Daly Focus Blog
When you review history, it’s remarkable how many things have been decided by the slimmest of margins:
Who can forget the presidential election of 2000? You’ll recall that George W. Bush defeated Vice President Al Gore by just 537 votes in Florida.
A race for the Alaskan House of Representatives in 2008 came down to a single vote.
That same year, Al Franken defeated Minnesota’s U.S. Senator Norm Coleman in a hotly contested election. Only 225 votes separated the two men.
Continue ReadingTopics: Current Events Tags: events, faith, news, policy
Do you have a home improvement project planned for this weekend?
When it comes to fixing or building things around the house, the late writer, Andy Rooney, once identified five categories of people.
Which one best describes you?
1. The person who knows how to do it, and proceeds quietly and efficiently to get the job done right, alone. This is a rare species.
2. The helpless. This person can’t do it, won’t try to do it, and has no interest in learning how.
Continue ReadingTopics: Family and Home Tags: family, husband, marriage, wife
Sometimes we might do what’s right—but for the wrong (usually selfish) reason.
I’m reminded of the story of the philosopher Diogenes.
He was once seen sitting on a curb eating lentils and bread, a meager meal by any standard. A fellow philosopher, Aristippus, a man who lived well because he flattered the king, approached him and mocked his circumstance.
“If you would learn to be subservient to the king,” he snarled, “you would not have to live on lentils.”
Diogenes looked up with a smile, tilted his head, and replied, “Learn to live on lentils, and you will not have to cultivate the king.”
Continue ReadingTopics: Family and Home Tags: discipline, faith, relationships
Public school officials in Cranston, Rhode Island, have banned all “father-daughter” and “mother-son” activities, citing a threat from the American Civil Liberties Union, according to published reports.
The ACLU had filed a complaint on behalf of a single mother who argued such events were unfair to her daughter, who is unable to participate. A school attorney suggested that Rhode Island law banning gender discrimination makes gender specific activities illegal.
My heart breaks for every child forced to grow up without two parents.
Continue ReadingTopics: Current Events Tags: family, kids, news, parenting
You’ve heard of the Ryder Cup and might even know a little bit about the storied golf tournament, but do you know anything about the man behind the trophy?
In this age of negotiating naming rights and corporate sponsorships, a youngster recently suggested the Ryder Cup was named after the Ryder Truck Company.
Not quite.
Because many of you are interested in golf and since Focus on the Family will be sponsoring a special event (more on this in a moment) in conjunction with this year’s tournament in Medinah, Illinois, I thought it would be fun to share five things you probably don’t know about the history of the Ryder Cup.
Continue ReadingTopics: Focus Events Tags: events, faith, family
Over sixty years ago, Earl Nightingale, a former United States Marine who had been one of only twelve survivors of the bombing of the U.S.S. Arizona at Pearl Harbor, struck upon an idea.
At the time of his epiphany, he was an announcer at the legendary Chicago radio station WGN. Residents of the Windy City were drawn to his soothing, sonorous voice. But it was off the air, while reading a book by Napoleon Hill, a well-known motivational writer and speaker of that era, that Nightingale’s revelation came to him, like “a bolt out of the blue,” he said.
Continue ReadingTopics: Family and Home Tags: discipline, faith, relationships
“The fascination we have with the newness of these things…can be so undoing to our affection for Christ and our devotion to prayer and His word.”
– John Piper
“Sit loose to this world’s joy,” cautioned Robert Murray McCheyne, a Scottish pastor who passed away in 1843 at the age of 29. “The time is short.”
Amen?
Continue ReadingTopics: Current Events Tags: entertainment, faith, pop culture, technology
By the end of this month it’s likely to be legal for children in California to have three parents.
As of now, the state’s current law only allows two parents per child, which is both the historical standard and the common sense one.
So why aren’t two enough anymore?
Same-sex marriage.
Children of lesbian couples may have two “mothers,” but it’s obviously impossible for a child to be conceived without a father. The same is true for homosexual men; every child is born of a mother, even if the male couple deems her simply utilitarian in nature.
Continue ReadingTopics: Family and Home Tags: family, homosexuality, kids, parenting
After nearly a year of toiling away on the project, my latest book, ReFocus: Living a Life that Reflects God’s Heart, will be released next month.
What’s it all about?
I don’t want to give it all away, but if there is one theme woven throughout all the pages of the book, it would be this:
Are we more concerned with shaping (and winning) the debate than we are with shaping and refining our own attitudes toward the world?
Continue ReadingTopics: Current Events Tags: church, faith, policy, relationships
To some, September 11, 2001 seems like a lifetime ago, especially to the parents of young children. Our oldest son, Trent, was just one year-old and Troy hadn’t even been born when the serenity of that late summer morning was shattered by terrorists.
As I drove the boys to school this morning we discussed the anniversary. Over the years we’ve talked a lot about what happened on that tragic day, about the loss of innocent life and how so many dreams of so many families never came true – all because their father or mother never came home.
Continue ReadingTopics: Current Events Tags: events, faith, family, parenting
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.Home
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