Anti-Porn Ministry's Controversial Bible Scores Big at 'Erotica LA' Convention
by Allie Martin
June 29, 2006
(AgapePress) - - A Michigan-based ministry is taking an unconventional approach when it comes to witnessing to those in the pornography industry. Last weekend, one of the most popular items at the three-day "Erotica L.A." pornography trade show was a Bible with a cover that says "Jesus Loves Porn Stars."Pastor J.R. Mahon is president of Triple-X Church-dot-com (XXXchurch.com), a ministry founded several years ago to reach out to those in the porn industry and to those struggling with addiction to pornography. Representatives of the ministry were on hand at the porn convention in Los Angeles this past weekend to pass out copies of The Message Bible, a popular, contemporary language version of scripture, and to share the love of Christ with attendees.
Mahon says the unique Bible covers have generated a lot of attention, just as they were meant to do. "We have a T-shirt that says 'Jesus loves porn stars' on it," he explains, "and we said, 'You know what? Let's take that idea onto the cover of the Bible.'" Of course, not everyone understood the intent of this plan; the "Jesus Loves Porn Stars" Bibles had to be printed, but when the job was taken to the American Bible Society, that Bible publisher decided it could not fill the order and turned the job down.
The American Bible Society explained its refusal in a letter, stating that, although the publisher could appreciate Triple-X Church-dot-com's mission, the words "Jesus Loves Porn Stars" are "misleading and inappropriate" for the cover of a New Testament. But Mahon's ministry confidently proceeded to seek another Bible publisher and eventually found one -- NavPress -- that was willing to print the unusual order.
Visitors to the Triple-X Church-dot-com booth at the Erotica LA convention tended to do a double-take, reacting pretty much the way most people do when they first spot the Bible cover, the ministry leader notes. "They come right up to the booth, they laugh, they smile, they can't believe what they're looking at, you know?" he says.
"Then we do a quick explainer on what they are really looking at," Mahon continues, "and it really gives us a chance to focus on the Word of God and focus on Christ, which is a huge outreach for us. So we just think it's been amazingly successful."
The pastor says his group intended to distribute Bibles during the entire Porn LA weekend event, but things did not work out that way. "We handed out 3,300 Bibles," he explains. "We were out of Bibles [by] Friday, late afternoon, which kind of shocked us because we really wanted to hand them out throughout the three days, but they went off the shelves quicker than we anticipated."
Mahon feels the "Jesus Loves Porn Stars" Bible cover is perfectly in keeping with the central message of the gospel, which is that Jesus loves people regardless of their professions. He says his group's efforts are not about "shock tactics" but are about reaching out in love and getting the Word of God to places where it might not otherwise be likely to find an inroad.
Allie Martin, a regular contributor to AgapePress, is a reporter for American Family Radio News, which can be heard online.
