Opinion Archive

I was hired for my first ministry position by a pastor with 40 years of experience. “You don’t serve people,” he sagely said to me, “you serve God, and people are served in the process.” He advised against living in a parsonage and instead purchasing a home to build equity. “You will never get rich in ministry,” he counseled, “but God will provide for your needs.” Now, nearing his years of experience, I can attest to the wisdom of his counsel. Nonetheless, there was a financial situation in that ministry that had me scratching my head in amusement.

How do you respond when things don’t go your way? Your response may depend on the generation of which you are a part.

In the latest issue of Editor & Publisher Magazine, they tackle the issue of Freedom of the Press and some of the perils that come with it. Leonard Woolsey, a respected publisher of the Daily News in Galveston, Texas, and the 2025 president of Southern Newspapers, had a lot to say about the perils of reporting the truth. The following is a portion of what was published in the February 2025 issue, with Gretchen A. Peck reporting.

We came under fire last week over reporting on an autopsy report for Stephen Dalton. Our personal safety was threatened, personal addresses were published on social media, there were demands of removal from a volunteer leadership position that a team member holds, and a target was made of one of our reporters. The only reason […]

About 35 years ago, my wife and I purchased a house next to an older, Lebanese couple. One afternoon, after lunch, I was about to head back to the church, when I saw my neighbor. I waved to him. He gently called to me, “Mike, please, come for coffee.” I hesitated, did a quick mental assessment of my busy afternoon schedule, sighed, then answered, “Sure. Thank you.”

Bullying is a widespread issue that lurks in the hallways and classrooms of schools across Northwest Florida. While the silence of it can be deafening, it will leave invisible scars that can last a lifetime. Despite school districts trying to implement increased awareness and initiatives aimed at combating bullying, its effects continue to ripple through our educational system, creating an environment of fear and insecurity for many of our young students.

There is the story about a young man who was walking home on a very dark and moonless night and decided to take a shortcut. This shortcut took him directly through the local cemetery. As he crept through the graveyard, he fell into a deep open grave. It was so dark in the grave he couldn’t see his hand in front of his face.

The Baker community mourned the loss of Kadence Fredericksen,18, this weekend and celebrated her life and legacy. The hundreds of attendees poured into the Baker School multipurpose building Saturday, Feb. 22. Kadence died in a car accident in Santa Rosa County Feb. 17.

Crestview News Bulletin Facebook post from Feb. 13:

I was raised in a devout Roman Catholic family and have fond memories of the tactile “smells and bells” of the mass, the priest lifting the censer, rocking it back and forth, the pungent scent of incense, the jangle of bells. But there was one tactile experience I dreaded every year – the application of ashes on Ash Wednesday.