Ron Luce

Infobox Person
name =Ron Luce
birth_name =Ronald Allen Luce


image_size =220
caption =Ron Luce speaking on the steps of San Francisco City Hall, surrounded by "Battle Cry" participants, March 24, 2006.
birth_date =birth date and age|1961|7|11|mf=y
birth_place =Contra Costa County, California
occupation =Evangelist, author
residence = Garden Valley, Texas
spouse =Katie (Kathryn Anne) Luce (May 19, 1984 - present)
children =Hannah Charity Cameron

Ron Luce is the co-founder and president of Teen Mania Ministries located in Garden Valley, Texas. Together with his wife Katie, Ron founded Teen Mania in 1986 in his van. The ministry has expanded greatly and has become influential within today's Christian youth culture. Each year, thousands of young people travel with Teen Mania around the world to spread their views on the Gospel of Jesus. Luce also hosts weekend Acquire the Fire youth rallies and ministry clinics in large venues nationwide, many attracting tens of thousands of teens and youth workers. He also hosts a weekly TV show, Acquire the Fire, telecast on the Trinity Broadcasting Network and other Christian television stations. Training and ministry experience is provided for young adults wishing to enter into youth (and other) ministries, as interns in the Honor Academy. Luce expanded his operations in 2005 by starting the Battle Cry Campaign. Some have criticized his organization, citing frequent militant statements by him such as: "This is war. And Jesus invites us to get into the action, telling us that the violent—the ‘forceful’ ones—will lay hold of the kingdom," [cite book|last=Luce|first=Ron|authorlink=Ron Luce|title=Battle Cry for a Generation: The Fight To Save America's Youth|publisher=Cook Communications Ministries|date=2005|pages=57|isbn=978-0781442671] and exhorting his young followers to proclaim in unison: "I will keep my eyes on the battle, submitting to Your code even when I don't understand." [cite news|last=Taylor|first=Sunsara|title=Battle Cry for Theocracy|publisher=truthdig.com|date=2006-06-11|url=http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/20060511_battle_cry_theocracy/|accessdate=2007-08-04]

Luce has also publicly condemned "purveyors of popular culture" as "the enemy," who according to Luce are "terrorists, virtue terrorists, that are destroying our kids... they're raping virgin teenage America on the sidewalk, and everybody's walking by and acting like everything's OK. And it's just not OK."cite news
first = Christiane
last = Amanpour
authorlink = Christiane Amanpour
author =
coauthors = Julie O'Neill, Taylor Gandossy
title = Teen Christians campaign against pop culture
url = http://edition.cnn.com/2007/US/08/22/gw.teen.christians/
format =
work =
publisher = CNN
id =
pages =
page =
date = August 23, 2007
accessdate = 2007-08-27
language =
quote = ] This type of imagery is said to be used under the context of a spiritual "battle" between good and evil.Fact|date=August 2007

Luce has been named as one of the leaders of an upcoming statewide youth rally in support of California Proposition 8, an initiative that would constitutionally prohibit same-sex marriage in California. [cite mailing list
last = Wildmon
first = Don
authorlink = Donald Wildmon
title = Please make sure your pastor gets a copy of this information
mailinglist = American Family Association Action Alert
date = 2008-08-11
url = http://www.afa.net/
accessdate = 2008-08-11 "On October 1, there will be a statewide rally for youth, college students and families, led by Miles McPherson, Ron Luce and a team of youth / young adult specialists. The goal it to train all of us – especially youth and young adults – to speak out on the marriage issue."]

Luce was raised in a broken home and became involved in drug and alcohol abuse while living with his father. [cite web|url=http://teenmania.com/corporate/index.cfm|title=Teen Mania Corporate Website|accessdate=2007-08-04|author=Teen Mania Ministries] Luce was taken in by a Pastor Craft and his family,Fact|date=March 2008 under whose roof he became a Christian at age 16. He then committed his life to inspiring young people to following Jesus. He received his bachelor's degree in Psychology and Theology from Oral Roberts University and his Masters in Counseling Psychology from the University of Tulsa. [cite web|url=http://www.extremecamps.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=home.show&pageId=33|title=Extreme Camps: Ron Luce|accessdate=2007-08-04|author=Teen Mania Ministries] In 2002, U.S. President George W. Bush appointed him to the White House Advisory Commission on Drug-Free Communities, on which he served until 2004. [cite web|url=http://www.demossnewspond.com/teen/presskit/RonLuceBio.htm|title=BattleCry: Ron Luce Biography|accessdate=2007-08-04|author=DeMossNewsPond.com] Luce joined the board of trustees of Oral Roberts University in January 2008. [cite news
last = Marciszewski
first = April
title = Trustees aim for stability at ORU
publisher = Tulsa World
date = January 21, 2008
url = http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?articleID=20080121_1_A1_hThes47057
accessdate = 2008-01-21]

Published works

Luce has written or co-written a number of books:
*Battlecry for a Generation
*Battlecry for My Generation
*Guard Your Heart
*It's Only a Tattoo
*Power of One
*When Teens Pray

Other recent works by Luce include the "Over the Edge" devotional series, and the "Rise Up," "Dig In," "Band Together," "Move Out," and "Double Vision" curricula associated with the Battle Cry Campaign.

References

External links

* [http://www.teenmania.org Teen Mania Ministries]
* [http://www.acquirethefire.com Acquire the Fire (ATF) youth rallies]
* [http://www.battlecry.com Battle Cry web site]
* [http://www.honoracademy.com Honor Academy - youth ministry training]
* [http://www.globalexpeditions.com Global Expeditions - Foreign Missions]
* [http://www.extremecamps.com Extreme Camps (youth ministry and training camps)]
* [http://www.demossnewspond.com/teen BattleCry Newsroom]
* [http://alumni.oru.edu/oldexcellence/fall90/pages/focus1.html ORU Alumni Feature: Ron Luce]
* [http://www.christianleadershipuniversity.com/section6.htm Biography of Ron Luce at Christian Leadership University]