By Brad Campbell –

Just a thought to help start your week.

At one time or another, I’ve probably shown you a picture of a Canada goose.  We mistakenly call them Canadian geese most of the time.  Here is a picture I took of several of those birds – thirteen to be exact.  There were many more, but that’s all I could get a picture of at one time.  We were sight-seeing.  The geese were just minding their own business, doing things that geese normally do.  They ignored the people walking nearby.

These are geese, just being geese, walking like geese, “talking” like geese, and apparently enjoying their time together, ignoring the rest of the world around them.  So what makes these Canada geese any more special than any others I’ve ever seen?  Well, you see, these Canada geese weren’t down here in my yard in Alabama.  No.  My wife and I were in Victoria, British Columbia – in Canada.  We were in their territory.  This is the only time I’ve ever seen Canada geese actually in Canada.  Makes you wonder, doesn’t it, if they’re just known as geese when they’re at home, and only become Canada geese when they visit the U.S.  Ha.

I trust that at least the majority of you attended church is past Sunday.  Inside the church house were likely Christians just doing Christian stuff.  We sang our Christian songs, talked our Christian words, studied our Christian lessons, and genuinely acted like Christians — or did we?  When those visitors showed up, did you make your way to them to welcome them, to say hello, to show them a seat, to offer a word of encouragement, or to invite them to come again?  Or, did you just keep doing your Christian things while ignoring the ‘others’ who came by?

Christians are supposed to be Christians.  There is no doubt about that.  Those Canada geese are expected to act like Canada geese, without question.  But do we get so focused in our own little world, in doing all the ‘good’ things, that we miss out on those opportunities to share the blessings with others?  

We saw those geese, walked among them, and left – all while being ignored by them.  And I’m sure they went on with their geese things after we were gone.  The church will continue being the church long after the visitors are gone.  BUT, where do those visitors go?  Back home?  Never to return again?  All-the-while wondering why anyone would want to be in that church?

Even the little child’s game of “Duck, Duck, Goose” required us to get up and run around, having contact with someone else.  In order to represent Christ in the world, we Christians must do so outside of our comfort zone!  Think of it this way — What if the Canada geese stayed in Canada and never visited anywhere else?  We likely wouldn’t be so fascinated with them.  We would write them off as just any other old bird.

To BE a Christian outside of the church doors — that’s our mission this week.

Just a thought.

By Ryan Kelly –

Evil is not a force equal to God, but rather the absence of His presence just as cold is the absence of heat and darkness is the absence of light. When we turn away from God and cling to the empty promises of the world, we are stepping into that void we call evil. It is not that evil has power of its own, but that it thrives where His light and love are rejected.

Yet, even in those darkest places, God does not abandon us. His light stands ready to pierce the shadows, and His love is ever reaching to draw us back. When we repent and return, He rescues us from the very emptiness we pursued and sets us again on the path He designed for our good.

Take comfort: no matter how far we wander, the Light of Christ is greater than the darkness, and His love is stronger than any absence.

“The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” John 1:5

By Ryan Kelly –

The prophets of Israel, both major and minor, paint a sobering picture of God’s people. Time and again, the Israelites turned from the Lord, chasing after idols and ignoring His commands. The voices of Isaiah, Jeremiah, Hosea, Amos, and others rang out with warnings: sin leads to destruction. And indeed, their words proved true as the nation fell to exile, their land laid waste and their temple destroyed. Yet even in the midst of judgment, the prophets spoke of hope, a promise that God would not abandon His people forever.

Through those same prophetic voices, we hear whispers of restoration. Ezekiel’s vision of dry bones rising to life, Isaiah’s promise of a suffering servant, and Hosea’s words of God’s unrelenting love all pointed toward a coming rebirth. This restoration was not just the rebuilding of walls or a return from exile, but the unveiling of God’s ultimate plan…the Messiah, Jesus Christ. In Him, the scattered people of Israel would find their true King, and through Him the covenant would be renewed and fulfilled.

And now, because of Jesus, all of us who believe are grafted into this story. Paul tells us in Romans that Gentiles have been grafted into the vine of Israel, becoming part of the one people of God. No longer is belonging determined by nation or lineage, but by faith in Christ. The warnings of the prophets remind us of the cost of sin, but their promises assure us of God’s steadfast mercy. Through Christ, we too rise from the valley of dry bones into the living body of His Church, a people chosen not by blood but by grace.

By Brad Campbell –

Just at thought to help start your week.

This week’s photo is one of those that I got simply because I happened to be in the right place at the right time.  Nothing extraordinary about it.  But as we walked around downtown Seattle, in amongst the people that were certainly very ‘interesting’ indeed, we also paid attention to the other wildlife around us.  Because we were near our nation’s western coastline, there were many seagulls all around.  Some were actually very large and would have made a small dog run for his life, I believe.

One of those birds, the one you see here, stood defiantly in front of a nearby sign.  The sign, of course, reads, “All pets must be on a leash,” and, “Please clean up after your pet.”  No leash for this animal.  Going to do as it pleased where it pleased.  Ignoring the signs, it roamed on its own with no one to clean up after it.  Certainly a seagull is not anyone’s pet, but this one apparently knew that fact and marched the sidewalk as if to say, “I will not be stopped, I will do life on my own terms, it’s my way or the highway, no one can tell me what to do.”  The people of the world seem to roam around us Christians boasting their ability to get away with whatever they want, while we, God’s people, are trying our best to allow the Lord to lead and control our lives.

We may not speak those exact words, “I will do life on my own terms, and no one can tell me what to do,” but as we roam about life’s dirty sidewalks this week, I pray we aren’t living those words.  The Lord gives us instruction in His Word about restraining ourselves and following His will and not ours.  He also reminds us that He does things such as answering our prayers on His own terms in His own time and not ours.

We may walk around ignoring the signs, but one day it will catch up with us.  Defiant we will no longer be, and we will answer to One Who created us and gave us the life we now live.  Pets belong to their master.  We Christians belong to our Master.  We should be restrained in our living, perhaps as if on a leash, so to speak.  And we must not leave a mess for those coming along behind us.  Maybe you’ve never heard these words before… Don’t be a seagull.

Just a thought.

By Brad Campbell –

Just a thought to help start your week.

I wonder.  When you hear the word ‘shadow,’ what comes to your mind?  Maybe you think of the creepy side, like the old daytime drama, “Dark Shadows,” which followed the story of a vampire named Barnabas Collins.  Or maybe you think of Peter Pan as he and Wendy sewed his shadow back on.

Maybe your thoughts go to sad and difficult times, like the scripture that reminds us in Psalm 23 of walking through the valley of the shadow of death and fearing no evil.  Or perhaps to you, a shadow is merely a reminder, cast by the sun, of where we have been.

As my wife and I recently walked the downtown streets of Seattle, Washington, we had explored the public markets near the bay, amazed at the countless colors of the fresh flowers and vegetables and fruits and seafood, and homemade jewelry and trinkets, and on and on.  The weather was great, the sun was shining, and we took our time wandering around that morning.  It came nearer to lunch time, and we decided to make our trek back up several blocks to the train station to catch the monorail back across town to the Space Needle.

In doing so, we walked up the steep hill streets from the market, views of the Olympic Mountains behind us, and the sun shining over our shoulders.  And this photo tells you what we saw.  Our shadows at that moment were not behind us.  They were not following us.  They did not represent where we had been.  They were moving just ahead of us, walking before us, almost as if they were showing us the way we were to go.

As the Son shines upon you this week, take careful notice to where the shadows fall.  Yes, there are some scary ones in life.  But many times, they are merely a very simple reminder of His guidance and the fact that He is always walking ahead of us, preparing the way.  Don’t be scared of the “dark” shadows.  Shadows can ONLY appear with the LIGHT shining!  Oh, ain’t God good?!

Just a thought.

By Brad Campbell –

Just a thought to help start your week.

