Am I This Kind of Bridge?

This bridge is 20 stories tall.  It's made of solid limestone.  It's millons of years old.

George Washington carved his initials here.  Thomas Jefferson bought the property from King George for 2 bucks.   Civil war soldiers were given this view as a reward for battles well fought.   Settlers used  this as a main thoroughfare west over the Appalachians on their covered wagons.

It's a silent testament to the power of bridges in our world.   We enjoyed it today as we are heading south to Atlanta through Blue Ridge Parkway country.   It made me think.   How quick am I to make a bridge of empathy between me and you?   How hard to I work to bridge differences without bending truth?   How much do I work to keep and live out the beatitude in Matthew 5:9  "You are blessed when you can show people how to cooperate instead of compete or fight.  It is then that you know who you really are and your place in God's family. (Message)."    Lord, make me that kind of bridge.   Amen.

Courage: the next step

        Another day. Another Comfort Inn. This time after having enjoyed Ottawa and Quebec. We came, we saw, we met a missions committee, we left. We’ve enjoyed old friends, made new friends, and asked for new prayer partners. Now we’re in Waterford, NY and heading west again toward “the barn” in Michigan, through Ohio to visit family.


Yesterday’s sermon by Rick Reed at Metropolitan Bible Church was inspiring. Made me want to be a better man. Here are some thoughts from it:

“God doesn’t want us to be shy with His gifts, but bold and loving and sensible.” II Tim 1:7 (Message)


Our goal is to respect and reflect courage, even tho we have a family propensity as people toward fear. II Tim is a primer on the courage that it takes to face the possibility of losing face, friends, family, freedom. We were meant for more than ducking and dodging. He meant us to fear Him so we wouldn’t have to fear anything or anyone else that would keep us from doing what He wants us to do. Courage is the antidote to fear. Courage is fear that has said its prayers.

Courage is interior character that is impelled by the Holy Spirit to: “keep calm and carry on”, like the old poster from Britain during WWII.

Courage has power, love, and self discipline as its three building blocks:

1. Power is the ability to take action, to do the right thing, to just sometimes only do the next thing. The next thing may be small and inglorious, but essential.

2. Love is the availability to give help, even when it costs you plenty. This is Jesus’ primary take-away lesson for living.

3. Self discipline is the stable sensibility to control yourself under the Spirit’s influence, especially the interior self of thoughts and feelings.