Daly Focus Blog
Here at Focus, and for Christians everywhere, this is a sacred weekend.
Today is Good Friday, and this Sunday is Easter.
It’s this weekend that we celebrate the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ 2,000 years ago.
But let me ask you, do you think of Christ’s sacrifice more as historic fact or current reality?
In the day-to-day grind of life, it’s easy to forget that the God of history is also the God of today.
It’s been hard to ignore the firestorm that’s erupted since Indiana unveiled its Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA). Since Governor Mike Pence signed it into law last week, the national news and social media have been consumed with debating this law.
Critics of the law raised concerns the legislation will give license and rise to discrimination – in other words, not serving homosexuals simply because of their orientation. For example, some are suggesting the act will allow restaurant owners to refuse service to homosexuals because they are gay.
Thomas Edison is famous for saying, “Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.”
Something similar can be said for God’s blessings.
We’ll readily accept good news as a sign of God’s presence. But when trouble strikes, we’re prone to question why He’s abandoned us.
It’s not unusual for God’s activity in and through our lives to be wrapped in the skin of challenging circumstances. That’s often the case when a child is diagnosed with autism.
Unless you’ve been trapped in a cave somewhere, you’re probably aware that followers of Jesus are up against a stiff cultural challenge.
As you watch factions square off and the rhetoric rage, you wish you could do something about it.
You’re thinking to yourself, “There must be a better way. There has to be a better way.”
I’ve got good news for you. There is.
“Restoring All Things” is one-night-only event hosted by Focus on the Family, WORLD News Group, the Chuck Colson Center for Christian Worldview, and Prison Fellowship.
Did you watch the epic miniseries The Bible that aired on The History Channel in 2013?
If so, you were in good company. It was a surprise smash hit.
Why do I say a “surprise”?
Because network executives didn’t believe anyone would want to watch a miniseries about the Bible on TV. The History Channel hoped the program would get as many as three million viewers. But when all was said and done, over 100 million people had watched the series.
This month’s issue of First Things magazine features a powerful argument for upholding and proclaiming the truth and beauty of God’s design for marriage.
“The Two Shall Become One Flesh: Reclaiming Marriage” is a product of Evangelicals and Catholics Together, a group founded 20 years ago by one of my heroes, the late Chuck Colson, and another highly regarded statesman of the faith, the late Fr. Richard John Neuhaus.
Several prominent Evangelical and Catholic leaders have endorsed the statement.
This is one of those difficult stories, so disturbing and repulsive that you instinctively don’t want to read about it. Frankly, I don’t either. But the “culture of death” is real and from it flows evil that we must confront and grapple with as believers.
The police officers who responded to the 911 call last week in Longmont, Colorado, followed the blood trail down to the basement. They knew they were about to encounter a woman, seven months pregnant, who had been stabbed.
This is a fact.
Boys learn to become men in the company of other men as they walk and grow through the challenges of life together.
But in disturbing numbers across our culture, that isn’t happening.
In fact, our video curriculum, The Family Project, reveals the tale of the tape.
Sadly, statistics show that 85 percent of men in prison didn’t have a dad while growing up. Seventy percent of teen suicides occur in homes where there isn’t a dad.
Life can be tough, and it inflicts wounds in us all.
The question is, what do we do with the pain?
In many cases, the only solution we know is to push the pain beneath the surface of our hearts and minds and work to keep it there. We think that if we can just block out our negative memories, the bad feelings will go away. And they do … for a while. But, eventually, our strength gives out, and all that pain comes right back up to the surface.
Jim Daly released the following statement in response to the passing of Kara Tippetts.
***
Today, the world said goodbye to a godly and courageous woman.
Kara Tippetts, wife to Jason and mother to four young children, went home to the Lord at the age of 38. In her battle with cancer, she showed all of us what dying well looks like. The peace she found in God was hard fought, borne out of a deep and profound trust that He is present in pain and that He is good and faithful.
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.
