By the time I accepted Christ in high school, the “hippie” movement was in full swing, as was the “Jesus movement” – a dynamic uprising of young Christians whose style and manner of worship was pretty unconventional, at least compared with that of the prior generation. Where I lived, many of these new believers were surfers and beach people. They were hungry for the Lord, but they didn’t have much interest in anything traditional – especially getting all gussied up for Sunday church in neatly pressed suits and dress clothes.
Are American Christians Ignoring the Mayhem of the Middle East?
Our 24/7 news cycle is consumed these days with American politicians sparring over the debt ceiling and the implementation of President Obama’s controversial healthcare plan, both important debates to be sure. Meanwhile, the tragic fact that followers of Jesus Christ are being targeted and slaughtered across the globe is given scant attention.
We learned recently of the horrific attack against a Pakistani church by Muslim extremists that killed 85. In Kenya, the jihadists that attacked an upscale mall in Nairobi reportedly killed hostages that couldn’t recite the Koran.
VIDEO: Why Do Bad Things Happen to Good People?
We get their calls and emails all the time: people who are going through the unthinkable and reach out to us hoping for hope. It’s never easy to understand why these men and women – often through no fault of their own – are hurting so badly.
And, indeed, it’s an age-old question: Why do bad things happen to good people?
A brokenhearted wife who just learned her husband cheated on her.
A family that lost their home in this tough economy.
It Starts and Stops with Me
Here in Colorado, we’re looking forward to the promise of fall – yet I’m still thinking back on our family’s vacation this past summer to South Dakota. Our trips to the Black Hills have become an annual tradition.
Just a few miles south of Mount Rushmore is another memorial. It’s not as well-known or as acclaimed as the four presidents carved in stone, but it has a similarly fascinating history.
About 65 years ago, sculptor Korczak Ziolkowski accepted Lakota Chief Henry Standing Bear’s proposal to build a monument honoring the heritage of Native Americans.
“We Serve a Remarkable God”
I want to share a personal email I received last week from Tim Goeglein, our vice president of external relations. Tim helps spread the word about what Focus does in and around our nation’s capital. I’ll share some thoughts after the email.
When you were last in Washington, I took you to Anacostia — the most disadvantaged part of our city.
I wanted you to go there because, so often, the image projected to our nation and the world about Washington is the power, glitz, schmooze part of it.
How to Answer the Tough Questions Kids Have About Christianity
A recent study found that children ask about 300 questions a day. Often they’re easy ones. But as our children grow and mature, the questions often get tougher.
And then there are times when the questions our kids ask have eternal significance.
“Are there other ways to get to heaven?”
“How can Jesus be God?”
“If God loves us, why are some people going to bed hungry tonight?”
Have you ever had your child ask one of those questions?
Finding Good in Adversity
Recently I blogged about Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, a serious condition that someone who has experienced any sort of life trauma may experience.
While PTSD may most commonly be associated with war veterans, people with any sort of trauma, including childhood disturbances, are vulnerable.
As some of you may know, my childhood included a lot of trauma. I spent the first part of my years in violence-riddled Compton, Calif. I witnessed a gang-related murder outside of my bedroom window when I was 8.
How Can Hospitality Help Share the Gospel?
Sometimes it’s the littlest things we do that speak the loudest.
Take my colleague, Glenn Stanton. Glenn heads up our family formation studies. He’s the quintessential researcher, citing studies on marriage and family, speaking at universities, and engaging with experts across the political and ideological spectrum.
A few months ago, Glenn invited Jonathan Rauch, a well-known advocate of gay marriage, to speak to the staff at Focus on the Family. This was a good time for people on two different sides of an important issue to meet, share their views, respectfully challenge each other’s assertions, and walk away better informed about the complexities that surround this issue.
To Moms Who’ve Received a Prenatal Down Syndrome Diagnosis
Each year, thousands of pregnant couples throughout the U.S. find out through prenatal testing that the child they’re expecting has Down syndrome. For most of those parents, receiving this news is a seismic event that up-ends many of the hopes and dreams they’ve held for their child. In the confusion and fear that surrounds such a diagnosis many parents choose, sadly, to end the pregnancy.
Lauren Warner is a young mom and blogger with a personal take on Down syndrome.
What Kind of Person Are You?
Do you know yourself?
Blaise Pascal once said, “There are two kinds of men, the righteous who believe themselves sinners: the rest, sinners, who believe themselves righteous.”
C.S. Lewis agreed. “When a man is getting better,” he once wrote, “he understands more and more clearly the evil that is left in him. When a man is getting worse, he understands his own badness less and less. A moderately bad man knows he’s not very good: a thoroughly bad man thinks he’s all right.”
At the very core of Christianity is an understanding of our own inadequacy.
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