Mike Genung here. Last month I led a From Porn to Grace conference in Aylesbury in the United Kingdom at the Church of the Holy Spirit. Afterward, Martin Kuhrt, the senior pastor and vicar of the church, wrote the following article. His story begins with the considerable opposition he faced in setting up the conference—from other Christians.
Porn and the Church – If We Ignore it Will it Go Away?
By Martin Kuhrt, Senior Pastor & Vicar of the Church of the Holy Spirit
“What have I done?” I asked myself, organising a conference on porn! A few days before the conference was to take place at my home church in Aylesbury, I began to feel a heavy sense of failure. No one’s going to come. People have told me they don’t like the way it had been advertised, that posters with the word “porn” are in bad taste and children might ask questions that will embarrass their parents. Some said they didn’t understand why on earth I would want to put on such an event. Some told me it was “brave,” but I sensed they really meant that “You’ll not get me coming.” Other church leaders in the town who I know well, having been in Aylesbury for sixteen years, made some polite noises, but very few enthusiastically backed it. Some said if the speaker was American, he wouldn’t relate to reserved English people. And might he be a rather grubby character anyway? Others said that there are lots of different kinds of addiction, and couldn’t we run a conference for addiction generally, without focusing on porn? Others said the flyers were too “Christian sounding” while others said they weren’t “Christian enough.” Perhaps I put this thing on because of some neurodiverse quirk in me that sees this issue in black and white terms.
I met Mike Genung of Blazing Grace Ministries at the Christian Resources Exhibition last year. What caught my eye at his stand were the horrific statistics of the percentage of Christians, church leaders, young people, children, and members of the general population who were accessing porn regularly and were addicted. I later learned these statistics were based on research carried out by Premier Christian Magazine here in the UK.
Having been held in the grip of lust since his teens, with devastating consequences, Mike Genung eventually found healing and freedom and has for the last 20 years run a world-wide ministry to persons who struggle with sex and porn addiction and the effect on wives. Porn destroys relationships. It not only re-wires the brain but mashes it like heroin. Blazing Grace has ministered to people from ages ten to eighty years old.
Having felt prompted by the Holy Spirit to go up and talk to Mike, I then thought it made sense to invite him to Aylesbury to run a day conference when he was next in the UK, which he agreed readily to do. To my mind, if this is such an all-pervasive issue and in which the church is deeply compromised, then why wouldn’t everyone think it’s a good idea to tackle it?
I’m wiser now. Although Premier Christian Magazine has run over 80 articles on porn in the last 12 years, that doesn’t mean people are willing to talk about it in church. It doesn’t mean that church leaders will grab the opportunity to promote an event where honest testimony is given and people are challenged to see this as an essential obstacle to living holy lives. It doesn’t mean parents, who may be feeling guilty themselves, prioritize the need to talk to their children and youth in order to prepare them for the porn-saturated screen environment we live in. Jesus said that if our eyes and hands cause us to sin we should gouge our eyes out and cut off our hands but we’re reluctant to even confess our sins to one another, talk to our youth, set boundaries and use accountability apps on our precious phones.
In short, Satan has a massive spiritual stronghold in this area. Porn is a 100 billion dollar industry and Satan can employ all the seven deadly sins in this enterprise together with lies, shame, cowardice and complacency. Having printed 2,000 flyers for churches, schools, pubs, and put out as much online media advertising as I could, thirty people showed up. 20 men and 10 women. However, those who did come thought it was excellent and very helpful. Mike was perceived as being both honest and kind. The wife of one of the pastors who didn’t turn out, had a prophetic picture for me on the morning of the event. It was a huge block of ice and a pick-axe. I should not be downhearted over the numbers. It may seem like this event was just a little chip on the iceberg, but in this town it would begin the process of spreading cracks in the ice. May God cause the cracks to grow and widen.
It was very good working with Mike. He advised us to pray well beforehand, which we did. He was absolutely right that the day should be for both men and women (originally we had thought it might be for men only). The day was well structured with Mike’s compelling testimony at the start, then a break and then more teaching about the effects of porn. Mike got us into same sex groups to share with each other and then after lunch gave some teaching around our identity in Christ and the resources available to help rebuild, restore and renew their lives. We got back into groups to pray for one another. I had very good feedback from those who came. Everyone said Mike was able to be direct and challenging while also being gentle and kind. People valued his honesty and vulnerability. Everyone felt this was a wake up call to the church here! We and another church have invited Mike back to teach and minister on Sunday mornings when he is available.
Mike again…
Martin’s article shows the opposition that every group or organization goes through when they attempt to host me or one of our conferences. Sexual sin and porn in the church are not going away, continuing to explode, and Satan is using many Christians to thwart God’s imperative to talk openly about sexual issues and equip the hurting. I have seen this repeatedly, including in churches that are heavy in theology and Bible teaching.
The following articles provide hard evidence of the continuing wreckage from sexual sin in the church.
February 14, 2025: Former Christian Academy school counselor gets 30 years in in child porn case. (Riverside, CA)
February 14, 2025: Caldwell County pastor receives 10 year sentence in Federal child porn case. (NC)
February 13, 2025: NC pastor charged after officers find child porn on church computer.
February 10, 2025: Tennessee pastor arrested for sexually abusing 5 children.
February 5, 2025: Troy youth church volunteer arrested on child porn charges.
February 5, 2025: Thousands sign petition urging investigation of pastor’s son accused of sexual abuse.
We need more Martin Kuhrts who are willing to put it out there and go to war.
One problem is that many believe the Christian life about being nice and learning their Bible verses while having as much of the world and entertainment that they can. Pouring themselves out in prayer isn’t a part of their life, but then neither is spiritual warfare. Why attack a comfortable Christian? No one changes the world while watching a movie, Christian or not.
How about you? Have you had enough of watching the church get its butt kicked? Are you ready to go to war and make an impact, knowing there will be opposition from the church and our spiritual enemy?
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