Adventures in missing the point… the latest chapter…

Well, I’m not gonna go following any links to check this out, so I’m not speaking from an informed perspective here. But I see no reason, in principle, why something like this wouldn’t be perfectly appropriate. Certainly I think the medium is problematic--conversations such as these should take place in intimate relationships fostered within the Church.
Given the very real problem that is Christian fear of sex however, this may be a possible solution. The trick, of course, is to celebrate God’s gift of sexuality in the right context without leading brothers and sisters (or non Christians) into a fall (e.g. by constantly focusing on this one issue, or by making singleness seem less noble).

My two cents.
-Daniel-

At first I thought I was in the “Humor” section of the website.

While I believe women should not feel guilty and should have good information on being intimate in the marriage, there are many good resources that help in this area.  I think a magazine in genre of “Cosmo” might not be the best way to keep women informed and educated.  Instead it seems to drift towards the “immodest”.

IMHO

What’s “parental sex”?
Parents having sex? And how is that any trickier than non-parents having sex?

Maybe that is a typo obscuring “pre-natal”?

Daniel Farmer:  “Certainly I think the medium is problematic--conversations such as these should take place in intimate relationships fostered within the Church.”

Why should they?  Have you no understanding of the biblical purpose for the Church?

Somehow I can’t see how “sex talk” represents Christ to the surrounding society...except for the fact that society has so infected todays “churches.”

Ricky Wrote: “Why should they?  Have you no understanding of the biblical purpose for the Church?”

I mean this in all kindness and sincerity, but, do you? If the biblical purpose of the Church is to proclaim Jesus and live as a testimony to His person, as God in the flesh, and to His message then the Church is under the responsibility to affect their culture for God. If Jesus’ only message was to “repent for God’s kingdom is at hand,” then why did He weep with those in pain? Why did He turn water to wine at the wedding in Cana? Why did He talk of marriage and divorce with such strength that we now quote His words at weddings all over the world? If there is a message of repentence or the kingdom of God in these, I don’t see it.

What I do see is a God who deeply cares about all aspects of our lives, a God that is heart-broken over how we have messed up what He has given us, and desperately wants to be invited into all aspects of our lives. If this is not the case then why do we talk at church about the need for being a Christian even when we’re not at church? If the purpose is seen as merely converting people, then I fear we fall dangerously short of Jesus’ call to us, and God’s desire for His creation. We are to be restored to God, to have each and every aspect of our lives imbued with God’s goodness, the movement and power of the Holy Spirit, and the grace to forgive ourselves (and others) when we fail to live out this mission perfectly.

If we cannot discuss honoring God in our sex lives then we have no right to proclaim from the pulpit or Sunday school class that sex before marriage is wrong. After all, what does God and the work of the Church, biblically, have to do with this? Do you see the conundrum? Our Churches can now boast absolute uniformity with the secular world in the matter of divorce and that is a very real problem. If we cannot speak openly and honestly about these things in Church, then we force people to go to secular avenues to learn, and some who have little support or strength to cope will simply give up and consent to divorce. If that happens, we have let it. If we have done nothing to stop the trend then we are guilty for allowing it to continue without even the attempt to resist.

Churches have ministries to divorced parents, drug addicts, abused people, and a host of other groups because we are to impact our world as salt and light. Yes, I believe the Holy Spirit can move in these ministries to fulfill some work of God that is not expressly mentioned in the Bible. Sin changes, adapts to the time to make one falter; so the church must change with the time to fight against such faltering. Sex is not beyond the reach of the church. And it should never be.

Daniel wrote:

>Given the very real problem that is Christian fear of sex however

HUH?  Daniel, that is NOT a given.  Those of us characterized as having a ‘fear’ of sex are those of us who have a sense of propriety about sex and have it in persepective.  I.E. we wouldn’t waste resources on publishing a magazine about sex any more than we would waste ministry resources publishing a magazine about scrapbooking.  IT HAS LITTLE OR NOTHING to do with the church’s mission!  It may be a part of a larger lesson on marital counseling but that is IT.  This is a distortion and a distraction from the church’s primary mission which is to be a witness for the gospel in the world, not to preach a message that could be titled “your best sex life now.”

I think that it’s very possible to publish a useful magazine addressing women’s issues, including frank discussion of sexual issues from a Christian worldview. 

I suspect that quite a few married Christian women have questions or things that they are curious about, but have no resources to consult except secular magazines such as Cosmo at the beauty shop or to register a pseudonym at a women’s internet forum to ask these questions anonymously.

Sex involves the brain as well as the reproductive organs, so I hope that the magazine addresses these matters.  Articles enlightening women on how the male psyche and physiology works, for example, could be helpful to many marriages.  So could discussion of birth control and other reproductive health issues.

I just don’t find the subject matter objectionable.  It’s no something one would typically leave on the coffee table, especially if there are children in the house, but it’s not inherently immoral.  In fact, if it’s encouraging spiritual and physical intimacy between husband and wife, most should find that a good thing.