'Sexperiment:' Pastor, Wife to Spend 24 Hours in Bed on Church Roof
Ed and Lisa Young, founders of Texas-based Fellowship Church, will spend 24 hours in bed on the church roof next week and stream themselves discussing sex live on the Internet to encourage married couples to see firsthand the power of a healthy sex life as prescribed in their new book, Sexperiment.
Two days after their book, Sexperiment: 7 Days to Lasting Intimacy with Your Spouse, is released Tuesday, the Youngs will take part in a 24-hour “bed-in,” which will be streamed on the book’s website as they engage the audience on issues related to intimacy in marriage.
The book encourages married couples to have sex for seven straight days – a challenge that made headlines in 2008 when Pastor Young first introduced it to his church – with the promise that the “amazing results” will last far beyond the week.
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“Tragically, culture has kicked the bed out of church and God out of the bed,” says Ed Young, who has been “happily married” to Lisa for almost 30 years. “It’s time to bring God back in the bed and put the bed back in the church. That’s what this bed-in is all about.”
Throughout the 24-hour period beginning at 6 a.m. Friday, Jan. 13, the Youngs will do live interviews in person as well as via Skype, answering relationship questions and highlighting their most popular teachings about sex and relationships live via Twitter and Facebook.
Sexperiment, the authors say, serves as a catalyst for people to begin a dialogue about sex and a challenge to make sex a priority in the marriage bed so couples will remain united outside the bed. The book takes readers to biblical teaching pointing to God’s purpose for sex in marriage – not only personal pleasure, but connection to each other and Him.
“God thought up sex,” says the Grapevine pastor who hosts a weekly television program that airs weekly on ABC Family. “It was His idea. And it’s not just about procreation; it’s about recreation and enjoyment. The bed-in is about empowering couples to experience the relationship and recreation that God has for them every day of their lives!”
Though many view sex as just a physical routine, the Youngs stress that it is a gift from God that is “emotional, physical, psychological, and above all, spiritual.”
“Christians tend to think that sensuality is carnality, but in actuality it’s spirituality,” they write in their book.
So why seven days? The couple says the number seven often symbolizes wholeness or completion in the Bible. “[W]e are striving for wholeness and full satisfaction in marriage. The Sexperiment can be the first step,” they write in the book.
Christian leaders are endorsing the book. “Ed and Lisa Young have modeled a Christ-centered marriage for over 25 years,” said Craig and Amy Groeschel of LifeChurch.tv. “Their straightforward, encouraging and practical teaching in Sexperiment will take your marriage to a greater depth of intimacy than you’ve ever known before.”
Steven and Holly Furtick of Elevation Church commented, “Our approach to the subject [of sex in marriage] is based on restraint rather than vision.” Sexperiment “changes that.”
“If you want to experience all of the pleasure and happiness God intended for your marriage, this book is a must-read.”
Carl and Laura Lentz of Hillsong, New York City, stated, “My wife and I look at their (Youngs') marriage, the way they still laugh with each other and live life so passionately, and are instantly inspired.”
Pastor Young is known for using out of the ordinary ways to teach his congregation. In February 2011, he literally drove a Ferrari and Rolls-Royce onto the church stage as part of a sermon illustration to tell the congregation they are a Rolls-Royce as they are made in the image of God.
Young is also kicking off a “Sexperiment” sermon series this weekend to coincide with the book’s release. The popular pastor is hoping to “change the way people see the connection between God and sex.”
“For too long, we have been falling for the world’s lies about what sex is. It’s time to get back to understanding the truth about this amazing gift – God’s truth!” he wrote on his blog.
