Jim Daly

VIDEO: “Will You Spin Me, Daddy?”

Like most young ladies anticipating their wedding day, Rachel Wolf had looked forward to her father/daughter dance since she was a little girl. Recently, that long-awaited dream came true for her. And, as you’ll see in the video below, it was a beautiful moment.

But this dance was far different than most of its kind. You see, Rachel wasn’t really getting married. In fact, she wasn’t even engaged. No, this was a unique wedding dance she and her family had planned so Rachel and her father, James, could share that special moment together before he passed away from pancreatic cancer.

Continue ReadingTopics: Family and Home Tags: entertainment, family, husband, marriage, wife

Worth a Read: “A Guide to Saving Marriage”

There’s an important article over at National Review Online that I wanted to highlight for you. “A Guide to Saving Marriage” is an interview with Hilary Towers, a developmental psychologist who has some insightful things to say about marriage, the Supreme Court ruling on same-sex unions, and cohabitation.

I’ll leave you with this gem of wisdom gleaned from the interview:

Young people, in particular, deserve to hear the truth about what to expect from a vocation to married life at this time in history.

Continue ReadingTopics: Family and Home Tags: husband, marriage, wife

Today, We Remember 9-11

Today marks the 12th anniversary of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Today, we remember what happened and those who lost their lives. We pray for the families and friends of the victims, whose hearts are undoubtedly hurting today.

I want to shine a light on the memorials either planned or under development at the sites that commemorate that day. The memorials at New York City’s Ground Zero and the Pentagon have been opened, and the Flight 93 National Memorial in Shanksville, Penn.

Continue ReadingTopics: Current Events Tags: news, religious liberty

The Hookup Culture Also Hurts Our Boys

When we discuss the growing trends of young people engaging in the “hookup culture” – casual sex and sexual acts outside of marriage – we often speak of the damage it does to girls. There’s good reason for that, obviously – young women often feel great pressure to go along with certain behaviors and later pay a high price for it in terms of sexually transmitted diseases, pregnancy and emotional wounds.

But what about the young men?

Continue ReadingTopics: Family and Home Tags: husband, kids

What to Do if You Know a Millennial Apathetic Towards Faith

There’s a lot of discussion online lately about young people and the Church – their role in it, why they are (or aren’t) leaving the faith and what Church and ministry leaders should do about it.

You may have seen the articles – CNN’s “Belief Blog” ran a guest post titled “Why millennials are leaving the church.” The Washington Post’s “On Faith” blog featured rebuttals, including “The new religious fundamentalists? Millennial Christians.”

First, some perspective.

Continue ReadingTopics: Family and Home Tags: church, kids

How to Make Someone Smile this Weekend

I wanted to share with you a heartwarming news story this Friday in hopes that it would inspire you to think creatively in how you can bless others.

Just reading the article’s headline, “Superhero Window Washers Assemble at Children’s Hospital” is enough to make you smile. A hospital staffer at Penn State Hershey Children’s Hospital, where the event took place, described the reactions of the young patients to the sight of Superman, Spiderman, Batman and Captain America outside their hospital rooms’ windows: “It was incredible… There were screams of joy and amazement.

Continue ReadingTopics: Family and Home Tags: kids

It Starts and Stops with Me

Here in Colorado, we’re looking forward to the promise of fall – yet I’m still thinking back on our family’s vacation this past summer to South Dakota. Our trips to the Black Hills have become an annual tradition.

Just a few miles south of Mount Rushmore is another memorial. It’s not as well-known or as acclaimed as the four presidents carved in stone, but it has a similarly fascinating history.

About 65 years ago, sculptor Korczak Ziolkowski accepted Lakota Chief Henry Standing Bear’s proposal to build a monument honoring the heritage of Native Americans.

Continue ReadingTopics: Family and Home Tags: faith

“We Serve a Remarkable God”

I want to share a personal email I received last week from Tim Goeglein, our vice president of external relations. Tim helps spread the word about what Focus does in and around our nation’s capital. I’ll share some thoughts after the email.

When you were last in Washington, I took you to Anacostia — the most disadvantaged part of our city.

I wanted you to go there because, so often, the image projected to our nation and the world about Washington is the power, glitz, schmooze part of it.

Continue ReadingTopics: Family and Home Tags: adoption, faith

New Mexico, the Media, Religious Liberty – and You

Last week, the New Mexico Supreme Court ruled that a husband and wife who own a photography business illegally discriminated against a homosexual couple for refusing to shoot their same-sex “commitment ceremony.”

Back in 2006, Elaine and Jon Huguenin, co-owners of Elane Photography in Albuquerque, politely declined to accept the job, citing their Christian faith. The homosexual couple filed a complaint with the New Mexico Human Rights Commission. A one-day trial ensued, and in 2008 the commission issued a report claiming the Huguenins had committed “sexual orientation discrimination.” They were ordered to pay nearly $7,000 in fines.

Continue ReadingTopics: Current Events Tags: news, religious liberty

What We Can Do to Make Dr. King’s “Dream” Come True

As you know, yesterday was the 50th anniversary of the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s famous speech, “I Have a Dream.” You might have heard him deliver the familiar lines last night on the news or online – “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”

It’s always moving to listen to the passionate conviction with which King delivered those words.

Continue ReadingTopics: Current Events Tags: church, pastors