Way of Purity Testimony: Larry Dulude

I'm writing this with the hope that all who are in bondage to sexual sin may discover the freedom that only God's grace can deliver. I was first exposed to pornography at the age of 10 when I discovered my Dad's stack of Playboy magazines in his workshop. Many people in our society would say that this was a relatively harmless experience, but it was the beginning of opening the eye gate to a life of sin and shame.

Fast forward 15 years later when I discovered a new media in the form of XXX rated video tapes , which lead to even greater exposure to much more hardcore pornography. During this time I was married with a family, and 13 years later my marriage ended when my spouse divorced me for another man . I attribute her exposure to the XXX rated porn for some of the reason that this happened. [ I shoulder much of the blame for this ].

In 1982 I accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior and turned all my sin over to Him. I remarried 1 year later to a wonderful Christian women. I assumed that all my years of porn were behind me.

A couple years into my marriage I opened the eye gate just a crack by tuning into a X rated channel on cable TV just to see what it was about. Satan knows our weak areas and exploited mine, and I didn't resist all that much. Over the next 10 years I believed I had control over my lust, only viewing pornography several times a year. Each time I would confess my sin and promise the Lord never to look at it again. And I truly believed I had it under control. The church fellowship that I attended during that time was very legalistic and I really understood very little about the grace of God.

Fast forward again to 1999 and my discovery of internet porn websites which was a quantum leap into the porn world. I found myself visiting these sites more and more frequently, mainly because they offered a lot of free viewing anytime I wanted it.

I would go through the endless cycle of temptation leading to sin leading to shame leading to confessing my sin and repenting, only to start the cycle over again a week or two later.

It wasn't until several years later that during a counseling session with my Pastor because my marriage was falling apart that I confessed my sexual sin to him and started climbing my way back up to a life of freedom. My Pastor suggested a support group that dealt with pornography issues and I agreed.

Later that week I discovered Setting Captives Free while doing a Google search. After reading about the SCF program I new that God was urging me to get involved. There are times in our lives when we can look back and see pivotal cross roads that either take us down the right or wrong road. Becoming a student at SCF and enrolling in the 60 day "The Way of Purity" course was one of those key turning points in my life.

I had only been into the program one month when I knew I was finally free from sexual sin. The depth of God's grace filled my heart and I knew I could never return to the shame and filth of pornography. The next month went by so quickly that I didn't want to give up the excellent teaching that filled every daily lesson.

It's now a year later and I'm a Mentor at SCF and God is using me to direct men towards a life of freedom from pornography and sexual sin.

From sin and shame to a ministry that glorifies God. Only Jesus can do that.