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	<title>BraveHearts Freedom Network</title>
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	<link>http://www.bravehearts.net</link>
	<description>People pursuing freedom from sexual exploitation</description>
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		<title>Welcome back Campus Crusade staff, students</title>
		<link>http://www.bravehearts.net/blog/2010/08/18/welcome-back-campus-ministry/</link>
		<comments>http://www.bravehearts.net/blog/2010/08/18/welcome-back-campus-ministry/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 18 Aug 2010 12:22:24 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michael</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Blog]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.bravehearts.net/?p=5156</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[On September 14, 2004, an unassuming press release was issued by Campus Crusade for Christ HQ in Orlando, FL, announcing that Campus Crusade and BraveHearts were forming a strategic partnership &#8220;to educate today’s college students about the dangers of pornography and to help students overcome sexual addiction.&#8221; Of course, over the past 7 school years it&#8217;s become much more than that. Together, we&#8217;ve also exposed over 150,000 students, faculty and staff on nearly 200 college campuses throughout the world to the Gospel and helped thousands make decision to trust Christ as their personal Lord and Savior. For that, I&#8217;ve gotta say a great big &#8220;Go God!&#8221; Beyond the numbers, I&#8217;m most proud of HOW we&#8217;ve done it. Thanks in large part to your sensitivity and understanding of the nature of today&#8217;s college student when it comes to matters of the heart and soul, we&#8217;ve trusted God and given students the option to &#8220;opt out&#8221; of hearing the 2nd part of my presentation that deals with the spiritual issues related to sexual sin. Instead of just shoving Jesus down people&#8217;s throats or using a megaphone to proselytize a message of hell and damnation, we&#8217;ve trusted the movement and power of the Holy Spirit to convict those who gather with us in our makeshift temples of worship &#8211; campus ballrooms, auditoriums, and stadium-style classrooms. Granted it&#8217;s been a new approach to evangelism for some, and I still run into the occasional student or staff member who, quite frankly in my opinion, just doesn&#8217;t get it and still prefers the verbal pounding to asking permission. Maybe they&#8217;ve never been invited to a friend&#8217;s house for dinner only to discover mid-meal that one of the guests arranged the whole thing to sell them on the latest miracle cookware&#8230; which your friend who invited you now miraculously has a complete set of). But we&#8217;ve seen it work time and time again, and I&#8217;ve heard the thanks personally from students who claim to be atheists or agnostics or just undecided for surprising them and showing them a level of respect they weren&#8217;t expecting. So, yes, this time of the year my pulse quickens just like yours as a new school year beckons. And I&#8217;ve got to say a big &#8220;thank you&#8221; for trusting me once again to partner with you in ministry. In just the last 8 days alone, you&#8217;ve booked me and my Porn Nation event on 9 campuses just for the fall alone! Some of you I&#8217;ve worked with before and you&#8217;re bringing me back for a second go at it. But many of you are new to me. I truly thank you all, and implore the rest of you to drop me a line and let&#8217;s get your event on the calendar. There are a lot of exciting new things we&#8217;re doing with Porn Nation in 2010/11. So you don&#8217;t want to miss it. After all, it&#8217;s gonna be another great year!]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.bravehearts.net/blog/2010/08/18/welcome-back-campus-ministry/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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		<title>ADHD and Sexual Addiction &#8211; What You Don&#8217;t Know Can Hurt You</title>
		<link>http://www.bravehearts.net/blog/2010/08/10/adhd-and-sexual-addiction-what-you-dont-know-can-hurt-you/</link>
		<comments>http://www.bravehearts.net/blog/2010/08/10/adhd-and-sexual-addiction-what-you-dont-know-can-hurt-you/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 10 Aug 2010 10:54:40 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michael</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Blog]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.bravehearts.net/?p=5040</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Did you know that 70% of all sex addicts also have adult ADD? That&#8217;s what the latest studies and brain research show. Why is that important? Well, if you struggle with sexually compulsive or addictive behaviors and just can&#8217;t seem to break these unwanted habits, odds are you may be battling a significant brain chemical imbalance as well. Untreated, the odds are stacked against you of ever getting well again. In my own life, I went along undiagnosed for decades with ADHD. It wasn&#8217;t until I was several years into my recovery, had already started my ministry, but was struggling greatly in my work that I followed a friend&#8217;s advice and got checked by a psychologist and psychiatrist for ADHD. In clinical testing, on a scale of 1 to 7, they said I was an 8! I&#8217;ve been on ADHD medication ever since and it has had a dramatic impact on my quality of life, my relationships, and my recovery. Therefore, I strongly recommend that every person who struggles with pornography and unwanted sexual behaviors download and read this article, and if you feel you may also struggle with ADHD, to see a health care professional and get tested immediately. ADDITIONAL RESOURCES Sexual Addiction and ADHD &#8211; Is There a Connection? a paper published in the Journal of Sexual Addiction and Compulsivity by Richard Blankenship and Mark Laaser that examines the likely connection between sexual addiction and ADHD, and what the implications are for those who are affected by both. Workshop: ADHD and Sexual Addiction &#8211; What You Don&#8217;t Know Can Hurt You. In this  40 minute workshop (in person or as a live Skype Video Seminar, Michael shares from his own personal experience of discovering years into his recovery that he also had a severe case of adult ADD, explains the steps he took to address it, and discusses the breakthroughs he experienced in his recovery, his work life, and his relationships as a result of his treatment and changed thinking.]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.bravehearts.net/blog/2010/08/10/adhd-and-sexual-addiction-what-you-dont-know-can-hurt-you/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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		<title>Introducing the BraveHearts Freedom Network</title>
		<link>http://www.bravehearts.net/blog/2010/07/07/introducing-bravehearts-freedom-network/</link>
		<comments>http://www.bravehearts.net/blog/2010/07/07/introducing-bravehearts-freedom-network/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 07 Jul 2010 13:57:50 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michael</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Blog]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.bravehearts.net/?p=4029</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[It&#8217;s been a busy summer, and my first order of business has been to overhaul our website and update our branding to better reflect our new direction as an organization. Which when you look back at our history isn&#8217;t really all that new. In fact, it&#8217;s more a matter of striking a balance between the past and the present. So why change now? In a word, it&#8217;s all about fulfilling a vision. Back in 2003, I left my career in the corporate world and started BraveHearts based on a newfound desire to help others like me who struggled with sexual brokenness and sexual addiction and wanted to get well. This passion was born out of my own personal story of brokenness and redemption. So our mission became that of connecting those who struggled and their loved ones with the hope and help resources they needed to get well. But we were small back then (just me and my Board of Directors) and we only had enough resources to help about a dozen or so guys and their families. Meanwhile, the problem of porn and sex addiction continued to grow as we stood by and watched legions of people fall into the same traps that I once did and shipwreck their lives and relationships. Without someone sounding the warning, they were like cattle  Someone needed to speak out. Yet no one was out there sounding a warning message that people would really listen to. That&#8217;s when we made a strategic decision to shift our focus from recovery and support to prevention. We knew that Michael&#8217;s personal story of recovery and redemption from sexual addiction had been a powerful catalyst for change in many people&#8217;s lives. People would listen to what a guy had to say who&#8217;d been there and done that. So we quickly formed partnerships with individuals and organizations who could help us create and promote a speaking event built around Michael&#8217;s story that would serve as both a prevention message and warning to others, and would inspire and motivate those who were hurting to get the help they needed. Since then, we&#8217;ve had a lot success at raising the public&#8217;s awareness and educating them about the hidden dangers and long-term consequences of pornography consumption and sexual addiction. Michael has reached millions through personal appearances on national and local TV and radio programs, in countless newspaper articles, and through books and articles he&#8217;s had published on the subject (see Press Room). And hundreds of thousands have attended his live speaking events worldwide. Today, Michael is widely regarded as one of the leading experts on the subjects of pornography, sexual addiction, and the sexualization of the culture. But despite his individual success, his inspired vision of creating a global community where those who are hurting and searching actually find the hope and help they need has largely eluded him. That is until now! We&#8217;re proud to introduce the BraveHearts Freedom Network! Finally, there&#8217;s a safe place where those who struggle with...]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.bravehearts.net/blog/2010/07/07/introducing-bravehearts-freedom-network/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
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		<title>SEC porns it up. What were they thinking!?!</title>
		<link>http://www.bravehearts.net/blog/2010/04/23/sec-attorney-does-pornwork-8-hoursday-what/</link>
