Jim Daly

Finding Pleasure in Getting Lost

Ten years ago, I was driving through Ladoga, Indiana, on my way home from Shades State Park. In the center of town, a road to the south curved temptingly out of sight. (Some men are attracted to the curves on a woman, but I prefer the curves on a road.) I turned south and five miles later entered the town of Roachdale, where I discovered the Roachdale Hardware Store and its proprietor, Charley Riggle.

I have returned to the hardware store once a week ever since and count Charley Riggle as one of my closest friends.

Continue ReadingTopics: Family and Home Tags: friendship

What I Saw at Chuck Colson’s Memorial Service

The National Cathedral sits atop Mount Saint Alban, the highest point in Washington D.C. It is a majestic and stately site, and it was there on a sunny and breezy May morning this past Wednesday that I had the privilege of joining with friends and family to publicly thank God for the life of my friend, Chuck Colson.

I want to tell you about it.

I want to share with you some of things I heard and some of what I saw throughout the 90-minute service.

Continue ReadingTopics: Current Events Tags: faith, news

Do You Let Your Children Play Video Games?

When it comes to video games, Jean and I have a pretty simple and straightforward rule:

No guns, no blood, no bad language and, obviously, nothing that’s sexually suggestive.

So I know what some of you are probably thinking:

It’s still possible to purchase and play Pong?

Our boys actually play a very limited amount of games on Wii, usually sports-themed and always very innocuous in nature.

But we know parents who feel strongly that any type of video game is just a bad idea and a poor use of a child’s time.

Continue ReadingTopics: Family and Home Tags: entertainment, kids, parenting, pop culture, technology

Would You Take Your Son to a Brothel?

The late Norman Vincent Peale, senior pastor of New York City’s Marble Collegiate Church for over 50 years, grew up in Ohio, a preacher’s kid. His father, Clifford Peale, was a tremendously compassionate man. If there was a need within his congregation, he was determined to meet it.

Norman remembers the phone ringing in their parsonage one cold winter’s night. His mother answered, and passed the phone to his father. The woman on the other end of the line explained that she didn’t know any other preachers, but had one night slipped into Dr.

Continue ReadingTopics: Family and Home Tags: faith, kids, parenting

The President Should Have Called The Pastors First

There’s a curious article in this morning’s New York Times detailing the evangelical fallout from President Obama’s decision last week affirming his support of same-sex marriage.

The headline reads:

After Obama’s Decision on Marriage, A Call to Pastors

The article described a presidential conference call two hours after Mr. Obama’s announcement with approximately eight African-American ministers, followed by additional phone conversations with several of his spiritual advisors. In each of the calls the president attempted to explain his rationale for the decision.

Continue ReadingTopics: Current Events Tags: faith, homosexuality, news

This is What Moms Really Want for Mother’s Day

According to the National Retail Federation, nearly $19 billion will be spent on moms this coming weekend. From flowers to cards to candy, a lot of people will dig deep into their wallets to try and express their love and appreciation for their mothers.

But according to a recent survey, it would appear that what many moms really want is something that money can’t buy:

They just want to go to church with the whole family.

Continue ReadingTopics: Family and Home Tags: husband, kids, parenting, wife

Mother’s Day, Every Day

GUEST VOICE:

Finally being a mom on Mother’s Day was completely thrilling. I wasn’t sure I’d ever get there, and was deeply grateful for the grace and good doctors that saw me through tragedies on the way to that distinction.

Let the brunching begin!

But in the years to come I would try to create the ultimate Mom’s Day with fairly high expectations. Would it be a road trip with the kids? A day alone with a book?

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

Majority Support For Same-Sex Marriage is a Myth

Political consultant Frank Luntz calls it “poll-driven language” – the tendency to phrase a question in a way that will generate a desired answer. Operatives on both sides of the aisle have been doing this for years, but it’s especially blatant when it comes to the reporting of support/opposition to same-sex marriage.

Case in point, a recent New York Times story which was headlined, “Support for Gay Marriage Outweighs Opposition in Polls.” The report was based upon an average of various polling data which supposedly revealed that 50% of Americans support same-sex marriage while 45% oppose it.

Continue ReadingTopics: Current Events Tags: homosexuality, marriage, news, policy

Will Marriage Be a Major Issue in 2012 Election?

I’m obviously very pleased with the results of yesterday’s election in North Carolina, where voters passed a constitutional amendment defining marriage as the union of one man and one woman.I am less pleased, as you might imagine, with President Obama’s announcement today that he has changed his position and now personally supports same-sex marriage.

To help put the vote and announcement in context, I’d like to share some comments and observations, which are excerpts from my recent Washington Post editorial on the subject.

Continue ReadingTopics: Current Events Tags: homosexuality, marriage, policy

Is Facebook Making Us Lonely?

In a recent article in The Atlantic, writer Stephen Marche serves up a provocative perspective on the impact of Facebook and other social network software on society:

We live in an accelerating contradiction: the more connected we become, the lonelier we are.

In the opening lines of the lengthy piece, Marche describes the defining moment of Social Network, the film that chronicled Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg’s life and career.

The film’s most indelible scene, the one that may well have earned it an Oscar, was the final, silent shot of an anomic Zuckerberg sending out a friend request to his ex-girlfriend, then waiting and clicking and waiting and clicking—a moment of superconnected loneliness preserved in amber.

Continue ReadingTopics: Family and Home Tags: friendship, technology