Daly Focus Blog
I’ve needed God to give me a second chance a few times.
Just one example would be my high school football career. I was my team’s starting quarterback and spent long hours honing my abilities and pushing myself to be at the top of my game. Several colleges had offered me scholarships, and future opportunities seemed wide open for me. I was proud of my accomplishments and potential. Arrogantly so.
God humbled me. That journey started the night my big brother confronted me after one of my games.
What do you think a typical week is like for your pastor? A few hours of study and a sermon on Sunday? The occasional hospital- or home-visit?
I recently talked with two couples – Marshall and Merrie Eizenga and Sam and Pauline Doerksen – who say many pastors routinely experience stress at the level of first responders.
They would know. The Eizengas served as pastors for 35 years. The Doerksens were pastors for 22 years. Together, they now co-direct the Kerith Creek Retreat Center in Canada.
For the last nearly half-century, Focus on the Family, through our radio broadcast and host of other resources has been introducing you to all types of individuals with compelling and redeeming messages offering help and hope. Many of these resources are available online or in our magnificent retail store here in Colorado Springs.
Now, I’m delighted to announce that Focus is expanding outside of Colorado to western Michigan and the beautiful town of Holland, home of Hope College.
We’ve just opened a new bookstore there in the middle of the city.
Our country is at a crossroads. Society is rapidly changing – and not always for the better. Some people call it “woke” or “cancel” culture, where only certain points of view are allowed to be expressed.
Many Americans feel like these disturbing seismic changes happened overnight. The truth is our culture has been chipping away at the Judeo-Christian value system for decades. Increasingly, the Christian viewpoint is unwelcome in public settings. And that problem will only become more challenging for families and for the church.
Chad Robichaux is a “man’s man.”
The former special forces Marine has served eight tours in Afghanistan, tackling the most dangerous and difficult of missions in the Middle East. A Medal of Valor recipient, Chad has more than served his time and paid his debt to America.
Nobody would blame him if he retired to a quiet beach or picturesque mountain town.
Instead, the founder of the Mighty Oaks Foundation – a non-profit organization specializing in serving returning military personnel from Afghanistan – has slept an hour a day for the past two weeks.
Do you know your “why”?
People often begin a spiritual journey with these questions:
“How will I serve God?”“Where will I serve God?”“When will I serve God?”“What will be required of me when I pursue God’s will for my life?”
However, God’s purpose for your spiritual journey, for your work, and for your family starts with “why?”
Unless you first tackle the “why” question, everything else – your finances, your background, your education, your training, your age, and so on – becomes a mountain that prevents you from moving forward.
One of America’s greatest freedoms is the right to worship God.
The 1st Amendment of the Constitution reads:
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”
Sadly, many of the freedoms assured us by the 1st Amendment are threatened or challenged in the culture.
Self-rejection is dangerous.
Author Henri Nouwen once said, “The greatest trap in life is not success, popularity, or power, but self-rejection. Success, popularity, and power can indeed present a great temptation, but their seductive quality often comes from … self-rejection.”
Self-rejection usually begins as a lie communicated to us by others. Over time that message weaves itself into our lives and infects every relationship we’re in, including our relationship with God.
I’m sure you remember the moment when certain lies took root in your life.
The opening ceremonies for the 2021 Summer Olympics are today in Tokyo, Japan.
The Olympics is one of the greatest displays of skill, physical ability, and dedication in all the world. Not only are the athletes performing on a world stage, but they’re competing at such a high level and under such intense pressure (decades of hard work and training often boil down to a single performance) that we often never consider the very real limitations each athlete must face and overcome.
By David Kier
“…in all things show yourself to be an example of good deeds, with purity in doctrine, dignified, sound in speech which is beyond reproach, in order that the opponent may be put to shame, having nothing bad to say about us.” Titus 2:7-8 NASB®
In my early years at college, I met a few guys from out east who had brand new fancy cars and really nice clothes and wondered why they were at a small midwestern college.
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.
