faith Archives

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

Life Saving Pizza???

George Linn might very well be alive today because he ordered a pizza.

This past Friday the Lakewood, Colorado man was awaiting delivery of a pie when he suffered a heart attack. His wife, Kami, was about to call 911 when Chris Wuebben, the pizza delivery man, showed up with their order.

Bad timing?

Hardly.

Mr. Wuebben had been a paramedic in Ilinois before moving to Colorado.

While Mrs. Linn called 911, Chris Wuebben administered CPR, stopping the heart attack.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: entertainment, faith, humor July 20, 2010 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

It’s a Mad, Mad World

Has BP finally plugged the oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico? Did a federal judge really just overturn the federal Defense of Marriage Act? Is the stock market still on its wild roller coaster ride?

I’m only asking because the news media has appeared obsessed these last few days with only two main subjects:

LeBron James and Lindsay Lohan.

To be clear, I have nothing against either of these individuals.

I’m happy for Mr. James and saddened for Ms.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: entertainment, faith, pop culture July 9, 2010 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

The Cost of Independence – #1

There is an old saying that suggests a person’s worst difficulties begin when he is able to do what he likes.

I think there is wisdom within those words.

America will celebrate her 234th birthday on Sunday with its usual grand and glorious traditions. Don’t you just love all the pomp and pageantry, along with the flags and fireworks that accompany family and community gatherings?

What a day! Thank God for the United States of America.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: faith, religious liberty July 2, 2010 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Are You Afraid to Die?

As a subject of conversation, death is an uncomfortable topic. Should it be?

Some of us are more intimately familiar with it than others, but it’s ultimately a reality that touches everyone. Having just survived a harrowing motorcycle accident and been spared serious injury, I’m sure you can appreciate the fact that this topic is on my mind.

In that context, let me take you back to something written by John Donne (1572-1631). Donne was both an English preacher and a prolific writer who lived at a time when church bells would regularly peal out across cities as part of funeral proceedings.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: faith June 28, 2010 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Is the Good Life Good Enough?

Are you living a fulfilled life? Are you content where you are?

Those always seem like good questions to ponder, but I think they’re especially relevant in light of the recent news concerning Al and Tipper Gore’s marital separation. Please stay with me here. I don’t read the gossip columns nor do I spend time reading the tabloids. But I do try and make sense of the times in which we live and, as such, I’m always processing what I see and hear.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: divorce, faith, family, parenting June 14, 2010 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

John Wooden’s “Woodenisms”

I offered some reflections in yesterday’s blog on the life and legacy of the late John Wooden, college basketball’s most celebrated and successful coach. Today I’d like to share with you some of Coach Wooden’s most memorable and pithy sayings.

What I appreciate most about them, however, is that I know they’re not simply borne of clever or creative thinking. Rather, they’re the product of the coach’s daily Bible reading.

Each one of these is worthy of memorization.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: faith, pop culture June 10, 2010 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

They Called Him Coach

John Wooden’s death last week came just four months shy of his 100th birthday. The legendary UCLA basketball coach, affectionately nicknamed the “Wizard of Westwood” for his record setting 10 championships, had been officially retired for 35 years. Remarkably, he remained active into his late 90s, regularly attracting huge crowds wherever and whenever he showed up.

But why? What was his allure? Why did he remain so popular? In an age and culture that is so quickly and easily drawn to the cool and hip, what was it about John Robert Wooden, someone clearly not cool and hip, that remained so attractive and tantalizing to audiences all over the country?

Topics: Current Events Tags: events, faith, news, pop culture June 9, 2010 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura