faith Archives

Authentic Christianity in Charleston

When I first blogged about the horrific shooting at Charleston’s historic Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church, authorities were still piecing together what had happened. What we’ve learned since then makes the tragedy all the more awful.

The pastor and eight congregants killed on last Wednesday night were targeted because the suspected shooter, 21-year-old Dylan Roof, wanted to start a race war.

By all accounts, this young man was filled with hate. Friends say he talked of the “need for whites and blacks to be segregated,” and that “he wanted to hurt lots of people.” An online manifesto that authorities say appears to be written by Roof is laced with racism, including statements that blacks are inferior to whites.

Topics: Current Events Tags: church, faith, news, pro-life June 24, 2015 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Elisabeth Elliot Showed Me What True Conviction Looks Like

I was in my early 20s and returning from a year of college in Japan when a friend invited me to hear Elisabeth Elliot speak in Kansas City.

She lit that auditorium of more than 18,000 people on fire.

As you most likely know by now, Elliot passed away on June 14 at the age of 88. She was a heroine of the faith, one of the most influential Christian women in the 20th century.

Here was a woman the world first met in 1956 when her husband, Jim Elliot, was among the five missionaries speared to death by the Auca Indians in Ecuador.

Topics: Current Events Tags: broadcast, faith June 22, 2015 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

VIDEO: God Wrote a Book

Augustine of Hippo called the Bible “our letters from home.”

Abraham Lincoln once reflected that the Bible, “is the best gift God has given to man. All the good the Savior gave to the world was communicated through this Book.”

The late Dr. Adrian Rogers, former pastor of Bellevue Baptist Church and a longtime member of our board, said, “The Bible is not a book of the month, but the Book of the Ages. It’s so majestically deep that scholars could swim and never touch the bottom.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: faith June 16, 2015 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

How to Talk with Your Kids about Bruce Jenner

Guest post by: Jeff Johnston

They are questions many parents probably aren’t fully prepared to answer:

“What does transgender mean?” or “Why is that man dressed like a woman?”

Yet transgender issues are becoming more mainstream, as evidenced by the recent “coming out” of Bruce Jenner as “Caitlyn” on the cover of Vanity Fair magazine. Not only that, but many children are encountering transgender topics in their schools. More and more we are seeing a growing acceptance and encouragement of “transgendered children” as young as 5 in schools.

Topics: Current Events Tags: faith, homosexuality, news, parenting June 5, 2015 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Are You Concerned Your Children Might Drift from the Lord?

Some of you had trouble getting to sleep last night, and I think I know the reason why. You just couldn’t get your kids off of your mind.

Maybe you have a daughter who is questioning her Christian faith. Or you have a son who has turned his back on the Lord and walked away. Or maybe you have younger kids, and you’re disheartened by the world you’re having to raise them in.

There are plenty of justifiable reasons to be concerned about your children and their future and, specifically, their spiritual well-being.

Topics: Focus Events Tags: broadcast, faith, family, parenting June 4, 2015 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Loneliness is a Strategy Against Our Souls

There may be no greater irony in our society than this.

Technology we could hardly have dreamed of thirty years ago is now at our fingertips. We can connect with almost anyone anywhere in the world within seconds in a dozen different ways – from the traditional phone call to email to social media to texting.

And, yet, more and more of us admit to feeling lonely.

How is that possible?

Maybe it’s because the “connection” we all believe we have is really an illusion.

Topics: Focus Events Tags: broadcast, faith, relationships May 21, 2015 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Did You Hear What Happened Inside a Waffle House?

At only 5 years old, Josiah Duncan is teaching the country what it means to show love and compassion.

It all started when the Alabama boy and his mom, Ava Faulk, encountered a man outside a local Waffle House, news outlets report. Josiah didn’t understand why the man wasn’t clean. It turns out little Josiah had never heard of homelessness.

He had a lot of questions – but most of all, he was troubled that the man looked hungry.

Topics: Current Events Tags: faith, news, parenting May 20, 2015 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

How a Young Woman Talked About Jesus in a Public School

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.

Topics: Focus Events Tags: faith, kids, news, parenting, religious liberty May 18, 2015 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

The Abortion Worker Who Became a Friend

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.

Topics: Current Events Tags: faith, kids, pro-life May 15, 2015 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

The Secret to Connecting with Your Spouse for a Lifetime

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.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: faith, marriage May 14, 2015 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura