Raising Them Chaste: A Practical Strategy for Helping Your Teen Wait Till Marriage

Raising Them Chaste-is a practical answer to a real problem-communicating a tender truth in a convincing way-providing a handle for gaining leverage to lift us from the moral quicksand sucking so many downward." from the Foreward by Jack W. Hayford, Senior Pastor of The Church on the Way

Statistics show the alarming incidence of sexual promiscuity in our society and its devastating consequences. Seventy percent of all American teens have had sex by age eighteen. On the whole, young people in the church show the same trend as unchurched kids.

But statistics also show that parents are in the best position to help children establish and cultivate an internal counterpressure to resist sexual temptation. Authors Richard and Renee Durfield show how it is possible for parents to plant within their children a vision of sexual wholeness and purity that will strengthen their resolve to live with integrity to say no to the world's view of morality and be happy about it.

As the parents of four children, the Durfields developed the concept of a "key talk" between parent and child. With the parent's encouragement, the young person covenants with God to remain chaste until marriage, and the parent gives the child a ring or similar token and constant reminder of the commitment. How to prepare for this talk, how to hold it successfully, and how to follow-up on it for maximum effectiveness are combined to make this a strategy that already has proven effective for many families who have been taught and c

One of Richard and Renee Durfield's greatest desires was to parent wholesome children who would know the joys of a happy, healthy home. Because they were both from dysfunctional, broken families, they wanted to put to test biblical principles that would help them avoid repeating the failures of previous generations.

Married in 1966 and launched into ministry in 1968, they faced all the classical problems of poor and struggling young couples involved in ministry. The Durfields have had to believe God for the absolutely impossible. This life of faith has played an important role in shaping the vision and ministry of the multi-cultural church which they founded and are now pastoring.

Richard met the Lord very early in his youth and has served the Lord faithfully since childhood. His education includes a Master of Arts degree from Fuller Theological Seminary and a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Christian Counseling from Evangelical Theological Seminary. He is a Clinical Member of the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy. He is ordained and has ministered extensively throughout the U.S. and has traveled to over twenty countries of the world speaking in various churches and conferences. In 1981, he and his wife, Renee, founded the San Gabriel Valley Christian Center, now named ChrisTemple, and located in Pomona, California, where he is presently the Senior Pastor.

Richard and Renee have founded For Wedlock Only, an organization that provides parents with resources for parents to have a KeyTalk with their children to help them wait until marriage.

Together they have co-authored a book entitled Raising Them Chaste. They make their home in Southern California.

size : 5.3 x 8.3