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THE SECRET SIN OF THE CITY

By Nicholas Sowell Leave a Comment

Photo Credit: Ira Gelb @ Flickr (CC)

Photo Credit: Ira Gelb @ Flickr (CC)

I’d be remiss if I didn’t start out with a confession; like many, I had no clue that there was such a thing as sex trafficking. Sure I’ve heard biblical stories of men working for the right to marry their wives, I’ve read history books of our nation’s poor choices in enslaving African Americans, and I’ve even heard stories of children and women being held captive or for ransom. The truth is that sex slavery and sex trafficking is alive and well; more rampant than it’s ever been at any time in history, and as a business, cheaper to purchase a life than it’s ever been. This crude and saddening truth isn’t only an issue abroad, it’s also an issue occurring in our nation’s own backyard, and is happening in cities all over the U.S.

If you’re reading this and, like me, you didn’t know about it before, prepare yourself. Human trafficking is the trade in humans, but most commonly, the trade of humans into a sex industry. These victims are held against their will and sold or bought and forced into sexual exploitation. Sex trafficking uses physical coercion, deception, submission, control, and abuse of power to keep a victim in sexual bondage. In the words of racinedominicans.org, “Sex trafficking victims are generally found in dire circumstances and easily targeted by traffickers. Individuals, circumstances, and situations vulnerable to traffickers include homeless individuals, runaway teens, displaced homemakers, refugees, job seekers, tourists, kidnap victims, and drug addicts. While it may seem like trafficked people are the most vulnerable and powerless minorities in a region, victims are consistently exploited from any ethnic and social background. Traffickers, also known as pimps or madams, exploit vulnerabilities and lack of opportunities, while offering promises of marriage, employment, education, and/or an overall better life. However, in the end, traffickers force the victims to become prostitutes or work in the sex industry. Various work in the sex industry includes prostitution, dancing in strip clubs, performing in pornographic films and pornography, and other forms of involuntary servitude.”

It’s not very often Hollywood teaches you something in terms of bringing social awareness to a modern day problem. However, that’s exactly what happened one winter night in 2009 when I headed to the movies to see “Taken.” I thought I was headed to see just another action movie with cool fighting scenes. But I left the theater that night utterly shaken and rocked to my core. The movie is about a retired CIA agent who must travel to Europe and rescue his estranged daughter who has been kidnapped and placed into sex slavery. After seeing this movie, I became aware of a modern day truth and problem that I was so moved by, my heart could not ignore this issue. From that day forward, I was compelled to do something to stop this tragedy.

The human sex trafficking industry is a growing global epidemic that requires immediate attention and action.

Upon realizing the problem, I began researching more about it. As the movie “Taken” took place in another country, the door of revelation was only cracked open. It seemed possible that even though this issue of trafficking was extremely barbaric and emotionally saddening, it was still a problem worlds away. What I soon learned however was that it wasn’t an issue worlds away; it’s an American issue that has been going on right under our nation’s nose. The human sex trafficking industry is a growing global epidemic that requires immediate attention and action. The more I learned, the more I saw that this is one of the biggest social issues facing our world today.

Sex trafficking enslaves more than 30 million women, children, and men every year. Runaway children and youth are at an especially high risk. “Of the one million runaway children in the United States, about a third have some exposure to prostitution.” As of 2005, fifteen cities have been identified as American centers of the sex trade: Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Detroit, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, Minneapolis, New York, Oklahoma City, San Diego, San Francisco, St. Louis, Tampa and Washington DC. Atlanta is one of the major sites for the sex trade industry not only in the United States, but also in the world. “Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport is the world’s busiest passenger airport, which provides easy access for men seeking sexual services.” Men fly in from all over the world in order to purchase their prostitutes, specifically international men because they have a strong sexual desire for young American girls, especially virgins. “In the city of Atlanta, sex trafficking has become an epidemic.” According to the U.S. department of domestic violence and human sex trafficking, the United States is the number one destination for child sex trafficking in the world.

Young girls who feel they are not attractive enough to manipulate their sexuality feel powerless, so when a man tells them otherwise, they are deceived into feeling powerful and loved when in reality they are truly and tragically, enslaved.

A child is reported missing every forty seconds in the U.S. Statistics show that most runaways are approached by a pimp within twenty-four hours of leaving their homes. In 2003, the Department of Justice reported the largest concentrations of trafficking survivors who received federal assistance resided in California, Texas, New York, and Oklahoma. In 2004 the FBI’s program “Stormy Nights” rescued thirteen Oklahoma children ages twelve and up from a prostitution ring operating at Oklahoma City truck stops. In September 2006, an Oklahoma City federal court handed down a judgment against men running a human trafficking scheme where workers from India were lured to Oklahoma for forced labor at a manufacturing facility in Tulsa. In February 2009, the FBI Task Force, working with Innocence Loss, rescued several girls from forced prostitution through a Craig’s List sting operation. Oklahoma cities are on major human trafficking routes throughout the Midwest.

Pimps and traffickers prey on young girls who are more likely to have a low self-esteem and/or body image issues, a bad relationship with their family, or who are lonely and don’t seem to have a close community of loved ones. These factors make the girls more vulnerable to sex predators. Sex trafficking violates women’s fundamental human rights. It is not a glamorous industry and most women do not want to be sex workers. According to the United Labor Organization up to 96% of women in prostitution want to escape but feel they cannot. American sex slaves are coerced into sex slavery due to their vulnerability. Many times, prostitution and sex slavery are synonymous, especially in the U.S. (The Cold Facts of Modern Slavery, 2012). Secondly, the sex slavery industry is massive.

Trafficking alone brings in over 32 billion dollars per year according to the United Nations and “over 27 million people are enslaved around the world. This is more than double the number of Africans enslaved during the Trans-Atlantic slave trade”. Thirdly, children make up a great number of those who are trafficked. A child is trafficked every 30 seconds according to UNICEF and the average age of entry into commercial sex slavery in the United States is just 12 years old according to the Department of Justice. Lastly, sex trafficking has been found in a variety of venues including online escort services, brothels disguised as massage parlors, strip clubs, street prostitution, and hostess clubs, many of which are in the United States.

Escape from sex slavery is nearly impossible. Even in the United States captors are usually intimidating, powerful, and capable of brainwashing their captives into a state of “willed” submission, often by frequent beatings and rapes. Somewhere, right now, there’s a young girl, teenager, or woman terrified about the next time she’ll be forced to have sex with a stranger, get beaten up by her pimp, or gang raped into submission. Some of these girls and women are forced to have as many as 20 sexual partners a day. Their bodies are sore, their spirits are crushed, their future is bleak (as most sex workers do not live past 30), and we remain blissfully unaware.
One of the most horrifying facts is that four out of five victims of sex slavery in the US are American citizens. How do American girls, most of them entering sex slavery at around 12 years old, become victims of sex trafficking in their own country? “Trade in Hope” is a documentary that was filmed to expose the prevalence of sex slavery in Austin, Texas. In the documentary they showed the interview of a former pimp with an FBI agent. The agent asked him, “How do you get your girls? How do you get American girls to go into this kind of life?” The trafficker’s response was chilling; he said, “I just go to the malls and tell the girls I’m interested in recruiting them. ‘You have pretty eyes;’ if they look at me, smile, and say ‘thank you,’ I know I better move on. But if they look down with doubt and say, ‘No, I don’t,’ then I know I have them.” At this point the trafficker, often an attractive younger man, treats the future sex slave like a treasured girlfriend, gains her trust, and then thrusts her into the world of sex slavery, where there are little to no means of escape. They understand that girls in America are subjected to images of what a women should be that make them insecure and vulnerable to manipulation at the hand of traffickers. Young girls who feel they are not attractive enough to manipulate their sexuality feel powerless, so when a man tells them otherwise, they are deceived into feeling powerful and loved when in reality they are truly and tragically enslaved.

“Modern slavery.” It sounds like a paradox. Hasn’t humanity progressed? Didn’t social reformers like Lincoln and Wilberforce legislate against such cruelty over a hundred years ago? So we had thought. But, with over 27 million enslaved people in the world, human trafficking is once again the battlefront of the century. (Benjamin Nolot, Freedom, blog posted 10 2012, February)

So what is causing all of this? What role is our government playing? And most importantly, where is God in all of this? To look for these answers, we need to start with our culture. The hesitation to attribute the atrocities of sex slavery with presentations of women that have become so commonplace in our culture is understandable, but an exploration of these connections may reveal how our culture has created a demand for sex slavery. I believe we live in a modern-day culture that tends to blatantly objectify women. I believe this is one of the vital pieces leading to the prevalence of the sex slave industry in America. Our culture objectifies women by presenting images that make them appear as useable and disposable objects through sexual references (and often outright blatant) infused in our media. With many pieces contributing to the problem, it is truly multi-faceted. You can also point to a growing fatherless culture, raised without identity and a set of values and morals. You can point to a corporate America that continues to move away from the family values that were once at its foundation, spurring more workaholism. Is it even possible our “fallen world” plays a role too? A fallen world where sheer will power, lack of self-control, and instant gratification are valued above patience, honor, respect, and love? Listen to the radio and you’ll find the songs being put out today continue to deliver a message of “dying young,” “living the night away,” and “getting lucky” as its main viewpoints. This, at the very least, has to be playing into the thought process of our youth and culture in some way.

