One time, one of Winnings’ friends (who was a small group leader) held a “Game of Thrones” watch party. That show “has softcore pornography in it, but they would say, ‘Oh, you know, well, the Bible has suggestive stuff,’” said Winnings. “And I’m like, ‘You really are not trying to use that as a justification right now.’”
God made sex to be between one man and one woman in marriage, “but now we’ve got it on a screen,” said Winnings, who believes Christians should also stay away from content that has “excessive and unnecessary violence or gore,” as well as movies that create fear. “You know, God has not given us a spirit of fear, but we’ll go watch a movie that was created partnering with the spirit of fear to make you afraid, right, or to impress you with something demonic,” he said.
“I know that my flesh wants to go get scared, wants to see these shocking kind of movies,” said Winnings, “but I know that it is not good for my mind, it’s not good for my heart, it’s not going to help me in my walk with the Lord.”
Winnings suggests that Christians who want to discern what content to consume should ask themselves, “Is this helping me in my walk, or is this helping me become more like the world?”
“We’ve just got to reach a point where we’re willing to say, ‘I want to run away from the things of the world: the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the pride of life,’” he said. “And I want to run towards holiness.’”
Winnings himself reached this point at age 25 after he had a “radical encounter with the Lord.”
“There was a night where I got convicted by the Lord and he spoke to me,” said Winnings. “I had a thought and it was, ‘You’ve never lived for me a day in your life.’ He pointed out my pride and my selfishness, that everything I’d done was for me.”
Winnings realized he had been treating God “like a genie” to get what he wanted in life, whether that was a house, job, or education. “After that,” Winnings said, “I began to read the Bible and I noticed that my heart was changed. My mind was different.”
“So that just led me on a journey of trying to really clean up the things that I take in,” he explained.
On the Promise Keepers website, Winnings notes that the ministry’s “legacy is built upon decades of empowering men to live boldly in Christ, leading with integrity, and strengthening their families, churches, and communities.”
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He told ChurchLeaders that Promise Keepers recently launched an app through which men can connect with one another and which also has a number of resources in it.
The ministry is also planning a number of events this year. Winnings will be doing a college tour “prove me wrong style,” where he will make statements such as, “America needs godly men,” and ask the students to prove him wrong.
Promise Keepers is also holding three men’s conferences this year in Yakima, Washington; Kansas City, Kansas; and Atlanta, respectively. To learn more, visit the Promise Keepers website.
