Daly Focus Blog
There’s a lot that we don’t yet know about the chilling and tragic story surrounding the violent death of 25-year-old Ahmaud Arbery of Brunswick, Georgia.
But here’s what we do know.
On February 23rd Ahmaud Arbery was killed in broad daylight while running on a suburban street following an altercation with Gregory and Travis McMichael.
According to a press release from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, the McMichaels – who are father and son – “confronted Arbery with two firearms.
Today is
the National Day of Prayer.
If you’re not familiar
with it, this annual observance is held on the first Thursday of May and invites
people of all faiths to pray for the nation. It was created in 1952 by a joint
resolution of the United States Congress and signed into law by President Harry
S. Truman.
In honor
of today, I hope you’ll tune in for a special edition of our Focus on the Family Broadcast we’re calling “Prayers and Stories of Hope for America.”
We’re airing
your stories of hope, your tales of God’s faithfulness during this time of
crisis, and your prayers for our nation in the days ahead.
If you’re like most parents with students in the home, the coronavirus pandemic has thrown a real wrench in academic plans – not just for the last two months but even looking ahead to the prospect of summer camps and other nontraditional instruction.
For the last 57 years, our friends over at Summit Ministries in Manitou Springs– led by Jeff Myers – have been helping to equip high school and college students during the summer months to become next generation leaders.
On today’s Focus on the Family Broadcast, I have the pleasure of talking with Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Alex Azar.
It might surprise you that with a budget of $1.4 trillion dollars, the HHS is the largest cabinet department on earth. If it were a country, it would be only behind the United States, China, Japan, Germany and France.
Given the programs and responsibilities entrusted to Secretary Azar, including Medicare, Medicaid and the Food and Drug Administration, the department’s work is vital – and especially in the age of the coronavirus global pandemic.
News broke over the weekend of a drive-by shooting at the West Monroe, Louisiana, property of Willie Robertson, the star of the “Duck Dynasty” franchise.
According to police reports, 8 shots were fired from a car outside the fence that surrounds the home. One of the bullets broke through the window of a house owned by son John Luke Robertson, who is married to Mary Kate and has an infant child.
Thankfully, nobody was injured, but the incident understandably rattled the family.
With much
of the country weeks into a lockdown, calls to the National Mental Health
Hotline have increased by almost 900 percent.
The
uncertainty of these times is resulting in a steep rise in anxiety and
depression. For many, social distancing has turned into social isolation. Some
have turned away from people and toward food, alcohol, online shopping, and
pornography. Others are suffering from racing thoughts, sleepless nights, and irritability.
It becomes
a trap. When we’re anxious and fearful, we can’t concentrate, our creativity
and productivity go down, and it’s hard to see options.
We’ve just come through Easter, a time when many churches in America experience near record attendance. The coronavirus changed all of that this year, of course.
Congregations are being wonderfully innovative, and many are streaming their services on their websites or through social media channels. Some are even reporting that their online metrics suggest they’re reaching more with the Gospel than ever before.
It’s just like the Christian church to thrive in crisis!
But not every church is thriving and reaching more people.
History is always a good teacher.
If you were to visit the National Archives building in Washington, D.C., you’d see two separate statues just outside its Pennsylvania Avenue entrance.
One is a sculpture that contains a paraphrase of a quote from Confucius. It reads, “Study the past.” The figure is holding a closed book representing history’s previous events.
The other is a sculpture titled, “Future,” and at its base is a line from Shakespeare’s “Tempest” – “What is Past is Prologue.”
In other words, everything that’s happened contributes to everything that’s happening today and that will occur tomorrow.
Should God receive credit for the turning of the tide of the coronavirus global pandemic?
Not according to New York Governor Andrew Cuomo.
Speaking earlier this week, the Empire State’s chief executive, who is Catholic, was blunt:
“The number is down because we brought the number down,” he told reporters. “God did not do that. Faith did not do that. Destiny did not do that. A lot of pain and suffering did that…That’s how it works. It’s math.
Words matter.
Every year contains its share of popular terms and catch phrases, words uttered and written so often that they become part of the national vernacular. In the build-up to President Donald Trump’s impeachment in 2019, it was “quid pro quo” – a Latin phrase that means, basically, a favor for a favor.
In the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, everyone from the president of the United States down to local community leaders have made “social distancing” the latest household phrase, and with the very best of intentions.
Jim Daly is a husband, father and President of Focus on the Family and host of its National Radio Hall of Fame broadcast. His blog, Daly Focus, is full of timely commentary and wisdom designed to help you navigate and understand today’s culture. His latest book is Marriage Done Right.
