Current Events Archives

What You Might Not Know About Pastor Saeed Abedeni

If you’ve been keeping an eye on the news, you’ve probably heard about Saeed Abedeni. He’s an Iranian-American pastor, a former Muslim who converted to Christianity.

In 2012, Saeed went to Iran, a trip he’d made nearly a dozen times before. He was there to visit family and work on a government-approved orphanage for Muslim children. Instead, he was arrested by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard and charged with “threatening Iran’s national security.”

In government-speak, that means they considered his Christian faith dangerous.

Topics: Current Events Tags: broadcast, faith, news, religious liberty March 17, 2015 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

In Dying, Kara Tippetts Shows Us God is Present in Pain

What does dying with dignity look like?

At 38, Kara Tippetts is answering that question as she faces her final days on earth.

In recent posts on her popular blog, “Mundane Faithfulness,” Kara shares how she now uses a wheelchair (which she named Norman), sleeps on a hospital bed at home, and is in hospice care.

These are harsh realities for a wife and mother of four young children to face. Yet she does it with God’s grace – a grace that has allowed her to give to others through her blog and book, even while she battles cancer.

Topics: Current Events Tags: broadcast, faith, news March 13, 2015 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

A Stunning Violation in San Francisco

A news roundup on the issues that matter most.

– The Wall St. Journal’s “A Fight to Keep Catholic Schools Catholic” explains how California lawmakers are trying to prevent San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone from hiring faculty that would advance Catholic teaching in area high schools.

Just imagine: Catholic schools teaching Catholic doctrine? The effort to coerce school officials into violating their convictions is a stunning assault on a religious school’s constitutional freedom.

– Planet Fitness Revokes Woman’s Membership After She Complained About Transgender Person.

Topics: Current Events Tags: marriage, news, religious liberty, technology March 9, 2015 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Why Benjamin Netanyahu Showed Churchillian Moral Courage Today

When Winston Churchill famously addressed the United States Congress in the 1940s, he said he found in America “An Olympian fortitude which, far from being based upon complacency, is only the mask of an inflexible purpose and the proof of a sure, well-grounded confidence in the final outcome.”

In today’s speech in the U.S. House of Representatives, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu evoked that same fortitude and confidence that Churchill evoked all those years ago, not in the face of an attack on Pearl Harbor, of course, but rather in the grave threat posed by a potentially nuclear-tipped Iran.

Topics: Current Events Tags: news, policy March 3, 2015 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

If Your Child Was Killed by ISIS, Could You Pray For the Murderer?

In recent days, our hearts have been torn and our emotions exhausted as we’ve attempted to process the horrific martyrdom of 21 Christian young men (20 Egyptian and one Ghanian) at the hands of their radical-Islamic captors.

And then, just yesterday, we learned that ISIS had kidnapped dozens of Assyrian Christians, including many women and children, in northeast Syria.

Last week, I shared behind-the-scenes insights from the director of Focus on the Family’s Middle East outreach, Sami Yacoub, that lent meaningful background to the news reports we were hearing.

Topics: Current Events Tags: church, news, religious liberty February 25, 2015 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Washington Florist Stays True to Faith Convictions, Risks Financial Ruin

A news roundup on the issues that matter most.

“How Many Kids Grow Up With Their Married Mom and Dad?”: Less than half, according to a new report by the Family Research Council. It finds 54 percent of 15- to 17-year-olds do not live in a home with their married mother and father.

The story of Pastor Lee-Jon-rak and his baby box – the topic of Focus’ upcoming film, “The Drop Box” – has earned a lot of media attention since the original article in the L.A.

Topics: Current Events Tags: faith, family, news, pro-life, religious liberty February 24, 2015 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

May the 21 Martyrs Cause Us to Remember, Unite and Pray

Thousands of churches will be remembering the 21 Christian Egyptian martyrs who were recently killed by Islamic terrorists this Sunday, Feb. 22 through a moment of silence followed by a time of prayer.

This time of remembrance is part of a movement sponsored by various Christian groups, including Focus on the Family, through the 21martyrs.com. Church leaders can find a short but powerful video at the website that reflects on the persecution Christians around the world are facing – and the Bible’s promises to the persecuted.

Topics: Current Events Tags: church, news, promos, religious liberty February 21, 2015 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

What the Media Isn’t Reporting on ISIS’ Beheading of 21 Christian Men

The tragic images are almost impossible to see and process.

There on the shore of Libya stand 21 young Christian Egyptian men, each clad in an orange jumpsuit. Behind each man is a hooded radical Islamist, holding a knife.

We know what’s coming next.

If American Christians were ever tempted to believe martyrs are only people we read about in the Bible and history books, the 21 men who were brutally beheaded because they called Jesus Christ their Savior remind us nothing could be further from the truth.

Topics: Current Events Tags: church, faith, news, religious liberty February 18, 2015 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

This Valentine’s Day, Go Beyond “I Love You”

It’s a little sad how even the most heartfelt phrases can sometimes become habit.

“I love you.”

These are three meaningful words that every husband and wife should say to each other, often.

And yet, sometimes even this beautiful expression can lose some of its luster.

That’s why I appreciated the heart behind this video: a husband and wife, together for 56 years, were asked to describe what they felt for each other … but with one catch.

Topics: Current Events Tags: marriage, relationships February 13, 2015 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Why Focus is Reviewing “Fifty Shades”

The movie “Fifty Shades of Grey” premieres this weekend. It’s ironic the film is being marketed as a “love” story, because it’s anything but.

Real men don’t denigrate, exploit and abuse women.

After much soul searching, Focus on the Family’s media discernment arm, Plugged In, decided to review this film. Paul Asay explains why in a post on the Plugged In Blog. Here’s some of what he had to say:

Religion News Service reports that advance tickets are selling particularly briskly in “the Bible Belt and the Midwest,” statistically the two most heavily churched parts of the country…

I don’t believe our primary mission at Plugged In is to say nice things about nice movies: It’s to shine that light in a sometimes murky world.

Topics: Current Events Tags: entertainment, marriage, pop culture, sex February 13, 2015 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura