Daly Focus Blog
Years ago, back when video stores were still around, my wife and I went looking for a well-known film that told the story of Easter. We couldn’t find it on the shelf, so we asked the young lady behind the counter if they had it available. She pointed us to several kids’ videos that explained how to decorate eggs. We said, “No, we’re looking for a video about the real story of Easter.”
Judging by the confused look on her face, she had no idea what we were talking about.
Earlier this year, Focus on the Family officially re-launched Brio Magazine, our publication for teen girls. It’s a positive, godly alternative to most of the influences out there today for teenage girls.
Our “Brio girl” for the inaugural issue was Sadie Robertson. Many of you know her from the A&E reality show Duck Dynasty and from Dancing with the Stars a few seasons ago.
She’s just 20, but she’s an impressive young lady, and we’ve asked her to join us in the studio today to share how she is fearlessly living out her faith and using her public platform to be an excellent role model for girls.
Did your boss sneak anything into the fine print of your job description that warned you your work required suffering?
A college degree? Maybe.
Hard work? Sure.
Suffering? Probably not.
Church-planting hopefuls Peter and Carol Chin were told directly and openly by leaders overseeing their training to prepare for suffering.
God uses difficulty to purify our faith and to spur us toward stronger character. That’s often particularly the case for those serving in ministry. Peter and Carol expected a few speed bumps.
Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Giving Tuesday – it’s hard to keep up, isn’t it?
For some, shopping for that perfect Christmas gift is a tradition and a treat. For others it’s a chore. To help simplify your shopping this year, I asked my colleagues here at Focus to compile ten recommended gift ideas for children. The list is hardly exhaustive, but anything and everything you get from the ministry is of high quality and can be trusted.
Week Ending November 26th
1. SMART Love (David & Jan Stoop)
2. Winning with People (John C. Maxwell)
3. Failing Forward (John C. Maxwell)
4. People Can’t Drive You Crazy If You Don’t Give Them the Keys (Mike Bechtle)
5. Take Your Life Back (Stephen Arterburn & David Stoop)
6. Forgive, Let Go, and Live (Deborah Smith Pegues)
7. Cherish (Gary Thomas)
8. Adventures in Odyssey Children’s Bible
9. All the Colors of Christmas Advent Calendar
10.
What’s your EQ?
Your IQ is a measure of your intelligence. Your EQ is a measure of your “emotional intelligence.”
The term was coined in 1995 by Daniel Goleman, who first applied the concept to businessmen and women. He described emotional intelligence as the degree to which you understand your own emotions, the emotions of others, and can make healthy relational choices as a result. The concept eventually spilled outside the business world into other arenas.
Do you ever feel like advertisers and commercialism have taken over Christmas? Does it seem like it’s gotten worse in the last 15 to 20 years? Well, if you answered yes, you might be as surprised as I was to hear that Christmas, as we celebrate it today, was almost single-handedly created by commercialism.
As recently as 150 years ago, Christmas wasn’t the most important holiday in our culture. That was Easter. The focus began to shift once department stores got involved.
I love Thanksgiving.
You get to eat great food – thank you, Jean – and you get to watch plenty of football. Of course, most important of all, Thanksgiving is a time to thank God for His incredible blessings.
I’m thankful for my wife and two boys and for the help we’re able to provide families through foster care. I’m also thankful for the Lord’s work through Focus on the Family. Marriages and preborn babies are being saved.
As we head into the long Thanksgiving weekend and the official start of the holiday season, I wanted to share a list of ten of the top family-friendly Christmas films with you. This list was compiled by my friend and colleague Bob Waliszewski and his PluggedIn crew.
Sitting down together as a family to watch a movie can be a fun way to unwind. Films can also help us communicate values and truths to our kids.
Week Ending November 19th
Take Your Life Back (Stephen Arterburn & David Stoop)
Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story (Ben Carson, MD)
8 Simple Tools for Raising Great Kids (Dr. Todd Cartmell)
10 Things a Husband Needs from His Wife (Erin Smalley)
All the Colors of Christmas Advent Calendar
How to Stop the Past from Controlling Your Future (Stephen Arterburn & David Stoop)
Upside Down Prayers for Parents (Lisa T. Bergren)
Adventures in Odyssey Children’s Bible
Under Our Skin (Benjamin Watson)
You Have a Brain (Ben Carson, MD)
Swipe Right (Levi Lusko)
The Sacred Search (Gary Thomas)
Adventures in Odyssey: Advent Activity Calendar
Adventures in Odyssey: Countdown to Christmas Advent Collection
Standing in the Fire (Tom Doyle)
Enjoy!: The Gift of Sexual Pleasure for Women (Cliff & Joyce Penner)
Raising Kids of Character (Dr.
Jim Daly is a husband, father and President of Focus on the Family and host of its National Radio Hall of Fame broadcast. His blog, Daly Focus, is full of timely commentary and wisdom designed to help you navigate and understand today’s culture. His latest book is Marriage Done Right.
