Purposed Coaching Blog

Last night was the first funeral for Louis Purks, held in Ft. Worth, Texas.

The second funeral will be held in Frederick, Maryland.

Date: Monday, August 30, 2010

Location: Frederick Church of the Nazarene; 7899 Opossumtown Pike; Frederick, Md. 21702

Viewing: 11:00 am – 12:00 pm

Funeral service: 12:00 pm

Graveside: immediately following service

Meal: immediately following burial

Dear Friends,
As many of you have already heard, my Father, Pastor Louis Purks passed suddenly away yesterday morning at home due to medical complications. My mom was by his side when he passed into eternity. He was 59 years old and had pastored over 30 of those years. Recently he had preached the Wednesday evening service, taught a Biblical counseling institute course and a Sunday School class at Metropolitan Baptist Church. Needless to say the Lord gave him a very fruitful last week of life.

It is with a mixture of joy and sadness that I continue through the day. As I have told some of you, Heaven has gained a “brilliant warrior”, but we have lost one. I know Dad is in Heaven today with our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ based on his personal testimony of salvation. His quick and sudden passing has been a shock to most of us and is a little difficult to grasp, but the reality is that no man knows when we too will depart this earth. As you reflect upon the memories of our beloved Pastor and friend, may each of you be spurred on to greater heights in your service of our King. May our relationship with the Lord grow deeper as we remember the love that Dad had for our God. May it encourage us to go and tell others about the wonderful salvation that has been provided which gives the hope of an eternal life in Heaven where we will dwell in the very presence of the King of all kings.

Please continue to pray for Mom, Julie, my family and I as we make the necessary plans and preparations. Words are simply not enough to express how grateful we are for your prayers, words of encouragement and support at this time. I believe I can truly speak for all of us, our ultimate desire in remembering the life of Louis Purks is to bring honor and glory to the God of Heaven. He spent his life serving Him and would want the memory of his death to do the same. Please know we love each of you just as Dad did and appreciate all you are doing to help us.

We will do our best to keep everyone up-to-date as plans are made.
Jonathan Purks
Pastor, Victory Baptist Church, Frederick, Md

Lou and I met many years ago. From the very first we became fast friends. I have never had a better friend and will greatly miss him.

I got a call this morning that he had passed away. I still cannot quite believe he is gone. We usually spoke a couple times a week and adjusting to this will be a challenge. He was always there, always pointing me back to the Savior we both loved. We challenged each other. He was a great encourager.

Today heaven is sweeter and I am a little sadder. Friends like Lou are not easy to find. August 23, 2010 will be a day I will remember as long as I live.

Please pray for his wife Gayle and his son, Pastor Jonathan and Lou’s daughter, Julie. They have a big hole in their heart.

I have a set of interviews that I did with him a few months back that are posted on this blog. Scroll over and on the right side of the page and look for his smiling face.

Careful about posting things from the internet that you have not checked out. Thanks John for pointing out Aug 2004. Looks like a post that should not have been passed on.
Why not just erase it? Because many things in life are like this…it pays to check out what we believe. A good reminder to me…and you.

Did you know that this only happens once in 823 years?

August has 4 Sundays…
5 Mondays…
5 Tuesdays…
all in the same month.
Only once in 823 years…enjoy this August.

I just spoke with Al Braley from Bearing Precious Seed in Milford, Ohio. They have graciously offered to supply 500 whole Bibles for Botswana. This is a real help and answer to prayer. Now we need to arrange the transportation to Pa and from here to Africa.

With just over 1000 correspondence students in our school there we were in need of Bibles for those that complete the course. This will fill that need.

What a joy it has been these last few months to watch the Lord put every detail together. Would you join us in prayer to see how the Lord puts this transportation together. One move of God at a time.

July 4^th is coming! It will be on Sunday this year. If you are preaching a message, this paper may be of interest and help to you.

We are offering a copy of a white paper, “America the Beautiful” with quotes from our Founding Fathers on the place of God in this nation and in their lives. To receive this free paper, opt-in to receive our email newsletter on the right hand side of this webpage and you will receive the paper in your email inbox.

Also you may know other preachers interested in this paper or ministry. If so, please ask them to go to www.PurposedCoachingBlog.com and sign up for our newsletter and we will also send them a copy of the white paper.

As I walked along the sidewalk I saw a couple blocks ahead of me a large crowd of people streaming my way. I had a few gospel tracts in my pocket and my heart quickened as I contemplated being able to give them to many people. But as I drew near, I realized they were children walking to the park for their end of the year picnic.

So I reasoned that since they were in school it would be better not to hand out tracts to them. So I stepped off the sidewalk to give them room to pass and walked on the rest of the way on the grass.

I had walked by about 50 students and was coming to the last of them as I passed. I had greeted some of them along the way and they were clearly happy to be out of the classroom. My heart was heavy that I could not speak to them, but I stayed with my original decision to not cause trouble with the teachers.

Then it happened!

Out of the group of students 2 boys ran toward me. They were about 11 years of age. They shouted in unison…”Gay marriage is legal in the USA. Gay marriage is legal in the USA”. They shouted loudly and long.

I was stunned. Not that they were taught such things in school. I already knew that. But I was stunned that they were so bold as to proclaim it to a perfect stranger that they did not know and had no reason to even speak to. What boldness they displayed! As best I could tell the teacher walking nearby was pleased with their loud, bold confronting of a man on the street.

That was enough for me. How sad I chose to be quiet while 11 year olds will boldly ‘evangelize’. They were walking by and it was too late for that group. But not for the next ones I encounter.

How about you? Isn’t it time you spoke up and were counted for Christ? If the public schools can train and encourage such boldness for wickedness, then I have no reason to be ashamed of speaking for Christ. My next group I pass will receive a different welcome from me.

It was a life and death struggle. The hawk had slipped down to catch a squirrel. As I paused to watch the struggle I saw the couple just ahead of me stop and watch as well. The squirrel struggled until he was able to get loose and he scampered away up the tree.

It was then that I spoke to Carlos. We marveled at how the squirrel had barely gotten away with his life. I then mentioned to Carlos that life is short. We briefly talked about the young lady that had been murdered in Emmaus over the weekend.
I asked him a simple question, “What do you think happens after you die?” He answered with firmness in his voice, “You go to the grave and it is all over!”

I asked him another question, “How do you know that is true?”

It was now that he began to waver. He went on to say that maybe a person went to a better place. He then added that it may be that place was called ‘heaven’. When I asked him how he could be sure of that, he again said maybe we just go to the grave and it’s over.

It was evident that Carlos, like many in our world today does not know what happens after a person dies. I was able to then go on and reason with him from the Scriptures about eternity, judgment, and the sin that would surely condemn him.

My friend, life is so very short. Eternity is so very long and you cannot risk not being prepared. If you are like Carlos and have not made preparation, I would encourage you to prepare today.

When I went to this park, I had asked God to give me an opportunity to witness. Multitudes of people have no idea what will happen after they die. Sadly they are not sure where to even begin looking for answers. The answers are clear in the Bible. Someone must speak to them!

If you know the Christ, then you should be a vocal witness for the Lord. All around us are people in need of a Savior. Are you taking advantage of the opportunities to speak for the Savior?

On Saturday I was privileged to attend the Homeschool Rally at our church, Lehigh Valley Baptist Church in Emmaus. We had one graduate, Emily. What a grand day it was to see these children that are being fashioned as arrows for the Lord by their parents. Here are some of the highlights of the program the kids put on. Enjoy!