Jim Daly

Could You Do Without This for 24 Hours?

Have you ever noticed how culture glorifies multi-tasking and busyness? Lately, it seems we’re trying to accomplish more than ever in shorter and shorter periods of time. We buy faster and more efficient technology and install apps on our phones in the hopes of getting ahead.

In fact, some will even admit to a rush that comes from simultaneously answering emails, talking on the phone and scanning Facebook.

But what happens when we do all of this from the kitchen countertop as we serve our children their morning cereal?

Continue ReadingTopics: Family and Home Tags: faith, pop culture, technology

Help “The Bible” Miniseries Win “People’s Choice Award”

Remember “The Bible” miniseries that was broadcast on The History Channel last spring?

Well, it’s now up for a People’s Choice Award in the category of “Favorite TV Movie/Miniseries.”

Nearly 100 million people tuned in to see it, and it’s the top-selling miniseries in Blue-Ray history. But that’s not the greatest success producers Mark Burnett and his wife Roma Downey achieved through their cinematic telling of major biblical stories.

From the beginning, Mark and Roma were very open about their big hope for the miniseries: to “affect a new generation of viewers and draw them back to the Bible.”

The Burnetts were inundated with stories from viewers who were blessed and encouraged to dust off and read their Bibles as a result of watching the five-part series.

Continue ReadingTopics: Family and Home Tags: entertainment, events, family

Jerry Jenkins’ Secret to Good Parenting

Chances are you’ve probably read a book by Christian author Jerry Jenkins. He’s written more than 180 books, 16 of which have landed on the New York Times bestseller list. His books include the Left Behind series, which has sold more than 63 million copies. His writing has appeared in Time, Reader’s Digest, Parade and Guideposts. In addition, Jenkins owns a filmmaking company, the Christian Writers Guild and he owns a publishing company.

Well, Jerry Jenkins sure seems like a busy man – most top professionals are.

Continue ReadingTopics: Family and Home Tags: family, husband, kids

Guest Post: Gosnell and the Danger of False Thinking

By: Kneeland C. Brown, Ed.D.

In my role as the executive director of the Focus Leadership Institute, I try to impart practical life principles to college students. These young men and women enroll because they want to learn how to best serve their families, churches and the culture.

Each semester, we discuss a myriad of things, but if I had to boil it all down, I’d say most of our discussions revolve around two main themes:

You can’t serve well if your thinking isn’t right
Right thinking starts with using Scripture as the singular authoritative truth for how we live.

Continue ReadingTopics: Family and Home Tags: family, pro-life

These 4 Things Will Help Keep Intimacy Alive During the Toddler Years

If you’re the parent of a toddler, you might feel like you’re too tired and busy to even think about sex with your spouse – and for good reason. Your sleep schedule is off. Work levels around the house are at an all-time high. If all that isn’t enough, there’s still a rambunctious toddler – or toddlers – that needs to be cared for, played with, loved on, and disciplined.

With all that’s going on, it might be tempting for some, especially moms, to view sex as merely another item on a never-ending to-do list.

Continue ReadingTopics: Family and Home Tags: faith, family, intimacy, sex

Guest Post: Mom and Dad Together, as It Should Be

Today I’m sharing a piece by Alliance Defending Freedom’s senior opinion editor and writer, AWR Hawkins. As you may know, ADF is on the forefront of the effort to preserve the timeless, universal, and unique institution of marriage. In this piece, Hawkins makes the case for the lifelong union of a husband and wife.

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Home is a place with a function. It is the roof under which Mom and Dad, together in marriage, ground and raise a family.

Continue ReadingTopics: Family and Home Tags: faith, family, husband, parenting, wife

VIDEO: A Stirring Life Lesson

We have no idea the impact our random acts of kindness might have on the people receiving the good deed – that’s the lesson found in a beautiful Thai commercial that recently took the Internet by storm.

The ad features the story of a kindly shop owner who has compassion on a young, poor boy caught shoplifting medicine for his ailing mom. The humanity that man consistently shows the downtrodden is eventually returned to him when he needs it most.

Continue ReadingTopics: Family and Home Tags: faith, family, news

Will Someone Adopt this Boy?

He’s 15 years old. Only a child when you think of it, but too old to be adopted in the eyes of so many.

His name is Davion, and The Tampa Bay Times introduced us to him this week in a must-read article, “An orphan goes to church and asks someone, anyone to adopt him.”

We learn a bit about Davion – his sad history, the bad decisions he has made. We discover that he has begun to turn his life around, but that his heart still bears the scars of years of not belonging.

Continue ReadingTopics: Family and Home Tags: adoption, kids

VIDEO: Did You Know Martyr Jim Elliot Had a Brother?

Most Christians are familiar with Jim Elliot, one of five missionaries killed in the jungles of Ecuador in the 1950s. Fewer people know about Jim’s brother, Bert.

Bert Elliott and his wife, Colleen, were missionaries in Peru. Their work there included starting more than 150 churches, leading Bible studies, helping at a Christian school, leading drug addicts to Christ and even pulling teeth for those with severe dental problems.

There was nothing glamorous about what Bert and Colleen did.

Continue ReadingTopics: Family and Home Tags: family, friendship, pastors

Is This One of the Toughest Jobs?

Serving as a pastor is no easy task. In fact, I can’t think of many more challenging callings in life.

Consider:

A lot of people think pastors work just one day a week. The reality is quite the opposite. Most pastors are fortunate to get one day off per week. Most are on-call 24/7. When it comes to an erratic schedule, a pastor is like a firefighter or a police officer, except he has to stop at red lights, often in a very used car or truck that’s seen better days.

Continue ReadingTopics: Family and Home Tags: faith, pastors