Daly Focus Blog
I want to share some encouraging reports from this year’s Day of Dialogue free speech event.
When I originally blogged about the April 16th event giving Christian students a chance to share a hope-filled perspective on issues like marriage, sexuality and gender-identity issues, I told you we were expecting 18,000 young men and women would participate.
In reality, an estimated 25,000 students took the initiative to lead Day of Dialogue events in schools across the nation.
Let me ask you a question. How do you think Christians should engage a culture that often stands in direct opposition to God’s truth?
There are likely as many different answers to that question as there are people to respond to it. In my view, that says a lot about the creativity and passion of the Christian community.
But, however we strive to influence the culture, I hope there’s one underlying value that guides all we do and say: Jesus offers salvation to everyone.
Let me ask you this: Which part of your marriage relationship do you believe will develop the deepest intimacy?
Here are your choices:
Sexuality
Emotions
Spiritual connection
They each have their place, of course, but all things considered, spiritual connection with our spouse will create a deeper, more meaningful connection than the other two areas.
Here’s why: The benefits of spiritual intimacy naturally spill over into the other two areas. A spiritually connected couple will tend to have deeper emotional and sexual connection with one another.
For years, Focus on the Family has been offering wonderful resources to help our friends with their marriage, parenting and faith journeys. I want to share some of the items we’re currently offering, or that will be available soon.
1. “Ready to Wed: 12 Ways to Start a Marriage You’ll Love” – Written by Focus marriage experts Dr. Greg and Erin Smalley for engaged couples, this book is full of helpful tips and wisdom to set soon-to-be newlyweds on a straight path toward a healthy marriage.
Picture a man named John on vacation with his family along the coast of the Mediterranean. They’ve just finished dinner and are enjoying a casual stroll to their hotel. The air is warm, the breeze is cool, and ocean waves are crashing into the shore. It’s like something from a postcard.
It’s at about that time John notices someone following them. A few steps later, another man appears from a side street up ahead. Now the man in front and the man behind start closing in.
Late last week it was announced that Aaron and Melissa Klein, owners of a bakery in Gresham, Oregon called “Sweet Cakes by Melissa,” had been fined $135,000.
Why?
Because they exercised their right of conscience and declined baking and decorating a wedding cake for a same-sex ceremony.
This Christian couple with five children have been guests on our broadcast as they told their story of how their faith came under fire when they were confronted by a choice they thought would never come: obey God or obey an unjust law.
A news summary on issues that matter.
Christians continue to be martyred around the world
The horrific scene is all too familiar: Christian men walking blindfolded across a beach, held by Islamic State militants. A new video shows two groups of Ethiopian Christians being shot and beheaded at the hands of ISIS. This comes just days after Christians were thrown overboard on a ship, drowned at sea, “for praying to Jesus.”
Please continue to pray for the persecuted Church around the world.
What comes to mind when you think of pleasure?
How about temptation? Or sin? Or guilt?
Ever notice how the idea of pleasure so easily sends our minds spiraling toward the negative? It’s as if pleasure were a creation of Satan with no other purpose than to distract us from God.
But if we’ll think back through Scripture, we’ll arrive at a different conclusion.
Numerous passages remind us of times when God commanded His people to celebrate with lavish feasts.
Dave Aldridge died unexpectedly just four days before Christmas in 2012. The happy husband and father of three was a strong believer who loved the Lord and poured himself into everything he did, from being a husband and father to going the extra mile for anyone who had a need. The Colorado Springs resident collapsed while running, the victim of a congenital heart defect. He was just 39 years of age.
The obituaries are full of stories of people like Dave, men and women whose lives on earth seem all too brief.
How to spiritually connect with your spouse may be one of the most misunderstood concepts in marriage.
Couples tend to think in terms of spiritual activities they ought to do together.
For example:
We know we should read our Bibles, pray and go to church together and memorize Scripture.
Without question, there are important spiritual disciplines, and they fit the personality of some couples especially well. These are men and women who are so structured they treat devotions almost like mini-church.
Jim Daly is a husband, father and President of Focus on the Family and host of its National Radio Hall of Fame broadcast. His blog, Daly Focus, is full of timely commentary and wisdom designed to help you navigate and understand today’s culture. His latest book is Marriage Done Right.
