faith Archives

Is It Wrong to Meet with Your Ideological Opposite?

I once met with a well-known homosexual activist. I remember feeling the Lord’s prompting to reach out to this man – and pushing off that meeting for months. (I recently shared more about this meeting with the Catalyst conference via video.)

You might have also heard in the news awhile back that I’ve met with abortion rights groups in hopes that we might find a way to realize their stated goal of making abortion more rare.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: church, faith, relationships February 5, 2014 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Glorifying God Through the Obstacles in Marriage

All marriages will face challenges. It’s not a matter of if you and your spouse will encounter hardship – it’s a matter of what type of situation you’ll have to walk through.

Mike and Reneé Bondi entered their marriage knowing exactly what type of obstacles they would encounter. Reneé had suffered a horrible accident that left her a quadriplegic while she was still engaged to Mike. Despite the fact Reneé tried to “release” Mike from his commitment to her, he knew in his heart that she was the woman God had set apart for him.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, faith, husband, marriage, wife January 23, 2014 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

3 Revealing Things About “Atheist Churches”

You might have seen some of the media coverage of so-called “atheist churches.”

The concept started with two British comedians, Sanderson Jones and Pippa Evans. Jones told the AP, “If you think about church, there’s very little that’s bad. It’s singing awesome songs, hearing interesting talks, thinking about improving yourself and helping other people — and doing that in a community with wonderful relationships. What part of that is not to like?”

The only problem for Jones was, “at the heart of it, it’s something I don’t believe in.”

And so “Sunday Assembly” was born: a “church” where men and women gather together to sing, listen to an inspirational talk and reflect … all without any mention of God.

Topics: Current Events Tags: church, faith, news January 8, 2014 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

The App You Would Like Your Child to Have

On any given Sunday there’s a significant number of folks who pull out their cell phones when the pastor asks them to turn to the morning’s passage. They’re not being rude – they’re just accessing the Bible via their smartphones.

The free YouVersion Bible app is one of the most popular ways to access different versions of the Bible via a smartphone or tablet. In 2013, the app was installed about 49 million times. It was opened 31 times per second, or 1,000,000,000 total times in 2013.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: faith, kids, parenting, technology January 3, 2014 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Alabama, George W. Bush and a Note

Alabama faces off against Oklahoma in the Sugar Bowl tonight, a marquee match-up, to be sure, but not quite what the defending national champion Crimson Tide squad anticipated back in early December when they lost a heartbreaker to rival Auburn.

Following Auburn’s unexpected victory, much of the attention centered around Alabama kicker Cade Foster, who missed three field goals in the game. In fact, he struggled so much, he was benched, and the chance for a game-winning kick was awarded to his freshman teammate.

Topics: Current Events Tags: faith, news, pop culture January 2, 2014 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

All Things Are Made New

There’s something about a new year that provides a promise of hope and excitement at what will happen next.

But before we consider our resolutions and our dreams, or even our problems from 2013, perhaps it would be helpful to ponder and park on one of the most hope filled passages in the Bible:

“He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” (Revelation 21:5)

Not some things … ALL things.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: faith January 1, 2014 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

The Grand Miracle

Just the other day a colleague forwarded me an excerpt from a marvelous C.S. Lewis essay. It is titled, The Grand Miracle. What wonderful Christmas imagery! I loved it – and thought you would as well:

“He comes down from the heights of absolute being into time and space, down into humanity; down further still…to the very roots and seabed of the Nature He has created. But He goes down to come up again and bring the whole ruined world up with Him.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: faith December 26, 2013 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

VIDEO: The “It” Present This Christmas Is…

The year’s “it” Christmas present changes from year to year … or does it?

Back in 1983, parents were fighting over Cabbage Patch dolls. “Elmo-mania” swept the country during the Christmas of 1996 as moms and dads did the impossible to get their children “Tickle Me Elmo” toys. The Nintendo Wii was all the rage in 2006. And in their zeal to make sure Timmy and Susie found the year’s hottest presents under the tree, too many parents found themselves pushed, shoved and even injured.

Topics: Current Events Tags: faith, kids, parenting December 25, 2013 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Memories of Christmas

What’s your favorite Christmas memory?

We asked a wide variety of Focus on the Family broadcast listeners that same question, and their answers were eye-opening.

Very few of them responded with the stereotypically “perfect” Yuletide moment.

Some of the stories we heard were funny and others will bring a tear to your eye. We learned about some strange family traditions, tales of last goodbyes and lifelong prayers answered.

Their stories were a good reminder: Christmas doesn’t have to be “perfect” to be wonderful.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, faith December 24, 2013 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Is It Wrong to Meet with Your Ideological Opposite?

Glorifying God Through the Obstacles in Marriage

Recommended Reading: “The New Age of Christian Martyrdom”