Purity For Life

For thousands of years, thick spiritual darkness covered the entire world. The prince of darkness, Satan, longed for the day when he would once again unite the globe in open rebellion to God's authority. But one day, 120 men and women left an upper room in Jerusalem with a fiery zeal and a white hot love for Jesus of Nazareth - the man who had changed everything about their lives. Their passion and their testimonies were infectious and began plundering the kingdom of darkness of its subjects daily.  When God's people are inflamed with love for Jesus and a zeal for His Kingdom, Satan's master plan for humanity is presented with a massive threat. But the enemy won't go down without a fight. In this show, we'll look at one of his most effective counterattacks - fostering a church culture that is full of apathy.

Last week, we began looking at some of the main tactics Satan uses to lead mankind into rebellion against God. In this episode, we’ll look at another example of how Satan does that. Join us, as we examine how our enemy works tirelessly to promote a lifestyle of selfishness and pride in us and how that leads us into rebellion against the Lord. We’ll also discuss how God earnestly and tirelessly works to tear those things down in every believer’s life. 

When we sin, we naturally don’t want to take responsibility for our actions. We want to blame others or even blame God. But Scripture clearly says that it’s our own desires which lead into sin. In this discussion, Brooks, Josh and Chris unpack how they went from a place of making excuses when they sinned, to a place of brokenness and contrition over their spiritual condition. They also discuss how the Lord brought them to a place where they were no longer controlled by their desires.

Up to this point in our series, we've been taking a bird’s eye view of the spiritual realm to expose how the world is being controlled by an ancient spirit bent on rebellion against God. Now it’s time to zoom in and start looking at some of the practical, every-day things that the spirit of Babylon uses to draw mankind into that rebellion. We'll expose some of our personal vulnerabilities, and some of the weaknesses in our religious system, which leave us exposed to this very powerful, very seductive and very evil spirit. Journey with us as we look at the massively important realm of desire.

If we are going to resist the enemy, we must learn to be fighters. That's what Josh, Kyle, and Trey found out early on in their walk with the Lord. The battle was hard, and they weren’t expecting it. In this discussion, they reflect on how worldliness will kill a fighting spirit, and how God has helped them to become willing to enter the battle. We hope you’ll be encouraged by their stories and by their growing passion to know Jesus!

There is a dark spirit at work in this world, seeking to destroy mankind by convincing them to unite in rebellion against God. That spirit is of course, Satan. But he isn't alone. All around us, there are demonic beings trying to exert their very powerful influence upon us. This week, we’re going to take a brief look at the demonic realm and how these dark spirits work to gain dominion over a person's heart. And we’ll follow that up with a conversation about a powerful strategy to effectively fight against their evil influence.

Sexual sin is an obvious manifestation of a worldly mindset. But there are many other, less obvious, and less wicked ways, in which Satan allures us into a godless lifestyle. This was definitely true for Gabriel, Chad and Vinny – three men on staff here at Pure Life Ministries who were once hopelessly caught up in the world system. In this special roundtable discussion, they sit down to discuss the details of what drew them away from God, and also the miraculous transformation that occurred during their time in our Residential Program.

Scripture reveals that Satan desires to seduce all mankind. By marshaling the entire demonic realm, he seeks to deceive us and lead us into the same lustful, corrupt and godless mindset which marks his kingdom. The truth is, that as we look at the vast majority of men and women, we realize that Satan has succeeded in this plot. Most of humanity has bought into his lies, wholeheartedly pursuing a self-centered life in this present world. And so, in the sixth episode of our series Babylon: The Seat of Satan’s Power, we discuss what the Bible calls Kosmos. As we explore what Kosmos really is, we’ll see why it’s such a serious threat to every believer and what our response to it should be.

If you’ve been listening to our Babylon series, then you know that it’s all about exposing the spirit that is working in this world to bring everyone into rebellion against God. So far, we’ve explored the historical origins of Babylon. Now we’re going to look at how Satan is crafting a worldwide rebellion against God. He will do it much more easily than we could imagine. He’ll do it by appealing to our desires.

To understand how the spirit of Babylon invades our way of thinking, we must understand how Satan uses men to help promote his goals. There have been many examples of such men and women throughout the ages, but the first was Nimrod, the founder of Babylon. The rebellion he began against Yahweh continues even today and can be found in the beliefs of many religions, cultures and organizations. And if we aren't careful, any of these ideas can influence us and steal our hearts away from the Lord. 

