Daly Focus Blog
As officials attempt to continue piecing together the motives behind last weekend’s horrific cold-blooded murder sprees in both El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio, attention has turned once again to the role violent video games play in these types of attacks.
In remarks from the White House earlier this week, President Trump suggested they were likely one factor in a long list of many.
“We must stop the glorification of violence in our society,” he said.
Have you ever noticed how much of Jesus’ ministry on earth was centered around meals? Among others, there was the wedding at Cana, a dinner with the reviled Zaccheus, and the beautiful symbolism of the Last Supper. Jesus was even criticized for eating with “tax collectors and sinners” (Matt. 12:16).
As one scholar put it: “Jesus ate his way through the Gospels.”
For Bri McKoy, Jesus’ ministry through meals became a model through which she created community and shared God’s love with the people He placed in her life.
By: Danny Huerta
Friday’s release of the second season of 13 Reasons Why, the popular teen television drama, is bound to generate enormous interest – and controversy.
According to a Northwestern University study, the show’s highly-rated first season on Netflix significantly increased conversations among teens on difficult topics, but not necessarily in positive or healthy ways.
The same study also revealed that almost 80% of teens and young adults who watched the show felt it helped them understand the ripple effect of their behaviors, but it didn’t necessarily inspire them to reach out and repair relationships with those they hurt.
Just under a year since Brio relaunched, the magazine was honored with the Evangelical Press Association’s highest award in the “Youth” category. Focus on the Family’s publication for teen girls received an Award of Excellence at the EPA’s annual convention earlier this month.
I thought my friend and colleague, Bob DeMoss, summed it up well:
“We had high expectations for how well Brio would be received by teen girls, but the response in our first year far exceeded what we could have imagined.
Headlines about social media privacy concerns with Facebook are in the news as CEO Mark Zuckerberg testified before Congress on Tuesday.
But there’s another story that caught my eye – and this one involves your kids.
Earlier this week, consumer advocacy groups filed a complaint and asked the Federal Trade Commission to investigate YouTube for collecting and profiting off of data collected from children under the age 13, which would be a violation of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act.
This past Easter Sunday, Stephen Colbert’s animated television show, “Our Cartoon President,” not only lampooned the President (which is expected), but Colbert also had the nation’s chief executive talk crassly about severing a part of God’s anatomy.
Of course, his defenders will says it’s just a joke – satire on steroids. After all, how can we take a cartoon seriously?
Mr. Colbert is an entertainer, and as such, he understands how to get a strong response from a crowd.
In a surprise move yesterday, the retail giant Walmart announced that it will stop selling the controversial magazine Cosmopolitan at the checkout shelves in over 5,000 of its stores.
The Bentonville, Arkansas-based company will still continue to carry the magazine, but it’ll be housed in a less prominent part of the store.
Meggan Kring, a spokesperson for Walmart, said, “While this was primarily a business decision, the concerns raised were heard.”
Over the years, those concerns came from plenty of frustrated parents and organizations like Focus on the Family, but most recently from the National Center on Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE).
Guest Post: Paul Asay, Movie Reviewer, Plugged In:
It’s only fitting that Guillermo del Toro’s The Shape of Water took home an Oscar for Best Picture (and three others) at Sunday night’s Oscars.
Both a lyrical, sensual fable and a brutal immolation of Leave It to Beaver-era America, the movie is a study in inclusion and exclusion: It posits that god-like mermen are people, too, while hypocritical Christian Cadillac buyers are the real monsters.
The film feels pretty emblematic of where Hollywood stands right now—a Hollywood that has pushed through the #OscarsSoWhite and the #MeToo movements with a desire to reward new, diverse storytellers, looking toward a hoped-for future while perhaps burning the (in Hollywood’s eyes) problematic past.
Last night’s Super Bowl in Minneapolis, which featured an upset win by the Philadelphia Eagles over the New England Patriots, was sports drama of the highest order. The game came down to the last play, a “Hail Mary” heave from the Patriots’ Tom Brady. And although he passed for a Super Bowl record 505 yards, along with three touchdowns, the seemingly timeless Brady came up short.
Thankfully, to the legions of football fans tired of New England’s dominance, there would be no come-from-behind win this time.
In 2017, Focus on the Family celebrated 40 years of strengthening marriages, equipping parents, speaking on behalf of those who can’t speak for themselves and addressing public policy issues affecting the family.
“It’s an honor to be part of 40 years of strengthening millions of families,” Focus on the Family President Jim Daly expressed. “Our work in helping couples in crisis has contributed to over 170,000 marriages saved in 2017 alone. There are similar stories about people’s lives changed for the better through our efforts in evangelism, parenting, advocacy for children and engaging the culture, as well.
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.
