Daly Focus Blog
I was deeply saddened to hear that my old high school football coach, Paul Moro, passed away earlier this week.
Still in his 60s, he was far too young to leave this life – but in my sorrow, I could almost hear “Coach Mo” responding to my grief.
“It’s not about what we want,” he would often remind us, “It’s about what God wants.”
Paul Moro was one tough guy. I was a sophomore at Yucca Valley High School, a 3A school in Southern California near Palm Springs.
Imagine hiking 500 miles across mountains, valleys, and seemingly endless prairie all while pushing your best friend in a wheelchair and rediscovering God – and yourself – along the way.
That may sound like a compelling movie plot, but it’s a true story for Justin Skeesuck and Patrick Gray.
Justin has a progressive neuromuscular disease called multifocal acquired motor axonapathy. It’s a genetic predisposition similar to ALS that was triggered by a car accident Justin survived when he was 16 years old.
“A true friend always lets you in and never lets you down.”
– Dr. Tim Keller
“Make each day a masterpiece.”
That bit of advice comes from Coach John Wooden, a legendary college basketball coach who was respected by millions of people. He died in 2010 at the age of 99.
He led the UCLA Bruins basketball team to 10 NCAA national championships in just 12 years, including an 88-game winning streak. He was the first person to be enshrined in the Basketball Hall of Fame, both as a player and a coach.
It’s hard to see around an elephant.
They get in the way when you’re trying to connect with people. They keep you from seeing or hearing each other very well. That’s true literally and figuratively.
When there’s an elephant in the room, relationship is hindered because there’s a problem hiding in plain sight that no one is willing to acknowledge, let alone talk about.
It happens in marriages. It happens in families. It happens in business.
In honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, we want to share with you a powerful message about building racial harmony in our communities by my dear friend and brother in Christ, Carey Casey.
Carey lived through the real-life story captured in the movie Remember the Titans starring Denzel Washington as an African-American high school football coach who must overcome significant challenges after he’s hired to coach the school’s first racially integrated team. The Titans overcame tremendous adversity, worked through their racial differences, and won the state championship.
The quote has been attributed to several people:
Plato.
Socrates.
Reverend John Watson.
Ian MacLaren.
As it turns out, Ian MacLaren is actually the pen name for the aforementioned Reverend John Watson, a Scottish author and theologian who lived the majority of his life during the second-half of the nineteenth century. He passed away in 1907 at the age of 57.
Ten years earlier, in 1897, the Reverend Watson was invited by the popular religious newspaper, the British Weekly, to submit a Christmas message.
Anyone who looked at Michael Kent a few years ago would have been forgiven for thinking he was beyond hope.
He was in jail, and his body bore various tattoos that gave witness to his Neo-Nazi beliefs, including a large swastika on his chest. He was also part of a violent skinhead group.
There’s no way that guy’s ever going to change, right?
Well, not so fast.
Turns out the Michael Kent of today is very different – and it’s all thanks to his friendship with an African-American woman, Tiffany Whittier.
Every February the nation observes Black History Month and recognizes the many contributions of African Americans to the United States and the world. Here at Focus on the Family, it’s no different. We recognize the special commemoration during our monthly chapel service with our staff and through other special educational and celebratory activities over the course of the four-week period.
While reflecting on the celebration, I was reminded about something that happened last August on C-SPAN’s Washington Journal.
I’ve said it before, but it bears repeating.
In recent generations, some in the Christian community have seen homosexuality as a bigger sin than every other and homosexuals themselves as virtually beyond redemption.
It seems to me that we too often use the sword of the Spirit to attack other human beings rather than reach out to them.
There is no sin we can name that is bigger than one drop of Christ’s blood. Salvation in Christ is available to everyone.
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.
