By Brad Campbell –

The photo that shows a fence row in the foreground was made in the countryside of Sumter County, AL, near the town of Gainesville.  It shows simple yellow flowers, probably weeds, but beautiful.  The other photo, with the green pasture in the background, was made in the countryside of France.  It shows a field of canola, from which we get canola oil.  Both fields are bright and beautiful, but they are in quite different places and serve quite different purposes.

Take a moment, or longer if necessary, to look at those ever-so-familiar coworkers and friends around you this week.  They may look very similar, but they may be in a very different place.  What I mean is this – We never know what another person is really going through.  Be kind.  Be patient.  Be compassionate.  Love your neighbor as yourself this week.  All may seem bright and wonderful on the outside, but they may be going through (and growing through) some very different dirt.

Shine brightly for those around you this week, knowing that we all grow in different places.

Just a thought.

By Ryan Kelly –

“The purpose of creation was for God to be glorified by man being created in His image. The purpose of salvation is for God to be gloried by the rebirth of man in the image of Jesus.” This quote from Dr Darryl Craft reflects a study from John Piper on Isaiah 43 and is one of the more impactful analysis of the purpose of creation that I have heard in a while.

God has always had a plan for each of us, and this plan always comes back to the glorification of himself. Whether your life is going well, or you are facing struggles or concerns, remember that God will never leave you or forsake you. You are part of His purpose and plan. You have not been forgotten, but rather you are meaningful to your creator because you reflect His glory. Stay close to Him, and you will stay in His will.

By Brad Campbell –

Just a thought to help start your week.

We are just coming off of a beautiful Easter weekend.  Many folks were in our churches to celebrate and to remember the great gift of love that Jesus gave through His shed blood on the cross.  Perhaps that word – “remember” – sums it up the best.  Because as we remember, we focus on what took place.

This photo comes from one of our D.C. trips several years ago.  It is a wall of remembrances hand-decorated by children and lining an open wall space inside the Smithsonian’s Holocaust Museum.  But why would anyone want to remember the holocaust or 9-11 or any other horrific tragedy in the past?

I think the answer is that we need to remember.  Even if we weren’t physically there, we need to remember the pain of those events.  We need to remember the anguish, the terror, the disgust, and the tears.  Only when we remember the pain do we remember the One Who takes away the pain!

Easter is about remembering the pain, anguish, and certainly the great love of the One Who took all of my sins upon His shoulders so that I could live.

Remember.  We must remember.  The world needs to hear us tell of His work in our lives, His blessings upon our families, and His watchcare over our every living moment.  We weren’t physically at the cross when He died, but we were all represented and accounted for!

Look ahead, planning your week and doing what must be done.  But be careful to also remember the pain of your yesterdays and celebrate the One Who continues to bring you through.

Just a thought.

By Brad Campbell –

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

Multnomah Falls, the tallest waterfall in the state of Oregon, is much more breathtaking than my photo can possibly portray to you.  It is an absolutely beautiful place to see and behold for yourself, and I highly recommend doing so if you are ever traveling the Columbia River Gorge bordering Oregon and Washington.

Isn’t that the case with nearly anything else you could photograph in God’s great creation?  It must be seen and experienced for oneself, because a photo or description just doesn’t do it justice.

Now put that same thought into the greatness of what God the Father has prepared for His children one day – a mansion on a hilltop in a land that John had such difficulty describing in the book of Revelation.  Beauty beyond what can be explained with our finite minds and vocabularies.

In a very uncertain and ever-changing world, it ought to bring peace to the heart and a smile to the face of the child of God to know that even the most beautiful places we can experience here on this earth absolutely pale in comparison to the beautiful place waiting for us on the other side of the Jordan River.

Waterfalls that defy explanation.  Beauty beyond comprehension.  Just a couple of the many wonderful things I look forward to experiencing for myself.  How about you?

Just a thought.

By Brad Campbell –

Just a thought to help start your week.

Petrified.  What does that word mean to you?  Scared and terrified?  Hard as rock and very old?

This petrified tree is on the campus of the University of Southern Mississippi.  The school has incorporated it into their landscape, even paving their sidewalks around the tree.

One who is afraid to go on, terrified of what’s next, or fearful of the unknown circumstances of tomorrow might become petrified.  As such, that person is then difficult to budge, firmly planted in their fears.  Not all fears are unfounded, of course, but they do not have to weigh us down until we become unmovable.  If just a mustard seed’s worth of faith can move a mountain, then surely it couldn’t take that much to loose the fear of a petrifying situation.

Identify the things that scare you or worry you this week.  Those things may not ever completely go away, but we can learn to make our paths around them, going on about our lives, learning from our fears and moving ahead.

Take whatever petrifies you and turn it into a place to sit and enjoy God’s beauty and provision in your life.  Be thankful for even the fears, because they make us strong.

Just a thought.

By Brad Campbell –

Just a thought to help start your week.

It is a glorious Monday morning yet again.  The birds are chirping.  The sun is shining.  And all the temptations you felt this morning to cover up your head and stay in the bed were also felt by most of the rest of us.

This creature (either ugly or cute, depending on your hate-’em or love-’em attitude) was caught staring into a low window at the back of our house one evening.  It’s an opossum — or as most of us call it, a possum.  Strange creatures, they were even once described in the very early 1600’s by John Smith and his secretary as having a head like a swine, a tail like a rat, and being as big as a cat.

