“Why is your program so expensive and how do I know if it works? Why couldn’t I become just as pure by simply reading Every Man’s Battle by Steve Arterburn or Healing The Wounds of Sexual Addiction by Mark Laaser?” Good questions. Why does our men’s purity ministry, Every Man’s Battle For Purity, call for financial sacrifice? Because men attach value to what costs them. If something is free or cheap, men, in our culture, don’t value it, treat it as optional, and treat it lightly. When something costs them, even asks them to sacrifice for it, it becomes valuable and a priority for them. As King David said, “No, I insist on paying the full price [for Araunah’s threshing floor]. I will not take for the Lord what is yours, or sacrifice a burnt offering that costs me nothing (1 Chronicles 21:24).” No cost, no sacrifice; no sacrifice, no value; no value, no purity. Purity needs to cost men something for them to truly value it. That’s why we do not offer the ministry for free or for cheap.

We know that Every Man’s Battle For Purity is not a free ministry, but does it work? Unlike many ministries for which there is no empirical evidence that lives are changed, EMBFP conducts anonymous surveys and assessments to verify if men are becoming more pure. We utilize the Sexual Addiction Screening Test (SAST) to assess men as they begin and conclude Purity Platoon. We compile the statistics and have found that 91% of all men who begin Purity Platoon become more sexually pure. EMBFP works for men who are committed to become pure no matter the cost. For the faint-of-heart and uncommitted it is less effective.

Finally, couldn’t men simply read a book, attend a conference or workshop, listen to a sermon, watch a video, or meet with a therapist and become just as sexually pure? After all, that would be cheaper, or in the case of a therapist, easier. Yes, men could do any or all of the above, however, I believe God has wired men to need other men, a band of brothers. No man goes to war against a determined enemy alone. To become free from the grip of sexual sin is nothing less than war. To fight the war alone by reading a book, attending a conference, etc. is doomed to defeat. The enemy uses silence, isolation, self-reliance, independence to keep men enslaved to sexual sin. We need others alongside us to watch our backs. We need other men to ask us the hard questions, hold us accountable to keep our promises, pray for us when we are wounded by the enemy, go after us when we are A.W.O.L. (drop out), and give us hope and encouragement when are feeling defeated. Books, conferences, sermons, videos, and even therapists cannot do that for us.

NCFP works diligently to keep the costs of the purity ministry reasonable. We understand that these are challenging economic times and that family budgets are tight. We also know what works. We have tried offering the ministry for free. That didn’t work. Men treated it with contempt. We have tried shortening it by skipping stages. That didn’t work. Each stage has a unique purpose and men benefit from all of them. Finally, we have tried shortening Purity Platoon from 16 to 12 weeks. That didn’t work. Men need the full 16 weeks to build relationships and learn to trust one another. We aren’t a perfect ministry, but God has raised us up and is using us for such a time as this to purify the Bride of Christ, one church at a time. Thanks for standing with us and believing in the necessity of a sexually pure Church.