Daly Focus Blog
Typing and “quick communication” have taken over our lives.
From the endless emails that are part of many of our jobs to text messages asking if someone can pick up bread and milk on their way home, typing has largely replaced handwriting.
Scientists are beginning to warn us that this move to all things technology isn’t completely beneficial. Last month The Boston Globe’s article “Taking notes? Bring a pen, skip the computer” connected handwriting with memory retention.
Ed Stetzer, president of LifeWay Research, has been consistently coming out with interesting and relevant perspectives on the Christian faith, the general culture and the interaction between the two. I enjoyed sitting down with him in Nashville recently for an interview on his popular internet-based show.
In a piece published last week for Christianity Today, “4 Trends for Churches to Consider,” Stetzer builds on some of the points he presented earlier this year refuting the myth about the “dying” American Church.
While we’re still a few weeks from the official start of summer on June 21, the Daly Family already has a summer kind of mind.
My wife Jean snapped this picture of the boys and me after we had enjoyed some time boogie boarding in Corona del Mar, California and were at the Shake Shack to watch the sunset.
We make it a point to spend some family time just having fun every summer – after all, laughing and playing together is a great way to make some treasured memories.
His marriage was dead. It was past acrimony and fighting. Comedian Jeff Allen and his wife, Tami, were at a stage of apathy.
After years of his alcoholism and fits of rage, it got to the point where Tami always had her back to Jeff.
Finally, one night, Jeff and Tami were in bed when he tried to talk with her – except she refused to turn around.
“No, please,” she said.
“What’s the problem?” Jeff inquired.
We’ve all seen a marriage in crisis.
We all know people who have struggled (or are struggling) within their marital relationship.
Maybe that someone is you.
Or perhaps it’s someone you love, like a son or daughter or your best friend from high school.
You can’t stand to see the marriage falling apart. You feel helpless.
When you ask, you’re told that everything that can be thought of has been tried.
Traditional counseling. A visit with the pastor.
Focus on the Family Radio Theatre’s production of the Charles Dickens classic “Oliver Twist” won the 2014 Audie Award for Best Audio Drama.
An Audie is a significant achievement for anyone involved in spoken word entertainment. The special recognition is the genre’s equivalent to the Academy Awards given out to exemplary movies and films.
So in a sense, it’s like saying Focus on the Family’s “Oliver Twist” won an Oscar. And it’s our fifth Audie Award from the Audio Publisher’s Association.
For those of us whose pro-life convictions stem from our Christian faith, the New Jersey Star-Ledger’s recent headline was disconcerting: “Why I perform abortions: A Christian obstetrician explains his choice.”
Willie J. Parker, who performs abortions up to the 24th week of pregnancy, explains his decision this way:
In listening to a sermon by Dr. Martin Luther King, I came to a deeper understanding of my spirituality, which places a higher value on compassion.
I consider myself blessed to live at a time where we benefit from so many advances in medical science. In terms of physical health, we’re all much better off today than we were or would have been just a few decades ago.
But what happens when the latest and greatest in medical science comes at the expense of another human life? How would you feel knowing that a human life was created only to be destroyed for your benefit?
It’s an unsettling trend that’s quickly gaining speed: toddlers are increasingly being prescribed drugs for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
A recent article from the Today Show cites the number of U.S. 2- and 3-year-olds receiving the medication at 10,000.
Are these drugs necessary?
Let’s be honest: toddlers can be a rowdy bunch. It’s not easy to parent during these years and keep up with the constant running, screaming, climbing, and curiosity that’s characteristic of this age.
But when you think about it, toddlers are active because it’s their “job” to play.
Video games are in the news more and more – and usually, it’s not for good reasons.
Gaming is sometimes blamed in the growing trend where young men are finding it increasingly difficult to achieve major life milestones like moving out of their parents’ house, going to college, getting married and starting a family. Some of these men are stuck in a prolonged adolescence; one stat says 18-to- 34-year-old men spend more time playing video games than 12-to- 17-year-old boys.
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.
