Ed Young Pastor wants to know, how many of you are going to watch the Masters today?  That’s a golf tournament, right?  There’s a golfer named Greg Norman, and everyone loves Greg Norman.  I played golf this week, and the golfers in my foursome were saying, “Oh, Greg Norman.  The ultimate.  The shark.  He is the man.”  And millions of golfers will see Greg Norman, they will watch Greg Norman, and they will say, “Honey, I like those golf shoes he’s wearing.  I think that would be a nice birthday present.  And maybe the shirt and hat and clubs and the kind of tees he uses and the golf balls.”  We think, “If I can dress like Greg Norman, that means I’ll be able to play like Greg Norman!”  We try to buy status; we try to buy confidence.  The bottom line is, Greg Norman could take a ten-year-old five-iron, wear cutoffs, and play barefooted, and beat every single golfer and wannabe golfer in this church!  It’s not the equipment.  God says, “That doesn’t matter to me.  Confidence place in riches comes to nothing.”  Could you be on this status cycle?

Some hop from the style to the status, and then take one more little step over to the final treadmill.  This is the success track.  We think, “Okay, that will do it.  Style doesn’t work; status doesn’t work.  Success will do it.  I’m on the success track, Ed.  That’s me.”  Jeremiah 9:23-24: “The Lord says, “Wise men should not boast,”” circle these phrases, “of their wisdom, nor strong men of their strength, nor rich men of their wealth.  If anyone wants to boast, he should boast that he knows Me and understands Me.”  Wisdom, strength, and wealth.  Those are the big three in American values, right?  We love to compete, compare,

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The evil one, Satan, is called the father of lies.  He has been lying forever and one of the main areas he does this in is the area of self-esteem, gifts and abilities.  He doesn’t want you or me to realize who we are in Christ.  Secondly, replace the lies with the truth.  Replace all those lies with the truth.  After you call yourself a liar, don’t just admit that but replace the lie with truth.  What are some common lies that you might say to yourself?  Here is one.  I could never do that.  Have you ever said that before.  I could never stop overeating.  I could never quit smoking.  I could never stand up and talk before that group.  I could never…. Ed Young Pastor tells us that those are lies.  Call them lies, throw them out and replace them with truth.  For example, try Psalm 139:14 when you say there is no way I could ever do that.  “I praise You because I am fearfully and wonderfully made.”

Another lie we say to ourselves goes like this.  That would be the worst.  That would be the worst if I showed up in pants and everyone else had a dress on, that would be the worst.  That would be the worst, if I struck out in front of my buddies.  Those are lies.  Replace that lie with the truth.  Maybe I Thessalonians 2:4.  “We are not trying to please men, but God.”  Another popular lie goes like this.  I need that.  I need that new house.  I need that new suit.  I need that new dress.  I need it.  Do you really?  Replace that lie with the truth.  Philippians 4:19.  “My God will meet all of your needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus.”  Here is a quick homework assignment.  Go home, take out a piece of paper and list both your needs and your wants in separate columns and you will be amazed at how often they are confused with each other.  God meets your needs.  He meets your needs, not your greeds.

Another popular lie that many of you will tell yourself after this service of Ed Young C3 Conference, after you have worshipped God, after you have seen this drama is this.  Wow, God can really use me, I can make a difference. I can be real with myself.  Then you will say this lie.  But I am kidding myself because there is no way God will ever forgive me for what I have done.  There is no way God will ever forgive me for what happened in high school or college or last month or last week.

Ed and Lisa Young recently published a book with the results of their first “sexperiment” and offered suggestions for how the church can facilitate appropriate conversations about sex, despite age-old taboos on the subject.

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Ed Young Ministries says you know what the great news is? The great news is that we serve a God who can cleanse, who can change, who can reveal, who can reconstruct, who can refinish and replenish so many sins, so many mistakes. In fact the Bible says all sins, all mistakes, if we come clean and say, “Lord, I’m going to turn from my past and face the new, face the new and I’m going to forget what lies behind”. You can have that happen to you today. If that’s keeping you from sharing, you can learn from your mistakes. You can learn from your past. Don’t be self-disclosing to your children. Tell them you have messed up too or you’ve struggled with things too, but here is God’s way, here is the right way. If you’re struggling with this pain hurdle, three quick suggestions.

First, ask God to forgive you of your sins. The Bible says in I John 1:9, “lf we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and he might forgive us of our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness “. Is that what it says? No. Not might. It says, “…He is faithful and just and He will forgive us”. First, ask forgiveness. Second, commit your life to purity and that’s the word “repentance”. Turn from your sin and say, “I’m willing to commit my life to purity”, and the Bible says that every time we deal with sin radically, and especially sexual sin, God will replace that in our lives with a mighty blessing. John 8: 11, Jesus told the lady caught in the act of adultery, “Go and sin no more”. The third step I have to take to clear this past hurdle is that I’ve got to forget what lies behind and look forward to what lies ahead. One of my favorite Scripture verses, Philippians 3:13-14, “Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead… ” And the evil one loves to say, “Hey, you are not worthy to talk about that.

Ed Young says “Sex is bigger than most people imagine, more multifaceted than people think of and most couples don’t think deeply enough about sex,” said Lisa Young who is on of the author of the book “Sexperiment”. “Sex is not just a physical thing. It’s a spiritual, emotional thing… that God created.”

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You are going to have to explain your rationale.  That is how the children learn.  That is how they draw the boundaries, the property lines.  And then one day when they are an adult, 21, 22 or 23 years of age, they are into adulthood and they are property owners.  They have a title and they are secure and they are whole and they take responsibility for this tract of land.

We have got to make a second decision.  Grown children, we have got to put up “No Trespassing” signs.  “A No Trespassing sign, what are you talking about?  No trespassing. Am I to rebel against my parents?  Am I to tell them to go and take a hike or jump in the lake?  Here is a diving board, Dad.”  Here is what I am talking about.  Ephesians 6:4 explains it.  “Fathers do not exasperate your children.”  Do not trespass on their territory.  Do not violate their boundaries.  Don’t yell at them, this verse means.  Don’t curse at them.  Don’t abuse them.

But I want to say something to you, children, grown children. Ed Young Blog said the Bible says in the fifth commandment, honor your father and your mother.  Honor them, from birth until death.  Show respect.  Show high esteem.  Talk to them.  Listen to their advice.  You don’t have to take it, but listen.  And speak the truth to them, not in anger, not in manipulation, not in guilt, but speak the truth to them in love.  But once you become a property owner, put the No Trespassing sign down.  And it is so tempting for parents to want to control, isn’t it?  To do the Pinocchio thing.

I am going to control you over here, and you right there.  Your parents reason to themselves, I have earned it.  I have paid.  I counted this up the other day, $153,000 from the time you were born until you were 18 years of age.  I made that property, I have earned the right, so I am going to control you.

Ed Young Ministries said that he will be kicking off the Christian sex campaign or the sexperiment Friday night by spending 24 hours in bed with his wife Lisa on the roof of the church building. The Youngs are the author of the book “Sexperiment” say there will obviously be no hanky panky when they’re atop Fellowship Church, but after that, they’ll join fellow members in a weeklong effort to use sex to strengthen marriages in a spiritually healthy way.

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KATHY:  No, my biggest job starts when the paying job ends.  I get the kids to all of their activities and hopefully some food inside of them before the end of the day.  I love the Middle School age.  I love coaching and doing what I do.  But there is one thing I hate and it happens every year.  I hate having to tell 7th and 8th graders, and most of the times their Moms and Dads too, that they didn’t make the team.

Talk about being cut from a team, how many of you have ever been cut from an athletic team?  Lift your hands.  Come on, be honest.  Many people have been cut and that is not fun.  Talk about cutting, that is a pressurized thing.  You are dealing with the lives of the students and their families.  I know that Paul, being a CEO, you have dealt with having to cut people before.  That is not fun, is it?  And John, in the banking business.  Anyway, how do you, Kathy, keep the balance, how do you try to involve your children into things and spend time with them?

KATHY:  I have known all of our lives together that Brad has been driven and obsessed with his work.  Our family time revolves around sporting events.  We go to all of his basketball games during the season.  Since Tuesday is a school night it usually means a concession stand supper.  The kids think that is just great.  On Friday nights, after the game we will include Brad and go out to eat.  During holiday tournaments where are times when we can stay in a hotel with the team.  So the kids look at that as a vacation.

