faith Archives

So You Want to do Devotions with Your Little Ones…

Chuck Colson once said to me, “By age 10, your children’s moral compass is pretty well set.”

His wisdom confirmed what Jean and I already believed from our earliest days of parenting: we only had a few short years to impart biblical wisdom and a love for Jesus to our two boys. It’s a task that we’ve taken seriously ever since. But we also discovered early that “serious” doesn’t have to mean “dull” or “boring.”

Thankfully, there’s no magical “one way” for moms and dads to pass their faith on to their children.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, faith, family, parenting January 30, 2017 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

What to Do When You’re Overwhelmed

There’s a risk in going too fast.

I’m reminded of the time a group of friends invited me to an afternoon of road racing at a Le Mans style race track. A buddy and I were handed the keys to Corvettes, Lamborghinis, and other high performance cars and given just one instruction: “Have fun.” The track had S-turns, hair pin curves, and straightaways where you could reach speeds in excess of 125 miles per hour if you were daring enough.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, faith, family January 27, 2017 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

To Impact the Culture for Christ, We Need This

I just posted the other day about kindness, but it’s on my mind again.

I’ve been thinking about kindness a lot because I believe it lies at the heart of the Gospel. It’s why one of my favorite verses is Romans 2:4, which says it’s “God’s kindness that leads us to repentance.”

Have you ever met a single believer who became a Christian as a result of judgment, condemnation, or ridicule? Me neither. It’s the kindness of God that opens people’s hearts to the message of God.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, faith January 20, 2017 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

God’s Mercies for a Prodigal Daughter

One of most iconic and beloved stories in the Bible is that of the Prodigal Son. All of us can find ourselves in that portion of Scripture. Some are prodigal sons, and some are prodigal daughters.

One of the latter is my good friend and former Focus on the Family colleague Yvette Maher. You know how it is with fellow staff members. Years may pass before you learn anything about their history.

I knew and appreciated Yvette’s deep faith from the beginning.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, faith January 18, 2017 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

How to Answer End-of-Life Questions with God’s Truth and Compassion

“They’ve told me that I may have to go on a breathing machine soon. I’m not sure that’s something that I want to do, but I’m afraid to dishonor the Lord. Should I say yes to a respirator, or should I say no?”

If someone asked you that question, how would you answer?

How to apply God’s truth to very real and very dark realities is not always easy. When you’re wrestling with a question as profound as whether or not life is worth living, only God – not conventional wisdom – is adequate to answer.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, faith, pro-life January 16, 2017 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Grieving the Loss of an Adult Child

“He wasn’t easy to raise, but it’s been more difficult losing him.”

That’s how Jan Harrison describes the emotional struggle she’s endured since her son, James, passed away six years ago at the age of 27. He was a challenge to raise because he was born with an adventurous spirit. He wasn’t the kind of kid who responded well to boundaries that locked him down.

That’s not easy for a mom whose natural instinct was to keep her son safe.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, faith, parenting January 13, 2017 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

How Can Christians Share God’s Truth on Sexuality in an “Anything Goes” Culture?

What’s your problem with gay marriage? Why does it bother you? How does it affect your life or marriage?

I commonly get asked questions like that in secular interviews.

How would you answer? More broadly, how should the Christian community think about sexual identity-related issues in today’s culture?

Almost two years after Obergefell vs Hodges, the landmark 2015 Supreme Court decision that redefined marriage across all 50 states, social debate continues about homosexuality and transgender issues.

Topics: Current Events Tags: faith, homosexuality January 10, 2017 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

This Quote from Abraham Lincoln Still is True Today

A colleague once shared with me a quote from Abraham Lincoln. It dealt with his perspective on public opinion and its impact on the direction of America, as well as the power of culture to shape politics and law:

In this age, in this country, public sentiment is everything. With it, nothing can fail; against it, nothing can succeed. Whoever molds public sentiment goes deeper than he who enacts statutes, or pronounces judicial decisions.

That’s a statement that just as easily could have been uttered today.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: faith, pop culture January 9, 2017 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Her Body is Broken; Her Soul is Not. Meet Katherine Wolf.

“It started as a normal day…”

Anytime a story begins with that line, you know it’s not going to end well. Katherine’s story begins like that.

April 21, 2008 started as a normal day. Katherine was a 26-year-old wife and new mother. She had been the picture of health. But on that fateful Monday she experienced what she describes as a “funky feeling” she couldn’t shake. Within hours, she was on her hands and knees throwing up, her body slowly going numb.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, faith January 6, 2017 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

How Clearing Out Clutter Can Change Your Life

You know how it is when you move into a new home. There’s so much to do at the old house, you just throw everything into boxes and commit to sorting through it all at the new house.

That’s what Jean and I did when we moved into our current home. Once the truck was unloaded, we pulled the lid off each box and looked through every item one by one.

Keep this.

Put that over there.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, faith, family January 3, 2017 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura