This Sunday at Johnson Ferry: "Let's Talk About Sex..."

Yes, I want all you 30 and 40 something adults out there to have that awesome "Salt and Peppa" song stuck in you heads. Let it simmer there...

The Family Ministry at Johnson Ferry will be offering a special series over the next three Sunday mornings designed to help parents guide their kids through the ever-changing minefield of our sexually-charged culture.

It will run for three Sundays in a row: January 16, 23 & 30. We are describing this thing as "a three-session, Sunday morning workshop for parents of teens and tweens on handling the issues of dating, sex and other unmentionables.” There are so many dimensions to this that I couldn't get the description  any more concise than that.

The presentation for High School Parents will happen in the Launch SBS class that meets at 9:50 a.m. in the Fellowship Hall.

A slightly different version for Middle School (and younger) Parents will happen at 11:15 a.m. in Student Center North.

This Sunday, August 16, we will be laying the foundation for why these issues are critical in the lives of teenagers. (While STD's and pregnancy are significant, there is much more at stake than just those high-profile consequences.) We will also be connecting these truths to the larger Johnson Ferry emphasis of Spiritual Brokenness and Repentance.

If you have (or will soon have) teenagers at your home, I invite you to join us for the next three Sundays. The choices that your kids make regarding their sexuality will impact them throughout their lives. They desperately need parents who will guide them through these issues. Are you ready to help them?

God has directed us to create what I feel is a powerful presentation designed to give practical help to each of us as parents. I hope to see you this Sunday.

For those of you who want to take a blog walk down memory lane, I have written about a lot of these issues in the past.

For example,you can read some very good insights on the practical hazzards of marrying (and dating) outside of your faith.

There is an interesting post (that was a repost of someone smarter than I) which pointed out the prevalence of sex in top-40 music today, most notably the music that is targeted at teenagers.

Likewise, it blows me away how many wildly popular teen movies give an absolutely terrible picture of teen relationships, and yet we devour them without discernment, thinking it's just innocent fun. It is absurd to think that you can habitually empathize with the emotions of lead characters and but then not allow them to influence how you think and feel.

Perhaps my most "controversial" post was when I commented on the parenting tendencies of Billy Ray Cyrus.  At least as they relate to his public comments about his daughter's lap-dancing skills.

I also had a few less-than-complimentary things to say about tough guy Bruce Willis and his philosophy of parenting teen daughters.

There is a post where shared some ideas about how and when to talk to your kids about sex.

I love this secular study that suggests that the early sexualization of girls is a bad thing. Duh.

Finally, one of my earliest posts on INFOforFamiliesblog.com was a challenge for Dads to step up and protect their daughters. I used the Biblical character of Lot to point out how men can easily toss their daughters to the wolves without even knowing it. Dads have got to continue to step up in this area.

I confess that many of these things that I am passionate about are likely to come out of me (and my wife Jenifer) as we teach over these next three Sundays. Feel free to do some advance study if you like. But most importantly, carve out some time to join us and see what God might do to stretch and grow your role as parent.

I truly hope you can make it.