The question …

I recently received an email note from a friend. She wrote:

Not just a guy thing …

Indeed, there are a number of articles online dealing with this issue. Reviewing them reveals something interesting, if not downright scary. Pornography usage and cybersex traditionally have been viewed as a "male problem," because men are thought to be more easily excited by what they see. But now women are at risk too.

Why so many problems begin with frustrated desire

Every day, headlines assault us with troubling news. These recent titles from a local news website are just a small sampling:

From international to household warfare, roadway to classroom outrage, and mortal to financial loss, such stories reveal our fallen, human propensity to sin.

The cause of these impulsive, sinful outbursts is no secret: When we want what we cannot get, we lash out.

Greed is the surprising accompaniment to almost all our sins.

We all like lists. They help create organized presentations, and they are easy to remember. Perhaps that is why God chose a list format to present some of his most well-known laws. But what if we took that list — the Ten Commandments — and reduced it to its essence? What basic sins would we identify? One hopelessly alliterative preacher condensed the Decalogue to a clever three-point quip: man's chief temptations are "gold, girls, and glory." Gary Downing, in his article "Accountability That Makes Sense," agrees, calling them "the three issues with which we all struggle: money, sex, and power."

But perhaps we could distill even further, to a sort of grand unifying sin: greed. It is the misplaced love and desire that drives broken

While things are confusing down here, we can always trust in the hope of heaven.

About an hour northeast of Indianapolis on April 26, 2006, a tractor-trailer drifted across the Interstate 69 median. In its path: ten students and staff in a Taylor University van. The tractor ripped through one side of the van, scattering wallets, purses, and debris across the dark roadway and sending five souls into eternity.

In the accident's aftermath, one survivor was identified as Laura VanRyn, and officials contacted her family as she was airlifted from the site in a comatose state. Over the next several weeks the VanRyn family kept constant and prayerful vigil at her bedside while she struggled out of her coma.

Then came the shattering revelation: the young woman they lovingly watched over did not answer to the name Laura VanRyn. Instead, a battered and broken stranger lay in her place: fellow Taylor student and

In some cultures and eras, apostates face certain death. In America, it's the church that's dying from apostasy.

Apostate — it's not exactly a common word. But for those doomed to hear its rare pronouncement, it can mean imminent death or serious eternal consequences.

Like repentance, apostasy implies a rejection or abandonment of a practice, ideal, or belief. And one religion's penitent is another one's apostate.

This irony became apparent in the first formal court case involving charges of apostasy in Kuwait. The court found Hussein Qambar Ali guilty for converting from Islam to Christianity in December 1995. Since Shari'ah law in Kuwait (and many other Islamic societies) prescribes the death sentence for apostasy, the court called for Ali's execution, along with the termination of his marriage and the distribution of his possessions to heirs.

"Apostasy in the Islamic world is serious," said Ali. "Anyone, even an ordinary person, has the right

Is mounting teen violence evidence of the effects of violent video games?
CHRISTIANITY TODAY LIBRARY | RICHARD TATUM | JULY 31, 2006

On Tuesday, March 24, 1998, two cousins, aged 13 and 11, soldiered up. Donning camouflage and armed with handguns and rifles, they hid in the trees near Westside Middle School in Jonesboro, Arkansas, while an accomplice set off the school's fire alarm. The ambush came off with military perfection: firing only 27 shots, the juvenile commandos killed 4 middle-school girls, 1 teacher, and wounded 11 others fleeing the building.

While most planned acts of violence in school are probably foiled, many attempts have been successful in recent years, including several well-publicized events. Beyond the immediate tragedy and bloody aftermath, one troubling aspect of these events is the lack of a profile for children prone to violence. Apparently, children "snap" into violence, and there's simply no predicting the fracture.

But something is clearly causing a "tipping point," driving children to violence in increasing numbers. The catalyst, many say, is violent media — specifically, gory video games that desensitize players to violence, train them in deadly shooting skills, and reward killing without consequences.