Jerry Lawson, the lead pastor at Daystar Church in Good Hope, Ala., has taken the Devil by the horns with his sermon series, “Great Sex: God’s Way” with titles such as “Devil Lies to Couples,” “Devil Lies to Singles” and “Devil Lies to Teens.” Has his congregation grown? You betcha, big time! He’s managed to accomplish this in a conservative county where you can’t legally buy beer while using an actor playing the Devil, advertising on local billboards and promoting the series on the Daystar Church website. The Cullman Times (the local county newspaper) quotes him as saying a big reaction is exactly what he wanted. “Absolutely, we wanted to shock people,” Lawson told the newspaper. “Talking about the issue proactively is the key.” Here’s one of the videos:
The Associated Press quoted a local evangelist, Roland Belew, as saying the whole idea goes against the teaching of New Testament apostles. “Paul said preach the Gospel. Talking about sex ain’t gonna get nobody to heaven.” But the rapidly swelling numbers of Daystar’s congregation would surely disagee.
Lawson also promotes the series on his blog and the top clicks are for “greatsexgodsway.com,” a redirect to the Daystar Church website. Where does Pastor Lawson get his inspiration? According to the blog, his reading list includes Finding Freedom in A Sex Obsessed World, The Everychurch Guide to Growth, and quite interestingly, Seth Godin’s Tribes, about which Publishers Weekly says
…this newest book by Godin argues that lasting and substantive change can be best effected by a tribe: a group of people connected to each other, to a leader and to an idea. Smart innovators find or assemble a movement of similarly minded individuals and get the tribe excited by a new product, service or message, often via the Internet…”Tribes,” Godin says, “can be within or outside a corporation, and almost everyone can be a leader; most are kept from realizing their potential by fear of criticism and fear of being wrong. He also says that “change isn’t made by asking permission. Change is made by asking forgiveness, later.” That may be true, but in this economy and in certain corporations, it may also be a good way to lose a job.
Lawson doesn’t look like he’s about to lose his job, filling Daystar’s coffers as he is and truthfully, many conservative Christians are desperate to discuss sex within the context of the Bible’s teachings. Lawson feels that the church needs to be out front about it, denying that this is a marketing ploy.
I must say, as truthfully, sex sells, from porn parlors to churches to websites. When I set up SweetLoveGifts, I had tons of romantic gifts all over. What was my very first sale? A sex toy, no kidding! And forgive me, just for the record, Godin does have “God” in his name.
So is Jerry Lawson the real deal or a preacher who figured out how to leverage social media savvy to improve his church’s bottom line? Methinks the line is drawn quite finely.
Physical abuse is the #1 marriage buster: the abuser uses the partner’s love to control her or him. One of the most terrifying scenarios anyone can go through is facing a raging, out of control spouse attacking you—the one you love has become a monster who wants to crush you. While domestic violence or spouse abuse usually begins with psychological and emotional abuse, it invariably escalates to physical abuse. Worse than being a path to divorce, physical abuse leads to murder. Make no mistake, this is not a crime of passion—it’s a crime of violence.