By Brad Campbell –

Just a thought to help start your week.

Did you study another language in school?  Have you had the opportunity to befriend someone who speaks a different language?  If you have, then you probably are more appreciative of their background, heritage, or homeland.

In high school, I had a friend who was studying French.  By listening to him, I learned a few phrases, none of which I actually used when I visited France, though!  In college, I had a friend from Turkey.  His language and foods were fascinating and enjoyable.  Our Chinese friends locally have allowed us to see how the love of Jesus is working through them and through their family members at home.  All of these have been opportunities to love others as God sees and loves them.

Take a look at my picture this week.  You probably have no problem reading the Bible verse on the left side, but what about the one on the right?  I tried.  I read it aloud at my sister’s house at Christmas.  When I finished, she responded with, “Well, I recognized a couple of those words.”  She wasn’t complimenting my usage of the language.  She knows those words.  I obviously didn’t.  My sister and her pastor husband work with and minister to the people of the Choctaw Indian reservation in central Mississippi.  This Bible is my brother-in-law’s English/Choctaw translation.

I didn’t do well at reading those Choctaw words of John 3:16.  But those words will no-doubt bring love, joy, and comfort to those who know the language.

If we are to meet the needs of the people around us, we must know their language.  That may mean speaking differently, approaching them differently, being more patient, and lovingly encouraging the lost around us to come to know the language of the Lord – LOVE.

There was a phrase that our supervisor used frequently when I worked with the welfare system, and it’s a phrase that a Sunday School teacher or two uses from time to time in our church.  It is simply this — “People will never care how much you know, until they know how much you care.”

Part of caring for the lost is learning how to speak to them.  Beating them over the head with the Word and telling them they’re lost will generally not be nearly as effective as living the Word in front of them and showing them, as Sandi Patty sang, “Love in Any Language.”

Just a thought.

By Brad Campbell –

Just a thought to help start your week.

Just the other day I picked up the necessary ingredients, got busy in the kitchen, and worked diligently to stir up a batch of old-fashioned homemade fudge.  I measured everything precisely.  I followed the directions to the letter.  I stirred constantly.  I did everything I was supposed to do.

It wasn’t long before the wonderful aroma of the thick hot chocolate mixture filled the house.  It smelled great.  I finished the product, poured it into the prepared pan, and waited.  And waited.  And waited.  And waited some more.  I finally gave up on seeing the gooey stuff set up, I covered it, and put it in the fridge for the night.

The next morning I retrieved the pan full of the prettiest looking fudge you’ve ever seen.  I tried cutting it, and it just oozed back together.  It never set up.  So much for taking it to a family gathering that day.  I began texting my sister asking for her opinion and helpful hints.  First of all, this was not my first fudge rodeo.  However, the results had always been the same.  Beautiful to look at.  Wonderful to smell.  But never set up like it should.

My sister’s kind suggestion was to just pour it in a jar, call it “spoon fudge,” and pretend I meant for it to be like that!  So I took her advice, and the jar you see here is the result.

This year is very quickly coming to an end (or may have already, depending on when you see this).  The brand new year of 2024 is appearing with all of its possibilities and promises of a grander tomorrow.  So my point to this rambling is simply this — 

Maybe 2023 didn’t turn out like you meant for it to.  Maybe you believe you did everything just right.  You followed His direction, you did everything you could to make sure all was right.  And yet, it still didn’t set right.  Maybe the year looked beautiful, but you feel fooled by how it turned out.  My advice to you is to just pour it in a jar, call it something else delicious, and pretend you meant for it to be that way.

The nice thing about my “failed” fudge is that it tastes absolutely delicious!  A spoonful of the delectable treat will make you want for more.  It’s all in your perspective.  I could have dumped the “mistake” and started over or even given up completely.  Instead, I came up with a wonderful result, even if it was unintentional.  

Maybe 2023 hasn’t come together like you hoped.  Aw, fudge!  Maybe, just maybe you need to take a different look at it, grab yourself a spoon, and just enjoy the fruits (or fudge) of your labors!  You may find that it has turned out so much better than it could have!

Just a thought.

By Brad Campbell –

Just a thought to help start your week.

Deer – 1.  Truck – 0.  That was the score one particular night a week or so ago as my wife and I were driving home from her sister’s house.  We had recently seen many deer in separate places along a highway route nearby.  But this night, we were traveling along a different highway, headlight beams on high because it was so dark.  I drove across the long bridge as I entered the town through which we were to pass, and standing there in the literal middle of the road was the proverbial “deer caught in the headlights.”

It was as if the creature and I locked gazes for a split second.  I could see the whites of its eyes as it stared at me in disbelief.  I swerved as much as I dared with the bridge bannisters still so close to us, and the beautiful four-legged animal NEVER MOVED!  I submit into evidence the photo of my driver’s-side headlight cover (what’s left of it).

