faith n’ action
On Being Chaplain...
What do you like/dislike about
your new position at Montreat
College and what changes do
you hope to make while holding
that position?
LIKE; Without sounding too
cheesy, what I love most about
my new position at Montreat
College is YOU, the students. I
mean that. I love laughing with
you, worshiping with you, talk
ing with you, watching curling
with you, crying with you and
praying with you. Most of all,
I love being able to walk next
to you as Jesus works on your
heart. College is that crazy time
in life when you have to figure
some things out for yourself You
aren’t living off of the faith of
mom and dad anymore, which is
freeing, but scary too. I love your
energy and enthusiasm, the way
you look at the world and still
believe that anything is possible,
that one person really can make
a difference. I feel humbled to be
able to share some of the most
important years of your life with
you and to be able to play a part
in you becoming more like Jesus.
And even if, in the grand scheme
of things it is a real small part,
I love the opportunity just the
same.
DISLIKE; I am a relational
guy. I wish all of my time could
be spent hanging out with you
guys (and girls) wearing jeans
and a T-shirt, smoking cigars on
the front porch of Howerton...
but I can’t I have to sit in my
office sometimes and get tasks
done. Every part of my job is
wonderful and necessary, but I
simply wish I had more time to
just live life with all of you.
CHANGE; I would like to hear
more staff/faculty speaking in
chapel and I would like to raise
the awareness and participation
of our students in social justice
issues. I want to see a greater
variety of ideas being tossed
around and I want to create a
space where people can dialogue
over issues they disagree on with
mutual respect. At some point,
I would love to teach a preach
ing class and have a night every
month that students can come to
my house to talk about faith over
a cigar. Most of all I want to see
a greater sense of community on
our campus where people will-
Steve Woodworth
Sunday Morning Porn
by George Dobson
I was exposed to pom earlier
tlian most kids; I saw my first por
nographic video when I was in third
grade. Not long after, I sneaked
peaks at Playboys and searched the
Internet for anything I could find.
This continued through my middle
school years and up through high
school. The longer I went, the more
my problem progressed in severity.
I however, saw no reason to stop
because most of my fiiends looked
at pom too.
The number of hardcore pornog
raphy outlets in the U.S. outnum
bers the number of McDonalds
by more than 3 to 1 (Family.org).
Children spent 64.9% more of their
time on pornography sites than they
did on game sites in September
2000 (Net Value), a number that
increases each year. The world’s
youth have been attacked from
every angle when it comes to pom
access.
This isn’t just a problem that
thirteen-year-old boys face and
then grow out of For many it
becomes a life-long addiction and
the only way out of it is with the
help of others. According to The
Washington Times roughly 60%
of all Internet activity is spent on
pornography websites. Luckily
this battle is not being ignored by
all of society; a select few are step
ping up and actually doing some
thing to combat the problem that
our youth culture is facing today.
One of these groups is none other
than XXXchurch, the ministry that
visited the Montreat campus just a
few weeks ago.
Craig Gross and Mike Foster
founded XXXchurch to serve as a
ministry to those entangled in the
dangerous web of pornography
and sexual addiction. They began
with a simple goal in mind: rid the
world of pom. Okay, so maybe
it wasn’t that simple. Craig and
Mike certainly weren’t guys to
be easily discouraged tliough.
They began their ministry by
going to pom conventions all over
the country, setting up a booth
and ministering to the masses
of deceived people. Since tlien,
XXXchurch has grown to help
even more people by attending the
world’s largest pom convention
in Amsterdam, helping individu
als get out of the pom industry,
and setting up a system known as
XXXwatch. XXXwatch tracks all
of your internet activity and every
two weeks e-mails any suspicious
web-addresses to an accountabil
ity partner.
I heard about XXXchurch
towards the end of my junior year.
Because I had recently accepted
Clirist, I was eager for a solution
for my pom addiction. I instantly
downloaded their XXXwatch and
though it took a little while, I was
eventually cured of my addiction.
To say that I am no longer tempted,
would be a lie. I face temptations
just like everyone else, but thanks
to Jesus and the guys at XXX
church I don’t stmggle nearly as
much with those temptations.
On Tuesday night, January 31
Craig Gross, co-founder of XXX
church, spoke at a convo-credit
event here at Montreat College.
The turnout wasn’t amazing but
the people there knew that they
heard something special. Craig
spoke about sexual addiction as
we expected. However, he also
talked about accountability and
honesty with your brothers and
sisters in Christ. The Montreat
campus needed to hear Craig’s
message. So many people were
intent on keeping their own little
secrets that no one realized every
one was stmggling with the same
things. Montreatians immediately
began confessing their sexual
addictions and stmggles, confront
ing problems they had with other
people, got honest about their faith
and most importantly everyone
began showing genuine concern
for the well being of their brothers
ingly come out of their rooms,
take their iPods out of their ears
and connect. I guess the biggest
change I have in mind is when I
propose that we remove all the
doors and cut the internet con
nections in all campus housing.
That should make an impact.
and sisters.
Matthew 22:39 tells us to love our
neighbor as ourselves. Montreat
College needed to be awakened to
this idea. Show a genuine concern
for each other, and don’t shy away
from the problems that you might
have to get your hands dirty to
solve. Do you care enough about
your brothers and sisters in Christ
to reach down and pick them up?
Are you bold enough to reach up
and grab the hand that is trying to
lift you up away from your prob
lems?
If you are interested in learning
more about XXXchurch, perhaps
helping them out by donation of
time or money, or downloading
the XXXwatch program, then go
to xxxchurch.com and follow the
links.
Mar. 2 2006, Page 5
The Whetstone