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James C. Dobson, Ph.D., was founder and chairman emeritus of Focus on the Family. His vision and philosophy shaped the ministry at its inception and supplied the impetus for its outreach for over three decades. Even after his departure in 2010, the ministry's mission continued to be a reflection of Dr. Dobson’s commitment to strengthening and defending the institution of the family.

The initial inspiration for Focus was conceived in the 1960s, when Dr. Dobson was completing his Ph.D. in child development at the University of Southern California. He joined the faculty of Children's Hospital in Los Angeles and, in 1970, became associate clinical professor of pediatrics at the USC School of Medicine. Over the next several years, he became increasingly concerned about the breakdown of the traditional family and its negative effects on the culture.

In 1977, Dr. Dobson left Children's Hospital and the USC School of Medicine to found Focus. The first radio broadcast aired that same year. By the end of the 1970s, the seven-part Focus on the Family film series had become a popular resource for parents.

During the 1980s, the ministry began publishing several magazines and expanded into Canada and the UK. Dr. Dobson completed several books and participated in the White House Conferences on the Family, the National Advisory Commission for the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, and the Attorney General's Commission on Pornography.

In the 1990s, Dr. Dobson was appointed to the Commission on Child and Family Welfare and the National Gambling Impact Study Commission. Focus on the Family relocated its headquarters from Southern California to Colorado Springs and continued to expand its outreach, including the establishment of associate offices worldwide and the creation of websites and other endeavors in the digital realm.

In May of 2003, Dr. Dobson resigned as President of Focus on the Family but retained his position as Chairman of the Board. Dr. Dobson stepped down from that position in February of 2009, and a year later departed Focus as the final step of the ministry’s leadership transition process.

Dr. Dobson is survived by his wife, Shirley, co-founder and emerita member of Focus on the Family’s board of directors and former chairman of the National Day of Prayer Task Force, and by their daughter, Danae, son and daughter-in-law, Ryan and Laura, and two grandchildren.

Dr. Dobson's passion for families and for the Gospel of Jesus Christ continues to inform Focus on the Family's ministry efforts. The current leadership, chosen by Dr. Dobson, is determined to honor his legacy by continuing the work he started in 1977 of ministering to individuals and families in Jesus’ name.

Posted from Focus on the Family

Below is an interesting read from The Christian Post

It's not every day that one gets to see private childhood home movies of someone famous. But I had such a privilege some 30 years ago, when I produced a feature on Dr. James Dobson, who died last week.

He founded and led for decades the worldwide ministry of Focus on the Family, which became a virtual media empire, reaching millions of people worldwide. After he left Focus on the Family, he created “Family Talk with Dr. James Dobson.” I was privileged to be a guest on that program a couple of times.

Gary Bauer, co-author with Dobson, continues programming for “Family Talk with James Dobson,” including broadcasts on our nation’s Christian roots.

But in 1993, I traveled to Colorado Springs to interview him for a Father’s Day TV segment for Coral Ridge Ministries. I’m still with the ministry, which was founded by Dr. D. James Kennedy, who died in 2007. And who delivered Dr. Kennedy's eulogy? Dr. James Dobson.

The two of them joined forces in the 1990s with Evangelical leaders Bill Bright, Larry Burkett, Marlin Maddoux, and others to create the pro-religious freedom legal group now known as the Alliance Defending Freedom.

But back to 1993. Despite his amazing accomplishments, Dr. James Dobson gave credit first, of course, to the Lord Jesus Christ, but also to one man: his own father, Rev. James Dobson, Sr.

What follows are some of Dr. Dobson's (Jr.) remarks from our interview.

His father was a humble evangelist and pastor for the Nazarenes denomination in some Western states. He was known for his diligent prayer life.

Dr. Dobson said of him in our interview, “He traveled an awful lot. He was gone for a month or six weeks at a time. But when he came home, he was mine.”

But as the son began to experience his early teens, he began to show signs of mild rebellion. So his father “decisively” changed his plans to devote time to his teenage son.

Dobson told me, “He had a four-year slate of revival meetings scheduled. He was probably the prominent evangelist in his denomination at the time. He instantly canceled that slate, all of those meetings.”

The senior Dobson sold their house, moved the family 700 miles south to Texas, and took a pastorate so that he could be home with James, Jr., for the two years of high school. Notes the famous son with great appreciation: “He actually put me ahead of his profession.”

As I was putting this story together for said television segment on Christian TV, Dr. James Dobson lent me access to his private home movies, with the caveat that these scenes could only be used for that particular segment, which I obeyed. What a privilege to see those old black-and-white films of the Dobsons fishing, hiking, and so on.

Years went by, and James Dobson, Jr. had a family of his own. He earned his Ph.D. in psychology and became a professor of pediatrics at the University of Southern California and a psychologist at Children's Hospital of Los Angeles. Later, he shifted to the broadcast ministry to reach more people.

But Dr. Dobson was getting so busy that his father became concerned. So the father wrote a letter to his son, which said essentially, “Be careful, you could lose your children” upon “the altar of career ambition.”

Not only did his father help Jim Dobson focus on his own family, but he also helped play a key behind-the-scenes role in his son’s ministry. When the elder Dobson was fasting and praying at age 66 for direction for the rest of his life, he felt as if he heard from the Lord: “I know your love for My people. I know your love for the Gospel, and I’m going to answer your prayer, and you’re going to reach millions of people, coast to coast and around the world. I'm going to bless your ministry around the world, but it is not going to be through you. It is going to be through your son.” The next day, his father had a massive heart attack from which he never recovered.

The son never even learned about this insight his father received until he was told about it by his aunt seven years later. And the son recognized that his dad played a pivotal role in the amazingly impactful ministry. Dobson, Jr. said, “It really is true that this ministry is a product of my father's ministry and especially of his prayer life.”

With the death of Dr. Dobson last week, we lost a great man. He reminded us of our need to focus on the family — a message modern America needs now more than ever. As has been said so well: “As the family goes, so goes the nation.”

Written by The Christian Post