Mark and Beth Denison, married for 36 years, launched There’s Still Hope as a national movement to call men and women into lives of sexual integrity. Their ministry offers 90-day recovery plans for addicts and one-on-one and group coaching for addicts and their spouses. TSH also produces resources for pastors and churches to confront the porn epidemic that is destroying so many lives. Dr. Denison was a senior pastor for over 30 years, NBA chaplain, and board chairman at Houston Baptist University three times. With a Master’s Degree in Addiction Recovery, Mark is a certified PSAP and active member of the American Association of Christian Counselors. Mark has written four books on recovery: Porn in the Pew, 365 Days to Sexual Integrity, A 90-Day Recovery Guide, and 40 Days to Porn-Free Living. His latest book, Jesus on the 12 Steps, will be released later this year.

Chopsticks

A close friend returned from an extended mission trip in Asia. He came home with great stories and deepened faith. And one other thing. A pair of chopsticks.  Talk about annoying. Every time we had lunch at a Chinese restaurant, he ate everything but the soup with chopsticks. And he wasn’t even good at it.…

Restore Your Losses

There’s this funny thing about the Christian life. The more you help others, the better off you are. Let’s apply this principle to prayer. We find this interesting little verse toward the end of the Book of Job. Despite Job’s great losses and pain, the rest of his life became the best of his life.…

Surprise in the Driveway

A man was surprised with a gift that was dropped off in his driveway – a brand new car. He was so excited that he cleaned the car daily, vacuumed the carpet faithfully, and waxed the car meticulously. The only thing he didn’t do was drive the car. He loved to tell his friends about…

Bless God!

There is this little verse in the New Testament that we often miss. “Jesus said to her, ‘Give me a drink’” (John 4:7). When Jesus made this request of the woman at the well, he was teaching us a bigger lesson.  How many times have we been expecting Jesus Christ to quench our thirst when…

B.S.

There is an old acronym in recovery called H.A.L.T. It reminds us that we are often triggered when we are (a) hungry, (a) angry, (c) lonely, and (d) tired. Let me add two more: B.S. We are at risk when we are bored and stressed. 1. Boredom We get into trouble if we aren’t into…

The Bachelor

Next season, The Bachelor will resume its 20-year run on network television. Because some years have had multiple seasons, this will mark the 25th season for the top-rated show. As you probably know, the premise is that a man picks his wife from among several women who essentially audition for the job each week, in…

Are You Really an Addict?

Many of the men I meet ask the predictable question, “How do I know if I really have an addiction?” Let me suggest four criteria for any addiction. A need for more of the behavior to achieve the desired effect. Feelings of withdrawal when unable to engage in the addictive behavior. Repeated unsuccessful attempts to…

Death of a President

On this day in history, 1875, Senator Andrew Johnson died at the home of his daughter. Yes, you read that correctly – Senator Andrew Johnson. You see, the first president to be impeached also became the first (and only) president to serve in the United States Senate – after his presidency.  On December 29, 1998,…

Betrayal Pain

Guys, if you think your sexual betrayal isn’t hurting anybody, read on. Barbara Steffens reports, in “The Traumatic Nature of Disclosure for Wives of Sexual Addicts,” that a survey of 63 wives of self-identified sex addicts found that 70 percent of these women met most criteria for a diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder, and 71…