SALT Meeting: Underlying Problems

HAIL TO THE SALT BRIGADE!

It was a “sobering” meeting of the SALT Brigade this past Friday morning. I disclosed that I had acted out the previous weekend and that I have been sliding, isolating, and obssessing in general lately. One of the other members of our Brigade has also been struggling intensely this week and admitted to experiencing some depression. Our third member said that he had had a clean week from a purity standpoint, but had gone off the deep-end into some non-sex related obsessions.

This led to a general discussion on the nature of our struggle with pornography. We acknowledged that while our goal is to achieve purity and leave pornography behind, we also must admit that pornography itself is not the underlying problem – rather it is a symptom of some deeper wounds or unmet needs. Yes, it may be more acceptable to replace our pornography use with some more socially acceptable obsession or addiction, but we still end up isolating and estranging ourselves from our families. So there’s more to this purity and recovery business than just saying “no.”

I also shared with the SALT Brigade that I am feeling a need to seek more help. I am feeling the need for a structured program that I can give myself over to. So my brothers and I are praying for some discretion on what changes we all need to make.

Please pray for this group of broken sinners. We are in need of God’s grace.

S-A-L-T: Standing Against Lust Together

 

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SALT Meeting: Ups and Downs

HAIL TO THE SALT BRIGADE!

We had an abbreviated meeting of the SALT Brigade today. With one member out-of-town, there were only two of us left to meet. So it was more like an extended check-in than a SALT Meeting.

Still, the meeting was very valuable to me.

The two SALT Brothers who did meet today have had similar experiences over the past week. It was a tough week. Especially Saturday, Sunday, and Monday. We both experienced bad slips or relapses. We both had the experience of being in a place where the light is gone and there seems no hope for escaping the cycle of sexual sin. And, fortunately, we both have seen the dawn during the remainder of the week.

It has been a week where we have been fighting the battle of pleasure versus joy. Giving into the lust for pleasure with an immediate and intense – but also shallow and empty – payoff. We have drifted into isolation and a sense of being incomplete.

The choice we want to make is for joy – Oh, Lord, bring back to us the joy of our salvation! We want a joy that lasts and brings a sense of connectedness, rightness, and wholeness. We want the joy that can be shared and that makes us feel stronger. We choose surrender to Christ.

Pray for us!

—

S-A-L-T: Standing Against Lust Together

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SALT Meeting – Fences & Fire Drills

HAIL TO THE SALT BRIGADE!

Today’s meeting of the SALT Brigade was short but powerful.

As usual, we opened the meeting with prayer and moved straight into check-ins. For our check-ins we follow the F-I-N-S format: Feelings, Issues, Needs, Sobriety (Purity). This week featured one brother who was really struggling, one who had a single slip, and one who was blessed with the gift of purity.

We then spent some time talking about the Four-Step Fire Drill. This is a strategy to use when confronted with an unexpected time of temptation. The strategy can be summarized in four words: Speak, Pray, Call, Flee.

The question was asked as to why we think it is that we do not normally do these things when confronted with temptation: why don’t we just turn our backs on what we know we don’t want? It was suggested that the answer lies in setting habits and in preparation. While we agree now that these are the things we ought to do, when facing a temptation our minds are not fully functioning and we forget that there are ways to flee the trap. We need to treat the possibility of temptation as a drill as if we were in the armed forces. We need to practice our response to this potential danger over and over during safe times so that when the real even occurs we will automatically slip into the drill.

So we have given ourselves an assignment this week. When we reach out and make our phone calls to our brothers, we will start by asking them to review the fire drill. Then we will move on to our check-in.

We also worked on fences. One of the SALT Brothers will have opportunities to act out this week as his family will be out of town. So we have set up a schedule of phone calls for the week. He will get a call from one of the other SALT Brothers each night while his family is away. It may seem like a childish exercise, but isn’t purity worth it?

SALT – Standing Against Lust Together!

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SALT – The Four-Step Fire Drill

One of the tools we have been given in our Purity Platoon is the Four-Step Fire Drill — steps to take when we are confronted with sexual temptation:

STEP 1: SPEAK ALOUD

Speak aloud these words. “I will not sacrifice my purity no matter what! I will not sacrifice my purity for [name the temptation].”

STEP 2: PRAY

Pray and ask Jesus to strengthen you right now! Ask Him to give you courage to walk away from the temptation.

STEP 3: CALL

Call your Purity Partner.

STEP 4: FLEE

Flee the temptation by vacating the premises. (You should have a place identified that you can flee to for known times and places of vulnerability.

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Inauguration of the SALT Brigade

The SALT Brigade -- Struggling Against Lust Together

 

Today was the first meeting of the SALT Brigade. We are a small band of brothers committed to serving Christ through sexual purity. Sexual sin has been an area of acute struggle in each of our lives, but we believe that this sin can be overcome by the power of the Holy Spirit in a life pledged to obedience to Christ.

I have recently completed a sixteen week commitment to a Purity Platoon which followed a week-long Purity Boot Camp — all of which was part of the program “Every Man’s Battle for Purity.” As a sinner who has struggled with sexual addiction for many years, it brings me great joy to now be able to share that I have been sexually pure (minus 2 days) for the past six months!!

Praise be to Jesus Christ!!!

Now I have formed the SALT Brigade so that I may walk alongside other men who are struggling with sexual sin and addiction. I need to be part of such a group to maintain my own purity and I hope that by sharing my experiences with these men that they, too, can find purity in and through Jesus Christ.

We have committed to meeting weekly, being accountable to one another, making daily phone calls, and working towards sexual purity together.

Please pray for me and for all of the brothers in this group. Pray that we may be honest with ourselves and with one another, that we may trust in Christ to be the source of our purity, and that we may overcome our rebel hearts and submit ourselves to Christ’s authority.

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