By Brad Campbell –

Just a thought to help start your week.

Let me describe this creature to you.  It has six legs.  Each of those legs has claws.  This creature has four wings.  It has three eyes with simple lenses, but it also has two more very large eyes, each of which contain some 30,000 (thirty thousand!) lenses.  Flying with its four wings, this creature has the ability to catch its prey in mid-air, using those claws.  Then it uses its jaws to rip off the head of its catch, and then devours it — all without ever landing on the ground.

The creature I’ve described sounds like it belongs in one of those old 1940’s black-and-white “horror” movies that are almost too funny to watch nowadays.  It sounds like something that might even be in some science fiction movie hitting the theaters later this year.  It sounds horrific.  It sounds like a dragon!  Or a fly?!  Is it either, or is it both?

The dragonfly is, of course, one of God’s amazing creations.  According to scientists, the dragonfly has been around as long as this earth has existed.  It sounds terrifying, but it looks so innocent and unalarming.  

The things the devil throws into our paths daily can seem equally innocent and unalarming.  But look closer.  The Bible reminds us that Satan is roaming about, seeking whom he may devour!  He wants to chew us up alive.  The devil buzzes through our lives, catching us unaware sometimes.  He uses his claws to rip us apart and try to do away with us.  He watches our every move.  And yet, the devil has only the strength that God allows him to have.

God’s eyes are stronger!  God’s arms are stronger!  God’s grasp on me is stronger!  Satan just wants to get his hands on me.  God protects and loves me and keeps me in the palm of His great hand!

Dragon or fly?  Does it matter?  It’s a dragonfly.  It’s name says it all.  Satan would have us think that his name is strong, too.  Oh, but the Name of God Almighty is greater than any other name!  God’s eyes are on my every move this week!  I’m so thankful that even with the evil of this world watching me, God’s watch care over me is all I need!  His eyes are all that matter.  His grasp is what I long for.  Don’t become the prey of the devil this week.  Pray him away.  God is watching, and He is waiting for your call.

Just a thought.

By Brad Campbell –

Just a thought to help start your week.

Each warm evening at our house recently we have been the honored guests of a large and loud private concert.  I’ve seen and heard my fair share of musicians and performers through the years, but this particular lineup is unlike any other group I’ve ever witnessed.

There are no specific musical instruments such as guitars or drums or even a keyboard.  There are no violins or cellos or cymbals.  And for those of you who know where I live, I’m not even talking about the sometimes window-rattling car stereo ‘music’ that wafts over our direction from the city park.  I’m talking about the critters, as Elly May Clampett would call them.

There are frogs like this one that attached itself to our back door.  There are crickets and many other such vocalizing creatures as well.  They all seem to sound off at the same time and are often louder than the television which is just a few feet inside that same door.  It is indeed a lovely sound.

And in that lovely sound, I wonder what is being said.  Are they speaking to each other, are they simply discussing the events of their day, or are they setting an example for each of us?  Are they singing the praises of their Creator?  Are they somehow, in their own way, giving glory to God?

It doesn’t matter that it sounds like noise to us.  It doesn’t matter that it seems like it drones on for hours and drowns out every other sound nearby.  It doesn’t matter.  What matters is that those frogs and crickets and their friends are fulfilling their God-designed roles in the overall scheme of things.  

Many days I fear we gripe and complain and fuss and waste the time we could be praising our Creator.  We make nothing but noise – a clanging cymbal.  But those bugs and critters are making anything but noise!  They are singing their voices out to the best of their ability.  They are making a joyful noise and singing a righteous racket.  A beautiful example that all of God’s ‘critters’ should follow!

Just a thought.

By Brad Campbell –

Just a thought to help start your week.

This is a beautiful fish living in a tank in a children’s museum that we visited a few years ago.  The word ‘fish’ is a word that can become different things.  First of all, it can be a noun – a thing.  For instance, the fish lives in that big tank.  But if I tell someone that I’m going down to the pond to fish, the word becomes a verb – a word that implies action on my part.  To fish is to hook a worm or some such bait on a hook attached to a line on a pole, with the anticipation of catching something.

Then, if I catch some fish when I go to fish, and my house smells fishy when I cook them, the word has become an adjective – ‘fishy.’  Of course, if I catch no fish, nothing is fishy.  I’m just not good at it!  

The Bible tells us that we are to be fishers of men.  Fishermen catch fish.  Fishers of men are those who work to introduce others into the body of Christ.

I enjoy sitting and watching the fish and other creatures that live in those big aquarium tanks.  Sometimes, like in this picture, a fish will even pause to watch me.  I wonder what he sees in me.

