Musings

Dearest Becca, I am writing this shortly before boarding an airplane and flying 40,000 feet above the earth. I am about to leave the country, and I wanted to write before I go. It’s funny, I’ve been humming the song “You Are My Sunshine” all day, thinking about you. This is...

By Pastor Doug Stauffer More questions than answers?—not really. Amidst the rocket bombardment and agonizing cries from innocent lives lost on both sides during the recent conflict between Hamas and Israel, the Bible resonates with poignant relevance. Here is a snippet of a sermon preached the day after Hamas propelled...

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 Doug Stauffer, Pastor, Faith Independent Baptist Church With the 2023-2024 school year in full swing, parents and teachers have bought their supplies, arranged schedules and attended orientation sessions. Amidst all the bustle, focusing on some deeper life lessons is crucial as they serve as a moral compass for children....

By Sean Dietrich There is a lot of talk in the writing community about how artificial intelligence chatbots are going to replace authors someday. The fear is that AI will take real writing jobs and we writers will eventually be forced to live in refrigerator cartons beneath an overpass. This does...

By Doug Stauffer, Pastor, Faith Independent Baptist Church Labor Day, for many, signifies the end of summer, the beginning of a new school year, and a day off work and school. But when viewed spiritually, Labor Day takes on a far greater significance. Labor Day becomes a celebration...

By Sean Dietrich Willie Nelson is on my radio. He is singing one of my favorite songs. “In the twilight glow I see her, “Blue eyes crying in the rain, “When...

By Pastor Doug Stauffer Edmund Burke once declared, “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” Scripture echoes this truth by instructing, “And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them” (Ephesians 5:11). These admonitions...

By Pastor Doug Stauffer In the annals of world history, no nation since ancient Israel has borne a mission as profound as the United States of America. From the crucible of revolution to establishing a land of liberty, America was founded on principles echoing a divine intent. It was to...

By Sean Dietrich I had a dream about him last night. It has been nearly three decades since he died, but there he was. Alive. We met in some kind of diner. A breakfast joint. Maybe this was heaven? He was running late, I was already sitting in a booth, sipping coffee....