David Holland Interview:
The Story of One Author’s Battle Against Porn Addiction
David Holland is one courageous Britt — and not just for calling me for an interview at 9 a.m. Nashville time from London, England (no, not London, Rhode Island). He called to discuss his book, entitled Paying For Sex: The Spiritual Implications of Your Sex Life and Mine. Now, where I live in the so-called “Bible Belt Buckle,” this type of reading, written by a Christian, might be considered controversial. The book tackles, without any shyness or hesitation, the issues of porn addiction and sexual deviance. The book asks the question: “What does it take for a Christian man or woman to be sexually holy in today’s erotically charged culture?”
According to his bio, Holland is the director of Explicit Freedom, a ministry set up to help those struggling with sexual addiction. He is also a freelance writer, broadcaster and blogger, and he serves on the core leadership team of his local church in the middle of London.
In the book, David explains his 18-year addiction to pornography and his various unhealthy relationship attachments, and how, in true Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde fashion, all of these things were happening while he was a committed Christian within the Christian community. At the very least, if you read this book you will gain a respect for Mr. Holland for sharing the most vulnerable moments of his private life with honesty but also with power as he explains how Scripture and the power of Christ broke through the darkness.
He encourages anyone to check out his website and his Facebook page where he will gladly answer any questions or concerns and even offer a listening ear to anyone who needs a friend in Christ to discuss these kinds of struggles.
Paying for Sex is available on all e-book platforms, and in paperback at Amazon.com.
So why write such a book?
I have been struggling for 18 years of my life with sexual addiction, pornography, frequent habitual masturbation, sexual relationships — involved in church but also really wrestling with these other things too. When God intervened into my journey, and He set me free from this stuff, I just felt like I can’t keep this to myself anymore. I have got to tell people about it. That is why I wanted to write my book really, and I found that it is helping a lot of people.
What other kind of reviews are you getting from the Christian community concerning this book?
Generally speaking, the feedback has been very positive. However, there are a few people who are a little bit apprehensive about this subject matter. One person emailed me last week and, having read chapter one of the book, he sent me a six-page email telling me why it’s completely impossible for a Christian to be affected by any sort of demonic activity. So, he basically said he was going to put the book down, it was just not for him, and he also said he believed it was not going to be helpful to anyone. So that is kind of an exception. I would say for every one bad review or comment, I am getting a lot of good feedback and comments as well. I suppose it depends theologically where your standpoint is. Generally speaking, it has been very very positive.
Can you give us some insight on your ministry Explicit Freedom?
Obviously, I have written a book. I was sharing my story with other people who were sent to me looking for help. They would tell me they had read my book and were trying to put the principles into place, just like Timothy’s pursuit of God and trying to cultivate a deeper relationship with Jesus. I personally am involved with a lot more people in the UK where I am from. They are able to come to us, and we are meeting people here — people who need prayer, who need counseling. We help them on their journey and sort of give them opportunities to be accountable, and we are really seeing people who have been involved in such things as paying for prostitutes, for example, and there are people we have helped break free from that journey — people from varieties of all sorts of sexual addictions and even homosexuality kind of struggles. It seems like it is working for all sorts of people. Not only men, but women are also making contact with the ministry. So, fortunately, I have a team around me who are able to counsel people over Skype or over the phone or face-to-face to deal with people in various situations who need help. We go to anywhere, from churches and pubs to neighboring areas outside of London.
