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Following Jesus
Earthly Cross
His Name Is
Apostles Creed
Dealing with Feelings
Jonah
Get Real
Promised Land Living

Grace Church
257 Kendall Street
Burlington, WI 53105

(262) 763-3021

Email:
Pastor Scott Carson

Secretary Patti Hall

PASTOR'S PENS 2003

Grace Church of Burlington September 28, 2003  “What are your kids learning about sexuality?”                                                                        Twenty years ago many of us were asking our State legislators to not repeal the law making it illegal for unmarried adults to live together. It was stated at that time by those defending morality, decency and monogamy, that to legalize open immorality (even though it wasn’t enforced) would open the door for homosexual marriage...and they laughed at us. Our elite elected officials said that it would never happen, but it is! Right now we’re praying, hoping and holding our breath that our legislators will have the character and intestinal fortitude to withstand the extreme political pressure being put on them by homosexual activists and make it a law that marriage in Wisconsin is only between a man and a woman. (Incidentally, if you want your legislators to know that you believe that call and ask them to vote for Senate Bill SB233 or Assembly Bill AB475).        Recently, the Episcopal Church voted to ordain a practicing homosexual as a bishop and they quoted the Bible to defend their position. That’s not just moral perversity, it’s spiritual perversity. Then, nearly every newspaper and news organization in the country carried the picture of Brittany Spears and Madonna liplocked on national television. Is it any wonder that our children are confused about sexuality? Nearly every television show has a homosexual character who is portrayed to be “normal,” just like us. One of the new popular TV series is Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, a show seeking to desensitize us to homosexuality.  One of last summer’s blockbusters was little more than perversion packaged as humor, American Wedding. Even the saccharine sweet, Legally Blond 2, had a subtle pro-homosexual agenda. Add to that, most sexual relationships in the media, whether TV or movies, are between unmarried individuals. And we are being brainwashed that all of this is “normal.”     Scripture though is very clear that immorality is a sin and those who sleep around or live together in an unmarried state are unregenerate (Rev. 21:8). Too often we rationalize, “well, they know the Lord.” But the question in Scripture is never, “Do you know the Lord” but “Does the Lord know you?” Scripture says that God does not “know” those living in immorality.       Our children are being taught a costly lie that one can be sexual without a sense of morality, that all one needs is a condom to protect them. But the price of immorality, whether homosexuality or premarital sex, is horrendous. The statistics of the costs spiritually, emotionally and to one’s future marriage are staggering. Nearly every time that I have dealt in counseling with major marital issues, there was sexual intimacy prior to marriage.       Parents, we must be the lone voice in the wilderness and teach our children to be pure. We must hold them accountable. We need to know who their friends are and what they’re doing. That’s not being nosy, that’s being responsible. It’s being a good parent. We also need to know what they are watching and listening to. We need to make certain that they do not dress in ways that are sexually provocative (and we need to be careful that we don’t do that either). It is imperative too that we model a healthy marriage and sexuality to them. We want our children and teens to have the Biblical courage of kids like Crystal Michelle, a 10th grader from Bigelow, Arkansas. Here’s an excerpt from an essay that she wrote:       “Hey, My name is Crystal Michelle. I decided to wait for sex among other things a while back. I have pledged to God that I would not even kiss until the pastor says ‘and NOW you may kiss your bride.’” Crystal understands that being "in love" isn’t reason enough to become sexually active. One of her favorite quotes to spread her message of abstinence comes from Ann Landers, it goes: "I met him; I like him. I liked him, I loved him. I loved him; I let him. I let him; I lost him." And she has some answers for boys who pressure her, if a boy says to her: "Real men are sexually active." She will say, "So is my REAL dog." If he says, "If you loved me, You’d let me." She’ll say, "If you loved me, you wouldn’t ask." He says, "But I want to." She’ll say, "But I don’t!" If he says, "Everybody’s doing it." She’ll say, "Not true. I’m somebody, and I’m not doing it!" If he asks her "Have you ever done it?" She’ll respond with, "Have you ever made the wonderful discovery of knowing Jesus Christ?"" If he asks, "Don’t you love me?" She’ll say, "Yeah, But I love God more." If he says, "I won’t get you pregnant." She’ll say, "That’s right, because you aren’t going to touch me." If he says, "If you won’t let me, I’ll find someone who will." She¹ll say, "It was nice knowing you." And my personal favorite, if he says, "But you owe me!" She’ll say, "Okay, I’ll get you a key chain or something." Our children need heroes like Joseph who blew off Potiphar’s wife when he said “How then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?” (Genesis 39:9). What are your kids learning about sexuality?...more importantly, what are you teaching them?