Jim Daly

Facing Confrontation with Grace

Deborah Pegues was once vice president of MCA Universal Studios. She headed up the venture capital division that was responsible for starting new companies. It was a high-risk, high stress business. Her role frequently required her to confront people.

You might even say she got good at it.

Which is precisely the reason we’ve invited her to our studios to talk about how to confront someone effectively. We’re airing the conversation on our Focus on the Family Broadcast titled “Facing Confrontation with Grace.”

Deborah says most people try to avoid confrontation because it’s hard, and it doesn’t feel good.

Continue ReadingTopics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, confrontation, faith, Grace

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.

Continue ReadingTopics: Family and Home

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.

Continue ReadingTopics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, faith, families, hope

Hero Father Drowns While Saving His Daughters

Would you risk your life to save your son or daughter?

I suspect almost every parent would answer in the affirmative but very few moms and dads are confronted with the reality of laying down their life for their child.

Fred Pepperman of Tennessee paid the ultimate price earlier this month when he jumped into a riptide off the Florida coast to save his three daughters from drowning.

The brave father succeeded in saving them but collapsed in the process and was unable to be revived.

Continue ReadingTopics: Current Events Tags: current events, faith, tragedy

Guest Post: An Exciting Time to be Alive

By: Melanie Morgan

“This world’s going to hell in a handbasket,” seems to be the mantra of society today. But I beg to differ. My name is Melanie, and I’m a millennial. I’ve grown up in the age of the Internet, though you may be surprised to hear that I do remember the days of dial up and atlas maps for road trips.

I don’t remember Y2K, and I don’t remember much of life prior to 9/11.

Continue ReadingTopics: Current Events

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.

Continue ReadingTopics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, challenge, children, faith, parenting

Jack Phillips Continues to be a Modern Day Warrior for Religious Freedom

Jack Phillips continues to be in the news because those who disagree with him continue to harass the Colorado baker.

As you may recall, the same day that the U.S. Supreme Court announced it would hear Colorado baker Jack Phillips’ first case of alleged discrimination, Autumn Scardina called the Masterpiece Cakeshop and asked him to create a pink and blue cake to celebrate Scardina’s gender transition.

Like with the first case, Jack declined since it conflicted with his deeply held religious convictions.

Continue ReadingTopics: Current Events Tags: current events, faith, news, religious freedom

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.

Continue ReadingTopics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, couples, faith, marriage

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.

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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.

Continue ReadingTopics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, faith, renewing