Another cold morning but good for riding.
Today’s Bike Ride
Month: July 2022
Quote for the Day
Contemporary education has become in some quarters preoccupied with the liberation of children’s sexual instincts and the elimination of any religious influence whatsoever. Today’s education as therapy exhibits these two pathologies: a liberation from traditional sexual codes and (given its role in maintaining traditional sexual codes) liberation from religion. Carl Trueman
Pornhub On The Verge Of Collapse
Great news from The Daily Declaration:
“Pornhub is on its knees”: The behemoth porn website “on the verge of collapse”
According to Laila Mickelwait, the founder and CEO of Justice Defence Fund, Pornhub, just two years ago the world’s largest and most popular pornographic website, is on the brink of collapsing. She is urging people to “double down” in their efforts to oppose the industry.
In a recent email to supporters, Laila Mickelwait outlined some enormously positive developments in the war against porn.
In January 2020, Pornhub was the 10th most visited website on the internet — more popular than Netflix, Amazon or Yahoo. Chillingly for those concerned about the influence of Big Tech, Pornhub ranks as the third most influential tech company, behind just Facebook and Google.
But all that has changed.
As Mickelwait explains:
“By January 2022, thanks to all who have joined the #TraffickingHub movement, Pornhub took down 80% of the entire site, totaling [sic] 10 million videos, lost all payment processing (MasterCard, Visa, Discover, and PayPal), lost all major corporate partners (Grant Thornton, Roku, Comcast, Xfinity, Heinz and Unilever) and became a global pariah — with thousands of media articles exposing them.”
Apparently, Pornhub is also under threat from multiple major lawsuits in both the United States and Canada. They are being investigated “for child sexual abuse material, sex trafficking, and organized crime”.
Additionally, just last month the CEO and COO of MindGeek (Pornhub’s parent company) “abruptly and unceremoniously resigned” from their positions. Simultaneously, 30 per cent of the company was sacked.
Mickelwait continues:
“It feels like we are seeing a behemoth of a corporation on the verge of collapse — and it is well deserved. As Nicholas Kristof put it from the New York Times, ‘The world has often been oblivious to child sexual abuse, from the Catholic Church to the Boy Scouts. Too late, we prosecute individuals like Jeffrey Epstein or R. Kelly. But we should also stand up to corporations that systematically exploit children. With Pornhub, we have Jeffrey Epstein times 1,000.’”
She finishes with an impassioned call to action:
“Epstein wasn’t given a slap on the wrist. He was put in prison and his companies were shut down. That is what real justice looks like. That is the kind of justice that will deter future perpetrators. Pornhub deserves nothing less.
Now is not the time to let up. It’s time to double down.”
If you want to support the work of Justice Defense Fund or find more about them, you can go to their website.
Reflection on Judges 13:1-25
Scripture
“Why do you ask my name?” the angel of the Lord replied.” It is too wonderful for you to understand.”
Observation
The Israelites again do evil in the sight of the Lord, so the Philistines oppress them for 40 years.
A man named Manoah is married to a woman who is unable to have children. The angel of the Lord appears to his wife with the happy news that she will soon become pregnant. The child is to be set apart for the Lord, so she must not eat any unclean food. The child will rescue Israel from the Philistines.
She tells Manoah, who then prays for a second visitation so they can receive more instructions about how to raise the child. The angel of God appears again to Manoah’s wife while she is sitting in the field. She runs to bring Manoah. Manoah wants to kill a goat to feed the angel, but he will not eat it. Manoah offers it as a burnt offering to the Lord. When Manoah does this, the angel of the Lord rises to heaven in the flames.
When the baby is born they name him Samson.
Application
When Manoah asked the angel his name, he replied, “It is too wonderful for you to understand”
Many scholars believe that in the Old Testament, the angel of the Lord is a representation of Jesus, the Son of God yet to be born in human flesh.
This truly is a mystery that is too wonderful to understand.
Because God is infinite and unlimited, and we are finite and bound to physical bodies, there are many things about Him that we cannot understand. They remain mysteries to us.
It is natural to want to know as much about God as we can, but we must accept that our knowledge is limited. Some things about the Lord are simply too wonderful to explain, far beyond our thoughts and words.
Prayer
Lord God, you truly are too marvellous for words. I cannot entirely understand you, but I will worship you. Amen.
Today’s Bike Ride
Cold morning with minimum temperature just below freezing. Not too much wind, so a pleasant ride.
Quote for the Day
And the result is that, before Freud, sex was an activity, for procreation or for recreation; after Freud, sex is definitive of who we are, as individuals, as societies, and as a species. Carl Trueman
Yarning Circles
Recently we had the privilege of meeting a well-known Aboriginal pastor, Henry Weatherall. Henry has moved around regional NSW and ministered in places like Moree and Condobolin, as well as an itinerant ministry through much of the nation.
During our conversation, Henry said that he likes to get into prisons and minister to young indigenous inmates in yarning circles. In a small group, people share their stories and why they are there. Henry also shares his story of how God set him free from alcoholism and turned his life around.
Henry said that indigenous people really need to have these opportunities to get their hurts and struggles out in the open. Everybody needs that, otherwise we just carry the soul sickness around with us and never receive healing.
At New Life we emphasise our own yarning circles, which we call cell groups. In cell groups we have opportunities to share our stories and to minister to one another, all in the safe environment of people who care about each other. We laugh together, we worship together, we cry together and we pray together. All the time the Holy Spirit is deepening our love for one another and for Him.
This is an important part of our life together. We want to be healed, whole and strong to take the gospel of the kingdom to our friends and families.
Yarning circles – cell groups – whatever the name, they are a great idea.
Reflection on Judges 12:1-14
Scripture
After Jephthah died, Ibzan from Bethlehem judged Israel. He had thirty sons and thirty daughters.
Observation
The people of Ephraim raise an army to fight Jephthah. They claim to have been overlooked when Jephthah fought the Ammonites. Jephthah replies that he did summon them at the beginning of the dispute, but they refused to come.
Jephthah then gathers the men of Gilead to attack the people of Ephraim. He captures the Jordan River and sets up check points at all the crossing points along the river. Those wanting to cross are required to say the word Shibboleth. The Ephraimites cannot say this word correctly and they are killed.
After Jephthah dies, Ibzan takes over as judge over Israel. After Ibzan, comes Elon, and then Abdon.
Application
Some of the judges were more famous for their offspring than for their actions. Ibzan had thirty sons and thirty daughters. Elon had seventy sons and grandsons. They were very busy men!
It is fair to assume that under these judges Israel enjoyed a time of peace. Nothing is recorded of national significance.
Sometimes life is like that. We enjoy peace and prosperity. Life goes on as normal.
During the peaceful times, we need to make sure that we continue to walk with the Lord. When life is going well, some people find it easy to neglect prayer and worship.
This was certainly the case for Israel. During times of peace, they would gradually turn away from the Lord and start to worship other gods, until the Lord sent an enemy to punish them.
Prayer
Lord Jesus, please help me to stay focused on you, even when times are good. Amen.
Quote for the Day
And as Freud makes sexual desire fundamental to human happiness, one might go as far as to say that sexuality is the primary and most important part of being human. Carl Trueman
Today’s Bike Ride
A cool and cloudy morning with a Southerly breeze. The river is a little lower but still splendid.
New Life Narrabri 