More than Conquerors Sexual Purity Workshop (MTC)
Why do this?
The need is great. “According to a ChristiaNet survey, 50 percent of Christian men are addicted to pornography.” You as a ministry have an opportunity to effectively confront not just the destructive behavior of pornography use but also the underlying sin of lust and to lead those who are struggling into glorious freedom and victory. The enemy will not rest, but “He who is in us is greater than he who is in the world” (1 John 4:4).
This is our hope: 1) that you will catch a vision for how you can effectively help those who are struggling with lust, allowing you to present critically needed teaching on an ongoing basis and 2) that God will raise up men among you who will provide effective, life-changing discipleship ministry for those who struggle.
What is this?
The More than Conquerors Sexual Purity Workshop (MTC) utilizes biblical principles and personal testimony to encourage sexual purity. We encourage you to open this up to guests, visitors and adolescent boys.
Who is this for?
The MTC workshops are designed for two types of men: 1) those who are struggling with lust and 2) those who want to learn more about this subject and how they can disciple others in overcoming lust.
How it works
We encourage you as a men’s ministry or church to host an MTC workshop. The workshop consists of two 50 minute teaching sessions separated by a break, usually on a Saturday morning. If desired, it could be matched with a breakfast. A registration fee should be collected to cover costs including a copy of the book Overcoming Lust for each attendee.
Who will provide the teaching?
Pastor Pat Kenney will be the primary “go to” teacher to provide teaching. Pat is the founding pastor of Calvary Chapel Escondido (now Cross Connection Church) and is presently on staff with Shepherd’s Staff Missions Facilitators. Pat wrote the foreword to Overcoming Lust and has been the author’s pastor and friend for many years.
Other teachers including the author, Jim Vander Spek, will also be available at times to teach. If you would like to teach this workshop, please contact us via this website for additional information.
The easiest way to become familiar with the book, Overcoming Lust, is to go to the Amazon Website where you can read the portion that is made available as a preview. This includes Pat Kenney’s Foreword and the first chapter where our story is told.
What is the content of the teaching?
There are two parts to the teaching:
- Providing clarity about what the Bible teaches regarding lust and what it means to gain victory over it.
- Challenging men to enter into further discipleship and accountability relating to overcoming lust.
Teaching is biblically based and includes real life, practical and testimonial examples.
What further discipleship is the ministry expected to provide?
A workshop like this and even reading through a book are not sufficient help for those who are struggling with lust. It requires more from us. We have learned this from our own struggles and experience. We are looking for the host ministry to provide an effective “next step” for men to enter into. Whichever route you go, the workshop will be tailored to introduce this. The next step can be done in a number of different ways. Here are three possibilities:
Next Step Alternative #1: Weekly study.
This is the best way to go, but does requires a greater commitment and participation by the ministry, since it consists of structured weekly sessions of teaching, discussion and accountability, using chapters in the book, Overcoming Lust. Everyone participating will be expected to read a chapter and the discussion questions at the end of each chapter before each weekly study session. The book is broken up into two sections of ten chapters each. We suggest working through the first twelve chapters over twelve weeks. The weekly study may include worship, teaching by a leader and open discussion. If there are many in attendance, the group should break down into smaller groups for the discussion portion.
A very necessary part of this weekly study needs to be one-on-one accountability where individuals can feel comfortable sharing how they are doing and receive prayer and personal support. If there are limited counselors available, this can be done throughout the study as men break away to spend time with a counselor.
We encourage you to read what Calvary Chapel Chino Valley is doing that is like this.
Next Step Alternative #2: Structured one-on-one accountability
Using this approach, men sign up for help or to help their brothers who are struggling. Men sign up by email and indicate whether they are in need of help or want to disciple a brother or both. The ministry needs to match up men and hold them accountable by following up to make sure this is working as intended. Over the next ten weeks these men go through a chapter, work through the discussion questions and encourage each other. This can be done face to face or over the phone. At the end of the ten weeks, they can opt to go further in the book using the same approach.
If there are not enough volunteers who want to disciple, more experienced Christians should be matched up with less experienced believers. The book provides enough content, so no one should feel unequipped to do this. If both partners maintain their faithfulness in this, this can be an extremely effective approach, since it is similar to the experiences of the author, Jim Vander Spek, Pat Kenney and others described in the book. However, since some will drop the ball, the ministry needs to monitor what is going on and provide support and a new start for those who may be stranded.
Next Step Alternative #3: Nonstructured one-on-one accountability
If the church is unable to pull off either of the first two solutions, the workshop will encourage attendees to reach out to others for one-on-one accountability. This approach is discussed and encouraged in the book.
Unfortunately, the shame and discouragement that lust brings into lives makes it difficult for many men to take the initiative without structured support. However, we know that God can work in any circumstance. It is better to step out at this level than to delay or avoid solutions to the problem. We are confident that God will use the biblical truths saturating this workshop to spark a cleansing fire among you.
