events Archives

They Called Him Coach

John Wooden’s death last week came just four months shy of his 100th birthday. The legendary UCLA basketball coach, affectionately nicknamed the “Wizard of Westwood” for his record setting 10 championships, had been officially retired for 35 years. Remarkably, he remained active into his late 90s, regularly attracting huge crowds wherever and whenever he showed up.

But why? What was his allure? Why did he remain so popular? In an age and culture that is so quickly and easily drawn to the cool and hip, what was it about John Robert Wooden, someone clearly not cool and hip, that remained so attractive and tantalizing to audiences all over the country?

Topics: Current Events Tags: events, faith, news, pop culture June 9, 2010 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Remembering Art Linkletter

America lost one of its good guys last week when the affable and genial Art Linkletter passed away at the age of 97.

Art was the host of two of television’s longest-running programs, “House Party” and “People are Funny.” Like millions of Americans, I have terrific memories of watching him talk and laugh with young children. Being a child myself back in the 1960s, I could relate to the kids appearing on his show. In fact, I can remember thinking they looked and thought and sounded a lot like me.

Topics: Current Events Tags: entertainment, events, faith, pop culture June 3, 2010 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

What Makes a Good Judge?

That’s the question I posed to my friend Chuck Colson during a recent Focus on the Family radio program that discussed President Obama’s nomination of Elena Kagan to the United States Supreme Court.

Solicitor General Kagan is a former Dean of Harvard’s law school and clearly a very bright and accomplished scholar. But during our visit, Chuck expressed some deep reservations about the Solicitor General’s nomination. Chuck’s objections were not based on her intellect but instead her judicial philosophy.

Topics: Current Events Tags: events, faith, policy May 18, 2010 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Celebrating Kids at the Old Ballgame

I’d like to tell you about a wonderful weekend that revolved around some of my favorite people and favorite things in life. I’m referring to my wife, Jean, and our boys, Trent and Troy. I’m also talking about children adopted from foster care, children in foster care, and the great and glorious game of baseball.

The story begins here in Colorado at the ballpark of the Colorado Springs Sky Sox. They’re the Triple-A affiliate of the Colorado Rockies.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: adoption, events, family May 17, 2010 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Who Stole the Cross?

About 75 years ago, the Veterans of Foreign Wars erected a 5’8″ white cross in the Mojave National Preserve, an area now controlled by the National Park Service out in California’s desert.

Officially known as the “Mojave Memorial Cross,” it was put in place to honor the fallen heroes of World War I. Not everyone is happy with its presence atop Sunrise Rock. For the better part of a decade, this memorial has been the subject of a fierce court battle.

Topics: Current Events Tags: events, faith, policy, pop culture May 13, 2010 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

National Day of Prayer Reflections

How did you spend your National Day of Prayer?

Yesterday I mentioned that my plans included participating in a service with the staff here at Focus on the Family. We had a wonderfully moving and inspirational time together. Dan Woolley, a Colorado Springs resident and fellow ministry colleague with Compassion International, joined us.

Dan is a survivor of the Haitian earthquake. His story nearly takes my breath away. Dan shared his miraculous testimony of enduring 65 harrowing hours buried in the rubble of the Hotel Montana.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: events, faith May 7, 2010 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Prayer—For Such a Time as This

Today is the National Day of Prayer, a beautiful and sacred time-honored American tradition. Ironically, a lawsuit threatening its legality and waged by atheists is now making its way to the Supreme Court and bringing more attention to the subject of public prayer than ever before.

But for now, over the course of the next twenty-four hours, there will be thousands of prayer events hosted and conducted throughout our nation. Some will be attended by scores of people and framed by pomp and pageantry; others might consist of two or three co-workers who give up their lunch and gather in a quiet office break room for the simple but profound purpose of praying for this great country.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: events, faith May 6, 2010 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

What if Someone Did Find Noah’s Ark?

As I scanned the headlines last week, there’s one that caught my eye: “Has Noah’s Ark Been Found on Turkish Mountaintop?” According to news reports, a number of evangelical Turkish and Chinese explorers believe they’ve found Noah’s Ark resting 13,000 feet upon Mount Ararat on an eastern Turkish mountain. Although encased in ice and snow, one of the explorers, Yeung Wing-Cheung, said, “It’s not 100% that it is Noah’s Ark, but we think it is 99.9% that this is it.”

Yeung made the startling statement based on several factors.

Topics: Current Events Tags: events, faith, news May 2, 2010 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Welcome to Denver, Tim Tebow!

As a football fan in general and a Denver Broncos fan in particular, I was elated to see our home team select Florida’s Tim Tebow with the number 25 overall pick in last night’s NFL draft. Dusting the snow off our local papers in our driveway this morning, I was greeted with the following headlines in my Denver Post and Colorado Springs Gazette:

“Professing Faith: McDaniels Makes His Tenure-Defining Choice in Florida QB”

“Mr. Eye Black A Black Eye?”

“McStunner: Tebow”

Sports coverage around the country is echoing a similar theme.

Topics: Current Events Tags: entertainment, events, pop culture April 23, 2010 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Nebraska Passes Two Major Pro-Life Bills

Something remarkable happened last week which has been largely ignored by the national press. After a quick Google search, aside from the pro-life news agencies whom you’d expect to cover it, I found that just one major media outlet has touched on the story: ABC. Candidly, I would have thought such a big news story would have sparked much more of a national dialogue.

Here’s what happened.

Nebraska Governor Dave Heineman signed into law two groundbreaking measures that will change the way abortions are handled in the Cornhusker State.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: events, policy, pro-life April 21, 2010 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura