By Brad Campbell –

Hi all.  Just a thought to help start your week.

First a disclaimer — My wife took this picture; I didn’t.  However, it is a picture of yours truly.  I am standing in a portion of a display in Washington D.C.’s Newseum about Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  Although this was a “visitor friendly” display, it was not “flash friendly” for photos, so I hope you can make it out.  I’m standing behind a bronze casting of the Birmingham, Alabama, jail cell door where Dr. King was jailed for eight days in April 1963 for protesting segregation.  It was from that cell that he wrote his “Letter from Birmingham Jail”.

 

Dr. King is most well-known because of the fact that he took a stand for what he believed was right.  And so should we.  In a world and nation where so many folks are standing up for what is wrong, we must stand up for all that is right.

God gave you a brain, a mouth, and a voice box for a reason.  Use them to proclaim His glory.  Speak up for Him to a lost and hurting world spiraling toward destruction.  Shout from the mountaintops words of praise to the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

Looking through metal bars of a jail cell door puts a different perspective on what you see on the other side.  Most of us will never spend a day in jail for simply speaking our minds (thank God!), but the day is very quickly approaching even in the great US of A when we Christians will be greatly persecuted for speaking up for the Lord.

Simply ask yourself this week if it’s worth it to you.  If yes, then let’s speak up together, even if it’s behind the cell door.

By Ryan Kelly –

How many people have you spoken with that are not ready for death?  Many people say they want to see Jesus, but “just not right now.”  Many will say they are not prepared, or that there is something that they still needed to do before they die. 

Hebrews 9:27-28 states, ““Just as people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.”

Death is coming for us all. We cannot run from it or pretend that it does not exist. It may happen today, tomorrow, or in eighty years. Whenever God plans to take us home, we should always be ready. We should always be “where God wants us to be.”  

If there is sin in your life, NOW is the time to get rid of it. If there is something that God has told you to do, NOW is the time to do it. Do not wait for another day or a better time. NOW is your time. 

Only God knows when the end will come. But we all know there we will have an end. It is our responsibility to do today what God has told us to do. Therefore when there is a tomorrow and a time for us to go, we will be ready. 

By Brad Campbell –

Today something will happen that a lot of folks have never seen before – a solar eclipse. The moon will move between the earth and the sun, blocking the sunlight for a little while.  You’ve no doubt heard all the hype, and perhaps you have special equipment with which to view the show today, but I do not.  So, alas, there will be no photo of the eclipse for me to share.  However, here’s a shot of a beautiful full moon from a while back, so that you get the idea (lol).

Glasses have been given away or sold in many locations.  School children are being turned out early today.  I have even heard folks saying they were planning to stay inside and stay away from the eclipse.  People are hiding their pets and making arrangements to bring them inside.  It’s as if the year 2000 is hitting again and folks are scared of what might happen.

As preposterous as all of this sounds, sadly it’s true.  And yet when is the last time you looked with this much enthusiasm at the returning of Christ?  If we truly were as prepared to meet Him as we seem to be prepared for the eclipse today, the world would be a much better place.

Live today (and every day) to its fullest.  But, don’t let the hype of the world and its activities eclipse the real news.  He’s coming back.  And we better get ready!

By Brad Campbell –

Just a thought to help start your week.

It’s another Monday morning in a month of many new “firsts” for a lot of folks.  New schools, new college experiences, new adventures, perhaps even new jobs that all begin this month are each bringing with them new challenges for which we must all be ready.

Failure to prepare for school or work will likely lead to some disappointment sooner than later.  And yet, some days we prepare, we study, we pray, we talk to the Lord, and it still seems as if nothing goes right, and we catch ourselves wondering if He was listening.

We arrived home one day recently to find this little fellow on the edge of the carport – either exploring on his own or unwillingly drug up by the cat.  It doesn’t matter the size or color or countenance of a snake – NO ONE is prepared to walk up on their own turf and encounter one.  And yet, there they are.

The dangers, disappointments, and difficult days will still be there.  However, we are to prepare as much as possible anyway.  Preparation lets you know when the snake is poisonous or simply a cat-snack.  Preparation helps you determine that even through difficult days, it can still be very good beginning to a very good adventure.

Talk to the Lord.  He IS listening.  Prepare your heart for whatever He allows to come your way this week, trusting Him to always go ahead of you and take care of you.

Blessings on those new beginnings!

 

By Ryan Kelly –

We as Christians know that evangelizing to non believers is part of our joy, privilege, and responsibility. There is a huge number of people in our land that do not place their faith in Jesus. Some know of the Bible, some  may even know who Jesus is, but many are waiting to receive the Word of God

Jesus illustrates the reaction to the Word in the parable of the sower in Mark 4. Some will reject the Word on the outset (birds devouring the seed), others will see the seed produce a good work but not saving faith (rocky soil), and others will receive the Word but will have it drowned out by distraction and conflict (seed among thorns). But, some will have good soil and will grow the seed. This good soil represents the non believers that accept Jesus and worship Him as a result.

It is not up to us to cultivate someone else’s soil. We are to take the perfect Word of a God (the seed) and scatter it to everyone. Then, as we see in Galatians 6, it is God that will water the seed and produce fruit.

So, scatter God’s seed in our land and watch Him produce a great harvest in the name of  Jesus!