Jim Daly

Are You a Good Listener?

Pastor Ted Cunningham says, “Social media is a place where people share their opinions without sticking around for the conversation.”

He’s right. A lot of people like to share their opinions, but few like to listen. Beyond social media, that’s also a big problem in marriage, in parenting, and in interactions with friends and extended family.

Listening has become synonymous with approval, agreement, and wholesale acceptance of someone’s opinion. The natural response, then, is to talk over people and to express our point of view to the exclusion of all others.

Continue ReadingTopics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, relationships

Understanding the Two Different Sides of Love

Skyscrapers are amazing feats of engineering. They need to be strong enough to resist the forces that come against them, like gravity and wind. That’s why skyscrapers are built with steel.

They also need to be flexible enough to withstand the forces that come against them … like gravity and wind. That’s why architects design skyscrapers with a certain amount of sway.

Strength and softness. The two sides of a superstructure. Two sides of love as well.

Continue ReadingTopics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, marriage, parenting, relationships

You Can Have a Healthy Family (Even If Yours Wasn’t)

When you think of a family tree, you think of strong branches that represent generations of your family reaching to the sky.

But what do you do when those branches are broken by the storms of life? How do you become a good husband or wife, or a good father or mother, when your past has been marked by abandonment, divorce, or the death of a loved one?

My family didn’t have a family tree. We had a “family bush.” My mother died when I was nine years old.

Continue ReadingTopics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, family, marriage

My Thoughts on Chick-fil-A’s Decision and the Leftist Mob that Pushed Them

News of Chick-fil-A’s decision to reprioritize their charitable giving and part ways with faith-based organizations like the Salvation Army and the Fellowship of Christian Athletes has understandably disappointed its legions of Christian supporters, including me.

Established in 1946 by S. Truett Cathy, the then fledgling chicken franchise grew rapidly throughout the United States, its business guided by their self-described mission “to glorify God by being a faithful steward of all that is entrusted to us.”

I’ve long loved Chick-fil-A, not just for its food but also because of the strong Christian principles the company has adhered to – even against the changing tides of culture whose forces have continuously harassed and bullied the restaurant chain over the course of the last two decades.

Continue ReadingTopics: Current Events Tags: Chick-fil-A, current events

Understanding Our Mission in the Culture

In 2009, the late Chuck Colson led the charge among Orthodox, Catholic, and Evangelical Christian leaders to draw up a declaration that addressed three key issues crucial to the health and well-being of the culture: life, marriage, and religious freedom. Within months, over a half a million people signed the Manhattan Declaration.

Ten years later, we at Focus on the Family remain firm in our support of the tenets detailed in the Manhattan Declaration. In fact, to reaffirm them, we’ve invited John Stonestreet, the president of the Chuck Colson Center for Christian Worldview, to our studios for a timely conversation about how Christians can keep their bearings in a culture that’s ever-changing.

Continue ReadingTopics: Current Events Tags: broadcast, culture

Guest Post: In a Generation that is Staying Single, Here’s Why I Got Married

By: Kathryn Andersen

My name is Kathryn, and I’m a statistical anomaly.

I’m one of the 27% of millennials who are married.

Student debt, cohabitation, and the “failure to launch” phenomenon have all been blamed for the plummeting marriage rates for people my age.

While those may certainly be factors, I think there’s one, huge, underlying issue that is mostly to blame. The best way I can explain that issue is through my story of cliff jumping.

Ever since I can remember, just the sight of a place called the “Hole in the Rock” — a tall cliff jumping spot on the lake my family frequently visited — was enough to make my heart pound and my hands sweat.

Continue ReadingTopics: Family and Home Tags: faith, marriage

Saving Your Marriage with Love and Respect

You never know how God will intervene in a time of crisis. In the darkest part of Lisa Shea’s marriage struggles, hope showed up in her mailbox in the form of a book.

Her marriage was in trouble as soon as it got started. In their first 14 months together, she and her husband experienced most of life’s biggest stressors. They both got new jobs after they relocated out of state away from friends and family, and they got pregnant and had a baby.

Continue ReadingTopics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, crisis, marriage

Thank you, President Trump & Vice President Pence for Your Ongoing Support of Adoption & Foster Care

As the broadcast team and I continue to make our way across the country this week (we’re in Tampa tonight!) as part of the Focus on the Family Live! tour, I followed with interest the National Adoption Month celebration taking place yesterday in Washington, D.C.

My colleague and friend Dr. Sharen Ford was in the audience for Vice President Pence’s eloquent and moving address in which he extolled the gift of adoption while highlighting the critical needs of too many children currently in our state’s foster care systems.

Continue ReadingTopics: Current Events Tags: adoption, family, foster care

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.

Continue ReadingTopics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, christmas, family, holidays

Healing the Wounds of War

Happy Veteran’s Day!

Today on our Focus on the Family Broadcast “Healing the Wounds of War,” we’re paying tribute to every man and woman who has worn a uniform to protect this great land.

Joining us in the studio is Dave Roever. If you’re not familiar with him, you’re in for a blessing. Dave is a U.S. veteran with an incredible story. He is the living embodiment of Romans 8:28, which tells us, “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.”

Dave was 21 years old when he married 19-year-old Brenda and joined the Navy.

Continue ReadingTopics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, faith, military, veterans