All posts tagged: Iniquity

Credit: Antonio Ponte/Flickr/Creative Commons

Sex addiction is real

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Dr. Stefanie Carnes is president of the International Institute for Trauma and Addiction Professionals (IITAP). She recently came out against those in the therapy community who do not believe people can be sex addicts. IITAP provides materials and support for those working in the addiction community. She pointed to several studies that show sex addiction is a very real problem. In particular, she cited the recent research of Ji-Woo Seok and Jin-Hun Sohn at Chungnam National University in South Korea. The two work at the university’s brain research institute. Their findings confirmed what earlier studies have shown — sex addiction is real for both men and women. In their study, Seok and Sohn found that people with a sex addiction share many similarities to those with alcohol and drug addictions. Like other addicts, those with a sex addiction spend an inordinate amount of time searching for pornography to satisfy their craving. Sex addicts have the same level of sexual desire as the normal population, but similar to other addictions have a higher degree of wanting …

Photo: Rafal Zych/Flickr/Creative Commons

Generational Curses: Part 5 — Exposing the secret sins

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In this series we are studying the Biblical concept of Generational Curses that tells how the “iniquity” of the parents can be passed down to the children (Exodus 20:4-5). Children can actually inherit their parent’s sin. In the last article, we started our discussed on how to break with Generational curses. The first step involves understanding that Jesus broke the curse. This means that we are fighting from the higher ground. The curse is broken, we must enforce it. We also looked at the need to deal with the victim mentality that can cause people to quit the fight. In this post, I want to look at the next important step. Coming clean on your iniquity Because of the nature of iniquity, it tends to be our most closely guarded secret. We don’t want anyone to find out about it. Some say that we are only as sick as our deepest secrets. One of the keys to breaking the power of generational curses is confession. Job’s cover-up In Job 31:33, the ancient patriarch confesses that …

Jesus breaks the curse of Generational curses!

Generational Curses: Part 4 — Jesus breaks the curse

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In this series we have been studying a Biblical principle found in Scripture often called Generational Curses. First cited in Exodus 20:5 and referenced several times after (Exodus 34:7; Numbers 14:18; Deuteronomy 5:9 and Jeremiah 36:31), it revolves around the idea that the sin/iniquity of the parents can be be passed down to the children for up to four generations. 5 You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me. (Exodus 20:5 NASV) In our previous article, I discussed how King David’s family was affected by such a curse or sin stronghold. So the obvious question is, what type of iniquity or sin can be passed down? In the Exodus passage, it states that iniquity of the parents can be passed down, not the sin. While sin refers to the act of sinning, iniquity speaks of a sin addiction. Since one of the earliest references to …

Was David's son -- King Solomon -- affected by a generational curse in David's family. Image: Queen of Sheba visiting King Solomon by Edward Poynter (1836-1919)/Wikipedia

Generational Curses: Part 3 — Did King David’s family have a generational curse?

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In the first two articles in this series on Generational Curses, I looked at the principles of this curse outlined in Exodus 20:5, where God said the iniquity of the parents would be passed to the children for up to four generations. 5 You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me. (Exodus 20:5 NASV) In this third article, we will study the devastating effects that generational curses had on one particular family — King David’s. This will involve taking a second look at what is conceivably one of the most misinterpreted verses in the Bible. Israel’s greatest illegitimate son In our first article, we studied how it was the iniquity (Hebrew awon) and not the sin (Hebrew chattah) of the parents that would be passed on to the children. In that article, I discussed that while sin refers to the act, iniquity refers to a …

Inheriting sin?

Generational Curses: Part 1 — Inheriting sin?

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Español: Las maldiciones generacionales: Parte 1 – La herencia de pecado? In her article in the Globe and Mail entitled “The Bad Seed,” Carolyn Abraham tells the story of Dan S. (a pseudonym). In 2003, when she wrote this article, the man was sitting on death row in a state prison in the southern US. The court sentenced him to death for the cold-blooded murder of a pizza store manager in a 1991 robbery. When he entered the pizza store, the 24-year-old manager quickly complied with Dan’s demands and handed over all the money in the till. Then Dan forced the manager to his knees and in a gangland style murder, callously shot the employee point-blank in the back of the head. “You should have seen the fat slob begging for his life,” Dan later gloated. He was on a rampage. Prior to this incident, he had committed a number of armed robberies, plus a string of car and credit-card thefts. After the pizza-store hold-up, he robbed six more restaurants and dry cleaning businesses before …

Captured by sin. Photo: Chris Karr/Flickr

The difference between iniquity and sin

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Several years ago, a 10 year-old girl was brutally murdered in the city of Toronto. The murderer cut up her body and deposited it in bags in nearby Lake Ontario. She was kidnapped while walking the few blocks from her friend’s place to her home. The 37 year-old man charged in this brutal murder had no previous record. But he became a suspect when police — while interviewing people in the neighborhood — noticed that he had recently painted his home and installed new carpet. To the trained eye, this was a subtle indicator of an individual trying to cover up a brutal murder. When the police went through his house, they found over 10,000 pornographic images stored on his computer, including some involving children. Though he had committed no previous crimes, the repeated viewing of these images apparently built such a potent stronghold in his life that it eventually manifested itself in the brutal sex slaying of a young girl. For years, I looked upon iniquity as merely another word for sin. Part of …

What the devil sees

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Español: Lo que el diablo ve In the book of Zechariah, the prophet relays a series of visions that give brief glimpses into the spiritual realm. However, there is one that does more than that. It not only tears away the veil covering the spiritual realm, it also shows how angels and demons view people in the natural world. They see us differently. In chapter 3:1, the prophet Zechariah notices Joshua — who was the high priest in Jerusalem — standing before the Angel of the Lord. Zechariah also observed Satan standing at Joshua’s right hand uttering a barrage of accusations against the High Priest. Joshua was probably performing some type of sacrifice or work associated with his priestly duties. Nobody, in the earthly realm would have seen the Angel of God or Satan standing at the High Priest’s right hand. It was just another day at the temple, but all hell was breaking loose in the spiritual realm. Joshua’s filthy garments In verse three, we are given an odd description of Joshua’s clothes, which were described as filthy …