Photo Credit: Ashley.adcox @ Flickr (CC)

Photo Credit: Ashley.adcox @ Flickr (CC)

One of our favorite ways to view the statements that media sends us is through our televisions. Since the beginning of the sexual revolution, female sex symbols in television have risen and fallen as the goddesses of perfection; from Marilyn Monroe to Angelina Jolie these “symbols” remain objectified as the fantasies of men everywhere. With the recent explosion of television channels and accessibility we’ve seen an accelerated flow of information– including sexual information. Along with sex becoming more predominantly viewable, even on prime time television, internet has played an extremely large role in the process of objectifying women by providing the “false intimacy” being looked for by many men as well as women. The amount of pornography that enters U.S. households via the Internet is staggering. 89% of pornographic web pages are U.S. based. Currently, the pornography industry is larger than the revenues of top American companies such as Google, Amazon, Apple, and Netflix, bringing in an estimated 97 billion dollars in 2006 alone. “Every second $3,075 is being spent on pornography. Every second 28,258 Internet users are viewing pornography.” Pornography is a big business and the U.S. is at the forefront. The United States currently ranks as the largest producer of Internet pornography in the world. From 2005 to 2008 the visitors to adult websites increased from 37.5 million to 75 million.

“The torrent of injustice that cascades through the global sex industry threatens the very substance of our humanity. Veiled by seduction and masquerading as freedom, the injustice of sexual exploitation has become deeply entrenched within our world. Little by little, our sanctity and solidarity are breached. Little by little, our decency and dignity are shredded like a cheap cloth. This pervasive sexual brokenness exposes the depth of humanity’s wound like perhaps no other issue.” (Benjamin Nolot, Freedom, blog posted 10 2012, February)

According to Robert Boyer’s article in the Journal of Political Science, “Attitudes Toward Sex in American High Culture,” we’ve moved out of the time when culture understood sex as mysterious and “magical” into a time where it is commonplace and crude. In 1943, only 12% of women approved of pre-marital sex, and by 1999, 73% did. As time has progressed, America’s view on sex has become more and more open and liberal (in the sense that sex has become more accessible). According to Brian McNair in his book Striptease Culture: Sex, Media and the Democratization of Desire, “Today, across the range of artistic, promotional and journalistic media we are likely to view, discuss, and think about sex with greater frequency and attention to detail than at any previous stage in history.” As we’re all aware, this era isn’t the only example of a sexual revolution, or that sex obsession is a particularly new phenomenon. Clearly, elements of our history include types of sexual revolutions demonstrated, for example, by the American frontier. However, America is currently experiencing a rapidly increasing phase of sex obsession that is more visible and accessible than ever. While the effects of the media on society and individuals cannot be isolated or accurately measured, it is important to still regard the media as a reflection of what consumers want to see. As long as there are ads that sensualize women, as long as there are television shows that devalue women, as long as there is pornography that manipulates and disrespects women, there will be ideologies that objectify women. As long as there are ideologies that objectify women, there will be sex slavery.

“The enforcement by media and the advertising industry of beauty standards as a measure of women’s worth, the marketing of all manner of consumer goods by means of women’s sexual appeal, and the cultural disciplining of women to conform to and accept a wide range of sexual abuses and violations, both in images and actuality, have made the world unsafe for women. These examples of consumerism have become normative in the global economy; they contribute to the legitimization of the buying and selling of women for sex. To reduce the voracious global appetite for exploitative sex, we need to decommodify women altogether.” (Bonna Haberman, Feminist Liberation Theologian)

So what role is our government playing in this fight against sex slavery? One non-profit organization in particular is fighting to make our government aware of this issue and pushing them to make a change. Polaris Project is a leading organization in the global fight against human trafficking and modern-day slavery. Named after the North Star “Polaris” that guided slaves to freedom along the Underground Railroad, Polaris Project is transforming the way that individuals and communities respond to human trafficking, in the U.S. and globally. After much lobbying and pushing from Polaris Project and many other non-profits in the fight to abolish sex trafficking, the government pushed to outlaw sex trafficking and the charges being brought against the sex victims as if they were somehow the criminals themselves. They’ve helped pass 18 state-level bills aimed to strengthen the legal framework of trafficking to ensure sex slave victims are helped and perpetrators are punished. These are known as “Safe Harbor laws.” Other organizations are helping to lead the cause as well such as Not For Sale, Loose Change to Loosen Chains, Teen Rescue and F.A.C.E.S.S. (Freeing American Children from Exploitation and Sexual Slavery.) The government is awakening to the international epidemic and taking steps legally to see it dealt with nationally. But there is still much more work to be done.

It is our job to seek justice in the world by emphasizing God’s presence and action in the world, recognizing the call of all Christians (people of liberation) to participate in God’s mission.

So how does God fit into this equation? Who is God to these women who have been so brutally abused and used? And are these young women and children not children of God created with a truth that they have self worth? These are some of the questions that we need to ask as Christians called to be abolitionists. To be a liberator and abolitionist, we must believe that we were created with great worth and value and we must also believe that these women and children were also created with the same great worth and value. As abolitionists we must wrestle with several questions. Where is the place of God in the experiences of these women and children? I have often thought of God as existing and being present in one’s significant life experiences. I believe that through those experiences one will develop and construct an understanding of reality as well as the reality of God. But when you are a child that is locked up, raped, and rejected, what does this do to your understanding of the reality of God? What then is real? Is their reality that God is an abuser? Or is their reality “a fantasy world where they can escape in order to feel trust and love?” Is “real” something that the young women and children in the sex trafficking industry can become again? Maybe we should shift our minds from thinking of God as not just reality but also potentiality. Reality is normally defined as what is. But can it be that reality could be defined as what can be? We as liberators are called to restore the hope and faith in the potential for healing and reality. God gives free will, even if it may not reflect his heart, his purity, or his will. But on the other hand, he also calls those in tune with his heart to exhibit, in our own free will, what his intentions are, and that includes freedom and safety for all. It is our job to show those victims who have been brutally forced into sex slavery that it was not God’s heart or plan for them to be captured and abused. It is our job to march on the frontlines of justice until the change is made. It is our job to seek justice in the world by emphasizing God’s presence and action in the world, recognizing the call of all Christians (people of liberation) to participate in God’s mission. By doing so, we carry the potential to restore the reality of God’s love, grace, beauty, hope, and faith to a hurting world.

If you feel called to help change this global issue, start on your state level. Write your state representatives and support the non-profit companies trying to change the sex slave industry. It’s by these means we can start saving as many lives as possible. You can bring about change; you can help bring a life out of slavery and into safety, freedom, and love.

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Filed Under: Careers & Callings, Featured, Live Tagged With: Issue 21

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New Identity | Exploring Faith
We're happy to announce that the Fall/Winter 2020 We're happy to announce that the Fall/Winter 2020 Issue is out today! There are some great articles inside that we hope you'll love! Enjoy! 🤗 #linkinbio⁠
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Prayer isn’t about making the things we selfishl Prayer isn’t about making the things we selfishly want happen; it’s about making us want what God wants.⁠
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“The world is indeed full of peril, and in it th “The world is indeed full of peril, and in it there are many dark places; but still there is much that is fair, and though in all lands love is now mingled with grief, it grows perhaps the greater.” – Haldir⁠
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In Lothlorien, Haldir is encouraging a downcast Fellowship with a glimpse of the larger story in which they find themselves. His words reflect the apostle Paul’s encouragement to the church, that we “do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope” (1 Thess. 4:13). For there is a form of grief from which there is no recovery – one in which there is no resurrection of the dead. If death is the final word, then we must suffer grief without hope, grief that diminishes our love for life because of the crushing weight of the loss we’ve experienced. But Tolkien believed that death was not the end; therefore, we may experience the beautiful juxtaposition in our own lives of deep sorrow mixed with rivers of joy. Instead of crippling us, our grief may actually help to cultivate in our character the virtues of faith, hope, and love that are necessary to continue to carry our heaviest burdens. ⁠
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✍🏽: @slimkeman in "Memorable Middle Earth"  Continue reading at newidentitymagazine.com⁠ by visiting the link in our bio and tapping on the image.⁠
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The Bible stresses that despite our differences we The Bible stresses that despite our differences we are called to love each other above our political positions. “Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity” (Colossians 3:12-14). You may feel like how politics and religion intersect in the public sphere communicate the exact opposite of this, and you’d be right. Media outlets report drama and conflict. Gracious and loving political opponents are not newsworthy.⁠
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✍🏽: Matthew Hamilton in "Our Identity In Christ Is Always Greater"  Continue reading at newidentitymagazine.com⁠ by visiting the link in our bio and tapping on the image.⁠
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The trees, with their bark, the skin of the forest The trees, with their bark, the skin of the forest, with its scars and wrinkles, lean toward me, and brush me with their limbs. The leaves beg me to examine their veins. “Have you seen this?” Each different, but each spectacular. The infinite busy creatures. The carpet of green, the dome of blue.⁠
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A few moments later, I feel like an amazing creature in a world amazingly made. I feel the astounding power of God, where the smallest thing around me, a leaf, an ant, is more complicated, and alive and amazing than anything humanity has ever thought of.⁠
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Really, there is nothing like it. The author C.S. Lewis noted that the best place to take a non-believing scientist or a real thinker is nature.  Eventually the noise of God in nature is deafening.⁠
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Once you’re in that place, just a few minutes into your walk, your mouth will hardly be able to keep from pouring out praise to God. It becomes so easy. Connecting to God like that, in praise, as a consequence of observing nature, is so freeing and so empowering that you will return to your office balanced and ready, clear headed and encouraged.⁠
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The prayer that most blesses God, most blesses the one who prays it. And there is almost no easier way than from within the sanctuary of nature, which itself raises up its branches to him in prayer with every sunrise.⁠
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✍🏽: Tom Koel in "Muting The Noise of the World - Deconstructing The Prayer Hike for City Dwellers"  Continue reading at newidentitymagazine.com⁠ by visiting the link in our bio and tapping on the image.⁠
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Each person comes to a Bible passage with his own Each person comes to a Bible passage with his own culture, language, and historical understanding. Sometimes we use these to interpret the Bible, but the hard work of bible study requires that you get rid of those things and interpret the passage by allowing it to speak for itself in its own language, cultural context, and historical background. In other words, interpretation is hard work because you are trying to to discover what the passage meant to its (original) audience 2000 years ago (even though we are reading it today). ⁠
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✍🏽: @the_christopherscott in "How Anyone Can Study The Bible"  Continue reading at newidentitymagazine.com⁠ by visiting the link in our bio and tapping on the image.⁠
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Everything we do should be done for the ultimate e Everything we do should be done for the ultimate enjoyment of God. For instance, our enjoyment of a loving relationship with our spouse is a reflection of our relationship with God, and is therefore something God uses in order for us to better understand his love and how we can love him better.⁠
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This entails that God has given us the Bible as a means to an end. The point of reading the Bible is to come to enjoy God better and more fully. It might seem odd, or even a little sacrilege to think of the Bible as a means to an end. This is because we rightly think of the Bible as holy or sacred. But, it is not God. It is holy and sacred insofar as it is the word of God, given to us so we can better understand who God is. ⁠
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By reading Scripture we learn more about God, his work in the world, his plan for us, and his expectations for us. This is one of the means God has provided for us to enjoy him more. In fact, St. Augustine of Hippo believed that if a Christian could hypothetically enjoy God perfectly in this life, that they would no longer need to read the Bible. Of course because we will not come to love God perfectly in this life, reading, meditating on, and yes, memorizing scripture, will regularly be a source of knowledge that help us to love God more. However, Augustine wants his readers to remember, that knowledge is not the goal for reading the Bible.⁠
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People with unbelieving hearts only seek after wha People with unbelieving hearts only seek after what prospers them. Apart from Jesus, we set in motion lives filled with harm, with no hope and no future. A person can only have hope and a future when life is lived out for Christ. We get light through reading the Bible, prayer, and fellowship with other Christians. This light of life can be obtained through an open line of communication with the one who gives it—Jesus. Apart from him, life can appear meaningless. Our purpose in life is to glorify God with who we are and what we have. –Steven Butwell⁠
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"No one who trusts in you will ever be disgraced, but disgrace comes to those who try to deceive others." –Psalm 25:3 NLT⁠
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What’s your favorite article in the new issue? F What’s your favorite article in the new issue? Follow the link in our bio to read it online or download it free to your tablet. ⁠
Even as God demonstrated love by sending Jesus to Even as God demonstrated love by sending Jesus to die on the cross to take punishment for our sins, God reminded people of the importance of fearing him. God is not only our savior, comforter, and friend who promises to be with us always (Hebrews 13:5; Matthew 28:20), but also the most powerful being in the universe. There is a place for the right kind of fear—the reverential awe and respect—in our lives.⁠
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✍🏽: Délice Williams in "Fear The Lord?" Continue reading at newidentitymagazine.com⁠ by visiting the link in our bio and tapping on the image.⁠
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Like the Psalmist, John describes Jesus as God’s Like the Psalmist, John describes Jesus as God’s Word who brings light and life to the darkness. Jesus is God’s Word that comes to us, to those who are dwelling in darkness. In fact, this is exactly what Jesus declares his mission to be in John 12:46: “I have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness.” This Light and Darkness imagery pervades the gospel of John. People love darkness because they don’t want their actions, thoughts, motives to be exposed by the light. But the truth is that deep down we need (and want) to be seen. We want to be loved despite our dirtiest deeds and foulest feelings. We need to restore the relationship that Adam and Eve once had with God–complete openness, and deep love–but we can’t do it on our own. Only God can (and did through Jesus) bring that relationship back.⁠
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✍🏽: Brandon Hurlbert in "The Light of God's Love"  Continue reading at newidentitymagazine.com⁠ by visiting the link in our bio and tapping on the image.⁠
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In John 15:1 Jesus says that God is the gardener a In John 15:1 Jesus says that God is the gardener and he prunes every branch that does not produce fruit. A person stuck in his or her ways of sin is like a prickly shrub growing a lot of branches with no fruit. These branches must be removed so good fruit can grow. In the same way as a bush is unable to prune itself, a person who is living in sin is unable to remove all the unfruitful branches in life. Paul described this condition in chapter seven of Romans when he called himself a wretched man and realized only Jesus can change him.⁠
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Jesus provides the essential elements for growth; he gives us his Word (the Bible) for fertilizer, other believers for sunshine, and the Holy Spirit for water. When our roots begin to receive this new water, sunshine, and fertilizer, new branches begin to grow. This time the branches are not prickly bushes, but beautiful new branches adorned with the fruit of “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, and self control,” (Galatians 5:22). Our old acquaintances will marvel at who we have become. When we allow God to be the gardener, he will shape us into his design.⁠
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✍🏽: Delbert Teachout in "God The Gardener"  Continue reading at newidentitymagazine.com⁠ by visiting the link in our bio and tapping on the image.⁠
📷: Photo by Timothy Grindall from Pexels
As new creations, those who have been forgiven by As new creations, those who have been forgiven by and reconciled to Jesus, we now have the task of being reconciled to each other. As Christians, we are not just called to forgive others in our hearts but keep them at an arm’s length away. No, we are called to be of one heart and one mind (Acts 4:32) with our brothers and sisters—we are called to be reconciled.⁠
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✍🏽: Brandon Hurlbert in "Repairing Broken Bridges"  Continue reading at newidentitymagazine.com⁠ by visiting the link in our bio and tapping on the image.⁠
We are faced with a challenge: to make God the cen We are faced with a challenge: to make God the center and purpose of our lives in a world of demands. God asks us to listen for his voice, and it’s no wonder why he chose to speak to Elijah in a “still, small voice” in 1 Kings 19:12-13. He doesn’t always shout at us because he wants us to choose to listen, to put other things aside so that all of our focus is towards discerning his will in the specifics of our lives. We have his will for us in general, as communicated in the Bible, which is to make disciples of all nations, to glorify the one true God, to serve no other gods, to love our neighbors as ourselves, etc., but sometimes we need to figure out how those general plans fit the specifics of our lives. Hearing God’s voice is part of how we relate to him, but in those moments of uncertainty, quieting ourselves becomes even more important.⁠
