By Ryan Kelly –

For those that know me, they know that empathy is not necessarily my strong suit. I deeply love others and I have a big heart for those that are truly less fortunate or have had hardship fall on them. However, I also tend to be a bit cynical of what I hear and critical of those who I feel have created their own hardships through a series of poor decisions.

But, is this the right attitude to have? I really don’t think it is. If the Lord had this same attitude toward us as His children, I doubt our prayers would be answered and our needs would be met. So if God looks past our faults and failures and has a huge amount of grace and mercy on us, why should I not grant this to others as well? I think I should.

Many of you may not have an issue with this, and I am thankful for that. It is a blessing to have empathy towards others and to show the love of Jesus at all times. If you are like me and struggle with this from time to time, let’s work to make 2025 a year where our empathy shines and we go the extra mile to show the light and love of Jesus to everyone, even if their struggles are by their own doing. After all, isn’t that the case with all of us in some way?

“Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep” (Romans 12:15).

By Brad Campbell –

Just a thought to help start your week.

As my wife attended meetings and worked through the day, I walked two or three miles around the downtown Grand Rapids, Michigan, streets. As I walked and visited several churches in the area, which I’ve previously told you about, I walked up to this beautiful place. The grounds were immaculate. The flowers and plants were amazing. Obviously someone had worked very hard at maintaining their place of worship.

As I walked up to the front of the church, whom did I see, but Jesus Himself. Now, of course, this is just a statue, but it is a very nice representation of Christ our Savior and two young children, one in His lap and one standing beside them, seemingly awaiting his turn with the Master.
I was genuinely surprised to get to see this beautiful sculpture and to spend a few minutes admiring it up close. I suppose I shouldn’t have been surprised to run into Jesus at His own house of worship, but then again….

I can’t help but think that even we well-intentioned worshipers gather together in God’s House for our times of worship, whenever they may be, and we simply go about our routines, our recitations, our rehearsed lessons, and our pious prayers, with no focus whatsoever upon the One to Whom all of these things should be aimed.
The Lord is certainly anywhere and everywhere we go and gather. There is no doubt to that at all. What concerns me is that we don’t often enough acknowledge His presence even while we are gathered to worship Him.

Yes, I was pleasantly surprised to walk up to Jesus that particular morning. But my aim for the coming week will be to actively look for Jesus, so that I’m not surprised when I see Him. I will strive to look for Him in my times of worship but also in my times of regular day-to-day activities. I will look for Him as I walk the walk each day this week.

Will you?

Just a thought.

By Brad Campbell –

 Just a thought to help start your week.

Those are the words you’ve read for the majority of the past 18 years, come January.  I am so very blessed, and God has been so very good.  I consider each and every one of you to be a friend, even those I’ve never met in person.

In fact, some of you think you know me, but with a different face and name.  My brother, Brett, has published these for several years in the newspaper for which he writes.  He has told me several times about folks who think Brad and Brett are both the same person, just writing different things under each name and printing them in the same paper!

Maybe I’m not who you think I am, but I am who God made me.  You are the person God made you to be.  Look back upon the past years, or perhaps months — maybe just look back at this past week.  Who do you see?  Someone you know and love?  Even if you’re not very happy with yourself, God still loves you.

I don’t have much of a “thought” for you this week.  As I write this, it is Monday December 23, just two days before Christmas.  Are you ready?  Some of you won’t read this for another week or two.  And that really doesn’t matter.  For the question I want to ask is this — Are you ready for Him?  

We celebrate Christ’s birthday on December 25.  But His second coming could be any day.  Are we ready?  Are we being all we can be for the Lord while we await His return?

Sometimes we get too lazy.  We sit back, curl up next to the warm fire, like this one that my brother-in-law built in their back yard this past weekend.  Several family members enjoyed a time of talking and eating smores around the fire in the cold afternoon air.  It had been a full day, we had a great time, ate a lot, laughed even more, and then sat back gratefully enjoying it all.

There’s nothing wrong with relaxing by the fire this winter when it’s no fun to be out and about.  But don’t forget, there is plenty to do before His return.  Too many of our friends and neighbors don’t have a personal relationship with Jesus as their Lord and Savior.

It’s our purpose to share with them.  It has been my goal, and my honor, to share this very thing with you over these past years.  May God continue to bless you through these simple words, and by His grace, may He give us more time to tell about His goodness!  The future of so many depend on it!

Just a thought.

By Brad Campbell –

Just a thought to help start your week.

For most of us, our holiday season has been full of planning for the best Christmas, whether it’s the gifts or the food, or both, and getting ready for what lies ahead.  Are the relatives coming?  Will there be enough ham to go around?  Is there enough time to get it all done?

Along with the activities of Christmas week also come the realities that the year is coming to an end.  All we have experienced in 2024 will be behind us, and we can begin new things in 2025, if we choose to do so.  There is so much to think about and so much to do.  But, when we think about it, these days are not much different from our other days of the year.

This is a snapshot I took a while back while on one of the beautiful beaches of the Alabama gulf coast.  I like to walk along the water’s edge and watch its ebb and flow right there on the sand.  The shoreline changes with every wave, every move of the water.  Yet, it never goes away.

The water comes, the water goes, but the sands remain.  Yes, storms may take big sections at times, but repairs are made, and life goes on.  Countless times in any given day, the water rolls in and out along the sands of the beach.  And the beach is unchanged.

As we walk in and out of each new day, as we go about our regular activities or even the busy ones of the wonderful holiday season, are we making a difference?  We come and we go.  Relatives come and go.  Dinners come and go.  Days, weeks, months, and years come and go.  But are we doing only that?  Are we making a difference at all?

There’s a lot wrapped up in those questions.  Allow me to simplify it a little.  It may truly seem to you that you make no difference, but I assure you that the sands of your times together with those you love will never ever be the same because you have touched their lives!  Every roll of every wave shifts the sands around, making new designs, cooling off the hot ground beneath our feet, and making life’s walk a little more pleasant.  Yes, you make a difference!  Never let anyone else tell you differently.

And let’s pray together that we make such a wonderful difference for the Lord, that the sands upon which we walk will never be the same again.

As we pass from this shoreline to the next, may the footprints we leave behind faithfully guide those who walk behind.

Just a thought.

By Ryan Kelly –

Do you ever have one of those moments in life where you feel like almost nothing is going right and you are facing ‘attacks’ from every direction? To a small extent, that is the position I feel I am in at the moment. Grant, these ‘attacks’ are not actually an attack, but rather a series of unfortunate circumstances that they by themselves are not at all serious, but added together they seem quite ominous.

So from a spiritual perspective, how best should we handle these situations? No question that these are a consequence of a fallen world where things break, people act crazy, and nothing goes quite the way that it seems it should. But beyond all of this chaos, we must remember that Jesus is on the Throne and the Holy Spirit dwells within us. This should serve not only as a comfort that God is walking through the attacks with us, but that He shelters us and fight the battles for us (whether figuratively or literally).

A good father does not shelter his children from all obstacles in life, but he rather loves his children and helps them through these obstacles in order for them to be stronger and grow as a man or woman in his image.

This is what God does for us. He may allow us to walk through the storm, but He never leaves our side. In order for us to grow, we must face adversity. In order for us to be shaped in the image of God, we must be refined through fire and strengthened by the Lord’s hand. Who better to teach and train us than the Lord of all Creation?

So the next time that you face a time of attacks and obstacles, remember that none of it is a surprise to our Lord, and He is right there with you in the fight, helping you all along the way!

2 Corinthians 4: 6-9 “For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ. But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.”

Just a thought to help start your week.

You may look at the tree in my photo and see nothing but a scraggly old tree.  But allow me to point out something that makes it at least slightly incredible.

While on a walking tour of Paris, our attention was drawn to many things around us.  One of those things was this particular old tree.  Of course, our group had a very good guide and interpreter, on whom we depended very much for details.  And although I certainly couldn’t read the French on the sign attached to this grand old tree, she read it for us.  The simple little green sign hung with wire around the tree trunk includes information that tells us about the tree’s age.

This black locust tree was planted in the year 1601 by Jean Robin, the gardener of France’s King Henri IV.  The type of tree, to whom it belonged, by whom it was planted, and the age are all unbelievably known for all to see and read for themselves.

Of course the nearly 425-year-old tree now has its lower limbs aided by supports, but it still stands.  It still stands in the very spot it was planted those four centuries ago.  Countless people have walked underneath it, rested in its shade, and stood amazed with the reality of its age.  All of this, and, yes, it’s just an old tree.

As Christians, we are called upon to spread the Word, the Gospel, the Good News, the Story of Christmas with our world.  For some reason the thoughts of that assignment seem to scare us to death some days, when, in reality, we can simply stand where the Great Gardener places us.  You’ve met Him.  Jesus is His name, and He’s the Gardener for our God King.

How ever many years it has been since you called upon His name, He saved you from your sins, and you began to wear the name of Christ around your neck, you have been called upon to share the blessings of His glorious beneficial shade with others.  Perhaps you’ve reached the age where you now need more support than before in order to keep sharing.  But, still, you’re called to share.

May this Christmas season find every one of us as His children standing strong, even with the support of others, and especially with His support, and may we be faithful to share the blessings of the Father with all who come near.  We can do all of this.  I can do all of this.  Yes, just old me.

Just a thought.

By Vijayan Rayappan –

Since God is love, the matter of grace comes up. It is true that love is precious, but love must have its expression. When love is expressed, it becomes grace. Grace is love expressed. Love is something in God. But when this love comes to you, it becomes grace. If God is only love, He is very abstract. But thank the Lord that although love is something abstract, with God it is immediately turned into something substantial.

