Daly Focus Blog
November is National Adoption Month.
Have you considered the role God might have for you to positively impact the lives of orphans?
If you answered no, you’re not alone. A lot of couples wrestle with whether or not they should adopt, or if there’s some other part they should play.
That was how Mike and Kristin Berry’s story began.
Kristin just assumed she and Mike would adopt children when they married. Adoption had been a legacy for Kristin’s family for decades.
Election night 2015 brought victories for religious freedom and common sense.
Last night we saw many encouraging signs from around the country that voters are concerned with issues ranging from religious freedom to the expansion of recreational drug use to the safety and privacy concerns of women and children.
Here are some of the highlights:
First, Houston voters overwhelmingly rejected a controversial city ordinance that would have allowed men suffering from gender confusion to use women’s bathrooms and locker rooms around the city.
Many Americans, especially children, eagerly await the arrival of Halloween this Saturday. I understand and respect that some of my readers choose not to participate in the tradition of the day. If that is you, I appreciate your convictions. However, I think equally devoted Christians can respond differently. My wife and I have opted to allow our sons to trick-or-treat over the years.
We do, though, impose one important caveat: We’ve chosen to stay away from any of the gore and horror of the holiday.
Some elementary schools across the nation are banning recess.
Why?
So kids can have more formal instruction time in class.
Limiting recess is just one example of what’s being done in the interest of giving teachers more time to teach. For example, we’re seeing children being introduced to formal academics earlier and earlier.
One teacher described it like this: “Kindergarten is now first grade, and first grade is now second grade.”
Kids are also coming home with more homework than in years past.
Few things should concern us more than watching government officials take actions that put political correctness ahead of the safety of women and children.
What’s happening in Houston at the moment is a perfect example of this.
You may remember this ongoing story:
Houston’s Mayor Annise Parker, along with a willing city council, passed one of those laws we see more and more of today, which permits men who are dealing with their own gender identity confusion to use women’s restrooms and locker rooms (and vice versa).
When we launched “Bring Your Bible to School Day” last year as a way to empower and encourage public school students from kindergarten to college to express their faith freely, we had no idea God was going to do so much with the event in such a little time.
An estimated 8,000 students celebrated their religious freedom and shared God’s hope in the program’s inaugural year. Tomorrow, we’re expecting an estimated 100,000 to participate!
Students all across the nation have already signed up to take part in “Bring Your Bible to School Day.” On our Facebook page, we’re reading story after story of excited students getting ready to stand unashamed for their faith.
The stories and scenes from Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, Oregon, have become tragically familiar. Once again, a calm and peaceful setting is disrupted by violent gunfire, a massacre wrought by an individual targeting people of the Christian faith.
From Columbine High School and New Life Church here in Colorado, to churches in Charleston, South Carolina, and Fort Worth, Texas, and now, a school in Roseburg, Oregon, a chilling pattern has emerged. Innocent and unassuming people, many of them young students for whom their love of God frames everything else in life, are increasingly becoming the casualties of a red-hot abhorrence of Christianity.
We’re deeply saddened by the tragic news of the shooting at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, Oregon. News reports indicate the shooter, who later committed suicide, was asking those he captured to state their religion. If they identified as Christians, they were shot in the head. All others were shot in the leg. In total, 12 people have been reported killed and eight others have been wounded. Today’s massacre, which appears to have been religiously motivated, is reminiscent of the Columbine High School shooting where several students were specifically targeted and murdered because of their Christian faith.
Last year’s inaugural “Bring Your Bible to School Day” was huge, and this year’s event on Oct. 8 promises to be even bigger.
Just like last year, all 50 states will be represented. But where last year we had about 8,000 students participating, we’re expecting that number to be exponentially higher for the 2015 event.
Think about what God can do through multiple thousands of students, from kindergarten to college, bringing their Bibles to school as a visual way to celebrate religious freedom and share God’s hope with friends!
Note: In light of Yogi Berra’s passing last night at the age of 90, I wanted to dust off a piece I wrote about him three years ago. Many will remember Mr. Berra’s Hall of Fame playing career and funny way with words. He was a character, that’s for sure! But I’m most impressed with the love and devotion he exhibited to his wife of 65 years, Carmen, who passed away in 2012. May the Lord bring comfort and peace to the Berra’s three sons and extended family.
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.
