This article on 
has captured my attention over the last couple of days.
has captured my attention over the last couple of days.Here is a video of the documentary: Mind Over Mania
When I was 20, I spent 2 months in Kenya on a Teen Mania missions trip.
I had some major issues with Teen Mania. And, I felt all alone for the entire summer...I struggled through with just my Bible and my journal...working out some pretty major stuff....stuff that I'd been needing to work out for quite some time, and that summer was the point when God forced me to study His Word and get to the Truth of many matters.
I watched the documentary last night, and I think it paints Teen Mania in a truthful light. One thing I take issue with is that MSNBC likely DID approach Ron Luce under false pretenses. And, I feel bad for Ron....because he seemed so upbeat about sharing information with the network, and I'm sure he felt betrayed when he saw the show aired last weekend.
There's so much I could say and share about my experience and how I saw the same problems that the girls expressed in their recovery meeting. But, rather than do that, I just want to reflect on the reality that my experience with Teen Mania had overall good results.
God used an organization run by confused people, guided by false doctrine, and corrupted by greed and power to further my relationship with Himself. The following areas were challenged and developed in a way that no other experience could have been the catalyst to do:
I am heartbroken that so many, according to the documentary, did not leave their Teen Mania experience with anything more than heartbreak, anxiety, and a seeming assurance of Christian hypocrisy.
So...I'm praying for them.
And I'm proud of them for going public.
When I was 20, I spent 2 months in Kenya on a Teen Mania missions trip.
I had some major issues with Teen Mania. And, I felt all alone for the entire summer...I struggled through with just my Bible and my journal...working out some pretty major stuff....stuff that I'd been needing to work out for quite some time, and that summer was the point when God forced me to study His Word and get to the Truth of many matters.
I watched the documentary last night, and I think it paints Teen Mania in a truthful light. One thing I take issue with is that MSNBC likely DID approach Ron Luce under false pretenses. And, I feel bad for Ron....because he seemed so upbeat about sharing information with the network, and I'm sure he felt betrayed when he saw the show aired last weekend.
There's so much I could say and share about my experience and how I saw the same problems that the girls expressed in their recovery meeting. But, rather than do that, I just want to reflect on the reality that my experience with Teen Mania had overall good results.
God used an organization run by confused people, guided by false doctrine, and corrupted by greed and power to further my relationship with Himself. The following areas were challenged and developed in a way that no other experience could have been the catalyst to do:
- My faith in Scripture ALONE as the foundation for all truth.
- My confidence in Christ as the only One whom I am to be pleasing.
- An assurance that God sent me to Kenya for the sole purpose of being the object of His blessings.
I am heartbroken that so many, according to the documentary, did not leave their Teen Mania experience with anything more than heartbreak, anxiety, and a seeming assurance of Christian hypocrisy.
So...I'm praying for them.
And I'm proud of them for going public.
1 comments:
i hope you didn't feel TOTALLY alone while in kenya. i thank God we were in Kenya together...but was deeply saddened by the fact that we weren't on the same team. perhaps if we had been God might not have been allowed to work in you to the degree that he did. i also felt VERY alone during that summer and while i am not sure what i think of TM's doctrine etc...i do know that God used them twice (once when i was 15 in Costa Rica and then that summer in Kenya)to teach me more than i can even explain. i am wary of short term missions and i am wary of anything that has so much hype and emotion involved. but i do appreciate meeting you (you are the only one i keep in touch with). anyways...i love ya!
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