Jim Daly

Good News: The U.S. Will Have a Religious Freedom Ambassador Again

Over the past few years, I’ve written again and again about the plight of the persecuted Church around the world. Our brothers and sisters in the faith are facing increasing violence and oppression internationally, especially in the Middle East, where many have been killed at the hands of ISIS. Beyond Christians, the genocide perpetuated by ISIS has also ravaged the Yezidi and Shia Muslim communities.

This is why the State Department’s position of United States Ambassador-at-Large International Religious Freedom position is so important.

Continue ReadingTopics: Current Events Tags: news, religious liberty

Tim Keller Answers What Christians, Non-Believers, and Other Religions Have in Common

Christians, non-believers, and people of other faiths have always had something in common. We have questions about life and about God.

I recently had a conversation with Dr. Timothy Keller, the founding pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City, that reaffirmed to me that the Gospel of Jesus Christ has the answers to the questions we’re asking right now in 2017.

Like questions about identity. Who we are is often wrapped up in what we do, what others think of us, and what we own, all of which are the fruit of what we achieve.

Continue ReadingTopics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, faith

How Hobby Lobby Founder David Green went from $600 in Debt to $4.5 Billion in Profit

David Green learned how to give to others long before he founded Hobby Lobby, the well-known chain of retail arts and crafts stores across the United States. His parents never had much money, but they were two of the most generous people David has ever known.

David still remembers his dad writing someone a check for $100 even though the most he’d ever made in a week was $138. And his mom once gave a dress out of her own closet to a woman in need.

Continue ReadingTopics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, faith, finances

Marriage, then Baby. Why it Matters

It’s been called “the success sequence.”

That’s the order young people should reach major life milestones if they want to increase their odds of financial stability and success.

Here what the success sequence looks like: Get at least a high school education, work full-time, get married, have children – in that order.

Sadly, a new analysis of federal data finds that that’s not the order many millennials are doing things – and they’re paying the price.

Continue ReadingTopics: Current Events Tags: family, marriage, news

A New Bible for “Adventures in Odyssey” Fans

Focus on the Family has been celebrating its 40th anniversary with fun nostalgia from 1977 and a visit from the Vice President of the United States and an upcoming November cruise … but our anniversary isn’t the only thing we’re commemorating in 2017!

This year also marks the 30th birthday of our beloved Adventures in Odyssey audio drama – and one way we’re celebrating is by releasing a full-color NIrV Adventures in Odyssey Bible for kids.

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Wanting a Husband vs. Needing One

“I gave him everything I could physically and emotionally just to keep him around. He was a need, a necessity.”

Author Danna Gresh says that comment from a college-age young woman is reflective of the curse described in Genesis 3:16: “Your desire shall be contrary to your husband, but he shall rule over you.”

According to Dannah, the curse is like a “violent craving” for many women. It’s not that they want a man, they feel like they need one.

Continue ReadingTopics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, faith, husband, relationships

How to (Finally) Get Organized

My wife, Jean, does a good job of organizing our household – more than she gives herself credit for, for sure. I’m pretty organized at work, but at home the garage is my main thing.

Where Jean and I both struggle is the closets. We’re both busy with our everyday responsibilities, so extra items get tossed into the closet to be dealt with later. And when we have free time, who wants to use it cleaning out closets?

Continue ReadingTopics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, relationships

What Your Son Needs More Than Love

Mom, God has wired you to love your son. Your soft, nurturing spirit is critical to his development. But as he grows into a young man, love will no longer be his primary emotional need from you.

Let my own high school football days open a window into your boy’s heart. I’ve had more than one coach grab me by the facemask and challenge my performance. Sometimes the whole locker room got it at once. “You guys are great athletes,” the coach would shout.

Continue ReadingTopics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, parenting

According to the Media, I Attended a Hate Group Conference Last Week

A few Focus colleagues and I spent some time in California last week at a conference put on by our friends at Alliance Defending Freedom, the religious liberty legal defense nonprofit organization that, just last month, won the most important religious liberty case at the Supreme Court in recent history.

You can imagine my surprise, then, when a couple of days later some news outlets were reporting that ADF is a “hate group.”

Here are the headlines of the articles I’m referring to:

ABC News: Jeff Sessions addresses ‘anti-LGBT hate group,’ but DOJ won’t release his remarks
NBC News: Jeff Sessions Tells ‘Hate Group’ DOJ Will Issue Religious Freedom Guidance

The Supreme Court’s 7-2 decision in the Trinity Lutheran case marked ADF’s seventh win in seven years at the nation’s highest court.

Continue ReadingTopics: Current Events Tags: family, homosexuality, news, religious liberty

Humor, Authenticity, and Grace with Chonda Pierce

You don’t have to know Chonda Pierce for long to believe that humor is wired into her DNA.

Like the night the film about her life, Laughing in the Dark, premiered in theaters. Chonda asked her son to accompany her. Halfway through the movie, she leaned over and chuckled into her son’s ear, “This is the saddest movie I have ever seen.”

Humor has carried Chonda through a lot of heartache:

Her suicidal father, who stood in the pulpit every Sunday but touched her inappropriately at home.

Continue ReadingTopics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, entertainment, faith