As a Christian who is to be a fisher of men, are we casting our nets out into the deep expecting a large catch?  Are we using the correct bait of Scripture and Godly example to bring them in?  Are we feeding the fish the necessary nutrients in order to help them grow?  OR, are we content to sit on the bench and just watch the fish?

Watching can be fun.  It can be quite entertaining.  I used to love to sit with my Dad’s mother on the bench in the Memphis mall and watch people.  But just watching doesn’t get me as involved as I need to be.  I must tend to my nets.  I need to make sure my line is untangled and that my rod and reel are in good working order.  I will never be perfect at it, but I don’t have to be.  I’m simply to be obedient and go fish.

When you played that card game with your kids or grandkids and you didn’t have the particular picture they were looking for, your response was always, “go fish!”  That’s God’s two-word challenge to each of us this week.  Go fish.  Try breaking it down into two assignments.  Go.  Fish.  And ask yourself if you only ‘go’ and aren’t taking the call to ‘fish’ importantly enough.

Go fish!

Just a thought.

Just a thought to help start your week.

This sign is one that my father-in-law put up on this tree just down the dirt road from their house many years ago.  At the edge of their property, it obviously warned folks that there was to be “no hunting.”  However, as one might guess, there indeed was a lot of hunting that went on in those woods.  

Many a night we sat at their dining table eating deer steak and gravy made from the spoils of one of my father-in-law’s own hunts out there.  (And don’t forget those cat-head biscuits!)  His sign warned that there was to be no hunting, yet he was doing exactly what he warned others not to do.

The point for him, of course, was that it was his property.  He could hunt out there all he wanted, but there were not to be any trespassers attempting to head into those woods thinking they could do the same.  It was his, he made the rules, and others were to stand by those rules.

Do you ever catch yourself questioning God’s rules in your life?  We twist and turn His commands and live as though they were just suggestions.  We don’t understand the dangers out there in the world, so we attempt to go and do as we please, ignoring His warnings to us.

Yes, His Word includes a lot of “do nots,” but every one of them is for our benefit.

Trespassers hunting on my in-law’s property could have faced the danger of being shot at themselves, had he been out there carefully listening for a deer to rustle the underbrush nearby.  You see, his signs weren’t there just for him.  That “no hunting” sign was also meant to serve as a protection to anyone reading it – to keep them safe from harm.

We may not (and hopefully will not) ever know all the dangers from which God has kept us.  But if we will simply obey His warnings, remain on His path in our life, and quit focusing so much on the woodsy treks of others, life’s travels would be so much easier.  His Word has been “posted.”  Are we paying attention?

Just a thought.

By Brad Campbell –

Just a thought to help start your week.

I don’t know how many of you are military or war enthusiasts.  I’m not really, but I do find certain aspects interesting, such as battlefields, cannons, and relics of past conflicts.  What you see in my picture this week is an object that is described as follows – “A buoyed mine found on the beach of the Cotentin peninsula in Normandy in January 1987.  The mine was anchored by a cable to a sinker on the sea bed and lurked two metres below the surface so that it would be hit by a passing ship.”

I took that picture in a World War II museum in Normandy.  That mine had lain below the surface of the waters of the English Channel for over thirty years before being discovered, raised, and displayed.  

You see from the description above that these unexploded mines would basically float just two metres (meters) below the surface of the water.  That’s just about six and a half feet for us English folks.  Barely the distance of a tall man.  The potential to destroy ships and vessels filled with soldiers was as close as the height of one man!  And it lurked just out of sight below the surface.

As you travel the highways, byways, and waterways of your life this week and every week, you need not travel in fear, for the Lord has His hands upon us.  However, we do need to travel with awareness of the potential dangers that lurk so very close to us and those we love.

The only distance between you and utter and complete disaster may simply be the distance of one person.  One person and their negative destructive personality and luring lifestyle may be all it takes to bring your good existence to an explosive end.

As well, there may only be that same short distance between you and peace time, free from war.  Just One.  You can travel the rest of your days with danger lurking so very close, and it may never explode.  It may just float there for the rest of your days.  Then one unsuspecting afternoon, as you meander back through the memories of your past wars and battles, you’ll see the enormous disaster that never took place, simply because of the One in Whose trust you placed your life.

Whatever lies below the surface, even if you never see it, can be entrusted to the God who calms the seas and wants to fight all your battles for you.  Trust Him, and travel safely.

Just a thought.

By Brad Campbell –

Just a thought to help start your week.

I’ve always been a fan of zoos.  When my siblings and I were young, we made many trips to the Memphis Zoo and always had a wonderful time roaming around watching the animals.  My own kids have visited that zoo, the National Zoo, Birmingham Zoo, Gulf Coast Zoo, and I’m sure others, including the zoo-like Animal Kingdom at Disney World, where I snapped this picture of a snacking rhinoceros.  

Part of what makes a zoo a fun place to visit is that you can get fairly up close and personal with dangerous animals, unusual ones, and endangered species, most of which you would never have an opportunity to see elsewhere.  And, each one is safely behind a fence, glassed case, or walled enclosure.  

A rhinoceros such as this one would pose great danger to a human in the wild.  However, kept at a distance from people, these and other amazing creatures that could otherwise cause great harm are somewhat docile and exciting to watch.

In being called to be “in the world and not of the world,” we as Christians continue to see all those dangers, temptations, problems, and man-eating disasters, but we can remain out of harm’s way if we stay behind the barriers and heed the warnings.  You see, there’s no reason God’s people can’t live a magnificent life if we stay on the path He’s created for us, keep away from obvious dangers, and focus on the beauty of His creation.

As Satan continues to roam about this world, “seeking whom he may devour,” remember that he observes no boundaries, he remains behind no enclosures, and he is always ready to pounce.  It’s up to us to stay at a distance from him and his little imps.  We must pay attention to the warnings in God’s Word, and be ever mindful of the dangers of this world.  Sometimes we look evil directly in the face, and all we see is a cute creature chewing its afternoon snack, when in reality, it has the potential to pose a much greater threat of danger.

Watch for the animals of this world.  In the mean time, watch, look, and listen.  But don’t feed the beasts.

Just a thought.

By Brad Campbell –

Just a thought to help start your week.

My wife and I very recently spent a few days on the Alabama Gulf Coast with all three daughters and one of their hubbies, and we had a grand time exploring, taking in some sights, relaxing on the beach, eating some good meals, and enjoying the available activities and shows.  One of those shows was a very nice dancing demonstration by the Pow Wow Club of the Poarch Band of Creek Indians, one of whom you see here.  The extravagancy of their costumes seems to ‘hide’ all the cruelty of life that they may have experienced.

Both my father and my mother can claim descendancy from Native American Indians.  My sister and her pastor husband minister to large groups of Choctaw Indians in the Mississippi counties where my sister also works with those children in their school system.  A vast majority of these folks live at and below the poverty line.

My first college roommate was a member of the South Alabama Mowa Band of Indians.  He was raised by and lived with his grandparents, and he struggled with school and soon dropped out, largely due to the expense of it all.

All of these images remind me, and I hope they will remind you, that pain and difficulties run deep for so many people.  Oppression has hit most people groups, races, and ethnicities at times.  Yet with the opportunities that today’s world offers, it remains difficult for many of us to understand the hurts in others.

The chanting during those Indian dances was beautiful to hear, but there was a melancholy moaning, almost a wailing, in the sound of their voices – cries of difficult days past.  However, as the Pow Wow Club spokesman told the crowd that afternoon, they look forward to the future as they pray to The Creator for wisdom and His guidance!  

Oh, today won’t you put on your best garb, if even just spiritually speaking, and dance like nobody’s watching.  Worship The Creator.  Give Him the glory for bringing you through your past, praise His name for the blessings of today, and ask Him to grant you wisdom and guidance for your tomorrow!  Remember that we aren’t here just to entertain the crowds.  We are here to make an everlasting difference.  Folks are watching.  Dance!

Just a thought.

By Brad Campbell –

Just a thought to help start your week.

Do you ever have one of those weeks where you feel like you meet yourself coming and going?  Most of us do at times.  We have schedules full of self-imposed deadlines, events, meetings, yard work, etc.  Life gets hectic.  But we make it through those days and keep right on going.

The very busy intersection you see in my picture is right in the heart of Paris.  Of course the traffic and directional signs are all written in French, so they were not readily discernable to us.  However, I never once (in Paris or here at home) have seen a traffic sign to describe what you see here.  You can easily see vehicles of all sizes going at least three different directions all in the same place at the same time.

This was fascinating to me, because even those large tour buses were squeezing through the oncoming traffic to make their way across this crazy intersection.  As far as I could tell, it was well organized chaos.  Yet, the drivers of these many vehicles didn’t seem fazed by it at all.  It was their ‘normal.’

Some people experience a ‘normal’ very similar to this traffic.  Perhaps your week can be described, too, as well organized chaos.  Yet, you get things done and arrive where you need to be.  For others, a ‘normal’ week would be a scene quite the opposite of this one, in which the days are entirely too quiet, the traffic too sparse, and the hours too long.

As you run the ragged race set before you in the week ahead, just be aware that what is ‘normal’ to you can be frightening to someone else.  Take the time to love on your neighbors.  In the middle of that crazy traffic scene, we pedestrians still had the right-of-way at the crosswalks, and all traffic from all directions stopped to allow us to pass.

The world may not stop to allow you to get through your days, but walking together, hand-in-hand if only symbolically, certainly makes crossing those crazy roads much easier.  May the crazy traffic in the roads of your week ahead part and allow our journeys to be a good one – together.

Just a thought.

By Brad Campbell –

Just a thought to help start your week.

An eyesore of a building has been bulldozed in my town.  Those familiar with where I live will perhaps recognize what’s left of the old structure.  The rest of you will need help identifying it.  I stood in the street and took a picture of what remained, although even this is gone now.  

This building was once our county’s health department.  I remember taking my oldest daughter into this building to meet the highway department official who would administer her driving test.  The basement level once housed the offices of our district attorney and his staff.  I’m also told that some fifty years ago, a weight watchers group met down there.  Most recently, the building housed our county commissioners’ offices.  Good things once happened there.

The structure has been abandoned for quite some time.  It had its problems, but it was a mainstay.  Some were disappointed that it took so long to be taken down.  Others offered their own opinions and/or solutions.  It seems that old building hung on for as long as it could.  Now, it stands no more.

I wonder how many days you might, too, feel like an empty shell of a building.  At one time, you were full of energy, spirit, excitement, happiness, and potential.  But, you’ve allowed Satan to take those things away from you.  You have felt as if the town – the world – would look and be so much better off without you.

I dare say we all have felt the repercussions of suicide in our communities and perhaps in our own families.  Maybe you have battled those demons in your own life.  Please stop to remember that without you, there is only a hole where you once stood.  Think of all those who would love to help you recover the excitement and joy in your life that once roamed those halls.  Before you take the drastic step of taking a bulldozer to what God created, reach out with all you are and all you have to someone you trust.  Feasible solutions to your difficulties can be found.  

That particular street in our town doesn’t even look the same now.  Don’t dare give the world a chance to experience life without you.  There’s only one you, created by the Master for good.  Cry out to Him.  Call out to me or anyone else you can find.  Call off the bulldozer.  Let’s sit and work out another solution.  I love you.  God loves you.  And this world is a better place with you in it!

(Post script – In all the years of writing these ‘thoughts’ I’ve never taken up this subject.  And I’ve never added words as an addendum.  But I am now.  If this message doesn’t hit home with you, please share it with someone you know and love who is having a difficult time.  We never know just how much hurt lies deep inside someone’s heart, mind, and soul.  The national suicide/crisis hotline number is 1-800-273-TALK or simply dial 988, or go to 988lifeline.org)

Just a thought.

By Brad Campbell –

Just a thought to help start your week.

This picture is of a bath tub.  It is a normal, albeit old style, bath tub.  It is brown, of normal size and normal shape.  So what makes this tub any different from any other tub you’ve ever seen?

My wife and I were on a road trip nearly two years ago during which we drove through several states in the eastern U.S.  We stopped wherever we wanted.  Did some sightseeing.  Ate at some places we don’t have near home.  Each evening, we talked about what we had done and where we had been, and we mapped out the next day’s tentative plans.  As we crossed the Pennsylvania state line, driving west to east, my wife realized our chosen route would take us within thirty miles or so of the town of Hershey, made famous, of course, because of the great work of Mr. Milton Hershey and his beloved chocolate factory.  So we detoured.

We managed to find a hotel room right on Hershey Way, ate a nice dinner, and the next morning took an interesting tour of the Hershey museum and factory.  Their gift shop will go down in history as the largest candy store I’ve ever seen.  (Yes, we came home with a bunch!)  But in our tour of that place, we were able to see how the milk chocolate production was done in years past versus today’s more mechanized methods.

The old tub you see here was used to carry molten chocolate.  These tubs on wheels were pushed by factory workers from one station to another in the chocolate making process.  This old bath tub is different because of what was inside it!

Christian, I suggest that we are the same as that old tub.  We may look like the others around us.  We may have similar shape, size, and color.  We may even get around in a similar manner.  But we contain something the world does not — the Holy Spirit.  And He can put a ‘coating’ or ‘flavor’ on our lives like nothing else ever could.

I’m glad we made that slight detour that day.  I’m blessed and thankful that what I am privileged to carry with me every day I live is by far the biggest and best thing I’ve ever possessed – the love and forgiveness of Almighty God.

This week, encourage someone who has never met the Lord to taste and see that He is good!

Just a thought.