Sign up for our free newsletter:

Two hip, young Californians, Mike Foster and Craig Gross, set up their booth in a vast Las Vegas convention hall. Their videos and Internet connection were ready and their brochures laid out to attract some of the 70,000 people who were attending the four-day Adult Expo, a trade show for the porn industry.

After spending $5,000 for a 10-foot-square booth space, Foster and Gross didn't know what kind of reaction they would get. This trade show was their first. The booth on one side of theirs was promoting gay sex videos; on the other side, animated pornography was for sale. They weren't sure whether they would be ignored amid the scantily clad women signing autographs or whether they might even be attacked physically.

The sign above their booth read, "XXXCHURCH.COM."

Foster's real job is as marketing director for Crossroads Church in Corona, California. But a year ago, he and Gross, both Christian ministers, decided God wanted them to do something to fight back against the flood of X-rated material on the Internet. They set up xxxchurch.com to provide information about the devastating effect pornography can have on people and on society.

The result has been 16 million visits to the site and stories on the ministry by ABC, NBC, the Los Angeles Times, several Christian publications, and yes, Playboy magazine. Foster and Gross say they have counseled thousands of men, mostly by e-mail, about pornography.

A few Saturdays earlier, Foster spoke at a men's breakfast in Amarillo, Texas. Although most in the audience were church members, he didn't hesitate to point out that many in the crowd had some kind of X-rated problem. In fact, a survey of men attending a Promise Keepers rally—men vitally interested in following Jesus Christ—showed that half had viewed pornography in the week before the PK event.

"God has wired us up to want to look at nude women," Foster says. "It's how we respond to that that matters."

He stresses that he and his ministry partner need help as much as anyone with tempting situations. He personally uses computer software that tracks his online activities and sends a weekly e-mail summary to his wife. "Craig and I are nothing special," he says. "Our God is special."

He shudders to anticipate the first time his son, now a toddler, will be exposed to pornography, noting that 70 percent of XXX material winds up in the hands of minors.

The website is constructed to appeal to a "cool" audience, using techno graphics, referring to its founders as a couple of "goofballs," and sometimes maybe going too far off the edge with gimmicks such as calling themselves "the #1 Christian porn site."

But mostly, the site shows how porn is not the private, innocent activity that many men tell themselves it is. In a video at the site, three men soberly describe how looking at dirty pictures led to things they never would have pictured themselves doing and eventually ruined their lives.

Foster says Satan wants people to believe life's a party, but "the party's only a party for so long. Then there's a price to pay" in the form of broken relationships, financial messes, and worse.

Foster and Gross's anti-porn ministry seeks to build up, not tear down. Foster recalls a young man at Adult Expo who stopped at the booth and, after a few minutes' conversation, revealed he was involved in the gay porn industry. Foster said he had to remind himself that God was looking down at this gay man and this minister, seeing both as children he loved "who both had issues, just different issues."

Instead of picketing outside the Las Vegas "adult" event, Foster and Gross chose to set up inside and, in so doing, they played out Matthew 5:16, "Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven." By seeking to inject the Christian message in a positive way instead of directly bashing sinners, they are not being dismissed immediately as Bible-thumpers. The story in Playboy portrayed the ministry in a positive light, and some porn websites have linked to xxxchurch.com.

By preaching accountability and fleeing from temptation, Foster and Gross's mission of faith seeks to help "boys" of the adult variety grow into men.

Reprinted from the Amarillo Globe-News (Nov. 14, 2002), © 2002 Mike Haynes. Used by permission.

Copyright © 2003 by the author or Christianity Today International/Today's Christian magazine (formerly Christian Reader).
Click here for reprint information.

	What did you think of this story?
	Please to give us your feedback.

Home  |  People of Faith  |  Stories of Hope  |  Today's Culture
Build Your Faith  |  Laughing Matters  |  Archives  |  Contact Us

				Try an Issue of Today's Christian Free! Name Street Address City/State/Zip E-mail Address No credit card required. Please allow 4-6 weeks for delivery. Offer valid in U.S. only. Click here for International orders. If you decide you want to keep Today's Christian coming, honor your invoice for just $17.95 and receive five more issues, a full year in all. If not, simply write "cancel" across the invoice and return it. The trial issue is yours to keep, regardless. Give Today's Christian as a gift Buy 1 gift subscription, get 1 FREE!

FREE Newsletter Subscribe to the Today's Christian Newsletter    RSS Feed   RSS Help