Family and Home Archives

Walking Away from the Faith: What We Can Learn from Joshua Harris

I was deeply saddened to hear the recent news regarding well-known author and speaker Joshua Harris. First, Harris and his wife, Shannon, announced they have chosen to divorce after 21 years of marriage. Harris made his announcement in an Instagram post.

A few days later, in another post, he declared that he’d undergone “a massive shift” regarding his faith in Jesus and that he no longer considers himself a Christian.

Although Joshua suggests that these decisions were the result of “significant changes” he’d undergone in recent years, he hasn’t specifically described what has led to such dramatic shifts in his philosophy and worldview.

Topics: Family and Home July 31, 2019 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Offering God’s Hope to Families with Prodigals

You remember the story of the Prodigal Son. Traditionally, it’s told from the point of view of the younger son who demands his father’s money and comes crawling home in shame after he squanders it all.

But I wonder if we should call it the story of the prodigal sons. The older son stayed home, but he didn’t have the heart of his father. He rejected his brother and wouldn’t even come to celebrate that his younger brother had been rescued from the clutches of death.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, faith, families, hope July 29, 2019 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Rising to the Challenge of Parenting

When author and counselor Dr. David Clarke speaks to parents, he humorously asks if children are a gift from God … or instruments of slow torture.

His answer: both!

He tells parents they’re fighting three wars:

With their own children. Kids are wonderful gifts from God, but they’re fiendishly inventive at getting their own way.With their spouse. Most couples find out after their first child is born that they have different parenting styles.With the culture. Everything from the entertainment industry to social media to public policy makes parenting children increasingly difficult.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, challenge, children, faith, parenting July 25, 2019 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Making Your Marriage a Picture of the Gospel

“Maybe D.A. and Elicia shouldn’t get married.”

A lot of friends and family must have thought that about D.A. and Elicia Horton … even the drug dealers on the corner. No kidding!

One night two months before their wedding, D.A. and Elicia got into yet another terrible argument. This one was the worst in a long string of them, however, because what started as a disagreement inside quickly escalated into a six-hour screaming match outside. It was so bad they say drug dealers moved their business further down the road because D.A.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, couples, faith, marriage July 23, 2019 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

One Pitch from Humility

Frank Pastore knew his life’s purpose early on. It was to be rich and famous. If you accumulated all the right stuff on the outside, he thought, you’d be happy and fulfilled on the inside.

For a time, he thought he was on track. He got a big contract to pitch for the Cincinnati Reds, bought a home and a Porsche, and planned to set records over the next 10 to 15 years. He was on top of the world, rubbing shoulders with some of the greatest players in the history of the game.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, faith, humility July 22, 2019 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Renewing My Heart

“You’ll never walk again.”

That’s what a doctor told author Eva Whittington Self only a few months before her high school graduation, after she was paralyzed in a car accident.

She was driving along a snowy country road one night when she rounded a curve and had to swerve to miss another car coming toward her. She lost control, and her car crashed through a bridge railing and disappeared over the edge. In the wreckage below, Eva remained conscious and knew she had lost all feeling in her legs.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, faith, renewing July 18, 2019 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Understanding Your Triggers for More Peaceful Parenting

See if this scenario sounds familiar.

Your son is playing with his toys when you stop by and tell him it’s time to clean up his room. You walk away, but instead of complying immediately, your son keeps right on playing.

A few minutes later, you return and discover that your instructions have been ignored. How would you respond?

Many moms and dads respond by exploding in anger.

The question is why? There’s no reason for a child’s ignoring simple instructions like “clean up your room” or “take out the trash” to make a parent’s blood boil, and yet it often does.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, faith, parenting, peace July 16, 2019 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Transforming Lives and Hearts Through Hospitality

Our world fosters individuality. Think about it – we drive home at the end of the day, close our garage doors behind us, and live our individual lives. Oftentimes, we are within 100 feet of our neighbors – yet we know very little about them.

We have a high calling on our lives. How do we communicate the love of Jesus in this post-Christian world? And how do we model the example of hospitality found in Acts 2?

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, faith, hospitality July 15, 2019 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Making Parenting Fun

The heat of summer is on, which for my family means camping.

We love getting outdoors. We love parking our fifth wheel in some remote location where the sounds of nature are not drowned out by cars and busyness.

When there’s a lake nearby, the first thing my boys do is grab rocks to throw into the water. And the bigger the better. For them, it’s all about the splash.

Me? I’m intrigued by the ripples.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, parenting July 12, 2019 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

A Mother’s Heart Redeemed By God

“I’m pregnant!” is supposed to be good news, the kind that most would-be moms celebrate.

Not Jennifer Polimino. Her moment of incredible joy was tarnished by feelings of guilt and shame from her past, the result of abuse that steered her in the wrong direction.

At age 12, Jennifer was nearly raped by a group of boys that hung out with her older sister. Jennifer was with them in an apartment with little furniture and no electricity.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: abortion, broadcast, faith, mother, pregnancy July 11, 2019 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura