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Pastor faces off with adult film star in 'The Great Porn Debate'

XXXChurch Pastor Craig Gross will be debating with adult film star Ron Jeremy in "The Great Porn Debate" on Sept. 27. Gross will be presenting his case about the dangers of pornography.

Pastor Craig Gross | Screen capture/Youtube/triplexchurch

He founded XXXChurch about a decade ago to highlight the problem of porn addiction and provide resources for the prevention and recovery of porn addicts. Gross also reaches out to the people involved in the adult film industry by distributing Bibles at porn conventions.

Gross' opponent in the debate, Ron Jeremy, has been active in the porn industry for over three decades and has starred in hundreds of X-rated films. He argues that the industry actually empowers women and points out porn stars who became financially successful.

Gross has been debating with the porn star since 2008. They have toured college campuses together to talk about the pros and cons of pornography. They eventually became close friends despite being on opposite sides.

Jeremy revealed that he had told some of his colleagues who wanted to leave the industry to get in touch with Gross.

"There are certain things I don't like, and having Craig around, putting things in check, or when girls want to get out of the business they might go to him, and a few have, who are actually friends of mine," Jeremy told ABC News. "And he ministers to them, brings them into the path of righteousness, and I think that's great," Jeremy added.

Jeremy even contacted Gross when he underwent a life-threatening operation.

Gross shared, "There was something different. He said, 'Craig, I'm scared, and I don't want to die.' And he said, 'will you pray for me?'"

The debate will be hosted by Pastor Jason Cooper of CityReach Church. It will be held at the Proctors GE Theater in Schenectady, New York.

"This is a different venue and a new approach to bring people together to hear a discussion on an important cultural topic of the day," Cooper told the Times Union.

Cooper revealed that there are pornography addicts among his small congregation. His church uses Gross' special software which reports the websites visited by a porn addict to a sponsor.