Musings

By Kirk McCarley In the fall of 1964, 30-year-old Glenn Holland is a talented musician and composer from Portland, Oregon.  He takes a position as a music teacher at a high school so that he can spend more time with his young wife Iris and work on his symphony. Holland at first struggles...

By Rick Moore At the age of fourteen, I was bussing tables for one of the top restaurants in town. It was my mother’s favorite seafood restaurant. For years, she had bragged about their service and delicious food. Yet, those who worked at that restaurant saw things differently. It’s funny...

By Lauren Catanese “I am the master of my fate. I am the captain of my soul.” – William Ernest Henley Decades to years, months to weeks, days to hours, hours to moments our lives keep flowing and continue to always move forward. Whether we resist, detour, or get stuck, life...

By Pastor Dave Holland “Then he told this parable: ‘A man had a fig tree, planted in his vineyard, and he went to look for fruit on it, but did not find any. So, he said to the man who took care of the vineyard, ‘For three years now I’ve...

By Sean Dietrich There once was a little girl who lived in a tiny town, in the far-off land of south Alabama. A beautiful little girl. A girl with braided brunette pigtails, chocolate eyes, skinned-up knees, and a cherub smile. Hers was an era when men wore fedoras and women wore...

By Myrna Conrad Many people mistake humility for weakness, passivity or insecurity. However, a humble person is anything but weak, passive or insecure. It takes a person with tremendous inner strength to realize and admit his or her limitations and to live free from the ever-present pull of pride and...

By Sean Dietrich DESTIN, Fla.—I’m in a traffic jam. Standstill. Cars are backed up to the horizon. I am stuck among them, trapped on Highway 98, suffocating within a cloud of blue exhaust and unspeakable misery. We are moving at 0.002 miles per hour. I look out my window and see...

By Pastor Dave Holland “Be dressed ready for service and keep your lamps burning, like men waiting for their master to return.” ~Luke 12:35. Bursting through the clouds, the King of Kings will pierce the eastern sky, racing from east to west like a blaze of lightning. 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17, NIV,...

By Rick Moore Has anyone ever told you “Don’t get your hopes up?” The person saying this may mean well, but is it good advice? If you are a very positive person, others may try to counter your optimism by introducing a reality check. Some people see difficulty in every...

By Kirk McCarley, How often do you think back on how you got to where you are?  What are the little, seemingly minute things that got you there? The Winter Dance Party was a 24 event tour that began in Milwaukee.  Venues were scheduled haphazardly with travel to small Midwestern cities...