LIVE PURE OR DIE!
The History and Vision of the National Coalition For Purity
By Dr. Irv Woolf
I got sick of it! I wondered, how it was that seemingly godly, Christian men were so vulnerable to sexual sin? How did Satan, the enemy of our souls, so easily use pornography to entrap and enslave the sons of the living God? And, why wasn't the Church doing more to address this secret issue? Why did we allow these men to live double lives unchallenged? And, as a pastor, what was I doing about it?
My approach to providing pastoral counseling to couples struggling with sexual immorality had traditionally been to see them for three sessions and refer them to a Christian therapist to continue counseling. The feedback I received, however, was that this approach of triage and referral was less than effective in assisting men to become sexually pure and helping marriages to heal.
It was clear. Achieving sexual purity required more than personal counseling with a therapist or an accountability partner. The more I read on the subject, the more I became convinced that a small group of men who built relationships of honesty could work much better. As I knelt before the Lord and sought His face about what to do, He unfolded a vision for a purity process. I began to realize that the mission was to make sexual purity an unavoidable issue for the Church of Jesus Christ! Small groups were at the core of this vision.
Armed with a plan, in the fall of 2001 I invited twelve men to to an information meeting about forming a small accountability group. Six showed up. I shared what the group would look like, what curriculum would be covered and the level of commitment required. Four men agreed to join this pilot group.
We met for 26 weeks using Dr. Mark Laaser's text and workbook, Faithful and True. The men showed up for the first meeting full of fear, not knowing what was ahead, but knowing they needed God to touch their lives. Over the course of 26 weeks, two of the four men became sexually pure. Both encouraged me that if it could work for them it could work for others.
God began to birth in me a vision for a four-stage strategy to equip men to be sexually pure. This strategy was called Every Man’s Battle For Purity. The first stage, called "The Battle," was scheduled for October 5, 2002. This half-day event was geared for men with the purpose of calling them to commit to becoming sexually pure, acknowledging that it wouldn't happen simply by way of this half-day event.
Based on a military theme, The Battle combines pulse-pounding music, dramatic video and audio clips, inspiring testimonies of men, powerful challenges from the Word of God, drama and a call to arms. Admittedly I was disappointed when, with only two weeks before the battle, only 30 men had enlisted. But God had other plans. He used Pastor Steve Goold and the Elder Board of New Hope Church (formerly Crystal Evangelical Free Church) in New Hope, MN to raise the visibility of The Battle and lead the congregation to enlist.
Dressed in camouflage shirts, the elders and Pastor Steve challenged the men in the church to attend the battle. They declared that this was every man's battle and that they would attend because sexual purity was their battle too. This empowered men to enlist and by the day of the battle over 300 men were in attendance. It was a passionate and moving morning. With testimonies from Dr. Laaser and Rick Bradley, messages from Pastors Steve Goold, Tim Brannagan and me, and a powerful drama, men came forward in waves to pray with the chaplains, sign a purity covenant and plant a white flag of surrender on purity hill. This was the first of four stages in achieving sexual purity.
Stage two began the next Monday. Purity boot camp started at 6:00 a.m. and ran for an hour and a half each morning for one week. As the lieutenant, I ran the camp with military precision. Lateness on my part or the part of any man required apologies to the boot camp. The purpose of this stage is to familiarize men with the upcoming purity platoons and help them count the cost of becoming sexually pure. After completing the boot camp, men made decisions to join a purity platoon.
Purity platoons, stage three, were led by "sergeants" and met weekly for 16 weeks. Using a high level of structure and accountability, men paired off with purity partners. Within a safe environment, they shared their struggles and how God was working in their lives. Men began to find purity and, eventually, freedom from bondage.
An unexpected thing happened during this time. Over the course of 16 weeks, men also became increasingly honest as they learned to trust one another. They began to enjoy one another and bonded together. At the conclusion of 16 weeks, these men were committed to one another and reluctant to discontinue meeting. They had found community! At the conclusion of the purity platoon, an awards ceremony was held recognizing the men who completed the 16-week platoons. Men were awarded specially minted purity medallions and their platoons were photographed. Each man was given a copy of his platoon's photograph as a memorial testifying to his commitment to purity.
Transitioning from sexual purity to spiritual maturity is the goal of stage four. Platoons remained together and studied their Combat Training Manuals. They learned how to be a godly man, a godly husband, and a godly father. Following stage four, men went into the Reserves and continued to meet monthly with their platoons for life.
Did it work? Did men become sexually pure? Each man in a Purity Platoon was tested before and after entering the platoon by completing a thorough survey. The results indicate that 91% of the men who complete the purity process are sexually pure. So what’s next? To date, over 5000 men have been through all or part of EMBFP! As the Lord continues to grow this ministry my prayer is that He will bring more and more churches to become part of the National Coalition for Purity and that he will purify the church, Christ’s Bride. We view this ministry as God’s tool to purify the Bride of Christ in preparation for his Son, the Bridegroom.
In 2006, God has called me to launch the National Coalition For Purity and do for other churches, regardless of denomination, what He has done for New Hope Church. The National Coalition For Purity is a national ministry whose mission is to challenge, resource, and train every church in America in sexual purity. For more information on how the National Purity Coalition For Purity can help you develop a purity ministry in your church, please call 763-535-2373 or email me at ncfp@puritycoalition.org or visit us at www.puritycoalition.org.
Finally, what have I learned from all of this? First, there is power in purity! The spirit of God is a Holy Spirit who desires us to be holy even as He is Holy (1 Peter 1:16). Second, I have learned that the platoon is more powerful than the individual. The platoon can help men stand in the face of temptation. Finally, I have learned that sexual purity is EVERY man’s battle and none are exempt.
