Daily Devotional for Saturday September 6, 2008

A Nnation in Spiritual Free Fall that Glorifies and Rewards Whoredom

(I Corinthians 6:13,19, Proverbs 23:27-28)

A nation in spiritual freefall that glorifies and rewards whoredom! In the wake of the sex scandal that broke a few months ago causing New York Governor Elliot Spitzer to resign, was the public response to the high priced prostitute he had most recently been with. After the news media tracked her down and exposed her identity to the world, instead of being ashamed, she eagerly embraced and began to cash in on her new found celebrity. Saddest of all, is a nation that has elevated her to this celebrity status and will be responsible for her making millions of dollars for her choice to break the law and sell her body.

She was originally known as "Kristen," the 22-year-old $4,000 an hour prostitute at the center of the sex scandal involving former New York Governor Elliot Spitzer. Her real name is Ashley Youmans, though she recently took the name Ashley Alexandra Dupre as she tried to launch a career in music. The initial reports about Ashley seemed to tell the sad and familiar story of a young girl from a broken home who was abused, ran away at 17, ended up in New York to pursue a career in music, had no money, and turned to selling her body to pay the bills. It almost makes you feel sorry for her and at least understand how she ended up in the world of high dollar prostitution.

However, the real story of Ashley is much different. She is from a broken home, but grew up with her mother and step father in an upscale New Jersey community. There have been no reports of abuse of any kind, though she did leave home at 17 after wrecking her Porsche and being told she wouldn't get another one. She left for North Carolina to live with her biological feather, but never adjusted to the slower pace of life in North Carolina. So it was soon after her 18th birthday that Ashley left for New York City to pursue a career in music.

To pay the bills, she worked as a cocktail waitress in several upscale Manhattan nightclubs as a bottle girl. These are the girls who work in the VIP areas of the club that cater to upscale, wealthy clientele who buy full bottles of liquor and champagne and party all night. The clubs encourage their girls to be friendly to these upscale customers, even gong out on dates with them, to keep them coming back. Ashley quickly fell into the New York club scene, becoming a familiar figure despite the fact this party lifestyle was very expensive to maintain. Little did anyone know that she had entered the world of high dollar prostitution to pay for her lifestyle.

The story of Ashley is actually very scary, since she represents a new breed of young girls who have no fear, little morals, and are not guided by faith, but by their hedonistic appetite for sex, money, and all the finer things this world can offer. They are young, intelligent, have been blesed with great looks, and understand there are men with lots of money who will pay them thousands of dollars to have sex with them. These brazen and beautiful young girls have an appetite for uninhibited sex, and a lifestyle that requires lots of cash, selling themselves to rich men is the perfect answer.

I am very aware Ashley is not the world's first prostitute and that it has been going on since the beginning of human history. A big reason I am dealing with this today is because as sad as this is, Ashley has now become a role model to millions fo young girls. For girls who have grown up since birth being exposed to sex daily in every way imaginable, many becoming sexually active as early as 13 and 14, a huge percentage growing up in broken or blended homes, most having never even been to church or having any real exposure to faith, seeing daily how beauty is a commodity and an asset that can be bartered on the open market like any other commodity, all while living in a world that preaches (even in too many churches) that success is measured by your bank account and the toys you have, Ashley "Alexandra Dupre" Youmans has become the girl millions of girls want to be just like!

I can only challenge the young women reading this today that sin costs, and it is always a price higher than you ever thought or expected to pay. As glamorous as you may think Ashley's life is, I can assure you it is anything but that. Doing the late night TV program for over 5 years, and due to the incredible number of adult businesses in Florida, I have dealt with hundreds of women over the years who were part of Ashley's world. There is NOTHING glamorous about selling your body for money. NOTHING. It is a dark world where EVERYONE loses, no matter how the media tries to sugar coat it.

It is a world of drug and alcohol addiction, of sexually transmitted disease, and physical danger. It is a world of broken and destroyed lives. Marriages are destroyed. Relationships with children are destroyed. Careers are destroyed. A persons ability to have a normal and Christ-centered sexual relationship is severely damaged. What money there is is usually lost or squandered. Many people commit illegal acts and go to jail. It robs a person of their self esteem. Whatever benefits anyone may appear to accrue, are all eventually wiped out at some point and a huge price is paid. God calls it sin. In the end, nobody wins and everyone loses, even Ashley.

I love you and care about you so much. I knew how sick this nation was, but even I was shocked that we are so spiritually bankrupt that we have taken a common prostitute and turned her into a national hero. Instead of condemning her sinful activities, we have glorified them and she will be making millions of dollars in the coming months. What a horrible message to send to young women, many of whom are simply looking for an excuse to destroy their lives in this way. At a time when they need to hear a message of hope through following God's Word and that Jesus is their only answer, they hear the message loud and clear that their hope is in money and the material things of this world and their answer is to sell their bodies to rich men to get it.

I pray today for young women not to be influenced by horrible choices Ashley has made in her life. I assure you that 20 years from now, she will be the first to tell you that it wasn't worth it. Whatever fame she may acquire, whatever financial rewards she may experience, she has broken the law and despite being granted immunity to testify against the owners of the prostitution business, will have a criminal record. She has already greatly damaged her life at such a young age.

How is she ever supposed to have a normal, healthy relationship with a man if she does fall in love with someone and wants to get married? God's wonderful gift of sex to be enjoyed by a man and women in the bonds of marriage will never be special for her. She has no conception or realistic understanding of money. This is all on top of the mental and emotional damage living such a lifestyle has done to her, even in a few short years.

I pray today for Ashley and ask you to as well. I know deep down there is no real happiness, no real peace, no real joy. You can't live your life in rebellion to God and attain those things, since they can't be bought with a platinum card. You can only know true happiness, peace, and joy by being in a right relationship with Christ. I pray that through all of this, when the offers from scum like Larry Flynt and others stop pouring in, when her 15 minutes in the spotlight is over, that God will send the right person into her life to talk to her about Christ, her soul, and the rest of her life.

I think back a few years ago to Donna Rice, the women who got caught up with Gary Hart and ended his political career. She has lived a quiet life mostly out of the spotlight and has done tremendous work in the area of keeping children safe from Internet predators. The key to her turning her life around was finding a real relationship with Christ. I pray that Ashley will turn to the Lord in her life as well, since He is the only true hope she has.

In His love and service, Your friend and brother in Christ, Bill Keller