Daly Focus Blog
Isn’t it a wonderful thing to look back on the year and see how faithful God has been?
Here at Focus, we’re looking back – and giving thanks for the past 12 months. It’s been a busy year for the staff, and for me. And through it all, God has been faithful to lead and provide. He’s given our team creativity to develop new resources that will help marriages and families, and He continues to open exciting new doors to share the Good News both in the U.S.
I’ve said it before, but it bears repeating.
In recent generations, some in the Christian community have seen homosexuality as a bigger sin than every other and homosexuals themselves as virtually beyond redemption.
It seems to me that we too often use the sword of the Spirit to attack other human beings rather than reach out to them.
There is no sin we can name that is bigger than one drop of Christ’s blood. Salvation in Christ is available to everyone.
Marriage is serious business …. unless you’re comedian John Branyan.
Like this astute observation: “Have you ever noticed you’ve got to get your driver’s license renewed every four years, but you don’t have to get your marriage license renewed, ever. You’d think there’d at least be some kind of eye test. You look into the little machine, ‘Alright, Mr. Branyan, can you see your socks on the floor?’”
I think Jean could get on board with an idea like that.
With only two shopping days left until Christmas, a lot of you are scurrying through malls today, searching for those last minute gifts. Others of you are loading up the car for a long drive or preparing to catch a flight to someplace special. Since Focus on the Family is closed today for a long holiday weekend, me and the rest of the staff aren’t in the office, so we can enjoy extra time with our families.
Henri Nouwen once said, “The greatest trap in life is not success, popularity, or power, but self-rejection. Success, popularity, and power can indeed present a great temptation, but their seductive quality often comes from … self-rejection.”
Henri is right. Self-rejection is dangerous.
It usually begins as a message communicated to us by others. But over time it becomes a lie that weaves itself into our lives and infects every relationship we’re in, including our relationship with God.
Do you remember how hard it was to wait for Christmas when you were a kid?
I’m reminded of that every year at about this time as I watch the excitement in my two boys, Trent and Troy, grow over the holiday season. But their giddiness reminds me of something else as well.
The wealth is in the waiting!
You see, I’ve realized it’s the waiting that makes Christmas feel so special. Obviously, kids look forward to ripping the paper off gifts to discover what’s inside.
The news reports coming out of Aleppo, a city in northern Syria, are impossible to ignore.
Syria’s civil war has been waged in this ancient city for the past four years, marking one of the longest sieges in modern warfare. And while the details of the struggle may be difficult to understand, one thing is certain: the residents of Aleppo are paying a horrific price.
There are reports by the United Nations that Aleppo, which contains the country’s largest population of Christians, is seeing many atrocities being committed “against a large number of civilians.”
There are reports of “barrel bombs” being indiscriminately dropped from aircraft.
We’ve all got a love style.
It started forming back in childhood when your mom and dad connected with you emotionally, listened to you share your feelings, and made you understand that you mattered.
Or maybe they didn’t.
For good or for bad, the relational experiences of our early years form the roots for how – or even if – we emotionally attach to others.
Ideally, we’ll have an abundance of positive moments that enable us to become what Milan and Kay Yerkovich call “secure connectors.” Jesus was the personification of that love style.
Not many families are considered a “dynasty.”
And only one is credited with building a “Duck Dynasty.”
But I guess that’s the way you’d expect a family like the Robertsons to be characterized. After all, the family patriarch, Phil Robertson, turned down an opportunity for a professional football career because it would interfere with duck hunting season.
They’ve also built a highly successful duck call business, have starred in a record-breaking cable television series for several years now, and the men of the family are all well-known for wearing beards that have become something of a cultural icon.
Are we willing to take a break from our own happiness to minister to broken people, even during the holiday season?
One man did.
His name is Eric Schmitt-Matzen, and chances are you might have caught a bit of his story.
His tale happened several weeks ago, when a terminally ill young boy was nearing the end of his battle. This little 5-year-old knew he was going to miss Christmas. And he wanted to see Santa Claus.
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.
