- Alan blogs at Downshore Drift, where this article was originally published.
After opposition arose against First Baptist, Dallas, TX and pastor Robert Jeffress for what were called “controversial” stands against homosexuals, Muslims, Mormons, and other groups, Tim Tebow, who was scheduled to speak there, has just cancelled his appearance in a series of tweets.
@TimTebow: “While I was looking forward to sharing a message of hope and Christ’s unconditional love with the faithful members of the historic…First Baptist Church of Dallas in April, due to new information that has been brought to my attention, I have decided to cancel my…upcoming appearance. I will continue to use the platform God has blessed me with to bring Faith, Hope and Love to all those……needing a brighter day. Thank you for all of your love and support.” God Bless!Sent Feb 21, 09:09 AM
The opposition to him speaking there has come from groups like Change.org who launched a petition on their website calling for Tebow to not speak at First Baptist:
“This church’s pastor has made several openly anti-gay and anti-Semitic comments. By speaking at this church, Mr. Tebow would be legitimizing the opinion of that pastor and those in the church that are homophobic and anti-Jewish.”
https://www.change.org/petitions/tim-tebow-please-don-t-speak-at-first-baptist-dallas
I don’t know everything about Robert Jeffress or all that he has said. But, First Baptist, Dallas, TX is hardly a fringe church in Evangelicalism. The fact that it is being treated as a “hate group” and that Tebow was both pressured and gave in to the pressure to not speak there is a huge development in the advance of secular forces and their impact on the church. Louie Giglio could not pray at the Inauguration because of a message preached 15 years ago where he called homosexuality sin and now Tebow won’t speak at a church that promotes conservative positions. Even if you disagree with First Baptist on some of these positions, the climate that is emerging here is very troubling, to say the least.
Less than a year ago, President Obama was still AGAINST gay marriage. Think of how much has changed since then.