February 25, 2002
BROTHER AND SISTER DUO Phillip and Natalie LaRue perform during the "Seize the Net Goes Live" broadcast. True Love Waits founder Richard Ross, shown in the background, spoke at the event and read a letter from President George W. Bush.
True Love Waits rally broadcast from Wedgwood
___FORT WORTH (BP)--More than 77,000 teens around the nation made online commitments to remain sexually abstinent until marriage as part of "True Love Waits: Seize the Net Goes Live," a nationally televised celebration.
___In addition to 1,000 youth gathered at Wedgwood Baptist Church in Fort Worth, thousands more joined the event via satellite and a live broadcast on FamilyNet. Many responded to the invitation to sign commitments to sexual purity by visiting the www.truelovewaits.com website.
___The rally, hosted by brother-sister singing duo Phillip and Natalie LaRue, also featured music from Phat Chance and Joy Williams, all artists who have taken a stand for sexual purity.
___Richard Ross, one of the founders of True Love Waits and a professor of youth ministry at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, challenged young people participating in the rally. He compared each youth to a rosebud, demonstrating that when a rosebud is forced to open before the proper time, it is torn.
___"If you already have had sex before marriage, which are you?" he asked. "Are you my hands doing the tearing or are you the petals that have been torn? Actually, you're both. ... In sex before marriage you are being torn but you're also tearing another."
___Even so, there is forgiveness for those who already have made mistakes, Ross said. "God himself welcomes you with open arms.
___"If you've experienced God's forgiveness, you can make a promise of purity from this night until your wedding night," he said. "The rosebud represents the person you are this evening. By God's grace, this can blossom into something absolutely beautiful on your wedding day."
___Ross also read a letter to the participants from President George W. Bush. "Your decision to remain sexually abstinent until marriage is the right choice," Bush wrote. "Your commitment to abstinence from now until you're married demonstrates great strength, conviction and wisdom. I encourage you to actively live out the faith and principles that led you to sign the abstinence pledge."
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