One of the things I have learned from my research is that successful companies, churches, schools, etc. have now and then an open house for families.  I think it is important to include your children in what you do.  My Dad and Mom did that for my brothers and me and it really, really helped.

The book includes a chapter by Grace Driscoll titled ““The Respectful Wife.” Preacher Ed Young Pastor who is the author of The Sexperiment appeared on CNN, once again challenging members of his church in Dallas to have sex with their spouses every day for a week televised in Sexperiment.

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You see, the bottom line of that story and of my life are very similar.  In some respects, they thought “it” could save them.  In some respects, I thought reading my Bible, praying, going to church, giving money could save me.  The answer is not it, the answer is Him.  And that is the answer in my life.  I finally realized that it takes a relationship with Jesus Christ, a relationship with the Heavenly Father to make this life work.  It is not just going through the motions.  It is not trying to do as many things as you can.  It is not the dos and don’ts of Christianity.  It is not following a list of commandments that makes us Christians.  It is a relationship with Jesus Christ that makes us Christians, that allows us to have the abundant life that we read about in the Bible.

I feel very fortunate that I found that out.  You can look at things that happen to you in life and question why.  I could have gone through my whole life trying to do the right things to be a Christian.   What happens now that I have a relationship with Jesus Christ is that I enjoy getting up and reading the Bible.  It is not a burden.  It is not something I feel I have to do.  The Baptist church may be one of the worst about encouraging that.

Ed Yong Pastor said that The Sexperiment shows that for those of you who grew up in the Baptist church, do you remember those little envelopes we used to have?  They had a lot of boxes printed on them.  Attended worship service.  Read my Sunday School lesson.  Gave to the church.  Called someone and invited them to church.  Remembered to bring my Bible.  And if you checked enough of those boxes, you felt like you were a Christian.  You could strut around all day.  And it didn’t have anything to do with it.  Sure that was the result of the relationship with Christ.

The sexperiment says that Driscoll has come under fire in the past for calling Mormonism a cult, saying yoga is demonic and his controversial views on gender roles. For instance? This statement from 2008 regarding evangelical leader Ted Haggard’s  involvement with a male prostitute: “A wife who lets herself go and is not sexually available to her husband is not responsible for her husband’s sin, but she may not be helping him, either.” Ed Young and Lisa new book “Sexperiment”

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It is amazing to me how our church has become a metroplex church.  We started this church in the room right here about eight years ago. Our  eighth birthday will be in February.  In this room we had everything.  In fact, the room was smaller, it ended where that carpet kind of changes color.  We had about this many people when we began the church.  I knew everyone’s name, the names of their pets, how many touchdowns the kids had scored the previous weekend and the daughter’s test scores.  Although we started in with a small group of people, from that time on God has really blessed our church in a marvelous way.  We had no idea what our church would look like or its style.  I am asked often if we planned for what has evolved and the answer is no.  Obviously, we wanted to grow and reach as many people as possible but to do what we are doing now, the way we are doing it, I had no clue or concept whatsoever.

It is totally a God thing.  We had about seven families who were very, very committed to servanthood and doing whatever it took to make it happen and that is why we are where we are.  We met here in this facility until we outgrew it in a couple of months.  We moved into the Irving Arts Center where we stayed for about six years.  We had four services a weekend until we totally maxed out that facility.  This time we moved across the street to MacArthur High School and we have been there for almost one year.  In ten weeks we are moving into our brand new facility at 121 and Bass Pro Drive, right across the freeway from Grapevine Mills Mall.  Royal Lane backs up to our property.   On the west side is 121 where five major freeways come together in about a 2 1/2 mile radius and we are just thrilled to be there.

The Sexperiment tells us  that the book of sexperiment was authored by Ed Young Pastor that shocking, huh? About as shocking as finding out that Driscoll thinks sex toys and role playing are OK. Let the criticism begin. Via author Rachel Held Evans: Given Driscoll’s alarming preoccupation with sex and “masculinity,” and the immaturity with which he has addressed these subjects in the past, one would think Christians would approach this book the way they would approach a book about nutrition written by a pastor who struggles with obesity.

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