Life has been compared to a journey with many paths. This sounds very inclusive, but it is not Biblical.  In the first Psalm, David tells us that it is just as easy to “walk in the counsel of the wicked…” as it is to walk in the way of the Lord. We set off on a journey armed with map, compass and book, only to become utterly lost by taking a wrong turn here or by not paying attention there. If we want to stay on the straight path, then we must delight…“in the law of the Lord and on his law meditate day and night.”

The right way is not always an easy way; we are called to exercise wakefulness and exert effort. The prophet Isaiah said that the wisdom of the Lord requires that we seek Him in everything we do: “Seek the Lord while he may be found; call upon him while he is near.” Otherwise, we will wander alone on a trackless path with no hope of ever finding our way back to where the Lord always intended us to be. Jesus told us that a journey may have many roads, but only one leads to the Lord, for “…narrow is the road that leads to life…”

There was a time when I believed, truly believed, that wisdom, insight and success came from…me.  And so, it is not surprising that eventually I would run off the road and end up in a ditch.

When you are blinded by self-regard, it is hard to steer a straight course. The really sad thing is that I was a typical example of my “boomer” generation. We were swerving all over the place when we thought we were plowing straight ahead.

Ironically, the experience of disaster eventually restored my sight and my sanity. And with the restoration came the realization that victory of any kind can never rest with the singular possessive.

Jeremiah the prophet once wrote, “This is what the Lord says: ‘Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom or the strong man boast of his strength or the rich man boast of his riches, but let him who boasts boast about this: that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth for in these I delight.’”

Most Saturdays, I choose to unwind at home, but not this week. On Friday I will be driving down to Washington DC to participate in the 912 march up Pennsylvania Avenue to the United States Capitol. I have no idea what I will accomplish by being a part of this rag tag crowd, but I have come to the conclusion that it is time to stand up and be counted. So what is behind this journey to the nation’s capitol? I have several reasons and I will list them in no particular order.

1. I have been inspired and encouraged by the ordinary Americans who believed it was important enough to show up at town hall meetings and be heard. If our congressmen and women lived in a bubble before August, they certainly have experienced a sharp injection of reality since then. So, my participation this week is in honor of all those who have already stood up against the powerful forces that control the politics of Washington.

2. I believe both political parties have been on a reckless financial joyride which will, in the end, destroy America. I can choose to do nothing, or I can raise my single voice in protest against the outrage that is present day Washington.

3. I am a businessman. I own three companies, all small by Washington’s standards because I cannot send lobbyists to walk the halls of congress to plea for my interests. I am one of tens of thousands who employee people, who provide services to other companies and who through diligence and hard work, have created opportunity for many people.

4. I have believed for some time that our political culture has devolved into something approximating a crime syndicate with only members of the immediate family benefiting from the corruption.

5. I believe that this disaster can be stopped, but we are pretty near the invisible line of no return.

6. If this event were organized by either of the major political parties, I would not go. Both have discredited themselves by their endless profligacy, and they will have to earn back our trust which will take years if not decades.

7. Twenty years ago, my company went through a chapter 11 bankruptcy. Before the bankruptcy occurred I behaved no differently than our political leaders in Washington are behaving today. They are bankrupting this great country, but believe that it will all work out in the end. It won’t. There are many more losers in bankruptcy than winners, and in the case of the United States, the taxpayers will be the giant losers.

8. I am the father of four children; they are starting out in life, but given the current crisis, will they inherit the land of Washington, Jefferson and Lincoln or the land of Castro and Chavez?

9. I go to Washington in hope that the outcome will change because of the commitment of tens of thousands of citizens. This will not be a celebrity party; it will be a people of America party and I will be proud to be one of them.

10. An earthquake is about to shake America to the core. Many of the experts have turned off their political seismographs so they are not experiencing the tremors. But the tremors are there, warning of something catastrophic to come. I am going to Washington with the hope that the warnings will be heeded and America, awakening from its long unnatural slumber, will return to the values and principles that made it such a great source of good throughout the world.

11. I go to Washington with a great sense of humility. It is not really about what I want. It is about recognizing what is profoundly right about the United States.

12. Finally, I am going to Washington because of what Lincoln said on the battlefield of Gettysburg: “…that this nation, under God, shall have a new burst of freedom-and that government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth.”