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✍🏽: @sarahjoysly in "Listening For A Whisper"  Continue reading at newidentitymagazine.com⁠ by visiting the link in our bio and tapping on the image.⁠
📷: Photo by Jara from Pexels⁠
Imagine if every Christian started praying to God Imagine if every Christian started praying to God and asking for him to bless us with gifts of encouragement for the sake of the world around us. The Church would make an immediate impact on the lives of people.⁠
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✍🏽: @lukegeraty in "The Gift of Encouragement from the Great Encourager"  Continue reading at newidentitymagazine.com⁠ by visiting the link in our bio and tapping on the image.⁠
📷: Photo by Lum3n from Pexels⁠
Everything sad will come untrue because we are not Everything sad will come untrue because we are not doomed to be forever parted with those we love, nor will our souls simply turn to dust and fade with the memory of those we leave behind.⁠
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✍🏽: @slimkeman in "Memorable Middle Earth - Why I'm Always Tolkien In Movie Quotes"  Continue reading at newidentitymagazine.com⁠ by visiting the link in our bio and tapping on the image.⁠
📷: Photo by Dirk Förster from Flickr
"Remembering God's promises and his faithfulness a "Remembering God's promises and his faithfulness as a community will help us to endure our sorrows for the night, for joy comes in the morning." @slimkeman from his article The Beauty of Community & The Beast of Isolation 🌤 Can you name some of God's promises that keep you encouraged and grounded? We'd love to hear in the comments below - and just maybe it might be the hope someone else is needing right now! 🤗⁠
“Every night I lie in bed, the brightest colors “Every night I lie in bed, the brightest colors fill my head. A million dreams are keepin’ me awake. I think of what the world could be, a vision of the one I see. A million dreams is all it’s gonna take. A million dreams for the world we’re gonna make.” ⁠
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As P.T. Barnum sings these words to Charity in the beautiful montage of their young lives, we are captivated by the hope that they share, the possibilities of their bright future, and the chance of their love overcoming the wall between privilege and poverty that keeps them apart. The Greatest Showman asks us to wrestle with the quest for the holy grail of our modern world: success and happiness. ⁠
What is the good life? If a million of our wildest dreams came true, would we truly be happy?⁠
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In Jesus, we find a man who invites us into his presence with these words: “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). He is the only one who can fill “the infinite abyss” of desire in our souls. When you have fully devoted yourself and your dreams to your Creator, you will discover that “everything you ever want” and “everything you ever need” is “right here in front of you” in Christ Jesus.⁠
{Steve Limekman}⁠
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✍🏼: by @slimkeman in “The Greatest Showman”  Continue reading at newidentitymagazine.com by clicking on the link in our bio ⁠
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📸: from newidentitymagazine
Every day in sub-Saharan Africa, one child in ten Every day in sub-Saharan Africa, one child in ten under the age of five dies of a preventable cause, and nearly every day in America eight in ten adults consume coffee. What do these numbers have to do with each other? A lot, according to the One Cup Project, which is using America’s love for coffee to reduce the number of children dying in Africa by converting coffee profits into life-saving aid.⁠
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The One Cup Project started in 2010, when Christian Kar, the founder of an award-winning Seattle-based coffee company, partnered with the Christian humanitarian aid organization, World Vision.Remarkably, every dollar spent on One Cup Coffee generates a dollar of aid for Africa.⁠
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Buy some coffee, put up a post on your Facebook page, ask your church, local café, or workplace to change their coffee, or run a One Cup Fundraiser. In doing so, you just may help hurting people find healing, hope, and life. Change the world for the better, one cup at a time.⁠
{Thame Fuller}⁠
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✍🏼: @thamefuller in “One Cup Project”  Continue reading at newidentitymagazine.com by clicking on the link in our bio or click on this link to take you directly to the One Cup website: https://onecup.org/our-story/⁠
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📸: by @AftaPuta from Pexels
When someone accepts Jesus, they leave their old p When someone accepts Jesus, they leave their old priorities behind and make Jesus the center of their life. Jesus calls each of us to share the good news with the world. He came to give living water to a thirsty world, and we have the honor and privilege of sharing his message by the power of the Holy Spirit (John 7:37-39).⁠
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The most important thing you can do is enter each conversation with a posture of prayer. Pray for the person you’re sharing with, that God would open their heart to accept him. Pray that God would give you the words to say. And a loving way to say them.⁠
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Expect God to work in your relationship and use you to share Jesus through your friendship in his own timing. No matter how long you have been a believer, you can share Jesus with the confidence that he is with you and that he will use you for his glory.⁠
{Eric Gulley}⁠
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✍🏼: Eric Gulley in “Sharing Your Faith”  Continue reading at newidentitymagazine.com by clicking on the link in our bio ⁠
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📸: by @OliverSjostrom from Pexels
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