.-
Two California pastors and the American Bible Society
are at odds over a cover design the pastors have requested for 10,000
copies of the Bible which they plan to distribute to those entrenched
in the pornography industry.
Pastors
MikeFoster, 35, and Craig Gross, 30, are the founders of XXXchurch.com,
a Corona-based anti-pornography Internet ministry. As part of their
ministry, they also meet with and hand out free Bibles to porn stars
and their fans at adult film conventions. They say they typically
giveaway 1,000 copies of the New Testament at the conventions,
according tothe Los Angeles Times.
However,
they thought a Bible cover containing their popular tag line; "Jesus
Loves Porn Stars" would triple their distribution. The American Bible
Society rejected their idea.
American
Bible Society executive Barbara Bernstengel said that while the society
applauds the pastors’ outreach, "the wording is misleading and
inappropriate for a New Testament cover. She suggested several
alternatives, but the pastors rejected them.
Gross
said their slogan is not misleading. Jesus does love porn stars and the
message doesn't insinuate that he loves pornography, he said. Rather,
the "Jesus Loves Porn Stars" cover would help get the New Testament
into the hands of those normally shunned by Christians.
The
pastors told the Los Angeles Times that this incident is a typical
clash between old school Christianity with its rigid structure and
traditions and an emerging brand practiced largely by younger
Christians who focus on relationships, spiritual experiences and
bringing the Gospel to nonbelievers through bold, sometimes edgy
marketing.
Richard
Flory, a sociologist at Biola University who studies new Christian
movements, told the newspaper that the society should not jeopardize
its larger mission by publishing a Bible cover that it believes will be
divisive.
The
pastors admit that the cover is controversial but says that if it gets
the Good News in people’s hands, then it’s a good thing. They told the
LosAngeles Times that they are in talks with other publishers to get
their Bible printed.
XXXchurch.com
was founded in 2002 to fight addiction to internet pornography
,especially among Christians. Their intentionally controversial
website, billed as the "No. 1 Christian Porn Site", includes free
"accountability software" to flag questionable sites visited by users
and podcasts featuring interviews with ex-porn stars turned Christian.
Bible Society, pastors at odds over ‘Jesus Loves Porn Stars’ cover
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