Dr. James Dobson's Family Talk

A key component of a healthy marriage is the ability to humbly apologize. Unfortunately, few of us are very good at that. Dr. Gary Chapman, author of The Five Languages of Apology, asked thousands of people, "When someone is apologizing to you, what do you want to hear them say or do?" Top answers included: express regret, accept responsibility, make restitution, genuinely repent, and request forgiveness. 2 Corinthians 7:10 says, "Godly sorrow brings repentance."

Dr. Gary Chapman, author of the best-selling book, The Five Love Languages, talks about the importance of words of affirmation, quality time, acts of service, physical touch and gift-giving. He says that your spouse will feel truly loved when you emphasize his or her primary love language, and that parents need to determine their child’s love language, as well.

As an impressionable boy, Danny Silk witnessed his mother consecutively invite at least 30 men to live with them. Her poor example contributed to a crisis of confidence in his eventual marriage, as he came to believe that love and fear equally inhabit all relationships—but he learned one ultimately casts out the other.

Raised by a passive single mom, Danny Silk learned to be passive as a young adult. His wife, Sheri, was raised with six brothers and became a dominant personality, learning to yell and get angry in order to be heard. It became a combustible mix for the first 12 years of the Silk's marriage. As with many couples, Danny had a deep need to be respected and Sheri had a deep need to be loved.

For young children, love is spelled "T-I-M-E," so without a father in the home it can be traumatic. John Smithbaker, founder of "Fathers in the Field," experienced the forgiveness of Christ at the age of 40, and was empowered to forgive his earthly father for abandoning him as a child. His Christ-centered mentoring ministry urges the Church to play a role much like the Good Samaritan—instead of walking by fatherless boys left on the "cultural roadside," to find willing Christian men to invest time in their lives.

When John Smithbaker was born, his father had already abandoned the family and, tragically, had wanted John to be aborted. That "father wound" caused John to seek his self-worth in athletics and other ultimately empty pursuits. It’s an all-too-common story. But Smithbaker’s organization, "Fathers in the Field," is helping by finding Christian men to connect with and mentor fatherless boys.

Jesus was the ultimate man's man, a rugged carpenter with calloused hands who drove the money changers out of the Temple with a whip! Yet, He also empowered women, which would have been seen by the men in His day as radical and countercultural. Dr. Tim Clinton and Max Davis, co-authors of Take It Back: Reclaiming Biblical Masculinity, talk about men in the Bible and also recount the final words of King David on his deathbed to his son, Solomon— "Be strong, act like a man, and obey God." While the "cancel culture" may have Christian men on the ropes, history would suggest that they need to stand and fight for God and their families.

Hollywood and the popular culture typically portray fathers as toxic buffoons. In response to such unfair and harmful mischaracterizations, Dr. Tim Clinton and Max Davis, co-authors of Take It Back: Reclaiming Biblical Masculinity, present research that underscores the crucial contributions made by strong, godly dads. For instance, 76% of teen girls surveyed said that their father influenced their decision on whether or not to be sexually active; and when a dad divorces, his kids are 92% more likely to fail in their own marriages.

Christians around the world celebrated Christ's resurrection this past weekend. It's the event that gives our faith meaning and propels us forward with the hope of heaven. Today on Family Talk, Dr. Dobson sits down with Dr. Robert Jeffress to discuss his book A Place Called Heaven: 10 Surprising Truths About Your Eternal Home and to tackle difficult topics such as near-death experiences, what our jobs will be in Heaven, and who will be there.

Listen to these sobering words from 1 Corinthians 15:17—"If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins." As we look foward to Easter weekend, scholar Gary Habermas, author of, The Case for the Resurrection of Jesus, reminds us that our wonderful Savior revealed Himself to a doubting Thomas, and to his persecutor Paul in a blinding light on the road to Damascus, along with his half-brother, James, who was initially embarrassed by Him. If you believe in Christ and His works and words alike, then when you come to Him, He will never cast you out.

If you’ve ever rung up too much on your credit card and could only afford to pay the minimum amount, then you’ve experienced firsthand the reason that Jews of the Old Testament felt compelled to offer regular sacrifices to God. Rabbi Jason Sobel, author of Mysteries of the Messiah, explains that it was because they understood that they could never cover the full cost of their sin. But when Jesus died on the cross, he wiped the slate clean by paying all of our sin debts in full. Amazingly, He credits His righteousness to our account!

In Matthew 13:52, Jesus said, "Every teacher of the law who has become a disciple in the kingdom of heaven is like the owner of a house who brings out of his storeroom new treasures as well as old." Sadly, many Christians fail to grasp the Old Testament foreshadowing of Christ. Rabbi Jason Sobel, author of Mysteries of the Messiah: Unveiling Divine Connections from Genesis to Today, invites believers to stop settling for just half of our spiritual inheritance, because everything in the Old Testament ultimately points to Jesus.

In honor of the late evangelist Luis Palau, who went home to Heaven earlier this month, Dr. James Dobson continues his conversation with Dr. Palau, in which they offer biblical advice for wives in loveless marriages. Isaiah 54:5 says, "Your Maker is your husband—the Lord Almighty is his name." God has not called us to be happy but rather obedient, so we must remain faithful in prayer and see what the Lord will do.

The late evangelist Luis Palau, who has been called "the Billy Graham of Latin America," went to be with the Lord on March 11 of this year. On today's broadcast, Dr. James Dobson opens with a special tribute to the life work and impact of Dr. Palau, and then plays a classic interview they had previously recorded together. It was in that conversation that Dr. Palau presciently warned America against taking a low view of Scripture and following in the tragic footsteps of Britain and Latin America, with their skyrocketing illegitimacy rates and rampant sexual immorality. He challenged Christian men to open God's Word daily and pray with their wives.

The late Chuck Colson, former Special Counsel to President Richard Nixon and founder of Prison Fellowship, was often asked, "How can I grow closer to God?" Chuck’s answer was simple. As Jeremiah 22:16 records, when believers defend the cause of the poor and needy, that’s how we can come to know God intimately. As you are serving the powerless, you will experience the power of God.