"Shiny Happy People" Acquire the Fire

1 00:00:03,504 --> 00:00:05,548 -Right here? -Okay. 2 00:00:07,466 --> 00:00:08,635 -There we go. -Okay, good. 3 00:00:08,718 --> 00:00:11,429 Perfect. Okay. 4 00:00:11,512 --> 00:00:16,767 So this is the response to season one from Jim Bob and Michelle. 5 00:00:18,227 --> 00:00:20,897 "The recent documentary that talks about our family is sad." 6 00:00:20,980 --> 00:00:24,483 Michelle and Jim Bob Duggar are coming out swinging, 7 00:00:24,567 --> 00:00:28,821 after a bombshell documentary claims to expose their family secrets. 8 00:00:28,904 --> 00:00:32,450 "In it, we see the media and those with ill intentions" 9 00:00:32,533 --> 00:00:35,619 hurting people we love." Wow. 10 00:00:35,703 --> 00:00:38,038 "This documentary paints so much and so many 11 00:00:38,122 --> 00:00:40,875 in a derogatory and sensationalized way." 12 00:00:40,958 --> 00:00:44,170 It was such a victory for victims of religious abuse. 13 00:00:44,253 --> 00:00:45,296 It's very accurate. 14 00:00:45,379 --> 00:00:47,339 I feel like it was very validating for me. 15 00:00:47,423 --> 00:00:48,800 "We have always believed that the best chance 16 00:00:48,883 --> 00:00:51,635 to repair damaged relationships or reconcile differences 17 00:00:51,719 --> 00:00:55,264 is through love in a private setting." 18 00:00:57,266 --> 00:01:00,311 Oh, he ticks me off. 19 00:01:00,811 --> 00:01:02,271 He just does. I just... 20 00:01:02,354 --> 00:01:05,024 Oh, man. I want to tell him what's up so bad. 21 00:01:05,107 --> 00:01:06,442 What a ride it's been. 22 00:01:06,525 --> 00:01:09,570 It's like season one was a holy hey-do. 23 00:01:09,653 --> 00:01:11,697 Let's talk about the most shocking revelations 24 00:01:11,781 --> 00:01:14,825 from the Duggar families' new docu-series on Prime. 25 00:01:14,909 --> 00:01:16,869 Messy, y'all check this out, so we can talk about it. 26 00:01:16,952 --> 00:01:18,162 I am not okay. 27 00:01:18,245 --> 00:01:21,916 Oh, my word. Social media just exploded. 28 00:01:21,999 --> 00:01:25,503 All of these people that were not in the IBLP craziness 29 00:01:25,586 --> 00:01:27,505 could relate in some way. 30 00:01:27,588 --> 00:01:30,174 I need you to understand that this is the tip of the iceberg. 31 00:01:30,257 --> 00:01:32,801 This is literally just the beginning. 32 00:01:34,678 --> 00:01:37,640 So many stories of just really crazy belief systems. 33 00:01:38,933 --> 00:01:41,268 And it's not about church. It's not about religion. 34 00:01:41,352 --> 00:01:45,564 Coming up with "new rules". It's not necessarily biblical or from God. 35 00:01:45,648 --> 00:01:48,651 -It's just man-made-up bullcrap. -Crap. 36 00:01:48,734 --> 00:01:50,444 It is. 37 00:01:50,527 --> 00:01:54,114 And even when they say, you know, "In the name of Jesus," 38 00:01:54,198 --> 00:01:55,533 it's not always that way. 39 00:01:55,616 --> 00:01:58,577 All right, y'all. Shiny Happy People, season two. 40 00:01:58,661 --> 00:02:00,204 Here we go. 41 00:02:00,913 --> 00:02:02,414 Here we go. 42 00:02:06,961 --> 00:02:09,672 When I got a text saying that this show was happening, 43 00:02:09,755 --> 00:02:13,259 the first thing I wrote back was, "I knew this day would come." 44 00:02:17,596 --> 00:02:21,559 Do you ever have a memory that you know other evangelicals 45 00:02:21,642 --> 00:02:23,352 and ex-vangelicals share? 46 00:02:24,853 --> 00:02:27,356 This is literally all of my Teen Mania baggage. 47 00:02:28,482 --> 00:02:31,193 There was this ministry called "Teen Mania". 48 00:02:31,277 --> 00:02:32,361 -Teen Mania. -Teen Mania. 49 00:02:32,444 --> 00:02:33,821 Teen Mania Ministries. 50 00:02:35,531 --> 00:02:38,117 Did you ever hear about Teen Mania? 51 00:02:38,200 --> 00:02:41,245 It was so crazy and so weird. 52 00:02:41,328 --> 00:02:44,039 They were told that they were going to this big concert. 53 00:02:44,123 --> 00:02:47,251 And it's a really great place to just like meet other Christians. 54 00:02:47,334 --> 00:02:49,253 That's exactly what we were told. 55 00:02:49,336 --> 00:02:50,588 -Did you go? -Because I went to one. 56 00:02:50,671 --> 00:02:52,548 Oh, okay. 57 00:02:54,633 --> 00:02:56,761 How do you know you're in a cult if that's your normal? 58 00:02:56,844 --> 00:02:58,304 I mean, you don't. 59 00:02:58,387 --> 00:03:01,181 Until someone comes along and... 60 00:03:01,265 --> 00:03:02,892 "That's not good." 61 00:03:02,975 --> 00:03:04,268 -Yeah. -"This is a cult." 62 00:03:05,311 --> 00:03:09,565 Teen Mania was the biggest Christian youth organization in America. 63 00:03:09,648 --> 00:03:12,318 And the founder, Ron Luce, he's the ringmaster. 64 00:03:12,401 --> 00:03:15,529 This is God. This is an encounter with the son of God. 65 00:03:15,613 --> 00:03:18,240 "Do you love God, or do you love God?" 66 00:03:20,117 --> 00:03:22,119 There was three main branches of Teen Mania. 67 00:03:22,202 --> 00:03:23,621 Acquire the Fire. 68 00:03:23,704 --> 00:03:25,540 It was like Coachella for youth groups. 69 00:03:25,623 --> 00:03:28,500 Music's playing. Lights are going. Fire shooting off. 70 00:03:28,584 --> 00:03:32,046 This was kids producing stadium shows. 71 00:03:32,129 --> 00:03:34,256 There was the Global Expeditions mission trips. 72 00:03:34,340 --> 00:03:37,509 Don't you want to go around the world and save people for Jesus? 73 00:03:37,593 --> 00:03:41,305 They also ran the Honor Academy, which was a Christian boot camp. 74 00:03:41,764 --> 00:03:44,683 You were the Marines of this movement. 75 00:03:44,767 --> 00:03:45,810 There was a lot of acceptance there. 76 00:03:45,893 --> 00:03:48,145 That's who I wanted to be with. Those were my people. 77 00:03:48,228 --> 00:03:50,189 We believed we were changing the world. 78 00:03:50,272 --> 00:03:54,401 But then... it gets weird. 79 00:03:56,654 --> 00:04:00,532 You're about to undertake the most intense training 80 00:04:00,616 --> 00:04:02,534 I know of in the body of Christ. 81 00:04:02,952 --> 00:04:06,246 Look at you guys, you look great! You're an army! 82 00:04:06,330 --> 00:04:07,665 Nobody ever tells you, 83 00:04:07,748 --> 00:04:10,084 "Hey, don't get in any coffins while you're still alive." 84 00:04:10,167 --> 00:04:13,045 Sleep deprivation, food deprivation, verbal abuse, 85 00:04:13,128 --> 00:04:16,089 refusal of medical treatment, rolling in vomit. 86 00:04:16,173 --> 00:04:20,094 They opened me up nine inches. I was days from dying. 87 00:04:20,177 --> 00:04:22,846 Then he says, "You bare on your body the marks of a world changer." 88 00:04:24,306 --> 00:04:27,518 Jesus said we'd be persecuted, but not by his own people. 89 00:04:28,268 --> 00:04:31,981 It was a scam with increasingly disgusting motives. 90 00:04:32,064 --> 00:04:36,360 You were not only a child of God, you were also part of a political project. 91 00:04:36,443 --> 00:04:39,446 We must either fight or become slaves. 92 00:04:39,530 --> 00:04:43,534 What if we said we want our voice to be heard instead of your voice to be heard? 93 00:04:43,617 --> 00:04:46,996 This was fascism in front of me on a massive scale. 94 00:04:47,079 --> 00:04:49,748 Teen Mania was part of a broad movement 95 00:04:49,832 --> 00:04:54,044 created by big, heavy political players to blow up the order as it is. 96 00:04:54,128 --> 00:04:57,589 This is the generation that was raised to seize power. 97 00:04:57,673 --> 00:05:01,593 -Welcome to the end of democracy. -We own the country, not them. 98 00:05:01,677 --> 00:05:04,138 Their long term plan is to amend the Constitution. 99 00:05:04,221 --> 00:05:06,390 I don't think our country could survive that. 100 00:05:06,473 --> 00:05:08,684 This is a war. Which side are you on? 101 00:05:09,685 --> 00:05:10,853 They have to be stopped. 102 00:05:12,000 --> 00:05:18,074 Watch Online Movies and Series for FREE www.osdb.link/lm 103 00:05:33,417 --> 00:05:37,171 Start me with the easy ones while I'm a little nervous, I can ease into it. 104 00:05:37,254 --> 00:05:40,883 Oh, it's all going to be pretty easy. 105 00:05:42,342 --> 00:05:44,261 Easier than taking the cult down. 106 00:05:44,344 --> 00:05:46,346 Yeah. 107 00:05:49,475 --> 00:05:51,226 I grew up around Tampa, Florida. 108 00:05:56,356 --> 00:05:58,943 I mean, for me, I loved Florida because I liked the warm weather. 109 00:05:59,026 --> 00:06:01,487 And I liked swimming, and I liked going to the beach. 110 00:06:02,321 --> 00:06:04,573 My dad died when I was 11. 111 00:06:06,116 --> 00:06:08,577 I'm an only child, so I grew up just me and my mom. 112 00:06:10,037 --> 00:06:12,790 My main source of community was my church. 113 00:06:12,873 --> 00:06:16,251 I was at church six days a week. Seven, if I could be. 114 00:06:17,169 --> 00:06:20,422 I even read the whole Bible cover to cover in a year when I was 15. 115 00:06:21,590 --> 00:06:23,550 Youth group was a must. 116 00:06:23,634 --> 00:06:26,845 Every Wednesday, Sunday after church, we'd always hang out. 117 00:06:27,763 --> 00:06:28,763 Those were my friends. 118 00:06:30,099 --> 00:06:32,683 Youth group started at age 13. 119 00:06:33,310 --> 00:06:36,772 But if you were emotionally ready, 12. 120 00:06:37,689 --> 00:06:41,485 I was. My parents were pastors. 121 00:06:41,568 --> 00:06:44,029 My nickname was Rev, because they wanted me to be a pastor. 122 00:06:44,113 --> 00:06:46,281 So they would call me, "Hey, Rev, how are you doing?" 123 00:06:47,699 --> 00:06:50,953 You had to be involved in some type of ministry aspect of the church, 124 00:06:51,036 --> 00:06:52,955 whether it be choir, drama. 125 00:06:53,705 --> 00:06:55,290 My first ministry was dance, 126 00:06:57,126 --> 00:06:59,294 and dance became such a place of expression for me. 127 00:06:59,378 --> 00:07:03,757 It was like a physical representation of what I was feeling on the inside. 128 00:07:06,718 --> 00:07:09,680 Those are special times because we were all... 129 00:07:10,764 --> 00:07:11,764 connected. 130 00:07:12,599 --> 00:07:16,895 We were evangelical millennial kids, so we were the good kids. 131 00:07:16,979 --> 00:07:21,150 I always grew up feeling like Hollywood did not understand Christianity. 132 00:07:21,233 --> 00:07:23,318 Whenever I would see it in a movie, I was like, 133 00:07:23,402 --> 00:07:29,158 "This is like a bad caricature, and it has none of the positive spirit." 134 00:07:29,241 --> 00:07:30,951 It feels like mocking, 135 00:07:31,034 --> 00:07:34,204 or it just feels like this person has never met a real Christian before. 136 00:07:34,288 --> 00:07:35,831 Hey, dig this. 137 00:07:35,914 --> 00:07:39,793 ♪ God said to Noah, "There's gonna be a floody, floody" ♪ 138 00:07:40,419 --> 00:07:42,254 Wow. Very much that. 139 00:07:44,548 --> 00:07:47,176 And it's the nineties. We're flooded with culture. 140 00:07:47,259 --> 00:07:50,512 I dare you to impeach me. 141 00:07:50,596 --> 00:07:54,725 With consumer culture, cartoons, magazines, movies. 142 00:07:54,808 --> 00:07:56,935 Like, it was wild. 143 00:07:57,019 --> 00:08:00,314 Right here, we have 50 single women. 144 00:08:00,397 --> 00:08:06,028 Right here, we have 50 single guys, on MTV's Singled Out. 145 00:08:07,112 --> 00:08:09,656 Hello, Stephon, my name is Sonya, and I want to get on ya. 146 00:08:13,535 --> 00:08:16,288 There is a real sense of like being assaulted 147 00:08:16,371 --> 00:08:19,707 by these secular ideas in the media. 148 00:08:19,791 --> 00:08:22,586 This was the height of MTV. 149 00:08:22,669 --> 00:08:26,965 Pop culture was promoting sexual promiscuity 150 00:08:27,507 --> 00:08:30,636 and other ideas that were ungodly. 151 00:08:30,719 --> 00:08:33,889 Secular culture was kind of a gateway where, you know, 152 00:08:33,972 --> 00:08:36,515 if you just crack your door open a little bit to the devil, 153 00:08:36,600 --> 00:08:38,518 then he can just barge right in. 154 00:08:45,901 --> 00:08:48,737 Growing up, I listened to mostly Christian radio. 155 00:08:48,820 --> 00:08:50,822 We also listened to some NPR. 156 00:08:50,906 --> 00:08:54,076 I heard it referred to once as National Perverted Radio. 157 00:08:57,120 --> 00:09:01,416 I grew up listening to James Dobson. He's a psychologist. 158 00:09:01,500 --> 00:09:04,253 He had a radio show called "Focus on the Family", 159 00:09:04,336 --> 00:09:07,673 that was mostly about how to have a happy family, how to raise your children, 160 00:09:07,756 --> 00:09:09,800 all from an evangelical point of view. 161 00:09:09,883 --> 00:09:12,469 He is the reason that many, many evangelical kids 162 00:09:12,552 --> 00:09:14,680 were subjected to corporal punishment. 163 00:09:14,763 --> 00:09:16,640 -There's a whole generation... -Yeah. 164 00:09:16,723 --> 00:09:20,560 ...that would like to catch me in a blind alley. 165 00:09:20,644 --> 00:09:23,230 Dobson went on to become much more politically active. 166 00:09:23,313 --> 00:09:26,358 I remember growing up, hearing about how we needed to pray 167 00:09:26,441 --> 00:09:30,654 that God would restore America's Christian character. 168 00:09:30,737 --> 00:09:33,365 Family people who are just ordinary folks. 169 00:09:33,448 --> 00:09:36,410 They're especially worried about a culture 170 00:09:36,493 --> 00:09:39,037 that is at war with what they believe. 171 00:09:39,121 --> 00:09:42,915 Hollywood, the rock music industry, television, and so on. 172 00:09:43,750 --> 00:09:47,587 It came from a sincere concern that the culture was corrupt. 173 00:09:47,671 --> 00:09:49,965 There was a lot of discussion of spiritual warfare 174 00:09:50,048 --> 00:09:52,884 and of having to fight a battle against evil. 175 00:09:53,719 --> 00:09:55,846 It was what drove us in so many ways 176 00:09:55,929 --> 00:09:59,891 to try to infuse Christianity into the larger culture. 177 00:09:59,975 --> 00:10:04,313 We were trying to save the world, not just ourselves, but the whole world. 178 00:10:09,818 --> 00:10:13,447 If the world is liking this style of music, 179 00:10:13,530 --> 00:10:17,784 then we need to be giving that style of music as an alternative, 180 00:10:17,868 --> 00:10:20,787 but with like a secret Jesus message. 181 00:10:20,871 --> 00:10:23,165 ♪ Tell me who's in the house ♪ 182 00:10:23,790 --> 00:10:24,624 ♪ JC ♪ 183 00:10:24,708 --> 00:10:27,085 We're calling Jesus "JC"! That's so cool. 184 00:10:27,169 --> 00:10:30,630 ♪ He was born to a virgin named Mary ♪ 185 00:10:30,714 --> 00:10:33,508 ♪ On Christmas Day, he bled And he did die on the cross ♪ 186 00:10:33,592 --> 00:10:36,386 Why do I remember that? I don't know. 187 00:10:36,470 --> 00:10:39,931 But I thought I was cool because I was like, "I'm rapping like Carman." 188 00:10:40,015 --> 00:10:41,600 It was very much, 189 00:10:41,683 --> 00:10:47,731 "Let's create the Christian corollary, and then maybe we can beat MTV." 190 00:10:47,814 --> 00:10:52,402 We ain't nothing but a bunch of Jesus freaks! 191 00:10:52,486 --> 00:10:57,157 ♪ What will people think when they hear that I'm a Jesus freak? ♪ 192 00:10:57,240 --> 00:11:00,619 I was like, "Yeah, Christian Rock, is it." Awesome. 193 00:11:01,536 --> 00:11:03,121 I think I was too young. 194 00:11:03,747 --> 00:11:05,957 I was a spiritual world-changer warrior. 195 00:11:06,541 --> 00:11:08,085 -You were just a kid. -Little kid. 196 00:11:08,168 --> 00:11:10,337 -That's why you're so mean to me. -That's why we didn't get along. 197 00:11:10,420 --> 00:11:13,882 Our sibling rivalry was intensely religous. 198 00:11:15,926 --> 00:11:17,928 ♪ I dreamed I went to heaven ♪ 199 00:11:19,721 --> 00:11:21,556 ♪ You were there with me ♪ 200 00:11:21,640 --> 00:11:23,892 Our dad is Ray Boltz, who is a Christian singer. 201 00:11:23,975 --> 00:11:26,395 His music was often labeled as like inspirational Christian music. 202 00:11:26,478 --> 00:11:33,151 ♪ Thank you for giving to the Lord ♪ 203 00:11:33,235 --> 00:11:36,363 He became like a evangelical celebrity. 204 00:11:37,447 --> 00:11:40,409 We had our own little celebrity ecosystem 205 00:11:40,492 --> 00:11:44,287 that was so much better than the the ungodly world out there. 206 00:11:48,959 --> 00:11:54,381 I've been writing about varieties of religious expression for about 25 years. 207 00:11:57,008 --> 00:12:00,470 At the time, I was writing for Rolling Stone magazine. 208 00:12:00,554 --> 00:12:02,305 I had been working on a long project 209 00:12:02,389 --> 00:12:07,060 about these very elite, political, Christian conservatives, 210 00:12:07,144 --> 00:12:09,896 and I'm calling them "political" because that was their priority, 211 00:12:09,980 --> 00:12:11,648 more than religious. 212 00:12:12,107 --> 00:12:15,777 By the nineties, close to one in four Americans were white evangelicals. 213 00:12:16,236 --> 00:12:18,280 It was a huge voting block. 214 00:12:18,363 --> 00:12:22,409 And evangelical leaders have been very effective in mobilizing voters. 215 00:12:22,492 --> 00:12:26,872 9 million new voters were motivated in 1994 to come out, 216 00:12:26,955 --> 00:12:28,915 and they gave power to the Republicans. 217 00:12:28,999 --> 00:12:31,835 We were angry about the direction of the country. 218 00:12:31,918 --> 00:12:33,503 And it felt like an exciting time. 219 00:12:35,630 --> 00:12:39,551 But the promises of those politicians didn't come true. 220 00:12:40,677 --> 00:12:42,388 The Republican Party made promises. 221 00:12:42,471 --> 00:12:47,434 It ran essentially on a pro-family, pro-life, pro-moral agenda. 222 00:12:47,517 --> 00:12:50,645 That's what they talked about. Then to get in office, 223 00:12:50,729 --> 00:12:54,941 and then deal with none of the issues that they had promised is, is a betrayal. 224 00:12:55,025 --> 00:12:57,903 That's the big political turn. A wrong was done. 225 00:12:57,986 --> 00:13:02,073 I'm going to fight harder for this, and we will win in the end. 226 00:13:02,157 --> 00:13:05,869 I believe I'm not the only one that will say enough is enough. 227 00:13:05,952 --> 00:13:08,497 But I believe millions of other people will also. 228 00:13:08,580 --> 00:13:10,499 James Dobson brought together 229 00:13:10,582 --> 00:13:13,335 other politically-minded religious right leaders. 230 00:13:13,418 --> 00:13:16,713 They had this idea of retaking America. 231 00:13:16,796 --> 00:13:20,967 They're thinking, "How do we build not just to elect somebody right now, 232 00:13:21,051 --> 00:13:24,137 but how do we do the long program?" 233 00:13:24,221 --> 00:13:26,723 It's time to take this up a notch. 234 00:13:26,806 --> 00:13:31,144 Basic idea is how we pursue this on many, many different fronts. 235 00:13:33,396 --> 00:13:36,566 Part of the mission was to train up a generation 236 00:13:36,650 --> 00:13:41,196 that would restore the world and the nation back to godliness. 237 00:13:41,279 --> 00:13:44,741 We need to take America back to being a Christian nation. 238 00:13:44,824 --> 00:13:46,368 They were hungry for youth. 239 00:13:46,451 --> 00:13:50,956 You needed someone who could reach that army of kids. 240 00:13:51,039 --> 00:13:55,502 How do you win a culture war? By building a culture that will wage it. 241 00:13:55,585 --> 00:13:57,462 And that's what Ron begins. 242 00:14:06,555 --> 00:14:10,559 Hello! Sir, please, I'm in a real hurry. 243 00:14:10,642 --> 00:14:14,271 What does it mean to love God with all your heart? Any idea? 244 00:14:16,731 --> 00:14:19,150 It's to dedicate your whole life to God. 245 00:14:19,776 --> 00:14:20,944 Well, I got to get back. 246 00:14:21,027 --> 00:14:22,028 Who are you? 247 00:14:22,112 --> 00:14:22,988 Hi, I'm Ron Luce. 248 00:14:23,071 --> 00:14:24,948 Hi, I'm Ron Luce. Hi, I'm Ron Luce. 249 00:14:25,031 --> 00:14:28,618 Ron Luce is a very passionate person. 250 00:14:28,702 --> 00:14:31,496 It was great to see young people stand up and do something for God. 251 00:14:31,580 --> 00:14:34,207 An insanely intense person. 252 00:14:34,290 --> 00:14:37,836 -We need a revolution. -Ron was on fire. 253 00:14:37,919 --> 00:14:41,214 Ron was almost like a godlike, mythic figure. 254 00:14:41,298 --> 00:14:43,216 -He was on the... -Fire by Nite. 255 00:14:45,635 --> 00:14:49,806 Fire by Nite was like MTV on your Christian TV station. 256 00:14:49,889 --> 00:14:54,227 Rock bands, guests, and Ron Luce was like a guest host. 257 00:14:54,311 --> 00:14:56,563 He gets a segment called "What's Hot". 258 00:14:57,314 --> 00:15:00,066 He's a Christian culture taste maker. 259 00:15:00,150 --> 00:15:02,528 According to Rolling Stone magazine, Striper, the heavy metal Christian group, 260 00:15:02,611 --> 00:15:04,529 is now openly drinking and smoking. 261 00:15:04,613 --> 00:15:06,406 We're reporting all this so that you can really check out. 262 00:15:06,489 --> 00:15:10,160 If they were Christians, are they still? And what kind of message is coming across? 263 00:15:10,243 --> 00:15:13,413 He was a household name in my house growing up. 264 00:15:13,496 --> 00:15:16,082 He had a great mullet that just would move. 265 00:15:16,166 --> 00:15:19,628 He would shake, like, oh... "I got to tell you." 266 00:15:19,711 --> 00:15:22,089 I must go up to throw him down. I'm gonna rip him up and tear him down. 267 00:15:22,172 --> 00:15:24,550 And chew him up and shove him down and mess him up and mow him down. 268 00:15:24,633 --> 00:15:27,177 I mean, it was very, very, very exciting. 269 00:15:27,677 --> 00:15:29,346 We were smitten. 270 00:15:29,429 --> 00:15:31,598 He laid out the path to go. 271 00:15:31,681 --> 00:15:33,559 "Yeah, it's okay for you to be crazy for Jesus!" 272 00:15:33,642 --> 00:15:36,686 I live for God! And I won't back down! 273 00:15:36,770 --> 00:15:43,443 He is very focused on God, but also very like, "We need God." 274 00:15:43,526 --> 00:15:47,405 "You need to get serious about your faith!" 275 00:15:47,489 --> 00:15:49,699 Everything is so intense, and God is... 276 00:15:49,783 --> 00:15:51,910 I had never seen anything like that. 277 00:15:51,993 --> 00:15:55,789 He felt natural and real. He's angry youth. 278 00:15:56,414 --> 00:15:59,709 See if we can find any young people that can tell us who they think Jesus is. 279 00:15:59,793 --> 00:16:03,546 I think Ron's genius was as a media strategist, a showman. 280 00:16:03,630 --> 00:16:05,882 -Hey, how y'all doing tonight? -I'm doing good. 281 00:16:05,965 --> 00:16:07,509 Who do you think? Who's Jesus Christ? 282 00:16:07,592 --> 00:16:09,386 -Who is he? -He's my savior. 283 00:16:10,136 --> 00:16:12,555 I'm into God and stuff. Yeah. 284 00:16:12,639 --> 00:16:14,641 I don't really know what I consider Jesus Christ. 285 00:16:14,724 --> 00:16:16,685 I'm really not all into that. 286 00:16:16,768 --> 00:16:22,315 There are thousands and thousands of teenagers and young people 287 00:16:22,399 --> 00:16:24,025 that have had their life 288 00:16:24,109 --> 00:16:27,529 radically transformed, changed from dark to light. 289 00:16:27,612 --> 00:16:30,365 MTV is the poisoning of America's minds. 290 00:16:30,448 --> 00:16:34,744 It's poison. It gets in your brain, gets in your ears, and it's like cancer. 291 00:16:34,828 --> 00:16:37,831 It begins to tear at your heart. Tear at your self-esteem. 292 00:16:37,914 --> 00:16:40,875 Make you walk away from God, make you think he's not even real. 293 00:16:40,959 --> 00:16:45,046 -Ron hated MTV. -Hated MTV. 294 00:16:45,130 --> 00:16:46,715 He's talking about how bad MTV is. 295 00:16:46,798 --> 00:16:49,217 And I'm like, "Yeah, it must be really bad." 296 00:16:49,300 --> 00:16:54,681 We petitioned our parents, like, "We want to block MTV." 297 00:16:54,764 --> 00:16:57,392 We said, "Mom, we can't have this on our TV." 298 00:16:57,475 --> 00:16:58,977 We need to make a stand, 299 00:16:59,060 --> 00:17:03,857 and we need to make a stand against the cable company that's including it. 300 00:17:03,940 --> 00:17:05,608 -And so... -There's a boycott. 301 00:17:05,692 --> 00:17:07,110 God's looking for young people. 302 00:17:07,193 --> 00:17:09,780 Stand strong in your high school on Monday and Tuesday and Wednesday. 303 00:17:09,863 --> 00:17:10,863 It is possible. 304 00:17:12,449 --> 00:17:15,117 He and his wife, Katie, decided that they were going 305 00:17:15,201 --> 00:17:18,997 to begin their own venture called Teen Mania Ministries. 306 00:17:20,832 --> 00:17:25,795 With me today, I have Ron Luce of Teen Mania Ministries. 307 00:17:25,878 --> 00:17:26,921 -Hi, Ron. -Hi. 308 00:17:27,005 --> 00:17:28,548 I had to look here to get the name right. 309 00:17:28,631 --> 00:17:31,718 For people who aren't familiar with Teen Mania Ministries, 310 00:17:31,801 --> 00:17:33,678 tell us a little bit about what that's about. 311 00:17:33,762 --> 00:17:38,433 Well, Teen Mania, we take teenagers on summer mission trips all over the world. 312 00:17:38,516 --> 00:17:42,228 Last summer, we took like 1100 wild, turned on, radical teenagers... 313 00:17:42,312 --> 00:17:46,983 At the beginning, Teen Mania's goal was to get teenagers on mission trips, 314 00:17:47,066 --> 00:17:51,196 go out into the world and tell all these unreached people 315 00:17:51,279 --> 00:17:52,822 about the good news of Christ. 316 00:17:52,906 --> 00:17:55,075 Actually, we're gonna take the gospel to the highways and byways 317 00:17:55,158 --> 00:17:57,535 where people from all kinds of different walks of life come. 318 00:17:57,619 --> 00:18:01,164 Ron's belief was that once every nation had a chance 319 00:18:01,247 --> 00:18:04,834 to accept Jesus into their hearts, that Jesus would come back. 320 00:18:04,918 --> 00:18:08,463 So by sending everyone on these mission trips, he was speeding up that return. 321 00:18:08,546 --> 00:18:10,882 We're on a boat, and we're sailing all over the Black Sea 322 00:18:10,965 --> 00:18:13,676 with a bunch of wild Teen Maniacs on their free day. 323 00:18:13,760 --> 00:18:15,429 You guys having a great time here or what? 324 00:18:17,555 --> 00:18:20,225 Our very first summer, we took 60 kids to Guatemala. 325 00:18:20,308 --> 00:18:21,810 I'm right here in Mexico. 326 00:18:21,893 --> 00:18:25,021 We got teenagers witnessing Tarok worshiping Buddhists 327 00:18:25,104 --> 00:18:27,106 and winning them to the Lord. It's great, Blaine. 328 00:18:27,190 --> 00:18:28,107 Ron, I know... 329 00:18:28,191 --> 00:18:30,527 I would want to remind those of you interested in going with us this summer, 330 00:18:30,610 --> 00:18:32,570 Fire by Nite, Teen Mania summer missions trip. 331 00:18:32,654 --> 00:18:34,614 You better get your application in right away. 332 00:18:34,697 --> 00:18:39,327 They would travel from state to state, youth group to youth group. 333 00:18:39,410 --> 00:18:43,081 There would be a fire and brimstone message geared to teenagers, 334 00:18:43,164 --> 00:18:45,166 geared to that MTV generation. 335 00:18:45,792 --> 00:18:49,921 Then they would ask people to come on mission trips during the summer. 336 00:18:50,421 --> 00:18:54,926 Even when he's on a small stage, he understands that each youth pastor 337 00:18:55,009 --> 00:18:59,013 is a building block for the bigger stage he's going to move on to. 338 00:18:59,097 --> 00:19:02,183 God's looking for a young generation that'll see 339 00:19:02,267 --> 00:19:05,353 through the games that the world tries to shove down your throat. 340 00:19:05,436 --> 00:19:06,980 We're talking about a new generation 341 00:19:07,063 --> 00:19:09,566 that just doesn't try to get away with stuff anymore. 342 00:19:11,192 --> 00:19:13,111 He understood how to capture the youth 343 00:19:13,194 --> 00:19:16,447 because the wounds of his youth lived with him. 344 00:19:17,156 --> 00:19:19,617 I can't remember one good memory as a child. 345 00:19:19,701 --> 00:19:23,538 I mean, it was pretty bad. My parents were divorced when I was seven, 346 00:19:23,621 --> 00:19:27,083 and I lived with my mom for most of my life. 347 00:19:27,166 --> 00:19:28,585 There was abuse going on in the home, 348 00:19:28,668 --> 00:19:32,297 and sometimes I went to school with bruises and that kind of thing. 349 00:19:33,590 --> 00:19:35,758 He grew up rough. 350 00:19:35,842 --> 00:19:41,764 At 15, he ran away to find the father who had abandoned his family. 351 00:19:41,848 --> 00:19:45,393 And there's this idea, "If I can just find this good father..." 352 00:19:46,060 --> 00:19:48,021 It's the very first night I'm with my dad, 353 00:19:48,104 --> 00:19:50,357 he says, "Now, son, if you're going to try any of that pot stuff, 354 00:19:50,440 --> 00:19:52,859 you should be sure and bring it home, so we can all try it together." 355 00:19:52,942 --> 00:19:55,320 And so I brought it home, and we all smoked it together. 356 00:19:55,403 --> 00:19:59,574 And my life got worse until a friend of mine invited me to go to church. 357 00:20:00,950 --> 00:20:05,705 He describes this packed out little church, filled with energy. 358 00:20:05,788 --> 00:20:08,875 He encounters, as he says it, the angry Christ. 359 00:20:10,835 --> 00:20:12,337 He's excited. 360 00:20:12,420 --> 00:20:14,881 He comes back, he tells his friends, "They've been lying about Jesus." 361 00:20:14,964 --> 00:20:17,383 He's not a sissy. He's found this manly man. 362 00:20:17,467 --> 00:20:21,179 I came back the next week and totally committed my life to the Lord 363 00:20:21,262 --> 00:20:25,808 and walked away from all the worldliness and just got on fire for God. 364 00:20:25,892 --> 00:20:30,229 He's making himself a soldier of Christ, until he comes home one day. 365 00:20:30,313 --> 00:20:33,274 And as he tells it, all his things, his barbells, 366 00:20:33,358 --> 00:20:35,818 his car magazines, are out on the street. 367 00:20:35,902 --> 00:20:39,906 And his stepmother has given his dad an ultimatum. 368 00:20:39,989 --> 00:20:42,325 She says, "I don't want a Jesus freak around." 369 00:20:44,786 --> 00:20:46,955 If you're feeling broken and lonely, 370 00:20:47,038 --> 00:20:49,332 maybe you've run away from home, and you feel all alone. 371 00:20:49,415 --> 00:20:50,875 If your family's falling apart, 372 00:20:50,959 --> 00:20:53,079 you feel like your parents don't give a rip about you. 373 00:20:53,795 --> 00:20:55,755 He's telling this story of being rejected 374 00:20:55,838 --> 00:20:58,132 by both his mother and his father. 375 00:20:58,216 --> 00:21:00,843 I want you to know something, that God loves you. 376 00:21:01,636 --> 00:21:04,180 The Bible says that in your mother's womb, he created you. 377 00:21:04,263 --> 00:21:05,640 He knit you together. 378 00:21:05,723 --> 00:21:09,978 The family he finds for him is the one that he built, 379 00:21:10,061 --> 00:21:11,854 ultimately of his own followers. 380 00:21:17,318 --> 00:21:21,781 I was so proud of so many of you who committed to destroy 381 00:21:21,864 --> 00:21:23,866 all of your secular music. 382 00:21:25,994 --> 00:21:30,289 You got to lose some of your friends that are causing you to be lukewarm. 383 00:21:30,373 --> 00:21:35,962 It's time for war, no more Mr. Nice Guy. It's time for war. 384 00:21:38,297 --> 00:21:41,884 It's time to fight and win the war for the souls of man. 385 00:21:41,968 --> 00:21:47,765 It grew very quickly to larger churches, and then into stadiums. 386 00:21:48,349 --> 00:21:52,395 Teen Mania was really a bridge at a critical moment in American life. 387 00:21:54,230 --> 00:21:57,984 He was trying to build what he described as this army of God, 388 00:21:58,526 --> 00:22:02,739 this core of young folks who were extra committed. 389 00:22:03,573 --> 00:22:07,535 They were, in his vernacular, soldiers for God. 390 00:22:07,618 --> 00:22:10,246 They say, "Man, it was those young people of the nineties. 391 00:22:10,329 --> 00:22:14,083 They did it, man. The gospel to the ends of the earth. They did it." 392 00:22:16,169 --> 00:22:19,130 They then branded that experience and said, 393 00:22:19,213 --> 00:22:22,050 "Oh, this isn't just Ron Luce coming to speak 394 00:22:22,133 --> 00:22:24,385 at your youth group as a guest speaker. 395 00:22:24,469 --> 00:22:29,140 This is now an event that we will invite multiple youth groups to. 396 00:22:29,223 --> 00:22:32,477 We will come to your town. It is a tour, it is an event." 397 00:22:32,560 --> 00:22:34,604 And then it becomes Acquire the Fire. 398 00:22:34,687 --> 00:22:37,148 I remember being at my youth pastor's house, 399 00:22:37,231 --> 00:22:40,693 and him pulling out a VHS tape, putting it in and saying, 400 00:22:40,777 --> 00:22:42,361 "Let's watch this." 401 00:22:42,445 --> 00:22:44,614 And it was an Acquire the Fire promotional video. 402 00:22:45,823 --> 00:22:47,784 Y'all need to give it everything today. 403 00:22:47,867 --> 00:22:51,913 Welcome to Acquire the Fire! 404 00:22:51,996 --> 00:22:54,582 The Acquire the Fire is not just a bunch of singing and preaching. 405 00:22:54,665 --> 00:22:57,335 We got bombs and video clips and... 406 00:22:58,336 --> 00:23:00,880 We got music, a live band, live sketches. 407 00:23:02,924 --> 00:23:06,094 It's like a 21st century presentation of the gospel. 408 00:23:06,177 --> 00:23:09,764 This is like a Christian atomic explosion with teenagers. 409 00:23:11,557 --> 00:23:13,810 I didn't really know what to expect. 410 00:23:13,893 --> 00:23:16,562 Everyone who talked about it, everyone who'd been to it, 411 00:23:16,646 --> 00:23:19,357 was excited to go back. 412 00:23:22,568 --> 00:23:25,321 I think I was 12, the first Acquire the Fire that I went to. 413 00:23:25,863 --> 00:23:27,782 These went on all over America. 414 00:23:27,865 --> 00:23:31,119 I believe there was about 60 of them per year. 415 00:23:34,539 --> 00:23:37,542 I think I went to my first Acquire the Fire when I was 11. 416 00:23:37,625 --> 00:23:39,544 I went to a lot of Acquire the Fires as a kid. 417 00:23:39,627 --> 00:23:41,629 It was like the thing to do with your youth group. 418 00:23:41,712 --> 00:23:44,507 You're going to see these cool bands that you've never heard before. 419 00:23:44,590 --> 00:23:47,927 You're just immersed in music. 420 00:23:48,010 --> 00:23:51,139 I'm a professional musician, probably because I went. 421 00:23:51,222 --> 00:23:52,306 Loved all of it. 422 00:23:52,390 --> 00:23:55,768 My first year, we had seats in the very front row. 423 00:23:56,435 --> 00:23:57,812 Friday night was this... 424 00:23:58,521 --> 00:24:02,316 Ten, nine, eight... 425 00:24:02,400 --> 00:24:06,070 The lights went down. There was this dramatic music. 426 00:24:08,906 --> 00:24:11,284 Remember, some Acquire the Fires, he would show up on a motorcycle. 427 00:24:11,367 --> 00:24:14,078 -Yeah, that was cool. -He's going to make an entrance. 428 00:24:14,162 --> 00:24:20,084 Ron Luce came on stage, and he said something to the effect of, 429 00:24:20,168 --> 00:24:23,004 "Are you ready to rock your face off for Jesus?" 430 00:24:26,841 --> 00:24:30,428 Acquire the Fire is like Coachella for youth groups. 431 00:24:30,511 --> 00:24:31,846 -Oh, man. -Christian youth groups. 432 00:24:35,641 --> 00:24:37,602 I remember the Newsboys played. 433 00:24:37,685 --> 00:24:42,190 Audio Adrenaline, Five Iron Frenzy, all the big Christian bands. 434 00:24:43,316 --> 00:24:48,321 The music was such a big part of it because the music inspires emotion. 435 00:24:48,404 --> 00:24:51,240 I mean, you see people in the Taylor Swift concert sobbing. 436 00:24:51,324 --> 00:24:54,076 That is the same feeling we had all the time, 437 00:24:54,160 --> 00:24:56,162 singing to actual God. 438 00:24:57,622 --> 00:25:01,042 I loved the dancing and the screaming. Everyone's shouting together. 439 00:25:01,125 --> 00:25:05,171 Music's playing, lights are going, there's been fire shooting off. 440 00:25:05,254 --> 00:25:09,133 It was so much different than regular church or any other teen event 441 00:25:09,217 --> 00:25:12,720 that I'd gone to before, that was very corny and cheesy. 442 00:25:12,803 --> 00:25:14,263 This was not hokey at all. 443 00:25:17,642 --> 00:25:19,352 The other thing that's making it fun 444 00:25:19,435 --> 00:25:25,483 is that there really were kids producing these events. Stadium shows. 445 00:25:26,609 --> 00:25:30,780 I mean, every role that you can think of was being filled by teenagers. 446 00:25:30,863 --> 00:25:32,740 An army of interns. 447 00:25:33,324 --> 00:25:35,785 They were performing, setting up, tearing down, selling merchandise, 448 00:25:35,868 --> 00:25:38,037 connecting with the youth pastors. 449 00:25:38,120 --> 00:25:43,960 Pyrotechnics were the responsibility of an 18-year-old kid, which is wild. 450 00:25:44,043 --> 00:25:47,838 Basically, I turn some keys and flip the switches, and it all blows up. 451 00:25:49,799 --> 00:25:53,219 They were highly trained, of course. 452 00:25:53,302 --> 00:25:54,720 Interns were the coolest people. 453 00:25:54,804 --> 00:25:57,682 They've got the headsets. If you're 13 years old, 454 00:25:57,765 --> 00:25:59,892 that's certified, that's official. 455 00:25:59,976 --> 00:26:01,519 Interns, you guys are awesome. 456 00:26:01,602 --> 00:26:03,854 -Hey, interns! -Thank you, all you interns. 457 00:26:03,938 --> 00:26:06,774 I don't know you guys, obviously, but I love you all. 458 00:26:06,857 --> 00:26:10,319 I'm interning next year with you. With you! 459 00:26:12,738 --> 00:26:17,285 It's an old cliche to say that rock and roll is like a religion, 460 00:26:17,368 --> 00:26:20,538 but what it is, is a mass ritual. 461 00:26:22,415 --> 00:26:24,500 But this is better than a concert 462 00:26:24,583 --> 00:26:27,336 because he's giving you the full range of experience. 463 00:26:27,920 --> 00:26:29,672 You know, a stadium full of teenagers. 464 00:26:29,755 --> 00:26:33,968 The air is thick with pheromones, and so many things are happening. 465 00:26:34,051 --> 00:26:35,970 We can feel all these emotions. 466 00:26:36,053 --> 00:26:37,722 It's such a visceral experience. 467 00:26:37,805 --> 00:26:41,809 You get goosebumps or chills, and you think that's the Holy Spirit. 468 00:26:43,728 --> 00:26:46,063 Ron Luce's preaching was very dynamic and exciting. 469 00:26:47,273 --> 00:26:49,859 This morning, I'm going to ask you to do something very courageous. 470 00:26:49,942 --> 00:26:54,071 It's time to have a passion and a fervor that is so deep seated in your heart. 471 00:26:54,155 --> 00:26:56,741 God, I love you, and nothing will shake me. 472 00:26:56,824 --> 00:26:59,076 I hate what's evil. I hate what's wrong. 473 00:26:59,160 --> 00:27:00,995 He's looking for an army, people. 474 00:27:01,078 --> 00:27:03,248 You just knew that weekend, your heart was gonna beat faster, 475 00:27:03,331 --> 00:27:04,290 the excitement was there. 476 00:27:04,373 --> 00:27:07,877 I was always looking forward to it because of that energy that he always brought. 477 00:27:07,960 --> 00:27:10,171 That's my commitment to you, and when you do that... 478 00:27:10,254 --> 00:27:13,090 Ron Luce gave me permission to be passionate. 479 00:27:13,174 --> 00:27:16,302 And we'll just get to where it's just insane. 480 00:27:16,385 --> 00:27:20,348 We'll get to where we're just so full of God, it's insane. 481 00:27:20,431 --> 00:27:22,933 My heart is so full of God that... 482 00:27:27,396 --> 00:27:29,106 Thank you for everything you do. 483 00:27:30,983 --> 00:27:31,984 I'm proud of you. 484 00:27:33,569 --> 00:27:36,447 It was the same kind of star struck feeling you get for a celebrity. 485 00:27:36,530 --> 00:27:38,366 -Yeah. -Just, oh, my gosh. 486 00:27:38,449 --> 00:27:42,745 I'm in the same presence as this person that everyone thinks is cool. 487 00:27:42,828 --> 00:27:44,288 Everyone thinks is important. 488 00:27:45,539 --> 00:27:47,792 After my first Acquire the Fire, 489 00:27:47,875 --> 00:27:53,381 I have a distinct memory of laying on the floor in my cousin's bedroom, 490 00:27:53,464 --> 00:27:56,926 and I am telling her my whole life is changed. 491 00:27:57,009 --> 00:27:58,010 "It's not just hype." 492 00:27:58,094 --> 00:28:00,094 That was what they always said. It's not just hype. 493 00:28:02,556 --> 00:28:07,436 And I found a place where I felt like they understood the fact that... 494 00:28:08,479 --> 00:28:10,523 I cared deeply about... 495 00:28:11,649 --> 00:28:12,775 ...saving the world, 496 00:28:12,858 --> 00:28:15,903 and they were saying, "Yes, we can help you do that." 497 00:28:15,986 --> 00:28:18,614 And you can have this deep meaning. 498 00:28:18,697 --> 00:28:21,034 I think that was the thing that Acquire the Fire really did well, 499 00:28:21,117 --> 00:28:22,952 was it always inspired teenagers. 500 00:28:25,371 --> 00:28:27,832 It gave a sense of purpose and a sense of belonging, 501 00:28:30,000 --> 00:28:32,837 which is a basic human need. 502 00:28:34,046 --> 00:28:36,882 Think deeply about what I'm about to ask you. 503 00:28:38,426 --> 00:28:40,219 And then comes the altar call. 504 00:28:46,308 --> 00:28:51,897 It'd be a darkened auditorium. There'd be a bright, white glowing cross. 505 00:28:51,981 --> 00:28:54,483 Ron Luce would have everybody turn around in their seats, 506 00:28:54,567 --> 00:28:56,402 and be on their knees, praying. 507 00:28:56,485 --> 00:28:59,905 He would build it up and say, "Okay, if you're making a commitment..." 508 00:29:00,739 --> 00:29:03,409 I'm asking you to put your old self on the cross 509 00:29:04,076 --> 00:29:08,497 because only when you die, that you really begin to live. 510 00:29:10,708 --> 00:29:16,422 It was cry out in the darkness, "I want the cross." 511 00:29:17,756 --> 00:29:20,050 Take up your cross now. 512 00:29:23,679 --> 00:29:28,100 I want the cross! I want the cross! 513 00:29:33,397 --> 00:29:35,816 You need to get right with God tonight. 514 00:29:35,900 --> 00:29:39,612 This is your opportunity, right now. 515 00:29:41,071 --> 00:29:43,240 Things will get really serious. 516 00:29:43,866 --> 00:29:46,619 And if you know right now, that in your heart, 517 00:29:46,702 --> 00:29:49,288 the spirit of God is telling you that you should go, 518 00:29:49,371 --> 00:29:51,249 that you should help speed up the return of Christ, 519 00:29:51,332 --> 00:29:54,012 Right now, I want you to lift your hands, lift your hands right now. 520 00:29:56,337 --> 00:29:57,880 I remember crying a lot, 521 00:29:57,963 --> 00:30:01,926 to be surrounded by thousands of other people who felt the same way as I did. 522 00:30:02,009 --> 00:30:03,636 The excitement was really there. 523 00:30:04,637 --> 00:30:09,975 If you feel the Holy Spirit tugging on your heart, come forward. 524 00:30:11,936 --> 00:30:13,938 Goes into the whisper. 525 00:30:14,730 --> 00:30:18,192 I was on my knees, on the floor, weeping. 526 00:30:18,901 --> 00:30:22,905 And you had kids crying, you had people bringing things to the front. 527 00:30:22,988 --> 00:30:25,199 At one point I think we found birth control pills. 528 00:30:25,282 --> 00:30:28,244 We found things that people were giving up, 529 00:30:28,327 --> 00:30:30,204 the things that they were giving up. 530 00:30:33,082 --> 00:30:35,918 When you're sitting there, and they're talking about 531 00:30:36,001 --> 00:30:38,963 "God wants to forgive you for all the bad things that you've done," 532 00:30:40,005 --> 00:30:43,467 and the thing is, at 12, I hadn't done anything bad really. 533 00:30:45,469 --> 00:30:48,472 But I am just bawling over it, 534 00:30:48,556 --> 00:30:52,184 and begging God to forgive me for not being good enough. 535 00:30:53,060 --> 00:30:55,437 He has seen every tear you've cried. 536 00:30:57,022 --> 00:31:01,569 He's going to put you back together. I know, because he put me together. 537 00:31:05,489 --> 00:31:06,532 You know, acquire the fire. 538 00:31:06,615 --> 00:31:10,119 When God sets you on fire, you are his vessel. 539 00:31:11,161 --> 00:31:15,749 You had all these kids here ready to change the world and do something good. 540 00:31:18,002 --> 00:31:22,590 We were all ready to do whatever it takes by any means necessary 541 00:31:22,673 --> 00:31:23,674 to just save the world. 542 00:31:25,593 --> 00:31:28,429 So what do you do now that you're all fired up? 543 00:31:28,512 --> 00:31:30,764 Take your fire and change the world. 544 00:31:30,848 --> 00:31:33,809 Teen Mania's global expeditions take young people just like you 545 00:31:33,892 --> 00:31:35,372 all around the world, every summer... 546 00:31:35,769 --> 00:31:40,065 After the altar call, they would talk about summer missions. 547 00:31:40,149 --> 00:31:43,902 Anyone who was interested in going would leave the auditorium. 548 00:31:43,986 --> 00:31:47,489 You would go, leave your seat, go to that particular room. 549 00:31:47,573 --> 00:31:49,408 They would show a video about global expeditions. 550 00:31:49,491 --> 00:31:51,619 God wants to use you, not just everybody else. 551 00:31:51,702 --> 00:31:53,704 He wants to use you, not just to rescue your youth group, 552 00:31:53,787 --> 00:31:55,706 not just other people, other Christians in general. 553 00:31:55,789 --> 00:31:58,042 He wants to use you to change the world. 554 00:31:58,125 --> 00:32:00,586 Get an application, fill it out, choose a couple countries 555 00:32:00,669 --> 00:32:02,713 you might want to go to and get that thing in the mail. 556 00:32:02,796 --> 00:32:08,385 The project is spreading this movement, which requires funds. 557 00:32:08,469 --> 00:32:09,929 And let me tell you what, most young people say, 558 00:32:10,012 --> 00:32:12,723 "Well, I can never get the money." You can get the money. 559 00:32:12,806 --> 00:32:13,974 Anybody can get the money. 560 00:32:14,058 --> 00:32:15,851 God doesn't have a problem getting you the money. 561 00:32:15,934 --> 00:32:18,395 You just got to find out who's pocket is that money in. 562 00:32:19,063 --> 00:32:21,815 -I'm going to Paraguay. -I'm going to Nicaragua. 563 00:32:21,899 --> 00:32:24,360 -Albania! -Chile! 564 00:32:24,443 --> 00:32:26,362 I'm going to Ukraine. 565 00:32:26,445 --> 00:32:28,614 I'm going to El Salvador! 566 00:32:28,697 --> 00:32:32,201 Join Teen Mania for a trip around the world! 567 00:32:36,163 --> 00:32:39,792 Teen Mania and Acquire the Fire gave us the autonomy to say, 568 00:32:39,875 --> 00:32:43,629 "Oh, I can go to a place that's not organized around my parents." 569 00:32:43,712 --> 00:32:49,176 And then they say, "Do you want to go around the world without your parents? 570 00:32:49,259 --> 00:32:52,971 With the coolest 23 year old you've ever met?" 571 00:32:53,055 --> 00:32:56,433 Yes, I want to go to that. I want to go to there. 572 00:32:56,517 --> 00:32:58,560 Go for it! Get out of your chair. 573 00:32:58,644 --> 00:33:01,230 Get out of the country, leave town, get on a plane. 574 00:33:01,313 --> 00:33:03,941 Go on a mission trip. It'll fill you. It'll chill you. 575 00:33:04,024 --> 00:33:06,736 It'll thrill you, it'll turn you upside down and then right side up again. 576 00:33:06,819 --> 00:33:10,280 It'll give you a vision, a sense of destiny and purpose for your life. 577 00:33:10,364 --> 00:33:13,283 Go, ye, to all the world and preach the gospel 578 00:33:13,367 --> 00:33:15,369 and make disciples of the nations. 579 00:33:15,452 --> 00:33:17,204 So that was the peak, right? 580 00:33:17,287 --> 00:33:20,249 It was very spiritual, and it was also kind of awesome. 581 00:33:22,876 --> 00:33:29,049 So Teen Mania Ministries invited Dad to write a song and film a music video 582 00:33:29,133 --> 00:33:31,885 to promote global expeditions recruitment. 583 00:33:31,969 --> 00:33:38,308 ♪ I have a heart, I have a voice I have a testimony ♪ 584 00:33:38,392 --> 00:33:43,605 ♪ I am a follower of Christ He is the one and only ♪ 585 00:33:43,689 --> 00:33:45,274 I could sing it. 586 00:33:45,357 --> 00:33:49,194 ♪ He is the one and only way to heaven ♪ 587 00:33:49,278 --> 00:33:53,741 ♪ I want everyone to know, oh ♪ 588 00:33:53,824 --> 00:33:59,705 -♪ I will tell the world ♪ -♪ He is returning ♪ 589 00:34:00,289 --> 00:34:06,462 ♪ Until everyone on earth has heard ♪ 590 00:34:08,630 --> 00:34:11,800 ♪ I will tell the world ♪ 591 00:34:16,597 --> 00:34:20,184 My first experience on a Teen Mania trip was going to Bolivia. 592 00:34:23,312 --> 00:34:27,315 Jesus has such an impact here. It's incredible. It's incredible. 593 00:34:28,108 --> 00:34:31,445 My parents were trying to convince me to go only for one month, 594 00:34:31,527 --> 00:34:35,866 and I was like, "No, no, no, I'm serious. I go for two months in the summer." 595 00:34:37,284 --> 00:34:39,286 I was like, "More people will be saved." 596 00:34:41,121 --> 00:34:42,623 I went to Juarez, Mexico. 597 00:34:42,706 --> 00:34:45,375 I was an interpreter at a children's orphanage. 598 00:34:46,251 --> 00:34:50,672 The main way of evangelizing on these trips is through dramas. 599 00:34:50,755 --> 00:34:54,259 We have costumes and makeup, and we act out a drama 600 00:34:54,342 --> 00:34:57,763 that's set to music and the native language of whatever country we're in. 601 00:34:57,846 --> 00:35:00,057 You see, this drama is a picture of the truth. 602 00:35:01,141 --> 00:35:03,769 I was playing the Pirate King, a lead. 603 00:35:04,770 --> 00:35:07,439 I was the Latin dancer. 604 00:35:07,523 --> 00:35:11,151 My character follows Jesus, but not before getting beaten by the devil. 605 00:35:12,444 --> 00:35:14,655 There was always a drama with a Jesus character. 606 00:35:15,239 --> 00:35:18,742 Every picture I've ever seen of anybody's mission trip, 607 00:35:18,826 --> 00:35:21,161 the Jesus character is always a blond, good looking boy. 608 00:35:25,165 --> 00:35:27,918 I was a Christian mime, the mime troupe. 609 00:35:29,211 --> 00:35:30,796 And the mimes are the set pieces, 610 00:35:30,879 --> 00:35:33,465 and so they've got to be like completely still. 611 00:35:34,341 --> 00:35:38,428 During dramas, the team leaders would tell the mimes, "You cannot move." 612 00:35:38,512 --> 00:35:41,723 Like if you move to wipe sweat out of your eye, 613 00:35:41,807 --> 00:35:43,934 you could distract someone, and then they won't hear 614 00:35:44,017 --> 00:35:46,257 the message of the gospel, and then they will go to hell. 615 00:35:48,564 --> 00:35:49,648 "Do you want somebody to go to hell 616 00:35:49,731 --> 00:35:51,851 just because you couldn't hold it for another minute?" 617 00:35:53,318 --> 00:35:56,947 That's what's going through your mind when you're holding these poses. 618 00:35:57,030 --> 00:35:59,783 The pressure literally of the world is like on your shoulders, 619 00:35:59,867 --> 00:36:02,369 and you're like, "I can't move. I got to hold up." 620 00:36:04,329 --> 00:36:08,917 I internalized the idea of people are going to hell. 621 00:36:09,001 --> 00:36:12,754 It is eternal suffering beyond your possible comprehension. 622 00:36:12,838 --> 00:36:15,799 You can actually do something to stop that from happening. 623 00:36:15,883 --> 00:36:21,597 And so the only moral and ethical decision was to participate in this movement. 624 00:36:22,806 --> 00:36:24,433 Numbers were very important. 625 00:36:24,516 --> 00:36:26,435 They wanted to report at the end of the summer 626 00:36:26,518 --> 00:36:28,645 -how many people had been saved. -Yes! 627 00:36:28,729 --> 00:36:30,063 Look at the difference you made. 628 00:36:30,147 --> 00:36:32,816 In four ministry days, we had over 700 salvations. 629 00:36:32,900 --> 00:36:34,568 Over 900 people were saved. 630 00:36:35,611 --> 00:36:37,613 Ron was always telling his kids, 631 00:36:37,696 --> 00:36:39,573 "You're world changers, you're world changers." 632 00:36:39,656 --> 00:36:42,034 For a lot of them, it worked. They believed it. 633 00:36:43,118 --> 00:36:46,079 Everyone in the village came up, and the whole village was saved. 634 00:36:46,163 --> 00:36:48,665 They were tearing down their temples and like... 635 00:36:48,749 --> 00:36:51,835 building churches in their places. And it was just amazing! 636 00:36:51,919 --> 00:36:57,382 All of the millions of people who weren't so lucky to see a mime troupe of teens, 637 00:36:57,466 --> 00:37:00,552 I guess they're all just burning in hell for all eternity. 638 00:37:00,636 --> 00:37:01,970 Sorry about that. 639 00:37:03,639 --> 00:37:06,016 We also smuggled Bibles. 640 00:37:06,099 --> 00:37:08,852 Some girls would have dresses, and they'd have little pockets. 641 00:37:08,936 --> 00:37:10,437 They put them under their dresses. 642 00:37:10,520 --> 00:37:12,898 Some people would put them in bags, under things. 643 00:37:12,981 --> 00:37:15,734 What kind of things have you seen happen during your trip this year? 644 00:37:15,817 --> 00:37:17,861 We have seen tremendous miracles of healings, 645 00:37:17,945 --> 00:37:21,531 eyes that were all messed up, coming clear and legs growing out. 646 00:37:21,615 --> 00:37:27,621 It was just so neat that God used us to pray for this lady, and she could see. 647 00:37:27,704 --> 00:37:28,704 It was really neat. 648 00:37:30,332 --> 00:37:33,627 There was a woman, one of her legs was much shorter than the other, 649 00:37:33,710 --> 00:37:37,464 and someone in our group said, "We're supposed to pray for her leg to grow out." 650 00:37:39,091 --> 00:37:40,884 And we had been praying. 651 00:37:41,677 --> 00:37:44,846 We're so intense, and we were praying, but God wasn't healing her. 652 00:37:44,930 --> 00:37:47,057 And then you go, "When do we stop?" 653 00:37:49,267 --> 00:37:52,980 I just remember feeling so embarrassed that her leg didn't grow back. 654 00:37:53,063 --> 00:37:56,733 Why didn't it happen? I had faith, I guess I didn't have enough faith. 655 00:37:57,567 --> 00:37:59,403 And I felt so guilty. 656 00:38:00,445 --> 00:38:03,657 Sacrifice itself became almost a goal. 657 00:38:03,740 --> 00:38:06,410 So we would have the street dramas where people are mock-beaten. 658 00:38:08,286 --> 00:38:11,289 And you would get students who were doing like ascetic elements. 659 00:38:11,373 --> 00:38:14,293 We would have students who say, "Well, I'm not going to wear my kneepads." 660 00:38:16,086 --> 00:38:19,881 "I'm going to go hard for the gospel. I'm going to physically suffer more." 661 00:38:21,341 --> 00:38:24,761 The motto was, "Die empty every day." 662 00:38:28,432 --> 00:38:31,143 This is a very safe trip for your young people. 663 00:38:31,226 --> 00:38:35,105 I have three children and just had my third little child just a few weeks ago. 664 00:38:35,188 --> 00:38:37,691 And I'm very conscientious about sending, 665 00:38:37,774 --> 00:38:40,110 parents sending their babies to another country. 666 00:38:40,193 --> 00:38:43,447 And I go to these different countries during the summer, and I see young people 667 00:38:43,530 --> 00:38:46,033 just like yours on the mission field, 13 and 14 and 15 years old. 668 00:38:46,116 --> 00:38:49,202 And I go, you know, somebody trusted God enough 669 00:38:49,286 --> 00:38:52,789 to let us have their babies for a month, to let God use them. 670 00:38:52,873 --> 00:38:54,374 And we don't take that trust lightly. 671 00:38:56,126 --> 00:38:59,880 I was in rural India. I started feeling really sick. 672 00:39:01,131 --> 00:39:04,259 But we had this book called Where There Is No Doctor. 673 00:39:04,968 --> 00:39:07,471 So it says this is how you dress a wound. This is how you fix a broken bone. 674 00:39:07,554 --> 00:39:10,557 Here's how you do a head injury. Here's how you deliver a baby. 675 00:39:10,640 --> 00:39:13,852 And the book says, "It might be appendicitis." 676 00:39:17,272 --> 00:39:20,817 I had emergency appendectomy in Hyderabad, India. 677 00:39:20,901 --> 00:39:24,863 The approach to my appendicitis was, let's say it was vintage. 678 00:39:25,572 --> 00:39:29,034 They opened me up about nine inches, take out my appendix, 679 00:39:29,117 --> 00:39:32,871 sew it back up, that proceeds to get massively infected. 680 00:39:32,954 --> 00:39:34,623 And I develop a case of Mersa. 681 00:39:37,167 --> 00:39:42,089 I'm leaking infection, but Mom and Dad aren't getting like real information. 682 00:39:42,172 --> 00:39:43,172 "Oh, Phil's fine." 683 00:39:45,550 --> 00:39:48,804 But there's a parent volunteer who had been taking care of him, 684 00:39:48,887 --> 00:39:51,348 and she got a hold of our mom and said, 685 00:39:51,431 --> 00:39:55,060 "You need to meet him at the airport with an ambulance 686 00:39:56,394 --> 00:39:59,815 and go to the hospital as soon as he arrives in the country. 687 00:39:59,898 --> 00:40:02,234 And eventually they put me on commercial flight 688 00:40:02,317 --> 00:40:04,444 at the end of the month to fly back with the team. 689 00:40:04,528 --> 00:40:06,613 And I spent three weeks in the hospital after that, 690 00:40:07,489 --> 00:40:11,284 with a 600 milliliter abscess that had to be drained. 691 00:40:11,368 --> 00:40:16,289 My doctor, his baritone, just goes, "What the hell were you doing in India?" 692 00:40:16,373 --> 00:40:20,544 And I was like, "I was telling people about Jesus." 693 00:40:22,045 --> 00:40:26,925 The call went out to pray. Ray Boltz's son might be dying. 694 00:40:30,053 --> 00:40:32,180 So Ron Luce comes by to visit. 695 00:40:33,890 --> 00:40:35,308 You know, the guy in charge. 696 00:40:35,392 --> 00:40:40,147 I was very excited, even in my fevered, bedraggled state. 697 00:40:40,230 --> 00:40:44,693 I had this little guest book, and he writes Galatians six. 698 00:40:44,776 --> 00:40:46,862 "I bare on my body the marks of Christ." 699 00:40:47,612 --> 00:40:49,948 And he changes it to "the marks of the world changer". 700 00:40:51,658 --> 00:40:55,078 And it's silly to get like choked up a lot over it. 701 00:40:55,162 --> 00:40:57,289 But I thought, "Oh! 702 00:40:58,373 --> 00:41:01,960 Like this has value, this suffering has worth." 703 00:41:04,462 --> 00:41:06,923 They tell you you're elite, you're changing the world. 704 00:41:07,674 --> 00:41:12,012 The real outcome of these trips, they are creating soldiers. 705 00:41:12,095 --> 00:41:15,056 Eventually, I mean, you just got to say, 706 00:41:15,140 --> 00:41:18,351 "Okay, God, whatever you have coming for me." 707 00:41:18,435 --> 00:41:20,312 I felt like I'm going to go further and harder. 708 00:41:20,395 --> 00:41:21,980 I'm going to give more of myself. 709 00:41:22,063 --> 00:41:26,693 And so I started saying, "Oh, I think I want to do the internship." 710 00:41:31,948 --> 00:41:35,994 The Honor Academy, a one year internship for committed young adults 711 00:41:36,077 --> 00:41:40,457 who are driven to find their purpose and make a difference with their lives. 712 00:41:40,540 --> 00:41:43,960 The three main branches of Teen Mania were the Acquire the Fire events, 713 00:41:44,044 --> 00:41:46,421 Global Expeditions. That was where they got a lot of their revenue. 714 00:41:46,504 --> 00:41:49,257 And then the third part was the Honor Academy. 715 00:41:51,051 --> 00:41:53,887 I think a real pivot point for Teen Mania and for Ron Luce 716 00:41:53,970 --> 00:41:57,432 was the development of what he calls the Honor Academy, 717 00:41:57,515 --> 00:42:00,518 this sort of training school, this finishing school for his elite. 718 00:42:00,602 --> 00:42:03,521 This is a period in time when televangelists decide, 719 00:42:03,605 --> 00:42:04,940 "I need my own college." 720 00:42:05,023 --> 00:42:10,904 Liberty University and Regent University, and Ron is thinking along those lines. 721 00:42:11,905 --> 00:42:15,116 So Teen Mania Campus was in Lindale, Texas, 722 00:42:15,200 --> 00:42:17,619 which is in the middle of nowhere. 723 00:42:17,702 --> 00:42:19,996 It was this enormous East Texas property. 724 00:42:21,039 --> 00:42:24,542 He's training young people, but he also needs a core of labor. 725 00:42:24,626 --> 00:42:28,296 I mean, there's just real practical work that needs doing. 726 00:42:28,380 --> 00:42:29,339 So he'll get students. 727 00:42:29,422 --> 00:42:34,177 You're going to go there to learn, and you're also going to go there 728 00:42:34,261 --> 00:42:37,681 to produce Teen Mania, and you're going to pay for that opportunity. 729 00:42:38,181 --> 00:42:41,559 -It's an internship. -When I graduated high school, 730 00:42:41,643 --> 00:42:45,772 it just seemed like the natural next step to me to go to the Honor Academy. 731 00:42:45,855 --> 00:42:48,525 It's going to be like Acquire the Fire 24-7. 732 00:42:48,608 --> 00:42:50,026 It's going to be awesome. 733 00:42:50,694 --> 00:42:53,989 Going to a place where everybody else was like me and was just as obsessed 734 00:42:54,072 --> 00:42:58,827 with being bold for Jesus and being on fire and changing the world. 735 00:42:58,910 --> 00:43:02,080 Those were my people. That's who I wanted to be with. 736 00:43:03,123 --> 00:43:08,253 But the idea that this could somehow be bad for me, 737 00:43:09,087 --> 00:43:11,881 that doesn't even really enter your mind. 738 00:43:13,341 --> 00:43:17,846 And I got there, and it was definitely different than what I expected. 739 00:43:27,939 --> 00:43:32,319 But let me ask you something, what are you willing to give up for the Lord? 740 00:43:32,402 --> 00:43:35,155 What is your life? 741 00:43:35,864 --> 00:43:38,783 The time may come when God is going to ask us all to give up 742 00:43:38,867 --> 00:43:43,204 the comforts that we enjoy and go to live for him in a different way. 743 00:43:43,288 --> 00:43:45,248 We don't know what is down the road, 744 00:43:45,332 --> 00:43:48,043 but it seems like some heartache and suffering is in store. 745 00:43:54,924 --> 00:43:58,303 We were believers, but we knew something was weird. 746 00:43:58,386 --> 00:44:00,805 I was a teenage telemarketer, for Jesus. 747 00:44:01,431 --> 00:44:04,559 It was the same lesson plan every class, obedience. 748 00:44:04,642 --> 00:44:06,519 There was no questioning of authority. 749 00:44:07,145 --> 00:44:09,689 Suddenly, some people in military garb told us to run. 750 00:44:10,857 --> 00:44:11,816 That was crazy. 751 00:44:13,902 --> 00:44:19,032 I didn't know that Teen Mania had done anything wrong for a long time. 752 00:44:19,783 --> 00:44:21,826 I thought that I was the problem. 753 00:44:21,910 --> 00:44:25,538 They were taught terror and taught to pass it along. 754 00:44:25,622 --> 00:44:30,168 We were at war. We were going to rise up with a battle cry. 755 00:44:30,251 --> 00:44:32,128 Let me hear your battle cry tonight. 756 00:44:33,713 --> 00:44:36,966 I didn't hear you, let me hear your battle cry tonight! 757 00:44:37,050 --> 00:44:40,178 I started seeing Ron align more with the political movement. 758 00:44:40,261 --> 00:44:43,848 We've got virgin, teenage America, being raped on the sidewalk. 759 00:44:43,932 --> 00:44:44,849 If you build that army, 760 00:44:44,933 --> 00:44:47,602 eventually you have to give them their marching orders. 761 00:44:47,685 --> 00:44:51,981 We're here as teenagers just to stand up, as the leaders of this cultural war. 762 00:44:52,065 --> 00:44:54,776 When you join the military, you lose your whole identity. 763 00:44:54,859 --> 00:44:56,861 Well, the same thing happens when we're in Christ. 764 00:44:56,945 --> 00:44:58,863 We need to strip off the old identity. 765 00:44:58,947 --> 00:45:00,547 I'm not going to survive if I stay here. 766 00:45:01,157 --> 00:45:04,828 I was going to come in and quell this attack from Satan. 767 00:45:04,911 --> 00:45:07,747 Oh, really? You're going to deny that this happened to me? 768 00:45:08,498 --> 00:45:12,419 They were raising martyrs, and they were recruiting children. 769 00:45:13,128 --> 00:45:14,838 You were expendable. 770 00:45:14,921 --> 00:45:18,633 And maybe the most valuable thing you could ever do is die. 770 00:45:19,305 --> 00:46:19,521 Watch Online Movies and Series for FREE www.osdb.link/lm