Hi, I'm Jonathan Lehman.

Welcome to this episode of the Nine Marks Pastors Talk.

Mark Devere couldn't make this conversation, but I have another pastor with me,

Garrett Kell.

In case you don't know what Nine Marks exists to equip church leaders with a biblical vision and practical resources for building healthy churches, learn more at Nine Marks.org.

Garrett, thanks for joining me, brother.

Thank you for having me, Jonathan. Good to be here.

Once upon a time, Garrett was an assistant pastor at Capitol Hill Baptist Church, and now he's the lead pastor at Del Rey Baptist Church in Alexandria, Virginia. And the occasion

for this conversation is the fact that Nine Marks just released a journal, a Nine Marks

Journal on the Pastor and Pornography, which features an article by Garrett as well as by his wife,

Kerry, and hopefully we'll have time to think about

both. Plus, Garrett, you wrote a little article a few months back, a year back, with the

gospel coalition entitled, I was a pastor hooked on porn. Can you tell me about that?

Yeah, so my life before Christ was marked by a lot of sin, including sexual sin. And, yeah,

a bit of that carried over even as I was a young believer. Became a pastor.

When became a Christian. When I was in Virginia Tech. At 21. Yep. Yeah, Virginia Tech when I was 21. And then a pastor when I was a Christian when I was at Virginia Tech

21 yep yeah Virginia Tech when I was 21 and then a pastor when I was 25 was that too soon

well thankfully we have a God who works in the midst of all of our messes and stupid

decisions so I would not have put me in as a pastor but I was a pastor and the Lord

looking back now if you were in charge of that decision you would say no way not have put me in as a pastor. Uh-huh. But I was a pastor and the Lord, yeah.

Looking back now, if you were in charge of that decision, you would say, no way.

Too soon.

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