Ron Luce often compares being a strong Christian to weight-lifting. You have to work hard over a long period of time to see results, you can’t just lift weights for one day and expect to be ripped. Is this an appropriate analogy for the Christian life? Do you think self-effort leads to spiritual strength? Discuss. […]
What is the Christian Life? Read More »
Emotional/Spiritual Abuse This is the area that really pushed me to leave. When I arrived I had been asked about ESOAL (having previously indicated that I knew what it was) to which I stated that I would not participate. From that point on I was treated as though I was mentally ill for not wanting
C.R.’s Story: Honor Academy of the Ozarks, pt 2 Read More »
A new Honor Academy “charter” was established late last year (2009) in Branson West, Missouri, called the Honor Academy of the Ozarks (HOA). Its based in a church there called Living Word Church and it used to be The Internship at LWC. I don’t have much information as to what the routines were like with
C.R.’s Story: Honor Academy of the Ozarks Part 1 Read More »
The leadership at the Honor Academy talks a lot about living honorably and treating people ethically. But is the Honor Academy honorable? Does it treat interns, vendors, and teenagers ethically? – Teen Mania encourages and/or forces people to participate in dangerous activities like ESOAL that will likely end in injury or possibly even quarantine. When
Dear Ron Luce & Dave Hasz: Is This Honorable? Read More »
This is Campus Preview Weekend at the Honor Academy in Lindale, Texas. If you attended the preview or if you thinking about becoming an intern, I encourage you to read through the ‘true stories’ on this blog. Many alumni have shared how the Honor Academy impacted their lives including specific details about the Life Transforming Events (LTEs),
Honor Academy Campus Preview Weekend Read More »
Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift don’t worry about it. After all, it is their responsibility to come to you
The Bible According to Teen Mania #8 Read More »
With the impending decision from the Board of Directors this week, Caleb (Phil) was moved to write this post which points out the difference between repenting for isolated incidents and repenting of repeated patterns of behavior. Very insightful stuff: When I first moved into a community of growing believers, it wasn’t long before I began to butt
One Time Mistakes? Or Behavioral Patterns? Read More »
MINISTRY PLACEMENT One of the most difficult aspects of my time at the Honor Academy was my ministry placement. I worked in finance. I found out later that the executive office had put a bid in for me, but it was the finance department’s turn to choose an intern, so I ended up there. I
Lauren’s Story: Part 2 Read More »
I was a January intern several years ago, and I’ve always been afraid to talk openly about my experiences at the Honor Academy—in part because I have this underlying fear that Ron Luce will somehow find a way to punish me, and partly because people don’t believe me when I tell them stories about being
Lauren’s Story: Part 1 Read More »
I spoke with Dr. Mark Lewandowski on Friday. He has compiled all the stories that you sent in and passed them on to the rest of the Board of Directors (a total of 60 pages). In order to protect your identity, he first removed your names and any identifying details. The Board has a meeting
Board of Directors Update Read More »
At the Honor Academy, they talk a lot about the “fear of the Lord.” You are cautioned not to become too “chummy” or familiar with God – after all, He is the King of Kings, the God of the Universe and you need to show him the proper respect. Here is a recent comment to
The Place of Fear in the Christian Life Read More »
Spiritual elitism is the second characteristic of a spiritually abusive environment. Unlike some of the other traits we will explore, Teen Mania does not attempt to hide their elitism. In fact, they seem to revel in it, celebrate it and use it as a recruiting tool. The home page of the True North leadership seminars even says
Here is a verse you won’t hear preached at Teen Mania. It doesn’t fit well with the worldchanger rhetoric, and yet it is in the Bible. So what do we do with that? Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands, just as
Ron Luce Wants You To Find Your Vision Read More »
Did you know that? God actually likes you. Not just loves you. He likes you. He enjoys you and thinks you are fun to be with. I used to think of God as kind of a distant family member – they love you because they have to, but they don’t exactly call you up on Saturday to
Summer Camps I worked in the Summer Camps department which at the time was a subdivision of the Honor Academy. Erin, my superior, didn’t like me from the beginning, which she made clear by being overtly irritated by my presence. Halfway through the year she openly told me that she didn’t like me. Summer Camps
Jacqueline’s Story: Part 3 Read More »
Nutrition When I arrived at the HA I was healthy and strong. The diet was so different than what I was accustomed to : very little efficient protein, legumes, and vegetables. There was plenty of pasta, denatured breads, soda, fruit juice, cereals, and desserts. After consuming this very high sugar-starch diet for a couple months
Jacqueline’s Story: Part 2 Read More »
To understand my Honor Academy Experience best I will share some defining moments in my life before I lived on the Teen Mania campus. My parents divorced when I was 7 years old. During the divorce my mother had temporary custody. At that same time I began to fall in love with Jesus. In those
Jacqueline’s Story: Part 1 Read More »
The OTHER massively diff part of my story is fast-forwarded 12 months later. I’m a Core Advisor. I love my Core to bits. I love leadership. I love it all. I also started to fall in love with a hottie worship leader named Joel. We were both CA’s, related on a ton of different levels,
Jessica’s Story: Part 2 Read More »
My story starts out similar to most. ATF+Zeal+Parental Consent=August 99 Arrival! First year started off rough…my Core Advisor left weeks after Gauntlet…followed by my Intern Advisor…leaving an overwhelming feeling of aimlessness. After the January’s graduated,I became an ACA. I was excited to have a role. I worked in Leader Development recruiting Team Leader’s for mission
Jessica’s Story: Part 1 Read More »
We’ve got a good conversation going on in the forums about eating disorders and whether or not the environment at the Honor Academy contributes to them. Now, this is not something I have personally struggled with, but it got me thinking…For some reason, Teen Mania seems to have a fascination with throwing up. I remember
Does Puking = Godliness? Read More »
Sunflowers I hadn’t been an intern for maybe 4 days before I was confronted for having a “sunflower” (how juvenile is that term!!) for a fellow intern. The accusation was absurd. We happened to be interested in the same things. We happened to be at the same place at the same time fairly frequently. But
Karah’s Story: Part 2 Read More »
My Teen Mania experience was kind of middle-of-the-road. There were things that I loved and things I couldn’t stand. The Beginning First, I never wanted to be there. I KNEW that God had told me to go, but I fought it every step of the way. I cried the entire flight to Dallas. My initial
Karah’s Story: Part 1 Read More »
Alumnus Brad Kelly recently sent me his thoughts on the blog, Ron’s email, and Teen Mania and the Honor Academy in general. Its a bit long, but definitely worth a read. Click here to read and then come back and give us your comments. On another note, I’m always open to guest posts. If you feel like
I came across this awesome post last week and its so relevant to what many of us have gone through at Teen Mania. Which of these 7 counterfeit gospels do you most identify with? In one of his books (co-authored with Tim Lane), How People Change, he identifies seven counterfeit gospels—-”religious” ways we try and “justify” or
Idols Inside the Church Read More »
Even though there is no way we can top yesterday’s post (at least I hope not!) I thought we’d keep the theme going and look at another dumb thing the HA teaches about marriage. I can’t point to a particular audio recording, but I know I’ve heard this teaching multiple times (let me know if
More Bad Marriage Advice Read More »
