The name for Bartel’s ministry website, choppingwood.org, came from the idea that doing the work of recovery is like chopping wood — a daily, difficult chore.

“There’s no miracle deliverance for men in this area. But it is possible to find complete and total freedom, if you keep chopping wood,” he said.

“I’ve been completely free and sober for five years. But it took a couple of years to get there.”

Bartel said addiction to pornography is a huge problem, in and out of the church. Seventy percent of men ages 16-35 regularly view pornography, he said, and about 60 percent of men age 35 to 50.

Availability is a big reason for that, he said.

“It’s on every smartphone and computer in America, free and accessible,” he said.

“Most boys first view porn by age 11, and the images are so provocative, so alarming ... not just a little suggestive. It’s terrible.”

One of the biggest myths that porn users tell themselves, Bartel said, is that it is a harmless diversion that is not hurting anyone because no one knows about it.

But the cost of porn addiction is high, he said.