Jim Daly

Did You Hear What Walmart is Selling?

According to the National Retail Federation, parents will spend close to $23 billion dollars on back-to-school purchases this year. When college is included – outfitting the dorm room, buying the smart phone, etc. – that figure jumps to an incredible $68.8 billion.

Those are big numbers, but boiling it down to you and me, the average family will spend just over $600 this fall on school-related items. Given such a significant sum, it would seem wise, whenever possible, to not only competitively shop, but also frequent stores that show respect for people of the Christian faith.

Continue ReadingTopics: Family and Home Tags: faith, pop culture, religious liberty

Who Has Changed Your Life?

Is there one person you can point to who helped “turn the tide” in your life?

When I think about that question, my mind immediately settles on a man named Mo – my high school football coach. At the time, my life was a mess. Without a parent to guide me, Coach Mo became my mentor. He encouraged and believed in me. He didn’t just teach me about football. He was a steady, dependable, wise and bold influence.

Continue ReadingTopics: Family and Home Tags: entertainment, events, faith, pop culture

Normalizing Pedophilia

Culture has always been rife with evil. It was the apostle Paul who declared, nearly 2,000 years ago, in fact, that “the days are evil” (Eph. 5:16). Yet, he also spoke with hope, urging Christians to “not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good” (Romans 12:21).

My faith tells me this is true, that light will always overcome the dark. Still, despite such divine assurance, the presence of evil in society is a very heavy and heartbreaking reality.

Continue ReadingTopics: Current Events Tags: events, faith, policy, sex

iDea: Would Steve Jobs Trade His Fortune for Good Health?

By his own admission, Steve Jobs is ailing. The co-founder of Apple announced his resignation as CEO last week, opting to serve in a reduced capacity as Chairman of the Board. His departure leaves a big hole within the company, and investors responded accordingly. Apple stock dropped by 5% the day his statement was released.

Mr. Jobs reportedly has been struggling with his health for years. He is not alone in this battle, of course. Millions of people are plagued with poor health, and, in fact, I know many of you are currently suffering through chemotherapy and coping with a myriad of other physical challenges.

Continue ReadingTopics: Current Events Tags: events, faith, news, pop culture

Contest: Faces of Life

Attention all pregnancy centers and clinics in the USA – or friends of those who invest in this important work:

Focus on the Family is inviting you to submit your best 3 minute video that features an abortion-minded client who chooses life for the baby at-risk for abortion. The video entry should demonstrate the benefit of life-affirming services offered by the contestant to women, men and children.

Important Dates

NOW: Prepare your video and obtain client releases.

Continue ReadingTopics: Focus Events Tags: events, pro-life, staff

Where Has God Dropped You?

My friend and colleague, Gary Schneeberger, is Focus on the Family’s vice president of Communications. He recently hosted a group of foreign journalists who came to the United States as part of the East-West Center’s Senior Journalists Seminar. This year’s group included professionals from places like Pakistan, Malaysia, Afghanistan, the Philippines and Thailand. The purpose of the program is for chroniclers of various cultures to get a flavor of each other and the issues that drive news in each place.

Continue ReadingTopics: Family and Home Tags: faith

Celebrating Our Silver Anniversary

We were married on August 24, 1986, a sun drenched day in Santa Ana, California. It’s hard to believe that it’s been 25 years, a full quarter-century!

I first met Jean Stephens in 1985 at a wedding in California. People often say that weddings are great places to meet people (for good reason!), but at the time I wasn’t interested in finding a girlfriend. Honest! I had recently returned from a year in Japan and graduated from college.

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

Your First Lunch Box

Do you remember your first lunch box?

Mine was a G.I. Joe model, used and dented, but I loved it.

Lunch boxes go way back, over a hundred years, in fact. Then they were called “lunch pails” and were usually recycled cans that originally held biscuits or even tobacco. It wasn’t until the 1950s when the Aladdin Corporation struck upon an idea, leading to the explosion of the themed boxes so many of us remember. Realizing that a metal box was durable and thus likely handed down in a family, executives decided to put celebrities and pop culture icons on the side.

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

Marriage is Good for Your Heart

You’ve heard the adage, “Happy wife, happy life,” but how about this one:

The happier your marriage, the better your chance of surviving and recovering from heart surgery.

It’s true.

According to a new study out of the University of Rochester, the better a person’s marriage, the more likely they are to live longer after heart surgery than those who are single or unhappy in marriage.

“I can only imagine that people who have a good marriage are pretty happy people,” said a Boston cardiac surgeon, Robert Hagberg.

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

Talking Teen Rage

What’s the main cause of teenage rage in America?

Is it a matter of poor parenting – or no parenting at all?

Writing in last Saturday’s Wall Street Journal, Peggy Noonan drew a chilling parallel between fatherless homes and the riots we’re seeing in England, as well as the “flash mob” incidents that have been occurring with increasing frequency here in the U.S.

In regard to what to do about it, Ms. Noonan reflected:

The normal, old response to an emerging problem such as this has been: The government has to do something.

Continue ReadingTopics: Family and Home Tags: adoption, family, parenting