The Soul Purity workbook is now available. Check out the Soul Purity tab for more information on how to order it individually or in larger quantities. In the meantime, I want to take a couple of moments to share with you the specifics of this resource. If you will, please first follow this discussion between Dave and Judi about the workbook.
Judi: What motivated you to go to the work of this study guide?
Dave: I wrote this workbook out of the reality of my own journey towards soul purity in a badly tainted world. As I worked out the biblical pathway to purity, I found that many others around me were trying to find the same path. I realized that our churches and people needed a solid theology to walk them through this jungle of sensuality that the world presents daily. I also noticed that much of the philosophy seems to be summed up in “Stop it!” People seemed naively to assume that those that struggle could stop doing pornography and move on–problem over. Sadly, they lacked the biblical sense of stop, recognize sin, and repent, followed by replace, rebuild, and renew an intimacy with a great and good God.
Judi: Why did you go with the workbook format?
Dave: As I have counseled with hundreds of men and women about purity, I have found that they often look for short cuts to spirituality and to permanent change. Many times they have not developed the spiritual disciplines and a walk with God that are foundational to victory in times of temptation. They need someone to walk them through the reading, meditation, journaling, and transformation that is found in God and His Word. I also realize as a biblical counselor how awesome it is to have ready-made biblical homework at the fingertips. Dealing with the idolatries of the heart is not a simple and quick fix. The idolatry of pornography, for example, does not have a quick fix.
Judi: So what does this concept of idolatry have in common with addiction?
Dave: I was just talking with another counselor about this question. She was wondering if pornography is just one of those things that cannot be overcome. I explained that addiction to sensuality of any form is a form of idolatry. Idolatry is the biblical word for addiction. Idolatry is much more helpful as a term because it places this struggle with pornography in a context that links the battle and temptations to our view of and our love for God. When people desperately long after something they don’t find in God, then that longing translates into something that will rule their hearts. 
Judi: Why is it that people seem to struggle with pornography more than other temptations to sin?
Dave: Admittedly, this struggle hits at something given to us by God as good. Sex is good when enjoyed within the biblical guidelines. But for some people, they may never be called to marriage. For others, it is a matter of sexuality becoming a driving force in their lives that overtakes many other parts of their inner being. The core issue is their relationship with God. If someone has been satisfied with a fairly shallow Christianity, but then they experience sex or even diluted forms of sex that seem to be such a powerful stimulant, their Christianity seems vaguely unsatisfying. And the more they are drawn to forms of pornography, the more their Christianity seems less than satisfactory.
Judi: How does the workbook help to change the level of Christianity a person is living and the kind of God they are serving or thinking about on a daily basis?
Dave: An integral part of this workbook is the daily meditation themes that focus on the goodness and the greatness of God. Also, the workbook progresses from people seeing God correctly to their seeing themselves and their actions and thoughts biblically. My goal is to help them become convicted of the evil of their inner desires. I want their repentance to drive them to love and to enjoy the true God. As they daily see Him in all his glory and goodness, they should begin to hate the sin that they idolize in His place. You see, a “weak,” “puny” God cannot uproot the sensual pleasures in their soul, or so they think. But a crucified, risen Lord certainly can and will! The question is whether they love Him or are willing to pursue a love for this glorious God. It will take nothing less than daily meditating, journaling, turning of the heart, and longing after God for the next 8-10 weeks for this grip of pornography to lose its hold on their soul. Soul Purity is possible. Most of us need to retrace this pattern and study of the book several times in order to find true power and victory over temptation and soul-satisfaction in God alone.
