The National Religious Broadcasters (NRB) 2024 convention in Nashville, Tennessee, was a great event. The JDFI team was there to tell over 1,500 attendees about the many new initiatives Dr. Dobson is launching in 2024. The enthusiasm level was gratifying as God continues to bless the ministry of Jim and Shirley Dobson.
Perhaps the biggest event at the convention was the speech by former President Donald Trump. (All the remaining presidential candidates from both parties were invited to speak, but only President Trump accepted). Neither the NRB nor JDFI endorse candidates. We do speak out clearly on the moral issues facing our country, including religious persecution, radical cultural secularism, the sanctity of human life, corruption, trans radicalism, and the anti-family/faith LGBTQ agenda.
President Trump's speech covered many of those issues, but a particular emphasis was on the increasing persecution of Christians right here in the United States. I know how strongly he feels about this issue. I have prayed with the President in the Oval Office a number of times. He appointed me to the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom and urged me to be aggressive in defending Christianity.
Below are some excerpts from his speech that JDFI was particularly encouraged to hear:
• "Remember, every communist regime throughout history has tried to stamp out the churches, just like every fascist regime has tried to co-opt them and control them. And, in America, the radical Left is trying to do both."
• "They [radical secular Left] want to tear down crosses where they can, and cover them up with social justice flags . . . But no one will be touching the cross of Christ under the Trump administration, I swear to you . . . I will never allow the big media or left-wing pressure groups to silence you…"
• Speaking of the growing two-tiered justice system that many believe is (unfairly) targeting Christians, pro-life Americans, and conservative parents, Trump said, "For all Americans, but especially for Christians, nothing is more important than to defeat this wicked system and to return to equal and impartial justice under the constitutional rule of law."
• On woke culture and the trans agenda, Trump said, "I will also take historic action to defeat the toxic poison of gender ideology and restore the timeless truth that God created two genders, male and female. I will keep men out of women's sports, and I will sign a law prohibiting child sexual mutilation in all 50 states."
• On the need for Christians to be involved, he told the crowd that men and women of faith can't afford to "sit on the sidelines … They have to really get out there and they have to do what they have to do and they have to win. The corrupt persecution by this regime will not stop with me. Oh, it's not going to stop with me. … The chains are tightening around all of us, if you think about it. I mean, the radical Left is coming after all of us because they know that our allegiance is not to them. Our allegiance is to our country and our allegiance is to our Creator. They don't want to hear that."