Daly Focus Blog
I want to tell you about a unique partnership we’ve recently forged that involves some of my favorite things: faith, family, friends, food – and football.
The popularity of the National Football League has taken a bit of a hit these past few seasons. Once a near universally beloved entity, many loyal fans have grown weary of the on-field player protests. While the controversies have seemed to die down a bit this year, I know the feelings and concerns still run deep, and rightly so.
The final week of the year can often be a time of reflection as we look back across the last twelve months and ponder what the Lord may have planned for us in the New Year.
With just 6 days left in 2018, at a time when the stock market is riding like a roller coaster and nerves are frayed on a variety of levels, I want to share a touching prayer with you and one that can help frame your goals and plans for 2019.
What’s the most thoughtful Christmas present you’ve ever received?
Technology gifts tend to top the “most popular” lists these days. From iPhones to iPads, video games to flat screen television sets, holiday giving can be an inordinately expensive undertaking – if you’re so inclined to follow current trends. According to Gallup, the average American will spend $885 on gifts this year, and a third will shell out more than a $1000.
At the risk of dating myself, Christmas gift-giving looked a lot different back when I was a child.
Focus on the Family is pleased to learn that an important new law protecting the rights of persecuted Christians and other religious minorities in the Middle East has been signed into law by President Trump.
The law, known as the Iraq and Syria Genocide Relief and Accountability Act of 2018, authorizes the State Department to provide humanitarian assistance to religious minorities who have been the targets of genocide in those countries. It also authorizes assistance to any entities that criminally prosecute those suspected of committing genocide, wars against humanity or war crimes in Iraq and Syria.
A few years ago, Newsweek Magazine made a heartbreaking observation in the form of a paradoxical question. Speaking of El Paso County, Colorado, home of Focus on the Family and over a hundred other Christian ministries, they asked:
How is it possible that one of the top five places to live in the country also suffers from one of the worst teen suicide rates?
According to the most recent information, 49 youth under the age of 18 died by suicide between 2014 – 2017 in El Paso County.
In a little more than a month, advocates for life will be gathering together for the annual March for Life in Washington D.C.
This year mark’s the 46th anniversary of the tragic Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion in all fifty states. Year in and year out, those of us who believe that every life should be protected under the rule of law gather in the cold of January and protest this modern-day genocide.
Why do we do it?
When news broke this past Friday night of President George H.W. Bush’s passing at the age of 94, press reports were quick to mention his “patrician” pedigree. The son of a United States senator, the New England-bred Mr. Bush attended an elite prep school and later Yale University.
Implied in such a reference is the insinuation that George Herbert Walker Bush began life with a lot compared to the average American, which wouldn’t be entirely untrue.
“Our nation’s forty-first president, George H.W. Bush, was the embodiment of human decency, an honorable gentleman of great manners, class and grace. He was a man who exemplified the importance of faith, family and freedom. He selflessly dedicated his years to the service of his nation. He was a man who saw life in terms of missions to tackle and promises to keep. He was faithful to the end. His death yesterday in Texas at the age of 94 marks the completion of his earthly journey and the beginning of life eternal.In the passing of President Bush, America has lost a champion and the world has lost a friend.”
Despite the seemingly unprecedented animosity directed towards people of Christian faith these days, religious persecution is not a new concept.
The Pilgrims who first established the Plymouth Colony in 1620 had encountered more than their fair share of religious bias prior to leaving England. They came here seeking religious liberty—one of the very same principles that would later be enshrined in our Constitution.
I recently had the opportunity to interview an expert on the Pilgrims for the Focus on the Family Broadcast.
CBS Sunday Morning recently ran a story about what they called “conversion therapy” – a vague, broad term used by opponents of professional therapy or spiritual support for those with unwanted homosexuality.
They depicted some pretty extreme and even abusive practices. They also interviewed our staff member Jeff Johnston. Unfortunately, they left out an important detail about his background. Let me allow him to explain:
You’d think that a segment critical of therapy for unwanted homosexual attraction would at least acknowledge there’s another side to the story – especially when one of the people you’re interviewing has a powerful testimony about how counseling for his unwanted same-sex attraction did, in fact, contribute to his journey away from homosexuality.
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.
