Daly Focus Blog
Our guest on our Focus on the Family Broadcast “How a Dysfunctional Street Kid Became a Disciple of Jesus” is Greg Stier, an evangelist, author, and the founder of Dare2Share, a youth evangelism and leadership training ministry.
Greg’s life story is an amazing tale of how the Lord worked through his toxic upbringing to draw him to Christ.
Greg grew up in a community in northern Denver that was a tinderbox of racial tension, and where fights, gunshots, and knifings were common.
Few experiences are as comforting and connecting as a family gathered around the Thanksgiving table. Fellowship with family and giving thanks to God for His many blessings are things we look forward to in the Daly household every year.
But the holidays weren’t like that for me growing up. My mother died when I was young and my stepfather abandoned me and my siblings, so Thanksgiving was anything but a peaceful family holiday. Mostly I remember feeling disconnected from everything that was happening around me.
I’m making an URGENT appeal to you today to contact your U.S. senators as soon as possible to ask them to vote “NO” on H.R. 8404, the mis-named “Respect for Marriage Act,” which is reportedly coming up for a vote either today or tomorrow.
At Focus on the Family, we are concerned that the bill accomplishes the exact opposite of what its name implies. It changes the definition and meaning of marriage and would be nearly impossible to reverse.
If you have a hard time facing Mondays, your problem may be a lack of purpose.
Behavioral researcher John Calhoun performed an experiment with mice that was designed to study the effects of overpopulation. He set up a biosphere that was essentially a Garden of Eden for rodents. They were given everything they needed to thrive: shelter, open space to run and play, and unlimited food and water. Even their bedding was routinely changed to provide an ideal nesting environment for baby mice.
Today, on a special Veteran’s Day edition of our Focus on the Family Broadcast titled “Honoring America’s Veterans,” we’re raising the flag in honor of those military families who paid the ultimate sacrifice so that you and I might celebrate freedom.
Every American, regardless of your political or social views, owes a debt of gratitude to the generations of military personnel who have helped secure our freedom and keep it for nearly 250 years.
On this Veterans Day, I would like to pay tribute to a dear friend, a former longtime Focus on the Family board member, and a remarkable man who embodies the motto of the Marine Corps, Semper Fidelis – “Always faithful.”
Tony Wauterlek, now 85, served for five years as a captain in the United States Marine Corps. A pilot with the 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing, he flew jet fighters between 1960 and 1965.
It might surprise you to learn that until Tony signed up to serve following his graduation from the University of Illinois, he had never flown in an airplane.
What’s your ideal image of the perfect parent?
Is it a mom pulling fresh-baked cookies out of the oven right as her children come home from school?
Is it a dad in the yard with a couple of baseball mitts and a ball, inviting his son to come out and play?
Or maybe you imagine someone who’s never too busy, who never raises their voice, and who never gets annoyed or distracted.
Authors Brandon and Analyn Miller remember a season of their parenting when nothing seemed to get them closer to their ideal vision of parenting despite access to an abundance of advice and parenting resources.
Most self-help advice focuses on the future – on what will be. Set goals. Plan ahead. Dream of where you wish you were instead of where you are.
Those are great ideas but let me share just one word of caution: don’t focus so intently on your future that you forget to be engaged right here, right now. This moment may never come again.
The importance of appreciating the moment is illustrated in the life of Wally Pipp, a man you probably won’t recognize unless you’re a major league baseball historian.
“Every Election represents a referendum on the past and present as well as a projection of the hopes and dreams for the future. While results are still coming in and many questions remain as of this Wednesday morning, it’s clear to me that our charge as Christian citizens remains strong.
“We are people of love and hope, and we have a responsibility to share Christ’s Good News with our family, neighbors and co-workers. We must demonstrate these Gospel principles by our actions and our speech.
Relationships are the most rewarding experiences this side of heaven. But any relationship can present challenges. And when they do, the best approach for restoring peace and harmony is boundaries.
God himself demonstrated why and how to create boundaries. He gave Adam and Eve just one: Don’t eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 2:17). It communicated four important ideas about relationships:
Boundaries define and protect freedom. God’s boundary protected Adam and Eve for their own good.
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.
