Over the last several weeks I’ve been putting the finishing touches on my new book entitled, Stronger, which is scheduled to be released this fall. I realize the title might be a bit misleading. After all, it’s not a workout manual, a primer on pumping iron, or getting fabulous abs of steel. While I do have a treadmill in the basement and believe in physical fitness, the idea here has to do with building strength of character.
Super Surprised By It All
It’s true, isn’t it, that our best laid plans often go astray? Just looking back over this past week, I’m struck by how events have unfolded. Life is full of surprises! To be sure, we anticipated there would be interest in our first-ever Super Bowl commercial featuring Pam and Tim Tebow. If not, we wouldn’t have done it. But never in our wildest dreams did we think it would become the most “buzzed”-about spot leading up to the big game.
When Telemachus Stood for Life
On January 1, 404 AD, thousands of spectators crowed into the Roman Coliseum itching to see a good fight—a fight to the death, that is. While the bloodthirsty fans took their seats in the stadium, dozens of Roman gladiators steeled themselves for the afternoon battle.
This was a kill or be killed contest.
Wearing colorful body armor, the gladiators marched around the perimeter of the battlefield. They raised their weapons of choice—a war chain, a three-pronged trident spear, a dagger, a net or lasso—to the cheers of the throng.
Through A Glass Dimly
I just read a letter from the Focus mailbag that convicted me of sometimes being shortsighted. It was written in response to a recent Focus broadcast by a woman I’ll call Maria.
About thirty years ago, Maria and her husband relocated to California with their one-year-old child. Not long after the boxes were unpacked, Maria decided to get plugged into her new community by volunteering with a number of Christian ministries. She was enjoying her new life and friends when a rather unexpected turn-of-events occurred: Maria discovered she was pregnant .
Ripples of Life
If you toss a pebble into the still, glass-like water of a pond, what do you get? Ripples scurrying across the surface of the water constantly moving in an outward, circular fashion from the point of impact. These gentle ridges of water form an ever expanding ring of motion as each wavelet multiplies the reach of the initial splash.
Since we’re in the middle of the Sanctity of Human Life week, let me apply that pebble-in-the-pond phenomenon to our pro-life work here at Focus on the Family.
If Not Me, Who?
When I, as a parent, hear about a disaster on the scale of what’s happening in Haiti, I immediately think about the kids affected by the largest earthquake recorded in Haiti. My heart goes out to the three-year-old who suddenly doesn’t have a mom or a dad. For reasons he cannot comprehend, one minute his parents were caring for him, the next minute they’re just gone. Now what?
Or the ten-year-old who, having lost her parents, finds herself becoming the parent to her younger siblings out-of-necessity.
The Future is Bright!
If you were to sit where I sit and see what I see on the horizon, I’m sure you’d agree that God is very much at work at Focus on the Family. Of course, for practical reasons, sharing my chair isn’t an option. So let me run down a number of the reasons why I’m energized by the journey ahead of us.
The first one is a biggie.
God moved in the hearts of several incredibly generous donors to introduce our mission—namely, Helping Families Thrive—to an audience of tens of millions of families.
Help for Haiti
Assigning adjectives to the devastation brought on by the Haitian earthquake threatens to bankrupt the English language. Currently, reports are circulating that thousands are dead. Morgues are full and bodies are piled high along the debris-strewn streets. Scores more are likely still trapped, and hundreds of thousands of the country’s island residents are without the basic necessities of life.
The needs are breathtaking and nearly endless in scope and size. But along with our prayers, we might offer a very tangible contribution to the relief efforts by making a monetary contribution to one of the many excellent organizations on the ground in Haiti.
Been There, Missed That
Three years ago this week, something extraordinary happened at the L’Enfant Plaza Subway Station in Washington, D.C.. It was a frosty 43 degrees as thousands of early morning commuters hustled through the metro station. A man, wearing a non-descript, black long sleeve shirt and baseball cap, stopped along a gray granite wall, pulled a violin from its protective case, and then started to play.
In spite of the near freezing temperatures, the musician’s nimble fingers danced across the strings as he played six classic pieces by Bach.
Brit Hume and Tiger Woods
FOX News political commentator Brit Hume shocked some people over the weekend by offering the following advice to golfing legend Tiger Woods:
The extent to which he (Woods) can recover (from his extramarital affairs) seems to me depends on his faith. He is said to be a Buddhist. I don’t think that faith offers the kind of forgiveness and redemption that is offered by the Christian faith. My message to Tiger would be, “Tiger, turn to the Christian faith and you can make a total recovery and be a great example to the world.”
Not surprisingly, public reaction was swift, mixed and spirited.
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