Is masturbation sin? This question has sparked many heated debates. Since the Bible doesn’t answer the question directly, many people assume that God must be fine with it. But the Bible does offer guiding principles that help us to discern how to think about actions or attitudes that are not explicitly dealt with in its holy pages.In this episode of Ask the Counselor, Pastor Ed Buch looks at some of the underlying beliefs and perspectives that fuel the practice of masturbation, and admonishes us to consider again what God must really think about masturbation.

Being a sexual addict and being a self-righteous Pharisee might not seem very similar on the surface. But often, these two spiritual problems overlap. Pastor Steve Gallagher explores the spiritual dynamics of why this happens, and pastor and evangelist Glenn Meldrum explains the antidote to powerless religiosity: a life that's truly "set apart" to God.

When a husband is in the grip of sexual addiction, the wife is often desperately searching for any sign that he is truly going to change. Soon it becomes apparent that tears of remorse, pleas for mercy and many promises to change do not guarantee that the husband is serious about changing. Kathy’s husband was addicted to pornography and illicit sexual encounters for years, but there was a moment in time where Steve truly began to change, and there were indicators in the following months that the change was genuine. In this video, Kathy talks about how a wife can know if her husband is truly changing.

A wife who is crippled by fear is often looking to her husband for something that only God can provide. Kathy has seen it many, many times: when a wife pins her happiness on how well her husband is doing, she will be disappointed again and again.In order to leave the past behind, a wife must find her peace and hope in God. This is where she will find the strength to endure, and even to find the blessing in the pain.Kathy was able to endure the pain of Steve’s repeated betrayals only by looking to God as her source of strength and recognizing the work that God was doing in her own life through this fiery trial.

Is it possible to experience longstanding victory over lustful thoughts? For many, the answer to this question has been a resounding “no.” Years and sometimes even decades of constant failure have taught us to believe that the holiness described in the Bible is reserved for so-called “spiritual giants.” We often imagine ourselves experiencing victory after reciting a prayer, memorizing scripture, or attending a special church service. While these are not sinful behaviors, the Bible clearly teaches it takes more to experience long-lasting victory. The Bible does not guarantee sinless perfection, but it does shed some light on this crucial issue and can lead us in our journey to experience the holiness of God in our own lives. Besides the promises of scripture, there are countless testimonies from other believers that Jesus can and will free us from our oppressive, lustful minds if we are willing to follow His commands. In this episode of Ask the Counselor, Biblical Counselor Luke Imperato shares both spiritual and practical insights on fighting against lust and recounts some of his own powerful testimony about how God led him out of overwhelming and filthy thinking.

When caught up in the storm of revealed sexual sin, a hurting wife has tremendous difficulty facing the onslaught of emotions as they rush upon her. Oftentimes, her feelings send her into emergency mode as she attempts to save her marriage at any cost.  Kathy herself lived through this struggle as a young bride when she first married Steve Gallagher. When his sin came out, she was overcome with fear, doubt and anger. However, as time went on, the Lord taught her to put her trust in Him and His Word, which provides hope that does not disappoint. She has since counseled hundreds of wives, helping them to deal with their husband's sin in a godly and biblical way. In this video, she encourages wives to stand their ground amidst the unrelenting surge of these powerful emotions.

We often judge our spiritual lives by looking only at the outward manifestations of sin. But the attitude of our hearts can separate us from the Lord and His work in our lives just as much as any outward sin. In this message, Pastor Steve looks at the rebellion that can grow in our hearts towards God if we fail to fully surrender our inward lives to Him.

The will of God for us is holiness in thought as well as deed, which comes through a process called sanctification. This sanctification comes by the transforming power of God’s Word and the influence of His Holy spirit. However, before this process can begin, we must repent of our minds which are at enmity with God and have often portrayed a perverted view of Him. In this message, Ed Buch clearly teaches how God uses His Word to realign our minds so that we can have the mind of Christ and present our lives as a worship offering, pleasing unto Him.

The living God longs to reveal his mercy to us. But as Nate Danser challenges us in this message, if we want to discover who God really is, we will have to take a serious look at our priorities. Are we overwhelmed by the Lord's love and compelled to respond by giving him our lives? If not, now is the time to seek the Lord!

Even the spirit of this world can sense the destructive path mankind is on and that it cannot continue this way forever, that there must come an end to the horrors we see growing every day. Yet, it is deluded as to the true nature of the problem, that 6000 years ago we declared war against a Holy God. The world is trying to evade the inevitable end to this battle by seeking solutions to save itself apart from the gospel God has laid before us. But the end will come for the Children of Adam, and when it does, it will catch many by surprise. Then, we will all be brought before the judgment seat of God and the question presented to us shall be: Are we standing in The Truth?

This is the final episode of our special series, World of Lies, based on the latest book by Steve Gallagher: Walking in Truth in a World of Lies. We would encourage you to get a copy and immerse yourself in its biblically based truth. Just visit aworldoflies.com to find out more information. Purity for Life is a production of Pure Life Ministries. You can find all of our teaching materials, by visiting purelifeministries.org. You can also find out about our residential and phone-counseling programs if you or someone you care about is trapped in the deception of sexual sin.

Consider how different your life would look if Jesus were to take over your body and live His will perfectly through you. One thing is certain, sexual sin wouldn’t be anywhere in the picture. His deep love for other people would make selfishness and lust an utter impossibility. God has clearly revealed that His will is mercy, but as fallen human beings, there’s so much in us that opposes that will. That means, we really need to surrender. In this episode, we discuss what it means for us to be consecrated to God, so that He may do His will of mercy through us.

When your mind has been saturated with filthy images for years, it’s hard to imagine ever being able to have a pure thought life. But the Word of God is powerful! Last week we emphasized our need to seek the Lord, and now we want to help you live that out practically. We’re going to look at how scripture restructures a pornographic mindset, why a healthy relationship with God’s word is so important. Then we’ll give you some examples of how saturating your mind in God’s word translates into a changed life.