Update: Bibles for Porn Stars

On April 12, I posted about how the American Bible Society refused to give custom Bibles to XXXChurch.com, an anti-porn ministry.

Mike Foster and Craig Gross, the founders of XXXChurch.com had a brainstorm: to put their "Jesus Loves Porn Stars" brand on covers of the New Testament and hand them out to porn starts and fans at an adult film convention. The cover was rejected by the American Bible Society, the publishing company that XXXchurch.com paid to print 10,000 copies of the Scriptures.

The publisher said that while it applauded the outreach to those who make a living off pornography, "the wording is misleading and inappropriate for a New Testament," according to a letter the pastors received from Barbara Bernstengel, the executive in charge of standards at the nonprofit Bible publishing company.

Well, the story is not over. Here is the latest information from the XXXChurch blog:

The Bibles Are Getting Printed!

Lets just say Eugene Peterson is the man! He is the guy behind the Message translation. He has granted us permission to print the Bibles. NAVPRESS will be printing the Bibles and we will have them in time for Erotica LA. We are pumped. You don’t know how many phone calls, emails and closed doors we experienced but we got them. These Bibles cost double the price we had originally agreed to spend but what can you do? If you would like to order a Bible this will help us with the extra cost.

We are selling the Bibles for $20 but with that $20 you are getting a Bible and getting the Bible into the hands of 12 others.

If you do not wish to receive a Bible and would just like to make a donation, click here!

Here is the text that is most likely going on the back of the Bible:

Does Jesus really love porn stars? Absolutely. Now that may go against what you thought about Jesus but it is true. You see Jesus loves porn stars as much as he loves pastors, soccer moms, liars, thieves, and prostitutes. In his eyes, we are all the same. We’re all just people in need of a savior who can come into our world and fix our messed up lives. So what you’re holding in your hands is a new testament written in contemporary language. Author Eugene Peterson wanted to get the Bible back to that kind of everyday, common language that all of us use when we're not trying to sound religious. Whether you have been reading the Bible for years or are exploring it for the first time, The Message will startle and surprise you. And it will allow you to experience firsthand the same relevance that motivated its original readers to change the course of history.

You can read the entire story HERE, or read thier previous post about the story HERE