Check out Eric’s new blog!  It’s more of his personal read on life, relationships, and God.  Simply go to www.erickampmann.blogspot.com.  Get inspired today…You’ll be glad you did! 

by Jennifer Barker

If you’ve walked into a Christian bookstore lately, you’ve probably noticed the myriad number of devotionals to choose from. If you want a devotional book that will be thought-provoking and challenging, but is easy to read, then Eric Kampmann’s Trail Thoughts will help you in this endeavor. He gives you a good piece of meat to chew on for the day and rarely leaves you with the feeling that you haven’t learned anything.

When Eric Kampmann was a young man, he embarked on his journey in the professional world. In this journey he worked toward one goal: reaching the top of the ladder. Then one day his life completely changed in what he defines as his “Jonah moment.” A moment when the bottom fell out of his plans, his dreams, his life. The moment when he turned his life over to God instead of chasing his own ideas and dreams. He has authored three books (Trail Thoughts being the third one) and is also a teacher, speaker, hiker, entrepreneur, husband, and a father of four.

Eric Kampmann is an avid hiker and has section hiked 1500 miles of The Appalachian Trail. It is through these experiences that he brings to the readers the beauty of nature and what can be learned from his hikes in those breathtaking mountains. Like someone leading us down a winding trail, the author, in Trail Thoughts, takes us on January first to the very beginning of time. He then leads us every day through Scripture to the last day of the year with Jesus describing Himself as the Alpha and Omega; the beginning and the end of time as we know it. Mr. Kampmann has a way of not only describing different passages of Scripture, but he also links those passages with different ones. For instance, he connects the Psalms to other stories or passages in the Bible (i.e. Joseph, Job, John the Baptist, etc.) It’s a beautiful way of weaving together verses that share a common interest.
Take the time to enjoy this wonderful book and you will discover that it was time well spent.

Reviewer, Jennifer Barker writes from North Carolina.

Check out Jennifer’s review at: http://www.bestbooksreviewed.com/content/view/68/1/

When it comes to applying Biblical wisdom to everyday business practices, Eric Kampmann definitely stands out from the crowd. Over the past twenty-seven years, Kampmann has experienced just about every high and low that business life has to offer. He has navigated the troubled waters of a corporate bankruptcy and he has built and managed one of the most successful sales and marketing companies in the book industry today.

During some of the darker days of his journey, Kampmann discovered the Bible. In 1991 he began reading Scripture on an everyday basis; later, he began to share what he had learned with others through Bible studies, small groups and, most significantly, in the daily grind of business decision making and management. It is in this business setting that Kampmann has had the best opportunity to apply Biblical wisdom to building an organizational model that promotes growth and well being for both employees and customers.

Kampmann believes that his own encounter with bankruptcy was no accident. Prior to 1989, the year his company filed for Chapter 11 protection, he had been managing his company on the popular principles of money, status and success. These principles centered primarily on self not service; eventually, everyday business reality brought on contraction and collapse. Today, Kampmann considers his business failure to be one of the most positive transformative experiences of his life.

By 1996, when Kampmann founded Midpoint, the company he now leads, he had the opportunity to apply some of the key Biblical principles that he had learned through his daily Biblical reading. These are the principles that are always relevant and can often be found at the cornerstone of many of the most successful organizations in America today. Whether you are running a small or large church or whether you are a small company entrepreneur or a large company manager, the seven principles apply and they serve to explain, in significant ways, the reasons behind organizational growth and personal well being. The seven principles are:

·       Staying Put  or cracking out of the comfort zone

·       Planting the Seed  or the glory of starting small

·       Present Moment Management  or keeping it real

·       Dynamic Navigation  or surviving the storm

·       The Power of Delegation  or being free to lead

·       Inverting the Pyramid  or discovering the best ideas

·       The Multiplier Effect or making your story known.

Eric Kampmann would like to share his insights and experience in the business world with your church or organization. He believes that the seven Biblical principles he has learned and applied will work in any organizational settling. While he is conversant in the language of business, he draws almost all of his references and examples from the Old and New Testaments. In addition, he has written a daily devotional that applies Biblical wisdom to life’s everyday situations. His book is entitled Trail Thoughts: 365 Signposts for Walking the Good Path.

Besides being a devoted Christian, Eric is a business leader, entrepreneur, author, teacher, speaker, and outdoorsman. He has appeared on or been interviewed by: NBC’s The Today Show, Fox News, CNN, The BBC, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The LA Times, The Associated Press, Reuters, Bloomberg, The London Times, Court TV as well as innumerable radio programs.

Eric has taught at various universities including Columbia, Harvard, NYU, Hofstra and Stony Brook. He received his undergraduate degree from Brown University and a graduate degree from Stony Brook University. He has also been a speaker at many publishing and writers conferences.

