I would just prefer they stay out of my sex life with their pronouncements and challenges. This isn't the gospel, this is manipulative, juvenile, amateur psychology.

I think that Evangelicals are scared of sex. Pastors and laity alike. So, when someone comes along who's not, and poses a challenge to the married couples in his congregation and tells them that sex is vital to the health of their marriage, generally speaking, we don't know how to react.

I personally think it is about time someone tell people that sex is important. I am so dog-gone tired of hearing church leaders say that true love happens when the whole physical intimacy thing becomes a burden. It shouldn't become a burden. It should be beautiful at the beginning and remain so. Couples should be constantly exploring and getting to know each other. All the more when life "gets in the way."

Perhaps if they encouraged married couples to purposefully engage in sexual activity without contraception for 30 days, it would be useful. The evangelical church seems increasingly enamored of and infected by the pagan worldview of casual, recreational sex that has been propagated for a generation by Friends, Seinfeld, Sex and the City, and so many others.

Sex for sex's sake has become a false god, an idol, that draws even Christian couples away from God's best blessings for them, rather than draw them closer to God. More sex and less children is a recipe for the death of a culture. The only message that will change our culture is have more sex, so you can have more children. I'm not optimistic that I'll hear that message any time soon, which is why I'm preparing my children to live in an increasingly post-Christian America.

The church is the best hope for the future of the world, but it appears we are choosing, and often promoting a kind of "safe sex" that doesn't produce life, with the implication that God approves, without a scintilla of biblical support. As a result, we are voluntarily reducing our influence on future generations, and closing in on falling below the birth rate at which a culture no longer reproduces itself and dies. Not too smart. But who cares if the sex is so good!

The fact that they are encouraging singles to forego sexual activity for thirty days is disturbing. The church should be encouraging--nay, exhorting--singles to stop having sex outside of marriage. Thirty days? Seriously?

Maybe it's different if you are in a committed relationship, but for this single, hasn't been on a date in forever 30-something, it seemed just as depressing and irrelevant as when my church did a whole series on marriage.

Yea, I think its important the church addresses sex. I think we can teach biblically God's design for it -- in the context of marriage. I agree with Relevant that the church has been silent when it really should speak sometimes. I'm following the threads on this whole discussion on their site. My only questions have been in regards to how they are handing the topic with singles. I'm not ready to comment on that aspect yet.

Could someone please forward this to my wife? *rimshot!*

Seriously, though, as if the church isn't sex-obsessed (at least with the negative aspects of sex) enough. Hey Relevant Church, you know what REALLY strengthens relationships? Talking openly and honestly. (The horrors!) Reading the Bible together and gnawing on its lessons. (No way!)

This is either just weird or dumb.

Ok. So perhaps I was a little grumpy. But I find the evangelical subculture weird sometimes. I had a family, Chrisiian kids, a good wife who fell victim to mental illness. After 25 years of marriage she left. The church did not know how to deal with me. Church today has become a family support group, primarily about how to have a good marriage, raise kids, how to be a success. The preaching humor is all about husband/wife jokes, clueless guys who watch sports, mostly cliches. We had many couple events and social events at our house. That disappeared. If you aren't married or preparing to be married, life is strange. I see lots of people like myself. We kind of wander between the families in the fellowship room.

It's really odd of this group to propose 30 days of abstinence for singles. I've spent 6 years struggling with abstinence after a 25 year sex life. Struggling with the desire for intimacy with another person. This kid of makes a mockery of my experience.

So yeah, tell all the married couples in your congregation to have sex everyday. And tell the horny 20 year olds to hold off for 30 days. Sheesh. I guess I'll just stand there and look awkward and wonder about the couple next to me.

What about us who are still virgins? Yeah... college students who are virgins...what a shocker. What are we suppose to do? Not have sex...some more? *Sigh*

"it seemed just as depressing and irrelevant as when my church did a whole series on marriage."

Yeah. Exactly.

I don't know. One of the big problems we have in America is all the married folk forgetting about the non married folk and just leaving us behind to fend for ourselves. REALLY EASY to say "Abstain!" when you get 30 days of sex...takes a bit more mentoring and support than that. You know...actually remembering you have friends who aren't married and don't want to hear about your 30 days of sex?

This just seems kind of stupid the more and more I look at it.

In our oversexed world, I think this just makes things worse. I'm still trying to put my finger on exactly what about this seems very wrong--not only going about things from a wrong angle, but somehow taking sexuality and distorting it by simultaneously cheapening it and exaggerating it. I've been married. I'm now single. A challenge like this when married would have felt like a mockery at the best of times and formula at the worst of times. . A challenge like this when single feels like even more of a mockery.