I’ll pause here.  No creature was killed or maimed.  No blood was shed.  But, wow, what a noise a deer’s hard head can cause when it makes contact with a truck’s headlights at about fifty miles per hour.  Only then did the deer run off.  Only because I interrupted its sightseeing expedition did the thing decide to turn and run off the pavement.  Only after a swift whack to the head did the animal see the need to go elsewhere.

I can only speak for myself, but I seriously suspect that a great many of us are just as stubborn and hard-headed as that deer.  We stand our ground, feet planted firmly in places we have no business of being.  We stare into the darkness daring anyone or anything to try and move us.  We ignore the very real possibility of danger, calamity, or even death and refuse to back down.  Why?  – Because we think we know what’s best.

Had the deer listened to me yelling, “Move!,” it might have saved itself and my truck some pain.  If we would only listen to the Lord as we wander about the roads of this life, what dangers we might miss, what pain we might avoid, what “deer in the headlights” moments we might never experience.

This week, keep your stubborn self alert to the dangers that come your way.  And if you’re the one in the driver’s seat, pay attention to those others who are too stubborn to move.  Repairs can be made.  But if you can avoid the abrupt collision altogether, it makes for a better journey!

Just a thought.

By Brad Campbell –

Just a thought to help start your week.

Have you decorated your home for the Christmas season yet?  If so, you may have included, as we have, some nativity scenes.  Through the years I have collected many sets.  Each year I struggle to decide which favorites to display for that season.  In my picture this week, you see one that I have propped on the piano in our front room.  On a simple painted board are attached three shells that have been painted to resemble Mary, Joseph, and the Baby Jesus.

This one is very simple, yet very beautiful to me.  It shines.  And it’s a real picture of the true meaning for the season.  I purchased this particular homemade nativity from a display at a craft show of sorts last year.  The hands that made it were the same hands that sold it to me.

It’s just three shells, not unlike some you might find scavenging on the beach somewhere.  Those three simple shells are painted in simple plain colors.  Then they are attached to the board with some strong glue.  A gold star is then painted above them.  So simple.

The Christmas story is just as simple.  Jesus, born of the virgin Mary who was engaged to be married to Joseph, was born under no fanfare.  The inn was full.  The only place for them to bed down for the night was on the stable floor.  Then the Christ-Child was laid in a feeding trough.  No cheering.  No big blue “It’s A Boy!” wreath to hang on the stable door.  No baby shower.  No gifts of diapers or any of those necessities.  Just Mom, Dad, and that glorious Baby in a barn.

That Baby came to this world to offer us each a very simple gift – the gift of salvation.  He grew, He taught, He lived, and then He died a cruel death on a cross, shedding His blood for our sins so that we might know what true love really is.  It’s that simple.

A craftsman saw something in those simple shells.  The Great Craftsman sees something in your simple self.  You are His masterpiece.  It’s that simple.  He looks at you and sees something worth saving.  How do you see Him?  Look for Him in the simple things this Christmas season.

Just a thought.

By Brad Campbell –

Just a thought to help start your week.

Evil.  It fills our world.  It fuels the current disturbances in the Middle East and the attacks on Israel.  Evil is real.  Evil is prevalent.  Evil is in each one of us.

I took this photo at one of many displays in the National World War II Museum in New Orleans.  The two figureheads here are Mussolini and Hitler.  This picture represents pure evil itself.

But neither of these men started out this way.  They were born as little babies, just like we all are.  They were loved, rocked, probably read to and sung to.  And, they were taught.  Taught what?  Well, they were probably taught right from wrong.  They were probably taught to be kind to the other neighborhood boys and girls.  They were probably taught, and their parents probably hoped, they would turn out to be decent human beings.  So what happened?

Evil.  Sin.  They gave in to temptations at the whim of the devil.  They took the wrong path – that same wrong path that so many of our own friends and loved ones have taken – that same wrong path that we ourselves have traveled from time to time.  The difference is that Mussolini and Hitler stayed there.  

But by the grace of God, there go I.

We are just coming off of the Thanksgiving holidays, and we are heading full force into the Christmas season.  We concentrate on all that is good.  We are thankful for all that the Lord has done and has given.  We give Him praise for all the blessings.  And we certainly should.

But how many times do you thank the Lord for keeping you from the evil of this world?  How often do you stop to think how close you’ve come to walking in the same evil shoes that those two historical figures did?  

This week, don’t forget to thank the Lord for keeping you from the evil you never knew existed, the difficulties He headed off at the pass, the problems He blew in another direction away from you.  Know the evil.  Learn from what it has caused.  Then travel another direction and thank the Lord for His protection.

Just a thought.

By Brad Campbell –

Just a thought to help start your week.

Tis the season to be thankful.  Actually, that is an incredible statement.  We should be thankful all year long.  And, we should remember to express our thankfulness all year long as well.  I mentioned to my church family about the practice of going around the room or the dinner table at our Thanksgiving gatherings and each person taking a turn to tell something for which they are thankful.  While that’s an honorable and wonderful idea, I genuinely don’t care for it.  But, let me tell you why.

I am so very thankful for so very many things.  I have a wonderful, caring, and very patient wife-mate of nearly three and a half decades.  I have three grown children, and two of them are married.  Three of our four parents are still with us.  We live in a wonderful neighborhood in a good home.  I was raised by two Godly parents with the influence of Godly grandparents on each side.  I’ve had good jobs, good schooling, wonderful friends, and a loving Savior Who has given it all to me.

That’s the problem.  I have too many things for which to be thankful.  And I tend to be a pretty emotional person.  To ask me to vocalize my thankfulness is to expect my eyes to fill up and overflow, my throat to close up, and my heart to palpitate, because I simply cannot tell you how grateful I am without crying about the goodness of God.

The picture I’ve chosen to share with you is from a very old church building in the smoky mountains of Tennessee.  Simple old wooden pews.  If they could talk, they would tell story after story of the goodness of God and His abundant blessings upon His people.  Those old pews would speak of inspirational sermons, angelic music, and testimonies that would make your jaw drop.  Those simple old pews recognize the goodness and greatness of God to me.  They remind me how very fortunate I am to be where I am and to do what I do.  

My church family is like my own related family.  We love one another, support one another, and laugh and hurt with each other.  Pews represent to me friendship, companionship, cooperation, and blessings from above, because they are the seats of the ones I love.  — Just like the chairs around the Thanksgiving table hold the ones I love.

For what am I thankful?  I cannot begin to express.  I tear up just writing this.  Oh, I know.  If that moment comes this year when a family member suggests we go around the room and express something for which we are thankful, I actually think I have an answer this time.

I’m thankful for simple old pews.

Just a thought.

By Brad Campbell –

Just a thought to help start your week.

Have you been grocery shopping lately?  If so, then you may have experienced “sticker shock” similar to what you experienced the first time you bought a car.  Well, maybe I’m exaggerating a little bit, but surely you have noticed how expensive everything currently is.

Take a look at this newspaper clipping from Atlanta, Georgia, in the mid 1930’s.  Twenty-nine cents for an entire dozen eggs.  That same amount of money might get you 2 eggs in today’s market, if they’re on sale.  It’s amazing to look at these prices from about ninety years ago and see how things have changed.

Regardless of our age, I think everybody sometimes thinks of days gone by.  We dream of simpler times, cheaper groceries, and gasoline.  We wonder what happened.  Maybe we are finally beginning to appreciate what we or our parents and grandparents once had.  It was a tough life for so very many of them, and yet it seemed to make them stronger and more resilient to this old world’s problems and difficulties.

I can’t speak for you, but I’m getting older every day.  I don’t yet consider myself old, but I’m certainly past the half-way mark.  I look like it, and I feel like it.  But I am also very thankful, more and more so, for the life lessons and experiences my parents and grandparents shared with me.

They taught us to appreciate a good deal, to look for the sale in the store, and to look for the best in people.  They shared the love of Jesus and their love for one another, and for us.  

No doubt some folks perusing those grocery ads in the 1930’s were thinking the same things we are.  Prices were higher than ever, and the struggle was real.  And yet they marched along like the Christian soldiers we are called to be, and better days were ahead.

We can believe the same.  For the Christian, there will ALWAYS be better days, brighter days, greater days in our future.  So, while we’re here, we continue to grit our teeth, buy what we have to buy, and keep on keeping on, because that’s what every generation before us has done.

Longing for the better days?  Turn around.  The better days are ahead.  Trust Jesus to provide.

Just a thought.

By Brad Campbell –

Just a thought to help start your week.

Is it worth it?  I suppose that would depend on what your “it” is.

The picture you see here is one of my “smarter-than-me” watch.  It likes to tell me what to do some days.  As a matter of fact, on more than one occasion, it has buzzed my wrist just as I’m finished preaching my Sunday morning sermon to tell me to “Get up and move!”  It can be rather insulting at times.

The numbers you see on my watch indicate that I walked over ten miles that particular day, but I only burned enough calories to make up for a single candy bar.  Ten miles.  That’s much more than I normally walk in a day’s time.  That was a very busy day that involved two airports, some shopping, getting to and from transport points, and making it to our nightly accommodations.  I was bushed, tired, and achy.  And I only burned a thousand calories?!  

Makes you wonder why folks walk for exercise if that’s all the benefit they get.  Is it really worth it?  Well, of course, walking and exercise provide much more physical benefits than just the burning of calories.  Our heart, lungs, and other organs benefit.  Our mind benefits.  And, face it, our minds need all the help we can get in this age of dementia-related illnesses.

There may be other areas of your life in which you raise that same question – Is it worth it?

Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, endured a torture none of us will ever understand or comprehend.  Then He gave His life’s blood in a cruel death upon an old rugged cross so that we might experience everlasting life.  Was it worth it?  

Answer that question with this next question – Was I worth it?  He thought so.  

The next time you question the difficulties of this life and wonder if it’s worth it, just remember Who went through so much worse so you could have it this great.

You ARE worth it.  He said so.

Just a thought.

By Brad Campbell –

Just a thought to help start your week.

You might be saying today that you’ve had a tough time lately.  Perhaps your job has been difficult.  Maybe you’ve been involved in entirely too many extra activities.  Your days just don’t seem to have enough hours in them, and yet you also can’t get to the end of the day fast enough.  You are tired.  You are worn down.  You are exhausted.

So, the question is – how do you relax?  Is it a quiet moment in your recliner?  A particular kind of music on the radio?  Indulging in a favorite meal or snack?  A long shower or soak in the tub?  What about spending a little extra time with God?

When you come home tired and worn out, toward whom do you direct your words, your disgust, your exhaustion?  Are you blowing and going at your family members and those nearest and dearest to you, or are you taking all your cares to the Lord?

Sometimes the best thing you can do is to sit in the quiet.  No music, no conversation, no electronic devices (especially the cell phone), and no agenda.  Just sit.  Listen for God’s voice.  Take off your shoes and socks, roll up your pants, and stick both feet into an icy cold pool of water.  That’s exactly what the youngest daughter and I are doing in this photo after a long day of walking blisters upon our blisters.  We expected the little pool to be nice and warm.  Instead we felt the shock of the very cold water.  And it felt so good!  What we least expected was exactly what we needed!

True, some days are more difficult than others, but every single day is only twenty-four hours long.  We may all have different responsibilities, but we all have the same amount of time.  What do you do with yours?  Communion and communication with the Lord may be the least of what you expect after a long hard day, but it’s highly likely that it’s exactly what you need!

Had we not stopped at the pool that evening, we would have missed the experience of the soothing cold water on our worn out feet.  If you don’t stop and listen for the Lord, if you don’t include Him in your day’s agenda, you’ll miss out on His soothing touch that could make all the difference for you.

Sit.  Soak.  Shhhh.  It’s worth it, and so is He!

Just a thought.

By Brad Campbell –

Just a thought to help start your week.

I’ll start this by asking you to take a really good look at my picture here.  Are you sure you’re seeing what you’re seeing?  It’s a car.  It’s a boat.  It’s a carboat.  (I guess.)

My daughter and I were seated in a waterside restaurant awaiting our meal.  We were chatting and otherwise minding our own business when we both noticed this sight at the very same time.  Just beyond the wall of large windows near our table, a few folks were enjoying a boat ride.  Wait!  That’s not a boat!  It’s a car!  Everyone was watching by then.

I can’t explain that contraption except to say that if you are a Dick Van Dyke fan, then you quite possibly remember the old movie called “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang,” in which his character built a car that could float and also fly.  I didn’t see this car flying, but it was certainly floating.  Later, on dry ground, we saw the same car/boat and some of its counterparts sitting beside the dock like any regular car would.  Unusual, to say the least.  Interesting indeed.  And just plain odd.

Do you ever find the Christian walk to be somewhat of the same?  That is, unusual, interesting, or just plain odd?  I do.  

God is so good to me.  That’s not only interesting, it’s also odd.  I’m certainly not always good to Him.  He is patient with me, He never leaves me, He forgives me — and He does all this while I’m so very impatient waiting upon Him, I walk away from Him on a regular basis, and I can be so very unforgiveable.  How odd that He would care so much.

To walk the Christian walk is to sometimes feel as if you’re in a boat on a road or in a car on a lake.  You can’t explain it.  You see it, and it must be real.  Yet, it is mind boggling.  Nothing about being a blood-bought forgiven child of God makes sense to me.  But, it makes perfect sense to the Creator!

I’m sure that the person who dreamed up the car/boat was brilliant indeed and was focused on creating an unusual experience for tourists.  What an unusual ride this Christan life is.  But wherever it takes you this week, and whatever mode of transportation it entails, remember that the One Who died for you went through the most unusual, the most interesting, the most odd things for you.  He gave His life for you!  And if that’s not odd, I don’t know what is.  

Whether I’m odd or not, I’m thankful He’s driving my boat/car!