God Governs In The Affairs Of Men

“Failure, if it’s not fatal, it’s not final,” revealed the former conman, bookie, killer to an unusually attentive group of professional football players. The time was during the early 1980’s. The place was the living room of the team’s All-Pro tackle. The occasion was a voluntary Bible study hosted for other team members by that tackle, who would later enter the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

The players listened intently as this relatively small figure (his host was nearly a foot taller) shared his life-changing testimony, describing how he had gone from being an angry, bitter, violent man, who had killed one of his partners (but was acquitted when a jury found that he acted in self-defense) to become the gentle Bible teacher who commanded the attention of his audience of gridiron warriors.

I listened with the others as this once-feared criminal described his transformative encounter with God:

 “… I felt something in the room. Something was there. The word “God “seemed to go right through my heart. “God. God.”  My first thought was, “Oh my God. Oh my God, there is a God.” The presence in the room became stronger. It was beautiful. Perfect. Love …  It was so beautiful. I thought my heart would burst. God was real. He was alive. I always thought he was just a word, for weak people who needed a crutch … but now He was there in this room! The presence continued to build … and the presence came right inside of me, into my heart. And filled it. With love.” (1)

I was in the room because I had been the person who brought this little man to meet the football giants. Together we listened to this man whose life had been one failure after another, humbly explain why “failure, if it’s not fatal, it’s not final.”

Years later, serving as a state court judge, I helped develop one of our state’s first drug court programs, which is a more therapeutic process for dealing with the challenges of the addictions of those who were clogging the criminal justice system. Within that process, the offenders would appear before me for a regular review of their participation in the drug treatment program. Sitting behind a bench as a “robed” authority figure, I praised them when they did well and corrected them when they failed. I remembered the phrase I first heard long before during that Bible study with the football players, “Failure, if it’s not fatal, it’s not final,” and used it often, as I encouraged those who failed during their treatment program to start again. The “robe effect” worked well and many lives were changed.

A few years ago, I retired from my judicial duties, and encouraged by RAAP’s founder, Dr. Jerry Kirk, who I knew as a friend and mentor, I became involved in the efforts of this Religious Alliance Against Pornography organization. I did not know much about RAAP at that time, but I knew Jerry. I knew that Jerry Kirk and Cardinal Joseph Bernadin of Chicago once hosted and led a meeting of twenty-eight religious leaders, held at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City, and that from that meeting RAAP was later incorporated in 1988.

Comprised of diverse religious groups, we at RAAP, are united by our mission to (1) educate people of faith about the harmful and addictive nature of pornography and its corrosive effect on public health, (2) support efforts that help those harmed by the pornography industry, and (3) promote high moral standards in society.

Through RAAP I learned a great deal about the addictive nature of pornography, and found it worked in much the same way as crack cocaine worked to enslave the offenders that appeared before me in the drug court years ago. For that matter, I learned that addictions from substance use disorders, or an alcohol use disorders, or from gambling , or from pornography, all involved a similar physical process in which the substance or behavior causes the dopamine delivery system of the human body to be hijacked, overriding that system’s natural function. I also learned that addictions often come in twos and threes, and that it was common for people with substance use and alcohol use disorders to also have serious problems caused by their use of pornography.

Treatment for addictions, in general, has advanced over the years, and that also applies to treatment for pornography use. There are a number of faith-oriented organizations that now exist that provide valuable information in this area, and some of those organizations have been highlighted in earlier blog articles posted on the RAAP website. Those organizations include the National Center On Sexual Exploitation (https://endsexualexploitation.org/) Covenant Eyes (https://www.covenanteyes.com), and Pure Desire Ministries (https://www.puredesire.org), to name just a few.

The role of RAAP is unique among these organizations. At RAAP we unashamedly call out for prayer from all religious groups and individuals, in support of the gallant efforts of all who battle against the efforts of those who seek to prosper from “the harmful and addictive nature of pornography and its corrosive effect on public health.”  Some recent news reports have been encouraging, especially those reports that porn sites have been shut down as the result of recent legislation requiring age verification. But the battle continues, and in some ways is intensifying. This is a time for God’s people to pray, and to pray more.

Prayer has always been a priority in this country. During the Constitutional Convention of 1787, Benjamin Franklin, who was not noted to be a particularly religious man, voiced the following observation to his co-delegates at a time when they were at an impasse in their deliberations:

“… we have viewed Modern States all round Europe, but find none of their Constitutions suitable to our circumstances. In this situation of this Assembly, groping as it were in the dark to find political truth, and scarce able to distinguish it when presented to us, how has it happened, Sir, that we have not hitherto once thought of humbly applying to the Father of lights to illuminate our understandings? In the beginning of the Contest with G. Britain, when we were sensible of danger we had daily prayer in this room for the divine protection.

“Our prayers, Sir, were heard, and they were graciously answered. All of us who were engaged in the struggle must have observed frequent instances of a Superintending providence in our favor. To that kind providence we owe this happy opportunity of consulting in peace on the means of establishing our future national felicity. And have we now forgotten that powerful friend?

“I have lived, Sir, a long time, and the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth- that God governs in the affairs of men. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without his notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without his aid? We have been assured, Sir, in the sacred writings, that “except the Lord build the House they labour in vain that build it.” I firmly believe this …” (2)

Whether it involves drafting a constitution, or battling the pernicious forces of pornography, Franklin’s observation remains true, “God governs in the affairs of men.”  The miraculous conversion of the “angry, bitter, violent man’ whose gentle demeanor later “commanded the attention of his audience of gridiron warriors” in the story shared above, is just one example of the unlimited grace and mercy of God. As for me, I am determined to pray more and believe that “with God all things are possible,”(3) and I am quite certain that I will not be alone.

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(1) Donato, J., (1975), Tell It To The Mafia, Logos International, Plainfield, NJ, pgs.97-98.

(2) Wallbuilders, (May 29, 2023) “Franklin’s Appeal for Prayer at the Constitutional Convention,” Wallbuilders.com; https://wallbuilders.com/resource/franklins-appeal-for-prayer-at-the-constitutional-convention/ ; Accessed January 26, 2026.

(3) Matthew 19:26 (NKJV)

[Randy T. Rogers is a retired state court judge who now serves as the Secretary -Treasurer of the Religious Alliance Against Pornography, Inc.]