events Archives

Celebrate Family Tour

I’m thrilled to announce that next week, April 12th, Focus on the Family will be kicking off a 12-city “Celebrate Family Tour.” Starting with a gathering at the InterContinental Hotel in Dallas, we’ll be hosting live events around the country between now and the end of the year. At each stop along the way you’ll have the opportunity to experience a live radio show in the making, with co-host John Fuller and myself.

Next Monday in Dallas, where we’re expecting upwards of 1,500 attendees, our special guest for the program is best-selling author and marriage expert Dr.

Topics: Focus Events Tags: events, family, promos April 9, 2010 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Tiger Woods and Billy Payne

Yesterday marked the opening of the famed Masters golf tournament at Augusta National and, more precisely, the official return of Tiger Woods to the PGA Tour.

Augusta National is a beautiful slice of the American South, but for lovers of the game, it’s more than just a picturesque course. In fact, it’s been called golf’s Garden of Eden. “If there’s a golf course in heaven,” Gary Player once remarked, “I hope it’s like Augusta National.” But then he added dryly, “I just don’t want an early tee time.”

How four-time Masters champion Tiger Woods will ultimately fare against the competition is anyone’s guess.

Topics: Current Events Tags: entertainment, events, marriage, news, pop culture April 9, 2010 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Let’s Continue the Dialogue

I never cease to be amazed how God works.

By now it’s likely you know about our Super Bowl ad with Pam and Tim Tebow. But what you may not know is the genesis of the idea. In a way it snuck up on us in God’s perfect timing. I was completing some work in our video studio at Focus on the Family when one of our film team members, Mark Waters, tossed out an idea which he had been kicking around for a year.

Topics: Focus Events Tags: entertainment, events, pop culture, pro-life March 17, 2010 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

The Ultimate Valentine Gift

If you’re familiar with Calvin and Hobbes, you know Calvin is a young boy with a hyperactive imagination. Most of the time we see Calvin conversing with Hobbes—a stuffed tiger who comes to life within Calvin’s head. Together, the duo typically investigates the meaning of life.

In one scene, Calvin asks Hobbes what it’s like to fall in love. Keep in mind Calvin is about six-years-old which is why he’s seeking the wisdom from his older, imaginary friend.

Topics: Focus Events Tags: events, marriage, promos February 12, 2010 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Super Bowl Ad Scores Super Stats

The other day a friend asked me, “Jim, was the Super Bowl ad really worth it?” Without question, absolutely yes! Even USA TODAY described our ad with Pam and Tim Tebow a “Touchdown!” The pre- and post-game response has been beyond our wildest dreams.

Take the mountain of “free media” leading up to game day and the on-going post-life presence in YouTube Land and other news sites. Our YouTube channel has already garnered 756,423 views of the in-game spot!

Topics: Family and Home Tags: entertainment, events, news February 10, 2010 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Touchdown for Life

Our Super Bowl XLIV commercial with Pam and Tim Tebow has kicked off quite the media firestorm. Okay, that’s an understatement. Last week the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette described it as “perhaps the most controversial commercial in the big game’s 43-year history.”

From National Public Radio and The New York Times, to Rush Limbaugh and Bill O’Reilly, there’s been no shortage of national coverage over an ad which has yet to air. Even SNL got into the act by poking fun at the brewing controversy over the weekend.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: events, news, pop culture February 2, 2010 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

If Not Me, Who?

When I, as a parent, hear about a disaster on the scale of what’s happening in Haiti, I immediately think about the kids affected by the largest earthquake recorded in Haiti. My heart goes out to the three-year-old who suddenly doesn’t have a mom or a dad. For reasons he cannot comprehend, one minute his parents were caring for him, the next minute they’re just gone. Now what?

Or the ten-year-old who, having lost her parents, finds herself becoming the parent to her younger siblings out-of-necessity.

Topics: Current Events Tags: events, faith, news January 19, 2010 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

The Future is Bright!

If you were to sit where I sit and see what I see on the horizon, I’m sure you’d agree that God is very much at work at Focus on the Family. Of course, for practical reasons, sharing my chair isn’t an option. So let me run down a number of the reasons why I’m energized by the journey ahead of us.

The first one is a biggie.

God moved in the hearts of several incredibly generous donors to introduce our mission—namely, Helping Families Thrive—to an audience of tens of millions of families.

Topics: Focus Events Tags: events, faith, news, staff January 16, 2010 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Help for Haiti

Assigning adjectives to the devastation brought on by the Haitian earthquake threatens to bankrupt the English language. Currently, reports are circulating that thousands are dead. Morgues are full and bodies are piled high along the debris-strewn streets. Scores more are likely still trapped, and hundreds of thousands of the country’s island residents are without the basic necessities of life.

The needs are breathtaking and nearly endless in scope and size. But along with our prayers, we might offer a very tangible contribution to the relief efforts by making a monetary contribution to one of the many excellent organizations on the ground in Haiti.

Topics: Current Events Tags: events, faith, news January 15, 2010 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

The Brave Young Men and Women of Fort Carson

Just a few miles south of Focus on the Family sits the Army Mountain Post of Fort Carson. The base is home to several combat brigades and has taken some of the heaviest losses in the Afghan and Iraq wars.

My friend and colleague, Devin Knuckles, recently connected with a number of Army personnel on the base. He learned that in one unit alone, the 4th Brigade Combat Team, 134 brave soldiers had given their lives over the course of the last few years.

Topics: Focus Events Tags: events, news, staff December 22, 2009 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura