events Archives

Monkey Business

He’s written sixteen books. He starred in some 75 movies. He was a speechwriter for President Nixon and President Ford. And, he was awarded seven Emmys for a game show on Comedy Central. I’m referring to actor, author, columnist, lawyer, and movie producer Ben Stein.

Last week, while attending the National Religious Broadcasters convention in Nashville, I learned that Ben Stein (yes, the same guy from Win Ben Stein’s Money) was on hand for a screening of his new film called EXPELLED: No Intelligence Allowed.

Topics: Current Events Tags: events, faith March 21, 2008 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Life on the Edge

If Robert Ripley, creator of Ripley’s Believe It Or Not!, was still alive, he’d probably have his doubts about the story I’m about to share with you. And, yes, I’ve checked this out on several hoax-buster websites. In a moment, you’ll understand why I felt the need to verify the story’s truthfulness.

According to police reports, on December 30, 2006, a pickup truck was speeding eastward on State Route 59 just outside of Hurricane, Utah.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: events, pop culture February 29, 2008 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

I Don’t Know, But I Still Care

As you probably know, last week a young man wearing black, carrying four guns, opened fire on students at Northern Illinois University. Six are dead. Many more are wounded. Once again, Americans struggle to understand what prompted Stephen Kazmierczak, 27, to snap. Scrambling for answers, the media, as they typically do, turned to the “experts” for their insight. One authority claimed Stephen was “unbalanced” and had stopped taking his medicine . . . another pundit pointed his finger at the role of violent video games in many of these school shootings .

Topics: Current Events Tags: events, faith February 17, 2008 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Go for the Gold

How are you doing with your New Year’s resolutions? If you’re like many, you might have purchased a treadmill with an eye on walking more this year. Perhaps it was a membership at the YMCA or a health club, the purchase of a stationary bicycle, or simply buying a new pair of walking shoes to encourage a regular cardiovascular routine.

Perhaps you cut up the credit cards in an effort to dig yourself out of debt.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: events, faith, family January 18, 2008 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

The Applause of Heaven

The battle over who gets to compete for the coveted Super Bowl XLII ring comes down to how the Patriots, the Packers, the Chargers, and the Giants perform in the final playoff round. Personally, I had been pulling for the Colts to do a repeat performance of last season. After all, head coach Tony Dungy is such a class act, both on and off the field. He’s one of the best role models to come along in a long time.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: entertainment, events, pop culture January 16, 2008 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Garden Variety Marriage

Happy New Years!

If you live in New Jersey, and if you believe marriage should remain the union between one man and one woman, I’ve got great news for you. Come to think of it, this victory is good news regardless of where you live. After all, what happens in one state ultimately impacts the rest of us. Here’s what happened.

A number of heavily funded groups in the Garden State with a radical agenda have been working behind the scenes to redefine marriage to include same-sex partners.

Topics: Current Events Tags: events, marriage, policy January 3, 2008 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Name That Christmas Carol – #1

Here’s a fun group activity a friend sent to me that you might enjoy using with the family over the Christmas holiday. The goal is to see who can identify the real song title from this list of twenty-one hints. You could divide the guests or family members into two teams or simply make it every person for him or her self. Maybe sweeten the pot with a White Elephant gift for the person or team who gets the most correct answers.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: entertainment, events, technology December 22, 2007 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

When God Doesn’t Make Sense

Last Sunday tragedy struck close to home.

As you may know, Matthew Murray, 19, barged into New Life Church here in Colorado Springs just two miles down the road from Focus on the Family. His goal? He desired to inflict mass casualties. Armed with three weapons, including a powerful assault rifle and two semiautomatic handguns, Matthew took the lives of two teenage sisters, Stephanie and Rachel Works (pictured), in the parking lot after the worship service.

Topics: Current Events Tags: events, faith, family December 14, 2007 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Focus on the GO!

You probably already know that Tony Dungy was the first African-American coach to win a Super Bowl championship. What you may not know is that he’s been a big fan of the Focus on the Family broadcast. While coaching the Pittsburgh Steelers from 1981 to 1989, Tony listened to our broadcast every day during his drive time to work. Recently, Tony was in the studio sharing with Dr. Dobson the impact that those days listening in the car had on him and his wife as they raised their children.

Topics: Focus Events Tags: broadcast, events, technology December 13, 2007 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Happy Birthday Focus Malaysia!

I was heading up the International Division at Focus on the Family when we were contacted by Mr. Wee Min Lee, a listener in Malaysia. That wasn’t particularly unusual since the Focus broadcast is heard around the world. This particular businessman, however, had a deep passion to strengthen families in his country and wanted to know what he could do to make our resources more readily available. He was alarmed over the deterioration of the family unit – especially between the practice of polygamous marriages, poor parenting skills, and an alarming increase in juvenile crime in his nation.

Topics: Focus Events Tags: events, staff November 14, 2007 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura