Daly Focus Blog
If you’re a Christian, you’re aware that God desires to hear your praise and worship.
But what about your anger, or your discouragement, or your frustration that He’s not intervening in your life the way you wanted or expected?
Many Christians have a hard time believing God will tolerate such deep, often unpleasant emotions from His children. They might even say, “Oh, no, no, no. You can’t talk to God like that.”
But the Psalmists felt no such uncertainty.
The people of Dallas are in mourning today and with them, all of America as well.
That a rally purported to serve as a peaceful protest to police-involved shootings in Louisiana and Minnesota (read my statement on the deaths on Facebook) turned violent is a stark reminder that sin and evil rage across every corner of every community of the country.
Here’s what we know:
During a “Black Lives Matter” rally last evening in downtown Dallas, 12 law enforcement officers and two civilians were shot.
American patriotism hits a high point at about this time every year. Independence Day celebrations remind us of our nation’s rich history of liberty.
But we’re also confronted with some very dark chapters that can tarnish the national pride we feel.
That paradox brings to mind an important question: “Should we love our country?”
Author Eric Metaxas says a lot of people today interpret love for America as nationalistic chest beating. Our pride is really nothing more than tribalism, they say.
I love the way Ray Vander Laan illustrates the expanding influence of God’s kingdom when we Christians live in faithful obedience to Christ. He says every time we obey our King – in big or little things, whether in our families or throughout our communities – we extend His kingdom by a square inch.
That’s the example Jesus lived out before us, and one which He asks us to follow. He extended God’s kingdom by doing the will of His Father, by loving His neighbor, by loving His enemy, by touching the unclean, and by caring for sinners.
This Friday my family and I will travel to Zambia to participate in Camp Life, a week-long camp for orphaned and vulnerable children in the southern African country.
The need is overwhelming. So many adults have died from HIV/AIDS that half of the country’s 15 million people are under the age of 16. Of the 6.5 million children in Zambia, more than 1 million of them are orphans.
Zambia has the highest per capita orphan rate in the world.
Have Christians created a harmful atmosphere for gays?
That’s the question The New York Times asked me last week in the aftermath of the massacre in Orlando by self-proclaimed ISIS supporter Omar Mateen.
If you think the question is startling, you’re not alone.
While Christians have mourned the loss of life in Orlando and area Christians have jumped in to provide tangible love and support for those impacted by the violence, there’s been a push by some to put some of the blame on Bible-believing Christians – specifically, those of us who support God’s design for marriage and who have advocated for it in the public square.
What’s your name?
I don’t mean your given name. I’m asking about your real name, the name that defines that sense about yourself you most deeply believe – your identity.
Some of you go by the name “wealthy businessman,” “bread winner of the home,” or “perfectionist.” Your identity is about performance and earning your worth. Others of you have names like “failure,” “disappointment,” or “unworthy.” Your life has been shaped by the message that you don’t live up to people’s expectations.
What does true happiness look like?
Is the concept of happiness even biblical?
I’ll never forget the trip I took to Jakarta, Indonesia, many years ago for a speaking engagement. If you’ve never been there, it has some of the worst smog of any city in the world. My eyes burned, and breathing was difficult after being there for only a short time. The traffic is notorious. Imagine Los Angeles and New York combined and multiply all of that by a factor of 10.
We woke up to shocking news Sunday: a man had entered Pulse, a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, in the early morning hours and began shooting.
When the carnage ended, 49 innocents were dead, plus the gunman. An additional 53 were wounded.
We’re now learning about the people who were murdered. There’s Edward Sotomayor, Jr., who loved wearing black hats, and 20-year-old Luis Omar Ocasio-Capo, who was among the youngest of the victims.
Kimberly Morris had recently moved to Florida to help her mom and grandmother.
“Take time to smell the roses.”
It’s a well-worn phrase. But phrases like that endure for generations because their wisdom is so profound. In this case, that simple bit of near poetry reminds us that we tend to miss the richness all around us because we rush so quickly by the flowers of life that we never notice their color, their beauty, or their wondrous fragrance.
Popular guest, Vicki Courtney, told me of one springtime when she was pushing her grandson along in his stroller.
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.
