Experiencing God’s Grace Through His Judgment

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It is easy to think of God’s judgment as the opposite of his mercy, but the reality is not so simple. God can give people a wake-up call to turn them back to himself. In those cases, God’s mercy comes through his judgment. Nate Larkin joins Gary Wilkerson to share his story of redemption, recovery, and healing from sexual addiction.

Key Points from the Podcast

  • Nate Larkins shares how he, as a pastor’s son raised in the church, came to be a pastor addicted to pornography and prostitutes.

  • As we learn more about addiction, we see that it usually traces back to some form of trauma either through abuse or neglect.

  • When struggling with addiction, the temptation is to hide our sin and wrongly believe that our sin isn’t hurting anyone.

  • Many people who feel trapped in addiction are driven to despair but are desperately desiring some glimmer of hope.

  • Thankfulness can be powerful in overcoming lust because lust says I need something, whereas gratitude says I have all I need.

  • Pornography addiction is afflicting males at an increasingly younger age and even snaring growing numbers of women.

  • God’s judgment is often his mercy and grace working to turn us away from our sin and back to him.

Bible Verses Referenced in the Podcast

Romans 1:21–32

Resources Mentioned in the Podcast

Podcast Episodes Featuring Nate Larkin:

About Nate Larkin

Nate Larkin, the founder of the Samson Society and author of Samson and the Pirate Monks: Calling Men to Authentic Brotherhood, grew up as a preacher’s kid. He married his wife, Allie, on the day he graduated from St. Lawrence University, and they headed off toward Princeton Seminary and the ministry.

If you’ve heard Nate’s story, you know his plans didn’t work out so well. He was ensnared by a sexual obsession he couldn’t tame, and the fear of discovery eventually drove him to abandon the professional ministry. It’s a miracle his marriage survived.

After more than two decades of secret and steadily intensifying compulsive sexual behavior, Nate’s nightmare finally ended in a painful collision with reality. Today, he helps overlooked victims of the commercial sex industry – addicted users – find their way back to integrity and the true intimacy that every person craves.

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About Gary Wilkerson

Gary Wilkerson is the President of World Challenge, an international mission organization that was founded by his father, David Wilkerson. He is also the Founding Pastor of The Springs Church, which he launched in 2009 with a handful of people. He has traveled nationally and internationally at conferences and conducted mission ventures such as church planting, starting orphanages, clinics, feeding programs among the poorest of the poor and the most unreached people of the earth. Gary and his wife Kelly have four children and live in Colorado Springs, CO.

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