Daly Focus Blog
Would you give as much as you’re currently giving to your church or charities of choice whether or not you were entitled to deduct the amount of the contributions from your taxable income?
The charitable contribution deduction has been available to American taxpayers in some form or fashion since 1917. This incentive (some may say reward), has been welcomed by both the giver and the receiver for obvious reasons.
But in the midst of the “fiscal cliff” discussions, the deduction is now in danger.
Topics: Family and Home Tags: pop culture by Jim Daly with Paul Batura
The Reverend Graham J. Baird is the senior pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Colorado Springs.
He’s also my friend.
Prior to coming to Colorado, Graham served as the founding pastor of Highlands Church in Paso Robles, California. The ministry started with twenty-five people in a drive-in movie theater and has since grown to over two thousand weekly attenders.
Graham’s philosophy has been to pull down the barriers and make it easier for those wanting to come to church to learn about God.
Topics: Family and Home Tags: church, faith, homosexuality, kids, pastors by Jim Daly with Paul Batura
Hope you had a wonderful Christmas!
I want to share something fun and educational with you.
Call the children!
The following clips come from Focus on the Family and Jelly Telly‘s DVD titled, Why Do We Call it Christmas? To order your own copy, click . I think you and your kiddos will enjoy the following. Take a look and please let us know!
Topics: Family and Home Tags: faith, family, kids, parenting by Jim Daly with Paul Batura
Fifty years ago tonight ABC Radio aired a delightful “live” broadcast of legendary newscaster Paul Harvey reporting from the North Pole.
If you appreciated Paul Harvey or love the magic of radio, you’re going to enjoy this one.
To listen to the special broadcast, click here.
Merry Christmas!
Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, entertainment by Jim Daly with Paul Batura
Do you have real young children? A cross country flight with a two-year-old can be a wearisome and stressful adventure. To help you navigate the experience, I thought it would be helpful to hear from an expert. Shawna Purvis is a friend of Focus and works full-time as a flight attendant for a major airline. Her husband, Ryan, is also a commercial pilot. We asked her for some tips for moms and dads and she very graciously obliged.
Topics: Family and Home Tags: events by Jim Daly with Paul Batura
It struck me the other day and in the process of thinking about it, left a pit in my stomach.
As I prayed about the ongoing heartache surrounding the school shooting in Connecticut, I thought about the fact that many of the children who appeared in Focus on the Family’s “John 3:16” advertisement that aired earlier this year are the same age as many of the victims at Sandy Hook Elementary School. We all love the sweetness and innocence of children and just can’t fathom any person deliberately harming one of them.
Topics: Family and Home Tags: news by Jim Daly with Paul Batura
The churn of the culture reminds me of Rembrandt’s famous painting, The Storm on the Sea of Galilee.
It was the legendary painter’s only seascape, and it dramatically captures the moment right before Jesus calms the turbulent waters (Mark 4:35–40). It’s an exquisite piece of art for several reasons, and an appropriate one to point to at this time in our history.
If you were to examine the painting, you would notice there are fourteen people in the boat.
Topics: Family and Home Tags: faith by Jim Daly with Paul Batura
It’s been called the “Paradox of Christmas,” the fact that the Creator of heaven and earth gave up what He had so that we might receive what we need.
It’s in this ultimate selfless act that we find the origin of exchanging gifts between loved ones and friends. We try and find that perfect gift to communicate our affection for each other. In many circles the tradition has been trivialized and commercialized, but this is why we give – to be reminded that God so generously gave us the gift of His Son on that first Christmas.
Topics: Family and Home Tags: faith, family by Jim Daly with Paul Batura
When a good friend dies, especially under tragic circumstances, the mind tends to wander with a degree of wistfulness. We think back to moments now frozen in time, to memorable conversations, funny stories or meals together.
In the midst of all that joy at the time we didn’t think of sorrow, we didn’t think of the brevity of it all, the temporal nature of life.
Why would we? Yet, it was Solomon who once wrote that even in laughter the heart may ache – and all joy ends in grief (Proverbs 14:13).
Topics: Family and Home Tags: church, faith by Jim Daly with Paul Batura
As we find and pray our way through this school shooting in Connecticut, it’s helpful to hold tight to traditions and yes, to remember the words of Phillips Brooks:
O little town of Bethlehem,
How still we see thee lie;
Above thy deep and dreamless sleep
The silent stars go by:
Yet in thy dark streets shineth
The everlasting Light;
The hopes and fears of all the years
Are met in thee to-night.
At the time he wrote those words, Bishop Brooks was the rector of the Church of the Holy Trinity in Philadelphia.
Topics: Family and Home Tags: faith, family by Jim Daly with Paul Batura
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.Home
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