Comments for Donny's Ramblings

Comment on Dear @JohnCMayer – Re: Producing Porn by brandy

brandy — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 20:50:25 +0000

@Donny Pauling Donny, I really appreciate your response. Thank you

Comment on About Donny Pauling by Dennis Warren

Dennis Warren — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 14:13:35 +0000

The link Donny provided (for J. Johanneson) doesn’t appear to be working :

As of Monday March 15, 2010 – below link doesn’t work (for me anyway) :

http://xxxchurch.com/blogs/theindustry/thepeopleofporn.html

I think this (now-bad) link is also provided after the “Constance: Porn and Human Trafficking” story.

(Hoping the article is still on-line and links can be adjusted – because I’d like to read it)

-Dennis

Comment on Dear @JohnCMayer – Re: Producing Porn by k.e.

k.e. — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 05:49:58 +0000

wow. im an agnostic-atheist, so im glad you didnt hit the from the ‘jesus angle’, but this is one of the most amazing, gut wrenching, open and honest accounts ive ever read. thanks to you. honestly, i dont think john mayer, or the like, will give a rat’s a** about this when he reads it, but one day he might…. when its his daughter. or when he becomes the big porn producer he wants to be and he sees sobbing suicidal women with shitty assholes and mascara smudges on their faces from tears and come….. just maybe….. oneday…

whats also sad, is i bet that that father who saw those pictures of his daughter would have enjoyed the photos if they weren’t HIS daughter…. hypocrisy.

that letter was deeply amazing

Comment on Bethel Is A Really Weird Church by Susu

Susu — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 03:16:16 +0000

I am very familiar with the pastors, people, and ministries of Bethel. I want to encourage you to search the Word of God and see what it says about how a church should function and the teaching of pastors and elders. Titus, Galatians, 1 & 2 Timothy, etc. I think you will find that the pastors at Bethel do indeed preach “a different Christ” and “a different Gospel” than “the one we have received.” It also tells us that in the last days Satan himself will perform works of great power, signs and wonders, to deceive and to keep people running after the very things that will lead them to destruction.

The Bible never says that false teachers will go about with devilish horns and a sinister sneer on their faces. They will appear as angels of light. People we love and who genuinely care for others. This is what makes following Christ so difficult sometimes, but those who are in Christ have no real choice in the matter. We must choose the true God, the true Gospel. We must RUN AWAY from what is false.

Comment on Is This Sexy? by Donny Pauling

Donny Pauling — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 01:05:46 +0000

Jesse,

I’ve removed Google ads from the site. Those types of ads are annoying. Besides that, it turns out they were slowing down page loading time. Ads for bikini photos + slower site = not worth it.

Comment on Is This Sexy? by Jesse

Jesse — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 18:06:42 +0000

@Jesse Oh - and you might want to watch out for what Ads by Google is throwing on your page. When I read this earlier the ad at the bottom of this post was promoting bikini pictures of Marie Osmond. Just wanted to give you a heads up.

Comment on Is This Sexy? by Jesse

Jesse — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 18:03:07 +0000

Thanks or speaking the truth. Again.

I wish that more women would speak out like Shelley Lubben (though I can certainly understand why they would be very reluctant to). The noise about this abuse and exploitation ISN’T LOUD ENOUGH. I always share your stories with the guys in my recovery group. Those of us who were involved in supporting this industry need to stay aware of the gravity of what we have been involved in and how harmful it is to others.

Comment on Dear @JohnCMayer – Re: Producing Porn by Garrett

Garrett — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 23:43:59 +0000

Donny, thanks so much for this post. I love John’s music so much and I think a big reason I relate to so many of his songs is because it comes from the perspective of a fellow addict. Even if John doesnt see this, Im sure this post is being used in incredible ways to open up eyes and set people free. Thanks for being a servant.

Comment on Is This Sexy? by Amy F.

Amy F. — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 22:43:56 +0000

Wow … if that doesn’t drive the point home, not much will. I am remembering that ABC debate that you filmed with Craig, Jeremy and the woman porn star (I don’t remember her name) and they kept insisting how harmless and wonderfully glamorous the porn industry is to porn stars. It was obvious — even by a couple of her answers and expressions — that she, herself, is a woman with scars. It breaks my heart. Thank God for folks like you and Shelly who are willing to lay yourselves out there and expose the industry for what it is. I am praying for a windfall of healing and very vocal and compassionate witnesses to come out of that community of hurting people. Sounds like it has already begun.

Comment on Bethel Is A Really Weird Church by M

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 21:34:24 +0000

@Dalen Muster

Hello,
Just thought I’d add our experiences. My husband and I were there for the school of ministry.We feel like the people there are very sincere and the leadership team really started off on the right track (many years ago and up until recently – listen to Bill’s and Kris’ old sermons). We went there because we were excited about what God was doing there and hungry for more of God in our lives. However, while we were there we saw some things that really disturbed us.

One thing was when one of the Heads of the 2nd year school taught the second year class that they needed to “spend less time with God.” He stated that they needed to be at Bethel, serving and using their time for that, and if they needed to cut something they should cut their time with God. He further stated that he considered his time with his family at home to be his “time with God.” We talked with a close friend and they heard the same thing. Someone confronted the teacher about it and he did not back down at all or modify his statements.

There was very little emphasis on the Bible.

We were getting uncomfortable with some things, and also we felt the Lord leading us to leave Redding and go do what we are called to do- plant a church.

We told one of the head leaders of the church, whom we trusted and whom we loved (and still love) very much. He told us ( this is a direct quote) that we should “lose our identity” and just hang out for a while at Bethel and see what happened. We had been in a lot of prayer and had fasted some because we wanted to know for sure what God’s will was for our next step. He said that we should relax and stop praying so much, stop putting forth effort, and just “go with the flow at Bethel.”

Another thing that made us concerned was the lack of emphasis on sin and repentance and over-emphasis on joy and laughing.

I believe that there are legitimate things (healings, etc) going on there, but that now there is a mixture of “real God stuff” and other stuff – I am concerned for their future. We still love them and still have dear friends there, but we could never recommmend their school of ministry. We feel like they have shifted to the point that there is some danger of going “off”. It was very, very hard to find a forum where one felt comfortable disagreeing with the leaders or sharing an alternate point of view. There was a lot of “groupthink” going on – a lot of pressure to conform.

One time a close friend shared with me that she had visited a party where many of the main “women leaders” were there. The host of the party gave out these huge fake diamonds to everyone, and said that these fake diamonds “put out vibrations that draw angels to you.” My friend was totally enamoured with the whole thing. I have serious concerns about this, for many reasons.

I don’t want to hurt Bethel, but it would be nice if someone there would consider the idea that they need to adjust some things, so that they can keep on track…
We do still love them very much and have prayed for them for hours and hours.