Red Hot Sex!

This video shows the fallout from these types of church marketing campaigns.

HT: Old Truth

Comments

[Jason]

How sad that a Church would be so racy with the topic of sex that it would offend the world. What does that say?

[DJackson]

I just cannot believe what that "pastor" (if you can call him that), said "If I put the word 'Holiness'...no one would show up"

Oh don't EVEN get me started on that. Did he completely forget what God kept doing by punishing Israel for their constant idolatry?

We all know that sex within marriage and it's God given boundries is a beautiful thing. What is offensive is that this subject is reserved for the husband and wife alone. If they want to do a study on Song of Solomon, that's what they should do in private study, and God meant that to be used for such. But mass mailing thousands of dollars worth of amoral worldly minded filth- the churches should NEVER touch.

[DJackson]

don't know if I made a lot of sense in that last post, I was pretty furious if you couldn't tell.

This kind of stuff just fires me up.

What is wrong with churches. It's bad enough that the world hates us because of Christ, now these people pretending to be Christian come in and put another knife in the back.

[Kim K]

So he'll apologize if your kids are offended but if he had to do it all over again - he wouldn't do anything differently. What kind of apology is that?

Sounds like my sister's "church" which had a bed on the platform and the pastor came driving into the building in a red convertible. Hard to see the gospel in that approach.

[DJackson]

"So he'll apologize if your kids are offended but if he had to do it all over again - he wouldn't do anything differently. What kind of apology is that?"

It's not an apology at all, it's just a way of saving face on CNN.

He's not apologetic in the true sense of the definition. If he were truly apologetic he'd be spending some big money on apology letters to all the people he sent the idiotic mailing to. But obviously he said he would do it again, so he's just sorry that the kids are offended but not sorry for his actions, whatever that means?!?

[Trent Kastman]

It's just another fulfillment of 2 Tim. 3:1-8 that in the last days, people would be unholy.

[Shma]

There is way too much sex talk as it is. I go to church to hear about the Lord - not sex!!!!!!!

[Yvette]

I'm a little confused. That was about an advertisement for a 'church'? Somehow I don't recall the bible directing us to use the tactics of deception and sexuality to get people to want to hear the gospel. He is a symptom of the problem not the solution. I guess he felt God wasn't making him rich fast enough so he decided to take his cues from the world. I guess when people have a walmart (cheap and lots to choose from) kind of christianity, who needs the real thing.

[Mandi]

I wonder if the "pastor" preached this sermon series from between the sheets in bed with his wife. I sure am glad all of these churches are coming up with creative ways to get butts in the seats, because if they left it up to the Holy Spirit, well, people would have a change of heart and seek God. Oh yeah, so tell me again why these churches need to come up with these worldly hooks?

[pilgrim]

Since the Bible speaks of sex, in and of itself it is not wrong for the Church to do so either. If we are to preach the whole counsel of God's Word, we need to in some way. But this is not the way. The scriptures teach modesty, wisdom, and self control. This approach does not. It was purposely provocative, and seemes intended to shock in a way that is not related to the gospel. This approach shows neither reverence to God's Word nor sensitivity to people.

Our pastor was recently rpeaching through Proverbs, and when he reached a passage about sex he decided he should still preach on it. but he did it with sensitivity. There was no special promotion, no enticing mailers or campaign, and parents were advised in advance so they could make their own decision about whether they wanted their teens to hear it. There was no coercion to the parents to let their teens stay & listen. For the younger kids and teens whose parents declined, there was alternate teaching available so they may be fed as well. The sermon was biblical and was not explicit, lurid or inappropriate. It stayed true to the text.

Now it is possible a pastor could deliver a sermon such as that and still use mailings like above, but that would be to deny the teaching in the passages in Proverbs--they speak of modesty, respect, wisdom, and the danger of not following God's teachings.

So the church can and should teach what the Bible teaches on sex, but they should do it in a Biblical way.

[April]

"So he'll apologize if your kids are offended but if he had to do it all over again - he wouldn't do anything differently. What kind of apology is that?"~Kim K

Actually, if you listen carefully, he said he WOULD do things differently.

Nevertheless, the whole thing simply reeks of the widespread decay that is going on within the church today. We are definitely in the last days.

[Jerry]

I wonder what happened to the offense of the cross?

[Donna]

I heard some one once use the term "the pornofication of American" to describe how pornography has seeped into the mainstream of America. Well it looks like the "pornofication of the church" is next.

[DJackson]

It's already here, as we can well see. :(

[Skylar]

The Great falling away I suspect...from the REAL faith...instead we exchange the REAL faith for some watered down emergent version of the word of God and in the process offend people...

lol for real, how ridiculous...

[tigger]

Listen a little more carefully to the video clip: he didn't say he would do it differently; the CNN gal's voiceover just says that "if he had to do it all over, he would."

His "apology" is like a five-year-old's - he's sorry that he got "caught," but not sorry enough to stay away from such carnality.

[Name]

This "community uproar" is silly... this isn't "pornification of the church"... perhaps it was a ~bit risque~... but it's the world and culture that has disgraced, dishonored, and perverted the gorgeous gift of marital sex. Much worse images display in magazines, the newspaper, and on billboards every single day. God meant for sex between a married couple to be hott, steamy, passionate, joyful, playful,and so many other things... He designed it that way for a reason.

Has anyone every read Song of Solomon?!?! Last I remember... its a book in the divinely provided textbook of the Christian life of love in action, submission, and faith... and that book is incredibly racy and sexual. Can you imagine how that book would read if it was translated into modern language?!?!?! Holy cow (that was not meant to offend any Hindus reading this post) it makes me blush reading it now!

I'm appalled at the level of ignorance displayed in content of these comments. All the judging and insidious chatter is disappointing.

Could it have been a little less aggressive?... perhaps. Their hearts were definitely in the right place; they wanted to challenge the world's reality of sex vs. what the act's creator has to say about it. Christian sex be the "hottest" that exists. As we learn more of God's intent and design of it, we are able to appreciate it, our spouse, and Him on a more intimate level.

I see this marketing campaign as an honest effort by the church to reclaim the beautiful, spicy, and exciting gift of sex that was intentionally crafted by the creator of the universe.

[Dave Gregg]

I am a pastor of a church that "does things differently" as well. But the problem with guys like this is that they don't see their pride - they convince themselves they're exposing people to the gospel, but they're offering a self-centered, fill the church at any cost version of it. I have no problem with church growth, but there's a difference between building your kingdom and God's. Since God doesn't build his kingdom by deception, or exposing children to this kind of sexual material, I can only conclude what the real motivating factors were.

[Christ is the Issue here]

Maybe the technique wasn't the best but I get more pissed off by "Christians" who only know their morality and have lost touch with the Christ himself. If God created sex and all that goes with it, there is nothing wrong with it. Sure, Satan and sin have distorted it into porn and sex outside of marriage, but that's not the issue. The issue is sex within marriage, a church wanting to teach its followers about how to do it properly and intimately, and the lack of CHRIST in the whole situation. Obviously the voices of the people in that video, ESPECIALLY the lady that quotes the verse saying not to succumb to the desires of the flesh, have got things a little backwards. Could it be possible that as "Christians" we've made sex out to be something bad, or at least something with a negative stigma attached to it? How is it wrong for a church to want to encourage and teach married believers how to properly engage in the most intimate act of marriage - especially when it's the greatest picture of our intimacy with Christ himself?!!? This really gets under my skin that these people claim to follow and love the Lord Jesus Christ but still get caught up in morality - as if not engaging in sex or "sexual" things somehow makes them more worthy. It's His sacrifice and His alone that even makes pleasurable things like sex available to us. We can easily see how we as sinners have distorted it into the crap that this world teaches us about sex. But aren't the best things in life the ones that sin and Satan try to distort and twist into the worst things? I'm just sad at the response of these moralistic religionists - but I can't judge them. I, too, am a horrible hypocrite and a sinner just like them. It's only by the grace of Christ and the Word He has given that I can see His redemption of sex in the Christian marriage. I think that more churches should offer detailed sex classes but should rethink their marketing so that these people aren't offended but attracted. I also think the shock value this created revealed a whole lot more about the people of that community than it did of the church.

[Johnathan Elsbury]

Is it possible that this church, The Gathering, is addressing this modern-day "sex culture" with the Word of God? Sex is a HUGE issue in American culture. Sex raids our TV, movies, and internet. Why shouldn't a church PROPERLY explain what sex is suppose to be according to God?

[#101]

"Is it possible that this church, The Gathering, is addressing this modern-day "sex culture" with the Word of God? Sex is a HUGE issue in American culture. Sex raids our TV, movies, and internet. Why shouldn't a church PROPERLY explain what sex is suppose to be according to God?"
Posted by: Johnathan Elsbury

And how long would that take? 5 minutes, tops. It's not a complex subject. I dare say most people by the age of 12 know what sex is, so the only context for a Church is, when, where and with whom. And that can be summed up succinctly; Sex is only for a Man and Woman joined together in Marriage.
I mean, there are the Basics, and thats it. Anything beyond the Basics is a perversion of the Basics.
If a preacher in a church has to go beyond that to a crowd of adults and young adults, then he'd best be sure to keep them away from pots of boiling water, open fire pits and electrical outlets, because they must be severely mentally impaired.

And since the consumption of food and water is far more critical to a persons health and well being than sex, I wonder if these churches have sermon series on "Your Breakfast Life" or "Four Weeks of Lunch" or maybe "Dinner is good, Dinner is Natural" and "Secrets to a Better Supper Life"....

[Robert]

You should not have posted this. You are guilty of the very things you accuse these Pastor's of by repoducing this image on your website that any one, of any age can visit.

Please at least remove the image. It's pornographic.

[Sandra Clarke]

I beleive that this kind of thing is moral.
Thinkng back to the time when the priests abused kids in the monesteres is as bad.
So what he is doing is morally wrong.
People like that should be castrated.
He is a very sick man.
True saying.
Leave the bad ones down here and god will take the good.
I hoe he is reading this cause if i met him,
Lets just say i would be very nice to him.
I wounder what his up bringing was like??