Family and Home Archives

What If the Church Shut Down?

As you know, the United States federal government narrowly avoided a shutdown on Friday night. The impact would have been significant. In fact, nearly half of the 1.9 million civilian government employees could have been furloughed by today, complicating or delaying everything from Social Security filings to a class field trip to a national park.

This situation is not without precedent and larger budget battles still loom. But all the drama and dire talk has made me think:

What if the Church shut down?

Topics: Family and Home Tags: church, faith April 11, 2011 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Serendipity, Spagnuolo Style

Life is interesting.

I recently accepted an invitation to speak to a pregnancy resource center in St. Louis. It’s always an honor to meet these modern-day heroes. A few weeks prior to my visit, a member of the Focus team received a telephone call from a very kind Focus listener named Lory. Apparently Lory had been listening to a local Christian radio station in Missouri and heard an advertisement promoting the upcoming event and my participation.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: entertainment, faith April 8, 2011 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Tim Keller: Grace and Truth

As I mentioned in yesterday’s post, today and tomorrow’s Focus on the Family radio program features my conversation with Dr. Tim Keller of Redeemer Presbyterian Church. I hope you’ll tune in by clicking here.

Tim is obviously a very gifted man on many levels, but I am especially appreciative of the graciousness by which he conducts his ministry. He is not just an intellectual, a theologian or a best-selling author, but also a Christian gentleman.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, church, faith April 7, 2011 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

VIDEO: My Interview with Dr. Tim Keller

Newsweek magazine called Dr. Tim Keller a “C.S. Lewis for the twenty-first century.” I believe they’re correct. In addition to serving as the senior pastor of New York’s Redeemer Presbyterian Church, Dr. Keller is also a best-selling author of numerous books, including The Reason for God, The Prodigal God and Counterfeit Gods.

Tim has become a friend, and I recently had the privilege of visiting with him in New York City. Tomorrow and Friday’s Focus on the Family radio program will feature our discussion.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: church April 6, 2011 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Would You Donate Your Kidney?

According to recent statistics, approximately 6,000 people in the United States donated a kidney last year – 3,000 to a blood relative and the other half to a friend. Just over 100 donated anonymously to a stranger.

Assuming you were a viable match and physically capable, would you donate your kidney?

I’ve been pondering that question ever since I learned that my brother, Mike, is donating his to a friend. The surgery is scheduled for next Friday.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: faith April 5, 2011 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

A Little Child Shall Lead Them

As I noted in Friday’s post, for baseball fans, the long wait is over. But one of the more endearing aspects of sports in general is that in the grand scheme of life, it’s all just a game. Play provides an escape, a chance to renew ourselves and spend leisure time with people we enjoy.

Sports can also serve up powerfully teachable moments. The other night someone forwarded me “one of those emails” – you know, the kind that is sweet and tender, but that you wonder if it’s true.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: faith, family, kids April 4, 2011 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

The Golden Rules of Living

We’ve all heard of the “Golden Rule” – that ethic of reciprocity which instructs us to treat others as we might want to be treated. Someone recently sent me a list inspired by Jesus’ words in the Book of Matthew. The logic is simple and refreshingly blunt. You might tack this up on your refrigerator. It applies to young or old. Isn’t it true that very often the best advice is the most basic, too?

Topics: Family and Home Tags: faith, family March 31, 2011 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

The Sexy Side of Virginity

I have some good news. Sort of.

According to a recently released report from the National Center for Health Statistics, virginity is on the rise. Eight years ago, 22 percent of men and women under age 24 said they were abstinent. Today that figure stands at 29 percent for women and 27 percent for men.

Debbie Roffman, a human sexuality educator in Baltimore, told a newspaper that multiple factors are likely at work, including “greater involvement by parents in communicating about sexual values and decision-making and providing greater supervision and monitoring of their children’s activities.”

The flip side of the findings is obvious.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: kids, sex March 30, 2011 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

The Day of Dialogue

If you have children in high school, I hope you’ll do two things:

Circle April 18th on your calendar.
Consider registering your school for the upcoming “Day of Dialogue,” which is being sponsored by Focus on the Family.

Let me tell you about it.

The Day of Dialogue dates back to 2005. It was conceived with a straightforward goal, mainly to encourage honest and respectful conversation among students about God’s design for sexuality. This is especially important during events like GLSEN’s Day of Silence.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: faith, homosexuality March 29, 2011 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

A Visit with Presidents Carter, Bush (41 & 43) and Clinton – And Kid Rock

Sometimes I just have to wonder: How does someone who is really just an average guy end up at an event with four living presidents?

Only in America.

I’ll tell you how it came to be.

Some of you are familiar with the Points of Light Institute, a bipartisan organization dedicated to encouraging and promoting volunteerism in America. The inspiration for its founding comes from President George H.W. Bush who, in 1991, offered the following challenge during his first State of the Union Address:

We can find meaning and reward by serving some higher purpose than ourselves, a shining purpose, the illumination of a thousand points of light… We all have something to give… What government can do alone is limited, but the potential of the American people knows no limits.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: news March 28, 2011 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura