Jim Daly

Signs of Human Trafficking and What You Should – and Shouldn’t – Do to Help

Human trafficking is a part of the seedy underbelly of our society that most of us would rather not have a conversation about. It’s hard to conceive of hundreds of thousands of people, most of them children and women, being either kidnapped or manipulated into psychological enslavement. So we turn our attention to more pleasant topics.

That’s exactly the behavior traffickers count on from us to keep their activities hidden and their operations running smoothly.

Even the lowest estimates suggest that something like 100,000 kids are taken into human trafficking every year in the U.S.

Continue ReadingTopics: Current Events Tags: broadcast, kids, news, pro-life

If You’re Concerned about Social Media, You Should See This Movie

I recently had the opportunity to have lunch with Kirk Cameron. He’s a good friend to Focus and he’s currently promoting his new movie event, Kirk Cameron: CONNECT.

Those of you of a certain age will remember Kirk as the teen star of the Growing Pains TV series in the 1980s. More recently, he has starred in a number of successful faith-based films, including Left Behind and Fireproof.

CONNECT addresses a subject that is very important to all of us here at Focus, and if you’re a parent, it’s probably important to you as well.

Continue ReadingTopics: Family and Home

From President Trump’s State of the Union to the State of the Family

Of the many moving highlights of last night’s State of the Union address, my favorite had to be when President Trump recognized New Mexico police officer Ryan Holets and his wife, Rebecca. You might recall that it was Officer Holets who boldly stopped a pregnant woman from injecting heroin. When it was first reported last year, the story quickly went viral. The Holets were so moved by the plight and need of this troubled young addict that they wound up adopting her baby and named her, quite appropriately, Hope.

Continue ReadingTopics: Current Events

Pain Capable Bill Defeat Is a Cowardly Case of Radical Politics

Last night’s Democrat-led Senate filibuster of the Pain Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, a bill that would make it illegal to abort a baby after 20 weeks, is an egregious and cowardly case of radical ideological politics coming at the expense of innocent life.

The Senate needed 60 votes in order to advance the bill. In the end, 51 senators voted for it and 46 against. Three Democrats crossed the aisle to support life – Joe Manchin (West Virginia), Bob Casey Jr.

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

Affair Proofing Your Marriage

Marriage is central to what we do here at Focus on the Family.

We believe that marriage is the foundation of the family. We also believe that God’s design for marriage is a relationship where both husband and wife are committed to loving and caring for one another for a lifetime.

The problem is, men and women are selfish creatures, and their selfishness comes out in all kinds of unhealthy ways. One of the most devastating aberrations is an affair.

Continue ReadingTopics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, husband, intimacy, marriage, sex

The Three Most Spoken Words in American Homes May Not Be “I Love You”

Joshua Becker says, “I don’t know if the three most common words in American homes are, ‘I love you,’ or ‘Let’s go shopping.’”

The amount of stuff the average American owns is astounding. Our cabinets, crawl spaces, garages, and storage rooms are filled to capacity. Some people even rent additional space at a storage unit to hold even more stuff.

The statistics are unbelievable. American homes have tripled in size in the last 50 years, yet 10 percent of families rent offsite storage.

Continue ReadingTopics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, family

Be an Advocate for the Marriages Around You

What’s your favorite song?

The reason it’s your favorite is probably because you enjoy the vocals of the lead singer. But perhaps more than you think about, you also enjoy the song because of a cast of characters who some would say are just as important as the lead: the backing singers.

Their chorus of voices harmonize with the lead and give the song a beauty, richness, and texture the main vocalist could never achieve alone.

Continue ReadingTopics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, husband, marriage, wife

Making Children Mind without Losing Yours

Dr. Kevin Leman humorously says of children, “We have seen the enemy, and they are small. They’re unionized. The ‘ankle-biter battalion’ is on the move, so you better have a game plan.”

I’m sure many parents would heartily agree with that assessment. To that end, Dr. Leman is with us on our program “Game Plan for Raising Well-Behaved Children” to share a wealth of practical tips that can bring order to the chaos in your home more quickly than you might think possible.

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

A Tale of Two Rallies

Several colleagues and I were in Washington D.C. last week for our Evangelicals for Life Conference along with the annual March for Life.

A few observations:

Last week’s massive March for Life rally on the Mall unfolded in familiar fashion. Just before noon, pro-life stalwarts from every state convened to stand in solidarity, many of them carrying signs declaring life as the better choice. It was the 45th consecutive gathering and the longest-running demonstration of its kind.

Continue ReadingTopics: Current Events Tags: adoption, events, pro-life

Tragedy in Kentucky

Nobody yet knows why a 15-year-old student opened fire today in Benton, Kentucky, at Marshall County High School.

The latest reports suggest this morning’s horror resulted in the death of two 15-year-old students, one boy and one girl, along with more than a dozen wounded students.

Over the years, school shootings have become an all-too-familiar tragedy.

At an afternoon press conference, Kentucky Governor Matt Bevin remarked, “These children belong to this community, and to specific families in this community.

Continue ReadingTopics: Current Events Tags: events, news