Not too long ago, I was checking out an ad for “House of Dereon” (that would be Beyonce’ and her mother’s clothing line). I was joking with an industry friend of mine that, due to Bey’s “lack thereof” presentation (she had on pants and boots…only), I was trying to figure out just what she was trying to get “us” to buy.

That’s often how I feel when I check out television commercials and magazine ads. Take that semi-recent Reebok commercial, for instance. You know, the one that showed the woman’s butt and then in the last five seconds was like, “Oh, yeah…get these shoes.” (LOL) And we wonder why people are so hyper-sexed. It’s kind of like the kid who gets fed sugar all day and then the parents wonder why their child is climbing the walls.

What we take in comes out. One way or another.

Earlier this year, my brother and I had a conversation about one of his friends who studies the affects that pseudo-subtle imagery has on children. He told me that once his friend sat in front of the television with his young child and when a particular commercial came on (for candy, I believe), the little boy said, “Daddy! Did you see that? It was a big penis!”

His daddy didn’t see it. His daddy also believes that there are a lot of things that adults don’t catch that children do…because that’s what the marketers want to happen. SMH

And so, the fifth chapter of “Pure Heart” deals with the influence of the media when it comes to sexuality. There’s a Scripture in the Bible that says, “The purity of human hearts is tested by giving them a little fame.” (Proverbs 27:21-Message) Hmph. Ironic being that my book is trying to get women to pursue purity. I’ve said it before and I’m about to say it again. Check out the synonyms for counterfeit (on Dictionary.com) and you’ll find “Hollywood”, or as one entertainment site calls it, “Hollyweird” or as I call it, “Babylon Revised”, listed.

Bottomline? Sex is a gift from God. It was never supposed to be put up for sale.

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Overused

Aside from writing books, touring with XXXchurch, and mentoring pregnant teens, I also do some freelance journalism writing, which means I get exposed to a lot of information. Not very long ago a certain female R&B singer, whom I find to be pretty close to physically stunning, had some naked pictures “leaked” onto the internet. I put “leaked” in quotes because she took some of the shots of herself with her cell phone, and so I’m not clear about who really posted them for the world to see. Either way, it was very sad to witness such a thing. As beautiful as her body seemed, when I looked

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at the shots of her, I literally wept for her inside. With all of the fame, all of the endorsement deals, all the compliments and accolades that she receives for her outer beauty, it would appear that in Hollywood she has not learned one
very important thing: she doesn’t have to show her body for her self-worth to be revealed.

Not surprisingly, the existence of the photos stayed in the news for only a couple of days, because the truth is that most of us have gotten so used to nudity that it doesn’t faze us. Today I sat and thought about how many body parts of
women I had seen since this morning, whether it was in a magazine, on television, or online, and after around noon, I lost count. If it’s not the cleavage, it’s the stomach. If it’s not the stomach, it’s legs. Why would our young women want to cover up when all the celebrities whom they look up to are doing just the opposite?

Sadly, it doesn’t stop at the outfits, or lack thereof. A couple of months ago I checked out a riveting documentary, America, the Beautiful by filmmaker Darryl Roberts. It’s so full of information, I really encourage you to Google the flick and
check it out for yourself. My point in bringing it up is that we have gotten to a place where showing what we’ve got isn’t enough. Now many women are at a point where they want to create in themselves what someone else has and then flaunt that. The documentary featured a segment in which women are changing the way their labia look. They may see a woman in porn, for example, and decide, I want mine to look like that. Am I serious?! Very.