Talking About People And Issues

Sen. Tom Coburn discusses the importance of looking past political differences and befriending political opponents. Listen here to this engaging conversation, which also touches on the significance of the Elena Kagan hearings and the appointment of Dr. Donald Berwick to oversee health care.

Parenting Dos and Don’ts

A recent post about “helicopter parenting” was pretty eye-opening for many readers – in the post I included a poll, and most respondents admitted they hover over their kids way too much. How about you?

If you’d like to be a better parent, give a listen to this excellent conversation with Chip Ingram about how to approach the joyful task – he offers some great insights and wisdom.

Also, if you haven’t done so, take a few minutes to give your input at our broadcast survey here.

Lindsay, LeBron, Who Cares?

Today as I scanned the “most popular” headlines at an online news source, I found it odd that two of the top three most widely read and followed news stories are about celebrities.

Lindsay Lohan’s public self-destruction is, at this time, the most popular news item at Google News. While it all seems rather sad, why is this young woman’s outrageous behavior of such interest to so many?

Tonight NBA superstar LeBron James will announce which team he will play for next season, via an hour-long ESPN special. He needs 60 minutes to tell us something that could be captured in two sentences?

Together, these two pop icons have generated more news reports than these other top stories combined. In fact, a quick tally revealed that people are more interested in Lindsay and LeBron than these other  important items:

Pretty lopsided “news,” don’t you think? And something I heard on the radio this morning makes me wonder: is the media driving this celebrity culture – or are consumers driving the demand for such reporting?A sports writer observed that ESPN is airing what is plainly an hour-long LeBron James infomercial because lots of people will watch it. The public demand for such programming is there, and the network is happy to deliver to the audience (and deliver that audience to advertisers).

Its a chicken-egg question. What do you think?

What's driving our celebrity culture?

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Thanks – and Prayers

Here’s a comment that encouraged all of us here at Focus. It also inspired me personally to persevere in prayer for those in our armed forces.

“I’m an infantry officer in the United States Marine Corps and spent eight months in Iraq.  I want to express my sincere appreciation to Focus on the Family.  The daily prayers and support of millions of Americans kept my Marines and me alive and delivered us home to our loved ones.  Having been an avid supporter of your ministry for many years, I continue to applaud your efforts to defend the family and promote the Christian principles that have made this country the greatest nation on earth.  May God bless you all – Semper Fidelis.”
Also, listen in to this honest conversation about the stresses that military families have to deal with. If you haven’t done so today, take a moment to ask God’s protection and favor on those serving our country. And pray again for them.

Remember

Do you remember?

The Fuller household has been somewhat busy today, with a variety of household chores and some leisure time, as well. But I’ll admit we’ve not yet paused to think through and talk about the meaning behind this extended Memorial Day weekend.

Have you stopped to reflect on the meaning of today’s status as a federal holiday?

In his weekly radio address on Saturday President Obama called upon Americans to take time out from Memorial Day activities to,

…hold all our fallen heroes in your hearts, and if you can, to lay a flower where they have come to rest.

Excellent point.I can’t say that a lot of the people I know have been personally affected by the death of a relative fighting for our freedom.

Here’s an editorial that captures the heart of the day.

Memorial Day is the most profound holiday of the year. July Fourth may be more significant to us as a nation, but this is the one that brings lumps to our throats. I gaze at the waves of small American flags in cemeteries, flapping in the breeze like Kansas wheat, and I am overwhelmed.

You really should read that article, and also this excellent op-ed piece in today’s Chicago Tribune by a former U.S. Marine, in which the author tells of the costs associated with the defense of liberty. The writer’s main point for readers comes together in this thought:

…what I do ask is that on your way to the beach, or wherever else you are spending your holiday, you take one brief moment and just stop. Stop and think about our amazing country, and the men and women who gave all to make what we have possible.

Finally, here’s a tremendous story of a “man’s man,” a retire Lt. Col in the Army, who found out that life was far more valuable than he realized.

In the midst of barbecues, matinees, yard work and time with friends or family, I hope you’ll stop to remember.

