events Archives

Last Call! Students, Don’t Forget to Bring Your Bible to School Tomorrow

By now you’ve likely heard that tomorrow (October 3rd) is “Bring Your Bible to School Day,” our annual celebration designed to encourage kids to share God’s Word in a winsome and loving way, and to exercise their religious freedoms.

Beginning six years ago with 8,000 students participating, last year’s event saw over 650,000 young people representing all 50 states joining the national movement.

This year’s event hasn’t been without controversy.

Last month, New Orleans Saints’ quarterback Drew Brees elicited the ire of some liberals for endorsing the celebration.

Topics: Current Events Tags: events, faith October 2, 2019 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

USA Soccer: Tolerance For Me, But Not For Thee

Sadly, according to many liberals, Christians who believe in traditional marriage are now intolerant homophobes.

Case in point:

As some of you may remember, the U.S. Women’s Soccer Team announced in 2017 that it would celebrate LGBT Pride month by wearing “pride-inspired rainbow numbers” on their team jerseys for two matches between Sweden and Norway.

Jaelene Hinkle, one of the team’s players since 2010, objected. Ms. Hinkle is a Christian who believes marriage is between a man and a woman.

Topics: Current Events Tags: events, faith, tolerance July 17, 2019 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

The Crisis at the Southern Border

The heartbreaking image that was released yesterday of a father and daughter lying face down in the muddy water of the Rio Grande River is horrendous and a sight that you cannot turn away from unaffected.

Tragically, the picture is not an isolated incident. The crisis enveloping our southern border is acute and growing worse.

As I have said on previous occasions, we must continue to urge government officials to work together towards a humane and God-honoring solution that will at the same time protect our borders and assure the safety of our citizens.

Topics: Current Events Tags: border, crisis, events, news June 26, 2019 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

D-Day at 75. Listen to a President’s Prayer.

At our current time of open hostility to people of the Christian faith, the idea of the President of the United States publicly praying across the national airwaves may strike many as a far-fetched prospect ripe for condemnation from the ACLU.

But that’s exactly what happened 75 years ago tomorrow when President Franklin Roosevelt announced America’s liberation of France in what became known as the “D-Day” invasion.

With a combined force consisting of over 156,000 soldiers (American, British and Canadian), these brave men waded into the hail of gunfire and even the steel of bayonets, resulting in the death of approximately 4,000 troops.

Across five beaches and 50 miles of coastline, Allied troops successful retook the coast of France.

Topics: Current Events Tags: d-day, events, faith June 5, 2019 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

A Moment in Times Square and the Lies of the Left

I want to tell you a story.

Just a little over two weeks ago, on the first Saturday in May, I was standing in the middle of New York City’s Times Square.

As many of you know, I was there to participate in Focus on the Family’s historic “Alive from New York” celebration, the largest ever gathering of pro-life supporters in the Empire State.

We had prayed and planned for 10,000 people.

By 3:00 P.M., under a sunny and clear blue sky, nearly 20,000 individuals had flooded into the iconic “Crossroads of the World.”

The invitation to come watch a live 4D ultrasound of a third-trimester baby – in the middle of a city where more black babies are aborted than born each year – had clearly struck a nerve.

Topics: Current Events Tags: events, New York, Times Square May 22, 2019 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Notre Dame Fire Reminds Us that God Often Uses Suffering to Shape and Mold Us

Monday’s fire at the famed cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris riveted the world, as television outlets broke into regularly scheduled programing to show the devastation unfold in real time.

As my friend and former Focus board member Dr. Al Mohler reflected, “What burned was not just a tremendous loss to architecture, it was a tremendous loss to western civilization, and it points to an even greater loss: A spiritual loss that came before the architectural loss.”

Dr.

Topics: Current Events Tags: easter, events, faith April 17, 2019 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Virginia Basketball Coach Tony Bennett’s Five Pillars to Live By is a Blueprint for Success

By now you’ve likely heard of Tony Bennett. No, not the legendary 92-year-old singer – the 49-year-old head coach of the NCAA National Championship basketball team from the University of Virginia.

A former star college player in his own right who also played three seasons in the NBA, Tony Bennett shepherded his team of collegians to a national championship a year after having suffered an embarrassing loss in the first round of the tournament.

The ignominious defeat in 2018 – the only time a # 1 seed has lost to a # 16 seed – could have easily demoralized Bennett and his squad.

Topics: Current Events Tags: basketball, events, faith, success, virginia April 10, 2019 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s Principled Decision Prevents Taxpayer Dollars from Being Used to Fund International Abortions

Today, I was excited to see Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announce that the State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) are dedicated to making sure that U.S. foreign assistance does not go to organizations that promote or lobby for abortion.

This is a strong and principled step in support of life.

USAID is dedicated to helping countries and regions that have struggled with genocide, disease, famine and natural disasters. It is not an organization that was developed to subsidize the foreign abortion industry.

Topics: Current Events Tags: abortion, broadcast, events, pro-life March 27, 2019 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Chick-fil-A Was Banned From This Airport

Chick-fil-A (CFA), a frequent target of liberal ire, is once more on the receiving end of the charge of homophobia because its charitable arm, the Chick-fil-A Foundation has recently donated to three Christian ministries, including the Salvation Army, the Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA), and a Georgia boys’ home, all of whose youth programs the CFA Foundation was interested in supporting.

Everyone knows who the Salvation Army is and the good they have done for the poor and needy around the world for over 150 years.

Topics: Current Events Tags: Chick-fil-A, events, faith March 26, 2019 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Reserve Your Spot in Times Square on May 4th!

I wanted to remind you that registration is now open for “Alive from New York” – Focus on the Family’s largest pro-life event in its history.

The event will feature live music and inspirational speeches from special guests, as well as abortion survivors. The culminating moment of the event will be a live 4D ultrasound broadcast on several jumbotrons in Times Square.

Event capacity is limited to 10,000 attendees, so you need to act fast in order to reserve your spot.

Topics: Current Events Tags: abortion, events, faith, pro-life March 13, 2019 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura