Get to know me
Hi, I’m Joshua Ryan Purdy.
I grew up in Roanoke, Virginia and have lived in Saint Stephen, South Carolina for the past ten years. I’m the full-time pastor at Russellville Christian Church, where I’ve served since June 2017. I’ve been preaching the gospel for 25 years — as a preacher, youth minister, and associate minister.
- From
- Roanoke, Virginia
- Home
- Saint Stephen, South Carolina
- Church
- Russellville Christian Church since June 2017
- Ministry
- 25 years preaching the gospel
- Study
- B.A. and M.A., Johnson University
The church
I hold a Bachelor’s degree in Bible, Youth Ministry, and Preaching and a Master’s degree in New Testament, both from Johnson University.
Russellville Christian Church is an Independent Christian Church in the Restoration Movement. We are not part of a national denomination with headquarters. We simply try to follow the New Testament as closely as we can.
What I believe
I believe the original writings of the Bible are divinely inspired and that God has faithfully preserved His Word. Jesus Christ is fully God and fully man, the second person of the Trinity, the Word who became flesh. He was born of a virgin, died for our sins, was buried, rose from the dead, ascended into heaven, and now sits at the right hand of God. He is Lord of Lords and King of Kings.
We are saved by faith in Christ alone. Faith comes by hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ (Romans 10:17). Confession, repentance, baptism, and a life of following Jesus are essential acts of faith — not works we do to earn salvation.
A little more about me
I’m a husband and the dad of three adopted daughters. I love my local church family and have good friends both here in South Carolina and across the country from years of ministry. I’ve spent many years in youth ministry and still serve as dean of senior high week at a church camp.
Kenya
A trip that left a deep mark.
I recently returned from a mission trip to Kenya. The people, the worship, and the work of the local church there stayed with me. This is part of the same calling as the teaching here: open the Bible, see Christ, and hear with faith.
Those who know me best would tell you I’m not a stiff or overly serious person. I can be loud, silly, and a little crazy. I laugh easily and I don’t take myself too seriously — even though I take the Word of God very seriously.
At the end of the day I’m just a regular guy who has been given the privilege of opening the Bible for people. The long beard, the headbands, and the occasional wild story are all part of the same person you’ll hear teaching chapter by chapter.
This teaching ministry exists for one reason: to help people hear the Word of God with faith, with Christ at the center. It is simply an overflow of the work I already do in the local church.
How we teach
The name is taken from the apostle Paul: we receive the Spirit not by works of the law, but by hearing with faith (Galatians 3:2). Romans 10:17 says the same thing from the other side — faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.
So the method is simple. We open a chapter. We read it. We linger where the text lingers. We look for Jesus — promised, prefigured, or present — because the Scriptures testify of Him. Then we close the book and come back for the next chapter.
Most of the teaching is recorded, so you can start a book at chapter one even if you found us in the middle of Joshua. From time to time we go live and open Q&A. The archive is the daily ministry.
Statement of approach
- Scripture first. The Bible is the Word of God, sufficient and living. We do not replace it with personality or program.
- Christ-centered. From Genesis to Revelation the story is His. We refuse to teach a chapter as if He were an afterthought.
- Verse by verse. We move chronologically, one chapter at a sitting, so the argument of the text can breathe. Path so far: New Testament → Job → Torah → History of Israel.
- The whole counsel. 505 chapters taught so far, across 33 completed books — the New Testament, Job, and the Torah finished; the history of Israel underway.