		<comments>http://www.bravehearts.net/blog/2010/04/23/sec-attorney-does-pornwork-8-hoursday-what/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 23 Apr 2010 13:37:01 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michael</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Blog]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[work]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[investigation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Leahy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Michael Leahy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Porn]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[porn at work]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Porn Nation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Porn@Work]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Pornography]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[SEC]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.bravehearts.net/?p=2785</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Late yesterday afternoon, I got a call from a harried producer for ABC World News asking me if I could make it to their studio in downtown Washington D.C. within the hour. They wanted a taped interview of me to use on the evening news and they needed me &#8220;in the chair&#8221; by 5 (I made it in time, but the interview got edited out&#8230;that&#8217;s TV for ya). Turns out yet another report had just been released about the excessive use of porn at work in the SEC, this one more shocking than the last. I sighed and told her &#8220;That doesn&#8217;t surprise me in the least.&#8221; She chuckled and quickly updated me on the shocking revelations, including one SEC attorney spending up to 8 hours a day accessing internet porn and another staffer making 16,000 attempts to access blocked porn sites from his work computer in one month (by the way, that comes out to about 800 attempts a workday). Then came the question of the day, the same question that I was asked several times during my interview with their Capitol Hill correspondent and heard asked repeated throughout the day by disbelieving reporters and news commentators: &#8220;What were they thinking?&#8221; &#8220;I mean, c&#8217;mon, 16,000 times! 8 hours a day! One female accountant tried accessing porn sites 1,800 times in a two week period and had 600 porn images on her hard drive. When the lawyer with the 8-hour-a-day habit filled his hard drive up, he downloaded so many images to CD&#8217;s and DVD&#8217;s that he kept them in boxes in his office. Others disabled filters, found workarounds by using flash drives, even used time-tested strategies like searching Google images for porn (no filter or blocker on earth can detect porn in an image, they all use algorithms to search for &#8220;clues&#8221; in a web sites alphanumeric tags and data). &#8220;What were they thinking?&#8221; The answer, as I described in my latest book on the subject &#8220;Porn@Work&#8221;, is both simple and complicated. The simple answer: not much. That is, they&#8217;re not thinking about much else than finding just the right kind of image they&#8217;re looking for so they can get off. Yeah, we&#8217;re talking the &#8220;M&#8221; word, and it&#8217;s not Madoff (as in Bernie, the guy they should have been thinking of). While the financial markets were going through a collective melt down and the world teetered on the bring of financial collapse, our six figure public servants hired to be the watchdogs were doubling down instead on naughty.com and skankwire. Sexual arousal and masturbating to porn at work (yeah, they really do that at work&#8230;behind closed doors, in the 6th floor bathroom, in the employee parking lot) has become our Great Escape, our tension reliever of choice, men and women alike. &#8220;But 8 hours a day!? Risk losing your job over just one more look at that amateur video on youporn? What gives?&#8221; OK, this is where it starts to get complicated. In a nutshell, and trust me...]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.bravehearts.net/blog/2010/04/23/sec-attorney-does-pornwork-8-hoursday-what/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>3</slash:comments>
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		<title>Porn use at SEC big problem</title>
		<link>http://www.bravehearts.net/blog/2010/03/25/porn-use-at-sec-big-problem/</link>
		<comments>http://www.bravehearts.net/blog/2010/03/25/porn-use-at-sec-big-problem/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 25 Mar 2010 16:33:48 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michael</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Blog]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[work]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Porn]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[porn at work]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[SEC]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.bravehearts.net/archives/2334</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Check out this ABC News.com cover story article about the use of porn in the SEC and their investigation into it. I&#8217;m quoted extensively in the article. I&#8217;d love to hear your thoughts on this article.]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.bravehearts.net/blog/2010/03/25/porn-use-at-sec-big-problem/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>&#8220;Wired&#8221; looks like a good read</title>
		<link>http://www.bravehearts.net/blog/2010/03/23/wired-looks-like-a-good-read/</link>
