Daly Focus Blog
On a wall of our offices at Focus on the Family we have a Bible verse prominently posted. It reads:
“All the people rejoiced because of what God had done for the people, for everything had been accomplished so quickly.” – 2 Chronicles 29:36
That verse comes to mind every December when our public relations team compiles a news release of the year’s highlights.
It’s amazing to look back and realize what God has accomplished for His glory and for the benefit of families… all “quickly,” in a year.
It’s “best of” time on the Focus on the Family daily broadcast! During the months of December through February, we’re going to be re-airing our best, most popular broadcasts of the year – the ones we heard back from our listeners the most on.
Here’s a rundown of the best of 2014 Focus broadcasts:
Dec 1-2 – Moving From Loneliness to Intimacy in Your Marriage I-II – Dr. David Clarke
Dec 3 – Serving God in Our Culture – Lecrae
Dec 4-5 – Overcoming the Obstacles of Cerebral Palsy I-II – Lisa Sexton and Dr.
Mount Erebus in Antarctica is one of the most active volcanoes on earth.
The region averages fifty-eight degrees below zero in the winter and on an especially balmy summer day the temperature can nudge toward four below. Combine those frigid temperatures with hot gases escaping from ground vents around the volcano, and massive ice structures form, towering forty to fifty feet high.
They’re an oddly beautiful sight in such an unforgiving landscape.
And they exist because of opposite forces coming together.
“Oh give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; for his steadfast love endures forever!” (I Chronicles 16:34)
It’s a wonderful thing to live in a nation that, once a year, sets aside an official day of thanksgiving. We certainly are a blessed people, and there is much to give thanks for. I hope you and your family are enjoying the day.
If you are looking for something to do with your family that will emphasize the themes of thanksgiving, forgiveness and friendship, may I suggest listening to today’s broadcast, “Squanto: A Thanksgiving Drama”?
This Thanksgiving, I’m grateful for a small country church and its big-hearted members.
We first learned of Silver Lake Church of the Bible (Silver Lake, Oregon) from a simple letter. The story Pastor Leon Baker shared in that letter started in 2006.
After listening to a Focus broadcast, “The Lord laid it upon my heart to begin collecting for the purchase of an ultrasonic machine,” he wrote.
And for eight years, that’s what Pastor Baker and his congregation did.
Isn’t it strange that in a nation nicknamed the “land of opportunity” that so many struggle to find happiness?
I think, in part, that’s because we haven’t learned the discipline of gratitude. I’m not talking about the brief moments here and there where we acknowledge God’s blessings. I’m talking about living a life of gratitude.
Maybe gratitude is difficult because cynicism is too easy.
By nature, I’m an optimist. But it’s easy to turn pessimistic from time to time.
Many of us strive for excellence. But for other folks, excellence isn’t good enough. They want perfection. As noble as that goal sounds, it’s actually a very unhealthy way to live.
Oh, sure, perfectionists look great on the outside. Just ask today’s broadcast guests Kathi Lipp and Cheri Gregory. Self-acknowledged perfectionists, they’ll tell you they tend to work harder than everyone around them, excel at most things they try, and appear confident. But underneath that polished exterior is a fragile self-image.
When a couple is expecting their first baby, it doesn’t matter that pregnancy and childbirth have happened billions of times before to other people – what matters is that it’s their first time. Just ask Jill (Duggar) Dillard and her husband, Derick.
They’re expecting their first baby, a boy, in March.
Fans of the popular show have watched Jill, 23, grow up for the past ten years on her family’s reality show “19 Kids & Counting.” Jill and Derick’s wedding episode was the series’ most-watched at 4.4 million viewers, and the night’s No.
Glenn Stanton’s new book, “Loving My (LGBT) Neighbor: Being Friends in Grace and Truth,” is an important read. I was honored to write the foreword to the book, which I want to share with you today. -JD
***
Not long ago, Glenn Stanton invited Jonathan Rauch, a noted author, journalist and gay rights advocate, to address members of our team at Focus on the Family. Glenn and Jonathan have been friends for some time despite representing opposite ends of the spectrum in the national debate over homosexuality.
Imagine you’re out walking one night. The cold wind penetrates your coat and you can see your breath in the air.
As you step forward under the moonlight, you stumble on a newborn baby that has been abandoned, alone and vulnerable, in an alley.
What do you do?
The scenario I laid out might seem improbable, but it’s exactly what happened to Pastor Lee Jong-rak of Seoul, South Korea.
Pastor Lee scooped up the baby, and the baby – and that experience – changed his life.
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.
