The Ex-Porn Star Who Became a Pastor, With Joshua Broome

The Ex-Porn Star Who Became a Pastor, With Joshua Broome

In this episode, we visit with Joshua Broome, a pastor who was once a successful porn star, about:

• What led him out of the porn industry to a life of leading others to Jesus.
• How the porn industry capitalizes on identity.
• How a porn struggle can be a sign of an unmet need or a wound in our life.
• His response to the now infamous Dennis Prager interview on porn.
• The shocking truth about many young girls in porn.

More Information/Resources:

I Am Second Video: Joshua Broome - Escaping the Porn Industry

Website: https://helpmebefree.com

Follow on Social Media:

Facebook: @joshua.broome.7

Instagram: @iamjoshuabroome

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Transcript

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Welcome back everybody to the Covenant Eyes podcast. I am the host of the podcast. Karen Potter joined with my co-host Brandon Clark, who is kind of like living the high life today because he has brand new podcast equipment. He's got a new mic. He's got a new computer. He's got all the goods. And here I am stuck with my old Windows computer. I don't know what's going on here, Brandon. Well, I don't know. A little birdie told me that you have some new equipment coming to maybe. Okay. Yeah, no, it's nice.

00:35
We've been having a lot of success with the podcast and we just want to continue to level up and get it better and better, not just for our sake, but for our listeners, being able to reach more people with better quality. When you think about podcasting, there are so many podcasts. I think there's over 3 million podcasts in Apple podcasts, right? So what we do as far as the conversation goes is one thing, but the quality is another thing. And we want to be right up there with the other podcasts to be able to draw people's attention.

01:04
and keep them there. So that's a little bit just for our listeners why there's some new equipment and some new sounds today. We really just want to make it better for you to continue to share the great work of others. Absolutely. Yeah, I know it's exciting. And you know, it's really, we're just really grateful because the podcast is growing and expanding. We can invest a little bit into that to bring you that better quality. What's really exciting about today's podcast is that we have a returning Joshua Broom who

01:32
Everybody really enjoyed the last interview that we had done and we're just so grateful to have him back to talk about some amazing projects that he's working on. Joshua, how are you today? I'm doing so well. Thank you so much for having me back. It was a great conversation last time. And on my end as well, I heard so much great feedback and so many deeper questions because of the conversation we had. So it was awesome. Thanks for having me.

01:58
Yeah, we're so glad to hear that, Joshua. For those who missed our first episode, maybe talk a little bit about yourself. We can obviously get into your story a little bit later. So just give us the 10,000 foot overview of where you were and where you're at now. Yeah, I grew up in a small town in South Carolina, pursued acting and modeling, ended up in Hollywood. And due to a series of really bad decisions, I ended up in the adult film industry, in the porn industry.

02:27
I was in the porn industry for six years, did over a thousand movies. And the brokenness that I had in my heart, I thought I could fulfill it by achievement. And I found that to be wrong, but I tried my very best. So the success I had in the industry, it didn't lead to joy or fulfillment. It actually led to a depression so deep and so dark that I nearly took my life.

02:52
But instead I ran for my life and I spent about two years trying to cover up my past, which I could not. And then I met a girl that told me that I was not defined by my worst mistake and I'm not defined by the greatest thing I'll ever do. God and God alone defines who a person is. And she asked me if I knew him and her boldness and her honesty, it created a curiosity in me that.

03:21
calls me to say, well, why can she respond to me sharing with her that I was in the industry in this way? And she invited me to church and in that church service, Holy Spirit did something in my heart and I gave my life to Jesus. And that was eight years ago. And me and that young lady have been married for seven years and we have three sons and I get the honor and privilege of serving on the executive team of a ministry called Share the King.

03:50
We're based in Dallas, Texas, and God has just blown my mind, like truly, you know, did more than I could ever hope or imagine with my life. So it's a joy to share my story, and it's a joy to be here with you guys. That's incredible. And you've got a lot that you've been working on in the last year or so. So I have seen work with I Am Second, which I want to talk a

04:20
course that you've put out as well, that I'd like to dive into. And it's helpmebefree.com and it walks people through 10 steps to get free from pornography. So I want to dive into that as well, but start wherever you'd like. But let's share with our listeners some of the work that you've been doing over the past year. Yeah. So the I Am Second film. So we filmed that last summer and I Am Second is an organization that I've always been.

04:48
a huge fan of because they make great content, they tell great stories and those greater stories connect people to God's story. And I had the opportunity to meet with them and spend a full day of filming, sharing my story. And as our relationship grew, we actually decided to partner on this project and we did a few unique things within the project. So

05:15
within my I Am Second white chair film, I explicitly share the gospel, which isn't something that they've done in that format in that way. So I literally, because I share my testimony in such a way where, you know, I'm faced, you know, I'm hearing this pastor tell this story about the dynamic between Jonathan and David and then how Mephebel Sheth, he thought he was going to be

05:45
what history told them and then the pastor pivots to Romans 3 23 which says that we're all guilty and then Romans 6 23 says that that sin that we're all guilty of separates us from God and if we died today we would stay separated from God but there's good news that Jesus fully God fully man came into this world and if you put your faith in his perfection and what he accomplished on the cross

06:09
then you are reconciled to God. That's the bridge that you need to get back to God that you can't build on your own. And I share that in the white chair film. In addition to that, on the back end, it's one thing to hear the good news and to be encouraged, but how many times do we get stuck where we are because we don't know what to do regarding our next step? So I gave my life to Jesus. Now what do I do? For me, I was lucky that

06:38
I connected with a pastor three days after I gave my life to Christ and he walked me through a very deep discipleship journey and my next step was always laid out in front of me, but often that's not the case. So on the backend of this video, we created the curriculum, Help Me Be Free. So that's one vertical, one bridge. Like, okay, if your struggle is pornography, then we want you to have this.

07:07
know, bridge to gain the freedom that I've experienced. But in addition to that, on the back end, there's an opportunity to get plugged into a church. There's an opportunity to give your life to Christ. There's an opportunity to learn how to become more confident and better articulate in sharing your faith. So those are the bridges that we built on the back end that we

07:36
I had such a good time sharing it. I actually did a live on Friday, Sunday. I did a live on Sunday, people asking a lot of the stories on the backend. And the most recurring good question is, how in the world did you become a preacher and used to be in the porn industry? Like how in the world did you did that? You know, how did that happen? Most people often will look at people who are doing something they wanna do.

08:05
and they look past, well, I did an internship for four years. I served as an associate pastor and did all the stuff that I wasn't good at or wanted to do, but I needed to serve in that capacity to get experience. I went to Liberty University and got a Bible education. So I've done all these things over this eight-year period that allows me to do things a day.

08:31
the day I didn't step off a set and pick up a microphone and start talking about Jesus. That's an awesome story. That's so powerful, Joshua. Yeah. And it's so, and it actually like relates really well to our struggles with pornography because it's a journey. It's a step-by-step process. You don't just, you know, you have to grow and you have to be, you know, growing in your faith and getting sanctified and it's just ongoing. So I love that, that you've done the work and you've put in the time and-

08:58
That is why you are doing what you do now and doing it well. Thank you so much for sharing that. Yeah. I mean, you know, for me, it's like a lot of people, you know, what specifically changed my life? Well, I fell in love with Jesus and Jesus is a huge proponent of the Gospels. And, you know, and I decided to take the Bible seriously in that if Jesus said that not a dot, not an iota of his word will pass away until it's all fulfilled and.

09:24
He used the scriptures himself to fight the temptation of Satan. You know, like, well, they must be of some value for me. So I really took it upon myself to dismantle and destroy the lies that I believe to be true because that's the dangerous thing about a lie. If you believe a lie to be true, it's true to you. So I say, okay, well.

09:48
2 Timothy 3.16 says that all scrapers God breathed and it's good for teaching, rebuking, reproof. Okay, reproof. I need to dismantle and destroy these lies because I created a plausible reality based on guilt, shame, and lies. So I need to tear it down and I needed to build a new foundation. It was clinging onto the word that allowed me to be where I am and just kind of grow in that process that you were talking about. There's literally this consecration process that you go through.

10:17
regardless of what your struggle is look like. And one of the things that I really like about I Am Second is its use of stories. And we see that time and time again throughout scripture, right? One example that just comes to mind is the woman at the well and how Jesus just has this profound encounter with her and she goes and tells so many people and you're really, not to call you a woman, but you're really that...

10:44
that person, you've had this profound encounter with Christ and you're going and you're sharing that message with many others and I really appreciate that. When people come and they see your videos with I Am Second, what is it that you're hoping they take away from that story? Yeah, that regardless of what your life has looked like, you don't have to stay stuck where you are. Because

11:09
That's the lie of the enemy, right? So John 10, 10 talks about how the enemy wants to kill, steal and destroy. He wants to kill you. He wants to steal anything, any joy that you might be able to obtain. He wants to, you know, just keep you from who God has called you to be because why are we here? Well, we're here to know God, love God, and to live a life that brings him glory by utilizing the gifts and talents that he gave us

11:39
express himself, where we're curious of that word of reconciliation. So you won't do that. You won't carry that word well. You won't proclaim the gospel. You won't share your story. You'll stay stuck and you'll stay in hiding because of your shame. And I share my story with such boldness because I want people to know that you don't have to stay stuck where you are and there's nothing that you've ever done that could compare to the grace of God.

12:06
the mercy that God offers through his son Jesus. I'm often reminded of just the whole story of Peter, but I love when Jesus looks at Peter and says, Satan has said that he's going to sift you like wheat. And not if, when you turn back to me, go and strengthen your brethren. And then you go later

12:36
They're having breakfast on the beach and Jesus says, you know, do you love me? Do you agape me? And Peter says, I phileo you. And then Jesus says, do you agape me? And then again, Peter says, I phileo you. He's not willing to commit to agape because he knew that he failed. And then the third time Jesus says, do you phileo me? And he says, yes, because in the Greek language...

13:02
Love has different expressions, different levels, right? So this agape love, this totality of love, the full expression of love, selflessness, that resembles how God cares for us. He didn't commit to that. And then Jesus said, well, I'm willing to meet you where you are. Are you willing to bring where you are truly to me? Because I can work with that. And if we bring ourselves with

13:32
honesty and transparency and vulnerability, God will take you to a place that you never could have gotten without him. So Jesus' response to him when he says that is, go feed my sheep. And that's the call upon each and every person that has the Holy Spirit dwelling within them, each and every person that's given their life to Jesus. You're called to make disciples. You're called to share that good news. So that's my hope with the video.

14:00
regardless of what you've done, whether it be something that you did that caused pain to yourself or others, or maybe something happened to you in that trauma, regardless of how it happened, it's keeping you in bondage and there is freedom on the other side of the cross. That's so powerful and so good. And I know there are listeners out there that needed to hear that. So I just, I hope that.

14:27
our listeners can really take that to heart and take the next steps. As I was going through and just Joshua looking at like, help me be free and your 10 steps to freedom and just kind of going through that. The one thing that struck me is that the way that you have this laid out, it is so easy to follow the system if you just do the work. And I love how you incorporate getting connected to other humans, getting connected to a group as part of your journey, because oftentimes,

14:55
In our work, we hear people that, you know, they want to fight this addiction to pornography on their own. And that, you know, because we live in such a narcissist society where people are always kind of just out for themselves and taking care of themselves. They think they can battle this alone. But at the end of the day, that's not biblical and it's not really what we're called to do. So can you talk a little bit about how that one anothering is so important to our journey to freedom? Yeah, I mean,

15:25
It's biblical, right? So we are forgiven through repentance, but we are healed through relationship with others. And the book of James talks about that, where we are called to confess to one another so that we will be healed. And there's something beautiful about saying, you know what? I'm willing to share my struggle with you because I understand that you're imperfect as well.

15:52
Like I'm really passionate about creating safe places for people to share their struggles. And the reality is that is why pornography is so prevalent. Like it just eclipsed a hundred billion dollars in revenue. It's viewed more than people watch Netflix, people watch, you know, visit Amazon, people visit Twitter, you add all those together and it doesn't eclipse the number of, you know, times that people visit pornography websites on a daily basis.

16:21
So that many people are watching it and it's so destructive to our society. Average age of exposure, 11 years old, 56% of divorces have some type of pornography consumption within it and it's either causing it explicitly or it's contributing to some deeper form of infidelity. It's catastrophic. It's wrecking our homes. It's impacting our productivity.

16:51
It's robbing us of our identity. It's so problematic. But I share all that to say, it's most likely that the people in your circle, they've struggled with it too, or at minimum they've seen it, and they know the impact that it causes. So that should give us permission to say, you know what, I'm struggling with this, and I don't wanna stay stuck where I am. And when you confess that, it loses its power over you.

17:20
That's the beauty of sharing a secret. It takes all the weight off of you. And when you bring darkness into light, it no longer is holding you captive. So that's why it's so important to be in a group, to be in a community, say, hey, not only do I wanna share my struggles with you, but I want to be encouraged. And everyone needs a little kick in the butt sometimes. Everyone needs to, hey, are you doing the work? Because to be honest, it's like, hey,

17:49
You got really good at sinning, and it's gonna take a lot of work to be free from pornography, and you're gonna have to, it's gonna cost you something. You're probably gonna, you're gonna need to download an app. You're gonna need to create some restrictions that might be inconvenient to you, because maybe you like looking at your phone in your bedroom before you fall asleep, but if it's gonna lead you into sin, that compromise is not worth it. So maybe you don't even need to have a smartphone at all.

18:18
You might have to do something radical that's really inconvenient to you to get freedom, but it's worth it. It really is. I think one of the dangers too is that people, as they find freedom from pornography, a lot of times they get this kind of false sense of like, strength and they forget that the sin can come back and we've got to be in connected relationship with others because...

18:43
You know, we are all susceptible to sin on a daily basis. And you talk a little bit in your training about that kind of false freedom, right? And how that bondage of addiction can come back. So I'm just, I'm curious, like, how does relationship and accountability really help us address that kind of false sense of security that we get sometimes when we've had freedom for a while and not fall into that temptation to go back?

19:10
Yeah. I mean, you think about like Romans 12, it talks about, we're not to be conformed by the world, rather we're to be, you know, we're not to be conformed by the world, but we're to be transformed by the renewing of our mind. There's a metamorphosis that we need to go to. So that's, you know, that's the what and the how is Second Corinthians 10, 5. So we need to be able to, you know, call out these, you know, false pretensions. We need to be able to take every thought captive and make it obedience of Christ.

19:40
And that's not something that you can just passively do. That's something that you have to actively do. Like I have to be active. And what I have to do is I have to create self-awareness. I have to be self-aware before I can be obedient. I have to be self-aware. If I don't know that there's something that's tripping me up, I'm gonna continue tripping over it. And I'm gonna like, why do I keep tripping over that? Well, if I look down and see that there's something causing me to stumble, then I have a better chance of not stumbling again.

20:09
And often I can't see as well as the other people around me. So I say that to say, I need people in my life that are willing to say, hey, you are being a little short tempered or you're being a little distant. That's not like you. Are you okay? And you loving enough, you loving that person enough to tell them the truth. It's like, you know what, I'm not okay. Actually, this is going on in my life because when people...

20:39
or in this porn struggle, they don't wake up and say, I'm gonna go watch porn. It's very rare that I've heard this case because it's generally, I see something and then there's a compromise and then there's a deeper compromise. But before that actual thought, when I saw that thing, there was an emotion. I was sad, I was hungry, I was frustrated, I was lonely.

21:07
I was feeling some sort of way and then I saw something and then I was more likely to compromise when I saw that. But what if I was feeling some sort of way and now I'm self-aware, I was like, well, when I feel like this, I normally do something stupid. So instead, I'm gonna call a friend. I'm gonna go for a walk. I'm gonna modify my behavior because habit has to be replaced by habit. Like Thomas Kempis has a lot of great information by that, but ultimately like a habit has to be replaced by a habit.

21:37
And I got really good at creating this neurological pattern of rewarding myself in this way. So I've got to replace it with something. And then like, if you really went into like how much time you waste by watching that, it's like, man, whatever goal you have in your life or whatever it is, like anything, if you put that time that you went watching porn towards that thing,

22:03
Like you would have the degree, you would have the business, you would have the knowledge, you would speak the language, like whatever it is that you want to do, take that time and point it into a direction that's going to actually be beneficial for your life. And that is how your life will transform. That's really good. And I think too, you know, in terms of accountability, I think of Proverbs 27, right? 27, 17, yeah, yeah. One man sharpens another. One of the things I want to...

22:29
talk about is in the first step, and I was just really struck by this, so I think it's important to talk about, you talked about how the porn industry capitalizes on identity. And I remember hearing more of your story of how you really didn't have a father, yet he was in the same town as you were, but you didn't have a relationship with him, and how that led to just kind of an identity struggle, just trying to figure out who you are. Can you talk a little bit about that part of your journey?

22:59
And then to those listening, talk more about how the identity factor is such a key component of the struggle with pornography. Yes. So for me, growing up in a small town without my dad in my home, but he was in my town and seeing him at an early age that caused confusion. And as I got older, that caused frustration. And being someone who has a high achiever personality.

23:27
I thought I needed to prove him wrong. I thought I needed to overcompensate for the worthlessness or the inadequacy that I felt. And I had to overcompensate that with to prove my worth, to prove my value. And that looked like as a kid, I had to make the best grades. I had to make the team. I had to make the shot. I had to score the most points. And then it evolved into...

23:56
getting the most girls, getting the girl that no one else could. And it was like conquest after conquest with momentary satisfaction that gave me that dopamine hit that made me feel good, that didn't do anything for the wound that I had in my heart. And I started to shape my identity around, I'm not good enough, so I have to prove to the world that I am by accomplishing things so that I get the affirmation of others.

24:26
and it's not going to really replace the thing that I don't have, but it'll feel good for a moment. And I became insatiable for that. So to your point, this identity crisis, because that's why the thing that, you know, what we believe about God is the most important thing about us. And if we believe that, that, you know, we were

24:53
Our life is just random and our life doesn't matter. And I'm just flowing in through the wind and I'm conforming to whatever my parents say I should do and the person that my parents say I should be or my friend circle or the school that I'm going to. And I'm allowing other people to influence how I see myself and how I live my life.

25:19
What's gonna happen is your behavior and your experience is gonna be the thing that creates your identity. But there's an author of life. God created us. We're made in his image. Ephesians tells us that he's actually gone beforehand and prepared us with these gifts and talents so that we could do the good works that we've been prepared to do. There's things that we have that

25:49
that other people might not have. There's a calling on our life. There's purpose to our lives. And we have everything that we need to carry out those things. But if we don't know God, we're going to be really confused. And what happens is there's a tribute to your identity that you can form yourself or you can misbelieve or I'm sorry, you can, there's aspects of our identity like, you know, that I am an American or whatever.

26:18
ethnicity, I might be like certain things about me that are true, that are good. But if I create my identity out of these things, all of a sudden they become more important than they actually are. And that's what porn does. Porn takes gender, sexuality, ethnicity, all these things, they take them and they create this narrative where this is types of niches of pornography.