		<comments>http://www.bravehearts.net/blog/2010/03/23/wired-looks-like-a-good-read/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 23 Mar 2010 12:55:11 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michael</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Books]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Recommended Books]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Resources]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[What I'm Reading Now]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[brain]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[intimacy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Pornography]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Sex]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.bravehearts.net/?p=2264</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[As happens often to me, I met the author of this book before I started reading his book. Bill Struthers and I were introduced when I was back at Covenant Eyes&#8217; HQ in Michigan. We were both being videotaped for an upcoming series of interviews about the consequences of using pornography. Although I can&#8217;t say I know him well yet, Bill comes across to me as a genuinely nice guy and a man passionate about this subject matter. Since there are so few Christian books out there on this subject written by experts from academia, I couldn&#8217;t resist picking this one up and reading it. Although I&#8217;m normally skeptical about books that try to bring a Christian agenda into the sciences (and usually written by someone who doesn&#8217;t have the credentials from the scientific and research community to back up their claims), Bill seems to have the expertise and credentials to speak to both sides of the issue. When I finish this book, I&#8217;ll be back to comment on what I think and how it impacted me. In the mean time, check out the table of contents and a sample chapter below.]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.bravehearts.net/blog/2010/03/23/wired-looks-like-a-good-read/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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		<title>Addressing a global issue</title>
		<link>http://www.bravehearts.net/blog/2010/03/16/worldwide-evangelism-addressing-global-issues/</link>
		<comments>http://www.bravehearts.net/blog/2010/03/16/worldwide-evangelism-addressing-global-issues/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 17 Mar 2010 03:53:10 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michael</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Blog]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[evangelism]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[global]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[outreach]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Porn]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Porn Nation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Pornography]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.bravehearts.net/?p=1838</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Pornography and sexual exploitation. They&#8217;re not just issues in the U.S., or even the west. They&#8217;re global issues effecting nearly every person on this planet, from porn to prostitution and AIDS to rape and sex trafficking. Global sexual exploitation, in all of its forms, has become one the the leading justice and human rights causes of our times. And we&#8217;re doing our best to show people the way to hope, help and freedom.]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.bravehearts.net/blog/2010/03/16/worldwide-evangelism-addressing-global-issues/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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		<title>Engaging the media</title>
		<link>http://www.bravehearts.net/blog/2010/03/16/media-exposure-that-increases-public-awareness/</link>
		<comments>http://www.bravehearts.net/blog/2010/03/16/media-exposure-that-increases-public-awareness/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 17 Mar 2010 02:44:17 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michael</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Blog]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[marketing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Media]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Porn Nation]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.bravehearts.net/?p=1823</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Michael and his redemption story has been featured on ABC&#8217;s 20/20, The View, CNBC, CNN, Fox News, The 700 Club, in USA Today, and on nationally syndicated radio shows like Moody&#8217;s Midday Connection, Dr. Drew&#8217;s Loveline and Sirius Satellite&#8217;s Playboy Radio. As long as porn is the norm and sex scandals continue to grab headlines, national media and local news outlets continue to have a need for someone to help them make sense of it all. And increasingly, Michael is one of the voices they&#8217;re turning to.]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.bravehearts.net/blog/2010/03/16/media-exposure-that-increases-public-awareness/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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		<title>Grace College: My struggle is&#8230;</title>
		<link>http://www.bravehearts.net/blog/2010/03/10/grace-college-im-struggling-with/</link>
		<comments>http://www.bravehearts.net/blog/2010/03/10/grace-college-im-struggling-with/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 10 Mar 2010 20:20:48 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michael</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Blog]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[campus]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[college]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Grace]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[masturbation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Porn]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Sex]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[women]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.bravehearts.net/?p=1677</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Bring your struggles with sexual temptations and sin out of the darkness and into the light by sharing here in an anonymous comment to this blog entry. To remain anonymous, in the Comment form, just enter your age and gender (M or F) only in the name field, i.e. 18 F. Leave the email address and URL fields blank. No one, including myself, will be commenting on what you share here (since I&#8217;m the moderator for this blog, you have my word). Consider this a safe place for you to confess your struggles, and to see that you&#8217;re not alone. Prayers for those who post here are greatly encouraged. Also, whether you post here or not, if you&#8217;re ready to quit fighting this on your own and you want to get help, email me personally at mleahy@bravehearts.net.  Only with your permission, I&#8217;ll make sure someone who&#8217;s safe gets in touch with you and helps you get the help you need. Respectfully, Michael]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.bravehearts.net/blog/2010/03/10/grace-college-im-struggling-with/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>5</slash:comments>
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		<title>Grace College: My question is&#8230;</title>
		<link>http://www.bravehearts.net/blog/2010/03/10/grace/</link>
		<comments>http://www.bravehearts.net/blog/2010/03/10/grace/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 10 Mar 2010 18:59:57 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michael</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Blog]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[campus]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Grace]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Porn Nation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Q&A]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.bravehearts.net/?p=1666</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Ask your question by commenting to this blog entry. To remain anonymous, in the Comment form, just enter your age and gender (M or F) only in the name field, i.e. 18 F. Leave the email address and URL fields blank. While I&#8217;m no professional counselor or biblical expert, I&#8217;ll do my best to give you an honest answer from my perspective. Thanks for having the courage to share. Respectfully, Michael]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.bravehearts.net/blog/2010/03/10/grace/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>5</slash:comments>
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		<title>30 Day Challenge Tip #1 &#8211; The Art &amp; Science of Finding an Accountability Partner</title>
		<link>http://www.bravehearts.net/blog/2009/11/03/30-day-challenge-the-art-science-of-finding-an-accountability-partner/</link>
		<comments>http://www.bravehearts.net/blog/2009/11/03/30-day-challenge-the-art-science-of-finding-an-accountability-partner/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 03 Nov 2009 19:28:27 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michael</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Blog]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[30 day challenge]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[accountability]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[covenant eyes]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[internet]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Porn]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.bravehearts.net/?p=1269</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The first big decision I had to make as I began my recovery for porn and sex addiction was deciding that I really DID want to get well&#8230;at all cost! The next one was who was I willing to be accountable to? And even more fundamentally, what does true and authentic accountability really look like? Since Internet porn had been a long-standing stumbling block to me and played a major role in my growing addiction, it was only logical that I tackle the issue of Internet accountability first. But it wasn&#8217;t until I was several years into my recovery that I started enlisting the help of a pretty simple but significant technology tool in order to establish and maintain my sexual sobriety. It was actually a member of my non-profit organization&#8217;s board of directors who suggested that I look into using a software product called Covenant Eyes to help make myself accountable to the board for where I go and what I do on the Internet. That only made sense as they, too, had a lot to lose if I was to suffer a major relapse and fall back into my addictive ways in the midst of building this ministry. So six years ago, I went online and signed up for Covenant Eyes and I&#8217;ve been using it successfully ever since. In fact, as I&#8217;ve often said publicly, CE has quite frankly saved my butt many times over just by the way it has acted as a passive deterrent to my viewing porn. Just the idea of my accountability