This Week’s Thought

Posted on by Horizon Professional Services
rest

By Brad Campbell –

Just a thought to help start your week.

We arrived first thing that morning at the dock in Ketchikan, Alaska.  Ketchikan is known both as ‘Alaska’s first city’ and as the ‘salmon capital of the world.’  As a matter of fact, the ship had a few tense minutes wait for some random fishing boats who meandered entirely too close as the ship attempted to near the dock.

We eagerly awaited our time to disembark the ship and spend the day exploring the city on foot.  We did just that, too.  We walked along the water, went shopping, ate an amazing meal, admired many hundreds of different beautiful flower beds and arrangements, and enjoyed the great weather.  We walked here, we walked there, we walked everywhere we went.  Then, as time began to near for us to settle aboard the ship, we did just that, beat most of the heavy crowds, walked back and went straight up to our cabin where we kicked off our shoes and rested our weary feet.

Because we remained at the dock for a little while and the town was bustling below, I chose to sit on our balcony, prop up my feet, and read a book I’d not had a chance to begin, one by my friend and wonderful storyteller Sean Dietrich.  I greatly enjoyed those quite moments reading and people watching at several times on our trip.

Life is busy.  I don’t have to tell you that.  Many of us have jobs, schedules, calendars, events, meetings, activities, and family responsibilities that keep us busy most waking hours.  That isn’t necessarily a complaint or a bad thing.  It’s just the truth.  We run throughout the days and weeks going here, going there, and squeezing in yet another something at which we must show up and appear to be on top of our game.  We desperately need to stop, prop up our feet, and focus on other things.

Maybe we need to do just as I did and take a break from it all.  Even from my perspective on the balcony, I could see that the world remained busy, people were still going about their business, things didn’t stop or cease to exist simply because I chose to take a break for myself and my sanity.

Oh, that we each could learn to do that very thing.  The thing is, the world will continue to operate without us running ragged thinking we are the ones who have to keep it going.  The Bible reminds us, as I’m sure I have repeated from time to time, to “be still and know that I am God.”  Be still.  Be still.  Be still.  And in that stillness that certainly can exist even with the world bustling around us and below us, know that He is God, He is in control, and He is all you need.

Just a thought.

This Week’s Thought

Posted on by Horizon Professional Services
donuts

By Brad Campbell –

Just a thought to help start your week.

I want to first explain that I am not a paid spokesperson for any doughnut company.  I can tackle a box of Krispy Kreme glazed doughnuts, devour a bag of Little Debbie’s mini powdered doughnuts, or very willingly knock back some fresh-from-the-grease homemade doughnuts from our local ‘Touch of Home’ Mennonite bakery.  They are all equally divine in nature.

The doughnuts you happen to see in my picture were a carefully chosen grouping we gathered at just one of a great many Dunkin Donuts establishments we came across while venturing around New England.  We enjoyed every flavor, size, and style that we tried.  All wonderful in its own way.

We had driven past more Dunkin Donut establishments in those few days than I’ve seen in my entire lifetime elsewhere, but we chose to stop at this particular one after my wife had made it her mission to point out every single one that I had let go by.  So inside for a snack and coffee we went — gladly, I might add.

The one thing that makes Dunkin stand out differently from all the rest is their slogan, “America runs on Dunkin.”  If you stop in their shop in Maryville, TN, for instance, you’ll see the “Maryville Runs on Dunkin” sign, and each town with one of their shops has their own personalized sign.

What do you run on?  Or, what runs you?  Or, on what do you run?  (See, the sugar affects my grammar as well!)  Is it doughnuts, coffee, or some other such sugar or caffeine providing item?

I just want to offer a very simple challenge for us each this week.  Let’s make it our mission to “run on Jesus.”  Maybe we could even make us some shirts with that slogan and adopt it as our life’s goal.  Let’s Run on Jesus this week!  He will provide much more for you than that quick sugar rush of a doughnut ever could!

Just a thought.

This Week’s Thought

Posted on by Horizon Professional Services
Rim Rock

By Brad Campbell –

Just a thought to help start your week.

My wife and I had spent several days exploring the four-state area of Arizona, Utah, Colorado, and New Mexico.  Along the way we saw many spectacular scenes.  One of the beautiful spots we enjoyed was the view you see here.  This is part of Colorado’s Fruita Canyon as seen from the amazing twenty-three-mile route that Rim Rock Drive spans through the Colorado National Monument.  God’s beauty abounds.

Rim Rock Drive is aptly named because of the winding route it takes along the rim of the canyon.  Harrowing at times, it makes it very difficult to both drive and keep your eyes on the road while also trying desperately to take in all the views below.  But the only way to see the beauty below is to drive that narrow winding breath-taking road along the upper rim of the canyon.

Life offers some amazing views and experiences along the way.  Maybe we are even currently living in an amazing time in our own lives.  But we don’t have the same view from down here that the Lord has from up above.  He looks down and watches His children as we navigate life’s highways and byways.  He knows the beauty we seem to ignore.  He sees the whole picture while we tend to wallow in the here-and-now.

Sometimes it is necessary in life to step out of our comfort zone, which I very much did by driving this and several other routes that week, and tackle the unnerving so we can get but a glimpse at the bigger more beautiful picture the Lord has painted for us.  You see, those who stay down in the canyon may see the beauty of the mountain rock walls surrounding them, but until they take the higher road, they will never see the whole picture.

God has so many “great and wonderful things” prepared for you.  Perhaps you just need to take a tighter grip upon the steering wheel of the car and head out on the winding highway to see for yourself.  Until you do, you’ll never know what beauty you’re missing, what blessings you could have had from Him, what experiences you might never have had.

Take a trip through the uncomfortable.  When you finally reach the other side, there will be no doubt how blessed you are because of the experience.

Just a thought.

This Week’s Thought

Posted on by Horizon Professional Services
Stool Photo

By Brad Campbell –

Just a thought to help start your week.

Nineteen years.  That’s how long ago I wrote and sent my first emailed weekly thought.  Many of you are instantly amazed that I’ve even had that many thoughts of any kind!  But seriously, at times through the years, I’ve been asked this question – “Do you write out something and then find a picture to go along with it?”  The answer is that no, I do the opposite.  I settle on a picture and then just start typing.

So, as I was scrolling back through hundreds of photos on my phone, I ran across this one.  Granted it’s a stock photo, a screen shot that I took while roaming around the internet a while back.  With the exception of its color, this stool is exactly like one that my mother’s parents had in their home as long as I can remember.  There were fourteen of us grandkids on that side, not to mention the spouses and kids of the older ones.  It was a rare privilege for any one of us to get to sit at the “big table.”  But sometimes, when maybe there were only a handful of us visiting, we would gather ’round that dining table, which I love to tell others now sits in my own home, and the smallest of us would get to sit on the stool.  We might perch up on the top, or when the seat was raised, sit on one of the lower steps.

I don’t know who in the family wound up with that old stool.  I’ve longingly looked at some like it in various antique or junk stores through the years.  But it isn’t even about the stool.  It’s about the memories associated with it.

For that stool, to me, represents times gone by.  It is a symbol of simpler days – maybe not for our parents, but for us as we grew up.  It represents being initiated into the wonderful sit-at-the-big-table crowd, listening to the grownup conversations, even if we didn’t contribute.  It reminds me of the countless meals that were spread upon that table, the cold fried chicken, bacon, and biscuits that we kids would reach up under the tablecloth that had been thrown over it all and sneak some of.  That stool is a reminder of times, places, and people I have loved and held very dear.  I would like to find a stool like it.  I want to sit on that seat again.

I am so very blessed to be a part of a loving, Bible-believing and teaching, church FAMILY.  Granted, I’m the pastor, so I see the gathered crowd from a different angle than most, but I stand in front of those pews, those seats, and I remember the faces of so very many dear Saints of God that have long passed to their eternal reward.  A twinge of sadness arrives for but a very brief moment, but then I’m reminded of those same things the old stool reminds me of – – times, places, and people that I have loved and held very dear.

If you haven’t been to church lately, if you haven’t sat upon an old church pew (or even a newer more comfortable seat that has replaced those pews), if you haven’t been where those who raised us worshiped together themselves, then may I urge you this very week to go looking for your seat?  There’s something about those special seats that bring the world together, remind you of Who and what matters most, and puts everything into perspective again.

Time is precious.  Please take your seat at the table.  Oh what glorious conversations await.

Just a thought.

This Week’s Thought

Posted on by Horizon Professional Services

By Brad Campbell –

Just a thought to help start your week.

A couple of weeks ago, I glanced out the back window as I walked through the den, and I saw something unusual in the pond.  I watched for a few seconds and decided it was a beaver.  I knew if this was the case, then we would soon have serious issues.  So, about the time I thought of calling my next door neighbor (He actually owns the pond.) to tell him we needed to tackle that situation, I realized it wasn’t a beaver after all.

A very playful and energetic otter had somehow made its way from the nearby river up a creek or two and was now having a ball playing and splashing around.  Otters have been spotted in other areas of the state, but to my knowledge not around here.  At least I couldn’t find any written proof of such.  And this led me to believe, because the lone otter seemed to be the only one of its species anywhere around, that he shouldn’t “otter” be here!

The holidays, as much as they are grand and wonderful for so many people, are equally difficult and a struggle for others.  Christmas, the beginning of a New Year, and the festivities or family and church events surrounding each can be quite overwhelming.  We are forced to look back at the past year, which quite honestly for some of us has been a year we pray never to repeat.  And we can’t help but wonder are we the lone creature making our way up river in unknown waters to fend for ourselves?

Maybe we look back and think that it just shouldn’t “otter” be this way.  And we’re right.  It shouldn’t.  But because we live in a sinful, fallen world, there will always be the difficulties of life until the Lord chooses to take us out of here.

That little otter hasn’t been seen again since the one morning I snapped some photos and got a quick video.  It must have continued its trek elsewhere.  —  We will too.

Tomorrow, or maybe the next day or the one after that, we will realize that it really doesn’t have to be this way.  Life is what we make of it, by the grace of God.  This is the day that the Lord has made.  We will rejoice and be glad in it.  Every day — every day — is a blessing.  No, maybe it shouldn’t “otter” be this way.  But because we as Christians have the blessed hope for tomorrow, it won’t always!

Blessings on you and yours throughout these glorious holidays and into the New Year.

Just a thought.

This Week’s Thought

Posted on by Horizon Professional Services

By Brad Campbell –

Have you ever seen a totem pole?  We would normally associate a totem pole with a Native American location.  We saw several totem poles of varying heights, shapes, and colors on our trip to Alaska this summer.  The two pictures you see here are of the same pole.  I just “zoomed in” for you to be able to see a little more detail.

Contrary to popular belief, the Native Americans did not create the totem poles or use them for religious-type ceremonies or worship.  The totem pole was designed to represent their people, their land, their culture, and the animals around them.  Some poles are naturally much more detailed than others.  Each face on the pole tells a part of the story of the people who created it and placed it there.

As a pastor, I have the opportunity to stand in front of my church family and face them.  I see their faces, and I see their smiles or frowns.  Because I know the people, I can also see their stories.  I see their backgrounds, their hurts and failures, and their happinesses and successes.  Most of all, I see the One Who created each and every one and placed them here.

A totem pole is designed so that as one looks upon it, they will be reminded of their story.  They will be reminded of the places, times, and situations from which they came.  They will be reminded of everything that brought them to the place where they now stand — as a witness to those who will continue to see.

We Christians take our places in the world around us each week, representing the One Who placed us here.  We tell our stories, even if silently, of the places and times and situations from which we come, each and every part of which has made us into the person we are today.  And as we stand together in this world, we form a totem pole, if you will, of a mixture of answered prayers, healed hurts and diseases, cares and love of the Father, and so much more.

Wherever you stand this week, you are being gazed upon.  Some are looking simply at the outside – the dress, the colors, the smile or frown, the hair-do, or even the location where we stand.  But if we stand true long enough, if we stand strong long enough, prayerfully they will begin to see the Creator we represent.  They will see the details in our creation, the work of His hands upon our lives, the many stories we have yet to tell of the goodness and the grace of a loving, forgiving, almighty God who placed us here to be a representative of Him.

Stand strong like the totem pole.  The world is watching — and so is the Creator.

Just a thought.

This Week’s Thought

Posted on by Horizon Professional Services

By Brad Campbell –

Just a thought to help start your week.

These little sea planes fascinate me.  They take off from the water, and they land on the water.  We walked around the downtown port area of Juneau, Alaska, not only taking in the amazing scenery all around us, but watching these planes coming and going.  We had not arrived by plane, but by ship, as had many others.  The boats of all sizes were lined up very near the planes.

Juneau, Alaska, is known as the only U.S. state capital city that cannot be reached from the outside world (or even the rest of the state) by car.  One must arrive by another method of transportation.

In today’s world we are given many transportation options.  On this trip to Alaska, my wife and I traveled in some way or other by private car, bus, airplane, ship, train, monorail, sky-lift, and taxi.  We encountered many different people of different races, cultures, and religions.  Travel is what we all had in common.  But to arrive in Juneau, we were all limited by the travel options.

For the Christian travelers of this old world, we look forward to our final destination – Heaven.  But the thing is, there are not all those options for transportation to that wonderful place.  Heaven is even more limited than Juneau.  There is only one Way to get there.  And that is through a relationship of saving faith in Jesus Christ.  He reminds us in His Word that He is the only Way.  The uninformed worldly individual might argue that we Christians belong to an exclusive group, limiting our inclusion, and even the means to get there.  Well, the truth sometimes hurts, doesn’t it?  

The only way we were to get to Juneau was by the ship on which we traveled, or by an airplane.  The only Way we are to get to Heaven is through Him.  So, yes, it requires exclusive membership in the family of God, a group to which I’m honored to belong, as we all should be.

But let us not forget the other weary travelers who need to be reminded of the limited transportation.  One road.  One Way.  And His name is Jesus.

Just a thought.