faith Archives

Practice Makes You Dirty

My friend and colleague, Gary Schneeberger, is Focus’ vice president of communications. His office is right down the hall from mine and includes, among other things, a 7-foot-tall statue of Superman (that’s a story for another time). But among the many things on his desk is this little glass vase holding a pair of golf balls.

Now, I’ve been in many offices that contain golf balls from courses all over the world – from the famed St.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: faith, family, marriage June 22, 2011 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Shoes and Faith

Relatively little is known about the life of James the Just, the author of the epistle of James, and thought by many to be the half-brother of Jesus. As the first bishop of Jerusalem, and a peer to Peter and Paul and many other giants of the faith, James is, nevertheless, revered as a hero of the early church, and for good reason.

Of course he affirmed the divinity, resurrection and redeeming power of Jesus, but he’s best remembered for not only preaching right doctrine – but for believing and teaching that living out our faith can transform a broken and battered world.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: faith June 10, 2011 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Win a Trip!

ATTENTION! I’m out of town today, but just wanted to make sure you were aware of a great contest here at Focus that will be wrapping up next week:

Tell us about a Courageous Parent you know…We’ve all come across people like this, difference-makers who go “above and beyond” to better the lives of kids and teens. We want to hear about these special men and women. To honor the Courageous Parent you have in mind, share your story with us.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: entertainment, events, faith June 9, 2011 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

No Candy Cane For You!

America has become a peculiar place, especially for people of faith in general, and Christianity in particular.

Last week, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals heard arguments involving a religious discrimination case out of Plano, Texas. Students of several elementary schools in that district have been strictly prohibited from referencing Christmas and even vague Christian references and symbols.

This means that red and green Christmas colors are banned from the classroom in December, and students who write cards to soldiers or shut-ins at retirement homes are not permitted to write “Merry Christmas” on any of the correspondence.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: faith, policy May 31, 2011 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

If You’re Angry or Irritated

It’s challenging to tell someone you love that you’re angry with them. Even with the best of intentions, hurt feelings come easily.
Our counselors here at Focus regularly help with questions of this nature. A recent article in the Wall Street Journal dealt with this very issue, and so I asked them to review the author’s suggestions. They affirmed much of what was written, but offered a few other thoughts. I’d like to share their response with you now:

Slow Down.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: faith, family May 13, 2011 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

The Confrontation of Evil

I hope you’ve been tuning into our three-day program with best-selling author, Eric Metaxas. We’ve been discussing his biography of Nazi resistance leader Dietrich Bonhoeffer, titled Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy.

Monday’s program is available by clicking here; Tuesday here and today, here. For now, I’d like to share with you a review of Eric’s book that was originally published in Citizen Magazine.

The Road to Freedom

Paul J. Batura

From beginning to end, the life of Dietrich Bonhoeffer reads like something of an implausible if not impossible script:

A dashing young German genius receives his Ph.D.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: church, faith May 4, 2011 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Atheist Chaplains?

A colleague forwarded me a news article the other day written by James Dao of The New York Times. My friend kept his own comments brief. “This is not a parody,” he wrote. I was intrigued. After all, this was the Times, not the Onion, why would he need to qualify it in that manner?

The piece was titled, “Atheists Seek Chaplain Role in the Military.”

I quickly understood the context of my friend’s note.

“Strange as it sounds,” Dao wrote, “groups representing atheists and secular humanists are pushing for the appointment of one of their own to the chaplaincy, hoping to give voice to what they say is a large — and largely underground — population of nonbelievers in the military.”

Existing chaplains are generally opposed to the idea, for obvious reasons.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: faith May 2, 2011 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Don’t Give Up!

A colleague was recently telling me a story of a man whose son years ago was growing weary of balancing the rigors of college with two part-time jobs.

Here was a typical day for this 19-year-old student:

His mornings would begin in the pre-dawn dark, in the middle of the night, really, delivering newspapers out of his beat-up 1977 Chevy Malibu. After the final paper was tossed, he’d race home, shower, change and grab a Pop-Tart or bagel on the way out to class.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: faith April 12, 2011 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

What If the Church Shut Down?

As you know, the United States federal government narrowly avoided a shutdown on Friday night. The impact would have been significant. In fact, nearly half of the 1.9 million civilian government employees could have been furloughed by today, complicating or delaying everything from Social Security filings to a class field trip to a national park.

This situation is not without precedent and larger budget battles still loom. But all the drama and dire talk has made me think:

What if the Church shut down?

Topics: Family and Home Tags: church, faith April 11, 2011 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Serendipity, Spagnuolo Style

Life is interesting.

I recently accepted an invitation to speak to a pregnancy resource center in St. Louis. It’s always an honor to meet these modern-day heroes. A few weeks prior to my visit, a member of the Focus team received a telephone call from a very kind Focus listener named Lory. Apparently Lory had been listening to a local Christian radio station in Missouri and heard an advertisement promoting the upcoming event and my participation.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: entertainment, faith April 8, 2011 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura