Once upon a time in an average American suburban town there lived a young boy.  This young boy when to an average American Public elementary school, he played on an average little league ball team and was initially like any other American boy.  The only unique aspect of the boy’s life is that he grew up in a large family.

                     In addition two the boy’s parents there were two grandmothers, five older and three younger siblings.  The five older siblings were four sisters and a brother.  Three young were all brothers.  All family members lived at least one state away.  Those the lived close to or with the boy were one grandmother, parents, one older sister, and the three younger brothers.

                     In the family setting, the young boy was very outgoing.  Yet, when the young boy entered school he was found to be shy with his peers.  The boy shyness made him a target for name calling and teasing.  Some of the boy’s classmates went out of their way to torment the boy.

                     Another element of teasing and torment came on the boy’s little league ball team.  Although the young boy tried, he proved not to be a good sports player.  The boy often struck out and rarely caught the ball.  The boy’s teammates seemed to excel at baseball and teased the boy for his lack of skills. 

                     The boy was far from happy about being teased, but the boy had his family to cope.  The boy had two wonderful parents to raise him and three brothers for playmates.  The boy also had a big sister and two grandmothers who came over regularly. 

                     The boy had a very close and special relationship with his grand parents.  This was especially true of the boy’s grandmother on his father’s side.  Grandma, as she was called, was the boy’s first best friend.  Grandma was never angry, never raised her voice, and never cursed.  Love, kindness, and a sense of security was felt whenever Grandma was near.  Grandma was one special lady.  Although the young boy did not know it then, Grandma was his first encounter with God’s love. 

                     This is how life was for the next few years.  The boy’s peers would tear him down with teasing while the boy’s family would build him up with love.  It was a delicate balancing act with love on one end and hate on the other.  One dreadful day that scale tipped over.

                     In February of the boy’s fifth grade year, Grandma and one of his sisters went home to be with the Lord.  The boy had never experienced death before and now it can with a double whammy.  What a traumatic event for anyone to experience let alone a fifth grade boy.  Yet, the situation was worse because Grandma was a key weight in the boys balancing act.  Now that weight was removed and began tip.

                     Now the teasing and the loneness began to affect the boy more.  The boy soon fell into a depression that lasted for seven years.  The boy’s parents sent him to several councilors, but they we not very helpful.  Soon the boy began hiding his feelings and began searching for ways to cope.

                     The boy became a teenager and entered middle school just as his body began to change.  The boy was experiencing feelings and emotions that he had never felt before.  Yet, the more the boy experienced these feeling the more his pain seemed to dissipate.  Thus the boy started down a path that would lead him to an addiction to pornography.

                     The boy began to lead a double life.  Publicly the boy was the most well-behaved and quiet child.  The boy rarely got in trouble at school.  When the boy did get into trouble his good behavior record and good relationship with teacher paid off.  Either the boy would get a lesser punishment or would skip punishment all together.

                     Yet, in private and in his mind, the boy indulged his addiction.  Images on television, in comic books, and in magazines would help to create fantasy.  In these fantasies the boy was popular and loved by his peers.  The boy did not even realize he had an addiction because pornography gave to boy what he desired most:  to be accepted and loved.

                     Then one glorious day, God intervened in the boy’s life.  The boy had become a college student at a local junior college.  The boy was working in a science lab as a teaching assistant when God sent a miracle.  The miracle came in the form of an old lady who joined the class to learn about rocks and fossils.  Yet God had another purpose for this lady.

                      The boy began helping the lady to learn and memorize the course material.  It was a geology lab so the items being studied were minerals, rocks, and fossils.  Then slowly a transformation began to take place.  The boy who was teaching the lady suddenly became a student.  While the lady was learning about geology she was teaching the boy about Jesus.

                     The boy asked the lady questions about Jesus all semester.  The lady and a friend of hers that took the same class did their best to answer the boy’s questions.  Unfortunately the semester ended before the boy got to know the Lord.  While a faint interest remained, the end of the semester put an end to the boy’s serious interest in Jesus.  The boy returned to his back to pornography, but God was not willing to let the boy go.

                     Summer went by wit the addiction holding strong.  Then in the fall one of the boy’s younger brothers started attending a local church.  Before long the boy’s youngest brother began attending the same church.  The boy became hostile towards his church-going brothers; Particularly the boy’s youngest brother because the youngest brother talked about Jesus constantly.  The youngest brother would play Christian music constantly and was constantly trying to evangelize the boy.

                     In May of the following spring the boy’s younger brother, the one who started going to church first, was baptized.  The boy attended the service where his brother was baptized.  The boy felt heavy and uncomfortable.  The minister’s sermon seemed to speak directly to the boy’s heart.  “How did he know about that?�?the boy thought as the minister spoke.

                     Yet, something attracted the boy at the church.  So, the boy began attend services each week with his parents and all but one nearby sibling.  Then one amazing day the boy watched his sister become baptized.  The boy heard someone calling to his heart.  The next week the boy, watched by his family and the old lady from the science lab, he confessed faith in Jesus and was baptized.

                     I wish that I could say the boy was immediately cured of his addiction, but he was not.  Jesus had cleansed the boy of his sin and the boy slowly began learning more about the Lord.  Yet, the addiction still had a hold on the boy and the boy did not know it.

                     To that point nobody of God and the boy knew of the addiction.  All summer the boy was about to resist the temptation on his own.  Yet, Satan is strong than any one man and the devil kept shooting his temptation arrows at the boy.  With a weak shield of faith and with the boy relying on his own strength, the boy was doomed to failure.  The boy’s defense collapsed quicker then expected.

                     The one semi-positive aspect of the boy’s life before knowing Jesus was patriotism.  No child or teenager love the United States more then this boy.  Whenever the boy came across any American memorabilia he bought it.  The boy had so many American flags and American clothing that you would think it was July Fourth 365 day a year.

                     The boy even made plans to be president of the United States.  In high school the boy took speech classes and joined a Model United Nations Club to practice.  The boy planned on being a lawyer because the legal field was a good way to the White House.  The boy began writing a State of the Union speech, chose a Vice-President, and was choosing his cabinet members.  Even the boy’s first email address contained th4e year he was to turn 35, which is the youngest a person can be before running for president.

                     The boy’s ardent patriotism led to him losing his private struggle with pornography.  At 8:30, on the morning of September 11, 2001, the boy was getting ready for school and listening to his favorite radio show in his downstairs room.  At about 8:46, the radio program was interrupted by the news of a Boeing 767 plane had crashed into one of the World Trade Center Towers.  At first, the boy did not believe that story was real.  After all, this morning show was always joking.

                     However, the boy had to be sure.  The boy went into the next room and turned on the television.  The boy looked in horror as smoke billowed out of the North Tower.  The boy went up stairs and woke his father.  His father went to an upstairs living were we turned on the television.  Meanwhile, the boy returned to the lower level set.

                     At that instant to boy watched as a second plane slammed into the South Tower.  The boy’s vision of an invincible America was shattered and the pornography addiction returned to help the boy cope.  The rest of the fall of 2001, the indulged his pornographic addiction during the week and prayed wit guilt ridden tears for forgiveness on Sunday.  Throughout this period, the Holy Spirit was tugging at the boy’s heartstrings, but the boy ignored the call.

                     Each Sunday, at the conclusion of the sermon, the minister would give an invitation.  The invitation was for normal for two reasons: First, anyone who did not know Christ to come a publicly confess and to be baptized.  Second, anyone who was already a baptized and did not have a church home could restate their confession of faith and become a member.

                     One Sunday the minister gave a message on repentance and the boy’s eyes filled with tears.  Then at invitation time the minister add a third reason to come to the front.  The invitation was for all those who wish to confess faith in Jesus, for all who wish to become members of the local church, or to repent of sin and recommit themselves to Christ.  With that the boy stood up at the Holy Spirit’s urging and walked to the front.

<o:p>               </o:p>The story you just read is was amazing, dramatic, and completely true.  The boy battle with pornography was very long and vicious.  Even when the boy became a believer he had a setback in the battle.  Only when the boy placed his complete trust The Lord that the battle was won.  The boy did this the moment he stood up for that invitation.