The first blog.
In light of events that have transpired in recent days i thought long and hard about what my first offering would be. Well here it is. I once taught this to a group of teens, of whom i love very much. I thought it was very appropriate for me right now.
We will all have pain and suffering in our lives due to the words and deeds of others.
So in those moments, in those low times, what should our response be?
What should we do?
We should "Build a Bridge"

You’ve heard of the Panama Canal. But long before there was a Panama Canal there was a Panama Railroad. A case could be made that it was the most difficult railroad built anywhere at any time. Built in 1850 at the height of the California gold rush, it was the first ocean-to ocean railroad, its completion predating the Union Pacific by fourteen years.
Mile for mile it also appears to have cost more in dollars and human life than any railroad ever built…
The surveys made by its builders produced important geographic revelations that had direct bearing on the decision to build the Panama Canal along the same route...
Still, the simple fact that it was built remains the overriding wonder, given the astonishing difficulties that had to be overcome and the means at hand in the 1850’s. Present day engineers who had experience in jungle construction wonder how in the world it was ever managed…
It is almost inconceivable…that the railroad survey—just the survey—could have been made by a comparative handful of men who had no proper equipment for topographic reconnaissance (no helicopters, no aerial photography), no modern machines, nor the least understanding of the causes of malaria or yellow fever.
There was no such thing as an insect repellent, no bulldozers, no chain saws, no canned goods, not one reliable map…
The original line was five foot, or broad, gauge, and it was built as hurriedly and cheaply as circumstances would allow…. Still, this one little stretch of track took nearly five years to build and cost $8 million, which averages out to a little less than ten miles a year and an unheard-of $168,000 per mile.
Part of the construction problem can be appreciated in a single statistic. In those forty-seven and a half miles it was necessary to build 170 bridges of more than twelve feet each in length.
David McCullough, Brave Companions (New York: Touchstone, 1992), 90.

The people who worked on the Panama Railroad built 170 bridges why?
- To get where they needed to be.

They faced a lot of struggles and had to go over a lot of difficult areas to get where they needed to be.
They faced a lot of opposition, from lack of proper equipment to the environment they had to work in. But the pressed on and got where they needed to be.
Does anyone know where we need to be as Christians?
We need to be unified with others and with Christ.

Romans 15:5-6
5May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus, 6so that with one heart and mouth you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

A lot of times in our walk we aren’t unified but we are divisive.
Why would we as everyday people ever need to build a bridge?

You are human.
I am human.
I am pretty sure everyone reading this is human. And if you are human, I guarantee you are going to mess something up.
You are going to let someone down, you are going to hurt someone’s feelings, and you are going to say or do something that is not very wise.
The fact of the matter is we are all human and make mistakes.
Some more, some less, but we all do it.
At one point or another you have let someone down.
Your parents, your friends, your co-workers, God.
We all do it. We fail.
Sometimes we learn.
And if we don’t learn then we fail again in exactly the same way.
For those that learn we get to fail in new ways.

We have all screwed up.
When we mess up people get hurt and we need to seek their forgiveness. We need to turn from what we did and seek the other person’s forgiveness.
We need to go to that person and start repairing that relationship. Start building a bridge back where it used to be.

A couple married for 15 years began having more than usual disagreements. They wanted to make their marriage work and agreed on an idea the wife had.
For one month they planned to drop a slip in a "Fault" box.
The boxes would provide a place to let the other know about daily irritations.
The wife was diligent in her efforts and approach: "leaving the jelly top off the jar," "wet towels on the shower floor," "dirty socks not in hamper," on and on until the end of the month.

After dinner, at the end of the month, they exchanged boxes. The husband reflected on what he had done wrong.
Then the wife opened her box and began reading. They were all the same, the message on each slip was, "I love you!"

Let’s face it. As faulty as we are in these human bodies, every time you turn around, you are going to have to build another bridge. Bridges cost. They cost money and time.
But it is worth the time and the effort if we want to live the abundant life that God has for us on this Earth.
Think about it…when someone wrongs you or you are the one that wronged someone, think of the emotions that can result:

Anger - doesn’t benefit us at all. In fact it can make the situation only worse not better
Stress - doesn’t help much. Makes us feel like we want to throw up, but that is about it. All we have to
show for stress is what we ate earlier and an ulcer.
Worry – Who of us by worrying adds a single day to their lives? (that almost sounds biblical)
Anxiety – Get you some gray hair early. Be anxious for nothing.

All those emotions that come do us really no good.
We need to move on, we need to move forward, we need to build a bridge and get over it.
You might say well I would get over it easier if they would just say they are sorry. Well the cold hard facts are that there are people in this world who refuse to say they’re sorry.

They never admit to any wrong doing, nor will they probably ever. What do you do with people like that?
You pray for them first. You pray that God would open their eyes. Then you move on, move forward, you build a bridge and get over it.

So a couple of hints for you when it comes to forgiveness:
- First of all if you are a God-fearing person. Seek forgiveness when you screw-up.

Make steps to rebuild the relationship you hurt by your wrongdoing.

We talk about changing the world, but no one wants to change themselves.

We have to be willing to do a little work to be where God wants us to be. Our sinful self needs a little discipline and we need to mature. We need to change ourselves.

- Secondly, if you have been wronged, talk to the person and point out how they hurt you. They may not even know they did anything wrong.
If they repent then forgive them and rebuild that relationship.

Luke 17:3-4
"If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him. 4If he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times comes back to you and says, 'I repent,' forgive him."

Mark Twain said, “Forgiveness is the fragrance that the flower leaves on the heel of the one who crushed it.”

Andy Stanley said, “If you are a Christian, you are not expected to treat others the way you’ve been treated by others; you have been called to treat people the way you have been treated by your Father in heaven. You don’t forgive because the other person deserves it; you forgive because you have been forgiven.”

If the person that hurt you doesn’t repent…build a bridge, forgive them anyway and move on.
o Make sure not to put yourself in that situation again. Don’t set yourself up to re-enact the pain and anguish you went through again.

Our example in building this bridge is Christ….He was a carpenter (knew a little about building)

If our greatest need had been information, God would have sent us an educator; If our greatest need had been technology, God would have sent us a scientist; If our greatest need had been money, God would have sent us an economist; If our greatest need had been pleasure, God would have sent us an entertainer; But our greatest need was forgiveness, so God sent us a Savior.

We’re told in
Philippians 2:5
Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus

So we need to have a Christ-like attitude in all that we do, especially when it comes to forgiveness.

Psalm 103:12
as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.
Think about that. That’s pretty far. How often do we bring up stuff that we should have moved past?

Matthew 18:21-22
21Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, "Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?"
22Jesus answered, "I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.

Christ was mocked, spit on and crucified, and His words were “Father forgive them for they know not what they do.”
He built that bridge for us.

He forgave us when we didn’t even deserve it.
Kind of humbling isn’t it.
Forgiveness takes work. Forgiveness takes effort.

We will have to build many bridges in our lifetime. Similar to the Panama Railroad. Not sure how many you will have to build. Bridges cost time and money, but in the end people will be amazed at your life and your example. People will be amazed at your passion in pursuing God and the Unity in Him. All the while living a life with your attitude and behavior that points others straight to Christ.

So let’s all have the spirit of unity that was spoken of in Romans 15. And if something gets in the way, let’s all just “Build a Bridge and get over it.”