Daly Focus Blog
In my post last week “How Shoeboxes Help Spread the Gospel,” I talked about how Operation Christmas Child provides children around the world with what might be their only opportunity to receive the Gospel message. I also shared pictures taken by a Focus staffer of the boys and girls in Senegal, Africa, as they received boxes.
One of the people who attended that trip was Damaris, a young woman who, herself, received a shoebox when she was 9.
Topics: Family and Home Tags: faith, family, friendship, pastors by Jim Daly with Paul Batura
Most Christians are familiar with Jim Elliot, one of five missionaries killed in the jungles of Ecuador in the 1950s. Fewer people know about Jim’s brother, Bert.
Bert Elliott and his wife, Colleen, were missionaries in Peru. Their work there included starting more than 150 churches, leading Bible studies, helping at a Christian school, leading drug addicts to Christ and even pulling teeth for those with severe dental problems.
There was nothing glamorous about what Bert and Colleen did.
Topics: Family and Home Tags: family, friendship, pastors by Jim Daly with Paul Batura
We get their calls and emails all the time: people who are going through the unthinkable and reach out to us hoping for hope. It’s never easy to understand why these men and women – often through no fault of their own – are hurting so badly.
And, indeed, it’s an age-old question: Why do bad things happen to good people?
A brokenhearted wife who just learned her husband cheated on her.
A family that lost their home in this tough economy.
Topics: Family and Home Tags: entertainment, events, faith, friendship by Jim Daly with Paul Batura
Sometimes it’s the littlest things we do that speak the loudest.
Take my colleague, Glenn Stanton. Glenn heads up our family formation studies. He’s the quintessential researcher, citing studies on marriage and family, speaking at universities, and engaging with experts across the political and ideological spectrum.
A few months ago, Glenn invited Jonathan Rauch, a well-known advocate of gay marriage, to speak to the staff at Focus on the Family. This was a good time for people on two different sides of an important issue to meet, share their views, respectfully challenge each other’s assertions, and walk away better informed about the complexities that surround this issue.
Topics: Family and Home Tags: faith, friendship by Jim Daly with Paul Batura
I recently came across this and wanted to share it with you:
NOAH got drunk.
ABRAHAM was too old.
ISAAC was a daydreamer.
JACOB lied.
LEAH was ugly.
JOSEPH was abused.
MOSES was a murderer and couldn’t talk.
GIDEON was afraid.
SAMSON had long hair and was afraid.
RAHAB was a prostitute.
JEREMIAH and TIMOTHY were too young.
DAVID was a murderer and adulterer.
ELIJAH was suicidal.
ISAIAH preached naked.
JONAH ran from God.
NAOMI was a widow.
Topics: Family and Home Tags: church, friendship, relationships by Jim Daly with Paul Batura
New York City police detective Peter Keszthelyi is assigned to an unusual detail.
When an individual climbs out on a ledge or scales a bridge threatening to commit suicide, Detective Keszthelyi and a partner are called in to try and talk the person out of it.
There are 300 officers assigned to this highly specialized unit in New York City. Unfortunately, they’re busier than they want to be, but often very successful, too. Every situation is unique, of course, but the officers are skilled at trying to get the people to talk and see things from a new and hope-filled point of view.
Topics: Family and Home Tags: faith, family, friendship by Jim Daly with Paul Batura
Have you heard about the 16-year-old Michigan girl who was voted to her high school’s homecoming court as part of a so-called “prank”?
According to various media reports, Whitney Kropp is a student at West Branch’s Ogemaw Heights High School, north of Saginaw.
At first, Whitney was excited and surprised. By her own admission she’s not part of the “in” crowd and couldn’t imagine why she would have been nominated in the first place.
But then she was told the truth, and the news broke her heart.
Topics: Current Events Tags: friendship, kids, news, pop culture by Jim Daly with Paul Batura
From Gary Chapman’s book, The 5 Languages of Appreciation in the Workplace:
Give a verbal compliment (Say, “Thanks for…”; tell them, “I’m glad you are part of the team”).
Write an email (“I just wanted to let you know…”; “it is really helpful to me when you…”).
Stop by and see how your colleague is doing. Spend a few minutes just chatting and checking in on them.
Do something with your coworkers, like eating together.
Topics: Current Events Tags: friendship, relationships, staff by Jim Daly with Paul Batura
Ten years ago, I was driving through Ladoga, Indiana, on my way home from Shades State Park. In the center of town, a road to the south curved temptingly out of sight. (Some men are attracted to the curves on a woman, but I prefer the curves on a road.) I turned south and five miles later entered the town of Roachdale, where I discovered the Roachdale Hardware Store and its proprietor, Charley Riggle.
I have returned to the hardware store once a week ever since and count Charley Riggle as one of my closest friends.
Topics: Family and Home Tags: friendship by Jim Daly with Paul Batura
In a recent article in The Atlantic, writer Stephen Marche serves up a provocative perspective on the impact of Facebook and other social network software on society:
We live in an accelerating contradiction: the more connected we become, the lonelier we are.
In the opening lines of the lengthy piece, Marche describes the defining moment of Social Network, the film that chronicled Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg’s life and career.
The film’s most indelible scene, the one that may well have earned it an Oscar, was the final, silent shot of an anomic Zuckerberg sending out a friend request to his ex-girlfriend, then waiting and clicking and waiting and clicking—a moment of superconnected loneliness preserved in amber.
Topics: Family and Home Tags: friendship, technology by Jim Daly with Paul Batura
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.Home
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