Daly Focus Blog
“You may ask, ‘Why is God landing in this enemy-occupied world in disguise and starting a sort of secret society to undermine the devil? Why isn’t he landing en force, invading it?’ Well, Christians think He’s going to land in force. We don’t know when, but we can guess why. He’s delaying. He wants to give us the chance of joining His side freely.” – C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity
Profound truth like that is why C.S.
There’s probably no more important word to define marriage than this one: love. But what is love, really? Is it simply an emotion we feel, or is it something deeper?
In some ways, you can’t fault most of us in the English-speaking world for being confused. The word love has itself become something of a generic term in American culture. The richness of its meaning has been lost.
Ancient Greek had four different words for love, each of them conveying a very particular nuance.
Life Magazine once published a list of the “Most Important Events of the Millennium.” Among the top ten were the discovery of germ theory, the Holocaust, and the writing and signing of the Declaration of Independence.
Number one on that list was the Gutenberg Bible printed in the 1450s and the first book to be mass produced. According to Life Magazine, no other event in the past 1,000 years has changed the world as dramatically as the Bible becoming available to the common person.
I want to tell you a story that recently made a big impression on me.
A few weeks ago, Rick and Linda (not their real names) checked into our Hope Restored Marriage Intensive Experience at the Focus on the Family Retreat Center in Branson, Missouri.
The counselors at Hope Restored specialize in bringing severely broken marriages back from the brink of divorce.
Rick and Linda’s union was in deep trouble, riddled and rocked by infidelity, among other things.
Trevor Hendershot is quite a young man. I think you’d like meeting him.
Cheerleaders in his high school once made banners to cheer him on, and he was so popular he was voted homecoming king. He was a little quirky, too. He had a habit of loudly singing Christian songs in the hallway before, during, and after school. He gave everyone he talked to a high-five, a hug, or a fist bump.
He’s now in his mid-20’s and works for the Los Angeles Angels, a Major League Baseball franchise.
Today’s broadcast, “Changing the World Through Adoption,” features a conversation with my friend, Focus colleague and co-writer, Paul Batura. The discussion is based on his latest book, Chosen for Greatness: How Adoption Changes the World.
Paul serves as our vice-president of communications. He’s currently in his 20th year at the ministry.
Although Paul often works behind the scenes, you might remember him from a Focus program several years ago where he discussed his popular book, “Good Day!
Fire can cook you a nice steak, or it can burn your house to the ground. The difference lies in how well you harness its power.
It’s the same with a strong will. There is a lot of good that comes from having what LeRoy and Kimberly Wagner describe as a “fierce” personality. But a strong will gone wild can wreak havoc in a person’s life.
Fierce doesn’t have to mean obnoxious, loud, or rude. A fierce woman can be strong and beautiful.
The beauty pendulum swings both ways for young Christian girls and women.
To one side is a woman’s God-given desire to look and to feel beautiful. That pursuit usually involves some combination of exercise, hair style, cosmetics, and clothing choices, all of which must work together for a woman to feel attractive.
The other side of the pendulum diminishes outer beauty. Women are told that how they look or feel is inconsequential. Real beauty is only on the inside.
How would you answer these three questions?
When does human life begin?
What makes human life valuable?
What is our Christian duty to the preborn?
Some of you hesitated to answer.
That may explain why so many Christians are quietly pro-life. They believe abortion ends a human life, but they really don’t know how to defend the position to others, so they generally keep quiet about it.
If that’s you, you’re certainly not alone. I’m surprised by the number of Christians who have never had the opportunity to learn a solid Christian response to abortion and other pro-life issues like physician-assisted suicide.
Some of you have just discovered you’re pregnant with your first baby. To that I say, “Congratulations!” You’re about to embark on one of the most sacred journeys a human being can undertake.
But it’s also one of the most challenging. Some big changes will be here before you know it. That precious new little one you’ll soon bring home will dramatically alter your entire way of life. From sleeping patterns to schedule changes, the demands on new parents can be rigorous.
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.
