Jim Daly

New Test Tells How Long You’ll Live

There’s news out of Great Britain this morning that scientists have devised and perfected a blood test that proposes to predict how long you can expect to live.

It’s scheduled to be available by the end of the year.

By almost every account, this is not medical quackery, but instead a highly technical development that’s been years in the making.

Scientists believe a person’s “biological age” can be measured by examining the length of their telomeres, which is another word for the tips of their chromosomes.

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If You’re Angry or Irritated

It’s challenging to tell someone you love that you’re angry with them. Even with the best of intentions, hurt feelings come easily.
Our counselors here at Focus regularly help with questions of this nature. A recent article in the Wall Street Journal dealt with this very issue, and so I asked them to review the author’s suggestions. They affirmed much of what was written, but offered a few other thoughts. I’d like to share their response with you now:

Slow Down.

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She Escaped From Planned Parenthood

If the producers of Hallmark Hall of Fame were looking for a thoughtful script that both inspires and convicts, they needn’t look any further than the story of Abby Johnson.

But for now, you can watch her tale of conversion this coming Tuesday May 17th, by clicking here.

After years of working for Planned Parenthood in Bryan, Texas, Abby experienced a dramatic change of heart regarding the morality of abortion and her participation in the ongoing tragedy of it.

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A Father’s Promise

I’d like you to meet Alice Ozma. She is 23 years-old and graduated as valedictorian of her class at Rutgers University with a degree in literature.

Impressive, to be sure, but that’s not the story nor the punch line. This is:

When Alice was 9 years-old, her mother left her father. Heartbroken and faced with the reality of being a single dad and raising a daughter alone, Jim became concerned that time and circumstance would pull him and Alice apart.

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Family By The Numbers

Do you like statistics? A recent issue of Parade magazine featured dozens of facts and figures, from the best sports city (Chicago) to the skinniest state (Colorado). Also included were some numbers and trends related to marriage and family.

I thought I’d share some of them with you here and invite your comment:

Marriage Figures

54.1 percent of adults reported being married in 2010
2.1 million marriages took place in 2009.
17% of people who married in the past three years met online.

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How to Express Your Anger

When was the last time you were angry with someone you loved? When was the last time someone you loved, rightly or wrongly, thought you were angry with them?

Just the other day, I was upstairs in our house. I heard Trent and Troy being boys downstairs, which means they were having some fun, running and chasing each other from one room to the next. Suddenly, I heard a door slam. Trent had slipped into the bathroom, hoping to hide from Troy.

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Two Stories About Prayer

On this, the 60th annual observance of the National Day of Prayer, I’d like to share two stories with you that accentuate and highlight the necessity of daily conversation with God.

Both of them involve little children, who are always some of life’s best teachers.

As little Deborah sat down to eat dinner with her parents she instinctively reached for her fork. “Please hold on,” her father replied. “We haven’t said grace yet.” This exasperated the girl, who was tired and hungry.

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The Confrontation of Evil

I hope you’ve been tuning into our three-day program with best-selling author, Eric Metaxas. We’ve been discussing his biography of Nazi resistance leader Dietrich Bonhoeffer, titled Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy.

Monday’s program is available by clicking here; Tuesday here and today, here. For now, I’d like to share with you a review of Eric’s book that was originally published in Citizen Magazine.

The Road to Freedom

Paul J. Batura

From beginning to end, the life of Dietrich Bonhoeffer reads like something of an implausible if not impossible script:

A dashing young German genius receives his Ph.D.

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Steve Martin on Atheism

Are you in the mood to laugh?

My last post dealt with a recent request by atheists to obtain chaplaincy roles within the United States Military. To be sure, that’s no laughing matter. We know salvation of the unbeliever, even an atheist, is an important situation. However, did you know that the legendary actor and comedian, Steve Martin, is now out with a new bluegrass song about atheists and music?

The song is part of the album, Rare Bird Alert, which he produced with his bluegrass band, The Deep Canyon Rangers.

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Atheist Chaplains?

A colleague forwarded me a news article the other day written by James Dao of The New York Times. My friend kept his own comments brief. “This is not a parody,” he wrote. I was intrigued. After all, this was the Times, not the Onion, why would he need to qualify it in that manner?

The piece was titled, “Atheists Seek Chaplain Role in the Military.”

I quickly understood the context of my friend’s note.

“Strange as it sounds,” Dao wrote, “groups representing atheists and secular humanists are pushing for the appointment of one of their own to the chaplaincy, hoping to give voice to what they say is a large — and largely underground — population of nonbelievers in the military.”

Existing chaplains are generally opposed to the idea, for obvious reasons.

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