Daly Focus Blog
Do you know your “why”?
God’s purpose for your spiritual journey, for your work, and for your family starts with your “why.”
People ask, “How will I serve God? Where will I serve God? When will I serve God?” Unless you tackle the “why” question, everything else becomes a mountain that prevents you from moving forward – your finances, your background, your education, your training, your age, and so on. If you know your why, those mountains somehow don’t appear as big or as insurmountable.
Dimas Salaberrios grew up in Queens, New York. By age 10, he had discovered the seedy underbelly of the city ruled by gangs and drugs and had mapped out his future.
He wanted to become the “Street God.”
He became a drug dealer at age 11. By his early twenties, he’d been arrested nine times, but never served time in jail. His father knew a lot of judges, and his mother had the money to protect Dimas with well-paid lawyers.
This week we’re celebrating the 500th episode of The Boundless Show, a national radio program and podcast hosted by Lisa Anderson, who also serves as the director of young adult outreach here at Focus.
If you’ve never listened to an episode of Boundless, let me fill you in.
The show is fun and feisty, and usually features a lot of laughter thanks to Lisa’s unique take on pop culture and tell-it-like-it-is style.
But more than anything, The Boundless Show is also ministry.
Sheri Rose Shepherd was crowned Mrs. United States in 1994. That’s quite an achievement for anyone. But for Sheri Rose, it was a long, hard journey.
She didn’t deserve recognition, applause, or self-worth. At least, that’s the message everybody kept driving like a spike through her soul.
Her English teacher once told her, “Sheri Rose, you were born to be a loser. You will never amount to anything in life.”
Her mother mailed her what Sheri Rose thought was a gift.
I’m delighted to share a big announcement: Focus on the Family is the major promotional partner for the award-winning docudrama “MULLY.”
This powerful film tells the story of Dr. Charles M. Mully, a man who gave up riches and power to help the 2.6 million abandoned children living on the streets in Kenya, Africa, rescuing 12,000. The movie’s themes of selflessness, service, and the intrinsic worth of every child drew us to this film – and I know they’ll reverberate in your heart, too.
Christians, non-believers, and people of other faiths have always had something in common. We have questions about life and about God.
I recently had a conversation with Dr. Timothy Keller, the founding pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City, that reaffirmed to me that the Gospel of Jesus Christ has the answers to the questions we’re asking right now in 2017.
Like questions about identity. Who we are is often wrapped up in what we do, what others think of us, and what we own, all of which are the fruit of what we achieve.
David Green learned how to give to others long before he founded Hobby Lobby, the well-known chain of retail arts and crafts stores across the United States. His parents never had much money, but they were two of the most generous people David has ever known.
David still remembers his dad writing someone a check for $100 even though the most he’d ever made in a week was $138. And his mom once gave a dress out of her own closet to a woman in need.
“I gave him everything I could physically and emotionally just to keep him around. He was a need, a necessity.”
Author Danna Gresh says that comment from a college-age young woman is reflective of the curse described in Genesis 3:16: “Your desire shall be contrary to your husband, but he shall rule over you.”
According to Dannah, the curse is like a “violent craving” for many women. It’s not that they want a man, they feel like they need one.
You don’t have to know Chonda Pierce for long to believe that humor is wired into her DNA.
Like the night the film about her life, Laughing in the Dark, premiered in theaters. Chonda asked her son to accompany her. Halfway through the movie, she leaned over and chuckled into her son’s ear, “This is the saddest movie I have ever seen.”
Humor has carried Chonda through a lot of heartache:
Her suicidal father, who stood in the pulpit every Sunday but touched her inappropriately at home.
Who we are often gets buried underneath a mountain of what we do.
There’s something much deeper to all of us that we’ll struggle to find until we get beneath the surface into the deeper question of “Who am I?” We were created for more than just working every day.
Ernie Johnson Jr. had that kind of an identity crisis. You’d never know it from the outside. He was an award-winning sportscaster for national television networks.
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.
