Jim Daly

Adventures in Odyssey Children’s Bible Nominated as Bible of the Year Finalist

I am delighted to announce that Focus on the Family’s NIrV Adventures in Odyssey Children’s Bible has been nominated as a finalist for best Bible of the year by the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association (ECPA).

As I’ve mentioned before, The NIrV Adventures in Odyssey Bible provides an exciting journey through the Scriptures hosted by familiar characters from the beloved Adventures in Odyssey audio drama. Designed for children ages 7 to 12, this full color Bible includes both the Old and New Testaments and these special features:

66 book introductions
100 word searches
200+ devotionals
300 fun trivia facts
A 30-day guided reading plan
Maps of key biblical events
Eight comic-book adventures illustrated by Marvel/DC Comics artist Sergio Cariello

The ECPA’s Christian Book Award “recognizes the highest quality in Christian books and Bibles and is among the oldest and most prestigious awards program in the religious publishing industry.” The program began in 1978 and now includes 11 categories including Bibles, Bible Reference Works and Christian Living.

Continue ReadingTopics: Focus Events Tags: church, faith, kids

She was Aborted … and Survived

For over 40 years, our society has promoted the idea that abortion is as simple as a woman’s choice. Abortion affects her and no one else.

Pro-abortion activists never mention the babies, the men, and the families who are impacted forever by an abortion.

They also never talk about children like Melissa. Her 19-year-old mother was in her third trimester when she was given a saline abortion. The procedure injects a toxic salt solution into the amniotic fluid surrounding the womb.

Continue ReadingTopics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, church, pro-life

What Does YouTube Know About Your Kids?

Headlines about social media privacy concerns with Facebook are in the news as CEO Mark Zuckerberg testified before Congress on Tuesday.

But there’s another story that caught my eye – and this one involves your kids.

Earlier this week, consumer advocacy groups filed a complaint and asked the Federal Trade Commission to investigate YouTube for collecting and profiting off of data collected from children under the age 13, which would be a violation of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act.

Continue ReadingTopics: Family and Home Tags: entertainment, kids, pop culture, technology

This California Bill Threatens Religious Freedom

A bill threatening free speech and religious freedom is quickly moving through the California state assembly.

What’s it all about?

Assembly Bill 2943 (AB 2943) uses the state’s consumer fraud statute to penalize religious freedom and free speech on the issues of homosexuality and gender identity.

The bill adds “sexual orientation change efforts” to the state’s “Consumer Legal Remedies Act.”

How does this affect people of faith?

Both Scripture and Christian teaching are clear about God’s good plan for marriage and sexuality: God designed marriage to join one man and one woman in a committed, exclusive, lifelong relationship.

Continue ReadingTopics: Current Events

Protecting Your Child from Sexual Abuse

April is National Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention Month. The statistics are heartbreaking: One in 4 girls will be sexually abused before her eighteenth birthday. For boys, the number is 1 in 6.

Sexual abuse isn’t an easy conversation, but the information we have to share with parents on our broadcast “Protecting Your Child from Sexual Abuse” can help your children avoid becoming part of the disturbing statistics.

An overwhelming percentage of abuse – close to 90 percent – comes from someone the child knows and trusts, like a family friend or someone from within the family itself.

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Connecting with others in Meaningful Relationships

Christian philosopher Dallas Willard described intimacy as “shared experience.”

He meant that our lives are more than flesh and blood. They’re a series of experiences. The birth of a child. A great conversation. A hike up a mountain trail. A great piece of music. Intimacy is simply inviting someone to share in the experience that you’re having.

We do that with God and with other people every day. But some days it doesn’t seem so simple, does it?

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Focus on the Family Best Seller List

Week ending April 3rd:

Triggers (by Amber Lia & Wendy Speake)
I Am: A 60-Day Journey to Knowing Who You Are Because of Who He Is (by Michele Cushatt)
I’d Like You More If You Were More Like Me (by John Ortberg)
Happy, Happy, Happy (by Phil Robertson)
Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story (by Ben Carson)
How We Love (by Milan Yerkovich)
The Freedom from Depression Workbook (by Les Carter)
The Holy Spirit (by Billy Graham)
The Mom Project (by Kathi Lipp)
I Can Only Imagine (by Bart Millard)
Love & Respect (by Emerson Eggerichs)
Blessed, Blessed .

Continue ReadingTopics: Family and Home Tags: faith, marriage, parenting, pop culture

How God Uses Marriage to Transform Our Selfishness

Why did you get married?

For yourself? Or for your spouse?

Be honest. It was for you, wasn’t it?

Don’t feel too guilty about that. The rest of us probably did the same thing. Most of us get married because the relationship makes us happy. We thought marriage to this person would make our lives better.

That’s not entirely selfish. God wants us to enjoy our relationships with our spouses, but He also has a larger purpose in mind.

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

The Curious “Comedy” of Stephen Colbert

This past Easter Sunday, Stephen Colbert’s animated television show, “Our Cartoon President,” not only lampooned the President (which is expected), but Colbert also had the nation’s chief executive talk crassly about severing a part of God’s anatomy.

Of course, his defenders will says it’s just a joke – satire on steroids. After all, how can we take a cartoon seriously?

Mr. Colbert is an entertainer, and as such, he understands how to get a strong response from a crowd.

Continue ReadingTopics: Current Events Tags: entertainment, faith, humor

Connecting with Your Child When You Don’t Know How

Doesn’t it seem like connecting with your children ought to come naturally? So what do you do when it doesn’t?

Author Kathi Lipp says the “problem” is often a difference in personality. Our children have a unique way of seeing the world. Instead of hindering our relationship, what if their uniqueness became the very foundation upon which a strong connection was built?

Kathi says your child’s personality is a window into his or her soul. Although God doesn’t create children with cookie cutter personalities, there are a lot of commonalities:

Expressive.

Continue ReadingTopics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, family, kids, parenting