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Houston’s First
Baptist Church

Victory Over Pornography

Sep 22, 2021

NOTE: The resources further down on this page were originally created in January 2016 in conjunction with Pastor Gregg's related message. Others were added in September 2021. Therefore, in the time since, some resources listed here may have become unavailable. If so, we encourage to continue searching for other resources to help you or your loved one. There are many Bible-based and effective resources out there to find!

Alarming Stats about Pornography

Pornography Viewing Starts as Early as Elementary School by Amy Steele

  • Average age is 11 years old
  • Kids who view porn have less gray matter in their brain: fewer neurons and neuro-connectivity in pleasure centers. Causes deeper cravings with harder work to get there. Increases the risk and exposure to more severe sexual images.
  • Porn users who watch at least once a month are exposed to a higher risk for depression, anxiety, sexually permissive attitudes, preoccupation with sex, inability to distinguish fantasy and reality, unrealistic ideas about sexual relationships, female body insecurities and male performance insecurities.

Pornography Statistics & Facts by The Recovery Village

  • 56% of divorces are from obsessive porn interest
  • 35% of all internet downloads are pornographic material
  • 93% of boys and 62% of girls see porn before age 18
  • 40 million adults regularly visit porn websites
    • 10% admit an addiction
    • 20% men and 13% women access while at work
    • 1/3 of visitors to porn websites are women

Internet Pornography by the Numbers: A Significant Threat to Society by Webroot

  • Every second, 28,258 users are watching porn and $3,075.64 is spent
  • Every day, 2.5 billion emails are sent or received containing pornopraphic images
  • 116,000 searches for child pornography daily
  • Increases odds of teenage pregnancy by nearly double
  • Increases risk of marital infidelity by 300%
  • 40% of “sex addicts” lose their spouse, 58% face financial loss, 33% lose their job
  • 68% of all divorces involve internet porn, 56% of divorces are due to ‘obsessive interest in porn’

The Internet Porn 'Epidemic': By The Numbers

  • 11 is age at which average child is first exposed to adult material
  • 7 in 10 children have inadvertently viewed online pornography
  • 48% of kindergarteners and first graders say they are exposed to porn or uncomfortable sexual images

Statistics: Youth and Porn and Statistics: Christians and Online Porn by Enough is Enough

These are excellent resources with up-to-date stats and categories.

  • Exposure to violent/rape porn leads to a 3x increase in risk of child sexual exploitation
  • Among 14-18 years old, 84.4% of males and 57% females watch porn
  • 75% of parents said they believe their children hadn’t watched porn, but 53% of the children reported that they had
  • Average age of 1st perpetration of sexual violence is 15/16 years old
  • Children under 10 are 22% of consumption of porn viewers under 18, 10-14 years old account for 36%
  • 60% of students said they watched porn in order to learn more about sex and fill learning gaps in their sexual education
  • 57% of pastors and 64% of youth pastors admit to struggling with porn in the past or present tense
  • Among Christians, 41% of males and 13% of females from 13-24 actively seek porn at least 1-2x a month
  • 21% of Christian men and 2% of Christian women are addicted to porn
  • 42 million porn websites with 370 million different pornographic pages
  • Porn industry annual revenue is more than the NFL, NBA, and MLB combined
  • 47% of families in the U.S. say porn is a problem in their home
  • Average age to be introduced to porn is 11, 94% will see it by the age of 14
  • 68% of churched men and 50% of pastors view porn.
  • Of young Christian adults 18-24 years old, 76% actively search for porn
  • 87% of Christian women have watched porn, 33% of women under 25 search for porn at least 1x a month
  • Married couples: 55% men and 25% of women watch porn at least 1x a month
  • 57% of pastors say porn is the most dangerous issue in the church, 69% of pastors say porn adversely impacts the church

When Is Porn Use a Problem?

  • 73% of women and 98% of men have watched porn in the last 6 months
  • In the last week, 80% of men and 26% of women have watched porn

The Detrimental Effects of Pornography on Small Children

  • 10% of 12-13-year olds fear they are addicted to pornography
  • 10% of 7th graders say they watch enough porn to consider themselves addicted and fear they won’t be able to stop
  • Mobile accessibility and desensitization are leading causes


UPDATED: Sep 22, 2021

Statistically speaking, pornography has run rampant throughout American culture and the church over the last 20 years. Too often, porn has dealt great harm to the men and women of Christ’s church. Porn impacts young and old, men and women, singles and marrieds. No one is immune. The good news though is that Christ can radically transform each of our lives away from bondage and into health and freedom!

If you are visiting this page we realize that you are either:

  • Personally struggling in the area of pornography,
  • Love someone who is struggling in the area of pornography, OR
  • Desiring to learn more about walking in freedom so you can encourage others that you know.

Our prayer is to let you know about a range of tools and communities that can help create a safe place for you to take steps toward purity and freedom. In our experience we have seen that there are seasons where each of the opportunities listed below are helpful and needed. Don’t limit your approach to one area. Instead, pray to God and ask His leadership in learning to walk uprightly with Him daily.

Resources

Group Opportunities for Accountability and Support

  • Conquer — An ongoing weekly meeting for men at Houston's First Baptist Church - The Loop and Sienna Campuses
  • Castimonia — a Christ-centered 12-step support and recovery program for sexual impurity or sexual addiction with the goal to achieve a biblically-based sexual purity
  • Join a Grow Group in your Life Bible Study

Helpful Technology Resources in the Journey Toward Freedom

  • Covenant Eyes 30-Day Free Offer
    • This link above will direct people to sign up where they can take advantage of a 30-days free offer.
    • The special promo code is HFBC which gives them the 30-day free trial. If they use the link above, they do not have to enter that in. If they visit another page first, they can enter the code HFBC in at check out and still get the 30 days free.
    • NOTE: For men and women in a Grow Group, you can share an account among up to 10 people for the price of a family plan. In other words, for less than 4 dollars a month you can have incredible tools for your digital life.

Resources Based on Demographics

Resources for Men

Resources for Women

  • Free Book: New Fruit - A Woman’s Guide to Porn Recovery — One of the biggest lies women who struggle with porn face is that they’re all alone. It’s not true. Recent research revealed that at least 30% of women struggle with porn on a regular basis. No matter how long you’ve suffered silently, trying desperately to break free, there’s hope. In this ebook, written by Crystal Renaud Day, founder of She Recovery, and Lisa Eldred, Educational Content Strategist at Covenant Eyes, you’ll hear powerful stories of transformation and freedom, and learn proven methods to break free.
  • Free Book for Wives: Porn and Your Husband — Discovering your husband uses porn can be an emotionally devastating experience. You may wonder if you did something wrong or if you will ever be able to trust him again. This ebook will help you begin to answer some of these questions and more.

    Resources for Families

    • Free trial of Covenant Eyes for Families (use promo code HFBC in check out) — Do you want to more fully understand how the internet is impacting your children? Do you need help teaching your children to say no to pornography, while at the same time forming them in a broader understanding of their God-given identity and sexuality? When you take the Safe Digital Family 7 Day Challenge, you will learn how to create safer digital environments for yourself and others. Join thousands of parents from around the country in taking the Challenge!

    Resources for Singles and College Students

    • Free Book: Hobbies and Habits Book — Can your hobbies and daily habits really help you find freedom from porn? In this powerful and practical ebook, we explore how to harness the power of habit to quit porn for good. You'll learn:
      • How changing your environment helps you to quit
      • Why community is essential to kicking the porn habit
      • How healthy hobbies retrain your brain
    • Find out how you can live porn free by downloading your free copy of Hobbies and Habits!

      Counseling Services

      The Julianna Poor Memorial Counseling Center at Houston's First offers a variety of counseling services for individuals, couples, and families. They recommend groups and counselors outside of Houston's First, as well.

      Counseling sessions through the Counseling Center are available via Telehealth platforms and in person at The Loop, Cypress, and Sienna Campuses at Houston's First. Spanish-speaking counselors are available at The Loop and the Faith Center-Spring Branch. Group therapy specific to sexual purity issues is currently offered at The Loop campus. Counseling services are available to both members and non-members of Houston's First. To schedule an appointment at any campus, please call 713.335.6462.

      Counseling Services outside of Houston's First

      • Hope and Freedom — Hope and Freedom's mission is to show men how to get free from all compulsive sexual behavior permanently and, for those who are married, lead them in a process that can result in full trust being restored in their marriage.
      • Comfort Christian Counseling — At Comfort Christian Counseling, licensed therapist Ella Hutchinson and pastoral counselor Jeff Hutchinson have a personal passion for helping couples affected by sex addiction.
      • Houston Center for Christian Counseling — Houston Center for Christian Counseling offers individual, marital, family, and group counseling. Their therapists encompass a wide variety of gifts and specialty areas and have a wide range of skills, training, and expertise.

      Additional Resources

      Pastor Gregg's prayer is for his message on Victory over Pornography to be more than a one-time event for our church family. He and the staff are asking God to use that message to change lives — and not just within our church.

      In addition to the biblical truths shared in that message, we provide the following resources to help those struggling with pornography and to assist parents in guiding their children. These resources were recommended by staff members in our Children's Ministry, Student Ministry, Counseling Center, and other ministries. The list includes:

      Share this page with your friends and partner with Pastor Gregg and the Houston's First staff as we seek to spread hope for those struggling with pornography. Rescue and redemption are possible as we lean in to and stand firmly on God's Word!

      Apps

      Overcome Porn: 40 Day Challenge —The Overcome Porn app is a 40 day program that helps you break free from the temptations of pornography. Each day you’ll learn how to run from porn, run to God, and run with somebody in pursuit of holiness.

      iRecovery — The iRecovery app helps you track your recovery from addiction — any addiction. iRecovery assigns recovery points for various recovery activities and then tracks your progress week by week. You may add your own activities to truly customize your own recovery program.

      Websites

      General Audience

      For Parents / Leaders

      Articles

      Books

      General Audience

      For Men

      For Women

      For Parents

      DVD Sets

      I Must Heal: Healing From Your Partner’s Sex Addiction — Has his addiction wounded you? Do you want to heal, but can't seem to make much progress? Does he wonder when you are going to "get over it?" Take the first step to healing today! I Must Heal gives you a road map to healing and wholeness. This 3-DVD set contains 30 videos, one for each of the next 30 weeks.

      I Can Stop: The Thirty Day Solution to Sexual Addiction — Recovery and sobriety from all destructive sexual behavior begins now! Have you ever wished there was a way to do recovery from sexual addiction in your own home that was both affordable and effective? During the next 30 days, you can experience complete freedom from all acting out behaviors!

      Family Technology Plan

      A “Family Technology Plan” is a set of guidelines that helps the whole family understand how technology and things with screens will be used and interacted with inside the home. Tony Bianco, Minister to Students at The Loop Campus, provides this one-page snapshot of what such a plan includes and how parents can implement one in their home.

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