Thoughts on our Staff Change at The Bridge

Hey Everyone!

Just got back into the good ole USA from a tremendous time of service, worship, and renewal with many of God’s children in Chacocente, Nicaragua! I am forever a changed man from our experiences there and you will be hearing about that for quite some time. Keep in mind as you read these things that I am writing from the perspective that our lives are rather easy. By contrast, some children woke up this morning living on a three square mile dump breathing smoke from a living hell – an actual physical hell. I now have seen them, touched them. Most of them are content to be there, so I would be a little selfish to think my problems are really that bad.

Life, obviously, went on here at The Bridge while our delegation was down there. We knew that there was a chance that Alan Berry would accept a position at another church while we were gone, but the stark reality of the news was still full of emotion for me as I am sure it was for you. Alan and his entire family have been crucial in not only the birth of The Bridge, but in my personal spiritual development. Here are some personal highlights that will be forever etched in my mind:
1. Alan & Marilyn were some of the original 12 or so who felt called to get the church started. It is no small thing to set aside our lives and commit to such a large task.
2. Alan baptized my son, Justin. That will never be forgotten.
3. Alan preached such eloquent words as we buried my father. That will never be forgotten.
4. Alan, Marilyn, and Abbi were fantastic in their love and care in the moments after Lester’s death. Alan led the singing of “How Great Thou Art” as Dad entered heaven. That will never be forgotten.
5. Alan is a better preacher when asleep than I am on my best day. I learned a lot about how to be a pastor from him. Those lessons will not be forgotten.
6. Alan & Marilyn are very special to me. Their children are also very special. My family spent many unforgettable moments with them. Abbi is one of the brightest, classiest young ladies that I have ever met. Alana Grace has some of the funniest lines that I have ever heard, and her moment of concluding the song “Slow Fade” before the 4 chairs talk is forever etched in my memory. And everyone knows that I have a special affinity for Boone. I hope to still be able to bring a “big ole truck” over and pick him up for rides around town. Who can forget Boone coming on stage in the first ever Bridge celebration service as the “guest preacher”? I think he was only 4 years old at the time.

Not long ago, apparently Alan began feeling a call to return to Memorial Church to continue his ministry to the Lord. He sought a position there, applied for it, and when the leadership there offered a position, he accepted it. None of that would have happened without God allowing it. The only action that the Board of Elders at The Bridge took was to accept the change in employment immediately upon it happening. That move changed the timetable by only about four days. I can assure you of this – the leadership at The Bridge is in complete unity on mission and vision and has never acted in the last months without unanimous consensus including our decision last week.

Now, we all have a choice of how we react to this difficult situation. I, personally, am choosing to not react with any bitter thinking; instead I am choosing to spend my time praying that Alan & Marilyn be very blessed in their new ministries. They are two of the most talented people that I have ever met in my life and can do great things to bring glory to God, so I support them in doing so.

The last nine months have been very difficult. The leadership of the church was never interested in being secretive about the work that went on to get the ship righted and headed in a focused direction, but some shield was necessary and Biblical to avoid gossip and to allow each of you to serve the Lord undistracted. Until about three weeks ago, I really believed that God was going to straighten this thing out, and so we have been very careful not to talk too much about it since we believed that complete reconciliation was the course. I admit to losing hope a couple of weeks ago. However, I can assure you of two things about the leadership of The Bridge through this entire thing – mistakes may have been made along the way, but every moment was covered in submitted prayer and the Bible was never set aside as we approached each new day.

Let’s look at some Bible to see that there is Biblical precedence for what has happened here. In the 15th Chapter of Acts, Paul and Barnabas are preparing for the second missionary journey and here is the account of what happened:

“36Some time later Paul said to Barnabas, "Let us go back and visit the brothers in all the towns where we preached the word of the Lord and see how they are doing." 37Barnabas wanted to take John, also called Mark, with them, 38but Paul did not think it wise to take him, because he had deserted them in Pamphylia and had not continued with them in the work. 39They had such a sharp disagreement that they parted company. Barnabas took Mark and sailed for Cyprus, 40but Paul chose Silas and left, commended by the brothers to the grace of the Lord. 41He went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches.”

Paul and Barnabas were both pillars of the new, young church. They were both submitted, Godly men. They had a disagreement and parted company. God blessed both ministries and I BELIEVE THAT BOTH MEN PRAYED FOR THE SUCCESS OF THE OTHER’S MINISTRY. There was not bitterness and strife or the Lord would not have blessed both ministries after the parting. If you read right before this passage, Paul and Barnabas worked side by side to create a tremendous movement in the church, so everything that has happened so far at The Bridge has been real. It has not been in vain. God has shown us that these things happen, and he turns these types of situation into lessons in His Glory. Here is the commentary on this passage from the Life Application Bible:
“Paul and Barnabas disagreed sharply over Mark. Paul did not want to take him along because he had left them earlier. The disagreement caused the two great preachers to form two teams, opening up two missionary endeavors instead of one. God works even through conflict and disagreements. Later, Mark became vital to Paul’s ministry (Colossians 4:10). Christians do not always agree, but problems can be solved by agreeing to disagree and letting God work his will.”

I think that is Godly advice for our day.

I will be happy to come and answer any questions that you may have either as an individual family or your entire cell family. You have access to me 24 hours a day 7 days a week as we work through this. Please use the access.

Taking Up Cross Daily

How about this daily sacrifice?
A visitor to our church this morning felt moved by the Holy Spirit to go on the mission trip. At that moment, we were less than 24 hours from departure for Chacocente, Nicaragua. God has made this happen. He is actually going!! Are you kidding me?

Tomatoes

Kinda ironic that I used garden tomatoes as an illustration last Sunday in the sermon. I just went by and picked a couple of tomatoes that Dad planted before he died. Somehow, he is bearing fruit even after he has gone. Just had them for lunch; fresh tomatoes never tasted so good.
Just a side note, we took a little trip down to see Justin who is doing an apprenticeship on car body and engine work this summer. We discovered that Dad owned a whole bunch of cars that we did not even know about. Funny stuff. Now we have to find titles for them. HA!

Weekend to Remember

There are just THOSE weekends. I witnessed a lot of people connect with God in a fresh way this weekend. Men at the Cross was really powerful and a lot of confirmation about the direction and vision of our church. Every talk emphasized the fact that true belief in Christ and our call to discipleship happen simultaneously and that every person in the Kingdom should simultaneously be a Paul (mentor) and a Timothy (mentee -- is that a word?). You know what I mean.

Here is how we talk about discipleship on our "What We Believe" document that you can find on our website at www.bridgelife360.com:
We believe …that there are not two experiences in our Christian life – a call to salvation and later a call to discipleship. Jesus said, “Throw down your nets and follow me” to the original disciples and he makes the same request today to every believer. The call to believe and to committed discipleship occur simultaneously; therefore, “The Bridge” promotes a high commitment to the five purposes of the church (connect, grow, serve, share, & worship) as revealed in our 3 C’s (Cell, Celebrate, and Contribute). The Bridge does not expect perfection, just a willingness to commit to a powerful Spirit-driven life.

We saw a lot of men (some from The Bridge) acknowledge this call to discipleship and mentoring (two of the top focal points of The Bridge).

Then, I don't know what happened yesterday in our Celebration service at The Bridge. The word fell among some fertile soil, I believe. I saw people become transformed right before my eyes. It was powerful. God is demanding, but He is worth the cost. Write and tell me some of your journal entries from the sermon and the worship of our Lord through song. It was a blast! BEAUTIFUL JESUS!!!!

Quandary

Got caught in a quandary on Sunday while preaching the Gospel. I have always wanted our children to be present in our church service so that they learn how to worship and how to respect God, but I used some language that probably was a little hard for parents to explain why I used it. I am sure that these children are not allowed to use it around the house, so now they may be confused as to how I can use it from the pulpit. The choice of language was effective for making my point; however, I may have caused a little one to stumble (hoping that the millstone will not fit over my fat head). That is a quandary -- one that probably deserved some more prayer in advance.