The Blue Elephant is coming!
The Porn Sunday Blue Elephant is making a visit to Coast Community Church on Sunday August 5th. The blue elephant will be at Coast as a promotion for National Porn Sunday on October 6th. On that day we will be Pg-13 in the sanctuary as we talk about the very real problem of porn in the American family.
Someone recently commented on my blog about their concern for their children... and having to discuss this topic with them... they posted an incorrect email address, so I was not able to respond by email to their comment... but here is a part of the letter that I wanted to send to that young mother.
Hi __________________,
Thanks for your comment on my blog concerning the big blue elephant that will be on the Coast Community Church campus this weekend. I really do appreciate your concerns. I am not sure the ages of your children... but here are a couple of ideas. The elephant will be on our campus on only one Sunday... August 5th... Option one, if your children ask you what its all about, you can tell them that the church is going to be talking about an adult problem that you would be glad to discuss with them when they are a little older. There were many times when our daughter Leanna was younger that she would be exposed to something, just accidentally in public, and she would ask about it... When she was younger we would let her know that what she was asking about was an adult topic and that we would gladly discuss it with her when she was older.
The second option, would be to not attend on Sunday, August 5th... That way you do not have to discuss the elephant with your children. It is only one Sunday. (Personally I hope you don't choose option two)
On Sunday, October 6th which is National Porn Sunday, the discussion in the main sanctuary will be PG-13... while the ministries happening for the younger children will not be discussing the topic of porn. They will be having Children's church as normal.
As you may know, the problem of pornography is rampant in our culture... and unfortunately it is rampant in churches. You may have even noticed that today's Pensacola News Journal's top story was concerning the arrest and trial of pornographers from Santa Rosa and Escambia counties who have been involved in a multi-million dollar porn industry.
Children's Exposure to Pornography
Average age of first Internet exposure to pornography. 11 years old.
Largest consumer of Internet pornography. 12-17 age group.
8-16 year olds having viewed porn online. 90% (Mostly while doing homework)
7-17 year olds who would freely give out home address. 29%
7-17 year olds who would freely give out email address. 14%
Children's characters linked to thousands of porn links 26 (Including Pokeman and Action Man)
____________, beyond that 40 million adults admit to regularly visiting pornography websites.
Promise Keepers did a survey and found that 53% of the men (involved with Promisekeepers) they interviewed had visited a porn site in the last week. Christians who say that pornography is a problem in their home... 47%. How many more are not known about?
This is an enormous problem that is ripping families apart. I cannot imagine a more pro-family topic that the church could address. And for too long, the American churches have been silent on this topic while pornography ravages the institution of the family. We cannot be silent on this topic.
Believe me ______________, the decision to have the blue elephant and participate in Porn Sunday was not a quick decision... I personally have been praying about it for the last two years.
I really do appreciate your heart for your children and protecting them... I am sure you are an outstanding Mom, and you will do what's best for your children as this very crucial Sunday in October comes... and for Sunday August 5th as well.
I hope this may have answered your questions... I really thank you for bringing your concerns to me. If you would like to discuss this further, please send me a phone number where you can be contacted and I will be glad to call you.
Blessings in Christ,
Robert Pooley
This is going to be a huge event and I believe will be the beginning of many people being set free from the bondage of pornography. I will be talking more about the event in the months to come, but here are some links you might find helpful.
Dear Pastor Pooley,
I think your church is doing a GREAT thing with the Blue Elephant Sunday! Paul and I have thought this to be an all-too-important issue for the church to ignore. Thanks for not ignoring it!
I know Paul has been in touch with you via MySpace, and I just want you to know that I appreciate your kindness toward him. I'm praying that God would bring more like-minded Christian guys into his life--the language of musicians is very special and misunderstood. So, thanks for being his friend!
God bless you and your beautiful church and wonderful family!
By His Grace,
Kira Q-pek
Posted by: Kira Q-pek | October 04, 2007 at 09:55 AM