Jim Daly

Fly to Jesus – #2

It was supposed to be a routine checkup for an ear infection of their first child. But last month, when Joel and Jess McClenahan took their precious 11-month-old baby girl, Cora Paige, to the pediatrician, they discovered Cora had stage-four cancer. Two weeks after the diagnosis, Cora died, leaving the McClenahan’s with a mind-numbing grief and a host of unanswered questions.

And yet, Joel and Jess clung to their faith in Jesus to sustain them. On their blog, which they created the day Cora was born for the benefit of friends and family, Jess wrote: “Joel and I can’t make it through this on our own, but we know we can with the Lord walking with us each step of the way, ‘God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble,’ Psalm 46:1.”

When they began to blog about Cora’s diagnosis and treatment, Cora’s story went “viral” on the web and, almost overnight, the events surrounding little Cora’s life and death was followed by concerned visitors from around the world.

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

Webster Redefines Marriage

Last fall, California voters were given an opportunity to decide whether to expand the traditional definition of marriage to include those in a same-sex relationship. The measure known as Proposition 8 proposed to add this language to the California State Constitution: “Only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California.”

Prop 8 sparked a fierce debate as millions of dollars were spent to lobby both sides of the issue. If you lived in the Golden State, you virtually couldn’t turn on the TV, listen to the radio, or read a newspaper without encountering some aspect of the hotly contested topic.

Continue ReadingTopics: Family and Home Tags: homosexuality, marriage, policy

What A Liftoff!

Jean and I are in Orlando, Florida enjoying a break with the boys. About 5 o’clock on Sunday night, we learned that the Discovery Space Shuttle was scheduled for a 7:43 p.m. launch at the Kennedy Space Center. Since Cape Canaveral was less than 60 miles away, we piled into the minivan and headed due east. The traffic was pretty heavy so we found a place to park along with about forty other cars in a wide area near the intersection of Highways 417 and 528

Even though we were thirty-five miles from the launch pad, the view was breathtaking.

Continue ReadingTopics: Family and Home Tags: faith

Love For A Lifetime

One of the six principles which guide our work at Focus on the Family is the Permanence of Marriage. We believe that marriage, as the basic building block of human civilization, was designed by God to be a thriving, lifelong relationship between a man and a woman. And since we live in a fallen world, all couples who are committed in the covenant of marriage will at some point face trials, sickness, financial crises and emotional stresses.

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

Silencing Free Speech and Religious Liberty

Picture this.

You operate a family-owned photography business which, among other services, creatively captures weddings on film. Further, imagine that you’re a Christian photographer and due to your religious convictions, decide to turn down certain photo shoots including “commitment ceremonies” for same-sex couples. Now, imagine your shock when a judge orders you to pay $6,637.94 to settle a lawsuit brought by an individual who complained about this alleged act of “discrimination.”

That’s what happened last year to Jon and Elaine Huguenin, owners of Elaine Photography LLC when Vanessa Willock filed a complaint with the New Mexico Human Rights Commission.

Continue ReadingTopics: Current Events Tags: faith, policy, religious liberty

Under Fire Down Under

In the event you haven’t been following the story of the fires devouring thousands of acres in Australia, I’d like to share with you an email we received from Cate, an eye-witness whose family lost everything–their home, their family’s farm and, tragically, their provider: Dad. I share her story because the need for prayer for our friends in the southern state of Victoria, Australia is indeed great.

In short, the deadly firestorm consumed more than 1,800 homes and claimed the lives of at least 209 people thus far.

Continue ReadingTopics: Current Events Tags: events, news

Cheaper By The Dozen?

Much has been said about Nadya Suleman, the unmarried California mother-of-six who, at age 33, through a process known as In-Vitro Fertilization (IVF), gave birth to octuplets. Now, with fourteen children and no visible means of support, some have compared her predicament to the popular nursery poem, “There Was An Old Woman Who Lived In a Shoe.”

According to the rhyme, “She had so many children she didn’t know what to do. She gave them some broth, without any bread, she whipped them all soundly, and sent them to bed.” These critics say Nadya, being a single parent, has been irresponsible, unwise, selfish to expand her already large family, and condemn her as being just another of those “unfit welfare recipients” who take advantage of the system–although Nadya denies ever receiving welfare benefits.

Continue ReadingTopics: Current Events Tags: kids, parenting

Leave it to a 12-year-old

Meet Lia. She’s twelve. She lives in Toronto. And her powerful video, has become a YouTube sensation in just two weeks. More than 330,000 viewers have watched this seventh-grader make the case for life in a speech that almost didn’t happen. As her mother Kimberly explains, “Several teachers discouraged her from picking the topic of abortion; she was told it was ‘too big,’ ‘too mature’ and ‘too controversial.’”

That’s not all Lia was told. Her mother adds, “She was also told that if she went ahead with that topic, she would not be allowed to continue on in the speech competition.” But faced with taking on such a Goliath-sized issue, and in spite of the warnings from her teachers that she might be disqualified from the contest, Lia’s pro-life convictions prevailed.

Continue ReadingTopics: Current Events Tags: kids, pro-life

Ask God What Your Grade Is

On November 4, 2008, voters in California passed Proposition 8 which amended their state constitution as follows: “Only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California.” While Prop 8 ended the attempt to redefine marriage in the Golden State, the backlash by those who support so-called same-sex marriage has been, at times, ugly. Case in point. Jonathan Lopez, a Christian student at Los Angeles City College, found himself publicly ridiculed by his college professor who called Lopez a “fascist b–tard” in front of the other students.

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

Driven Over the Edge

Last Monday night, an unidentified businessman allegedly assaulted his girlfriend, and then led police on a low-speed chase through several Southern California highways. Hours later, sitting behind the wheel of his $100,000 luxury Bentley sedan, the armed driver shot himself to death. According to published reports, the man was distraught over losing his business.

We’re not told why his business collapsed. Whether tough economic times, inadequate capitalization, or poor management skills were at fault, he had failed and that failure sparked a depression which drove him over the edge.

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