Daly Focus Blog
For years, Focus on the Family has been offering wonderful resources to help our friends with their marriage, parenting and faith journeys. I want to share some of the items we’re currently offering, or that will be available soon.
1. “Ready to Wed: 12 Ways to Start a Marriage You’ll Love” – Written by Focus marriage experts Dr. Greg and Erin Smalley for engaged couples, this book is full of helpful tips and wisdom to set soon-to-be newlyweds on a straight path toward a healthy marriage.
Picture a man named John on vacation with his family along the coast of the Mediterranean. They’ve just finished dinner and are enjoying a casual stroll to their hotel. The air is warm, the breeze is cool, and ocean waves are crashing into the shore. It’s like something from a postcard.
It’s at about that time John notices someone following them. A few steps later, another man appears from a side street up ahead. Now the man in front and the man behind start closing in.
Late last week it was announced that Aaron and Melissa Klein, owners of a bakery in Gresham, Oregon called “Sweet Cakes by Melissa,” had been fined $135,000.
Why?
Because they exercised their right of conscience and declined baking and decorating a wedding cake for a same-sex ceremony.
This Christian couple with five children have been guests on our broadcast as they told their story of how their faith came under fire when they were confronted by a choice they thought would never come: obey God or obey an unjust law.
A news summary on issues that matter.
Christians continue to be martyred around the world
The horrific scene is all too familiar: Christian men walking blindfolded across a beach, held by Islamic State militants. A new video shows two groups of Ethiopian Christians being shot and beheaded at the hands of ISIS. This comes just days after Christians were thrown overboard on a ship, drowned at sea, “for praying to Jesus.”
Please continue to pray for the persecuted Church around the world.
What comes to mind when you think of pleasure?
How about temptation? Or sin? Or guilt?
Ever notice how the idea of pleasure so easily sends our minds spiraling toward the negative? It’s as if pleasure were a creation of Satan with no other purpose than to distract us from God.
But if we’ll think back through Scripture, we’ll arrive at a different conclusion.
Numerous passages remind us of times when God commanded His people to celebrate with lavish feasts.
Dave Aldridge died unexpectedly just four days before Christmas in 2012. The happy husband and father of three was a strong believer who loved the Lord and poured himself into everything he did, from being a husband and father to going the extra mile for anyone who had a need. The Colorado Springs resident collapsed while running, the victim of a congenital heart defect. He was just 39 years of age.
The obituaries are full of stories of people like Dave, men and women whose lives on earth seem all too brief.
How to spiritually connect with your spouse may be one of the most misunderstood concepts in marriage.
Couples tend to think in terms of spiritual activities they ought to do together.
For example:
We know we should read our Bibles, pray and go to church together and memorize Scripture.
Without question, there are important spiritual disciplines, and they fit the personality of some couples especially well. These are men and women who are so structured they treat devotions almost like mini-church.
Today’s culture will often take issue with traditional Christian perspectives.
That’s what makes what will happen on April 16 all the more encouraging.
On that day, an estimated 18,000 students will share a Christian perspective on sexuality at their high schools and colleges thanks to Day of Dialogue, a student-led free speech event.
Think about the courage it takes for teenagers to commit to sharing a hope-filled, Bible-based perspective on sensitive social issues like marriage, sexuality and gender-identity issues.
As our thoughts turn to the core realities of our faith this weekend, we have great cause to rejoice that we live in a country whose foundational principles let us stand firm in our beliefs.
But we also have reason to grieve, because laws that buttress that foundation have come under criticism. As Christians, we have a duty to tell the truth—and call on others to tell the truth—about religious liberty policy that has served our nation well for decades, policy that is one of our greatest resources to live together peaceably despite our deepest differences.
Here at Focus, and for Christians everywhere, this is a sacred weekend.
Today is Good Friday, and this Sunday is Easter.
It’s this weekend that we celebrate the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ 2,000 years ago.
But let me ask you, do you think of Christ’s sacrifice more as historic fact or current reality?
In the day-to-day grind of life, it’s easy to forget that the God of history is also the God of today.
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.
