Posted on 01/14/2002 2:14:57 PM PST by truthandlife
Two young ministers have taken a provocative approach to combating pornography.
Craig Gross and Mike Foster have launched what they bill as "the No. 1 Christian porn site," and taken their message to the heart of the adult-entertainment world.
The pair took a booth at the annual "Adult Video News" trade show in Las Vegas last week, the showcase for the multibillion-dollar porn industry that includes its own "Oscars" for categories such as "most outrageous sex scene."
"If Jesus were walking the earth today, we think that He'd be here, too," Gross told the Los Angeles Times. "After all, [He] hung out with prostitutes and stuff." Gross and Foster were there to talk about their new website, which aims to help people leave the porn industry and get free from Internet-porn addiction.
Gross said they did not go to judge. "What good would that do? We decided the best thing to do was to actually be in the show and try to talk to the people in the industry in a professional and respectful manner and not be confrontational."
Gross and Foster hope their XXXChurch.com site might draw cyberspace surfers looking for pornography. They say they recognize the name might offend some, but they chose it because "it's provocative and memorable. We have combined the seedy and the sacred for a purpose. We wanted the name to stick in the minds of millions."
The site includes a "prayer wall" where visitors can post appeals for prayer, free "accountability software" that tracks a computer's users' Internet travels, and a sign-up form on which supporters pledge to be accountable about their own struggles and be honest about "the dirty little secret."
The new ministry is backed by the pair's friends at Crossroads Christian Church in Fullerton, Calif., where Gross is on staff.
"As a church and a ministry, it is very near our hearts to help people overcome sexual addiction and to help them have healthy sexual boundaries with other people," senior associate pastor Jud Wilhite told the Times. "Obviously, this ministry is directed right at that and going right into the middle of that arena, trying to be a light."
At the AVN show, the XXXChurch booth was wedged between a company advertising explicit Japanese cartoons and another selling gay sex films, the Times reported. Some in the industry dismissed the ministry, said the newspaper – but it did find one actress who prayed the rosary each week and said, "I believe in prayer and God. It makes me a better person."
At their website, Gross and Foster say the church has "an incredible opportunity to be a place of true healing and restoration for hurting and broken people in regards to pornography. But it must first be bold enough and care enough to take on the dirty little secret."
They say they are trying to tackle Internet porn head-on: "We believe that if the pornographers are using the Net to promote their product, then we need to use the Internet to promote our message."
Charisma News Service is a division of Strang Communications.
I think I just got beamed up to Bizarro World...
This is they way it is supposed to work in our society.
Jesus most definitely WOULD NOT be there. He didn't "hang out" with prostitutes, he MINISTERED to them.
What happened to "do not set any evil thing before thine eyes"? Jesus tells us to avoid temptation and to not dine with (read "hang out with") adulterers, murderers,... or the sexually immoral.
I understand what these guys say they're trying to do, but they could have set up outside the convention (orgy) and not involved themselves at the level they did. They crossed the line.
I’m not sure what it is about human behavior but we think if we ignore a problem then it might just go away. The problem is that rarely happens. As we begin the new millenium we have an opportunity to address the internet porn problem in a real and authentic way. We can surf the tidal wave (no pun intended) instead of being destroyed by it. It’s going to take an effort by us all though and we must start now.
Here are some of the facts….
Pornography is a $13 billion industry…more than the combined annual revenues of the Coca-Cola and Mcdonnell Douglas Corporations. That’s a lot of money!!
In 1990 300,000,000 X-rated videos were distributed in our neighborhoods. Since then sales and rentals of adult videos have risen 75%.
At one Promise Keepers event, 50% of the attendees admitted to dabbling in porn during the previous week.
Those facts are startling though why is no one talking about that? Why have we ignored the fact that this is happening?
It would be truly naïve to think that only dirty old men have this problem. Christians and Non-Christians are dealing with this. This is something that faces us all. Christians buy the videos, Pastors log onto the websites, church leaders are buying the magazines. Now that may sound harsh but we have to get completely real and honest about what is going on for us to achieve real solutions. It’s our kids that are logging on and our families that are being affected. Don’t try to say it’s just the worlds problem. It’s our problem and so what are we going to do about it?
Here is our suggestion…
1. Talk about it.
Get the collective conversation started. If you’re waiting for someone else to bring it up you just might be waiting a long time.
2. Be accountable.
Join the X3 team and strive to live a pure life. Keep yourself away from the stuff. If you’re struggling with it get some help. Don’t go this alone.
3. Be open and aware.
Look for ways for you to help solve the problem. In your business, in your church, in your family, take initiative and get real. Be aware of what’s going on in society around you in regards to this issue and look for ways to bring solutions.
I can't figure these guys out...heck...They can't seem to figure themselves out either...check this quote:
We’re not sure why we are here but we are glad that the Lord has allowed us to use this vision to help people.
Didn't Christ go and eat with the tax collectors? If they had set up outside, then they would have been off the property and away from the people (the convention center wouldn't have let them set up right outside the door). By going inside, they were able to talk to people who otherwise might not have seen them.
