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Catalyst 2010: A Movement of Restorers

Esther Fleece

Where can you find 13,000 multi-generational leaders who wholeheartedly desire to serve God’s purpose within their generation?

The Catalyst conference in Atlanta is a great place to start.

Thousands of “grass top” leaders gathered there last week, displaying a beautiful spirit of unity among evangelical subgroups.

It’s not an overstatement to suggest those in attendance are changing the world.

How?

One person at a time.

Groups like TOMS Shoes celebrated an incredible milestone of giving the one millionth pair of new shoes to a child in need.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: entertainment, events, faith, pop culture October 11, 2010 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Man Up?

If you’re a guy and attend either a male-led small group or Bible study, or even pay the slightest attention to discussions about gender, there’s a good chance you’ve heard the catchphrase, “Man Up!”

What does it even mean?

My friend and Focus on the Family board member and president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Dr. Al Mohler, has an opinion. Responding to a recent Newsweek cover story on the subject of modern masculinity, Dr. Mohler wrote the following:

A true masculinity is grounded in a man’s determination to fulfill his manhood in being a good husband, father, citizen, worker, leader, and friend — one who makes a difference, fulfills a role for others, and devotes his life to these tasks.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: faith, family, husband October 1, 2010 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Faith and Fortune Cookies

He was born Allan Stewart Konigsberg, a Jewish son of Nettie and Martin, and raised on the Lower East Side of Manhattan.

As a child, he sparred with his tough-minded mother, who worked in a delicatessen at the same time his father toiled away as an accountant. There was always tension in the family, a functional dysfunction. His parents didn’t get along, and they stumbled through a rocky marriage.

As a young boy, Allan attended Hebrew school for eight years, spoke Yiddish and found his niche making people laugh, most likely out of self-preservation and as a way to make sense of the senseless.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: faith September 22, 2010 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Burning the Qur’an Does Not Illuminate the Bible

I am pleased to join several of my friends and colleagues in adding my name to a simple but straightforward statement, published in a full-page advertisement, in today’s New York Times.

It’s sponsored by the American Bible Society. It reads as follows:

“Burning the Qur’an does not illuminate the Bible.”

The ad, along with its signatories, can be viewed by clicking here.

Of course, this was in response to the planned “Burn the Qur’an Day” which was scheduled for this coming Saturday down in Gainesville, Florida.

Topics: Current Events Tags: faith, news September 10, 2010 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

When I Am Weak

As promised, here is the first chapter of my new book, Stronger: Trading Brokenness for Unbreakable Strength.

Thanks for reading along!

Chapter 1: When I Am Weak

This isn’t how it works in the movies.

On a chilly Sunday morning in December, David Works and his family—his wife, Marie, and daughters Stephanie, Laurie, Rachel, and Grace—finish worshipping at New Life Church in Colorado Springs.

As usual, they stay after the service to enjoy conversation with friends.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: faith, family, promos September 2, 2010 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Praying for Persecution?

“Writing a book is an adventure,” wrote Winston Churchill.

“To begin with, it is a toy and an amusement; then it becomes a mistress, and then it becomes a master, and then a tyrant. The last phase is that just as you are about to be reconciled to your servitude, you kill the monster, and fling him out to the public.”

Leave it to Winston Churchill to paint a colorful picture with words.

But on a related note, the mistress crack notwithstanding, today is September 1st, the official release date of my new book from Cook Communications, Stronger: Trading Brokenness for Unbreakable Strength.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: faith, family September 1, 2010 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Snoozing and Losing

Have you ever overslept? Who hasn’t?

But when was the last time doing so potentially caused you to miss out on a $10 million paycheck?

Professional golfer Jim Furyk overslept yesterday and missed his tee time at a pro-am event in New Jersey. He said he had set his alarm on his cell phone but didn’t realize its battery was low. The phone died overnight. Mr. Furyk woke up 7 minutes before he was scheduled to begin play.

Topics: Current Events Tags: faith, news August 26, 2010 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

My New Book

Just an FYI: I have a new book coming out September 1st.

It’s called Stronger: Trading Brokenness for Unbreakable Strength.

The content comes straight from my heart, dealing with the challenges associated with embracing the hardships of life in order to learn what God would teach us through tough times.

The book is filled with incredible stories of people who have faced some very difficult hurdles. I’ll be sharing some of it in this space, but it’ll be available through Focus on the Family or wherever books are sold.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: events, faith, staff August 24, 2010 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

A Family Update

Some of you may have heard or read about Focus on the Family reducing its budget by $27 million for the upcoming year. Of course, we’re hardly alone. Nearly every ministry, organization and corporation in America has been forced to deal squarely with today’s challenging economic times.

In order to balance the books, we’ve trimmed 13% of our staff, which means we’ll be saying good-bye to 110 of our friends and colleagues in these coming days and weeks.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: faith, finances, staff August 3, 2010 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

When Good Inventions Go Bad

It’s a product of the fallen nature of man:

Anything and everything that was created for good, from medicine to technology, will eventually be corrupted for ill purposes.
A recent case in point: A new “video conferencing” feature made exclusively for Apple’s iPhone. It’s called FaceTime. Here is how the company is promoting it:

People have been dreaming about video calling for decades. iPhone 4 makes it a reality. With the tap of a button, you can wave hello to your kids, share a smile from across the globe, or watch your best friend laugh at your stories — iPhone 4 to iPhone 4 over Wi-Fi.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: faith, sex, technology July 30, 2010 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura