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Christian musicians team up to promote True Love Waits

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NORTH LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (BP)–What does the True Love Waits sexual purity campaign have in common with contemporary Christian music? Plenty — especially for Christian recording artists Clay Crosse and Jaci Velasquez.
Crosse and Velasquez currently are on an 80-city concert tour. Both artists are past recipients of the Dove Award for new artist of the year — Crosse in 1995 and Velasquez in 1997.
During April’s annual Dove Awards, Velasquez is being nominated for female vocalist of the year. Her hit song, “On My Knees,” has been nominated for song of the year as has Crosse’s recording of “He Walked a Mile.”
Suffice it to say that both artists have rapidly growing lists of credentials in the world of contemporary Christian music. What about the True Love Waits connections?
TLW was first introduced in 1993 by the Baptist Sunday School Board as a campaign to encourage teens to remain sexually abstinent until marriage. During the past five years, thousands of youth have signed TLW pledge cards as the concept has crossed both denominational and international lines.
During their current “Stained Glass Tour” — named after Crosse’s third album — True Love Waits is one of the sponsors of the concert tour. Velasquez, an 18-year-old single performer, has even written and recorded the song, “I Promise,” as a commitment to sexual purity.
“I have made a commitment to keep myself pure until the day I am married,” Velasquez said. “I know that God has someone set aside for each and every one of us. We need to be patient and trust him. I hope and pray that every single person will make this commitment.”
Crosse, who is married and has two young children, said he can share with young people from his past experiences that he and his wife made the commitment to save sex for marriage.
Affirming TLW as “a very worthy cause,” Crosse pointed out that a lack of sexual purity “can lead to callous attitudes and beliefs in other areas. Hopefully, True Love Waits goes beyond one sexual commitment. It’s an important issue that affects so many areas of life.”
Although many young people already have made wrong choices in this area, Crosse noted the TLW pledge “says I will wait from this day until I get married. It doesn’t talk about the past. We should look at our lives as a continual learning experience.”
“I know it’s not very easy and it’s not the popular way,” Velasquez acknowledged. Insisting, however, that sexual purity “is of the things God honors,” she added, “This is the way he planned it and that is what we need to remember.”
Beyond their roles as TLW advocates, Crosse and Velasquez both have plenty to share about God’s message to fellow believers and to those without a personal relationship to Christ.
“My goal has always been to encourage the church,” Crosse said. “A lot of listeners are fellow believers. I want to encourage them to be strong in their faith and to stand up for what they believe.
“I want to challenge them to portray a real confidence in their faith,” he explained. “The difference is Jesus Christ. My goal is to light a fire under fellow believers.
“The Lord brought me here and I want to carry out the call,” he emphasized. “I’m never going to compromise my faith.”
Velasquez, who has been traveling and singing with her family since age 10, has been homeschooled since fifth grade. She recorded her first album, “Heavenly Place,” at age 16.
She said a primary goal of her music is to help “people know that God has a place in their lives — that if we’re obedient to him, he will show us.”
Noting “people are looking for hope and inspiration,” she said, “That’s what Christian music is about — it’s about bringing people to know God. Even when you’re having the worst day in the world, you can go before him and he is always there.”