You're probably right, but if it's entirely apocryphal, it's at least a story that's been around awhile. Ah, well...
Actually, there was a pope or two that probably could have melted out eyes - Alexander X (the Borgia feller) comes to mind - but I doubt if there's an archive of any such thing in the Vatican. (Sigh!) Some people have no respect for great litachoor...
No, I never went to her show. I saw her on "Real People," the 70's TV show about eccentrics and weirdos.
You're probably right, but who knows? Serious Catholic historians no longer doubt that there have been several popes that could have partied with Caligula.
In one of the countless porn threads here on FR there was a source everybody found believable that put the revenue at a couple hundred mil a year. Still a fair chunk of change, but nothing rivaling Coke. For good reason, if there were THAT much money in a decentralized industry like porn why would anybody go into any other business. If there were 13 billion a year in porn revenue without the distribution and advertising moxy Coke has to beer just how many trillion do you think Coke could make if they switched businesses?
No one under 18 is allowed into the adult areas.
I assume that you are referring to this passage:
1 Cor.5:9 ¶ I wrote to you in my epistle not to associate with immoral people: 10 Yet not altogether with immoral people of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or with idolaters; for then ye must needs go out of the world. 11 But now I have written to you not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother is an immoral person, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such a person no not to eat.
The prohibition is against eating with someone who calls himself a brother (a Christian), not with unbelievers, because that would mean we could not minister to them and persuade them to come to Christ. I believe that it is quite possible that God has directed these men into this ministry.
So do I. Good for them :)
Years ago a friend said to me that, "Jesus ate with the junkies, but he didn't shoot up with them."
Looks like this outfit crosses over that line.
I wonder if they're a front for "The Family" (formerly known as "Moses Berg's" outfit, "The Children of God", famous for such travesties as "flirty fishing" and so forth)?
I don't see anything wrong. In fact, it all looks good. These guys are out there, on the frontlines.
I always thought it would be a sad day when we express more shock and concern at people out there trying to turn people away from destructing themselves and/or others.
Sad day, today.
I was just about to post on this issue, when I saw you bring it up!
Flirty fishing -- one can't help but wonder how much Hollywood "talent" came to the attention of directors and producers this way.
I do believe that I heard Rose McGowan on the Leno show simply say that she used to do it when she was growing up in "The Family of God"...
And I do believe she could persuade me to enter into a lengthy and hard argued discussion of theology...
Mark W.
You mean the French?!?
This group misrepresents themselves as porn junkies to try to lure real porn junkies to their site. Their purpose is actually not to hang out with the porn stars, but to MINISTER to them.
Jan 9-13 Mike and Craig will be at the Adult-Expo in Las Vegas. This is the annual porn show that shows all the new stuff going on in the adult entertainment industry. All kinds of porn sites will be there as well as everything else under the sun. And we mean everything else under the sun. There will be tens of thousands of people attending the show and media from all over the country will be there covering it. Xxxchurch will have a booth giving away balloons that read “the #1 christian porn site" and have "Rex the Rabbit" handing out xxxchurch promotional materials. We will have the opportunity to talk to thousands of people in the industry and to show the love of Christ.I think you fell for their deception, but that's what they want. They want regular, straightlaced Christians to be mad at them, so young people will think they have credibility.We want to stress that we are not going to the show to protest or to judge the folks attending the expo. We will not be waving signs or picketing. That’s not our gig. We will simply be representing our ministry in a professional and respectable manner and be a part of the show. We feel that it is incredibly important to handle this ministry with integrity and not to go down the easy road of protest and finger pointing. We are about solutions, not problems.
By the way, accompanying us will be our wives and pastors to make sure that we are not checking out the other booths. (you know what we mean) We covet your prayers as we attend this show.
If Dickens were alive today...
You can't tell me that being in a place like that (good intentions or no) will not cause even the most devout Christian to commit sin with his or her mind. I'm not saying that these men are secretly indulging in porn; I believe that their intentions are good. I think that they are opening themselves up to a world of harm. I will be praying for them.
The headline:
"'Christian porn site' debuts"
accompanying us will be our wives and pastors to make sure that we are not checking out the other booths.
I hadn't read this part. While I still think their intentions are good, they are doing some harm to themselves and their families by going this far.
Any man that would take his wife to a place like this shows no respect for her. Yes, I understand it is for accountability purposes, but you cannot walk in there blind. You will inadvertently see some pretty sick stuff, which you are now exposing your family to. This shows me that they have their priorities somewhat out of whack. While they are noble to try to minister to porn addicts this way, they are telling their wives that the junkies are more important than they (the wives) are. What is more important, saving lost souls who you don't know or making sure your family gets into heaven?
Tough call, but a man's first ministry is his own family. You cannot sacrifice your family to save others (you can choose to sacrifice yourself, but not others).
Since reading that these men are bringing their wives to a porn convention (good intentions or no), I have lost mucho respect for them.
Run the website, yes. Go and mingle at the convention with your family, heck no!
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