Temptation Is Like Getting Hooked by a Fishing Lure

John Ortberg wrote in “The Me I Want to Be":

Recently my wife and I went fly-fishing for the first time. Our guides told us that "to catch ...

The Stages of Pornography Addiction

In his book Wired for Intimacy, Christian psychologist William M. Struthers lists the following stages of how men get hooked on pornography:

• Denial—"Sure," they may say, "I've looked at it in the past, but I don't anymore." Most men will confess their struggle with pornography only under the conditions of anonymity and confidentiality.

C. S. Lewis on Killing the "Red Lizard" of Sin

In his book, The Great Divorce, C. S. Lewis tells of a busload of people who travel to heaven on their way to take up residence in hell. These people ...

Ordinary Conversations Reveal Original Sin

Paul Zahl claims that we can observe the nature of original sin by noticing the way people listen—or fail to listen—to each other in ordinary ...

Addiction Is a Picture of False Worship

In his book Addiction and Virtue, Kent Dunnington likens addiction to counterfeit worship:

Several years ago, a friend who had worked his way through graduate ...

The TV Show "Hoarders" Exposes Our Misplaced Affections

The TV show "Hoarders" features the true stories about people with compulsions so strong that they can't let go of their "stuff." ...

Man Overcomes Gambling Addiction

Before serving as a Methodist minister from 2000 to 2010 near Nashville, Tennessee, John M. Eades spent two decades as a therapist counseling drug and ...

Woman Idolizes Her Parents' Approval

In his book Counterfeit Gods, Timothy Keller writes, "Idols generate false beliefs such as 'If I cannot achieve X, then my life won't be ...

The Gentle Seduction of Temptation

In his book Tempted and Tried Russell Moore recounts an NPR program about a scientist named Temple Grandin who is researching new ways to gently kill ...

Two Philosophers Admit That They Did Not Want to Believe

In his article titled "Unreasonable Doubt," Jim Spiegel quotes two contemporary philosophers who have resisted belief in God for personal and ...