faith Archives

Connecting with Your Teen or Young Adult

There’s no one way to raise children. Discipline that works magic with one child may be completely ineffective with another.

At the bottom of every effective parenting strategy lies a universal foundation to good parenting: relationship.

Author Josh McDowell says, “Rules without relationship leads to rebellion.” That means your child’s primary concern in life is not your rules.

What matters most to your teen or young adult is knowing that you love them.

That sense of intimate connection won’t come through your instruction, lectures, or rules.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: faith, parenting, relationships September 26, 2019 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Preparing to Care for Aging Loved Ones

We don’t like to think about getting older. We especially don’t like to think about death.

Maybe that’s why studies show only a third of us prepare for the inevitable with advanced directives. It’s also why a growing number of people are finding themselves ill-equipped for the rigors and responsibilities of caring for an aging loved one.

Taking on the care of an aging parent or family member is a big job that rarely comes about at a convenient time for the caregiver.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: faith, family September 23, 2019 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Guest Post: Pressing on through Rejection

By: Linsey Driskill

When a project I poured my heart and soul into was rejected, it stung. Badly.

While these painful moments happen to all of us, it’s easy to feel alone – thinking we’re the only ones.

But, even C.S. Lewis experienced rejection. Dr. Seuss’ first book was rejected twenty-seven times. Michael Jordan was cut from his high school basketball team. In 1919, Walt Disney was fired from the Kansas City Star because his editor said he “lacked imagination and had no good ideas.” Elvis was told he’d be better off driving trucks than singing.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: faith September 20, 2019 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

What We Believe

Focus on the Family is headquartered in Colorado Springs. When you visit the area and ask for directions, there’s a good chance you’ll hear something like this: “Head toward the mountains and take a right.”

Our city’s entire western border is the Rocky Mountains, and our crown jewel is America’s mountain – Pike’s Peak. Not only are the mountains beautiful, they’re how we locals find our way around here. You can always get to where you want to go by figuring out where you are in relation to the mountains.

Topics: Current Events Tags: broadcast, faith September 19, 2019 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

From NASCAR to New Orleans, ‘Bring Your Bible to School Day’ Momentum is Growing!

The late Dr. Adrian Rogers, who used to serve on the board here at Focus on the Family, liked to say that the Bible was like a pool shallow enough that a little child can come and get a drink without fear of drowning, yet so deep scholars can swim in it and never touch bottom.

I’m reminded of that observation as our promotion of ‘Bring Your Bible to School Day’ on October 3rd continues to heat up. Here are just a few updates.

Topics: Current Events Tags: faith, religious freedom September 18, 2019 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

What to Do When Tragedy Impacts Your Family

I still remember when a small airplane crashed across the street from where I lived when I was 14 years old. I heard the crash, then called 911 and ran to the plane. I was able to help two 20-somethings get out of the burning wreckage.

At first, I thought the young men were the only two in the plane. I soon realized two other men had been in the front – the young men’s fathers.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, faith, family, tragedy September 12, 2019 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Celebrating the Bible in New Orleans

Did you happen to catch any of the Monday Night Football match-up between the New Orleans Saints and the Houston Texans?

A dramatic Drew Brees-led drive in the game’s final 37 seconds culminated with a clutch 58-yard field goal lifting the Big Easy’s favorite team to victory.

Although I’m a diehard Denver Broncos fan, I was inside the Louisiana Superdome rooting on the city’s home team.

Why?

I was there to express my support for Drew Brees and all the fans who had vowed to bring their Bibles to last night’s opening game.

Topics: Current Events Tags: faith, football, religious freedom September 10, 2019 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Raising Mission-Minded Kids

Author Shauna Pilgreen says, “A life of comfort is a win for the enemy. When you’re comfortable, you’re usually leaning on your own strength, which means you’re leaning less on God’s strength.”

Shauna and her husband have learned to rely on God in uncomfortable circumstances, and they’re actively passing that faith on to their children.

It started in earnest when God led the Pilgreens from their cozy suburban life in Missouri to plant a church in San Francisco, where their lives are anything but comfortable.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: book, broadcast, faith, family September 9, 2019 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Do Nice People Go to Heaven?

Is it really possible for nice people go to Hell?

To answer that question, we have to define the word “nice.”

Picture a spectrum of holiness. Abject evil to one extreme and pure holiness to the other. The Hitlers of the world would be closer to the pure evil side, while people like Mother Teresa would be to the other extreme. The rest of us probably fall somewhere in between and could rightly say, “I’m no saint, but I’m no mass murderer, either.”

With that worldview, our standard of “goodness” is reduced to shades of gray.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, faith September 2, 2019 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Radically Rediscovering Salvation

“Spirituality wrongly understood or pursued is a major source of human misery and rebellion against God.” – Dallas Willard

Christians use a lot of words like “salvation,” “grace,” and “faith.” How often do we stop and really think about what those words mean?

We’re hungry to the core of our soul for relationship. The degree to which that need goes unfulfilled is the degree to which we will lose ourselves in the pursuit of more. More everything.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, christianity, faith August 27, 2019 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura