Well I've almost finished the cleanup operation of scraping my jaw up off the floor. James Dobson has stepped down as the CEO of Focus on the Family and handed over the reigns to Jim Daly. Jim Daly's opening speech was nothing short of a shocker. For a ministry that has been at the forefront of the fight against abortion and gay marriage, I never imagined in my wildest dreams that I would hear the words that Daly uttered:
What we want to see are more families like Barack Obama's.
What is going on here??? Has the man lost his mind, is he just plain stupid, biblically illiterate, does he fear man and not God, or all of the above? But wait - there's more! The Jim Daly train wreck just continued in spectacular pragmatic, compromising, and biblically ignorant fashion:
But we can respect what Obama does well. We can focus more on the positive. And I respect his family.
Yes, let's just overlook the fact that Obama supports murder of the unborn and also those who survive the murderous practice of abortion.
Daly says he is results-oriented, not an ideologue (what's that smell . . . ahh pragmatism).
When those who are right, left and center all say, 'Let's make abortion rare,' let's meet at that starting point. Let's shove off the rhetoric and get together on practical matters.
Yeah right! Like Obama's policies are decreasing the abortion rate - NOT!
I cannot be Dr. Dobson. I'm hoping for a different pair of shoes. He's black and white -- a scientist. That's a good thing. He's provided clarity for the culture. For me, it's more about having a conversation with people.
Sounding very emergent there Jim.
We're in a democracy. How do we express Christian ethos in a way that draws people into the discussion? We are the church. We have to be more understanding and not expect the world to act like the church. We also don't accept the church acting like the world.
Wow! I mean wow! What is going on here. This is a dramatic paradigm shift away from biblical principles towards liberalism. Paul Washer once said to Christians that "you are prophets or you are nothing. It sounds to me like Focus on the Family has just dropped it's prophetic edge and with that becomes about as useful to the Christian community as an ash tray on a motorbike. We can only hope that Jim Daly gets sacked or has a road to Damascus experience and wakes up to himself.
If you are a supporter of this ministry I would encourage you to protest Jim Daly's appointment and withdraw financial support. Maybe support a ministry like Vision Forum or Shepherd's Press. Because I hear the sound of rushing water and I fear it is the sound of a once great ministry being flushed down the toilet!
Friday, November 22, 2024
6 hours ago
3 comments:
I think his family can be separated from his policies, but realistically that's pretty hard to do, considering how ultimately anti-family those policies are. But I can think of no reason to hold up the Obama family as an example, other than perhaps to suck up to his worshippers.
“When those who are right, left and center all say, 'Let's make abortion rare,' let's meet at that starting point. Let's shove off the rhetoric and get together on practical matters”
Practically, it seems to me the best way to make it rare is to speak the ‘rhetoric’ of truth and ultimately outlaw abortion for what it is.
“For me, it’s about having a conversation with people.”
This sounds ‘emergent’, but is not necessarily a bad thing. I am thinking of Jesus and the woman at the well, and with Nicodemus, or Paul with Agrippa and the guys at Mars Hill in Athens. The key is, in these ‘conversations’, to not back off on or compromise the truth. But it must be done without self-righteousness and condemnation.
“We’re in a democracy.”
No we’re not. We are (or were) in a representative republic. He needs to get that clear.
“We have to be more understanding and not expect the world to act like the church”
This I agree with. Understanding doesn’t have to mean acceptance or tolerance of the sin, but we have to understand that the world will act according to its nature – the nature of the world. It is, by nature, antichrist and will act accordingly. The church’s role is to speak prophetically – speak the truth in love, but again, with humility and without compromising that truth.
I think this is an area where conservative Christians in America struggle with regard to government. Actually, it’s the same for liberal Christians as well. Though they may not see it or admit it, both are expecting the government to fulfill certain roles of the church, they just have very different ideas of what those roles are.
So my question is will he be taking his lead from the Bible or will it be coming from these conversations he is going to have?
We have to be more understanding and not expect the world to act like the church. We also don't accept the church acting like the world.
He is right about this one. We must be understanding and we absolutely cannot expect the world to act like the church. Why should they? The Bible says not to be judgmental towards unbelievers. We are only to judge our fellow believers. How can you put someone on the bench when they are not even on your team?
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