During a cloudy and rainy day in November, Beth and I headed up to Grand Rapids to meet with Michael Wiltshire (gracespring Student Ministries Cordinator) and his fiance’ Allison Curby. Usually we don’t need a reason to hang out with Michael and Ally because we absolutely love being with them. This day though, we had a very specific purpose for getting together with them: to dream.
Dream about how we could best communicate the truth of God’s Word and the love of Jesus Christ to students. We worked off of a teaching method called, Mapping, that Michael had been learning and anxious to put into practice.
Mapping is the exercise of organizing our weekly teaching around the focus of cultural
observations, rather than behavioral changes. It is a tool to help students understand God’s
love and redemption for all things.
With much prayer, planning, and purpose we planned out five months of teaching. One of the series within that five month time span in the purity series. We agreed that a cultural observation we all saw was that purity was misunderstood and undervalued. We jokingly threw out the name, ‘Purity, What the Heck?!’ because purity is so counter-cultural today. But, as two couples striving to be pure we wanted to communicate to students the excitement and blessing of being pure. So we settled upon the name, The Thrill of Purity.
Purity isn’t a list what of you can’t do. It’s not a recipe for boredom and solitude. It’s an exciting and never ending journey towards becoming more like Christ. It’s a list of things you can do! It’s a lifestyle that leads to joy and freedom!
Now, we’re not naive either. We all acknowledged the fact that sexual temptation is some of the strongest temptation out there, but being free from guilt, regret, and life-long wounds is well worth the work it takes to say no.
Are we asking girls to wear potato sacks and winter coats at all times? Are we telling guys they can never look at a girl or get on the computer?
No.
Are we expecting perfection? Are we saying that you have to be completely pure to follow God?
No. But, God does call us to be holy as He is holy, as you’ll learn in Melanie Dekruyter’s article. Our God is a God of grace and mercy. So even if you’ve messed up in your own life. If you constantly struggle with purity, God still wants you to train your child up in the way they should live. Difficult and awkward as it may be, that’s your role as parents.
So what does all this mean? It means that being pure is going to take a lot of work. God designed us to live in community with one another to support, care, and encourage each other. We want to come alongside you as parents and give you resources and opportunities to start\continue having conversations with your kids about purity. As you’ll read in almost every article in this packet, purity isn’t about having ‘The Talk’ it’s about starting ‘The Relationship’ with your child.
The Purity Packet [a conversation starter] is a resource that has been prayed over and created with you the parent in mind. May God bless you, your student, and your relationship with your student through the truth in this packet. I encourage you to sit down and take the time to read through all the articles. You can read them all at one time, one at a time, or however else you would like to.
As you read, pray for your student. Pray that God will protect, guide, and give wisdom to your students as they make CHOICES only THEY can make in regards to their purity.
May the God of mercy, grace, and peace bless you in your efforts to raise your child for His glory. May He give you the strength, courage, and boldness during your journey of parenting.
Blaine and I are honored that you entrust your students to our care on a weekly basis. We will continue to do our best to guide them towards Christ and support you as their parents along the way. We all on this road together.
to God be the glory
Dream about how we could best communicate the truth of God’s Word and the love of Jesus Christ to students. We worked off of a teaching method called, Mapping, that Michael had been learning and anxious to put into practice.
Mapping is the exercise of organizing our weekly teaching around the focus of cultural
observations, rather than behavioral changes. It is a tool to help students understand God’s
love and redemption for all things.
With much prayer, planning, and purpose we planned out five months of teaching. One of the series within that five month time span in the purity series. We agreed that a cultural observation we all saw was that purity was misunderstood and undervalued. We jokingly threw out the name, ‘Purity, What the Heck?!’ because purity is so counter-cultural today. But, as two couples striving to be pure we wanted to communicate to students the excitement and blessing of being pure. So we settled upon the name, The Thrill of Purity.
Purity isn’t a list what of you can’t do. It’s not a recipe for boredom and solitude. It’s an exciting and never ending journey towards becoming more like Christ. It’s a list of things you can do! It’s a lifestyle that leads to joy and freedom!
Now, we’re not naive either. We all acknowledged the fact that sexual temptation is some of the strongest temptation out there, but being free from guilt, regret, and life-long wounds is well worth the work it takes to say no.
Are we asking girls to wear potato sacks and winter coats at all times? Are we telling guys they can never look at a girl or get on the computer?
No.
Are we expecting perfection? Are we saying that you have to be completely pure to follow God?
No. But, God does call us to be holy as He is holy, as you’ll learn in Melanie Dekruyter’s article. Our God is a God of grace and mercy. So even if you’ve messed up in your own life. If you constantly struggle with purity, God still wants you to train your child up in the way they should live. Difficult and awkward as it may be, that’s your role as parents.
So what does all this mean? It means that being pure is going to take a lot of work. God designed us to live in community with one another to support, care, and encourage each other. We want to come alongside you as parents and give you resources and opportunities to start\continue having conversations with your kids about purity. As you’ll read in almost every article in this packet, purity isn’t about having ‘The Talk’ it’s about starting ‘The Relationship’ with your child.
The Purity Packet [a conversation starter] is a resource that has been prayed over and created with you the parent in mind. May God bless you, your student, and your relationship with your student through the truth in this packet. I encourage you to sit down and take the time to read through all the articles. You can read them all at one time, one at a time, or however else you would like to.
As you read, pray for your student. Pray that God will protect, guide, and give wisdom to your students as they make CHOICES only THEY can make in regards to their purity.
May the God of mercy, grace, and peace bless you in your efforts to raise your child for His glory. May He give you the strength, courage, and boldness during your journey of parenting.
Blaine and I are honored that you entrust your students to our care on a weekly basis. We will continue to do our best to guide them towards Christ and support you as their parents along the way. We all on this road together.
to God be the glory
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