Not only is there a season, but there are also several organizations that duplicate, maybe not the right word, the efforts of Focus.

With many other ways to obtain information about issues affecting the family and the like the one big spot just doesn’t have the same impact as it used to.

I agree with Derek. For me, any ministry that believes change will come through the political process if flawed. Change comes through the gospel. Not to start a fire, but we had the pro-evangelical congress and president for enough time, and yet no real change on the landscape of the issues that put them in office. While abortions, teen pregnancies, etc. may be down they haven’t experienced major change in view of the $$ spent on educating the public and putting people in favor of evangelical beliefs into office. Hence, we know the political route doesn’t work.  Too much compromise to get things done.

FOF books and other stuff wrought change on the grassroots level, which is the only place true change in the culture will come from. This isn’t hiding our heads in the sand, it’s directing our efforts to what’s really effective.

They aren’t relevant. I’m a 23 year old and I have never ever wanted to read a Dobson book or really anything by Focus because it just isn’t authentic for me. It seems to be stuck in this Christendom world with no reality to daily living.

I am a HUGE Focus on the Family Fan.  Listen to their daily broadcast… but some of the things listed aren’t related to its relevance. 

Less newsletter subscribers = more family.org visitors. 

As far as books, FF hasn’t really put out any new stuff that was meant for broad appeal. 

Wonder if the 30 people laid off is related to seasonal work.

I am a very political person, but will admit they go overboard at times.  But the answer to that is not 100% removing themselves from it.

I think FF’s relevance is just equal to the churches relevance.  Declining People are rejecting truth, FF preaches absolute truth.

My comments would echo Derek’s - when Dobson is talking about families, I’m generally willing to listen and read.  I turned him off about 10 years ago because I saw him going too much into the political arena.

CK - “Less newsletter subscribers = more family.org visitors"… may be true, but not necessarily.  And even if there is a correlation, it may not be a true cause-and-effect relationship.  After all, the sheer number of internet users has increased since 1994, so one would expect traffic to increase for that reason alone; it doesn’t necessarily mean that newsletter readers switched to internet.

I was thinking of the transfer of leadership he made after his heart attack would influence his influence.  He’s obviously putting less time into it.

And the political angle.  I’ve gotten more and more uncomfortable with the direction of their ministry, though I’ve always like the family information and still recieve their magazine and like others, have his books on my shelves. 

I hesitate to say it, but I think he’s gotten more shrill has he speaks on politics????

And like someone else said, I am less inclined to be politically active (like I once was) and more inclined to pursue the world for the kingdom of God… more long term results!

I’ve been a born again Christian since Nov. 1973.  I discovered Dr. Dobson about 1975 when we had our first baby and loved everything he said or did back then.

Then I discovered I could go to the source via the Holy Spirit and didn’t need any man to teach me the things of God.  That’s when I began to grow spiritually and realized Focus on the Family along with all other evangelicals were stuck in a fundamentalist time warp. 

It seems that we Christians have lost our way.  There’s nothing wrong with Christians involved in a ministry telling others about political happening they feel are important and need to be changed.  However, it’s important to pick one’s battles and focus on the source of what’s ailing this country.  To that end, the only viable candidate for any Christian should be the one that is most principled, who supports a strict interpretation of the Constitution, who understands America is being destroyed by the national bank (the so-called “Federal” Reserve) and the IRS, and who puts America first, above party or corporate gifts.  There is only one candidate in either party who fits that description and his name is Ron Paul.  The lack of Christian support for him is the strongest possible sign that we’ve lost our way, devolving into petty battles over which version of the bible to support or which globalist candidate we should vote for.  All the rest of the candidates are globalists who will make sure America has seen her best days.