Donald E. Wildmon – ADA’s speaker for July 27 conference!!

By Bill Johnson Years come and go.  We meet a lot of people.  We meet a few individuals along the way that particularly impact – even influence us in significant ways. Donald E. Wildmon, from my perspective, is the leading cultural warrior in America.  Some of you know that Don was almost taken out of this world nearly two years ago.  However, characteristic of Don, he did not give up nor give in.  Don’s voice is as needed today as ever before.  We are blessed that he accepted our invitation and will be our featured speaker at ADA’s July 27 summer event. What makes this man so special?  Let me count just a couple of the many ways. Don Wildmon has been recognized as one of the great Christian leaders in our generation. As he would often mention when he was explaining his calling, he said, “I was called to the pulpit ministry.â€ÂÂ  He served in this capacity for a fair number of years.  But he  became deeply burdened about what was being aired over American airwaves.     God laid upon him a burden for this country  and, back in 1978, called him to begin the great work of the American Family Association. His passionate burden and calling could not be fenced in.   God began to use  Don’s  voice of outrage over ungodliness on the airwaves to extrude him into forming a very humble ministry and then little by little becoming one of the leading Christian influences of salt and light in America.  God used Don’s resilient faith to keep him more focused than perhaps any Christian leader in our generation. I was moved and shaped by many of his words in the early years of receiving the AFA Journal.  The following quote was taken from what was then the NFD Journal, January 1986.  He was seeing then what so many weren’t noticing at that time, but now  25 years later see so very clearly.  Read it and weep. “… I am under no illusion about whether the Church of Jesus Christ will continue should we lose the battle for decency.  Of course it will continue.  It is of God and will continue until the end of time.  However, I am practical enough to realize the tremendous hurt and suffering which society will endure should we lose the fight.  And right now we are losing that battle, losing by default. Next to leading people into a saving relationship with Christ, I am thoroughly convinced that the battle for decency is the most important battle we currently face in our society.  The battle is not against dirty words and dirty pictures, but against religions which seek to make man God — humanism, hedonism, secularism and materialism.  Indeed it is a struggle for the very foundation of Western civilization. We can keep our Christian witness confined within the comfortable realm of our local church and our denominations, judging our church and our denominations success in baptisms, buildings, budgets,    church socials and activities.  But if we do, we will deny the very reality of the living Christ and lose the Christian foundation of Western civilization. We are at a very significant crossroads in the history of Christianity.  Historians three hundred years from now will say it was the most crucial crossroads that organized Christianity has ever faced.  And unless our pastors begin to lead their people in practicing their faith beyond the friendly confines of structure and denomination, and do so quickly, I shudder to think what kind of society we will pass on to those who come after us. Christian pastors are the key in this struggle.  The outcome is squarely on their shoulders.  They face the greatest challenge ever faced by Christian pastors of any age.  Whether they will rise to that challenge remains to be seen. Don This is a man of God!  Opportunities to hear a man like this are few and far between. More will be said in the months ahead. Mark your calendar for Friday, July 27 at 7:00 pm at First Baptist Church, in Fremont, Michigan.