Daly Focus Blog
On a scale of one to ten – ten being the worst – how anxious do you feel? Six? Seven? Are you ever in the eight to nine range?
Anxiety is rampant in our culture and in our homes. Anxiety is about the scary “what ifs?” in life. What if our children don’t make good decisions? What if the economy negatively impacts our jobs? We dream up horrible scenarios about everything that could happen and rehearse them over and over again in our minds.
November is National Adoption Month in the United States and Adoption Awareness Month in Canada. These observances highlight a great need.
In the United States, there are more than 400,000 children in foster care. Over 100,000 are waiting to be adopted.
Scripture teaches that each of us is called to care for the vulnerable. Other than a child in the womb, no one is more vulnerable than a child without a family. How can you help?
This coming Sunday is the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church. This special day reminds us that Christians still suffer for their faith all around the world. Some even give their lives for believing in Jesus. We must not forget their sacrifice, or the sacrifice of all of those who risk life and limb for the Gospel’s sake.
Pastor Andrew Brunson and his wife, Norine, began serving as missionaries to Turkey in 1993, where only one out of every 16,000 people is a Christian.
The war epic Saving Private Ryan opens with one of the most riveting battle scenes in film history. It depicts in graphic detail the D-Day invasion of Omaha Beach in Normandy, France, on June 6, 1944. It’s a vivid depiction of heroic bravery and sacrifice.
I also think it depicts the spiritual battle that’s waging over your marriage and mine. Satan despises marriage, and he hopes to destroy each one he can. Trace human history back to the Garden, and you’ll see that Satan made his move against humanity after God brought Adam and Eve together in a union designed to reflect the relationship between Christ and His church and the intimacy shared between the Trinity.
Readers above a certain age will remember the comedian Bob Newhart. Now 92 years-old, the actor known for his deadpan delivery once played a psychologist dispensing advice to a cast of eclectic characters. Encountering a woman who feared and thought continuously about being buried in a box, the doctor famously relayed a two-word solution:
“Stop it!”
Naturally, breaking a bad and destructive habit is easier said than done. But the first step is realizing the harm that is done by consuming pornography.
What would you do?
Imagine this scenario: You’re standing beside a hospital bed. The prognosis is not good. The doctor gives you two options. Remove your loved one from artificial life support. Or keep them alive indefinitely with it.
What would you do? What is biblical? What is permissible? What is compassionate?
Many families are facing complicated decisions in this era of intensive-care medicine, and they need help navigating it. To that end, Dr. Kathryn Butler is our guest on our Focus on the Family Broadcast “A Godly Perspective on End-of-Life Decisions.” She’s a former trauma surgeon with a decade of experience as a critical care specialist.
In 2014, brothers David and Jason Benham were considered the next stars of the HGTV cable channel. Their show Flip It Forward was expected to be as successful as Chip and Joanna Gaines’ show, Fixer Upper.
However, five weeks into a 10-week film shoot – and just months away from airing the first episode – David and Jason were fired. HGTV executives said activist organizations had begun confronting the channel and targeting advertisers. The reason?
The Benham brothers are unabashedly vocal about social issues related to marriage and pro-life values.
You don’t have to be a Christian or a social scientist to recognize the terrible consequences of mismanaged sexuality.
For 50 years, the sexual revolution has popularized casual sex, but it has also produced sexual casualties. Like Sy Rogers. He was 6 years old when he was repeatedly molested by an adult male. After his mom was killed in a drunk driving accident, his father sent him to live with female relatives. The feminine mannerisms he developed led to bullying from boys who told him that he was gay.
As followers of Christ, we believe that marriage is a symbol of something spiritual and sacred. In Ephesians 5:32, the apostle Paul calls marriage a “mystery” and compares it to Jesus’ relationship with the Church.
So why do so many of us allow ourselves to be distracted by the busyness of life instead of plumbing the depths of relational intimacy. There’s so much to do that we put our marriages and our children on autopilot while we tend to more “important” matters.
One of the most challenging issues Christian parents contact us about is discipleship of their own children. Many moms and dads don’t feel qualified to share their faith effectively.
Do you fear miscommunicating the Gospel and leading your kids astray? Was discipleship never modeled for you growing up? Do you believe that the Church and Sunday school should be enough to teach your kids about their faith?
On our Focus on the Family Broadcast “Helping Your Child Build a Lifelong Faith” we’re addressing those concerns and encouraging you to take up this responsibility.
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.
