Tim Kimmel contributes to a pro-spanking website

[ThreeKids]

I ran across this site (posted by a Facebook friend whom I'm concerned is going down a legalistic road :( ).

f amilylife.com

It has articles by Tim Kimmel and Voddie Baucham on the same site and some articles aren't just pro-spanking, they discuss it as if it's a biblical requirement.

I know God can use this site for good, but is the general strategy Kimmel's using of going alongside pro-spankers without directly speaking against it going to have a positive influence on the Church or not? At least one writer on the site makes no bones about speaking against non-spanking. Pro-spankers use grace-related talk in select situations as well. It seems like Kimmel coming alongside them doesn't add that message, but could add to the acceptance of the dissonance of presenting the opposing ways simultaneously.

[Katigre]

Family life is the ministry of Dennis and Barbara Rainey and closely affiliated with focus on the family.

Tim Kimmel is not expressly against spanking and that is not his litmus test for who he partners with.

He takes more of a "big tent" approach from what I have seen.

I still consider him a helpful stepping stone toward a relational and grace based parenting paradigm. Especially in the conservative evangelical world. His book "why Christian kids rebel" is EXCELLENT for parents struggling with a fear-based paradigm of parenting (strict rules, little relationship, trying to control their kids into holiness).

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[NewLeaf]

I'm not surprised. I didn't care for his book. I thought his tone was often judgmental and condescending.

[NewCovenantMama]

I second that Kimmel is a good stepping stone towards non-punitive discipline. He isn't anti-spanking but believes it isn't compulsory. Also, one of his books, The High Cost of High Control (which doesn't even mention spanking) is one of the best books on family and other relationships I've ever read. It helped me realise why certain aspects of certain relationships in my life felt so icky.