partner(s) getting a report and seeing what I&#8217;m viewing while surfing the net has been enough to help me fight the sudden, occasional impulses to view porn that I struggled with for many years. But it took years of trial and error before I finally figured out what a real accountability relationship looked like, and specifically, what kind of person I should look for to be my accountability partner. Here&#8217;s a summary of the biggest lessons I&#8217;ve learned over those years as it relates to picking out an accountability partner: 1) SEEK TO BE EQUALLY YOKED &#8211; It&#8217;s critically important to partner with another person who understands the depth and breadth of your problem with porn. No one better than someone who has and is experiencing much the same in his or her own life, as long as they share the same desire that you have to get well themselves. They&#8217;ll know all your tricks &#8211; the lies, the rationalizations, the justifications, blaming others &#8211; mainly because they&#8217;ve used the same lies and denial on others. So they&#8217;re better suited to help you than anyone else, and you can help them. If done right, it&#8217;s a match made in heaven! 2) RESIST BEING APPOINTED A MOSES &#8211; Pastors and church elders who don&#8217;t really understand the nature of porn and sex addiction but are part of the restoration process of a church or staff member make this mistake a lot. When...]]></description>
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		<title>The BraveHearts 30 Day Challenge &#8211; Can you be accountable for 30 days?</title>
		<link>http://www.bravehearts.net/blog/2009/10/24/bravehearts-challenge-intro/</link>
		<comments>http://www.bravehearts.net/blog/2009/10/24/bravehearts-challenge-intro/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 24 Oct 2009 19:43:46 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michael</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Blog]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[accountability]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[accountable]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[challenge]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[covenant eyes]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[internet]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[porn awareness week]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.bravehearts.net/?p=1259</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[This week marks the beginning of Porn Awareness Week. These &#8220;Awareness Weeks&#8221; have become all too common these days as far as I&#8217;m concerned. Which unfortunately means a lot of important issues get buried underneath the clutter of all the causes and concerns out there screaming for our attention. Paradoxically, pornography seems to be the last thing that needs more attention. After all, over 40 million people are giving their favorite porn sites their undivided attention every day. Add to that how pervasive pornography is in our culture and mainstream media &#8211; the movies, music, TV shows and commercials, text messages, chat room conversations, video game characters, even casual conversations &#8211; and anyone can see that porn is definitely the norm these days. But what I&#8217;m finding an increasing number of people aren&#8217;t aware of is how to resist the avalanche of temptations that many of us face every day. That is, for those of us who are trying to live a life marked by sexual integrity. And when it comes to establishing and maintaining healthy habits of personal purity and sexual integrity, I&#8217;ve found that the issue of accountability &#8211; and especially online accountability &#8211; is one of the most important and least understood factors that will determine a person&#8217;s success or failure in developing sexual integrity. That said, I&#8217;ve decided to fulfill my obligation to do something constructive during this national porn awareness week by directing the spotlight on the issue of accountability. So for all of you who are striving to do the right thing by your spouses and SO&#8217;s and families and God and whoever else you&#8217;ve promised that you&#8217;d lay down the porn habit, I invite you to journey along with me for the next 30 days (you didn&#8217;t really think I was just going to limit this to a week, did you?) as we explore the facts and myths associated with this challenging idea and concept of being held accountable and thus accepting responsibility for all of our actions, even those we undertake in the privacy of our online world. I&#8217;m calling this the BraveHearts 30 Day Challenge. And it&#8217;s simply this &#8211; I challenge anyone who&#8217;s serious about wanting to quit the porn habit to sign up and use Covenant Eyes for the next 30 days while myself and others with first-hand experience help you by sharing with you what we&#8217;ve learned over the years about how to REALLY be accountable. In fact, to help make it easy on you, the folks at Covenant Eyes have agreed to let you use their Internet accountability software for free during those first 30 days. Why am I bringing Covenant eyes into this? For one, it&#8217;s a simple and powerful Internet accountability tool that works. I started using CE at the behest of my Board of Directors over 6 years ago. They knew that as a part of my sexual addiction, Internet porn had been a big area of struggle for me and they wanted to...]]></description>
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