Dwight Nelson served as lead pastor of the Pioneer Memorial Church on the campus of Andrews University from 1983 to 2023. During his time at Pioneer he spoke on the “New Perceptions” telecast, taught at the theological seminary and has written books, including The Chosen. He and his wife, Karen, are blessed with two married children and 2 granddaughters.
More In This Series
“A DIY Guide to Better Sexual Health: Taming Your Tiger”
www.newperceptions.tv
» THE TIGER
• 64% of young people, ages 13–24, actively seek out pornography weekly or more often.
• A study of 14- to 19-year-olds found that females who consumed pornographic videos were at a significantly greater likelihood of being victims of sexual harassment or sexual assault.
• A Swedish study of 18-year-old males found that frequent consumers of pornography were significantly more likely to have sold and bought sex than other boys of the same age.
• A 2015 meta-analysis of 22 studies from seven countries found that internationally the consumption of pornography was significantly associated with increases in verbal and physical aggression, among males and females alike.
• Porn sites receive more regular traffic than Netflix, Amazon, & Twitter combined each month.
• 35% of all internet downloads are porn-related.
• The “teen” porn category has topped porn site searches for the last six years.
• At least 30% of all data transferred across the internet is porn-related.
• Recorded child sexual exploitation (known as “child porn”) is one of the fastest-growing online businesses.
• 624,000+ child porn traders have been discovered online in the U.S.
• Porn is a global, estimated $97 billion industry, with about $12 billion of that coming from the U.S.
• In 2018 alone, more than 5,517,000,000 hours of porn were consumed on the world’s largest porn site.
• The world’s largest free porn site also received over 33,500,000,000 site visits during 2018 alone.
• National Center on Sexual Exploitation (www.endsexualexploitation.org/wp-content/uploads/NCOSE_Pornography-PublicHealth_ResearchSummary_8-2_17_FINAL-with-logo.pdf)
• Denny Burk: “A growing number of young men are convinced that their sexual responses have been sabotaged because their brains were virtually marinated in porn when they were adolescents. Their generation has consumed explicit content in
quantities and varieties never before possible, on devices designed to deliver content swiftly and privately, all at an age when their brains were more plastic—more prone to permanent change—than in later life.” (in Meet Generation Z 61)
» THE TAMING
• Luke 5:17-20
• Desire of Ages: “Oh, wondrous love of Christ, stooping to heal the guilty and the afflicted! Divinity sorrowing over and soothing the ills of suffering humanity! Oh, marvelous power thus displayed to the children of men! Who can doubt the message of salvation? Who can slight the mercies of a compassionate Redeemer?” (269)
Five Steps (Maybe Six) to Overcoming Pornographic Addiction*
» Admit your .
• To yourself for honesty—Romans 7:14-15
• To God for help—2 Chronicles 20:12
» Confess your .
• To Jesus for cleansing—1 John 1:7
• To someone else for accountability—James 5:16**
» Surrender your and .
• To the Holy Spirit—1 Corinthians 6:18-20
• To the Lord—Joshua 24:15
» Worship your .
• Daily through prayer—Daniel 6:10/Psalm 55:17
• Daily through His Word—Joshua 1:7-8/Psalm 119:9-11
» Consecrate your .
• Take up your cross—Mark 8:34-35
• Obey His commands—Luke 19:13
» Turn in your .
• Jesus’ radical counsel—Matthew 5:29-30
• The Father’s radical warning—Revelation 21:6-8
*For further study/reflection:
1. www.wikihow.com/Overcome-a-Pornography-Addiction-As-a-Christian
** ADVENTIST RECOVERY MINISTRIES: The Journey to Wholeness (269.281.1520/harelene.e.smith@gmail.com)/GROW Groups: “Sexual Purity for Men” & “Conquer”
“Friend, your sins are forgiven”
What we experienced at the MORE+ Conference was a wonderful start. Reformation/Discipleship is the indispensable follow up to any such revival experience.
Come and fan the flames of revival.
On Wednesday, April 16 we begin a 7-Session Discipleship Journey using an interactive curriculum created with Pastor Don MacLafferty, participants will experience seven principles of discipleship in fresh ways.
We invite you to join us at Pioneer for an in-person evangelism training event from Friday, April 4, to Saturday, April 5. This is open to all Seventh-day Adventist churches in the North American Division. We encourage every member—pastors, teachers, young adults, and students—to participate. The event will feature keynote speaker Mark Finley. Additionally, there will be breakout sessions available in both English and Spanish. The King's Heralds will provide music during the Friday evening service, both Sabbath worship services, Sabbath afternoon, and the evening concert. Don’t miss this opportunity to be equipped and inspired for impactful evangelistic ministry as you prepare for Pentecost 2025!
Our Pioneer Youth Missions team has just returned from Beirut, Lebanon. Come to the mission vespers at 6:00 PM on Sabbath, April 5, to hear the testimonies, see the pictures and be inspired by what God is doing in the Middle East.
Pioneer Operating Budget
Jesus shared the parable of the talents to illustrate our relationship with Him and purpose in life. The three servants were each given talents according to their abilities. In the end, two were commended for investing their talents wisely, and one was not.
The parable teaches us that we need to use the talents we’ve been given to grow God’s kingdom and for God’s glory. We shouldn’t hide or neglect them. God rewards those who act in faith by investing what He has given. He gives us the responsibility to manage our time, talents, treasures, temple, and testimony.
What belongs to God? For time, it is one-seventh of our week; for talents, we must use them and double them; for our treasures, one-tenth; for our health, we must care for our bodies because we are the temple of the Holy Spirit; and for our testimony, we must tell the story of what God has done for us and how he is transforming us.
God has committed these things to us; how we invest them reveals whether we can be entrusted with eternal riches. By using and growing these talents, they develop in us Christ-like characters and He then multiplies what He gave to us.
Why not ask God to help us manage His gifts?
—North American Division Stewardship Ministries
Pioneer Women's Ministries invites you to join us for 10 days of devotionals leading up to Easter (April 11-20). Together, we will consider what various individuals present at Christ's arrest, trial, and crucifixion might have thought and experienced. If you would like to receive daily text teasers and emails with the full devotional insights, please text the word "CROSS" to 269.281.2345.
We are creating a master list of all Pioneer Sabbath schools. If you are a teacher/coordinator of a Sabbath School class that meets outside the sanctuary, please email your name, class location and meeting time to Melchizedek Ponniah at melponniah@gmail.com.
The Katinas have traveled the globe with the mission of hope and love at the heart of their vision. Who you are, where you’re from, what you believe, it does not matter. The love of Jesus Christ is a gift for us all. Through their music and their actions, the Katinas strive to embody this love. Please go to howard.andrews.edu to purchase your tickets.
From May 11–June 8, 2025, Maranatha Volunteers International will be working at Andrews University to update the Lamson Hall residential rooms and suite bathrooms. Please consider volunteering and letting your family and friends know of this opportunity. All individuals (including local) should sign up at the Maranatha website: https://maranatha.org/volunteer-opportunities/.
Do you want to complete your Master Guide Program? If so, please consider joining the Master Guide Club that meets weekly on campus to help you complete the requirements.
For more information or to join, please visit cye.org/toolbox
