NYC Gay Erotic Expo - Updates
More Pictures - Go Here
Below you will find out all about our first time at the gay erotica show. I was so bummed I could not make it as I had a speaking gig in Washington. Next year for sure I am there. I have received such great emails from the promoter that really encourages me and the team and also breaks our hearts because of what has been done in the past by other beleivers. Here is what he sent to me after the show.
No, thank you guys for coming! Your crew was incredibly friendly and welcoming and willing to speak with anyone and everyone. We even gave them stage time in a prime slot to promote your message. Your exposure was at it's peak with attendees at that time because it was our fashion show time slot. All eyes were on them and I said to your guy, (I can't remember his name sorry) that I will give them stage time as long as he doesn't get up and say "God hates gays" or anything. And he quickly assured me that you guys were not there with a message of saving our lost condemned souls, but rather to spread God's love. That stuck with me because religious organizations preach that only God is the true judge, yet have no problem protesting a funeral of a murdered hate crime victim for being gay. I'd say that is the ultimate form of judgement upon another human being.
Your message that he loves everyone and the fact that your determination to spread that word even in what i'm sure was the craziest and weirdest event and location your crew has witnessed shows me that you guys are doing a great and selfless thing. We would love to have you guys back next year! Please keep doing what you are doing.
Thanks again!
P.S. The gays thought your crew was adorable, we loved them! It was a total shock to have a bible handed to you in the midst of such debauchery.
Recaps
This one definatley felt different then the other porn conventions. I am normally on the defense. People are generally staring or touching me. This time I watched sam, and i think he felt the way i do at the other ones. Watching him get hit on instead of me was refreshing in a weird way. I felt a more free to speak to everyone and anyone. The funny part was if sam and were standing next to eachother handing out bibles....he finished a stack of ten before I even got out two. Being ignored over sam was different!
It's so crazy to just stop and listen to the stories of all of these guys. A lot of them new about God's love. They knew the stuff that you know growing up in a church. The one thing that got me is that you could tell that they had all the knowledge but didn't feel loved because of the many stories. The stories they can tell about people hating them instead of loving them is more overwhelming.
Going to these conventions no matter which one, always makes me question the things i learned growing up. We have all carried baggage our whole lives in some way or another. For so long I have looked at homosexuality as so much worse off then the things i struggle with or others struggle with, but in reality, its not. For the most part the people i met just simply struggle with things just like the rest of us.
We are all humans that want to be loved and to love. So to catch them a little off guard and say that we were there to show some love and not just sit there and tell them all the things that they are doing wrong was kinda nice. To say "no, Jesus doesn't love porn but, he loves you a whole lot" was great. I can only hope that a lot of them went home, opened the Jesus Loves Porn Stars bible and felt like they were worth more then many make them out to be. Going away questioning and wrestling with things you thought you knew is rewarding to me and I dont think that ever fails when I leave a convention.
-Rachel
Everything I expected from a gay porn convention came alive this past weekend. It's funny cause I never understood why Rach (my wife) felt weird at the regular porn conventions. It's not that she felt uncomfortable with being hit on, it was just the fact that she was always stared at and worried she would get touched.
I was winked at, kisses were blown at me, and my hands would get caressed before a bible was taken away.
The first time I spoke to Craig, i mentioned I was interested in film making, somehow that translated to runnning a booth at the gay porn convention.
At the end of the day, it's all the same; guys who want love and look for it in places where they can't find it. The bigger issues, isn't even sexual orientation, it's the confusion.
I am not gay, I dont know what it's like to be attracted to dudes, this weekend I learned that there are guys who genually are attracted to guys. I dont know what to do with that.
I dont want to judge, or believe I have it figuered out. I want to join in on the mystery and rest assured that no matter what, God loves us all, and wants us to connect with him. It doesnt matter what you believe, nothing can separate you from the love of Christ, and that is something to talk about.
I will say this, everyone I talked to had some sort of connection to church/ christianity. I thought for a moment....why aren't they connected anymore? As a body of believers, we have alot of work to do, and part of that work is making everyone feel that they are connected, not because of what they do, but because of what Christ did.
- Sam
October 11th
The first day of the Gay convention is a wrap! Great times. Check out the pics from the team in NYC.
-Sam
My wife Rachel and Rachel Collins from Cali at the booth...
I signed up for film making....thanks Craig
Very confusing....we do not know where we are going...
October 10th
If you asked me a year ago if i thought i would
be in vegas flying to newyork and lead a small group of people to share
the love of Christ at a porn convention I would have laughed…well that
time has come
tomorrow, rach and i fly from vegas to newyork and lead a small team at the gay convention.
the crazy thing is that tonight we celebrated our 1 year anniversary (we havent had time till than), and we talked about how both of us never thought we would be sitting at a sushi restaurant in las vegas talking about our new york outreach event this weekend.
God is good….from our perspective he can look crazy….but we can trust that he is good.
-Sam
Sept 21st
We have been invited to the Gay Erotic Expo in NYC! This will be a first for XXXchurch. We are excited! The Jesus Loves Porn Stars have been shipped, NYC here we come on Oct. 10-11!
This is from the organizer of the show...
- My name is Matt and I manage the Gay Erotic Expo in NYC. I saw you guys at the Exxxotica Erotica Expo in Jersey this weekend and wanted to see if you guys are interested possibly in exhibiting at our event. I know it's short notice, but I have a few booths left and I think what you guys are doing is great and that you could have a good place in our event.
May God stir something in your hearts at that place, and give you a special burden for these lost sheep.
That's amazing, and praise God!
But I seriously don't get that.
The guy manages the Gay Erotica Expo...
And I'm not against this at all, in fact, my
heart is to help homosexuals. But I don't
understand that statement. Other than Christ
just working in that situation, I don't get it.
Still, praise the Lord for working in that situation!
I am really excited for the 15th! SBU!
Can't Wait!
My respect is yours.
I'm 17 and struggle with homosexuality. Let me tell you, there are not many people who get it right, Christians or non-Christians. I am judged all the time by other people on both sides because of my situation, either for believing In God/that I can change OR for being attracted to other guys...but it is SO GOOD to know that there are people spreading real love to the homosexual community. Often, I feel so alienated by other Christians around me, and that makes it infinitely harder to stay strong in my faith. Because let me tell you, one thing the gay community is very good at is connecting and having love and fellowship. After all, that's usually what we were looking for in the first place.
Thanks again
~michael
can't believe you used the expression, while talking about the gay erotic expo in the following sentence: "I was so bummed I could not make it as I had a speaking gig in Washington."
i think the whole "bumming" slang is more english / australian then american but still... you've got a massive international audience.
look it up bro: http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?te
loving your work and enjoying your poor choice of words!
dj paine
{met you at easterfest in australia this year, we were the hip-hop support for the fight club event}
Church basically just talked about how disgusting the whole gay thing is and that pushed me away. I understand why they would say that, but most guys like myself that have dealt with homosexuality need positive non judgemental hetero men to help us grow and heal. Most of us haven't gotten that.
So all that to say thanks. Many of us have been rejected and overlooked in society as well as the church. I appreciate what you guys are doing.
