Daly Focus Blog
Clergy Appreciation Month is just around the corner!
In fact, October marks the 17th year we’ve been encouraging our friends to cherish and nurture their pastors. Why is this so important? Not long ago we conducted a survey of 2,000 pastors and found the majority are working more than 50 hours a week serving the body of Christ. It’s an invaluable and often thankless role, one that often puts an enormous strain on them and their family.
Continue ReadingTopics: Family and Home Tags: pastors
It could have been a scene straight out of central casting.
When injuries and motherhood caused highly acclaimed Belgian tennis sensation Kim Clijsters to retire from the sport in 2007, many of the pundits assumed she was just another star to have fizzled and faded away all too soon. Sadly, such is the usual trajectory of professional athletes. Of those who actually enjoy their moment in the sun, the time is almost always brief. High profile comebacks often produce headlines, but rarely do they result in historic championships.
Continue ReadingTopics: Family and Home Tags: entertainment, family, news, pop culture
When I was a kid, I loved to stargaze.
Late at night I’d head outdoors to lay down on my back and lose myself in the canopy of the midnight blue sky. I still enjoy doing that, although it’s been a while. Over the years I’ve learned how to identify a number of the eighty-eight constellations. Of course, the naked eye can only see so much. That’s why I’m always fascinated when the Hubble telescope snaps new pictures of deep space which has a way of transporting me to worlds beyond ours.
Continue ReadingTopics: Family and Home Tags: faith
As a child, David Vaughn dreamed of making it as a player in the National Basketball Association. As a young man, the Memphis native realized his dream by signing a multi-year deal with the Orlando Magic. With a $600,000 paycheck, the former first-round draft pick was living large. On the road, he stayed pampered at the Ritz Carlton. At home, he lived in a mansion and collected far too many cars. Money slipped through his fingers as the purchases for jewelry and clothing skyrocketed.
Continue ReadingTopics: Family and Home Tags: family, kids, parenting, pop culture
It’s Labor Day, a federal holiday with roots to the labor disputes in Canada back in the 1870’s. The first celebration of Labor Day in the United States took place on the streets of New York City, September 5, 1882. The tradition of taking time to rest and enjoy picnics, parades, backyard barbeques, and fireworks continues to this day—with one sobering difference.
This year the dark cloud of soaring unemployment hovers over the country. When the United States Labor Department released unemployment figures last month, the news was as stunning as it was disheartening.
Continue ReadingTopics: Family and Home Tags: finances, friendship, staff
I don’t know about you, but Jean and I found the Adventures in Odyssey (AIO) radio drama a real lifesaver this summer. Whenever we were on the road for a long trip, we found AIO a perfect way to entertain our boys, Trent and Troy, while also immersing them in a number of important life lessons.
The first AIO aired November 21, 1987, about two years before I joined the staff of Focus on the Family and long before we had kids.
Continue ReadingTopics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, faith, kids, promos
A number of years ago, Focus on the Family Films released an eye-opening video series entitled That the World May Know, hosted by historian and scholar Ray Vander Laan. Ray does a masterful job transporting us to the actual places where the stories of the Bible took place. Filmed on location in Israel, Ray offers “faith lessons” from the Holy Lands.
One of the things I like most about Ray is how he challenges my Western way of viewing the metaphors and events of scripture.
Continue ReadingTopics: Family and Home Tags: faith
This is a big media day for me. I’ll be a guest on the “Hannity” show tonight on the Fox News Channel, 9 p.m. EDT. I’ll be one of the three participants in The Great American Panel. Sean likes to interact with a group representing a variety of ideological beliefs—so be prepared for lively exchange as we discuss the news of the day.
Also scheduled to appear on the panel are John Fund, a columnist for The Wall Street Journal, and Penny Lee, a Democratic strategist.
Continue ReadingTopics: Family and Home Tags: entertainment, events, news
Storm clouds were beginning to gather over the mountains. Rain was coming and the late summer thunder rolled in the distance over the town of Monument, Colorado. I glanced at the clock in the car.
7:00 PM.
It had been a long day—actually a long few days. Turning into the driveway, the running lights swept across the bushes, guiding me into the garage. My ride home from the airport had been uneventful, but I was exhausted.
Continue ReadingTopics: Family and Home Tags: family, kids, parenting
Does your community undergird or undermine your role as a parent?
It doesn’t take much effort or energy to find examples of bad behavior in our society. Turn on the television, surf the Internet, pickup the daily newspaper. Because “noise makes news” our kids are regularly assaulted by images and stories that contradict Judeo-Christian values and just plain common decency. We lament how communities no longer hold kids accountable like they once did. How often we find ourselves bemoaning the loss of heroes and colorful characters in our communities to whom our children might look to for guidance and even accountability.
Continue ReadingTopics: Family and Home Tags: family, kids
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.Home
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