faith Archives

It’s Legal to Bring This to School

It’s that time of year again when parents and kids are checking their back-to-school lists twice before heading out the door:

Three-ring binder? Check.

Pencil sharpener? Check.

Lunch bag? Check.

The Bible?

Yes.

The Bible is now a must-have school supply for students like Ethan, who considers it essential for surviving the school day.

“When you have the Bible right out in front of you … when it’s sitting out on the corner of your desk, or in your backpack,” said Ethan, a 16-year-old student in Colorado, “it’s a constant reminder of what God has in store for you and to do what God wants you to do, rather than doing things off of your own selfish ambitions.”

Ethan was just one of the half a million students who participated last year in Bring Your Bible to School Day—an annual, religious-freedom event for students sponsored by Focus on the Family.

Topics: Current Events Tags: events, faith, religious liberty August 29, 2018 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Preparing for the Empty Nest Years

Marci Seither and her husband owned a sawmill in Northern California. A customer hired them to remove a huge tree from the spot where their new home would be built. The homeowners thought it a shame to lose such a beautiful tree and planned to recycle the lumber by using it in the house’s construction.

Once the tree was cut down, however, they discovered that the wood was too weak to be used. The tree rings were too far apart.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, faith, family, parenting August 27, 2018 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Guest Post: Five Questions & Answers About Today’s Schools

My colleague, Public Policy’s Director of Education, Candi Cushman, recently answered some questions about the public schools that were posed to her from Decision Magazine. I thought you would find her answers both enlightening and interesting.

On a related note, if you are a parent of a school-age child, I hope you’re aware of our upcoming, Bring Your Bible to School Day. It’ll be on Thursday October 4th. It’s not too early to register and participate in some of our pre-event promotion.

Topics: Current Events Tags: faith, religious liberty August 24, 2018 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Sharing Jesus’ Love Through Food and Fellowship

Have you ever noticed how much of Jesus’ ministry on earth was centered around meals? Among others, there was the wedding at Cana, a dinner with the reviled Zaccheus, and the beautiful symbolism of the Last Supper. Jesus was even criticized for eating with “tax collectors and sinners” (Matt. 12:16).

As one scholar put it: “Jesus ate his way through the Gospels.”

For Bri McKoy, Jesus’ ministry through meals became a model through which she created community and shared God’s love with the people He placed in her life.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, entertainment, faith, relationships August 20, 2018 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Guest blog: My Summer at Focus on the Family

Every summer we have the privilege of recruiting a group of young adults for our internship program here at Focus. We believe it’s important to invest in the next generation of men and women who will carry the torch for faith and family! Rebecca Wirth was our 2018 intern in the Master Writers department. These are her reflections on her experience in the internship program. – Jim Daly

On any given Tuesday morning this summer, you could find me with five of my fellow interns sitting at a table at Focus on the Family, chatting about everything from the weather to biblical truths.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: faith, relationships, staff August 17, 2018 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

The State of Colorado is Harassing Baker Jack Phillips

Here we go again.

Despite the fact that the United States Supreme Court ruled this past June that the state of Colorado had violated Masterpiece Cakes owner Jack Phillips’ freedom of religion, the Colorado Civil Rights Commission has once again notified the beleaguered baker that he has violated Colorado law for declining to create a cake symbolizing a gender “transition.”

We’re finding out that it all started in June of 2017 when a transgender activist attorney began a series of communications with Masterpiece Cakeshop asking for certain kinds of cakes: one celebrating the attorney’s “transition” from male to female (with blue icing on the outside, pink on the inside), others celebrating Satanic messages or containing graphic sexual imagery.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: events, faith, pro-life, religious liberty August 16, 2018 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Does God Care if You’re Happy?

Do you view God as distant, unhappy, or angry? Do you wonder if He cares about your happiness?

Some in the Christian community consider happiness an ungodly pursuit, one for the spiritually immature. They say that God calls us to joy, while happiness is what the world offers.

If that’s how you’ve been taught, you may be surprised by what our broadcast guest Lisa Harper has to share – that God is happy and that happiness is a gift from Him that we should actively pursue.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, faith August 14, 2018 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Don’t Be a Miserable Christian

I’ve always liked the poem by William Wordsworth titled “Character of the Happy Warrior.” Though not intended, it is an appropriate charge to Christians who seek God’s strength in their efforts to engage winsomely.

Here are a few poignant verses:

Who is the happy Warrior? Who is he

That every man in arms should wish to be? …

Who high endeavors are an inward light

That makes the path before him always bright …

Who, doomed to go in company with Pain,

And Fear, and Bloodshed, miserable train!

Topics: Family and Home Tags: church, faith August 7, 2018 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Jim Daly Praises New Religious Freedom Task Force

We are pleased by Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ announcement of the creation of a new Religious Liberty Task Force within the Department of Justice designed to promote and protect the freedom of people of faith.

Freedom of religion is considered to be our “first freedom,” not simply because it is the first guarantee contained in the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, but also because it is the freedom upon which our nation was founded and the national heritage that gives deeper meaning to our other freedoms.

Topics: Current Events Tags: faith, religious liberty July 30, 2018 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

God’s “In-Between” Story for You and for Me

If God is loving, why does He allow pain and suffering in our lives? Can He truly be good, even in dark circumstances?

Jesus’ death on the cross guaranteed heaven for us in the next life. Then, there will be no more struggles, no more heartache, no more tears.

But what about in the meantime? What good is God to us in this life? What is He up to in our lives right now – especially if He doesn’t appear to be up to anything at all?

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, faith July 30, 2018 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura