger. But the Strid is just a stream in the middle of the woods. Only a few feet wide, a person could easily jump over it. Some do and make it, but those who don't, always die. The stream has taken many lives, and there have been no confirmed reports of an individual falling in and surviving.

Why? Upstream the river is broad and shallow. But where the water meets the valley, the flow has cut deep into the river bed. It is as deep in the Strid as it is wide in the shallows. The rocks that seem to invite visitors to walk right up to the edge are actually ledges that allow the water to move slowly at the surface but mask a deep swirling torrent.

Scott concludes, “That's why it’s so dangerous, it looks calm and safe. It looks tempting. And it will kill you.”

You can view the short (2:12) video here.

Editor’s Note: Tom Scott is a prominent YouTuber whose channel offers educational videos across a range of topics including history, geography, linguistics, science, and technology.

For years, Ben Affleck wrestled with alcohol addiction. A consequence, he says, of having an alcoholic father. But the actor shared that he was in a much better place now and doesn't think he will ever return to that way of life.

It is no secret that substance abuse is a pervasive problem in Hollywood. Tragic stories are common. So, how did Affleck escape this fate?

In an interview he credited his Christian faith. Affleck says his Christian faith in later life has allowed him to accept his flaws and imperfections as a man. He said:

The concept that God, through Jesus, embraces and pardons all of us - from those we admire to those we might judge or resent - is powerful. If God can show such boundless love, urging us to love, avoid judgement and offer forgiveness, it serves as a profound model of how we should strive to be.

What I truly appreciate, even as I still grapple with my faith and beliefs, as I think all people do at times, is the profound idea that we all have imperfections . . . It's our journey to seek redemption, embrace divine love, better ourselves, cherish others, refrain from judgement, and extend forgiveness.

Since the 2007 launch of the iPhone, smartphones have granted billions of people customized, password-protected, hand-held access to a near-limitless array of digital stimuli. And this portable, pervasive parallel universe is highly addictive, often by design.

The leading online pornography site, Pornhub, was founded in 2007, a few months before the first iPhone dropped. By 2009, the site was already receiving millions of monthly unique visitors. In November 2022, Pornhub was visited 10.2 billion times, making it the fourth most popular destination on the web, and 97% of that traffic came from mobile devices.

Phishing is a word for a type of online scamming and this type of activity is growing. The FBI reports over 300,000 complaints and over 50 million dollars in phishing losses in 2022.

Phishing occurs when someone sends you a bogus communication, usually by email or text message, disguised as a missive from a legitimate source, such as a bank or government agency. Usually the sender is angling for information, a credit card number or a transfer of funds. Sometimes there is an attachment containing malware, or a link where you can go to log in—which is to say, to have your password stolen.

Phishing grows and grows, demanding continual vigilance; billions of phishing emails are sent every day, some narrowly targeted and others broadcast widely. You have no doubt seen the con artists’ bait dangling in your inbox.

Possible Preaching Angle:

Phishing has some similarities to the kind of temptations Christians encounter. Every Christian is aware of the temptations of the world and what could happen if we are baited, hooked, and reeled in.

When Heather Kopp arrived at rehab, she was a 40-something mom of two and a veteran of Christian publishing. She had never been in jail or on the streets, she’d simply let a nightly glass of wine turn into two, which turned into a bottle, which eventually led to additional mini bottles hidden and secretly chugged in the bathroom. Soon enough, every moment of her life revolved around her next chance to sneak away for a drink.

Karen’s story opens a window into the mind of a burgeoning alcoholic. But as she moved through her rehab and recovery phases into her struggle to understand God’s presence amid her alcoholism, she arrives at a universal truth: Substance abuse is a physical manifestation of a spiritual addiction to sin. And everyone, it turns out, is an addict.

But this isn’t a story of how addiction led Karen to God, or how God pulled her out of addiction. Instead, Karen’s story is one of confronting the nature of sin and understanding more fully the necessity and beauty of God’s grace.

Karen now reflects on her sobriety, “(People) think I just resist temptation over and over because I’m a good person or because I have all this willpower. Can you imagine? How do you explain to people that it’s not anything like that?” Recovery is a living example of the miracle of grace. When addiction removes the illusion of self-sufficiency, the addict must reach a point of surrender from which to accept grace without conditions, and to have confidence that God really is in control, no matter what.

Possible Preaching Angle

It’s tempting for the nonalcoholic to hear Karen’s story about alcoholism as a detached observer. We can marvel at the depths from which God can save a person from pursuits that bring only harm, pain, and grief—and thank him that we haven’t fallen as far. But Karen’s story reminds us that we are each living our own addiction story. And we can’t lose sight of the complete and total dependence on God’s sustaining grace that offers any hope of a way out. Whatever your addiction, God’s grace is the only hope for a way out.

Potbellied pigs are running wild in Delaware, alarming agricultural officials and raising the risk of damage and disease. The problem started when people bought the pigs as pets, but then quickly discovered they couldn’t control them. The Delaware Department of Agriculture said, “Owners who can no longer manage these animals are likely to relinquish ownership and allow them to roam.”

Sellers often mislead buyers by calling the pigs micro pigs, teacup pigs, and mini pig. But potbellied pigs can weigh up to 200 pounds and can live up to 20 years. The pigs can reproduce at a young age. Female potbellied pigs can become pregnant at three months old, and males can breed at eight weeks of age. The wild pigs dig up and destroy crops. Feral swine can also leave fecal material in waterways and wetlands, contaminating water sources and increasing disease risks for humans, wildlife, and livestock.

Possible Preaching Angle:

In a similar way, we think that we can allow small sins into our lives because they are manageable or controllable, only to find out that they are not. They will run wild.

During the late 18th century, Thomas Thetcher was a much-respected soldier by his fellow grenadiers in England. He was so revered that when he tragically died, his fellow soldiers commissioned a gravestone to memorialize his untimely demise. His death was not only untimely, but very bizarre, as it was not by sword, or gun, or cannon fire, but a drink that killed the soldier.

In a corner of the graveyard belonging to the Winchester Cathedral, Thetcher’s gravestone marks his final resting place. It also features this inscription:

In Memory of Thomas Thetcher a Grenadier in the North Reg. of Hants Militia, who died of a violent Fever contracted by drinking Small Beer when hot the 12 May 1764. Aged 26 Years.

Here sleeps in peace a Hampshire Grenadier,

Who caught his death by drinking cold small Beer,

Soldiers be wise from his untimely fall

And when ye’re hot drink Strong or none at all.

An Honest Soldier never is forgot

Whether he die by Musket or by Pot.

Many years later in 1918, an American soldier stationed in Winchester visited the cathedral and came across Thomas Thetcher’s grave. The soldier, Bill Wilson, was deeply affected by the inscription that even years after returning from the war, it may have saved his life.

Wilson became a successful businessman shortly after returning home, but within a few years his life was controlled by heavy drinking. His drinking was so detrimental to his health that it was believed the only way to save his life was to lock him away. Against all odds, Wilson along with a fellow group of alcoholics found a way to achieve and maintain sobriety. He eventually wrote a book about his experiences, a book that is world-renowned, Alcoholics Anonymous. Wilson would go on to co-found Alcoholics Anonymous. He considered the gravestone to be a major influence on his own recovery.

Editor’s Note: There is debate among medical professionals as to the cause of Thetcher’s death. Some medical professionals have proposed that Thetcher’s death was the result of fainting when a cold liquid is consumed on an extremely hot day. Others say that it is most likely that he passed from cholera or typhoid from a contaminated beer. Regardless of the cause, his death inspired the founding of Alcoholics Anonymous which has saved thousands of lives worldwide.

The job of painting the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco is never-ending. I heard once that they paint it end-to-end, but by the time they get to the end—however many years that may take—it is time to start over. In reality though, sections and portions of the bridge are prioritized according to need.

Regardless of strategy, the bridge is never not being painted. It is one of the primary maintenance jobs. Why? Why is the seemingly mundane and monotonous act of painting, in fact, a task of utmost importance to sustaining the structure? Because the air coming in from the Pacific Ocean is incredibly high in salt content and will wreak havoc on the structure if it is not properly sealed with paint. Exposed segments can lead to corrosion, which can lead to structural failure, which can lead to disaster.

A team of thirty-four people make it their life’s purpose to paint the Golden Gate its trademark “international orange” color. They climb ladders hundreds of feet in the air, hang from harnesses and baskets suspended over the vast waters, and risk their lives to put paint to steel. Year after year. Every bolt, every rivet, every beam, every crevice, every cable gets covered. The safety of the bridge depends upon it.

Possible Preaching Angle:

As the workers paint the Golden Gate Bridge stroke by stroke, similarly I paint my heart with the Word of God verse by verse. It is a never-ending process. Just when I think I have finished, it is time to start over. What I painted a year ago or two years ago or ten years ago now needs a fresh coat of God’s Word. I can’t afford to not have God’s Holy Word painted on the walls of my heart. I am in desperate need of protection from the constant corrosion of the world which threatens the safety of my spiritual infrastructure.

Seventeen percent of evangelical women between the ages of 15 and 44 have had sex with another woman, according to data gathered by the CDC and analyzed by Grove City College sociology professor David Ayers. Among evangelical men, the percentage who’ve had sex with other men hovers around five percent.

Changing attitudes toward same-sex relationships—in the US generally and among older and younger evangelicals specifically—have been well documented. The same-sex experiences and orientation of younger evangelicals, however, have not been widely reported.

The CDC surveyed about 11,300 people about sex, sexual health, and attitudes and preferences. More than 1,800 of those people were evangelical, as defined by their denominational affiliation. Looking at that subset, Ayers was able to determine that roughly one percent of evangelical women identify as lesbian and about five percent say they are bisexual. Among evangelical girls aged 15 to 17, more than 10 percent identify as bi.

Ayers asks,

Why are so many younger evangelical females today open to sex with other women? The simple biblical teaching that all sex outside of marriage between one man and one woman is sinful is hardly secret or subtle …. And yet, among younger people especially, it has been quite a few years since biblical beliefs and practices have been the norm among evangelicals.

When Keith Stonehouse started receiving a flurry of orders from the takeout service GrubHub, it didn’t take him long to realize what had happened. Stonehouse had allowed his six-year-old son Mason to play on his phone before bed. Mason rewarded his kindness by ordering a whole lot of food. “Why did you do this?” asked Stonehouse to Mason, who hid under his comforter. Mason replied, “I don’t know. I was hungry.” Mason then proceeded to interrupt his father’s lecture to ask if the pizzas he ordered had arrived yet.

Stonehouse later said that the $439 pizza order was canceled by his bank for appearing fraudulent. But that more than $1,000 worth of food was successfully ordered and delivered, creating a very full refrigerator and emergency offers to friends and neighbors to share the unforeseen bounty. Stonehouse said, “I had to keep stepping out of [his] room and calming myself down. You want to yell at your son, but he’s only six.”

The next day, Stonehouse and his wife sat down with Mason and had a talk with him, explaining the gravity of his actions. They explained that because he did this without permission, they would have to use the $150 in his piggy bank to help pay for all the hot dogs, chili cheese fries, jumbo shrimps, and other foods. Stonehouse said, “We showed him one-by-one. He was a little devastated but he understood.”

​Possible Preaching Angle:

We've all had moments where our eyes are bigger than our stomachs, but immaturity only increases our susceptibility to temptation.

A new study is giving new meaning to the phrase “this city would eat you alive.” Scientists from the University of Miami say sharks are not avoiding the local shoreline. Instead, these predators are spending plenty of time quite close to the sights and sounds of the city.

On a global scale, the world’s coastlines are urbanizing at a rapid rate. So how is that impacting local aquatic life? Researchers decided to investigate by tracking the movements of sharks around the Miami shoreline. Considering the loud noises, chemicals, and bright lights, the research team fully expected the sharks to avoid South Beach like a bad habit. That’s not what they saw.

Researcher Neil Hammerschlag said, “Since other studies have shown that land predators are urban avoiders, we expected sharks to be too. We were surprised to find that the sharks spent so much time near the lights and sounds of the busy city, often close to shore, no matter the time of day.”

Plenty of animals, like pigeons or raccoons, thrive in cities. Meanwhile, “urban adaptors” spend some time in urban areas, but still largely rely on the great outdoors. On the other end of the spectrum, we find most land-based predators like wolves. These animals, called “urban avoiders,” want nothing to do with civilization.

Study authors once thought that sharks are urban avoiders, but ultimately concluded they act much more like urban adaptors. Sharks are closer to the beach than you might think.

Possible Preaching Angle:

Satan, the roaring lion, is also closer than you might think. He constantly prowls looking for the unwary to devour (1 Pet. 5:8) and we need to be aware of his schemes (2 Cor. 2:11).

One key discovery is that self-control is an exhaustible but buildable resource. A psychologist demonstrated this with a clever experiment. He had college students skip a meal, so that they felt hungry, and then sit at a table. The table had freshly baked chocolate chip cookies, candy, and radishes.

The first group of students—the lucky ones—could eat whatever they wanted. Of course, they only ate the sweets. The second group had the same food in front of them, but they were told to leave the sweets alone, and they could only eat the radishes. The third group had no food in front of them at all. (It was the control group.)

After the students sat at their tables for a while, they were given a complex geometry problem to solve. The trick was that the problem was unsolvable; what mattered was how long they worked on it before giving up. The students in Groups 1 and 3 worked for about 20 minutes. But, the students in Group 2 worked only about 8 minutes. Why such a big difference? The students in Group 2 had already used up a lot of self-control resisting the sweets, so they had less energy left over for working on the geometry problem. Researchers call this ego depletion.

Does this mean that self-control, once it’s used, is gone forever? Not at all. It recharges with rest. In fact, the more often self-control is used, the stronger it gets. Self-control is like a muscle. It weakens immediately after use but strengthens with frequent use.

Possible Preaching Angle:

The strategy is simply being aware of our capacity for self-control and willpower throughout the day. Keep an eye on the gas gauge. Knowing our willpower level tells us when it might be a good time to take on new challenges, or when we should stop and refill. It lets us know when we are most vulnerable to moral failure.

Vince Patton couldn’t believe what he was seeing. He was surfing YouTube when he found a video of a Tesla driver playing a video game on the car’s touchscreen dashboard. Tesla officials say the feature was added to help drivers pass the time while their cars are docked in charging stations. But Patton was shocked because the driver was playing the video game while the car was in motion.

Patton is also a Tesla owner. Shocked, and also curious, Patton got in his own Tesla Model 3 and headed over to an empty parking lot in a remote area to test it out for himself. He said, “I was just dumbfounded that, yes, sure enough, this sophisticated video game came up.” Not only was he able to load up games but he even surfed the web on the onboard browser. He said, “Somebody’s going to get killed. It’s absolutely insane.”

Patton took his concerns to the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration. He wrote in a complaint “NHTSA needs to prohibit all live video in the front seat and all live interactive web browsing while the car is in motion. Creating a dangerous distraction for the driver is recklessly negligent.”

An NHTSA spokesperson made this statement: “We are aware of driver concerns and are discussing the feature with the manufacturer. The Vehicle Safety Act prohibits manufacturers from selling vehicles with design defects posing unreasonable risks to safety.”

When contacted, representatives from Tesla were unavailable for comment.

Possible Preaching Angle:

Part of wisdom is learning how to avoid temptations that can distract us from our primary calling, or worse, put our safety and wellbeing in jeopardy.

A woman from Omsk, Russia, is reportedly suing McDonald's over an advertisement featuring cheeseburgers and chicken nuggets, which she said caused her to break her fast during Lent. Ksenia Ovchinnikova, an Orthodox Christian, said she was trying to stay away from meat and other animal products during the six-week period leading up to Easter.

She said, “When I saw an advertising banner, I could not help myself. I visited McDonald's and bought a cheeseburger.” In her official complaint, she explains: “In the actions of McDonald's, I see a violation of the consumer protection law. I ask the court to investigate and, if a violation has taken place, to oblige McDonald's to compensate me for moral damage in the amount of one thousand rubles ($14 US dollars).”

Throughout the coasts of the Caribbean, Central America, South America, and even in south Florida, there can be found a pleasant-looking beachy sort of tree, often laden with small greenish-yellow fruits that look like apples.

You might be tempted to eat the fruit. Do not eat the fruit. You might want to rest your hand on the trunk, or touch a branch. Do not touch the tree trunk or any branches. Do not stand under or even near the tree for any length of time whatsoever. Do not touch your eyes while near the tree. Do not pick up any of the ominously shiny, tropic-green leaves.

The aboriginal peoples of the Caribbean were familiar with the tree and the sap was used to tip arrows. It is believed that the Calusa people of Florida used it in that manner to kill Juan Ponce de Leon on his second trip to Florida in 1521.

This is the manchineel, known in Spanish-speaking countries as “la manzanilla de la muerte,” which translates to “the little apple of death,” or as “arbol de la muerte,” “tree of death.” The fruit, though described as sweet and tasty, is extraordinarily toxic.

Nicola Strickland, who unwisely chomped down on a manchineel fruit on the Caribbean Island of Tobago, describes what it was like:

I rashly took a bite from this fruit and found it pleasantly sweet. My friend also partook (at my suggestion). Moments later we noticed a strange peppery feeling in our mouths, which gradually progressed to a burning, tearing sensation and tightness of the throat. The symptoms worsened over a couple of hours until we could barely swallow solid food because of the excruciating pain.

Over the next eight hours our oral symptoms slowly began to subside. Recounting our experience to the locals elicited frank horror and incredulity, such was the fruit’s poisonous reputation.

Possible Preaching Angle:

God also warned Adam and Eve about the far deadlier physical and spiritual consequences which would come from eating the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. Sadly, just as in this story, Eve not only ate but shared the fruit with Adam.

When three-year-old Kali Porter decided she wanted a bouncy ball from the claw machine, she first tried the direct approach, attempting to grab it on her own. But when she couldn’t fit inside the machine herself, she called for backup. That’s how Alivia “Tinky” Porter, Kali’s two-year-old cousin, ended up getting stuck in the claw machine at the Billy Beez fun center in the Destiny USA mall in Syracuse.

Grandmother Jackie Perez said, “Seeing the balls inside the machine was like a trigger for them. It only took one second and they were gone. My grandkids are very adventurous.”

When Kali came to report Alivia’s predicament, Perez was almost impressed. “I thought she might be like halfway stuck. But when we got there her whole body was in it. If someone put a quarter in the machine, they could have used the claw to pick her up.”

Eventually first responders were dispatched, and within ten minutes of arriving on scene, firefighters had pried open the door, retrieved Alivia, and deposited her into her grandmother’s waiting arms. Perez said, “They worked so fast. Everyone was in great spirits. I wasn’t scared at all. When they got Tinky out it was like the firemen won a prize.”

After spending almost fifteen minutes inside the glass claw machine, Perez said that her granddaughter Alivia was still in good spirits. “She hasn’t had any bad reactions. I actually think she enjoyed it.”

Less enthused was Kali. Upon Alivia’s release from the claw machine, Kali had only one question for her cousin: “Where is the ball?”

Possible Preaching Angle:

Sin is attractive and can lure us into embarrassing or dangerous situations if we yield to it. Before we know it, we are trapped. Nevertheless, God is faithful to save and can deliver us from temptations, even those of our own making.

Hearing your phone’s notification sound can trigger a rush of dopamine. “Who’s calling me?” you wonder. It could be a friend, a partner, or even your boss saying you can take the day off.

You think the possibilities are endless—then you see it’s just junk, and the smile slips from your face. The average American gets about 15 spammy text messages per month, according to research from Statista.

Scams (calls, texts, emails, and all the rest) are never-ending … because it works. Scam calls alone lost Americans $19.7 billion in 2020, up from $9.2 billion in 2019. If you’ve just given up on answering, you’re not alone. A new survey from antispam company Hiya says 94% of unknown calls go unanswered.

Some other numbers:

• Americans received an average of 144 spam calls in 2020. Of those, 58% were some form of fraud.
• Scam call victims lost an average of $182 last year.
• Texas was the most targeted state. Dallas, Houston, Austin, San Antonio, and Fort Worth all rank in the top 10.

Possible Preaching Angle:

Satan is also unrelenting in sending temptation our way. He never stops or takes a day off. While we can’t prevent it, we can refuse to answer his call, and “not give the devil an opportunity” (Eph. 4:27).