Would you be shocked if you found out that Tony Ingrassia... the Founder and Director of The Power of Purity... is not beyond temptation? In this series Tony talks about a temptation he's been struggling with in the recent past... as he's found himself being tempted toward some forbidden fruit. The temptation says... "Tap... Tap... Tap" on Tony's shoulder. Tony looks at the temptation... and says... "Get away from me. Tony... you know you can't do that." The temptation comes back and says... "Tap... Tap... Tap"on Tony's shoulder. Tony looks at the temptation... and says... "Will you please get away from me. Tony... you know you can't do that." And on... and on... it goes. Apparently these temptations don't always give up easily. This temptation was messing with Tony's head enough... that he finally sat down and wrote out a list of 8 reasons... just to remind himself... why he cannot go for this temptation. In this series... Tony shares the 8 reasons that have empowered him to escape this temptation. If you can relate to being tempted to do something that you know God does not want you to do... this series is for you. Welcome to... Price vs Commodity! No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.  I Corinthians 10:13 Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows.  Galatians 6:7

Power of Purity | Helping Men to Honor God with their Sexual Gift

POP 295 - Price vs Commodity - Part 2

Would you be shocked if you found out that Tony Ingrassia... the Founder and Director of The Power of Purity... is not beyond temptation? In this series Tony talks about a temptation he's been struggling with in the recent past... as he's found himself being tempted toward some forbidden fruit. The temptation says... "Tap... Tap... Tap" on Tony's shoulder. Tony looks at the temptation... and says... "Get away from me. Tony... you know you can't do that." The temptation comes back and says... "Tap... Tap... Tap" on Tony's shoulder. Tony looks at the temptation... and says... "Will you please get away from me. Tony... you know you can't do that." And on... and on... it goes. Apparently these temptations don't always give up easily. This temptation was messing with Tony's head enough... that he finally sat down and wrote out a list of 8 reasons... just to remind himself... why he cannot go for this temptation. In this series... Tony shares the 8 reasons that have empowered him to escape this temptation. If you can relate to being tempted to do something that you know God does not want you to do... this series is for you. Welcome to... Price vs Commodity! No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.  I Corinthians 10:13 Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows.  Galatians 6:7

POP 294 - Price vs Commodity - Part 1

In this series Tony speaks to one of the most difficult subjects in all of our lives... SUFFERING! Suffering is a topic that confuses many people about God... and a topic that makes many people angry at God. It's a topic that makes many people stop believing in God. Why does God allow suffering? How can God be a God of love... and allow all the suffering in the world? How can God be a God of love... and allow innocent children to suffer? It seems that for many people... the topics of God and suffering are mutually exclusive... as if they believe that if one of them exists... the other should not. So what do we do with our pain and suffering? How can we make sense of both God and suffering in our lives at the same time? In this series Tony develops what he calls... A Theology of Suffering... and shares 6 principles that create a template that will inform our understanding of the suffering in our lives. The first two principles are really BAD NEWS. But it's the BAD NEWS that makes the GOOD NEWS really GOOD NEWS. The last four principles will help us to reconcile our faith in God... while living in a very wounded... broken.. and fallen world. Welcome to A Theology of Suffering. For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.  Romans 8:18 We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Romans 8:22 Note - Several of the ideas shared in this episode reflect the teachings of Dr. Jordan Peterson on the topic of suffering... such as the idea that meaning is the antidote to suffering.

POP 293 - A Theology of Suffering - Part 4

POP 292 - A Theology of Suffering - Part 3

POP 291 - A Theology of Suffering - Part 2

POP 290 - A Theology of Suffering - Part 1

For over the past four years... Tony has struggled with some profound challenges and difficulties in his personal life and family.  During this time... Tony slowly began to develop a new spiritual discipline of bringing his heart... and his pain... to the Lord.  He did this by writing his own Book of Psalms... which now contains... as of this day... 197 psalms.  This has been an incredible blessing to Tony... as he's learning to yoke himself together with Jesus... to face the most difficult and overwhelming challenges of life. The Lord is always there... waiting for us. If you're a believer in Christ... you're a beloved son or daughter of God. God cares for you. God sees you. God is holding your heart... and your life... in his hands. God sees your tears. He is not indifferent toward you... or your situation. A very important question emerges for each and every person: What will I do with my pain? The old Tony learned to take his pain to sex... and to his orgasm... in the attempt to escape the pain... and in the attempt to anesthetize the pain. The new Tony is learning to take his pain to the Lord. In this episode Tony shares psalm 42... an psalm 195... from the Psalms of Tony. 28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”  Matthew 11:28-29

POP 289 - Psalms & Letters

Hey guys! The last episode of The Power of Purity Podcast was posted 5 months ago.  That was episode 287. Since then Tony has been on a sabbatical as he's been in personal counseling... and processing through the single most difficult and painful time period of his entire life.  This has included his wife leaving him on July 6th, 2021... and her then  subsequently filing for divorce. In this episode Tony shares some updates of this profoundly difficult journey... some lessons he's learned along the way... and how he hopes to continue to move forward from this difficult chapter in his life. What do we do with our pain and suffering when it seems unbearable? What do we do when life seems overwhelming and unmanageable? Is it possible to continue to be a man of purity... even when your life is shattered... and everything has changed? Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. Psalm 23:4 The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. Psalm 34:18 1 And God spoke all these words: 2 “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. 3 “You shall have no other gods before me."  Exodus 20:1-3 “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”  John 16:33 16 Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. 17 For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. 18 So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. II Corinthians 4:16-18 At the end of this episode Tony shares an EXCITING ANNOUNCEMENT! God bless you... and welcome to Episode 288 of The Power of Purity Podcast!

Podcast 288 - DIVORCE

This is episode 287 of The Power of Purity Podcast... and it's the FINAL EPISODE. Hey guys... In this episode I (Tony) share what's going on in my heart... my life... and my situation that has led me to record the FINAL EPISODE of the podcast at this time. If you've been following this podcast... I feel that I owe you an explanation... and I owe you complete honesty and transparency. You've let me into your heart and life... you've listened to me... and you've allowed me to be part of your journey. Thank you so much for this privilege... and it's something that I hold as sacred. I pray the podcast has been a blessing and an encouragement to you... and I pray it will continue to be a resource for you into the future... as you continue to move forward on your journey of purity.  It has been my honor to be on this journey with you... and to serve you through this podcast. Please pray for me... as I continue to pray for you. Stay in the battle guys... it's worth it! 1 Some time later God tested He said to him, “Abraham!”  “Here I am,” he replied. 2 Then God said, “Take your son, your only son, whom you love—Isaac—and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on a mountain I will show you.” Genesis 22:1-2  24 Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 25 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.  Matthew 16:24-25 7 But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. 8 What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith. 10 I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead. 12 Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13 Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. Philippians 3:7-14 For I know the plansI have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Jeremiah 29:11    

POP 287 - The Final Episode

he Kingdom of God is upside down… inside out… backwards… and paradoxical! In the first part of this episode Tony shares a letter from a listener… and announces that the LIVE Pathway to Purity Intensive Workshop is officially scheduled for next month! Tony then shares an amazing and mysterious principal of God’s upside down Kingdom… the reality that GOD’S STRENGTH IS MADE PERFECT IN OUR WEAKNESS! If you are struggling with your sexual gift in any way… If you are struggling with internet pornography… If you are acting out in violation of your confession of faith and your very own conscience… If you are being controlled by sex instead of controlling sex… There are two different ways to try to deal with this challenge: (1) GET STRONGER (Let’s see how far this gets you!) (2) GET WEAKER The way of God… and the way of His Kingdom is this… GOD’S STRENGTH IS MADE PERFECT IN OUR WEAKNESS! 8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me.9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 10 That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. II Corinthians 12:8-10  

POP 286 - The Way UP is DOWN

In this episode Tony shares about the fact that he is presently being chastened by God. Did you know that God "spanks" his kids? Sometimes when there's something in our heart and life that shouldn't be there... When there's something in our heart and life that's "ugly"... When there's something that we refuse to look at or deal with... God finally says... "That's enough!" The Lord isn't going to look the other way forever... and he's not going to let something remain that's not supposed to be there. When God "spanks" us... it's not because he hates us. It's not because he's mad at us. It's not because he wants to hurt us. IT'S BECAUSE HE LOVES US... and he want's his very best for us. It's because he's about the business of conforming us more an more to the image of his Son... Jesus. In this episode Tony talks about what it's like to be "spanked" by God... and he has a prayer request! Hebrews 12:5-13 Jeremiah 28:11-12 Lamentations 3:1-33 John 15:1-2 Take heart... for whom the loves... he chastens!

POP 285 - A Prayer Request

Tony & Sheri have been married for 37 years... and they are a living miracle... because they went to hell and back in the early years of their marriage! Over these years Tony & Sheri have been in and out of therapy together many different times... and the single longest period of therapy lasted for over 6 years straight. At this time Tony & Sheri are back in therapy again... as they seek to continue working on their marriage to make it stronger... and better... and healthier than it's ever been before. Tony believes it's a very good thing for therapists to go to therapy! During the course of the most recent work they've been doing together... one of Sheri's complaints is that Tony doesn't listen very good... and that Tony has a tendency to "listen to respond" instead of "listening to understand". As a result of this... Tony wrote a pledge to Sheri which he titled... Tony's Listening & Validation Pledge To Sheri In this series of episodes... Tony talks about this pledge... and what he's been learning about listening and validation. By the way... this topic is directly related to healthy sexuality in marriage... and if you listen to this series you'll discover some important insights that help us understand why better listening and better validation lead to to better sex!

POP 284 - Tony's Listening & Validation Pledge To Sheri - Part 3

POP 283 - Tony's Listening & Validation Pledge To Sheri - Part 2

POP 282 - Tony's Listening & Validation Pledge To Sheri - Part 1

In this episode Tony talks about one of the absolute power principles of sexual purity... the reality that you always have a choice! Will you be tempted over and over again in this wounded... broken... and fallen world? Yes! Will you always have free will... and the power of choice... each and every time you are tempted? Yes! The concept of free will is absolutely amazing.  In this grand experiment that God has launched by creating this universe... and by creating humanity... God took the most amazing risk when he decided to give us free will. We are not robots. We do not have to obey God. We do not have to do the right thing. We do not have to do what God ways. We can do whatever we want to do... at any time... because we have the amazing capacity of free will. In this series you'll discover many ideas and scriptures that affirm human free will... and the reality that... You Always Have A Choice!  

POP 281 - You Always Have A Choice - Part 2

Here's the "cycle"... a man watches porn... often in violation of his very own conscience... and then masturbates... and then feels guilty... and then tries to NOT watch porn... and then starts the cycle over by watching porn again. The Power of Purity is for men who are interested in discovering how to control sex instead of being controlled by sex. The Power of Purity is a 100% safe and confidential resource that will help men... FINALLY... experience their sexual gift in a healthier way. Purity IS possible with The Power of Purity! A NEW EPISODE WILL PUBLISH EVERY TUESDAY!

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