Rhymes with "FOLLY"...



Christian TV pioneer Molly D'Andrea, 65
The religious network she founded is celebrating its 25th anniversary.
By CRAIG BASSE, Times Obituaries Editor
Published October 23, 2004



CLEARWATER - Molly D'Andrea, a founder of the Christian Television Network and WCLF-Ch. 22, its local flagship station, died Thursday at her Seminole home.




Mrs. D'Andrea, who led religious crusades around the world and established an orphanage in Nepal, had Lou Gehrig's disease, said her husband, Bob. She was 65. Her death came as the CTN, an all-religious network, celebrated its 25th anniversary with a telethon that began Monday.

"Her last crusade was probably a year ago in Africa," her husband said Friday. "She went to Africa twice last year. She was in Nigeria. She was in Burkina Faso. She also ministered in the Philippines. She went to close to about every country of the world. She went to England about a year and a half ago. And to France, for crusades."

The St. Petersburg native, the fourth generation of a line of women who preached, "was full of energy," her husband said. "She loved people and loved to minister."

He added: "She was just a model wife. I couldn't have asked for a better wife."

Ordained in the Church Without Walls International, Tampa, she headed the Molly D'Andrea International Ministries, an outreach program for people who have been sexually abused or addicted, according to the network's Web site.


About 10 years ago, she became the host of Set Free If You Want to Be, a television show for people wanting "to come out of the homosexual lifestyle and to those wanting to be set free from sexual bondage."

It is aired 100 times a week on 82 TV stations in 26 states, in 198 countries and on 14 satellite networks, the Web site article said.

CTN features a mixture of nationally syndicated programs such as Pat Robertson's 700 Club as well as original local productions like It's Time for Herman and Sharron. It also offers a 24-hour-a-day "Prayer Line," and programs about area churches.

WCLF-TV, said to be one of the oldest Christian television stations in the country, signed on the air Oct. 24, 1979, with several donated mobile homes housing the equipment and offices.

Today, the network has stations in Palm Beach, Fort Myers, Tallahassee, Pensacola, Macon, Ga., Knoxville, Tenn., Santa Barbara, Calif. and Cedar Rapids and Dubuque, Iowa.

Survivors in addition to her husband include a daughter, Yolanda Morris, Denver; a son, Robert, Largo; a sister, Barbara Cash, Old Town; two grandchildren, Malaina D'Andrea and Isabella D'Andrea; and a stepgranddaughter, Stephanie Swafford.


Sympathy for M.D'Andrea:

I don't usually write blurbs in defense of anyone whose actions have contributed to the hate & prejudice against same-gendered attracted people. However - because I saw MDA in 'action' on TV for several years, I have decided to add this remark-box so as to not seem completely unsympathetic.

A former IRS agent who discovered colossal fraud within that agency & resigned a few years back made a remark: "It's easy to have a clear conscience when you're clueless.". Indeed; -and MDA - like many "Christians", are indeed CLUELESS when it comes to the issues of Same Gender Attractions. From what I can tell, -MDA wasn't able to separate the issue of LIFESTYLE from mere attractions -in her mind. She may have seen the "gay-bar" as part of "gay-life". However, as the g0ys men's movement points out: It's possible to love other guys & not live like a dung-beetle.  However, - we accept that the attraction is an immovable object that ultimately doesn't need moving. 

Dealing with the "gay" community at large, you usually get the hint quite soon that "Gawd" is not a welcome member in most of it. Of course, for so long - churches like MDA's have preached the 'subtle' message that Same-Gender-Attraction equals ABOMINATION in God's eyes.  Although the Scriptures don't even HINT of that ASSertion, if you take the word of these self-proclaimed ambassadors for Jeezuz; -- it becomes a matter of "God rejecting the gay community first"; - So what do people expect that community to live like? The misrepresentation of the gospel is something the Scripture itself says will cause pagans to blaspheme God about (darn serious). 

MOLLY D' Was LOUDLY WARNED in 2002/2003 that her prejudice against Same Gender Attracted people was in conflict with Scriptures & she was given a list of those Scriptures (eg. Gal 3:28, etc) that proved that ministry a fraud.  Think that stopped her? Nope. Divine providence eventually did though:

Pro 29:1 'He that being often reproved & hardens his neck shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy. '

Recently, a group of Jewish Rabbis has been discussing the same issue g0ys have been raising for several years! It's about time!

Of the four proposals the committee is considering, two essentially oppose any change to the current law, and one advocates a substantial change of the law. One tries to find a middle ground by permitting gay rabbis and same-sex ceremonies, but prohibiting anal sex, an effort to stay consistent with a Bible passage that says, "Do not lie with a male as one lies with a woman; it is an abomination."
'Process is "very much in the background of peoples minds," said Rabbi Elliot Dorff, the rector of Los Angeles's University of Judaism. Dorff is a co-author of the decision that maintains the ban on anal sex but permits gay relationships.' ... 'In an interview with the Forward, Dorff acknowledged that the logic of his opinion might seem strange to average congregants. But Dorff, whose own daughter came out as a lesbian shortly after the law committee upheld its ban on homosexuality in 1992, said he was compelled to balance his respect and love for gay and lesbian Jews with a devotion to the Jewish legal tradition. "The thing that still is gnawing at me is the notion of the degree to which you hold the tradition sacred," Dorff said. "I want to find some legal way for them to have sexual expression and sexual love, but try as much as I can to maintain the tradition."'

Ultimately - I'm not MDA's judge. Her life seemed full of 'good intentions'.  She may have been instrumental in saving lives if some in the 'gay community' stopped living like dung-beetles because they got hold of God - Who never rejected them in the 1st place.  However, g0ys understand all too well what the long-term effects are to people who play the ex-gay game: The end condition is often worse than the first.  Why? God does not change sexual attractions. There is no need to. Love is not a sin. Hurting others is. Eventually they discover that they cannot please God in their sexuality because the 'God they're trying to please -in that regard- isn't the God of the Scriptures!

MDA was an author & her books will continue to speak her message for some time to come. If she penned misrepresentations of the gospel - no matter how cluelessly done, - then g0ys.org holds her up as an example of someone who tried to do a good thing and committed grievous errors along the way.

Well, assuming Romans 8:28 to be true - then we'll leave it to God to make the lemonade out of the lemons. MDA certainly wasn't a 'bigot' in the conventional sense of the term. However - her message had been shaped by them and her unwillingness to change her view after being put on notice is a warning about those who paint themselves into a corner.  The very first part of the gospel message is to "repent" - to see things God's way. Ironically, she didn't seem intent on taking that advice near the end.