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Seize the Net

[1]

On February 14, students around the world are being asked to sign and e-mail True Love Waits commitment cards over the Internet by logging into www.truelovewaits.com. When they log onto the True Love Waits home page, teens will find a pledge card, which can be filled out and e-mailed to TLW headquarters. A live counter will show the totals as they are tallied. The 2001 Internet campaign, which gives students outside the United States equal opportunity to participate, is called "Seize the Net."

The covenant cards teens are asked to sign read: "Believing that true love waits, I make a commitment to God, myself, my family, my friends, my future mate, and my future children to be sexually abstinent from this day until the day I enter a biblical marriage relationship."

Those participating in Seize the Net activities have used the following guidelines, according to True Love Waits officials in the Nashville, Tenn., office.

Youth leaders and students were asked to schedule Bible studies, discipling experiences, worship services, ring ceremonies, retreats, DiscipleNow weekends, campus club Bible studies, and other experiences in January and early February to prepare students for a commitment to purity.

On February 14, students who want to make a True Love Waits commitment should log into www.truelovewaits.com and sign the online commitment card.

[2]

On February 15, churches or civic groups are asked to schedule city or community-wide Seize the Net celebrations.

Resources for the campaign include TLW Takes a Look at Courting, Dating, and Hanging Out, True Love Waits Seize the Net manual, and True Love Waits Seize the Net wallet commitment cards (20 per pack).

To order the resources, go online at www.lifeway.com, call 1-800-458-2772, email [email protected] or visit the nearest LifeWay Christian Store.

Questions about the campaign can be addressed by phone to 1-800-LUV-WAIT or by e-mail to [email protected].

 


 

It Works!

Teenagers who pledge to remain sexually abstinent until marriage are 34 percent less likely to have sex than those who do not take virginity vows, according to the study "Promising the Future: Virginity Pledges as they Affect the Transition to First Intercourse" published in the January 2001 American Journal of Sociology.

"Pledging decreases the risk of intercourse substantially and independently," the study's authors, Peter S. Bearman and Hannah Brückner, wrote. Bearman is professor of sociology and director of the Institute for Social and Economic Theory and Research at Columbia University, and Brückner is assistant professor of sociology at Yale University.