Tim Wildmon
AFA president
January 2004 – A new year is upon us. Time to break those New Year’s resolutions you made. Yes, it’s 2004. We are now living in a year that sounds like the title of a science fiction flick, doesn’t it?
An interesting thing happened recently at American Family Association. A lady from Ohio who had been supporting us for several years sent us a collection of old AFA Journals.
In those Journals, she had circled a number of articles. Her letter asked if AFA had made any headway in the culture war. She wanted to know if we were doing any real, lasting good. It wasn’t a letter of complaint, just a letter of honest inquiry. I found myself answering her with two words. “Yes,” and “No.”
It’s a fair question. If I give to an organization – a ministry –I want to know they are doing everything they can to reach the objective I agreed to support. That’s the reason I sent them a check in the first place.
There is no question that American popular culture has grown darker the last 10 years. Evidence of that is in the news every day. We report on this trend in the pages of the Journal.
And there is no question that much of the Christian church has grown weaker the last 10 years. Yet, AFA continues to have an impact for biblical righteousness.
While the war has yet to be decided, we are winning some battles. If you read this magazine and receive the monthly letter from my dad, you see what a difference AFA has made. We are initiating projects that have a real, measurable impact for righteousness. AFA continues to make a difference through:
• AFA Journal, now in our twenty-eighth year of publication.
• Activists Web sites such as OneMillionMoms.com and OneMillionDads.com.
• AFA Center for Law & Policy (Our attorneys are in courtrooms all over America fighting for Christians’ constitutional rights and freedom of religion.)
• American Family Radio, our 200-station Christian radio network, informs listeners about what’s going on in our country and what they can do about it.
These are but a few of the ways we are making the rubber meet the road on behalf of those who financially and prayerfully support AFA. Please stay with us. We are making a difference. We are fighting the good fight. We are doing the very best we can with the resources God provides.
Coming up in 2004 are several special AFA-sponsored opportunities to get involved in the battle for the heart of our nation:
• I am leading two tours of our nation’s capital this year, one in the spring and another in the fall. We call these Spiritual Heritage Tours because of the emphasis on experiencing America’s Christian history through the monuments and sites around Washington, D.C. (See here.) I would love to have you who read this column each month join us in either June or September. Bring your children or grandchildren, or make it a graduation gift for someone special. The tour will give you a new appreciation for the profound influence Christianity has had on our country’s history.
• Secondly, AFA, through our OneMillionMoms organization is sponsoring several “Standing Together for Our Children” conferences. The aim of these gatherings is to help ladies learn how to better address four critical areas of concern in their children’s lives: sexuality, entertainment, education and spiritual development. For more information about these educational and inspiring conferences, visit www.OneMillionMoms.com on the Internet.
• Again in 2004, AFA will be one of the ministries promoting Worldview Weekend conferences across the country. I personally have been hosting some of these for several years. These conferences feature some of the best speakers in the Christian community teaching about worldview issues. Issues addressed include the creation/evolution debate, understanding secular humanism, how we know the Bible is true, and others. More information is available at www.worldviewweekend.com.
• On May 14-16, AFA will be part of a special event in Branson, Missouri. This special conference will feature Dr. David Jeremiah, David Barton, Josh McDowell, Frank Harber, Kerby Anderson, and Woodrow Kroll as well as wonderful musical groups and good, clean comedy. Dad will be there and so will I. We would love to meet you there.