Uncategorized Archives

Practical Advice for Parenting Strong-Willed Children

Jean and I have a strong-willed boy. Over the years, we’ve joked that we were raising a lawyer-in-training. He could find a loophole in anything.

Once, Jean hosted a women’s tea and set out chocolates in the living room. She later discovered half the bowl was gone. When she asked him if he’d eaten all the chocolates, our son responded, “No,” without hesitation.

“You didn’t eat the chocolates?”

“Oh, I ate some of them. But you asked if I had eaten all of them.”

If you’ve got a strong-willed child, you’ve probably encountered situations like that.

Topics: Uncategorized Tags: children, parenting November 19, 2020 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Overcoming the Obstacles of Cerebral Palsy

Tyler Sexton has been an overcomer since the day he was born. So have his parents, Lisa and Kevin.

When Tyler was born at 28 weeks, doctors immediately placed him in an incubator and said, “We’re rushing him by helicopter to a hospital four hours away. His lungs will likely collapse, and there’s a chance that he could die mid-flight.” Tyler survived, but a long road that included 16 surgeries had just begun.

At 18 months, Tyler was diagnosed with cerebral palsy.

Topics: Uncategorized Tags: faith June 16, 2020 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Pursuing Our Untamable God

In The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis, we’re introduced to Aslan, a great lion who rules Narnia.

Susan, a little girl who stumbles into the enchanted world through a magic wardrobe, asks Mr. Beaver if Aslan is safe.

“Safe?” Mr. Beaver replies. “Who said anything about safe? ‘Course he isn’t safe. But he’s good. He’s the King.”

God, whom Aslan symbolizes, isn’t safe, either. We never know when or how God will show up in our lives.

Topics: Uncategorized Tags: faith June 11, 2020 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Jennifer Aniston and Brad Pitt’s SAG Awards Interaction Demonstrates the Healing Power of Forgiveness

Hollywood was founded on the power of story, though the real-life ones off the screen between its stars sometimes draw more attention than the fiction we watch on film.

Which is maybe why Sunday’s night’s interaction between Jennifer Aniston and Brad Pitt at the Screen Actors Guild award show has lit up social media into something of a frenzy and elicited speculation the famed couple may soon rekindle their romance.

Married between 2000 and 2005, the pair have been spotted together numerous times of late, primarily at industry shows.

Topics: Uncategorized Tags: forgiveness, pop culture January 22, 2020 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Getting Organized for Christmas

Is it too early to start thinking about Christmas?

It’s not if you hope to have a smooth December and enjoy a stress-free Christmas season. That can be tough to do if you’re not organized.

Christmas is supposed to be a time of joy. A time for us to reflect on our Savior who came as a baby in a manger and soon took upon Himself the sins of the world.

Instead, we get caught up in all the “stuff” of Christmas: the lights, the decorations, the shopping.

Topics: Uncategorized Tags: broadcast, christmas, family, holidays November 12, 2019 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Examining Your Part in a Difficult Marriage

Darryl and Tracy Strawberry are living proof that with God’s help, any couple can overcome obstacles that seem insurmountable and build a happy marriage. Their life together has been a difficult but rewarding journey.

They met each other in recovery. At the time, neither one was living for the Lord, and they were both broken people.

Darryl was $3 million in debt. He had been a power hitting, eight-time Major League All-Star who earned four World Series championships in 17 seasons with teams like the New York Mets and the New York Yankees.

Topics: Uncategorized Tags: broadcast, conflict, couples, marriage September 16, 2019 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

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: Uncategorized July 31, 2019 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Living for Christ in a Me-First World

How do we, as believers, live for Christ in a world that constantly puts self first? Leslie Vernick addresses this highly relevant topic in her book, How to Find Selfless Joy in a Me-First World.

Our culture makes me the highest priority. From social media posts and selfies to the aisles of bookstores that are filled with self-help books – our individualistic, American culture calls us to be the best version of ourselves to the exclusion of God and others.

However, this hyper focus on self is one of Satan’s strategies to make us believe that we are the center of our own universe.

Topics: Uncategorized Tags: broadcast, faith June 18, 2019 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

How Do You Forgive Evil?

Forgiveness is never easy, but how do you forgive evil?

For Polly Sheppard and Reverend Anthony Thompson, that question is no mere hypothetical. Polly was a member of a weekly Bible study led by Anthony’s wife, Myra, at Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina.

On the evening of June 17, 2015, 12 members of Myra’s group came together for study. A few minutes in, they welcomed a young white man who unexpectedly came into the church.

Topics: Uncategorized Tags: broadcast, evil, forgiveness June 13, 2019 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Justice Thomas Speaks Truth: Abortion IS a Tool of Modern-Day Eugenics

Yesterday’s Supreme Court decision that upheld Indiana’s fetal remains law – legislation that requires burial or cremation of a baby’s body following an abortion – was welcome news regarding a very uncomfortable topic, of course.

It’s hard to even fathom why anyone would oppose these types of standards, but Planned Parenthood’s wicked and evil opposition to anything that hints at the rights and respect due pre-born life shouldn’t shock us anymore.

At the same time, there was disappointing news within the same decision.

Topics: Uncategorized May 29, 2019 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura