Daly Focus Blog
I’ll bet you remember the moment your life changed.
It may have been in childhood or even when you were an adult. But someone said something to you that was hurtful. That person may not have even meant for their words to sting, but they cut you deep, and that moment changed your entire perception of yourself from that point forward.
For me, it was ninth grade. I was in my high school’s weight room, getting ready for football season.
The Center for Medical Progress released a secretly recorded video yesterday of Planned Parenthood’s top doctor describing how the organization sells the body parts of aborted preborn babies.
It’s difficult to watch:
Over lunch and wine, Dr. Deborah Nucatola, the Senior Director of Medical Services, describes how she harvests organs during the abortions she performs on babies up to 24 weeks gestational age. She explains how the procedure involves the doctors using ultrasound technology to guide their forceps:
You’re just kind of cognizant of where you put your graspers, you try to intentionally go above and below the thorax, so that, you know, we’ve been very good at getting heart, lung, liver, because we know that, so I’m not gonna crush that part.
By now you’ve heard the news: the devout Christian bakers in Oregon who declined to bake a cake for a same-sex wedding ceremony because of their faith convictions have been fined $135,000. They’ve been told to pay this week.
In light of this development, I want to share seven facts about the Sweet Cakes by Melissa case that might surprise you:
1. The case hasn’t been seen by a judge in a court of law. The authority issuing the amount?
“We make men without chests and expect from them virtue and enterprise” – C.S. Lewis.
It’s a popular trend these days to raise boys into “nice guys.” Men are expected to be sweet and gentle – almost feminine – in the way they interact with the people around them. But I think that mentality is putting our families at risk. We don’t need more “nice” guys. We need strong men.
First of all, let me clarify.
Former U.S. Secretary of State and accomplished pianist Condoleezza Rice and Grammy-nominated violinist Jenny Oaks Baker recently teamed up to play a touching rendition of the favorite hymn “Amazing Grace.” I hope you enjoy.
Few things are as painful for a Christian parent as a child who turns away from his or her faith. And the deeper the pain, the deeper our need for hope.
Maybe that’s why the story of the prodigal son has remained one of the most beloved parables in Scripture for centuries.
The story doesn’t make promises or guarantees about “wayward” children, of course. But it does offer hope to parents in desperate need of it.
Long before the Supreme Court imposed same-sex marriage on the country, Christian parents had been dealing with the culture’s growing acceptance of homosexuality and same-sex relationships and the impact it has on their children.
We at Focus are hearing from more and more of them as they navigate these difficult waters with friends and relatives who are homosexual while also trying to model Christian behavior for their own children. Here’s a question typical of those we receive:
My sister-in-law is currently married to her partner.
Do you get along with your in-laws?
Okay, so I didn’t intend that question to be funny. But if you caught yourself snickering a little, who could blame you? In-law jokes (particularly about one’s mother-in-law) are a mainstay of modern comedy routines and a common stereotype in movies and television shows.
But within every joke you can find a kernel of truth. And the truth here is in-law relationships can be difficult.
When you get married, in-laws may start doing or saying things you never anticipated, and before you even know what’s hit you, you find yourself in an adversarial relationship.
I want to draw your attention to an insightful post on Plugged In’s blog that explores the growing view in today’s culture that, when it comes to sex, consent is the only thing needed to make a sexual relationship appropriate: “as long as there’s consent, there need be no other questions.”
In “Miley Cyrus Has Become the Poster Child for Consent,” Focus’ own blogger and movie critic Adam Holtz examines this troubling perspective by comparing it to historic Christian teaching on sexuality:
“To deal with the consent-only sexuality worldview that Miley Cyrus represents, we must ask a couple of simple but crucially important questions: What is the purpose of sexuality?
When it comes to America’s sovereignty, freedom has never been free. Dating back to the Revolutionary War, more than 1.3 million Americans have died in combat. It’s important to remember that each of these deaths is not an isolated incident; no man is an island. When a soldier falls, life within a family unit is irrevocably and permanently changed. Those deaths represent a lot of tears over the course of 235 years.
Yes, freedom in the U.S.A.
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.
