Jim Daly

One Practical Way Parents Can Encourage their Kids to be Bold in their Faith

Last Friday on my blog I shared a troubling trend with you: schools banning Bible verses. Despite students having a clear Constitutional right to include Bible verses in their personal work projects, or with their friends outside of classroom time, some children are finding themselves silenced when it comes to their faith.

However, I also shared a way for students to celebrate their First Amendment rights: the Focus on the Family-sponsored and student-led “Bring Your Bible to School Day,” which will be held on Oct.

Continue ReadingTopics: Focus Events Tags: broadcast, events, faith, parenting, religious liberty

Why are Schools Banning Bible Verses?

Mackenzie Fraiser’s PowerPoint assignment for her sixth grade class was called “All About Me.”

But it turned out her Las Vegas-area public charter school didn’t really want Mackenzie to share about herself. Because when the sixth grader, the daughter of a pastor, included a slide with one of her favorite Bible verses … her teacher told her to remove it.

Mackenzie was told she wasn’t allowed to use “biblical sayings” in assignments. That left the young girl feeling like she wasn’t supposed to talk about her faith at school.

Continue ReadingTopics: Focus Events Tags: events, kids, news, religious liberty

Should A Parent Attend A Child’s Every Game?

I love sports.

Athletics were always a part of my family growing up. My brothers and I built a solid foundation for life through sports. It’s where qualities like responsibility, discipline, and perseverance were expected of us. Those are skills we’ve honed through the years and carried into adulthood.

But…

As much as I believe in encouraging kids to be active in sports, I think it’s a good idea for families to set reasonable boundaries around their schedule and involvement level.

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

The Glaring Inconsistency of the NCAA’s Boycott of North Carolina

Earlier this week the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) – the group that oversees about 460,000 student-athletes and more than 1,000 colleges and universities – announced it was relocating “all seven previously awarded championship events from North Carolina for the 2016-2017 academic year” due to its commitment to “fairness and inclusion” over the state’s bathroom bill.

The moving is sweeping in its scope, though not surprising given our culture’s desire to be viewed by the world as “inclusive” – not “homophobic.”

But the NCAA’s move is intellectually perplexing.

Continue ReadingTopics: Current Events Tags: homosexuality, news, policy, religious liberty

Influencing Influencers to Influence Well

“Politics is nothing but an expression of culture, so if politics is sick, it’s because the culture is sick.”

That astute observation was from the late Chuck Colson from a broadcast we aired a few weeks ago. President James Garfield shared a similar concern in 1876 when he said, “The people are responsible for the character of their Congress. If that body be ignorant, reckless and corrupt, it’s because the people tolerate ignorance, recklessness and corruption.”

In a government “of the people, by the people, for the people,” our leadership is ultimately a mirror reflection of the culture that elects them.

Continue ReadingTopics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, policy

God’s Love When We’re Suffering

Tragedy is like a sucker punch to the face.

The blow comes out of nowhere, and you’re left reeling. Your view of life is blurry for days, weeks, maybe even months.

One of the worst parts of tragedy in the initial moments is the feeling of isolation that can settle in around you. The pain can be so deep, so intense, that you feel strangely detached and all alone, even if you’re surrounded by friends and family.

Continue ReadingTopics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, faith

Talking to Your Kids about 9-11 When They Think It’s Ancient History

This Sunday the nation will commemorate the 15th anniversary of the 9-11 terrorist attacks that took the lives of almost 3,000 people and forever changed our history.

For those of us who watched that day unfold, each anniversary quickly brings to mind the horror and fear we witnessed.

Yet, for many of our children who weren’t even born when 9-11 happened, the day is just event in history.

A news story this week examines how teachers go about teaching today’s generation about an event that feels like “ancient history” to them.

Continue ReadingTopics: Current Events Tags: news, parenting

Why I Have a Heart for Orphans

I have a heart for orphans. My own story is a vital piece of the puzzle why.

My folks divorced when I was 5. I lost my mom to cancer when I was 9, and my dad died not long after. I was orphaned and spent about a year in the foster-care system.

I know what it’s like to go to bed each night wondering if someone loves you.

That’s a tough place to be.

But that desperate feeling is a familiar one for an estimated 140 million orphans around the world – a number almost too overwhelming to think about.

Continue ReadingTopics: Family and Home Tags: adoption, broadcast

Do You Know How Many of the 10,000 Syrian Refugees to the U.S. are Christians?

A few months ago, I asked American Christians to urge the State Department to help Middle East Christians under persecution. I did so because the situation there is dire. As I wrote:

“[ISIS] has made clear its intentions to terrorize, kill and destroy anyone who doesn’t adhere to the tenets of Islamic fundamentalism.

“Christians remain a key target of ISIS. The widespread and vicious persecution of believers in Iraq and Syria, is tragedy of staggering proportions… Christians who refuse to renounce their faith face almost unimaginable consequences—kidnapping, rape, torture, and slavery for those who survive.

Continue ReadingTopics: Current Events Tags: news, policy, religious liberty

How to Pray For Your Boys

Are you at your wit’s end with your boys?

Maybe they’re rambunctious, messy, and loud, and they’re always falling off of their bikes, scrapping with the neighbor kids, or forgetting an instruction you’ve given them a hundred … no, a thousand times.

Solid, helpful parenting ideas can be a big help in these cases, and we have loads of that here at Focus on the Family. But nothing can take the place of one of the most overlooked parts of Christian parenting: prayer.

Continue ReadingTopics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, parenting