Just because we take extreme measures to prevent giving in to sexual temptation doesn’t mean anything has changed in our hearts. We can’t just put off sinful habits, we need God to give us a new heart – one in which He produces the true fruits of righteousness. In this roundtable discussion, Josh, Chris, and Luke sit down in the Pure Life studio to discuss the crazy things they did to overcome their sexual addiction and how it never worked. But their stories will also give hope to anyone in bondage as they share how God blessed them and freed them tremendously during their time in our Residential Program.

If Genesis 6-8 tell the story of a family that survived the great flood because of their devotion to God, why do Genesis 10-11 tell the story of a great insurrection against God's authority? How could mankind have fallen so far, so fast? Steve Gallagher joins us to look at where the Tower of Babel rebellion ultimately began - in the heart of one of Noah's own sons. We’ll see how a young man who grew up in a very godly home could become the grandfather of the very first Antichrist. And Ed Buch helps connect this story to each one of us, showing how it plays out for many in the church today. Plus, our staff roundtable guests will share personal testimonies of the outward things they tried to stop from giving over to sexual sin, how these never worked, and what ultimately changed their hearts.

Here’s the full roundtable discussion from Episode #493. Listen as three of our counselors walk through how the spiral of degradation unfolded in their own lives. They get brutally honest about where that took them, but also how wonderful it was when Jesus finally broke through and brought them out of that spiral and into life in Him.

In the next few episodes, we’re going to look at the origins of Babylon. But before we get there, we need to look back to a time before this city was founded, to a time when mankind was almost universally engrossed in spiritual darkness. In the time before the flood, mankind fell into a wicked state that was so offensive to God that He wiped all but a few from the face of the earth. As we investigate this history, we learn about the corrupt nature of the human heart and how we must guard ourselves so as not to go down the same deplorable paths that those ancient men and women fell into.

Here’s the full roundtable discussion from Episode #492. In it, three Pure Life staff members discuss the subtle ways the enemy lured them into sexual sin through the spirit of Babylon. They also discuss how God helped them separate themselves from that spirit during their time in our Residential Program.

Welcome to our summer series, Babylon: The Seat of Satan's Power. In this series, we are going to dive deep into this relevant subject, exploring what Babylon really is, what it's goals are and how it seeks to accomplish them. Babylon is famous for being the brutal empire that conquered God's people and carried them off into exile. But Babylon is much more than that. It was established soon after the flood and became a symbol in Scripture for everything that is in rebellion to God's authority. Babylon is a threat to every believer which God warns us to distance ourselves from because the entire world is engulfed in the spirit of Babylon and is headed towards outright insurrection against the Lordship of Jesus.  In this episode, we begin by looking at why separating ourselves from the world is the only way to truly walk with Christ and find freedom from sexual sin.

When we are injured physically, our body automatically respond by beginning to heal itself. Similarly, when we are injured emotionally or spiritually, we begin to try to heal ourselves. But here's the problem. When it comes to emotional pain, our natural reactions often end up doing even more damage to us in the long run. We can’t simply heal ourselves – we need God to do His work in us and as we know, His ways are not like our ways. Join us as we explore the danger of trying to find healing through boosting our self-esteem in another follow up to our Refined as Silver series.

Earlier this year we released a series called Refined as Silver, and we are back this week and next with some follow up episodes based on conversations we had during that series. This week we discuss the necessity of standing against a worldly atmosphere in the home. When a home is full of worldliness, it creates a wide-open door for all sorts of lustful temptations and for sexual sin. 

Three of our leaders joined Nate in the studio this week to reflect on Dave Leopold’s sermon series A Vision of Jesus. In their discussion, they reflect on the parts that stood out to them most, how the messages impacted them personally and also how it has affected our Residential Program students.

Anyone who takes a deep look at Jesus will realize that He was not an ordinary man. He was full of a love that was pure and otherworldly, and it inspired Him to do things that can be very hard for us to understand. But we must continue to look at Him until we see the motivations of His heart rightly. In this sermon, Reverend Dave Leopold unpacks the miracle at the Wedding in Cana and Jesus’ driving out the money changers in the temple. He shows us how both stories reveal the passionate and zealous love which God has for us.