Strange Days

What are we to make of such days, which seem to have an overabundance of sad, weird, even disturbing stories about family, faith and culture?

Alright, enough railing against the culture…and back to raising my kids and loving my wife.

Looking In The Mirror

None of this is really a revelation. Light will eventually shine on every misspoken word and deed. There seems, however, to be a propensity of public moral failings lately:

Sports…

Politics…

Religion…

Entertainment…

While there is always great disappointment accompanying moral failures, and much pain for those most closely associated with the fallen, there isn’t great surprise. Men (and women) have shown poor judgment and engaged in foolish – even illegal – behavior since the beginning of time. I think that there is great truth in the old saying that “your deeds will find you out.”

I don’t think we need to condemn those who make poor choices and find their lives in a mess. As followers of Christ, we should show compassion to the fallen, not judgment. The person whose sin is out in the public is feeling plenty of remorse, even if they don’t show it. They know full well that they’ve blown it. They feel guilty. They are cringing at the mess they’ve made. The last thing they need is a “holier-than-thou” finger being wagged in their face. And, God knows full well, I’m far from perfect and have plenty of things in my life that could use some cleaning up. So I’m not in any position to render judgment on someone else. It’s that old principle Jesus talked about in Matthew 7:3, about the propensity we have to point out the speck in our brother’s eye when we have a plank in our own eye. We shouldn’t try to “help” someone before we examine our own lives first and deal honestly with our own sins and shortcomings.

So I’m committing to pray for those public figures who find themselves explaining why they committed adultery, or that they have an addiction, or that they broke the rules in an effort to get ahead. When the next celebrity or sports star fails, I’ll be asking God to speak into their brokenness, to give them a tender heart towards His offer of forgiveness in Christ, and to bring restoration into their lives.

And I think I’ll do that praying as I’m looking in the mirror.

More On Russian Adoption

The sad case of the 7 year-old boy from Russia, Artyom Savelyev, who was adopted by a Mom in Tennessee and then unceremoniously returned to his home country — via one-way airfare — caught many of us by surprise. It was an inexcusable incident, and the matter raised tensions and fueled speculation that Russia would shut down oversees adoptions.

Today some good news for those in the process of, or thinking about, bringing home a Russian orphan: the government is saying that they will continue to allow adoption of the more than 600,000 orphans there. That door will stay open!

For further background on the situation, over at RealClearPolitics.com Cathy Young had this insightful piece which examines this specific matter and the plight of Russian orphans in general.

And my friend Paul Pennington wrote about Artyom’s case on his blog, offering his seasoned perspective on the adoption-gone-wrong.

Finally, to learn more about the needs of abandoned children in that country, here’s a New York Times article about Russian orphanages. It’s pretty touching.

(and for those interested, the photo above shows the entrance to the orphanage our youngest is from. Not a lot of curb appeal…but fairly warm and caring inside)

Teen Drinking Leads To Disease

Parents, here’s new research to share with your child, showing that drinking by teen girls can lead to “benign breast disease or noncancerous lumps, bumps or cysts in the breast.”

One expert cited in the article said,

“The habits that you develop as an adolescent are likely to turn into lifelong habits, and we know that drinking in adult women is a risk factor for breast cancer.”

Food for thought, and something I’ll be sharing with my own kids.

A Visit With Troy and Sara Groves

You’ve heard her music, and you know many of her lyrics by heart. Her albums include The Other Side of Something, Tell Me What You Know and her latest is, Fireflies and Songs.  So perhaps you think you know all about popular singer Sara Groves. But in this candid visit, Sara is joined by her husband, Troy, and together they reveal what their life is like, balancing faith and family – and a busy music career.

By the way, if you use Twitter, cut and paste the following for an opportunity to receive a copy of that new album, Fireflies and Songs. We’ll be randomly selecting five folks who RT this to receive that CD:

RT @MyFocusRadio: Sara Groves and husband Troy are on Monday’s Focus on the Family radio program. Listen in here: http://bit.ly/aO7rcU

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