One thing that makes the possum interesting is it’s ability to “play possum”.  When threatened or faced with some sort of danger, it curls up and pretends to be asleep, much like you were tempted to do this morning.  But, alas, just playing possum doesn’t make the world go away.  We only close our eyes to the opportunities around us.

Instead of giving in to the temptation to “play possum”, keeping our distance from the world, we should remember there are hurting people all around us who need to see a smile.  Ok, maybe our smile is goofy and scary like that of the possum, but at least it’s a smile!  Be bold, be brave, meet the world head on this week.

Just a thought.

By Brad Campbell –

Just a thought to help start your week.

Depending on where you live, you have experienced any number of the following in the last week or so — rain and flooding, tornadoes, 80+ degrees, snow and ice, and pollen counts that make the head spin.  But regardless of that, it’s hard to deny that it seems as if Spring is already in the air.  The trees and flowers are already beautiful, and February isn’t even over yet.

Animals are scurrying about, including this little guy – a brightly colored lizard of some kind.  The deer filling my driveway each night seem to know that hunting season is over.  Turtles are venturing up from their winter homes on pond’s bottom to sun themselves once more.  Daffodils are blooming everywhere, and the flowering Bradford pear trees and Japanese tulips have been gorgeous.

And then, we remember that ugly little rodent called a ground hog.  It recently reminded us that Winter isn’t over yet.  And so it isn’t.  March has not yet begun.  But isn’t it wonderful to see how the world comes to life this time each year?!

A new week can be just as exciting, if we let it.  Think about your week ahead.  Maybe you don’t see any brightness blooming in your future.  Well, you just might be the one who needs to be responsible for making your little world brighter!  Make a difference this week.  Even the smallest brightly colored lizards can bring a smile to someone’s face.  Shine brightly.  The world needs it!

Just a thought.

By Brad Campbell –

Tis the season for the geese.  Or at least it is at my house.  Canadian geese visit the pond behind our house yearly.  They usually come in pairs, but here you see just one lone goose standing at the water’s edge.  One lone goose.  Alone?  Yes.  But lonely?  I’m not sure.  However, because I know they are usually in pairs, I took notice of this one standing alone.

People need companionship.  We were not created to be left alone.  We need the love and support from our neighbors and friends, and they, in turn, need ours.  Sure, we all need some alone time, but we need the companionship even more.

This morning, I read of a gentleman who was just found in his home.  The police reported that he had been deceased for a “few years”!  His own neighbor stated that he had not seen the man in two years and would not have checked on him if the deceased gentleman’s nephew had not called to ask him to do so.  In two years, no family or neighbors had checked on this man.  What a sad thing to happen.

God brings people to our minds for a reason.  Check on them.  Visit them.  Send a card, an email, a “thinking of you” note of some kind.  We are to love our neighbor as ourselves.  Be a good neighbor this week.  If you don’t, who will?

Just a thought.

By Ryan Kelly –

There are thousands of Christian churches across the US, and millions of people that claim the name of Jesus. However, it’s my belief that only a small number of these churches and believers are following a genuine example of what God tells us is His model for the church in Acts 2.

Let’s take a look at this church model, which formed shortly after thousands came to the saving faith in Jesus following Pentecost:

“They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.”

‭‭Acts‬ ‭2:42-47‬ ‭

A Biblical church does several key things:

1. Fellowships with each other

2. Love’s each other

3. Worships the Lord together in one place (i.e. A church building)

4. Shares individual resources to help one another

5. Witnesses to non believers and guides them to salvation through Jesus

Are you lacking in any of these areas? Are you helping fellow brothers and sisters in need? Are you attending church each Sunday and spending quality time with fellow believers with meals and/or small groups?

If you are, great! If you are not, there is good news. Today is a new day and a new opportunity. You can take steps at being a quality member of the body of Christ for the glory of the Lord.

If I or anyone with the American Christian Association can help you to better understand how to follow an Acts 2 style church, please reply to this post or contact us anytime.

Together, we can be THE CHURCH. Let’s help each other to follow the model that God has given us and make a profound step at building Gods kingdom in our great nation.

Contact us at communications@myamericanchristian.org

By Brad Campbell –

Isn’t it wonderful when our week clicks right along without any distractions?  If you are like me, distractions come and go throughout the course of the normal day.  Sometimes those distractions are just that — things that take us away from the necessary task at hand and that prevent us from focusing on what is most important.  But sometimes those distractions are meant to take us away from the everyday take-it-for-granted routines and make us see or spend time with something (or even someone) else.

This beaver dam didn’t just pop up over night.  This structure likely appeared gradually and then grew in size over the course of several days or even weeks until what began as a small interruption in the water’s flow has now brought the flow to a complete stop.  But this beaver dam – this hindrance, if you will – has also done something else.  It has created two resting pools of water where insect populations now thrive.  These insects have attracted more birds, more frogs, and more turtles into the habitat.  Each creature is now depending on another to help sustain its existence.

All of this activity – all of this life – began with the introduction of one hindrance.  As you begin a new week, greet your hindrances with an appreciation for what new things or people they may be bringing into your life.  Enjoy the hindrances.  Those very things that “block” your progress today may very well be keeping you from some greater harm further down stream.

Just a thought.