Ministry Update

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Subject: Ministry Update

Kevin and Jill's Testimony

The year prior to the program was one of the most difficult in our marriage. In August of 2018, I became the high school pastor at our church. I didn’t take the position in good faith as I was still involved with pornography. But I convinced myself it was the Lord’s will, that somehow He would bring an end to my sin, and so I made myself a liar. Another grave sin in my life was unbelief. The reality was I didn’t have faith; not really. By the end of the year, I was ragged. Attempting the work of God in the flesh and without faith was exhausting and foolish.

During a break between Christmas and the new year, I went back to my sin. It was once, but it was a sign of a huge problem in my heart. By February, I was asked to step down from my position. I made matters worse by believing lies about God and turning my back on Him. I spent six weeks plunging headlong into sin. Jill had always been a gracious woman and had been patient with me, but I had hurt her deeply and she was broken. While I would typically minimize my sin and responsibility, it became increasingly clear that I needed to take radical steps to change.

God stepped in, as He always does. Late one night I cried out to God. I acknowledged that everything I had been to that point was wrong and begged Him to forgive me and make me whatever He wanted me to be. He brought me outside and showed me the stars and told me that my problem was not too big for Him. He gave me a promise from Romans 4:16-25, that if I would trust Him, He would restore. He made it clear to us that our next step was Pure Life Ministries. It was a step of faith, as we knew very little about the ministry. It turned out to be the right decision, as the Lord did a work through Pure Life that would have been hard to replicate anywhere else.

When I enrolled in the Residential Program, these are some things the Lord revealed to me there:

God showed me that I was full of unbelief. Mostly, I didn’t believe that God was good or that He had my best interest in mind. I ran to the world instead of Him when difficulty came.
God showed me that faith cannot be manufactured. I had to give up and let Him do what He wanted to do, when He wanted to do it.
God showed me that faith is bold and audacious, but it’s the only way to please Him. No matter what I thought or felt, I had to believe what He said in His Word.
God gives us what we show Him we truly want, not what we say we want. When I show God that I want Him, He gives Himself lavishly.
God showed me that I didn’t sin because I was depressed. I was depressed because I sinned.
God showed me that He is so much better than any pleasure the world has to offer. He showed me a peace that is difficult to describe.

The Lord also ministered to Jill in the Wives Program:

God was faithful to show me what I needed was more of Him, and as I sought Him in His Word, He was merciful. He promised me a genuine faith as I trusted Him in the fire. (1 Peter 1:6-7 was my favorite verse while Kevin was away.)
God revealed His hatred for my sins (Matthew 7:21-23 and 1 Corinthians 6:9-10). These verses wrecked me. I needed God’s forgiveness as much as Kevin!
God taught me simply, that He is enough. I remember having a note on my desk that said, “Lord, I trust you with Kevin.” Kevin is God’s son first. God could be trusted with our marriage and young family. He alone could redeem and restore.

Things have not been perfect since the program. However, God has been faithful. He has set me free from bondage to lust. He miraculously provided work for me. He began healing broken places in our marriage. He started changing areas of my heart that needed to change. And He allowed me to serve in the church again, giving me an opportunity to minister to men struggling with sexual sin.

We don’t have a crystal-clear picture of what the future holds. But we know without a doubt that God is real, and He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. We understand so much better now that He is truly merciful and compassionate, slow to anger and quick to forgive those who seek forgiveness. God has taught us that He is good all the time.

When we turned to Him, He heard us, and He rescued us. Without Him, I would be a desolate man at best. At worst I would be dead. The reality, though, is we are alive, joyful, hopeful, in love, and full. We are far from perfect and have so much to learn, but we have Jesus. More importantly, He has us!

Outreach Efforts in 2023

While the heart of our ministry lies in our counseling programs, our Ministry Outreach department is an essential part of the work we do here at Pure Life Ministries. This arm of the ministry is crucial to spreading the word about the hope in Christ that is available for those in sexual sin. We pray that at just the right time God will put one of our videos, books, podcasts or articles in front of a needy soul!

One vital component of our outreach is attending various events throughout the country. Wherever we go, whether it’s a new conference or one we’ve been to many times, we always meet a few individuals who tell us they have never heard about us and are grateful to know we exist! This year we’ve already attended 18 events and spoken to hundreds of individuals about our counseling programs and teaching resources. We look forward to seeing the changed lives that come from these connections!

Our outreach team also works hard to produce top-quality media content to get the message out online. Our weekly podcast, Purity for Life, has had over 70,000 downloads this year already. Back in March we began a new series called A Firm Foundation, which is also available on YouTube. In this series, host Nate Danser sits down with various Pure Life staff to discuss key biblical passages for those seeking freedom over sexual sin.

We believe a robust relationship with God’s Word is foundational to maintaining a pure lifestyle. That’s why with this recent series, we also took the time to discuss different ways to study the Bible. It’s our hope that through this, our listeners will grow in their walk with the Lord and in their love for His Word. You can check this series out on YouTube, on the Pure Life app or wherever you get your podcasts.

And speaking of Bible studies, we wanted to let you all know that we recently redesigned the look of our best-selling, 24-week Bible study: The Walk of Repentance. Over the coming years we will use this design as a model to revamp our other Bible studies as well. We would encourage you to check out all our Bible studies on our bookstore, either for yourself or for someone else you would love to see go deeper with the Word of God!

What's New!

At Pure Life Ministries, we’re constantly reminded that there is still A LOT of work to do. No matter how many souls we have already ministered to, there are still multitudes of others who are in urgent need. This awareness keeps us as an organization constantly praying and asking, “What should we do now?” Here’s a small sampling of the things we recently accomplished.

Designed a new online bookstore – If you’ve been keeping up with our ministry, you know that we completely redesigned our main website back in 2021. Since that time, we’ve had our eyes set on redesigning our online bookstore as a complement to that project. And, praise God, we were able to launch in July! Not only does the new design fully match the design of our main website, it also has been designed from the ground up to better serve our guests. If you haven’t checked it out, please do so and let us know what you think! Just go to store.purelifeministries.org.

Began releasing a new podcast series for couples – In mid-August, we began releasing episodes in a new podcast series, “Ashes to Beauty.” The heart behind this series is to encourage couples that God is able to restore ANY marriage, no matter how broken it is. When both the husband and wife walk down God’s path of personal transformation—laid out in the Beatitudes—restoration is inevitable! The power of God’s work in each of them individually will create tremendous spiritual blessing for them and their marriage. This 8-part series features 4 different couples who explain how various Beatitudes brought healing and restoration to their own lives and marriages. You can find this series wherever you get your podcasts.

Placed a new emphasis on helping struggling women – For years, we have realized that women are struggling with pornography in ever-increasing numbers. That reality certainly cannot be avoided. So, we decided that it’s time to shine a bigger light on our effort to counsel struggling women. This led to a number of changes. First, we re-branded our struggling women’s program as the “Create in Me a Pure Heart Program,” which is based on Steve and Kathy Gallagher’s book of the same name. Second, the program is now prominently featured on our website’s homepage and listed in the Counseling drop-down menu. Third, the program now has its own webpage and application in the application center. Our hope and prayer is that this new emphasis will draw the attention and hearts of struggling women, and that they will find genuine freedom in Jesus!

Residential Special Meetings

At the beginning of July, we held a series of special meetings for our residential students, with guest speaker, Dr. John Oswalt, Visiting Distinguished Professor of Old Testament at Asbury Theological Seminary. In his series of messages, Dr. Oswalt posed the vital question, “What is Holiness?”, and brought out four essential qualities that characterize true holiness as the Bible describes it:

1. Holiness is belonging absolutely to God.

2. Holiness is knowing God personally.

3. Holiness is believing God can change you.

4. Holiness is glorifying God through your life.

From Genesis to Revelation, God calls His people to be holy because He is holy, and the writer of Hebrews tells us that “without holiness no one will see the Lord” (Hebrews 12:14).

During these meetings, both the staff and students were challenged to sell out completely to follow the Lord and shown that half-hearted attempts to follow Him will not lead to victory but only misery and defeat. It was also clear that holiness is not something we can achieve in our own strength but is produced as a result of the Holy Spirit’s work in us and our cooperation with Him.

Lastly, Dr. Oswalt encouraged us that in allowing God to have full possession of our lives, His desire is to overcome the evil and darkness we encounter through His great mercy (hesed). In other words, to be holy, is to allow Jesus, the Holy One, to live His life through us!

New Staff House Update!

We are excited to announce that after a year, the construction of our new six-bedroom staff house is finally complete. In June, eight of our staff members took up residence there, and the house has already served as an ideal place for hosting staff gatherings.

If you remember, the need for more staff housing arose after three of our staff got married in the last two years. And now, as we look ahead, two more staff weddings are on the horizon. We praise God for all He is doing here and for how He is growing our Pure Life family!

We also want to thank those of you who contributed toward the new house. Several volunteer groups provided essential labor and materials for the project, and so many people gave financial support that it was fully funded by the time the final touches were being completed. We are truly grateful for your generosity and help in meeting this need.

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Subject: Ministry Update