Daly Focus Blog
Thanksgiving is one of the great American holidays, a time dedicated to the deliberate expression of gratitude to the Lord for this country and our many blessings.
If you’re like my wife, Jean, you’ve been shopping and preparing the last few days. Perhaps you’ve cleared your house of extra clutter, wiped the fingerprints off the fridge and aired out the stuffy guest room. The serving platters are out of storage and your overnight guests might even be on their way.
Is it too early to start thinking about Christmas?
Well, it’s not if you hope to get yourself organized, so you can have a smooth December and enjoy a stress-free Christmas season.
A lot of you can relate. Christmas is supposed to be a time of joy, a time when we reflect on our Savior who came as a baby in a manger and soon took upon Himself the sins of the world.
Instead, we get caught up in all the “stuff” of Christmas: the lights, the decorations, the shopping.
When we launched “Bring Your Bible to School Day” last year as a way to empower and encourage public school students from kindergarten to college to express their faith freely, we had no idea God was going to do so much with the event in such a little time.
An estimated 8,000 students celebrated their religious freedom and shared God’s hope in the program’s inaugural year. Tomorrow, we’re expecting an estimated 100,000 to participate!
Students all across the nation have already signed up to take part in “Bring Your Bible to School Day.” On our Facebook page, we’re reading story after story of excited students getting ready to stand unashamed for their faith.
Focus’ second-ever “Bring Your Bible to School Day” will be here this Thursday, Oct. 8. It’s a day for public school students from kindergarten to college to celebrate their religious freedom and to share the hope they’ve found with their friends.
Today, tomorrow and Wednesday we’re running a commercial on the Fox News Channel to help raise awareness of this wonderful event. Here’s a preview of the ad:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qi9J-gRelSM
We hope you’ll share this commercial on your social media sites because there’s still time to sign up!
The stories and scenes from Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, Oregon, have become tragically familiar. Once again, a calm and peaceful setting is disrupted by violent gunfire, a massacre wrought by an individual targeting people of the Christian faith.
From Columbine High School and New Life Church here in Colorado, to churches in Charleston, South Carolina, and Fort Worth, Texas, and now, a school in Roseburg, Oregon, a chilling pattern has emerged. Innocent and unassuming people, many of them young students for whom their love of God frames everything else in life, are increasingly becoming the casualties of a red-hot abhorrence of Christianity.
Let’s imagine you’re looking for a job online and come across a posting that describes the position as follows:
WANTED: Gregarious, dynamic and charismatic leader; excellent teaching and speaking skills required; must be empathetic and a good listener; proficient in conflict resolution, capable of juggling numerous priorities and managing unrealistic expectations. Must be available seven days per week, 24 hours per day. Compensation is not commensurate with experience.
Are you ready to apply?
I can probably guess what you’re thinking – “I’m not crazy, Jim!
Tracy was raised in an alcoholic home. Her story might have had the same tragic ending as so many who grow up in her circumstances.
But the Lord used a neighborhood family to intervene in her life.
When Tracy was little, she met a girl next door named Missy, who was her age. They became lifelong friends. Missy’s family was kind and welcomed Tracy into their home. The two girls would play all day and have sleepovers at Missy’s house.
Last year’s inaugural “Bring Your Bible to School Day” was huge, and this year’s event on Oct. 8 promises to be even bigger.
Just like last year, all 50 states will be represented. But where last year we had about 8,000 students participating, we’re expecting that number to be exponentially higher for the 2015 event.
Think about what God can do through multiple thousands of students, from kindergarten to college, bringing their Bibles to school as a visual way to celebrate religious freedom and share God’s hope with friends!
Today, on the 14th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, I want to share some thoughts I wrote during at the 10-year mark. So much of what I said then is, sadly, still applicable now at a time when our nation and its people remain divided among many lines. As we remember those we lost on 9/11, I hope we also remember the unity and brotherhood of that day. -JD
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“Ten Years Later”
On Sunday, our nation will mark the ten-year anniversary of 9/11.
If you love Jesus, people and social media, please consider volunteering as a Focus on the Family online mentor.
It’s a unique opportunity for anyone who has a heart for the hurting. Online mentors are digital missionaries, tending to real needs, sharing the Gospel, and going “through all the towns and villages,” just like Jesus did … except these modern-day missionaries “travel” through their Internet connection.
Focus will provide the technology and training. We’ll equip you to enter online communications and take part in conversations to breathe life, Bible-based hope, and encouragement to people in need.
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.
