Monday Poll: Super Bowl Ad

Posted on February 8, 2010 
Filed Under Focus on the Family Broadcast | 2 Comments

Now that the big game is over, and the Focus on the Family spot featuring Pam and Tim Tebow finally has been seen, we’d like to know your thoughts.

What did you think of the Focus on the Family Super Bowl ads?

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Thanks to all who contributed to this special effort, including a small group of donors, a creative team of staff and contractors, the folks at CBS, the Tebow family, and everyone who joined us ion praying that the ad would be effective.

Maybe you have a comment to share? Feel free to do so, please!

Power of Radio

Posted on February 7, 2010 
Filed Under Focus on the Family Broadcast, Humor, Spiritual Life | Leave a Comment

Here’s a recent comment about the was God can significantly use a radio program to touch a life:

“Back in the mid-90s, I was in my home office working on the computer and listening to music when my one-year-old son crawled into the room. He went straight to the radio, spun the tuning knob several times, and then left. He ‘just so happened’ to tune in to a Christian station that was airing a program unfamiliar to me – the Focus on the Family daily broadcast. To make a long story short, I’ve been listening to your show for the past fifteen years and have supported your ministry during that time. Most importantly, though, I accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior, due in large part to your programs! I’m still amazed that God used a toddler’s tiny hand to set into motion the events that would eventually lead to my salvation!”

I love being able to work on this broadcast, which goes around the world and can be a life-changer!

Rebecca St. James Supports Super Bowl Ad

Posted on February 5, 2010 
Filed Under Fathering, Focus on the Family, Life, Physical Health, Social Concern | Leave a Comment

Rebecca St. James released a statement about the Focus on the Family Super Bowl ad, and it is encouraging to see her words of support:

“I think in spite of the protests this week from NOW, GloriaAllred, and ‘pro-choice’ organizations, this ad being aired is a matter of the First Amendments’ right of free speech.  I applaud Focus on the Family for creating the ad and bringing the story of Tim Tebow’s life to American viewers during the Super Bowl, and I applaud CBS for broadcasting it.  Here is the heart warming story of a young man whose mother-when faced with the option of abortion-chose ‘life’ and he is here to thank her, be a rising sports hero, and use that life to be a blessing to many! Unlike Tim Tebow–the more than 1 million babies that are aborted each year in the US have no voices-and no opportunity to tell us what they think of their mothers ultimate ‘choice’ for their lives.”

Thanks, Rebecca, for your on-going pro-life stance, and for your public support of this ad!

BTW, Rebecca St. James will be in New York next week—Tuesday, February 9th—to appear on “Hannity” on the Fox News Channel. She’ll no doubt be talking about her recent film, in which she plays the lead character, called, “Sarah’s Choice.” The film is a powerful exploration of the sanctity of life.

Healing From Sexual Abuse

Posted on February 4, 2010 
Filed Under Focus on the Family Broadcast, Parenting, Social Concern, Spiritual Life | Leave a Comment

We aired a two-part broadcast earlier this week featuring the Walt Larimore family. You’ll recall that “Dr. Walt” was on staff here at Focus for several years, and that he is a gifted communicator. He and Barb shared a story of great pain with us, one that was, for years, untold. Their children, Kate and Scott, showed tremendous courage in detailing the trauma and pain they experienced years ago after being sexually abused by a babysitter.

We had quite a significant number of responses from listeners, many of whom told us they needed to hear what the Larimores shared. Here’s just a sample:

~ When my son was 4 he was abused by a 10 year-old boy while at a daycare. Please tell the family that did the broadcast thanks for talking about such a sensitive issue.

~ I have NEVER heard anyone address this issue and not only is it so prevalent in our society; but I’ve been through it myself, starting at age 5. I didn’t tell anyone until I was 18, and then my parents had a very hard time believing me. They really did nothing about it. I don’t think either one could deal with it.

~ Thank you for airing a program on such a difficult topic. I have waited all my life for someone to address this so I could sort of feel understood and “stood up for”!
God bless everyone involved in the Focus ministry.

~ Thank you for the broadcast today. It is timely, and very helpful for my family. Thank you for being there, and for being so gracious in serving my family.

We’re grateful that the broadcasts could touch hearts and be used in the healing process, and pray many more will hear the Larimore’s story and be helped. I’ll suggest that if you know someone who needs to hear this amazing family’s journey, send them a link, or get a CD for them. Or, call our 800 number and ask for someone on the counseling team.

Focus is here to help.

Super Coverage!

Posted on February 3, 2010 
Filed Under Focus on the Family, Life, Social Concern | Leave a Comment

While the media appearances to discuss the upcoming Focus on the Family Super Bowl ad have slowed down (for now) for Focus President Jim Daly (and other FOF spokespersons), there remains a lot of coverage in the media about the 30-second spot featuring Pam Tebow and her son Tim. All in all, the comments are favorable to what we’re doing, although there is the expected criticism from some quarters.

I think in many ways Jim Daly’s stated goal, to “elevate the conversation about life,” is being achieved already - and the ad hasn’t even been seen (outside of a handful of staff and video production folks).

For instance, in the Washington Post, Sally Jenkins wrote that

I’m pro-choice, and Tebow clearly is not. But based on what I’ve heard in the past week, I’ll take his side against the group-think, elitism and condescension of the “National Organization of Fewer and Fewer Women All The Time.”

Yikes!

And according to a New York Times article,

Two companies, Alterian and Zeta Interactive, reported on Monday that their monitoring of online conversations about Super Bowl ads had found that the Focus on the Family spot had already been discussed more than any other planned to run in the game.

That’s quite remarkable, and something none of us at Focus imagined would happen!

To learn more, here’s one of the Focus press releases about the ad. And here’s a selected list of media stories about the most talked about Super Bowl ad.

Thursday our staff will gather for a special time of prayer asking God to use the ad and all the public discussion to touch hearts and to bring glory to His name. I hope you’ll join us in praying for this exciting commercial to reach people in powerful ways!

Enter Our Valentine’s Day Contest - Now!

Posted on February 3, 2010 
Filed Under Focus on the Family, Marriage | Leave a Comment

If you have written some great love letters to your spouse, or you’ve always wanted to write something special to your love, here’s something just for you. Right now there are four winners a day for the Focus on the Family Valentine’s Day Contest, and you can enter your sentimental musings today for your chance to win.

If you’re an especially good wordsmith, maybe we’ll see you here in Colorado Springs at the end of the month?

Too Soon For Facebook?

Posted on February 2, 2010 
Filed Under Fathering, Parenting, Personal | Leave a Comment

My brother and I were talking the other day. We get along famously, and I really enjoy our conversations. He asked me about Facebook, as he isn’t a user and wonders about when he should allow his oldest to get an account. Since I just allowed our 15 year-old to have a Facebook account of her own, I told him that 15 is about right.

I think a child needs to be able to deal well with external disciplines for online, social media activity. I also believe our kids need to demonstrate some good internal sensors before having “Facebook freedom” as there is a tendency to waste time, share overtly sensitive information and engage in childish behaviors when online. BTW, just today I’ve had to suspend one of our children’s FB accounts for a while, due to misuse. Nothing really terrible, but unauthorized and thus in violation of the rules we jointly wrote up for its use. I’m not real popular for that action, but my goal isn’t to be a popular parent, it is to help develop my kid’s, their minds, hearts and character, as well as their spiritual well-being.

Maybe I’m being overprotective, but I don’t think so. I’m not an ogre, just doing the “dad thing” - and I wish more parents would join me.

Don’t Forget Haiti

Posted on February 1, 2010 
Filed Under Focus on the Family, Life, Orphan Care, Personal, Physical Health, Social Concern, Spiritual Life | Leave a Comment

I’m afraid that we’re already forgetting the tragedy in Haiti. I don’t mean you, personally. I don’t mean the thousands of folks who have gone to serve the suffering, the dying, the orphaned, the hurting. I don’t mean the good men and women who pray for light in dark places, those who give freely - often times sacrificially - to the needs, those who have a desire to bring an orphan home.

I’m thinking more about the U.S. culture, generally, and our ability to forget. We tend to move on to other interests, more pleasant things that don’t remind us that our world is fallen, that God doesn’t prevent disasters, that pain in this world is pervasive. I’m thinking this as I scan the “Most Popular” category of news items over at Google news. As I write this, there are stories about the Grammy Awards - specifically the fashion blunders, the Apple iPad - and Amazon’s response, China’s indignation about U.S. arms sales, the expected bad news from the White House about the economy, and the meandering leviathan of a film, “Avatar.” THEN there’s mention of Haiti, the responses by our military and also the dispute between some Americans and the Haitian government regarding orphans.

In case you’ve forgotten, there’s still a tremendous need for financial assistance, for medical help, for prayer. Follow the news. Pray knowledgeably. And give. For where you might give, here’s a list from Focus on the Family of trusted partners. It isn’t comprehensive, of course. But it’s a start.

Week In Review, Jan 29

Posted on January 30, 2010 
Filed Under Focus on the Family, Focus on the Family Broadcast, Marriage, Personal, Social Concern, Spiritual Life | Leave a Comment

What a week we had on the Focus on the Family broadcast. Perhaps a personal highlight was when Jim Daly and I went to the studio to talk with Dr. Kevin Leman about his book, Have A New Husband By Friday. Instead, we were ambushed, and our wives shared insights about us - totally unrehearsed! Listen in and hear Jim and me squirm!

Two days of programing were devoted to the terrible suffering in Sudan. While the trauma in Haiti will continue to unfold in front of us over the next months, the years of incomprehensible and evil activity in Sudan have gone largely untold. Here’s a book showing photographs of that country’s pain - and fortitude. And here’s where you can listen to two colleagues sharing about their trip to Sudan, and this link will take you to the conversation we had with a family foundation doing a good work in Sudan.

Apart from the broadcast, there certainly was quite a bit of media coverage about the Super Bowl advertisement by Focus on the Family. The 30-second spot, featuring Pam Tebow and her son Tim, has created a lot of buzz. Jim Daly and several colleagues have been speaking to the media about the ad, which has not yet been released. What is so interesting to me: The criticisms by folks who talk authoritatively about the spot which they haven’t seen. Most of those objections tend to be attacks on Focus, not the ad — but of course, that’s what folks do these days when they can’t fault the message…they go after the messenger. Here’s a list of some of the thousands of stories about the ad. And here’s Jim’s recent blog post about the coverage.

Pray for us as the days are full, and we strive to follow God’s leading in all we do - including efforts to make that Super Bowl ad effective!

Learning the Truth

Posted on January 28, 2010 
Filed Under Fathering, Parenting, Spiritual Life | Leave a Comment

What do a shotgun and a watermelon have to do with teaching and learning about Truth? Here’s a great story by Dr. Del Tackett, over at his blog, about that very thing. Every parent should read this powerful insight and take away an appreciation for the need to help our kids grab onto Truth.

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