Eric and Anne Kampmann have four children and live in Riverside Connecticut.

There is a lot of talk today about the war in Iraq and how the presidential candidates are going to deal with it.  There are important questions that need to be answered.  As important as these war debates are, there is a more important war going on…the one for the human soul.

Eric shares from the January 11 “Trail Thoughts” the importance of this “soul war”…and the sad results for those who don’t train for it: Then the LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil. And he still maintains his integrity, though you incited me against him to ruin him without any reason.” —Job 2:3

ARMED FOR BATTLE

The conflict in heaven over the integrity of Job may seem to be a battle over the soul of one man, but as we will see later, this represents the struggle faced by all men and women. For the struggle of Job foreshadows the epic battle that will be engaged with the advent of the Messiah, Jesus Christ. When Satan tempts Jesus in the wilderness, he attacks his integrity. Satan offers Jesus the easy way out with promises of kingdoms, sustenance and earthly salvation.

Every man engages in an epic struggle within the heart over what that heart will believe and how the individual will act upon it. “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of darkness in the heavenly realms.” (Ephesians 6:12) When Job says, “…till I die, I will not deny my integrity. I will maintain my righteousness and never let it go,” (Job 27:5-6) he is laying down the marker for each one of us. For the external battle has an internal antecedent within the heart of every man and woman.

We live on a battlefield. Have we armed ourselves for the inevitable conflict?

From Trail Thoughts by Eric Kampmann…Sept. 7

No king is saved by the size of his army; no warrior escapes by his great strength. A horse is a vain hope for deliverance; despite all its great strength it cannot save. But the eyes of the LORD are on those who fear him, on those whose hope is in his unfailing love, to deliver them from death and keep them alive in famine.  —Psalm 33:16–19

It is difficult not to be impressed by the stature of a prince or king or president. He is surrounded by his armies and protected by his guards. When he speaks, the nation listens; when he is angered, people tremble.

And yet the strongest leader in the greatest nation is nothing compared to the strength of God: “For the foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man’s strength.” (1 Corinthians 1:25) David says, “It is God who arms me with strength and makes my way perfect.” (2 Samuel 22:33)

We easily confuse the strength God confers on men with a man’s strength. Stalin, at the height of his power in the Soviet Union, reportedly asked with great sarcasm, “Where are the Pope’s armies?” We might ask the same question today, but only in reverse: “Where is Stalin? Where is the Soviet Union and where are his armies?”

David gives us another perspective. “It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in man. It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in princes.” (Psalm 118:8-9) David, even at the height of his power, attributed his worldly strength to God: “I was pushed back and about to fall, but the Lord helped me. The Lord is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation.” (Psalm 118:13-14)

From Trail Thoughts by Eric Kampmann: Jan. 16

The hand of God in creation should be obvious to all, but since the 19th century, many leaders, under the influence of the philosophy of scientific progress, proclaimed God dead and therefore not a factor in the creation of the world.

Matthew Arnold, the poet, captures the desolate spirit of this “enlightened” new age in his poem “Dover Beach”: The Sea of Faith was once, too, at the full, and round earth’s shore lay like the folds of a bright girdle furled. But now I only hear its melancholy, long, withdrawing roar, retreating, to the breath of the night-wind, down the vast edges drear and naked shingles of the world. But as we now know, the god of that age became the shipwreck of the next century with its sinister technologies resulting in world wars, mass murders and atomic weapons.

When we no longer see God’s hand in the stars and the seas and splendors of the earth itself, we consign ourselves to the desolate and dark places of this world without the possibility of rescue. As Moses approaches the end of his long journey, he tells the people of Israel (and us) that we have a choice and that we should choose wisely: “See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction…Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to his voice and hold fast to him.” (Deuteronomy 30:15, 19-20)

THE SWEET POWER OF MUSIC–Excerpt from Aug. 11 Trail Thoughts

Music has enormous power over our souls because it is able to open our hearts to intimations of the original state of harmony of God’s universe. When we sing songs of praise to God, our hearts are lifted up into the company of angels choiring in heaven. Holy music speaks to us about the presence of God in all dimensions of creation, both at the beginning and even now.

Music is God’s universal language that speaks even to wild animals that intuit the natural harmony of the universe: “For do but note a wild and wanton herd, or race of youthful and unhandled colts, fetching mad bounds, bellowing and neighing loud, which is the hot condition of their blood; if they but hear perchance a trumpet sound, or any air of music touch their ears, you shall perceive them make a mutual stand, their savage eyes turn’d to modest gaze by the sweet power of music.”