news Archives

This Bullied Girl’s Response Will Astonish You

Desiree Andrews is a cheerleader for the Lincoln Middle School in Kenosha, Wisconsin. She’s a sweet, happy, friendly eighth-grader, who also happens to have Down Syndrome.

The young woman has also become something of an international celebrity during the last few weeks.

Why?

According to reports, basketball players on the Lincoln team stopped play in order to defend Desiree against some bullies who were mocking her moves from the stands.

“We were mad. We didn’t like that,” said player Miles Rodriguez.

Topics: Current Events Tags: friendship, kids, news, parenting March 18, 2015 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

What You Might Not Know About Pastor Saeed Abedeni

If you’ve been keeping an eye on the news, you’ve probably heard about Saeed Abedeni. He’s an Iranian-American pastor, a former Muslim who converted to Christianity.

In 2012, Saeed went to Iran, a trip he’d made nearly a dozen times before. He was there to visit family and work on a government-approved orphanage for Muslim children. Instead, he was arrested by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard and charged with “threatening Iran’s national security.”

In government-speak, that means they considered his Christian faith dangerous.

Topics: Current Events Tags: broadcast, faith, news, religious liberty March 17, 2015 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

In Dying, Kara Tippetts Shows Us God is Present in Pain

What does dying with dignity look like?

At 38, Kara Tippetts is answering that question as she faces her final days on earth.

In recent posts on her popular blog, “Mundane Faithfulness,” Kara shares how she now uses a wheelchair (which she named Norman), sleeps on a hospital bed at home, and is in hospice care.

These are harsh realities for a wife and mother of four young children to face. Yet she does it with God’s grace – a grace that has allowed her to give to others through her blog and book, even while she battles cancer.

Topics: Current Events Tags: broadcast, faith, news March 13, 2015 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

A Stunning Violation in San Francisco

A news roundup on the issues that matter most.

– The Wall St. Journal’s “A Fight to Keep Catholic Schools Catholic” explains how California lawmakers are trying to prevent San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone from hiring faculty that would advance Catholic teaching in area high schools.

Just imagine: Catholic schools teaching Catholic doctrine? The effort to coerce school officials into violating their convictions is a stunning assault on a religious school’s constitutional freedom.

– Planet Fitness Revokes Woman’s Membership After She Complained About Transgender Person.

Topics: Current Events Tags: marriage, news, religious liberty, technology March 9, 2015 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Audiences Love #TheDropBox and Raise Thousands for Pastor Lee’s Ministry

“The Drop Box” started its three-day limited run last night showing to capacity crowds and exceeding all expectations. We are humbled by this response and overwhelmed by God’s graciousness.

All in all, the film debuted in 727 theaters across all 50 states. More than 100,000 tickets have already been sold. The response was so great many people were shut out of the film last night, so I encourage you to reserve your spot for tonight and tomorrow before more showings sell out!

Topics: Focus Events Tags: adoption, entertainment, news, pastors, pro-life March 4, 2015 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Why Benjamin Netanyahu Showed Churchillian Moral Courage Today

When Winston Churchill famously addressed the United States Congress in the 1940s, he said he found in America “An Olympian fortitude which, far from being based upon complacency, is only the mask of an inflexible purpose and the proof of a sure, well-grounded confidence in the final outcome.”

In today’s speech in the U.S. House of Representatives, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu evoked that same fortitude and confidence that Churchill evoked all those years ago, not in the face of an attack on Pearl Harbor, of course, but rather in the grave threat posed by a potentially nuclear-tipped Iran.

Topics: Current Events Tags: news, policy March 3, 2015 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

If Your Child Was Killed by ISIS, Could You Pray For the Murderer?

In recent days, our hearts have been torn and our emotions exhausted as we’ve attempted to process the horrific martyrdom of 21 Christian young men (20 Egyptian and one Ghanian) at the hands of their radical-Islamic captors.

And then, just yesterday, we learned that ISIS had kidnapped dozens of Assyrian Christians, including many women and children, in northeast Syria.

Last week, I shared behind-the-scenes insights from the director of Focus on the Family’s Middle East outreach, Sami Yacoub, that lent meaningful background to the news reports we were hearing.

Topics: Current Events Tags: church, news, religious liberty February 25, 2015 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Washington Florist Stays True to Faith Convictions, Risks Financial Ruin

A news roundup on the issues that matter most.

“How Many Kids Grow Up With Their Married Mom and Dad?”: Less than half, according to a new report by the Family Research Council. It finds 54 percent of 15- to 17-year-olds do not live in a home with their married mother and father.

The story of Pastor Lee-Jon-rak and his baby box – the topic of Focus’ upcoming film, “The Drop Box” – has earned a lot of media attention since the original article in the L.A.

Topics: Current Events Tags: faith, family, news, pro-life, religious liberty February 24, 2015 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

May the 21 Martyrs Cause Us to Remember, Unite and Pray

Thousands of churches will be remembering the 21 Christian Egyptian martyrs who were recently killed by Islamic terrorists this Sunday, Feb. 22 through a moment of silence followed by a time of prayer.

This time of remembrance is part of a movement sponsored by various Christian groups, including Focus on the Family, through the 21martyrs.com. Church leaders can find a short but powerful video at the website that reflects on the persecution Christians around the world are facing – and the Bible’s promises to the persecuted.

Topics: Current Events Tags: church, news, promos, religious liberty February 21, 2015 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Learn the Fundamentals of Parenting

Vince Lombardi was the legendary football coach of the Green Bay Packers. Throughout the 1960s, his teams dominated the National Football League. But their astounding success was not the result of new and innovative ways to play the game. It was quite the opposite.

In fact, one notorious example demonstrates how adamant Coach Lombardi was that his players master the fundamentals. At the beginning of training camp the year after one of the team’s most successful seasons, Lombardi gathered his men for a pep talk.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, family, news, parenting February 19, 2015 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura