Daly Focus Blog
Do you ever feel like advertisers and commercialism have taken over Christmas? Does it seem like it’s gotten worse in the last 15 to 20 years? Well, if you answered yes, you might be as surprised as I was to hear that Christmas, as we celebrate it today, was almost single-handedly created by commercialism.
As recently as 150 years ago, Christmas wasn’t the most important holiday in our culture. That was Easter. The focus began to shift once department stores got involved.
I love Thanksgiving.
You get to eat great food – thank you, Jean – and you get to watch plenty of football. Of course, most important of all, Thanksgiving is a time to thank God for His incredible blessings.
I’m thankful for my wife and two boys and for the help we’re able to provide families through foster care. I’m also thankful for the Lord’s work through Focus on the Family. Marriages and preborn babies are being saved.
Gerald Harvey Jones, a former industrial arts teacher who would go on to become one of America’s most highly regarded painters by creating masterpieces that hearkened back to simpler times when virtues such as faith, courage, patriotism, hard work, and compassion were revered, has died. He was 84.
“G. Harvey,” as he was known to his fans and collectors, was a friend of mine, as he was to many around Focus on the Family. A man of incredible generosity, Gerald began a tradition in 1987 of commissioning a yearly painting for the ministry, which we were then able to make available to our friends.
The late Dr. Adrian Rogers once said that if you can learn to laugh at yourself you’ll never run out of things to laugh at!
In that spirit, the following video from the talented comedian Jon Crist is for all my pastor friends out there – or for all of us who love our pastor.
As one who grew up an orphan, I applaud the leadership of the House of Representatives and the Ways and Means Committee for the action taken today to restore the Adoption Tax Credit (ATC). Our friends and listeners responded to our calls to contact members of Congress and amend the initial proposal. In turn, our elected officials have heeded our plea.
The ATC is a vital tool supporting the life-affirming and life-saving act of adoption. It is a crucial part of a pro-life and pro-family policy agenda.
Last month Focus on the Family was proud to be part of the nationwide theatrical release of “MULLY,” an award-winning docudrama that shares the inspiring true story of Charles Mully.
More than 100,000 people around the country showed up to watch Mully overcome personal tragedy and poverty to achieve wealth and power – only to give it all up to help rescue more than 12,000 children living on the streets of Kenya.
And now, “MULLY” is back for an encore showing on Thursday, Nov.
Do you get the feeling that we’ve crossed a line in this country?
I do.
As I mentioned yesterday, the most recent outburst of bloodshed and mayhem – the tragic gunning down of twenty-six worshipers at the First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs, Texas – has left most of us breathless and reeling.
It’s dawning on us that, somehow or other, senseless violence has become the “new norm” in America.
Again and again celebrities, news anchors, and politicians have responded to this unthinkable situation with a familiar refrain:
“We’re sending thoughts and prayers to the victims and their families.”
Most of us appreciate their sentiments.
Not again.
That was my first thought Sunday when I learned about the tragic shooting at First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, Texas.
As you know by now, 26 people were killed when a gunman burst into the 11 A.M service of the small congregation and opened fire.
The youngest victim was a pre-born child. The oldest was 77. The church pastor’s 14-year-old daughter was also murdered.
Additionally, 20 congregants were wounded.
Reports today suggest the gunman was deeply disturbed and motivated by a dispute with his ex-wife’s family.
In August, I wrote about a Washington State high school football coach named Joe Kennedy who was fired for praying silently, after the game, on the field’s 50-yard-line.
At the time, I was incredulous.
As a former teenage boy who was once helped by a man in the mold of Coach Kennedy, I suggested we need more men like him.
Instead of firing him, school officials should be feting him!
In the months since I first spoke up in his defense, I’ve had the opportunity to get to know this good man personally.
Yesterday’s release of the Republican’s “Tax Cuts and Job Act” fulfills a long-anticipated campaign promise dating back to 2016. At 429 pages, the proposed legislation is still being carefully reviewed and assessed, but we’ve learned enough about it to offer an initial reaction.
First, I’m grateful for tax reform and tax cuts for the middle class. In the current proposal, the Child Tax Credit will go to $1600 from $1000, plus an additional $300 credit for each parent and non-child dependent.
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.
