About the Author
RON LUCE is the president and founder of Teen Mania Ministries, a Christian youth organization that reaches millions of young people worldwide.
Raised in a broken home, Ron ran away at the age of 15 and became involved in drugs and alcohols before finding Jesus at the age of 16. The life-transforming impact of Christ inspired Ron to dedicate his life to reaching young people. After receiving a bachelor's degree in theology and psychology and a master's degree in counseling, Ron and his wife, Katie, started Teen Mania in 1986 with nothing more than a Chevy Citation. Their dream was to raise up an army of young people who would change the world.
As a part of Teen Mania, Ron rallies teens all over the United States in arenas and stadiums at events called Acquire the Fire, with more than 3 million attendees to date. In addition, the 472-acre headquarters in Garden Valley, Texas, hosts the main campus of the Honor Academy, an internship that trains high school graduates to be leaders with honor and integrity. The weekly international television program Acquire the Fire and web initiatives reach hundreds of thousands monthly. Teen Mania has sent more than 62,000 teens all over the world on summer missions trips with Global Expeditions. Ron has also appeared as a teen culture expert on CNN's God's Warriors, ABC's Nightline, NBC, The Sean Hannity Show, The O'Reilly Factor, 700 Club and Focus on the Family.
Ron has also written 30 books for teenagers and their parents, including one of his newest releases, ReCreate: Building a Culture in Your Home Stronger than the Culture Deceiving Your Kids, which empowers parents of this young generation to reclaim influence in the home and take back the hearts and minds of their children. The teen version, ReCreate Your World, co-written by his daughter Charity Luce, was released to aid young people in their pursuit of taking back that which the culture has robbed them of. Ron is also the author of Connecting with God: A Teen Mania Devotional, which was published to help teens in their daily connection with God.
Ron and Katie live in Garden Valley, Texas, with their son, Cameron, while their two daughters, Hannah and Charity, are off at college.
CONTACT RON AT THE FOLLOWING:
Teen Mania Ministries Headquarters
P.O. Box 2000
Garden Valley, TX 75771
1-800-299-TEEN
or visit:
Teenmania.com
Acquirethefire.com
Globalexpeditions.com
Purity Commitment Form
I have made a covenant with my eyes
Job 31:1
Because I want to honor God and love Him wholeheartedly, I commit to God, my family, and my (future) children to maintain and live by the highest biblical standard of purity in this generation.
Therefore, I commit
- To refuse participation in any conversations that promote or joke about immorality.
- To confess to the same trusted friend each time I view pornography or have any sexual contact outside of marriage.
- To register with technology that promotes the wisdom and safety of technology whether or not I struggle with pornography.
- To show the fruit of repentance that, if I should stumble, I will go with my trusted friend and confess my sin to a leader in my life.
- (For accountability friend): To hold any confession of failure in sexual immorality in strict confidence.
- (For accountability friend): To share with leadership if my friend repeatedly stumbles in immorality.
- (For leaders): To follow the process of bringing those who continue in immorality to the appropriate level of discipline instead of offering unsanctified mercy.
Signed,
Source: http://www.ihop.org/Groups/1000033221/International_House_of/Old_Pages/About_IHOP_KC/Purity_Covenant/Purity_Covenant.aspx.
Accountability Commitment Form
In pursuit of purity and Christlikeness, _____________________ and _____________________ make an open declaration to uphold a principled and disciplined standard of affection during our dating relationship. We have prayed, sought council from mentors, received approval from our spiritual covering and believe the following standards are honorable, wise and most importantly pleasing to the Lord.
We are, in a disciplined manner, available to lean on each other, put our arms around each other, place our head on each other's shoulder, rest our heads together and walk arm in arm. We choose not to allow faces to touch each other, hold hands, or allow personal areas to make contact in any way during our courtship.
In addition, we will never:
- Be alone in a building together
- Be alone in a vehicle after sundown
- Be in each other's dwellings after 10 PM unless a group is present
- Be alone past midnight?
We not only commit to uphold these written standards during our courtship but also agree to discontinue any written or unwritten activity if we recognize impurity or selfishness arising within us.
Signed,
1
Friends with So-called Benefits
In the last several years, it seems as though a rising trend among young people is to not get emotionally entangled in a relationship. As a result, they get wooed into friendships where they become involved sexually, thinking that this will prevent them from becoming emotionally entangled. What you are going to read in this chapter is a bunch of real-life stories from both guys and girls who have gone through this. From their stories, you'll see how it happened and how it turned out for them.
Some of these relationships are open, meaning that those in the relationship know that the other person is having sex with lots of different people. Some are secret, meaning they keep it just between them and their partner. Some of these couples are friends who get involved sexually but have no romantic relationship. They simply refer to the other person as their hump buddy, while some call it a booty call, and some even are so crass as to call it their Fpartner. Apparently, many teens don't see this as wrong, because they don't really know what a healthy dating relationship is supposed to look like. Because sex is so common in movies and music, it just seems like the normal thing to do.
Sometimes, friends with benefits or hook-up buddies will mean different things to different people. According to a Teen Vogue survey, 79 percent of respondents considered a hookup as just kissing; 53 percent as touching; 46 percent as oral sex; and 47 percent as sex. The question is, just how common are these types of relationships? How do they start? Why do they happen? And what are the real results? You are about to discover that the benefits of these types of friendships are not all they're cracked up to be.
Why Do People Do It?
You were a loser if you thought it was stupid. You could get self-pleasure without having to commit to a relationship with a boyfriend or girlfriend. You didn't have to waste time to get to know a person. Then, afterward, you could just be friends or acquaintances again. No dating. No phone calls. No arguing. No breaking up. No mess. It was simple and easy.
Most girls don't like to be seen as having friends with benefits, but over half of them have one.
I think friends with benefits is a guy's excuse to get sex without commitment, and all the while girls are hoping they can trick the guy into loving them. The sad thing is, they wouldn't listen to truth if it were told to them.