faith Archives

From Prodigal to Pastor

It was Easter Sunday 1972. Raul Ries was in the middle of his living room with a rifle in his arms, waiting for his family to come home so he could kill them.

Raul was no stranger to violence. His alcoholic father abused him, contributing to Raul being in and out of trouble throughout his childhood. At eighteen, he was arrested and given a choice: prison or the military. He chose the Marines and Vietnam. After 11 months of destructive behavior, Raul was bound in shackles and a straitjacket and spent six months in a naval hospital.

Topics: Uncategorized Tags: faith May 20, 2022 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Rediscovering Faith in a Culture of Chaos

American history is at a critical juncture. Critical Race Theory, cultural Marxism, and other troubling ideologies have gained a foothold. Our culture seems more unsettled than ever before.

A lot of people look for solutions in politics. Our civic duty to vote is an important part of influencing the culture for Christ, but our ultimate citizenship and allegiance is to God’s kingdom. We can take hope that God’s light often shines the brightest when circumstances are at their darkest and most bleak.

Topics: Uncategorized Tags: faith May 19, 2022 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Discovering Freedom in Your Faith

We Christians often give more time and energy to thinking about our summer vacations than our spiritual formation. Because our salvation is rooted in Christ’s righteousness, not our own, we tend to minimize the many scriptures that call for us to seek righteousness.

Deepening our faith isn’t about gaining heaven but about blessing the lives of the people around us.

Author Gary Thomas is with us on our Focus on the Family Broadcast “Discovering Freedom in Your Faith” to describe the joy that we can find in practicing biblical virtues.

Topics: Uncategorized Tags: faith May 13, 2022 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Improving Your Health to Strengthen Your Marriage

“In sickness and in health” is one of the most important vows a couple can make to one another. Even when we are at our weakest physically, our marriage can be at its strongest if we’ll lean on God and on each other.

Authors Dave and Ashley Willis experienced the beauty that can arise from a crisis after Dave’s father endured serious health challenges. The bonds of his parents’ marriage were tested like never before. Through it all, Dave’s mom acted with tenderness and grace.

Topics: Uncategorized Tags: faith, marriage May 12, 2022 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Passing on Your Faith to Your Kids

Like my world, yours is probably hectic and fast paced. You’re booked solid with work, household responsibilities, and obligations to your church and community. Some days it’s tough to keep up with all of the good that you’re doing.

Overcommitment is an easy mistake to make. Every opportunity seems deserving of a yes. But one yes too many is all it takes to go from “busy” to “overwhelmed.” One day you’re happily doing good things. The next day you can barely keep up with all the good things you’re doing.

Topics: Uncategorized Tags: faith, kids, parenting May 5, 2022 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Remembering Peb Jackson – the Most Interesting Man in the World

Who’s the most interesting and adventurous person you’ve ever known?

My friend Peb Jackson, who died yesterday just 9 days shy of his 78th birthday, would be at the top of my list.

Born at the University of Kansas, Peb’s family migrated west during his childhood, settling in Southern California, where his father completed his Ph.D. at USC and taught history at Azusa Pacific University. As a young boy, his love for adventure found him going on bike rides or swimming with his twin brother.

Topics: Uncategorized Tags: faith May 3, 2022 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Discovering Your Love Style

Do you know your love style?

We’ve all got one. It started forming back in childhood when your mom and dad listened to you, encouraged you to share your feelings, and taught you how much you mattered.

Or maybe they didn’t.

For good or for bad, our earliest relational experiences form the roots for how – or if – we emotionally attach to others. Ideally, we had an abundance of positive moments that enabled us to become what authors and counselors Milan and Kay Yerkovich call “secure connectors.”

Jesus was the personification of the “secure connector” love style.

Topics: Uncategorized Tags: faith, marriage May 3, 2022 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Moms and Dads Don’t Check Their Rights at the School Door

Once upon a time, public school educators and administrators routinely complemented the work of parents in the home.

No more.

With increasing regularity, moms and dads find themselves battling “woke” policies along with radical politicians and activists seeking to usurp their rights and threaten the health and safety of their kids.

Two years ago, January Littlejohn’s 13-year-old daughter came home from school and shared with her mom that her Florida middle school had given her the option of which bathroom she would prefer to use – girls or boys.

Topics: Uncategorized Tags: faith, parenting May 2, 2022 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

How Godly Thinking Can Transform Your Life

The devil, the enemy of our souls, wants to rob us of every good thing associated with our lives in Christ.

In John 10:10, Jesus says, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy.”

In December of 2012, five days before Christmas, Pastor Levi Lusko was confronted by the horrible truth of that verse when his five-year-old daughter Lenya died after a severe asthma attack.

Since then, Levi has wrestled through questions and doubts that arise in painful moments.

Topics: Uncategorized Tags: faith May 2, 2022 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Why are People Afraid of Coach Kennedy?

After nearly seven years of being sidelined for his faith, Coach Joe Kennedy finally had his day at the Supreme Court today.

Formerly of Bremerton High School in Washington, Kennedy refused a school district order to stop praying on the 50-yard-line of the team’s field after games.

In his eight years at the school, Kennedy mentored hundreds of football players – young men who considered him a good man to emulate. For the coach, his role on the sidelines wasn’t just a job – but a calling from God.

Topics: Uncategorized Tags: faith April 25, 2022 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura