Daly Focus Blog
Exactly 40 years ago yesterday, on March 26, 1977, the first Focus on the Family broadcast aired – and a global, Christian family-help ministry was born.
The entire Focus staff gathered this morning to commemorate this milestone anniversary and celebrate God’s goodness over the years. Our time of reminiscing and worship ended with a rousing, heartfelt rendition of “Great is Thy Faithfulness” – because when we look back on these 40 years, God’s faithfulness is precisely what we see.
Over the course of the last seven years, I’ve had the pleasure of interviewing Dr. Tim Keller many times. The senior pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City, Tim is one of our most popular broadcast guests.
He’s also become a good friend.
A quiet, cerebral, steely man of sound doctrine and strong conviction, Dr. Keller has been referred to as the C.S. Lewis of our time, and with good reason. A gifted teacher and preacher, whether in print or speaking from the pulpit, he knows how to engage both the head and the heart.
Life Magazine once published a list of the “Most Important Events of the Millennium.” Among the top ten were the discovery of germ theory, the Holocaust, and the writing and signing of the Declaration of Independence.
Number one on that list was the Gutenberg Bible printed in the 1450s and the first book to be mass produced. According to Life Magazine, no other event in the past 1,000 years has changed the world as dramatically as the Bible becoming available to the common person.
I want to tell you a story that recently made a big impression on me.
A few weeks ago, Rick and Linda (not their real names) checked into our Hope Restored Marriage Intensive Experience at the Focus on the Family Retreat Center in Branson, Missouri.
The counselors at Hope Restored specialize in bringing severely broken marriages back from the brink of divorce.
Rick and Linda’s union was in deep trouble, riddled and rocked by infidelity, among other things.
The big news out of Washington, D.C., this week is, of course, the Supreme Court nomination hearings for Judge Neil Gorsuch. Focus’ own Tim Goeglein, who is based in Washington, attended Monday’s hearing.
I’m actually in D.C. today for some meetings, and the hearings are what everyone is talking about here in the nation’s capital – as I suspect is the case across the country.
Today, for the third day, Judge Gorsuch is answering questions from the 20 Republican and Democrat senators who are part of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Trevor Hendershot is quite a young man. I think you’d like meeting him.
Cheerleaders in his high school once made banners to cheer him on, and he was so popular he was voted homecoming king. He was a little quirky, too. He had a habit of loudly singing Christian songs in the hallway before, during, and after school. He gave everyone he talked to a high-five, a hug, or a fist bump.
He’s now in his mid-20’s and works for the Los Angeles Angels, a Major League Baseball franchise.
Today’s broadcast, “Changing the World Through Adoption,” features a conversation with my friend, Focus colleague and co-writer, Paul Batura. The discussion is based on his latest book, Chosen for Greatness: How Adoption Changes the World.
Paul serves as our vice-president of communications. He’s currently in his 20th year at the ministry.
Although Paul often works behind the scenes, you might remember him from a Focus program several years ago where he discussed his popular book, “Good Day!
There are currently more than 20 million people in regions of Africa and the Middle East who are at risk of starvation and famine.
The United Nation’s humanitarian chief, Stephen O’Brien, delivered the dire news to the U.N. Security Council last week.
The problem is partly due to “deepening drought.” But as Mr. O’Brien shared, political conflict is also helping to create the desperate situation that impacts people dying from hunger in Yemen, South Sudan, Somalia, and northeast Nigeria.
Fire can cook you a nice steak, or it can burn your house to the ground. The difference lies in how well you harness its power.
It’s the same with a strong will. There is a lot of good that comes from having what LeRoy and Kimberly Wagner describe as a “fierce” personality. But a strong will gone wild can wreak havoc in a person’s life.
Fierce doesn’t have to mean obnoxious, loud, or rude. A fierce woman can be strong and beautiful.
File this under the best news you haven’t heard much (if anything) about.
Since Jan. 20 – the day Donald Trump was inaugurated as president – law enforcement authorities have arrested more than 1,500 people for sex crimes ranging from sex trafficking to pedophilia.
At first glance, that might seem like bad news, until you realize that according to the FBI, in all of 2014, there were less than 400 sex trafficking-related arrests.
In other words, it’s not that sex crimes are on the rise – it’s that the enforcement of sex crime laws have become a priority.
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.
