Musings

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...

By Myrna Conrad We are in the middle of celebrating two very patriotic holidays, Memorial Day and Independence Day. Memorial Day commemorates the men and women who have died in military service for the U.S. Independence Day (Fourth of July) celebrates the birth of American independence from Great Britain on...

By Dave Holland It happened one summer day when I was at Dad’s house. He lived deep in the desert. We were roofing the addition to the house he shared with his new wife. The sun blistered us with 105 degrees of pure hell as I slapped down the black...

By Sean Dietrich On my kitchen counter is a pound cake, sitting on a pedestal, beneath a glass dome. Pound cake is the food of summer. It can make or break the entire season. A summer without pound cake is like church without singing. Or Monet without color. Or Andy without...

By Rick Moore In the eleventh and twelfth grades, students were permitted to leave the school campus for lunch. I remember asking my friend Terry if he wanted to go to the pool hall to get a chilly cheeseburger. He responded by saying his dad would “skin him alive” if...

By Kirk McCarley, Much is written and discussed about the subject of diversity and inclusiveness and exactly what it means.  There are for sure the “visual” considerations related to the color of one’s skin, nationality, sex, and age.  Less visible are the focuses on faith and religious practices and sexual...

By Sean Dietrich My wife and I are going out to dinner tonight. I am waiting for her to get ready. She is in the bathroom, standing before a mirror, pinching her tummy. She asks if I think she is fat. “No,” I say. She frowns. “You sure?” “Yes.” “Well, I feel fat.” She...