Man, episode 2 is a brutal one! So many triggers and back to back. I wish the editing team were a little nicer to us survivors! But if there’s one thing I’ve learned about triggers, they can be absolutely random. One of the first times I got triggered was while I was watching Avatar the […]
Shiny Happy People: A Teenage Holy War ep3 – Live Reaction Read More »
The first episode got me hyped but the next-episode teaser had clips that made me nervous. To me, episode 1 is more just history and exposition. I relate to a lot of the discussion but this was more educational than therapeutic since ATF and GE were always highlights. The teaser suggested to me that the
Shiny Happy People: A Teenage Holy War ep2 – Live Reaction Read More »
So an interesting happenstance occurred the summer of 2021. This blog was somewhat resurrected in June (before being more completely brought back by the end of July). A week after this blog got Lazarus’d, and totally unrelated, the fantastic Belief It or Not podcast released an episode on Teen Mania.
Belief It or Not Podcast covers Teen Mania Read More »
It was the summer of 2007 and I was in Tijuana, Mexico building homes on a Teen Mania mission trip with nearly 600 teens from around the country. A young girl on my team was a current intern at Teen Mania and mentioned to me that the ministry had been hunting for Ron’s new assistant.
Yesterday, Teen Mania’s Communication Director officially retracted her statements regarding Teen Mania’s foreclosure. She originally stated the following in a comment on the Charisma News article: …What has happened to Teen Mania financially is the same as what is happening with untold other ministries, organizations, etc. in these tighter economic times. …We are being as
Teen Mania International setup a conference call for Ron Luce to explain why the ministry is in foreclosure and what their future plans are. The call lasted about an hour and can be heard here: I will share a couple of the important moments below. Exact quotes in italics. Ron Luce starts by explaining the
Reaction to Teen Mania International Alumni Conference Call Read More »
Continuing our look at the conversation between Teen Mania’s Former Director of Marketing and Honor Academy alumni… Jeremy: after what I witnessed and was privy to as a staff member at the director level directly under Ron…TMM leadership has some massive issues…Ron specifically. The arrogance, the judgement, the spiritual manipulation, the utter lack of compassion
Former Director of Marketing: Ron Luce is Arrogant, Judgmental & Manipulative Read More »
After the Mind Over Mania Documentary in November, several readers directed me to a Facebook conversation between Teen Mania’s former head of PR/Marketing and several other alumni. Since the page was public, I screen-capped everything. After securing all the data, I reached out to the former employee to see if he would be willing to
Former Director of Marketing Drops Bombshell: Dave & Ron Privately Scorn Hurt Interns Read More »
The Honor Academy website recently posted an article about SOPA titled, “Piracy is a Sin…Are You Involved?” It states: Piracy is considered stealing…As Christians, are we sensitive to the extent of piracy? Do we justify piracy by not labeling our habits as piracy? Most Christians consider selling burned movies and CDs as piracy. However, when it comes
More Hypocrisy from Teen Mania Read More »
Ron Luce gave an interview to Charisma magazine refuting the argument presented in the MSNBC Documentary “Mind Over Mania.” I’d like to rebut the article’s main points here. Nevertheless, five former interns for Teen Mania say the ministry caused them harm. There is also a group called “Recovering Alumni” of former Honor Academy interns that
Ron Luce Responds to Cult Accusations on MSNBC Read More »
Teen Mania prepare an annual report to give to donors and potential donors in order to persuade them to open their wallets to Teen Mania Ministries. This annual report provides some interesting information, some sketchy information and some outright lies. For the latter, I’d like to direct your attention to the graphic comparing Honor Academy
Teen Mania’s Annual Report or “Let’s Just Make Stuff Up” Read More »
I was recently reading through Teen Mania’s “R.I.O.T. Manual,” an evangelism guide published in the mid-90s. Ron Luce states, “This tactics section of your R.I.O.T. Manual is NOT a suggestion list. These aren’t just good ideas to read and forget. These are the steps you take to start your Righteous Invasion of Truth…We’d like you
Taste of Their Own Medicine? Read More »
As we discussed last time, Teen Mania heavily promotes an us vs. them mentality. Instead of fostering love, grace and compassion, followers of this message wrongfully believe that being obnoxious = being a good Christian. Case in point, this story held up by Ron Luce as a model of Christian living at last weekend’s Battlecry:
Teen Mania’s Christianity: Radical or Obnoxious? Read More »
Before we look at the specifics of Ron Luce’s teachings on sex, I want to highlight this very disturbing and dangerous doctrine. In a 2001 teaching, Ron says: Sexual intimacy outside of marriage always breaks trust. If you have sex before marriage, you’ll never have full trust in your partner. You’ll be suspicious that they
Ron Luce’s Sex Teachings, Part 1 Read More »
Next week, I promise to get back to the dating/sex/marriage series. But in light of the story yesterday, I wanted to make a few points. First, if there has been any doubt in your mind about Ron Luce’s character and the stories on this website, yesterday’s story should fully convince you. The way he continues
How to Deal with an Unrepentant Abuser Like Ron Luce Read More »
I’m interrupting this series on dating for an important update… Short Version: Ron Luce is a sick, twisted and evil man. Long version: A few months ago, Ron Luce’s sister-in-law wrote in to share her story about how Ron lied about their family in his parenting book in order to boost his own reputation and
Breaking News: Ron Luce Is an Unrepentant, Habitual Liar Read More »
The central tenet to Ron Luce’s courtship process seems to be that finding a spouse should be a process governed by our minds, not our hearts. We should make objective decisions NEVER clouded by emotions. To that end, Ron preaches strongly against the idea of “falling in love.” He speaks about it in a derogatory
Ron Luce Advocates Arranged Marriage? Read More »
As stated yesterday, the Bible does not provide a model for how to find a spouse. However, this does not stop Ron Luce and Teen Mania from putting words in God’s mouth and insisting that they teach a truly Biblical way of “courtship.” In today’s post, I’ll summarize two of Ron’s main points regarding
Ron Luce’s Courtship Teachings, pt. 2 Read More »
How many Christian teens have suffocated under the weight of false guilt and condemnation for engaging in something that has never been explicitly condemned in the Bible? Yes, its time to talk about masturbation. Teen Mania tells interns that masturbation is a sinful act that should always be confessed and renounced. Interns are told that
In last night’s service at Teen Mania, Ron mentioned that there are a lot of “squirrelly” things happening in the name of Christianity. Watch live streaming video from teenmaniaauditorium at livestream.com @45:20 – There is a lot that is unfortunately going on out there that is unfortunately under the name of Christianity that really
Ron Luce and I Agree on Something! Read More »
Since I was the author of the original a letter I thought it only fair that I update those who read it on what has happened since. Ron called tonight to talk with me. He expressed how sorry he was that his words had hurt our family. I told him I didn’t mind him sharing
Ron’s Lies About His Family: An Update Read More »
A letter from Ron’s sister-in-law: I’m not even sure how to start this e-mail to you. A family member told me about your site and I have been reading it for over a year now. I am greatly saddened by the stories I read and my heart goes out to all youth who have experienced
Ron Luce’s Parenting Book: Did He Lie About His Own Family? Read More »
Many an intern has had dysfunctional romantic relationships because of Ron Luce’s fear-based teachings on marriage and courtship. In his character development class, Ron Luce teaches the Honor Academy interns the “godly” way to have a romantic relationship. He presents a several step process (I quit listening after #6) based on the formula of friendship
Ron Luce: The Relationship Talk Read More »
There is an interesting conversation going on in the forums about Ron Luce’s weekly Character Development class. Does this sound like the heart of a shepherd? Does this reflect Jesus? My year Ron was very angry at us for not having all the scriptures that he wanted for us to have memorized. During class he
Ron Luce: Character Development Class Read More »
I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised anymore at Teen Mania’s evil deeds, and yet I find myself surprised almost weekly with new stories and revelations. This clip from ATF TV in 1999 is astonishing not only for its strange “Josiah Project” sketch, as discussed yesterday, but also because of Ron’s blatantly aggressive gay bashing. “Hi,
Ron Luce’s Anti-Gospel Teaching Read More »
