This has nothing to do with The Sexy Truth, but it’s an amazing story:  Have you heard about the woman who finished the Chicago marathon last Sunday, and then promptly went into labor?

Yeah…this really happened.

All I can say is, “Wow!”

Almost everyone’s doing it.

This is another great article in the latest Relevant Magazine.  It reveals that evangelical Christians aren’t doing much better than non-evangelicals when it comes to sexual relationships.  This is a reality that is worth discussing in meaningful ways.

If you want to know why The Sexy Truth exists, this article pretty much covers all the reasons.  You can read the full article in the digital magazine, or you can pick up the latest issue in a newsstand or bookstore (or now, you can download it on your iPad!)

Relevant Magazine has been doing a great job dealing with the topics of faith and sexuality in recent months. They recently tackled the very real issue of many single Christians struggling with premarital sex.

In Unmarried & Not a Virgin…Now What?, they lay out some very significant reasons why premarital sex can hinder relational growth. Check out the wisdom of this nugget:

No matter what you call it, that season before marriage is a really important time in your life. It is the coming together of two people in an effort to know and be known. It is a trial period, in which you are pursuing compatibility and connection in hopes of a lifelong commitment. That is some serious stuff. As exciting and exhilarating as this season can be, it’s also loaded with pressure. But you see, pressure can be a very good thing.

 

The best analogy I’ve heard regarding this topic is from a book by P. Roger Hillerstrom. He parallels a couple’s relationship before marriage to a steam pipe. The role of this pipe is to transport pressure. Many times, these pipes are prone to cracks and imperfections. When pressure builds, it allows these cracks and imperfections to be revealed and ultimately repaired. But when the pressure is released prematurely … the pressure doesn’t build, and the cracks are never found, nor repaired. As Hillerstrom says, “Eventually, they will corrode and destroy the pipe.”

 

The truth is, every relationship must go through a series of healthy pressures to discover what it’s really made of. Family of origin issues, expectations, roles, personality differences … the list goes on and on. Communication is the key to discovering and working through these pressures. As a professional counselor, I can’t stress enough the importance of building a marriage on healthy communication. The problem with sex outside of marriage is that it allows for “pressure” to be released through the avenue of the physical rather than by the foundational structure of communication.

 

Problems and flaws are never discovered … until it’s too late and the damage has completely destroyed what could have been an indestructible match.

Do yourself a favor and check out the rest of the article here.

A few weeks ago, Collide Magazine linked to an infographic that displayed a lot of the statistics that have been researched on the extent pornography is impacting the United States.  Pornography addiction is destroying marriages, families, careers and finances every single day. This is scary stuff and there’s a good chance this issue is impacting the you or the people around you.

Check out the infographic below.  What statistics are most startling to you?

Sexting is a huge issue today in our culture.  A recent poll suggests that 24% of students (almost 1 in 4!) have either sent or received texts messages that are sexual in nature. It’s happening in communities across the United States.  The New York Times ran a story a few weeks ago about how sexting has damaged a community in Washington.  One of the most compelling thoughts in this article was an attempt to answer the reasons why sexting has become so prevalent with young people today:

Around the country, law enforcement officials and educators are struggling with how to confront minors who “sext,” an imprecise term that refers to sending sexual photos, videos or texts from one cellphone to another.

But adults face a hard truth. For teenagers, who have ready access to technology and are growing up in a culture that celebrates body flaunting, sexting is laughably easy, unremarkable and even compelling: the primary reason teenagers sext is to look cool and sexy to someone they find attractive.

Indeed, the photos can confer cachet.

“Having a naked picture of your significant other on your cellphone is an advertisement that you’re sexually active to a degree that gives you status,” said Rick Peters, a senior deputy prosecuting attorney for Thurston County, which includes Lacey. “It’s an electronic hickey.”

Read the rest of the article at The New York Times.

One of the themes that we spend a lot of time discussing at our events is the difference between the guys and the ladies.  There’s a lot of great imagery that’s been used to describe our differences beyond the physical parts we’re built with.

In our way of thinking…men are like waffles, women are like spaghetti.  When it comes to romance…men are like microwaves, women are like crock pots.  It’s absolutely insane to think of how vastly different we were created to be, and really, what WAS God thinking?

Our differences can lead to some hilarious moments, so to kick off the new and improved website, we’d love to know what your best “what was God thinking when He made boys and girls so different?” story. Who’s got one?

In researching for The Sexy Truth, one of the most influential books that we came across was Hooked: New Science on How Casual Sex is Affecting Our Children. This is a book that digs deep into sexuality from a scientific standpoint and shows how sexual activity is never just “casual.”  In fact, our actions as young people literally molds how we’re wired as adults. Here’s the description:

Society tells us that sex is an act of self-expression, a personal choice for physical pleasure that can be summed up in the ubiquitous phrase: “hooking up.” Millions of American teenagers and young adults are finding that the psychological baggage of such behavior is having a real and lasting impact on their lives. They are discovering that “hooking up” is the easy part, but “unhooking” from the bonds of a sexual relationship can have serious consequences.

A practical look into new scientific research showing how sexual activity causes the release of brain chemicals which then result in emotional bonding and a powerful desire to repeat the activity. This book will help parents and singles understand that “safe sex” isn’t safe at all; that even if they are protected against STD’s and pregnancy, they are still hurting themselves and their partner.

Whoa! That’s some serious stuff right there. I can’t recommend this book more highly to teens, parents and other youth-oriented workers to educate you on what kind of impact your actions have on the rest of your life.

Go pick up a copy of Hooked on Amazon right now!