(OPINION) Craig Gross is a pastor, author, speaker, and founder of XXXchurch, a ministry that helps people break free from porn addiction. He hosts the podcast, Craig Brain, and is currently working on a book of the same name. Craig recently launched the website, ChristianCannabis.com. He lives in California with his wife, Jeanette, and his two kids, Nolan and Elise.
-Through XXXchurch, what kind of stories have come out about people overcoming porn addiction?
-What are your goals with launching Christian Cannabis?
-How do you justify what you see as the spiritual benefits of cannabis versus the medicinal benefits?
“When pornography hit the internet, I was working with young people…and I just remember having the thought, hey, there’s no way you could survive if this was around when I was a kid.” “I have championed a ministry of transparency and authenticity and…
due to some health problems and some things I was dealing with, I had gotten a medical marijuana card, and it was the type of thing where I didn’t share that with many people.” “I’ve sat with some of the most influential church leaders in America, and I’ve just said, hey, I’ve got this thought on cannabis, that I don’t think it’s all bad, and I think there’s a space for Christians to be in a conversation.”
“I think the church loses its influence when we avoid topics that the rest of the world is talking about.” “As a pastor of a church, if you’re in a city today or a state where this is legal and you have a policy on alcohol, you have a policy for everything else but you’ve not addressed this issue with your staff, you have not talked openly about this with your congregation…
what are you waiting for? “What happens if somebody comes up to you after church and says, ‘Hey pastor. There’s a medical marijuana shop up the road. Is that ok for me to go to?’” “I think we’ve got it all wrong when it comes to cannabis.” “I think the church doesn’t have biblical answers and we definitely don’t have sound answers on [marijuana], so we’re just avoiding [the conversation], and I think that’s a bad place to be in.” READ MORE