26:46
And people are consuming it in astronomical ways, but it's so dark and so twisted that people don't even realize it. And if you pull back the veil, you get to the point where, again, you can be self-aware if you can say, well, I have a desire or I find myself often consuming this type of pornography. And if I'm willing to...

27:14
take a step back and say, okay, well, I always want to watch X type of pornography. Well, that actually is a great identifier of a need that I have that was unmet or a wound that I experienced that impacted the way that I see myself. So that's the way that the pornography industry kind of manipulates our desires or our lack based on a perverted view of ourselves.

27:40
and they optimize that in astronomical ways. That's so true. Well, changing gears just a little bit, actually, Joshua, in preparation for today's interview, I saw an article that you did, I think it was in, oh gosh, christianleaders.com. But you were talking about a recent interview that Dennis Prager had done and his views on pornography. And

28:03
You know, I heard that interview as well, and I was taken back by that a little bit, but I really, I wanted to bring this up because I think it kind of is something that we see quite frequently out there in the culture is that people with influence talk about pornography in a positive way and being that you have firsthand experience in that industry, can you talk a little bit about how damaging and how awful the industry itself is and how it feeds?

28:29
you know, child pornography and exploitation and all these other things and how those kind of viewpoints actually really hurt our movement. Yes. I mean, I would just say this, anyone that that is willing to say porn is not a bad thing. I would challenge you with this. The most popular type of pornography is teen pornography. And this teen pornography, it's girls.

28:58
with pigtails in their hair and stockings, dressed up like a school girl. Have you ever seen a teenager dress like that? Absolutely not. It's emulating a child. And the sets, I've been on the sets and they're literally buying school girl uniforms and putting these girls in them.

29:26
and it's leading to people having an appetite for pedophilia. It's leading to rape culture. It's leading to sex trafficking. It's leading to people developing this misunderstanding of what sex is in this objectifying people. And if you see a person as a product, you're not gonna have a hard time objectifying them. And if you see, you start to develop an appetite for sex in this way,

29:55
You are foolish to believe that it's not going to impact your real life. Exactly. So, I mean, that's just true. That's just true. It's in an astronomical rate. It's impacting kids. It's impacting... Sex trafficking wouldn't be what it is unless there was pornography. It wouldn't be as prevalent as this.

30:23
And in the girls that come in the industry, there's girls that come on sets every single day on their 18th birthday. How did they get there? Well, I've met them and they've been trafficked and abused and molested since they were kids. And it makes sense to them to do this because pornography is actually a better choice for them coming from their words. They're saying this is safer and less abrasive.

30:52
than the life that I've lived before. So they were groomed to believe this is a better way. Oh, that's shocking. So if you're someone, the way that I would talk, when I talk about pornography, the way that I start every single talk, I ask the question, is every single person deserving of human dignity?

31:18
Is there anyone that does not deserve human dignity? And I've never had anyone push back on that. And the reality is you are robbing not only the person on the screen of their dignity, but you're doing it to yourself. True. That's a powerful message. Joshua, as we wrap up our time together today, what message would you like to leave with our listeners as far as a takeaway about...

31:44
Some of the things you're doing with I Am Second, some of the things you're doing with the Help Me Be Free 10 Steps. Yeah, so my good friend, Addison Brevere, so he's the COO of Messenger International. John Brevere is his father. I love that family. I love that both of them are men that speak into my life. And number one, I would say, if you're struggling with pornography, tell someone. That's the first step, because once you tell someone,

32:12
And you get out of the dark of that shame. More often than not, that person is going to say, I used to struggle with it, or I know someone that has, or I've seen it, or it's impacted my family, or something. You're not going to get a lot of pushback from someone that you already have a relationship with. They're going to want to help you. So the first step of freedom is to...

32:38
relinquish the burden and the shame that you're putting on yourself because you're actually keeping yourself captive. So find someone and tell someone and then take some appropriate steps, download Cognize to your phone and lock it down. Why be susceptible to things that are going to lead you in a direction you don't want to go? And also just know that pornography is not good for you and it hurts the people that you say that you love.

33:06
is detrimental to you and it hurts people. And the fact that you're watching it, like the fact that the pornography industry is a hundred billion dollar industry, well, it's fueled by your eyes. It's monetized through viewership. And not only that, there's organizations like Traffic Junkie. So when you go to these porn sites, they sell your information to Facebook and Google. So when you see provocative ads,

33:33
popping up on your Facebook and your other social media because you've seen something you probably shouldn't have been watching. It's not a coincidence. They are selling your information. You are the product. So please come to your senses. It's not even close to something that's a moral good. It's evil and it's destroying you. And there's so much good and so much purpose.

34:00
that you could be stepping into if you remove this from your life. It's gonna be difficult. It's gonna be a long journey that you'll probably have to put safeguards up in your life for the rest of your life. Gosh, it's worth it. And you can do it. Yeah, that's wonderful advice. Very good. Oh my gosh, so inspirational. And someone out there is probably lots of someones are very excited to hear what you have to say in that hope. So thank you, Joshua, for sharing that.

34:28
Brandon, what were some of your key takeaways from today's episode? Well, so much. But I think one of the things that I think about is the power of testimony and how, if we are willing to share our story, that can help break down some barriers, some walls for others. So every one of us struggles in some way with something, right? It doesn't have to be pornography, but we're all sinners. We're all broken. So we have struggles.

34:57
bring that forward to others and share that. Not only will help ourselves in bringing it to the light, but it could help others as well in bringing their struggles to the light. The other thing that I quickly mentioned is, if you're looking to break free from pornography, visit helpmebefree.com. I'll put that link in the show notes as well as the I Am Second video that we were talking about. But these are 10 practical and easy steps you can take, Karen.

35:26
to begin that journey to freedom. So those are probably my two biggest takeaways. How about you? Yeah, so good. Well, you know, I just, I'm inspired. I'm inspired by Joshua's story. Every time I hear it, it's amazing how God has taken, you know, what was broken and his life experiences and is now using it for a powerful force for good. And I am just so grateful. I know there are a lot of people out there that this message is really gonna hit home with. So Joshua, I just wanna thank you so much for coming back on the Covenant Eyes podcast and for all of your work out there.

35:55
Yeah, thank you so much. Can I leave us with a verse? Absolutely. Please do. So there's two verses. So when we think about repentance, God's not mad at you, he's for you. He loves you. So it's not... We can't be afraid of God and then love him because we're afraid of him. It is through our love for him.

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we learn to fear him because the fear of the Lord is our treasure. But 2 Corinthians 7, 9 and 10 says this, now I'm glad that I sent it, not because I hurt you, but because the pain caused you to repent and change your ways. It was a kind of sorrow that God wants his people to have, not that you were harmed by us in any way, or the kind of sorrow God wants us to experience leads us away from sin and results

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in salvation, some translations say deliverance. There's no regret for that kind of sorrow, but worldly sorrow which lacks repentance results in a spiritual death. I would say this, there's a huge difference between I'm sorry and God, I repent. Because I'm sorry is I got caught and I feel bad. Repentance is this is hurting me, this is.

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a violation of my promises to God and God has a better way for my life. So repentance is I'm going to turn my back to it and I'm going to run from it. I want to be like Joseph, not David. I want to have the interaction with Potiphar's wife and flee. I don't want to look, look again and do something I shouldn't have done. And David, instead of clearing his browser history, he killed Uriah. So that's where we end up. We end up doing something we never would have done if we wouldn't have taken a second look.

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and we would have fled. So desire a fear of the Lord in that God loves you. And if I have a reverence for him, the byproduct of that is going to be an obedience to him that supersedes my desires. So I have to desire God and be satiated in him more than my flesh. And if I can get to that place, it's so much easier to say no. Wow, yeah. Praise God for that. That's the best way to end the show right there.

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Until next time everybody from Coming to Eyes, we are so grateful for you joining us. God bless, take care, and we'll see you again on the flip side.