Daly Focus Blog
My guess is you consider yourself an open minded person. You’re mostly right. I say mostly because we’re all biased. Each of us has filters through which we see the world.
We’re a lot like the people of Oz – as in The Wizard of Oz. In the original story, written by Frank Baum, the Emerald City is said to be made of green glass, emeralds, and other jewels. And yet, when Dorothy and her companions enter the city, the Wizard expects them to wear green-tinted spectacles.
On our Focus on the Family Broadcast “My Search for a Father’s Love,” we’re sharing my conversation with Lynsi Snyder, the owner and president of the In-N-Out Burger chain of restaurants located in the western part of the United States.
Although her family’s wealth made life appear like a fairy tale to outsiders, Lynsi has had a difficult and, at times, heart breaking journey. Her father died when she was 17 years old, which led her into a downward spiral of drug and alcohol abuse and promiscuous relationships in search of love.
Believing the spirit of the Christian calls for us to assume the best intentions of fellow believers, I was intrigued when I first learned that North Point Community Church in Atlanta planned to host a conference late last month for parents of LGBT children and ministry leaders looking for more effective ways to serve those impacted by the heavy and increasingly controversial issue.
In fact, the outreach brought back memories of a similarly themed conference that my organization, Focus on the Family, hosted for several years well over a decade ago.
What’s the biggest risk you’ve taken today?
If you didn’t try something that scared you to death – or at least pushed you beyond your comfort zone – maybe you didn’t risk enough.
That’s how Major Brian Shul approached life. The renowned American fighter pilot flew 212 combat missions in Vietnam and almost died in a catastrophic crash near the Cambodian border. After his rescue from the jungle, he spent a year in the hospital and was told he’d never fly again.
When moms and dads ask me for parenting advice, I encourage them to pray for their children. Because sometimes prayer is all you have.
I’ll never forget the struggle my son Troy went through while he was being born. He somehow got his umbilical cord wrapped around his neck and swallowed amniotic fluid. One moment everything was fine. The next moment we were facing one of the most dangerous birthing situations possible. And there was nothing Jean or I could do.
We modern people think we’re pretty smart. We live in an age that put men on the moon, landed rovers on Mars, and fired a telescope into space that can see 13 billion lightyears into the past. We’ve created supercomputers that perform a quintillion calculations per second and electron microscopes that observe the world at an atomic level.
And yet, despite our intelligence, we can still be pretty ignorant. Our technology fools us into thinking more highly of ourselves than we ought to.
If you’re having trouble getting life off the ground, take a cue from the Wright brothers, Wilbur and Orville. Be open to change and new ideas.
The Wright brothers weren’t the first to experiment with flight, but they accomplished something no one else did. While other inventors barely got their designs off the ground (if they got them off the ground at all), the Wright brothers developed a system that kept the plane aloft and stable.
Author and speaker Lee Strobel says someone once came between him and his wife and almost destroyed their marriage. It wasn’t a co-worker or an old flame.
It was Jesus Christ.
A few years after getting married, Leslie became a Christian. Lee remained a staunch atheist. Their worldviews became so diametrically opposed to one another that their marriage was threatened.
The potential for disunity is why God gave us the wisdom found in 2 Corinthians 6:14, which says, “Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers.” Yokes are fitted over the necks of two animals of equal size.
Forty years ago, Dr. John Trent created the concept of LifeMapping as a way to help people break free from isolation, loneliness, and chaos and move into a place of connection, caring, and calmness.
I discussed this idea with Dr. Trent and his daughter, Kari Trent Stageberg, on our Focus on the Family Broadcast “Finding Real Purpose in Your Life.” LifeMapping helps you reach your full potential by recognizing positive and negative life patterns.
On our Focus on the Family Broadcast “Sharing the Gospel Through Hospitality,” we’re sharing Dr. Rosaria Butterfield’s dramatic conversion testimony.
Rosaria was professor of English and queer theory at Syracuse University in New York and lived proudly as a lesbian, a feminist, and an outspoken advocate for LGBT rights. In 1999, she took leave from her professorship to research a book she intended to write as a rebuke of religion from a lesbian feminist point of view.
Jim Daly is a husband, father and President of Focus on the Family and host of its National Radio Hall of Fame broadcast. His blog, Daly Focus, is full of timely commentary and wisdom designed to help you navigate and understand today’s culture. His latest book is Marriage Done Right.
