Battle Cry Announcement

Ron Luce Announces the Battle Cry

This is our defining moment. What will we do with it?

It was on the way home from church one Sunday that my brother, Ralph, became an unassuming hero. On August 16, 1998, he followed another car carrying two teenage girls out of the church parking lot. About one mile down the road, after stopping at a stop sign, the car with the girls proceeded through. As he stopped at the intersection with his five small children, a pickup truck ran through the stop sign and slammed into the side of the girls' car. Instantly, the car exploded as the driver, 16-year-old Ashley, was thrown from the vehicle and killed instantly. The other girl, 14-year-old Amy, was trapped inside the burning vehicle. Ralph jumped from his car and somehow managed to pry open the door of the burning vehicle only to find the limp unconscious body of this sweet 14-year-old girl. He grabbed her by the belt loop as he maneuvered the inferno and managed to rescue Amy. Soon the paramedics arrived and she was taken to the hospital. Wow! My brother Ralph was the town hero! He saved a girl's life! Everyone congratulated him including the mayor and town newspaper.

When I called to express my excitement, I asked him, "What were you thinking? I mean really, what was going through your mind as you approached the car? "He said, "I didn't do anything that probably anyone else in my position would not have done. When the car is on fire, you do whatever you have to do to get the girl out!"

If any of us were to see a car explode like that in front of us, the shock of what we had just seen would stun us. Few among us would simply drive by and act like nothing had happened. The intent of this article is to give you as realistic a picture as possible of the flames our teens in America are engulfed in so that we may all run to their rescue.

After traveling in youth ministry for 18 years and speaking to millions of students, I am ready to sound an alarm. I was radically saved and changed by Jesus at the age of 16, coming out of drugs and a broken home. Since then the Lord has given me the opportunity to share with so many hurting teens as I travel and conduct Acquire the Fire conferences. I have seen the worst of the worst, and I know that no one is beyond the reach of God's hand. But something is happening right under our noses that demands our attention.

It is a well-documented fact that the percentage of Bible-believing Christians has been steadily decreasing from generation to generation. While 35% of the baby boomers hold to core Biblical beliefs, that number drops to only 4% of millennials (those 24 years and younger). Think about what our society looks like now with the boomer generation in leadership:

Hollywood TV and movies laced with blatant sexuality
Perverted lyrics in today's most popular music
The Internet laden with pornography and other garbage that is used to shame our society
The fight for gay marriage
Removal of the 10 Commandments from courthouses
Signs of Christianity deleted from public holidays and local government logos
50% of marriages ending in divorce

If these are the struggles we face now, envision what our society will be like with only 4% evangelicals. Try to imagine a society that mocks the fact that "under God" was ever even in our pledge of allegiance. Try to imagine "in God we trust" taken off our money. What percentage of marriages will stay together 10 years from now when today 12-17 year olds are the primary viewers of porn on the web?

Where will this new generation take us? What sort of world will our children and grandchildren grow up in?

We Have a Moment

Studies have shown repeatedly that 90% of people who come to Christ do so before the age of 20. Young people are in the most moldable time of their lives before they become young adults.

There is a holy urgency burning in my soul to capture the heart of this generation NOW while there is still time. This is what keeps me awake at night. The next 5-7 years will determine what direction this generation goes.

This is our defining moment. What we do now "in this season will determine the next 100 years of American history. Since American culture dominates the world in so many ways, literally, the fate of hundreds of millions here in America and around the globe are within our influence.

How will we handle our moment? Moments like these only come once in a generation, if at all. Will we prove we were ready for the challenge of our day?

What can I do?

This is the question we should all be asking. The time is now for all of us, as the body of Christ, to rally around these young ones. We must transform our churches into hospitals for a broken-hearted generation. Every mom, dad, business person, senior and young adult can do something. Even if you do not feel called to youth ministry, reach out to some young person near you. Go to your church's youth pastor now and insist on helping in some way. Can you love? Listen? Smile? Go out for a Coke?

Because of the urgency of the situation, it is time for all of us to come together. That is why we are working to enlist a strong coalition of concerned adults who will join the fight for this generation. Click here to join the fight and discover how you can be an important part of rescuing those who are embattled by the world. You will receive free materials and tips to practically reach the teens in your community. You can also read my new book, Battle Cry for a Generation click here to find out more.

When the car is on fire, and we see it, it demands our response. It demands we go out of our comfort zone and take a bit of a risk. It compels us to do something.

This young generation is on fire. It is burning right before our eyes. Who knows but that you could be the next unassuming hero to rescue some of the 33 million teens caught in our explosive culture.

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Read youth culture news, youth ministry articles, and join the fight for America's young people at http://www.battlecry.com.

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