Jim Daly

How to Keep Gender Differences from Driving Your Marriage Crazy

Mary and Joseph both heard from God about the coming birth of their son, Jesus. But have you ever noticed how differently the Lord communicated that to each of them?

When the angel Gabriel came to Mary to tell her that she would bring the Christ child into the world, Mary asked, “How can this be?” (Luke 1:34, ESV). She wanted to know in what way God’s plans could happen.

Gabriel patiently outlined the full plan: “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.

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Less Hollywood, More Heartland: How the Oscars Forgot Middle America’s Values

Guest Post: Paul Asay, Movie Reviewer, Plugged In:

It’s only fitting that Guillermo del Toro’s The Shape of Water took home an Oscar for Best Picture (and three others) at Sunday night’s Oscars.

Both a lyrical, sensual fable and a brutal immolation of Leave It to Beaver-era America, the movie is a study in inclusion and exclusion: It posits that god-like mermen are people, too, while hypocritical Christian Cadillac buyers are the real monsters.

The film feels pretty emblematic of where Hollywood stands right now—a Hollywood that has pushed through the #OscarsSoWhite and the #MeToo movements with a desire to reward new, diverse storytellers, looking toward a hoped-for future while perhaps burning the (in Hollywood’s eyes) problematic past.

Continue ReadingTopics: Current Events Tags: entertainment, events

How to Have Constructive Conversations with Your Teen Daughter

Jessie Minassian knows the struggles teenage girls face. Not only is she an author, a speaker, and a blogger who has passion for mentoring young women, she lived through some challenging teen years herself.

Teen girls are trying to figure out who they are in the midst of social pressures, hormone-induced mood swings, and – many times – family dynamics. Even girls (and boys) who love God sometimes have a hard time acting respectfully at home.

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The Secret to a Joyful Life

Where does your significance come from? Where does your sufficiency come from? Where does your security come from?

Materialism, marketing, and social media skew our perspective. We compare ourselves with movie stars, professional athletes, and Facebook friends who post about their newest car or their latest vacation – and we don’t measure up.

The secret to a joyful, fulfilled life is to see who you are in Christ.

The late Dr. Adrian Rogers shared a powerful message at one of our chapel services many years ago.

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Raising Boys Who Become True Men

“My coach from my senior year could look at me and knight me with his eyes.”

That powerful comment illustrates the hunger of every boy to have a man, particularly a father, draw him into manhood. It comes from Dr. Robert Lewis, who has been associated with Focus on the Family for years. Back in the late 90s, he wrote a book with Focus called “Raising a Modern-Day Knight.” Since then, it’s been our number one best seller.

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Going Beyond the Gun Control Debates

Last week’s extraordinary public debates about guns, both at the White House and at CNN’s Florida Town Hall, were highly emotional and contentious events. Over a week after the catastrophic carnage in Parkland, Florida, debate concerning what to do about it is raging red-hot, and understandably so. People committing violent acts with guns is a growing epidemic, particularly in schools. Since early January, in addition to Florida, there have been school shootings in Texas, Louisiana, Kentucky, Alabama, Michigan and Pennsylvania.

Continue ReadingTopics: Current Events Tags: events, news, policy, pro-life

Loving Your Spouse Day by Day

What is it that God wants out of our marriages?

Do we think about that? We know what we want out of our marriage, and we know what we expect our spouse to provide us. But what does God want?

Well, much of what God wants for you is wired in to you. A woman’s deepest need is to know that her husband loves her. A man’s deepest need is to know that his wife respects him.

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Before You Hit Send

Every 24 hours, 205 billion emails are sent. Every second, 60,000 tweets are posted to the “Twitterverse.” That’s 3,600,000 tweets per minute.

Many of us have a lot to say.

That should be of some concern when you consider verses like James 3:8, which reminds us that the things we say can be “a restless evil, full of deadly poison.”

That’s why it’s important for us to think before we speak … or text … or Snapchat.

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Focus on the Family Best Seller List

Week ending February 16, 2018

Enjoy!: The Gift of Sexual Pleasure for Women (by Cliff & Joyce Penner)
When Changing Nothing Changes Everything (by Laurie Polich Short)
The Married Guy’s Guide to Great Sex (by Cliff & Joyce Penner)
Love and Respect in the Family (by Emerson Eggerichs)
Love Unending (by Becky Thompson)
Blessed, Blessed . . . Blessed (by Missy Robertson)
Little Book of Great Dates (by Dr. Greg Smalley& Erin Smalley)
Married But Lonely (by David E.

Continue ReadingTopics: Current Events Tags: faith, family

Billy Graham: 4 Cs of Marriage and 6 Principles of Parenting

Here at Focus on the Family we’re joining with believers around the world in remembering Dr. Billy Graham and his amazing life and legacy. I hope you had a chance to listen to today’s special radio program featuring a message from the famed evangelist. He is considered the most important and influential evangelist of our time, and rightly so.

Although Focus is a ministry centered on marriage and parenting, it’s no secret that evangelism is central to everything we do.

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