According to Wikipedia:

“Francis August Schaeffer (January 30, 1912 – May 15, 1984) was an American evangelical theologian, philosopher, and Presbyterian pastor. He co-founded the L’Abri community in Switzerland with his wife Edith Schaeffer, née Seville, a prolific author in her own right. Opposed to theological modernism (which prefers, e.g., rationalism and religious experience over following religious traditions based on revelation), Schaeffer promoted what he claimed was a more historic Protestant faith and a presuppositional approach to Christian apologetics, which he believed would answer the questions of the age”.

According to Wikipedia: “Frank Schaeffer (born August 3, 1952) is an American author, film director, screenwriter, and public speaker. He is the son of theologian and author Francis Schaeffer. He became a Hollywood film director and author, writing several novels depicting life in a strict evangelical household including Portofino, Zermatt, and Saving Grandma. While Schaeffer was a conservative, fundamentalist Christian in his youth, he has changed his views, becoming a liberal Democrat and a self-described Christian atheist”.

As often happens, something unexpected comes up that is significant to me that may be to others, and it leads me to blog about what I see and why it matters. In this case it concerns a father and his son (Francis Schaeffer and Frank Schaeffer) who in quite different ways have impacted many. The father was a devout Christian and a hero from my yesteryear, who more than any has opened my mind to understand today’s culture wars and how this impacts the church. The son describes himself as an atheist who prays who I see as a contributor to the deception falling on many. It touched a raw chord: however much one wants one’s children to adopt one’s faith, the child for some unfathomable and inexplicable reason decides to go off in an entirely different direction and rejects that faith, yet often in a strange way one finds some of that childhood influence (indoctrination) continues to rub off.

When I left school and prior to starting university, I joined Operation Mobilisation for its summer crusade. As part of our (me and others who joined) preparation ahead of joining teams for evangelistic outreach (in my case, it was in France), we had to listen to inspirational talks and study the Bible and Christian books. The authors that stood out and remained an influence long after were A.W.Tozer, Watchman Nee and Francis Schaeffer. I continued to read Schaeffer’s books, beginning with “Escape from Reason”, “The God who is there” and “Death in the City”, during my student days and after that. As I look back on what has brought me to position I now find myself, I can see that my current “gospel preaching, community activist, watchman on the wall” remit owes a lot to the Francis Schaeffer’s influence, as I seek to resist the erroneous path I see much of the professing church going down and trying to wake people up, while trying to apply the Christian faith to real world issues and supporting the many poor, disaffected and “other”.  Lots of Schaeffer’s talks and books are still available, e.g. “DR SCHAEFFER’S FINAL ADDRESS” (click here).

When some while back I came across Frank Schaeffer, I was somewhat horrified and mystified. I was horrified because the son of this great man appeared to be pushing stuff that played into the hands of those seeking to undermine orthodox, historical Christianity that will eventually drive much of humanity to embrace the Beast system that is on its way. I was mystified as to what led him to reject the faith of his parents. I didn’t give it much more thought until a friend, with whom I have had some robust exchanges concerning the matter recently shared this Frank Schaeffer video: “Everything You Wanted to Know About Immigration” (click here). While, as expected there was stuff I disagreed with, such as the assertion that many of those opposed to immigration were racist, he made some important and valid points, and did so powerfully. For example, I have often lamented the fact that here in the UK, we take in those who have no respect for our culture, e.g. of the Islam faith, and keep out those who do respect our culture, e.g. of the Christian faith, whereas in the US the position is somewhat different, much to the consternation of certain liberals.

I am not sure how to conclude and what my final punchline ought to be, but as is my want I have managed to get something of my chest relating to the crazy days we are living in and will leave it there.