Early on last semester I was blessed to hear Craig Gross speak here at LCC. Craig is one of the founders of XXX Church, a vital porn addiction ministry. He shared about his passion and a huge heart for the thousands of people he's met and ministered to through his web based community. Just this Tuesday XXX Church received word from the American Bible Society that they weren't printing the Bibles that were to be handed out at upcoming porn shows. All the reasoning is below in a quote from their site. (Read it then you'll understand my rant.) Why I'm I concerned about this? Well, I happen to know a few people that have experienced transformed lives through this ministry so I think it's important that Craig and the rest of the XXX team's good intentions be embraced. Also, I am disappointed at the Christian community for turning their backs at this ministry. How people reach Christ is their own business and most importantly their calling by the Almighty Creator. Let people serve how they are lead! Even the media is picking up on this and what's that saying for the whole Christian community? One message can say a lot when it falls on a unbelieving ears.


Craig writes from their site...
"I contacted the American Bible Society and had made arrangements months ago to order 10,000 bibles. We have 3 porn shows coming up (Erotica LA, June. Gay Erotica NY, October. AVN Expo Las Vegas, January.) The cost was over $7,000 but in our opinion it was money well spent. They printed the Bibles prior to getting our cover artwork. Two weeks ago, we sent over the cover art and all hell broke loose.Long story short?¦they have refunded all of our money and have refused to print the Bibles. They have told us that this goes against everything the Bible stands for and they don't want anyone to think that Jesus is okay with porn. We think they are wrong. We think this goes with the central message of the gospel and Jesus loves you regardless of your profession."http://pure.typepad.com/x3pure/2006/03/bringing_bibles.html(PDF of LATimes article about this: http://www.triplexchurch.com/jesusbiblesLATIMES.pdf)Is this just "typical of the clash between old school Christianity with its rigid structure and traditions and an emerging brand practiced mostly by younger Christians who focus on relationships, spiritual experiences and converting nonbelievers through bold, sometimes edgy marketing"...?OR"...if the 'Jesus Loves Porn Stars' Bible were published, it would soon become a cultural icon...doesn't this work at cross purposes with (or against) the XXXchurch.com goals by making it cool for people, who otherwise wouldn't have anything to do with this, to appropriate the porn star symbolism?"