“Two weeks ago I sat with a pastor of a megachurch who explained the unraveling of his former assistant’s deceptive adulterous involvement with numerous women in numerous cities over the past few years. A married man with children and set to be the future senior pastor, yet he threw it all away for the “temporary pleasures of sin for a season.”

When Robin Williams committed suicide, figures were released on the skyrocketing numbers of middle-aged men taking their lives. Unexpected health problems, derailed careers, financial implosions and exposure of sexual dalliances were some of the factors.

In the past few years there seems to be an epidemic of adulterous and sexually inappropriate relationships coming to light on a regular basis. Let’s be honest: It’s alarming to many of us onlookers, plus it causes much fear and trepidation among spouses who ponder the question, “Are we going to be next?”

And it’s not just marrieds who are scratching their heads. Religious authorities are struggling watching the chilling increase of moral failures in their ranks.

Vatican City just released the news that a 63-year-old respected Catholic bishop in Brighton, England, resigned due to an immoral relationship with a woman. It had nothing to do with an underage female or child-sex abuse. Bishop Kieran Conry simply got entangled in a sexual relationship with an attractive woman, and the scandal has rocked the Vatican.

Two weeks ago I sat with a pastor of a megachurch who explained the unraveling of his former assistant’s deceptive adulterous involvement with numerous women in numerous cities over the past few years. A married man with children and set to be the future senior pastor, yet he threw it all away for the “temporary pleasures of sin for a season.”

Derek Prince, deceased Bible teacher with a global ministry, made this statement: “I’ve been in ministry for over 60 years, and I am well aware that in a matter of minutes I can throw everything away that I have built.”

Sobering, huh?

Here’s the deal: It’s time to step back and engage in a realistic assessment of what’s happening and hopefully learn from others’ mistakes to avert disaster in our own lives—especially if we find ourselves in the middle season of life.

The Challenge of Living Chaste in a Decadent Culture

Erotic stimuli bombard us from everywhere today. There’s also the elimination of restraints and sexual taboos. Add to this lethal mix the pervasive encouragement to indulge in sexual permissiveness via TV, films, magazines and the Internet.

Ted Roberts is trying to combat the avalanche of pornography flooding our churches with a DVD series advertised with provocative statements like “68 percent of Christian men view pornography” and “50 percent of pastors view porn regularly.” He bases this on a five-year national survey conducted by Pure Desire Ministries entitled “Porn Usage in the Evangelical Church.”

Paul Coelho, one of the most influential writers of our time, just released his latest book called Adultery, dealing with this theme in our society today.

In case you haven’t heard, the latest cultural trend being pushed is something called “Sugar Dating,” where primarily younger women trade sexual companionship for money given by older, wealthy men. The documentary Daddies Date Babies surveys this development and explains how many millennial young women engage in this activity to get quick cash and pay off their debts.

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