Playboy founder had “The Purpose Driven Life” in his bedroom

Playboy founder had “The Purpose Driven Life” in his bedroom

By Mark Ellis, Senior Correspondent for ASSIST News Service

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA (ANS - September 29, 2017) -- He dressed up porn and attempted to make it respectable, flaunted a hedonistic, licentious lifestyle, exploited and objectified women, and ensnared many men in sexual addiction.

Playboy founder Hugh Hefner passed to his eternal reward September 27th. He was 91.

Hefner was at the leading edge of the sexual revolution that swept through America and the world in the Sixties and Seventies, which upended Christian values and skewered societal norms.

Some Christians will be quick to say they know Hefner’s eternal destiny. If the immortal Dante’s depiction of hell is correct, Hefner may be in the infamous “second ring” of the Inferno – reserved for those overcome by lust.

Dante envisioned a place where the “bright, voluptuous sin” displayed in Hefner’s magazines and personified by his playboy lifestyle transmutes into “a howling darkness of helpless discomfort.”

In this circle, Dante found Semiramis, Dido, Cleopatra, Helen of Troy, Paris, Achilles, Tristan, and others overwhelmed by sexual love. Did Hugh Hefner join their ranks yesterday?

I saw my first Playboy magazine at a friend’s house in 1965. I was only 10-years-old and unprepared for the sudden ignition of sexual feelings, like rocket fuel injected into a booster too soon – years before it was ready for lift-off.

This led to a life-long battle against the seductive tentacles unleashed by Hefner’s revolution, now readily available in every home through Internet access at the click of a mouse.

My misery and the misery of countless others resulting from Hefner’s ignoble life leads me to a place of grim satisfaction as I contemplate the fact that God’s justice will finally be executed perfectly in Hefner’s soul.

But what if the mansion, the grotto, the women, the parties, and his silk PJ’s were all a carefully crafted façade meant to hide his inner longing for real peace?

Anyone who has indulged themselves with pornography knows it satisfies for only a fleeting moment. Afterward, the unmet longings of the soul emerge and there can be little doubt that Hefner wrestled with this angst.

Could the one who did so much to dismantle the influence of Christianity have actually explored its timeless truths toward the end of his life?

According to one of the caretakers of the infamous Playboy mansion, who happens to be a Christian, Hefner had The Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren in his bedroom in 2008 – and it was open!

Photo captions: 1) Hugh Hefner through the years. (http://www.947wls.com/). 2) Hugh Hefner with his private plane and bunnies. 3) Rick Warren with his best-selling book. 4) Mark Ellis.

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About the writer: Mark Ellis is Senior Correspondent for the ASSIST News Service (www.assistnews.net), and is also the founder of www.GodReports.com, a website that shares testimonies and videos from the church around the world to build interest and involvement in world missions. Previously, Mark co-hosted a TV show called "Windows on the World" with ANS Founder, Dan Wooding, aired on the Holy Spirit Broadcasting Network (http://hsbn.tv), which is now co-hosted by Dr. Garry Ansdell, Senior Pastor of Hosanna Christian Fellowship in Bellflower, California. 

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