XXXchurch

Posted by D. Goodmanson on Dec 22, 2005 in Church Technology, Sheep&Goats | 6 comments

(This is an article written for my weekly San Diego Reader column on spirituality and places of worship.)

Wally the Wiener, a 15-foot inflatable penis, stands erect behind XXXchurch’s “Erotica LA” booth. Wally is just one of XXXchurch’s attempts to get attention from the 40,000 pornography fans and stars at the convention. “We have to use outrageous methods to get people to pay attention,” said Craig Gross, a pastor, and one of the founders of XXXchurch. In 2002, Pastor Gross and Pastor Mike Foster founded XXXchurch to create porn awareness, accountability, and recovery to people inside and outside the church.

Pastors Foster and Gross have received a lot of attention because of their involvement in the pornography industry. “At the Erotica show, people are wondering why two pastors are here,” said Gross. “But this is exactly the place Jesus would go. He wouldn’t stand outside picketing the porn industry. He would want to meet these people individually.” This year, XXXchurch’s booth gave “Jesus Loves Porn Stars” T-shirts to porn stars. “We handed out 245 free T-shirts. This is a way for us to plant seeds with porn stars and help them get out of the industry,” said Gross. “We stay in contact with many of the porn stars to keep a dialogue going.” Last month, Trinity James was the first porn star to leave the industry through this campaign. “Trinity was living in Las Vegas and has been doing porn and legalized prostitution for four years. She realized that this is not something she can do any longer.” XXXchurch raised $14,400 to assist James’s transition, which included the cost of the move to Indiana and tuition to cosmetology school. Gross said he hopes this is the first example of many porn stars’ exodus out of the industry.

Full Article: XXXchurch

8 things pastors need to know about e-ministry

Posted by D. Goodmanson on Dec 19, 2005 in Church, Church Technology, Ekklesia | 2 comments

A great article that lays out a case for proper usage of your website. Here are a few highlights:

1. Your target audience for church growth is Internet-savvy.
Most church growth comes from what we call the 18-to-18 range ‚Äì people from 18 years old to families with 18-year-old children. This also happens to be the group with the highest Internet usage…..
2. Your Web site will be your “first impression” for many people.
(People) will often make their “first cut” shopping list before they ever come to town.
3. If you’re not on the Web, you don’t exist to many people.
A 20- or 30-something person is much more likely to use the Internet to find church service times than to look in the yellow pages or newspaper. Our informal surveys have shown that many young college graduates don’t even have yellow pages in their homes. My teenage daughter didn’t know theaters listed movie times in the newspaper ‚Äì she gets them off the Web.
4. Seekers will visit your Web site before attending your services.
Savvy organizations are using the Web to educate visitors and encourage them to take the next step.
5. A whole generation exists that will seek “religion” online.
In his book Boiling Point, George Barna projects that 10 to 20 percent of the population will rely on the Internet for all of their spiritual input and output by 2010.
6. The Web site is too critical to be run by a volunteer.
7. You can’t afford a cheap site.
With a high percentage of your potential visitors viewing your Web site before they visit your congregation, you can’t afford a poor quality site. All the time and money you have spent building your congregation’s resources and reputation are worthless if people won’t visit the first time. Visitors are judging the values and programs of your church from your Web site.
8. People are viewing your current Web site right now.
(Read full article 8 things pastors need to know about e-ministry)

These cover a few of the reasons why a group of churches decided to build Ekklesia Systems. We have found it is far to important to have a well designed internet strategy to enhance the work of furthering the gospel in our cities. January is going to be a huge month for us…come back as we announce Ekklesia launching:

The Acts 29 Network
Imago Dei Community, Portland
Kaleo Church, San Diego
Desert Breeze Church, Los Vegas
New Life Presbyterian Church, La Mesa
Grace Church, San Diego
Eastridge Church, Clackamas
City View Church, Dallas
Bay Area Community Church
Life Song Church
and the list goes on…..

Porn Resources

Posted by D. Goodmanson on Dec 17, 2005 in Church, Culture, Teaching | 0 comments

A FREE! pornography accountability program provided by the ministry of XXXchurch.
A Porn Forum to seek help and discuss with others.
Porn Internet & Spam Filter
IS PORN NORM? From the Back Street to the Main Street

Porn Facts:

* 45% increase in child pornography sites between 2/2001-7/2001 (N2H2, 8/01)
* 25 million Americans visit cybersex sites between 1-10 hours per week (MSNBC Survey 2000)
* 9 in 10 kids 8-16 yrs. have viewed porn online, mostly accidentally while doing homework (UK News Telegraph, NOP Research Group, 1/07/02)
* Searching for 26 popular children’s characters, such as Pokemon, My Little Pony and Action Man, revealed thousands of links to porn sites. 30% were hard-core. (Envisional 2000)
* 89% of sexual solicitations of youth were made in either chat rooms or Instant Messages (Pew Study reported in JAMA, 2001)
* 1 in 5 youths received sexual solicitation or approach in last year (NCMEC, 2000)
* 30% of all unsolicited emails contain pornographic information (Choose Your Mail.com study, October, 1999).
* more facts….

And for you pastors…according to Christianity Today the percentage of pastors who visited a porn site. 57% Never, 21% A few times a year, 9% Once in past year, 7% More than a year ago, and 6% Couple times a month or more. 51% of pastors admit that looking at internet pornography is their biggest temptation. (Christianity Today, December 2002)

John Piper has a Monergism Page

Posted by D. Goodmanson on Dec 17, 2005 in Church, Teaching | 0 comments

A great collection of Piper’s stuff, mp3s, article and more for you John Piper fan….

Missionary Position

Posted by D. Goodmanson on Dec 17, 2005 in Church, Culture | 0 comments

Craig at XXXChurch.com just sent me a copy of Missionary Position a documentary on their journey from the red light district of Amsterdam, to the Porn rehab facilities of Kentucky the porn shows of Las Vegas to the porn sets of Hollywood. About the movie:

Bill Day, an independent film maker and all around great guy, called us back in February of 2002 and asked if he could hang around us for a few days and shoot some video for a project he was working on. He joined us on our trip to Amsterdam, then to Pure Life Ministries in Kentucky, then to Erotica LA and then…a few days and a small video project turned into over 2 years and a full-length documentary on the ministry of XXXchurch. The documentary is currently slated to release in early 2006.

He also enclosed some “Jesus Loves Porn Stars” t-shirts. I have to admit, these guys are doing some pretty crazy things to reach the Porn Industry (see their Wally the Weiner). I’ve got a couple more interviews and the video to watch and I’ll have my article on them coming soon….