My wife and I were equally amazed at all the beautiful sunrises and sunsets we were able to experience while on our cruise to Alaska and back.  The colors of the light reflecting across the waves of the water were incredible.  We took time to pose and take “selfies” with several of those picturesque scenes.  Then, there was this one morning…

I was awake first, grabbed my phone to capture yet another sunrise photo, and looked out our window.  Nothing.  I could see absolutely nothing beyond the railing of the balcony.  It was as if the world had completely disappeared from sight.  The fog was so dense that visibility was nil to none.  Every few minutes all day long until late afternoon, we heard the ship’s fog horn sounding.  It was a strange and eerie feeling, but we were at the mercy of the ship and the skills of the ship’s captain and crew to carry us through and beyond the fog.

So many of us wander this world as if in a fog.  We stagger through our days oblivious to the fact that prayerfully there are other days to come, there are other places to see, and there are definitely other people who need to hear about the love of Jesus!

We must put our absolute trust in the Lord above, the Captain of our life’s ship, as He carries us through life’s waters, across the horizon, and into a land of sunrises like we have never seen before!  Our responsibility is to carry on.  Share His love.  Remind others of the purpose for the continuing fog horn — to lead us to safety, warning the world to get out of our way.

When you get up in the morning and you are so foggy you can’t see how you’ll make it through the day, place your trust in the One Who has all control.  The fog horn may be an eerie sound, but it’s a fantastic reminder that we are being safely transported through a painfully foggy world to the other side!  Don’t worry about what you can’t see out there.  It doesn’t matter as long as He is in control.

Just a thought.

By Brad Campbell –

Just a thought to help start your week.

Have you ever completely disconnected from the “real” world for a bit?  Have you ever been in a place where the phone signals were poor to non-existent, the work load was left at home, and you were around absolutely nobody you knew?  My wife and I had the awesome privilege of doing that very recently.

Firstly, let me say that I love what I get to do, I love my friends and family fiercely, and I love to stay connected.  But there is just something about getting to lay it all down for a bit that seems to revive the soul.  In the Alaskan town of Sitka, my wife and I enjoyed an hour or so of roaming the downtown streets before most the businesses were even open one morning.  As we walked near a pier and several fishing vessels, we were treated to the sight of a majestic eagle flying overhead.  The eagle soared above for a bit, then came down to sit and presumably watch for a fish breakfast in the water.

Of course, we snapped several pictures.  Just watching what appeared to be an older eagle preen himself and sit royally upon his perch for a while was amazing to us.  It wasn’t long before another one, the one you see atop the building, came swooping down to sit beside the first.  They squawked and hollered at each other, settling down only when the second one gave the first one some space and located several feet away instead.

The majesty of God’s creation came down to us.  We were in awe as we simply stood, watched, and listened for several minutes.  The Lord comes down in His majesty, His glory, His regalness and sits among us.  Are we amazed at His presence?  When you take time away from work and your day-to-day activities, do you invite the Lord along with you?

We traveled those few thousand miles fully expecting to see the glory of God, and that we did, especially in His creation.  Maybe you can’t lay down all your responsibilities and escape town right now, but this I guarantee you — You can lay it all down at the feet of Jesus.  Give Him your busy schedule, your unending list of responsibilities, your ideas of how it must all get done today.  Give it to Him, and let Him come down to you – because He will – and bring you the peace for which you’ve longed.

You might not see an eagle this week, but you can see the Lord at work, if only you’ll put the other distractions to the side and put your focus above.

Just a thought.

By Ryan Kelly –

You don’t often see an inspirational quote drawn from the Book of Lamentations, but that is exactly what I’m offering to you today. After the conquest of Israel and Judah by Babylon and the exile of the Israelites, the author (likely Jeremiah) expresses his deep pain over the Lord’s affliction on the people and the punishment for their turning away from Him.

Yet even in the midst of Jeremiah’s grief, there is hope. Lamentations 3:19–26 declares: “I remember my affliction and my wandering, the bitterness and the gall. I well remember them, and my soul is downcast within me. Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, ‘The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.’ The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.”

Here, the lament of the author pauses to express hope in the future. Hope is what motivates us each day, particularly in times of pain and hardship. Life can be difficult, and at times it may feel as though there is no end to the race we are running. But if we run with endurance and stay on God’s narrow path, we can cling to the assurance of the Lord’s great faithfulness to us.

So as you face the challenges of this week, may you be strengthened by the reminder that God’s mercies are new every morning and His faithfulness never fails. Hold fast to hope, for the Lord is with you.