Musings

By Sean Dietrich Long ago, my college professor told us to choose a poem to recite in class. Students chose lofty selections from the greats. Whitman, Dickinson, Frost. I consulted Daddy’s Hank Williams songbook. 10:40 P.M.—New Year’s Eve. Hank Williams is on my radio. My wife is sleeping in the passenger...

By Pastor David Holland The world broils with conflict. Can you imagine living in Israel with rockets lobbed into your neighborhood at random times? Or, in Gaza, where the country is being reduced to rock and rubble? Or in Ukraine, where soldiers rot entrenched in freezing foxholes. They fight a...

By Sean Dietrich Birmingham, Alabama—the 1970’s. The hairstyles are ridiculous. Fashions are even worse. It’s Christmastime in the Magic City. Early evening. A young couple arrives in town to visit family. They are working-class poor. He is overworked and underpaid. She is too. Still, things are looking up. Even though it’s hard...

By Pastor David Holland “On the eighth day, when it was time to circumcise him, he was named Jesus, the name the angel had given him before I had conceived him.” –Luke 2:21 John Lennon mistakenly believed the Beatles were more famous than Christ. While the dead Beatle lies in the...

By Gueary Clendenning Christmas is just around the corner. After Thanksgiving, the pace quickens toward the big day! We’ll find ourselves in a big rush, always pursuing one more thing we need to get accomplished. We look for the nearest parking spot in the crowded mall, searching for the perfect...

By Pastor David Holland “Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy. He wanted to see who Jesus was, but being a short man he could not, because of the crowd. So he...

By Sean Dietrich You probably didn’t hear about it. But yesterday, God visited earth. Contrary to what you’ve heard, God is a big fan of people. He’s a huge fan. In fact, that’s why he came. His visit was an under-the-radar thing. It was non-publicized. God wasn’t in it for press. First, he...

By Pastor David Holland “There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores and longing to eat what fell from the rich man’s table. Even the dogs came...

By Sean Dietrich I am a dropout. I grew up pretty hard. I am an educational failure. I had few academic opportunities. As a result, I am a very slow reader, and an even wurse speler. This is because, after my father died, my family hit rock bottom. My mother cleaned houses...

By Pastor David Holland Imagine a God who moves the moon that guides the ocean waves to break on our shores. Imagine a God who flicked a match igniting the Sun into a blazing ball of fire, heating a solar system, producing a planet as an incubator for humanity. Imagine...