Family issues

Pastoring a church of 30,000 members comes with its own complexities and stresses but this can be multiplied many times over when your teenage daughter gives the news that she is pregnant.

After nine years, megachurch Pastor T. D. Jakes of The Potter’s House in Dallas, Texas, is opening up about how he handled the news of his then 14-year-old daughter’s pregnancy.

“Shocked, crushed, emotionally devastated, and yet there was something down inside of me and in her mother as well, that said we have to rise above the trauma,” Jakes said on the Roland Martin Report describing his first reaction to the news nearly a decade ago. more >>

Sinead O'Connor is apparently the latest celebrity to get hitched only to ditch her spouse within record time, after the Irish singer's marriage to a therapist lasted a mere 16 days. The controversial singer, made popular in the 90s with the Prince cover song "Nothing Compares 2 U," joins the ranks of Kim Kardashian, Britney Spears, Dennis Hopper, and dozens of other celebrities who have bailed on their marriages before "death do us part."

Blaming her short-lived marriage to Barry Herridge on criticism and "intense pressure" from her husband's family and friends, O'Connor explained on her website Dec. 26 why the union was quickly annulled.

"Within 3 hours of the ceremony being over the marriage was kyboshed by the behaviour of certain people in my husband's life," the singer wrote. "I saw his life leave him because of how people close to him reacted. And I can't take anyone's life. And a woman wants to be a joy to her husband. So... [you] love someone? Set them free." more >>

With changing social trends and approaches to tying the knot, the church’s message on marriage is going to have to be repackaged for 2012.

Focus on the Family expert Glenn Stanton told The Christian Post that forming strong families and healthy marriage is something young people want; they just don’t always know how to get it.

“The biggest untapped opportunity of the church is to meet young people at one of their greatest points of need,” which is their desire to form good, healthy families, Stanton said. “Many say their number one life goal is marriage and parenting, but they are scared because they have never seen it succeed.” more >>

Glenn Stanton says one of the most significant social and cultural trends for 2012 could be one that no one is watching. Scientists call it Artificial Reproductive Technology. Stanton has another name for it: disembodied procreation.

ART is the growing industry surrounding sperm donation and artificial insemination. Stanton, the director of Family Formation Studies at Focus on the Family, told The Christian Post that “it is a huge growth market that is just not getting much attention. But the implications are enormous.”

There are two main factors fueling the growth of ART and the sperm industry. The first is that many within the lesbian community are using artificial insemination to have children. more >>

As sexting becomes more and more popular among teens today, ministry leaders are faced with new challenges to help their youth groups not fall prey to the rising trend.

Pastor Neal Benson, who serves as the pastor of discipleship at South Hills Church Community in Henderson, Nev., and has been leading students for over nine years, told The Christian Post that students often regretted their actions.

“I recall speaking with a high school sophomore (with a female leader in our presence) to discuss the pain she has felt from sexting,” Benson shared. “There is embarrassment afterward when the entire school (maybe not the whole school) has seen you naked.” more >>

Christmas is a time for families, friends and loved ones to come together. It also affords a rare opportunity to freeze such social gatherings in time by building long-lasting traditions. The traditions people value are what anchors them as they go from past to present, present to future, say family experts.

"Traditions provide an opportunity to build a touchstone for why we have a holiday in the first place," said Dr. Juli Slattery, an author, family psychologist and broadcast co-host for Focus on the Family. "They provide a sense of cohesion."

Slattery said holidays like Christmas find most people drawn together by families. A key reason for this, she said, is the innate human need for belonging. Without having a place to call home, she contends, any celebration can feel extremely lonely. more >>