Thought you guys might find this interesting. I wrote this a few weeks ago after covering the event. I'm a Christian myself and was involved in Campus Crusade in college but I thought this "Porn Nation" outreach didn't go over so well at the University of Chicago... What do you all think?
bflora, Thank you for the invitation. I love how people put words together. I love the craft of writing. I was confused by everything. Right from the start. And in reading the article, it seems everyone else was too. But I can tell you this much, if Michael Leahy can get 8k an appearance I'm in the wrong business. I'm very skeptical of him. And though, yes, he may be "leading some people to Christ" (you never described the last hour) He seems also to be getting pretty rich in the offing. The Apostle Paul wrote this about his own standard: "Acts 20:33 I have coveted no man's silver, or gold, or apparel. v 34 Yea, ye yourselves know, that these hands have ministered unto my necessities, and to them that were with me. Paul had become a tent maker, a fairly good trade back then. As a student of Gemaliel (I believe his name was) the greatest Pharisee of the day it was encouraged to also learn a trade. In verse 34 Paul recalls to his hosts, the Ephesians, that not only did he not ask them for anything, he himself paid the way of everyone who had come along there with him, his entourage, probably no larger than maybe Mark and Barnabus, one or two others. He worked with "these hands" and burdoned no one. Jesus told the Seventy before He sent them to preach His word: Luk 10:4 Carry neither purse, nor scrip, nor shoes: and salute no man by the way. But Leahy gets eight grand a night!!!??? He goes to a college campus with a tag like "Porn Nation" (sounds like it a hook doesn't it?) and makes eight grand. He then actually invites folks to leave before he then talks of Christ, ostensibly his reason for being there. Wow, that's a new one to me. I wonder what John the Baptist might have said about that one... LOL. Amr Gabber, 20, appreciated Leahy’s willingness to discuss how sexual addiction led to the destruction of his marriage but was disappointed by the intensely personal focus of the event. He felt the speaker went too far with many of his claims. “He was giving facts but not context,†he said. - my favorite paragraph of the piece.
Hey there dead corn, I agree that there are many out there making too much of a living off of their "ministries" however I would also say that we shouldn't write someone off because they are dealing with relatively large sums of money. Perhaps the video presentation that he shows was really expensive to put together and he charges what he charges to pay that off? Perhaps his travel fees are really high and he pays them from his salary? I don't know, but I don't think those verses call Christians to write off people just because they make money for what they do. Perhaps he gives it all back ot the church? Who knows? Glad you liked the piece. I was a little worried about balance in it (i still think its a problem though).
bflora, I was too busy editing my own response to you to see that you had already replied. Anyway, my point in referencing those scripture was not to say that all should be monks, but because in the very least there is a warning in these scriptures not to be mercenary. I believe the tag "Porn Nation" is purposely vague, he's using it like a pawn, very clumsily too.
Hey Brad, You did a great job with your article. I enjoyed reading it. I remember one time I was asked to present at a college for the Christian club on campus. They gave me the topic of Christ in Christmas. About six people showed up (though 1000's were walking on campus during the club time). The one non-Christian in attendance was up in the sound booth and about half-way through my "talk" he started screaming at me from the sound booth. He called me a liar and kept yelling "the Bible is a fraud!". Hehe. I didn't get 8 grand for it either (did it for free). Speaking on a college campus isn't easy. I know I'm simplistic on this, but for me I'd much rather just say "come hear about Christianity" than try to hook people with a talk on sex. Focusing on one "sin" area is like pulling at apples on an apple tree. Unless the tree changes, you're just going to keep getting apples.
Bingo!!! Also, bflora, I think you took too long to mention Leahy's name. I would have liked to see a little more info than flavor right up front. But I'm old school, and I too enjoyed the article very much. oh, Nextebizguy, I think you meant to write t h a n rather than t h e n, lol, I make simple mistakes like that too. Last week I was writing about a restaurant and I misued a comma to whit: "I have visited Pasta Mia's and the atmosphere, not to mention the..." lol, comma in the wrong place makes it sound like I went to a restaurant and, incidentally, outer space, lol.
Are there many people writing about college ministries online? I was wondering that the other day...It always seemed like an interesting niche.
Not sure bflora, I wrote for a monthly on-line Christian mag for eight months once. Actually got to serialize a novel (lol, until they fired me). What might be really interesting would be to create a site that interfaced Christians from many different campuses. IN Christ