For example, you may have pity on a pauper, and you may love him and have sympathy for him. But if you would not give him food and clothing, the most you could say is that you love him. You could not say that you are grace to him. When can you say that you have grace toward him? When you give him a bowl of rice or a piece of clothing or some money, and when the food, clothing, or money reach him, your love becomes grace. When love is turned into action it becomes grace. …the emphasis of the Bible is on the love of God and the grace of the Lord Jesus.

Why is this so? Because it was the Lord Jesus who accomplished salvation. It was He who substantiated love and accomplished grace. The love of God became grace through the work of the Lord Jesus. Therefore, the Bible tells us that the law was given through Moses, but grace came through Jesus Christ.amen!!!

Bible Verses:
2 Corinthians 13:14: The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. 
John 1:17: For the law was given through Moses; grace and reality came through Jesus Christ.

By Brad Campbell –

Just a thought to help start your week.

Thanksgiving is behind us, and Christmas is just ahead.  If your family is anything like ours, you have probably just been (or will be) enjoying some great family time with precious relatives who don’t gather very often.  We visit, laugh, tell stories of days gone by, and we eat.  We eat.  And, oh yes, we eat.

Amongst the various dishes of ham, turkey, dressing, and cranberry sauce and casseroles sit some special dishes and desserts representative of treasured loved ones and wonderful times.  We each have our specialties, and with great honor we display our prized dishes as if those long-gone loved ones who first created them were sitting beside us enjoying every bite and every comment!

I recently reached out to a cousin I’ve not seen in several years.  My parents had been discussing the upcoming holidays and reliving Christmases past when certain aunts brought certain dishes to our gatherings.  I asked this cousin to dig through her grandmother’s old recipe box and help me scrounge up a recipe for a particular salad my parents both remember enjoying very much.

Just a couple of days later, I received some recipes from the sweet lady that I remember so fondly.  I printed the recipe, attached it to a card, and delivered it to my Mom this past week.  They can’t wait to try it and stir up fond memories.  The recipe card, well worn and proudly used. was written on both sides in my Aunt’s handwriting, signed with her initials.  I show you the back half of that card including her notes.

As Christmas fast approaches, don’t let the true meaning for the season slip by.  In God’s recipe book, the Bible, there are many treasured, tried, and true guidelines for our lives.  Doing things the way God orchestrates them for us makes for a wonderful dish to serve up to Him.

The nice thing about reliving old holidays and the delicious treats along the way is that we can keep making those recipes and sharing them with the next generations.  God’s Word is meant to be shared with every generation.

You take His book, follow the recipe for your life, and then share the goodness with anyone who will gather ’round.  What a blessed Christmas season it will be with the wonderful treats of God’s Word shared for all of us to take in.

P.S.  Yes, you only see the back side of the recipe card.  All the instructions are on the other side.  You would need to see that side in order to create the recipe for yourself.  You need to pick up your Bible and read it for yourself.  Don’t put your trust in what others stir up.  Follow His recipe, and taste the goodness for yourself!

Just a thought.

By Brad Campbell –

Just a thought to help start your week.

If you had never in your life heard of or seen a giraffe, and you were called upon to try and describe one, what possibly could you say?

Same situation, but a moose.  Would you describe a cow?  After all, the name ‘moose’ includes the word ‘moo.’  

I’d love to hear someone describe a hippopotamus if they had never heard of that animal.  

But what about the simple grasshopper, like the one you see here?  Grasshopper says it all.  It hops in the grass.  Listen to how simple that name and its description are.

If someone who had never seen, met, or even heard of you were to give a brief description of you based on what little they saw today, what would they call you?  One name that comes to mind might be pew-sitter.  But what if they really knew you?  They might add the words worshiper, pray-er, singer, and praiser to your description.

A tight-rope walker’s name tells you all there is to know about that person, just like the word grasshopper tells you about that little creature.  We creatures, or as God calls us, “My people, who are called by My name,” are given the name ‘Christian.’  This name says that we are Christ-like.  We aren’t Christ.  We aren’t perfect.  We don’t know all.  We cannot be all to everyone.  BUT, we are like the One Who can – and is.

I found it interesting that this little grasshopper seemed to be studying its shadow cast on the hood of the car.  Either it thought it was having a one-on-one meeting with another of its own kind, or it was as if it was looking into a mirror, similar to the way we study ourselves in the mirror.  We see but a reflection of who we really are.

The world should look at us and see a reflection of who we claim to be.  We are known by our name.  If only others knew that, then we would witness for the Lord more than we realize.  But wait, maybe the world already knows you are a Christian.  If you were the only Christian they ever saw, would they want to know more about Christ?

It’s a simple name – Christian.  Wear it with honor this week.  The grasshopper was given no option to be a grasshopper or to be called one.  We have a choice.  Are you known as a Christian?

(P.S.  — Regardless of when you read this, I’m writing it at the beginning of Thanksgiving week, and from one little grasshopper to another, I want you to know how thankful I am for each and every one of you.)

Just a thought.