Ashley Sheatz

It bums me out how many families have only two kids. It’s a pandemic! Do they really only believe they can only handle two? What’s up with that? I know the answer; it's a rhetorical question. I think it’s bordering on sin for a couple to limit themselves to having two children, for whatever reason. At best it’s a cliché. We’ve attended a goodly number of churches over the decades, and since I’ve become a full-on natalist it distresses me how many families have two children. I’m not saying all Christian families have to go old school and have ten kids like our ancestors, but as I told a young friend of mine recently and my daughter as well, you will never, ever regret having more children. You get to bring more image bearers of God into the world, and into eternity, to love and nurture and raise. So, young Christian couples, be fruitful and multiply! It’s not a suggestion.

This will be my final post regarding my below viral post. I want to address some frequent criticisms: 1. “Saying your wife is purer than most virgins is crazy.” 2. “I hate how you highlight your wife’s sins, but you’re just this perfect guy.” 3. “You’re teaching people they can just sin as much as they want, come to Jesus, and then all is well. That’s evil.” 4. “This is all a grift, a marketing stunt. He owns a Christian social media agency.” 1. “Saying your wife is purer than most virgins is crazy.” To be clear: I was not saying my wife’s life is more sexually pure overall than most virgins. This isn’t true, even if she’s very sexually pure today. The point I was trying to make is that biblical purity encompasses far more than the sexual realm. Sexual purity matters and virginity is a blessing indeed, but God primarily wants a pure heart: “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God” (Matt 5:8). And a godly, repentant, born-again woman with a promiscuous past has a far purer heart in the eyes of the Lord than an unsaved virgin. This is why I wrote, and still stand by, this beautiful truth: “She's more pure than most virgins.” Also, in Proverbs 31, the godly woman’s husband praises her by saying she’s literally better than all other women (Prov. 31:29), so me saying this of my wife is in line with what the Bible says happens to a godly woman. It’s a biblical form of praise for a most wonderful wife. 2. “I hate how you highlight your wife’s sins, but you’re just this perfect guy.” Fair enough. I could’ve spoken more about my own sins. I battled porn for years as a single man, and as a married man I still struggle with lust, pride, anger, selfishness, poor leadership, lack of love, and more. I am so far from perfect, growing slowly and steadily in holiness over time. But I praise God for this marvelous truth: “This saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance: “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners” ​— ​and I am the worst of them” (1 Tim. 1:15). 3. “You’re teaching people they can just sin as much as they want, come to Jesus, and then all will be fine. That’s evil.” If this is what I’m teaching people, then I couldn’t agree more: it is evil. “Don’t be deceived: God is not mocked. For whatever a person sows he will also reap, because the one who sows to his flesh will reap destruction from the flesh” (Gal. 6:7-8). Sin has real consequences that affect people in different ways. Some may be promiscuous and suffer heartbreak, a seared conscience, and a dullness to the things of God as they’re drawn more into the world. Another may get a serious sexually transmitted infection and die from it. Another still may never be able to have children from their decisions. Playing with sin is foolish, brings destruction, and grieves the heart of God. And the Bible says that even if you’re a virgin or haven’t committed “big” sins, telling a lie, stealing anything, being greedy, drunk, or even looking with lust means you won’t go to Heaven (1 Cor. 6:9-10). We’re not promised another day. If you think you can just come to Jesus when you want or just pray a prayer and be good to go, you’ve been deceived. Repent and place your trust in the risen Christ today, who died on the cross to take the punishment of all those who trust in him, lest you end up in Hell. “Now is the day of salvation!” (2 Cor. 6:2). And if you’re truly saved, your life will change, too, because the Holy Spirit lives in you: “He gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to cleanse for himself a people for his own possession, eager to do good works” (Titus 2:14). Only once you’re genuinely born again will you find forgiveness of your sins and be washed white as snow (Col. 2:13-14; Is. 1:18). 4. “This is all a grift (a dishonest way to gain money), a marketing stunt. He owns a Christian social media agency.” A valid concern. Even the Apostle Paul had to defend himself against this accusation, as he acknowledges the terrible reality that this does indeed happen: “For we do not market the word of God for profit like so many. On the contrary, we speak with sincerity in Christ, as from God and before God” (2 Cor. 2:17). Someone who markets the word of God just to make money will be judged accordingly. I tremble at the thought. This isn’t to say that preachers of the gospel are forbidden to earn money for their doing so: “The Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should earn their living by the gospel” (1 Cor. 9:14). Rather, it’s a warning of motives. Honestly, there’s no way I can prove to you that I have had absolutely no intention to profit financially from this, even though it’s true. But please consider these facts: 1. I’ve been proclaiming Christ on social media, including X, since 2017. My chief desire in life is to reach more souls with the gospel and biblical truth on social media. That’s the only reason I started my agency to begin with, as it’s the calling the Lord has given me. We’ve provided thousands of dollars worth of consulting for free to ministries who can’t afford it and are gradually giving away all our secrets for free on our company’s YouTube channel because we just want God’s Word to reach more people, even if ministries don’t have the finances for our services. 2. I’ve never once sold any book, course, product, paid subscription, or anything else. I’ve never once done a paid promotion in my near decade of sharing biblical truth on social media, even though I’m contacted constantly for these and could’ve made thousands by now. I’ve never wanted to give anyone the impression that I’m preaching Christ for money, because I'm not. 3. Read my X posts before this viral post. Seriously. Notice how day in and day out, I post simple content about biblical truths, not personal stories. The amount of times I’ve written about Ashley’s story, out of my thousands of posts, is in the single digits. 4. Show me any post or comment where I’ve used this situation to promote anything for financial gain, or even to request people to follow me. I didn’t want to do any of this so that all the focus can be on Jesus, not me or my wife. It’s all about him. There are plenty of other criticisms we’ve received. I cannot address them all, nor do I think it’s helpful, so I don’t plan on addressing any more. I just saw these ones pop up more than most others. And I know this won’t persuade everyone. Regardless of how this is received, I am immensely grateful to God that he used our story of redemption to start a cultural storm and to bring this important topic to light. It reminds me of how God used Paul’s story in Acts 26, where he spoke paragraphs of details about his sinful lifestyle before Christ, and how Jesus then completely transformed him. Ashley and I have been wonderfully blessed seeing so many Christians testify to the power of Jesus, encourage us via comments and posts, and use this situation to preach the gospel. I will continue preaching Christ, promoting sound theology to edify the saints, focusing on the glorious gospel, and at times and when fitting, sharing personal stories of God’s redemption to show that these truths aren’t just head knowledge, it’s real. Jesus truly changes lives and saves souls from Hell, and we are living, breathing testimonies of this beautiful reality, and no one and no thing can stop us from testifying of our glorious Redeemer, Jesus Christ! “They conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony.” (Rev. 12:11) “What does it matter? Only that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is proclaimed, and in this I rejoice.” (Phil. 1:18)

My wife was formerly promiscuous. I was a virgin. She was then radically born-again. Committed to church, evangelized constantly, Puritan books in her bedroom, prayer journals, grief over past sexual sin, etc. We got to know each other well for over a year, dated for four months, engaged for two and a half, and didn't sin sexually with one another. Our first kiss with each other was at the altar on our wedding day (reaction pic attached!). We've been married for over five years now, and she's been the most wonderful and godly wife, mother to our three children, and homemaker you could imagine. She's more pure than most virgins, as biblical purity has less to with past sins (though they certainly matter) and more to do with one's current posture of the heart and daily decisions to honor the Lord (Matt. 5:8). We're far too quick to forget the story of the woman labeled as a known "sinner" (likely a prostitute) in Luke 7:36-50 who was washing Jesus' feet with her tears while kissing them too. The Pharisees were shocked that Jesus let a public sinner do this. Jesus responded with a parable about debts being forgiven and ended with this powerful conclusion: "Her many sins have been forgiven; that’s why she loved much. But the one who is forgiven little, loves little" (Luke 7:47). Everyone seems to highlight the benefits of virginity, and it certainly is a blessing. But we forget to highlight the benefits of being forgiven much as well. My wife knows the depths of Jesus' forgiveness more than most people, enabling her to more easily live out a life of passionate love for her Savior. A woman or man's past sexual sin matters. But what matters far more when it comes to deciding who to marry is if the person is truly born again, if their repentance is real, if they truly have a heart for Christ, if they truly follow Jesus and obey his commands. "God has chosen what is foolish in the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen what is weak in the world to shame the strong. God has chosen what is insignificant and despised in the world ​— ​what is viewed as nothing ​— ​to bring to nothing what is viewed as something, so that no one may boast in his presence. It is from him that you are in Christ Jesus, who became wisdom from God for us ​— ​our righteousness, sanctification, and redemption, — in order that, as it is written: 'Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.'" (1 Cor. 1:27-31) "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, and see, the new has come!" (2 Cor. 5:17)

In case you missed the ABS interview with Ashley Sheatz, here's a summary: Girl grows up without a dad. Girl exposed to porn at 11. Girl gets involved in New Age, sex, drugs, etc... as a young teen. Girl is enslaved and abused by angry 50 y.o. old cult leader, girl is self-harming, suicidal, over-dosing, almost dies on multiple occasions. Then at 18 girl hears the Gospel. Is deeply convicted by her sin. Cries out to God in true repentance. Is forgiven and transformed into an entirely new creation. Girl starts living new life of purity and obedience to God. Marries, has children, devotes her life to home and family, overcoming all kinds of residual physical, spiritual, and mental damage from her past. Tells other girls "Don't be like who I was. Keep yourselves pure and free from the stain of sin and the world. It will only hurt you." Actual men and women claiming the name of Christ publicly curse her and tell her she needs to face the consequences of her actions. Her decades of suffering and Christ's death on the cross aren't enough penance for them. That, my friends, is actual demonic influence playing out before our eyes. And some of you publicly sided with the devil on this one. Interview linked below.