The Great Porn Debate Tour has officially come to a close. After serving the extent of the tour as the official "porn taxi," I am exhausted both mentally and physically.

Each night after the debates and after parties concluded, I would drive from the night's venue to the next. One of these nights included Ron Jeremy sleeping the passenger's seat all of the way from Milwaukee to Chicago after a strip club appearance. He didn't budge.

So the question one might ask is, why was Ron so tired? Now it was 3:30 am and it is reasonable that a person is tired at this time of the night, especially at age 54, but I think there is something more to it than that. He has no vision of it, no comprehension of it, but I truly believe Ron is extremely tired of the life he leads. The 4,000 women, the 1,900 porn films give him nothing when it comes to eternity. Ron will tell you that. He completely admits that porn leaves nothing to the world but short, cheap entertainment.

I couldn't believe Ron telling Craig and I that the truest form of love is when a couple grows old together and can't live without the other person. He told us of the love Johnny Cash and June Carter had for each other and how Johnny, who was reasonably healthy, died shortly after his lovely wife. Ron Jeremy was telling us this is the truest form of love. Why? It's what he wants so badly yet it's what he is afraid of most.

You see, people look at Ron and think, what a great lifestyle. He gets to bed these girls each night and can keep it fresh by having a different girl every night. If this life is so great, why is it he wanted to bet Craig's wife, kids, house, basically his life, on a game of ping pong? Sure it was a joke, but there's still a sense of seriousness behind that joke. Why would a porn star, the NUMBER ONE porn star of all time, want the life of a monogamous pastor? Because Craig's life has meaning to something bigger. Whether you believe in God or not, you cannot deny the fact that lives changed under Craig's leadership has great meaning to the rest of history. Transformation of lives cannot be denied.

So as I am riding home to Grand Rapids after spending 7 solid days with the porn king himself, why do I feel as crappy and dirty as ever? I feel right now like I have experienced over this week some extreme levels of spiritual warfare. I don't use that kind of language. I am usually turned off when people use that vocabulary, but I can't describe it any other way. I really believe Ron is a genuinely nice, good guy. He cares about me as a person, and I really appreciate that. But Ron has been so deceived through his 29 years of porn that this sense of just darkness is covering me right now. I see a man who is so deceived that he can't really even admit that anything is wrong with what he is doing. I feel dirty.

The husbands and wives who so desire pictures with him and the 18 year old girls who look up to him really hurts me. I like Ron. Ron is a good guy. But these people are looking to Ron for the shear fact that he is this iconic porn star. They love him for his role in porn. Love Ron because he is a person, not because he has starred in over 1,900 films. Love Ron for who he is in everyday life. A lonely, broken man.

This is a bunch of jumble and I don't know if this makes sense at all. But if spending a week with Ron Jeremy isn't proof enough that porn will leave you empty, I don't know what will. Ron is empty. He is in need of something bigger than himself.
Pray for Ron. Signing off.

-Stephen the Intern