Bridge Builders

Christian group predicts Doomsday: The end of the world - latest Chris McCann, leader of the eBible fellowship and all-round God expert, believes the world will be engulfed and destroyed by a great fire on October 7. We are on hand to liveblog the end Be aware of false doctrine.   Those who would distort scripture have been at work since the beginning of time.   The original liar misquoted God and deceived the woman.   Be neither shocked nor dismayed by the attempt of false teachers to lead the very elect astray. The beginning of a new year brings warnings and prognosticators out in full force declaring this is the final year, day or moment of time.     Believers need not fear the end of time or shutter and cower when self-proclaimed prophets falsely predict the day of Christ’s return.   We, who are the called, should not live in fear but in peace. 2 Peter 3:11-18 11  Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what man...

Christmas lights brighten our homes and our hearts.   The glow from outdoor lighting accentuates the street and brings cheer to the neighborhood.   Cars back up for blocks in certain areas of the city to view elaborate, over the top homes decorated and draped with hundreds of strung lights.   The lights are best seen in the darkness.   Although, the sun has gone down, the lights provide the illumination needed to see the pathway ahead.   Christmas lights can warm your heart when the sun is nowhere to be found.   Someone somewhere will be looking for lights this Christmas. Matthew 5:14-16 14  “You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. 15  Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house.  16  Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven. Chris...

Nutcrackers actually do crack nuts.  As early as the 1400s, German lore suggests that the colorful figurine was made with a large mouth to break nuts.  One of the most common nuts associated with the Christmas season is the walnut.  The outer shell is difficult to crack.  People have been known to use hammers, door jams, freezing them first or crushing two nuts against one another with bare hands to break the shell.  The nutmeat of the walnut is delicious as well as nutritious.  Seven walnuts provide 94% of our daily requirement of omega-3 fatty acids.  Walnuts contain an unusually high level of Vitamin E which provides protection against cardiovascular disease.  They are also rich in antioxidants and anti-inflammatory products instrumental in decreasing diabetes type 2 and cancer risk.  It’s worth having a Nutcracker to open a nut loaded with beneficial nutrients conducive to healthy growth and development.  2 Timothy 3:16-17 ...

Face it, God designed our bodies to need sleep in order to function properly.   We are not miniature gods.   Psalm 121:4 says, Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.   God does not require sleep, we do.   Little gods think their work is indispensable.   Little gods believe unless they worry about a problem, it will not be solved.   To sleep is to release control of all our concerns.   Once a day for 1/3 of our lives, we are faced with our frailty and need.   To rest well, we must view sleep from a different perspective.   Sleep is God’s gift of love.   As we lie in bed as though dead, God will remove anxiety, restore our strength and renew our mind.   When asleep, we demonstrate trust in God’s sovereignty and His goodness.     Psalm 127:2 2  It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows: for so he giveth his beloved sleep.  ...

Don’t laugh.  I finally saw the movie, “My Big Fat Greek Wedding.”  At this time of year, it’s actually fitting to watch a movie about family.  In the film, Toula’s family is one huge, loud, gregarious,  tight-knit  Greek family.  Over the course of the movie, Toula evolves into an independent spirit yet still embarrassed by her Greek heritage.  Her family is taken aback by the change they see in Toula.  She takes charge of her life, choosing a new way of life with a man who is not Greek to the horror of her father.  Her determination to explore the world and allow herself to love someone outside the confines of her culture inspires her brother to begin to think for himself, results in her parents learning to embrace her husband and in the last scene culminates in her father and mother-in-law joining the celebration.  Toula became the catalyst for changing the dynamics of a family. John 7:2-5 2  Now the Jews’ Feast of Tabern...

What can I say?  I am addicted to HGTV’s Love it or List it.  I enjoy watching Hilary and David guide couples through the process of renovating their existing home while at the same time searching for a new family home.  If you are not a viewer, this show presents a couple with a choice, allow Hilary to fix your home to stay put because you love it or list the home because David has shown you a home more to your liking. The person determined to stay in the home has tolerated the one bathroom with six people in the house, has no problem going down three flights of stairs to do laundry and does not mind that there is no dining area.  On top of that, the general contractor invariably fines faulty wiring, mold behind sheet rock or a supporting wall that cannot be moved.  Over time, the homeowner had become comfortable living in an ill-fitting house.   In order to create a new house fit for living, old things must be demolished and rebuilt new. 2 Cor...

My shadow is the most honest thing I know It follows me, whispering by past in my ear It tells me what was truly there What isn't any more My shadow is braver than I when reaching for the stars for it convenes with the sun Telling each other the direction of their opposing pilgrimages One is east, the other north, and me I am their mediator They have so many inside secrets, my shadow and the sun None that they tell me They do not tell me my future My sundown is my past and the sun, my present What was so beautiful and moved swiftly What is cannot be saved as my actions create a constant only to be changed by my interruption of that constant I am the law of motion What will be is another dream and another sunrise Where will I be? I'll meet you on the ridge of what is so that we might see what will be I'll guide you to the next horizon    By Zachary Howelton Shadows are a part of the human experience.   We all have one.   Shadows lurk alongs...

How can something so amazing, with such intricate detail intentionally be designed to entrap and destroy?  The web is sticky and the openings small so as to immobilize insects.  I saw a web intertwined among the tree branches outside my office window.  The web was empty, moving ever so slightly with the blowing wind.  It looked harmless.  What I could not see was the master weaver, the spider who spun the web.  The spider’s intent is to devour its prey.  It may have been out of sight at the time but at just the right moment, the spider would pounce on the entangled insect caught in the web.  You would think by now, insects would beware of webs. Mark 4:18-19 18  Now these are the ones sown among thorns; they are the ones who hear the word,  19  and the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things entering in choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.   T he thorns of ...

It’s a wonderful thing when you turn on the shower first thing in the morning and the water is hot.  My mornings start relatively early.  My friends call it O’dark thirty.  I love the quiet and stillness of the day before sunrise.  What I cannot stand is a lukewarm shower.  Our water does get hot but it depends on what time of day you plan to take a shower.  If it’s after 6:30 am, you are relatively safe, the water will be hot.  You are out of luck before 6 am.  A few weeks ago, one of the water heaters bit the dust and water came pouring down into the kitchen flooding out the vent hood and  cook-top  ignition lighters.  After several attempts to find a reputable service to correct the problem, we finally hired a great couple of plumbers to replace the heater with a more efficient larger one.  I am a happy camper.  At last, I am able to depend on hot water any time of day.  No more lukewarm water for me.  I ...

Rocking horses are fun.  Jared and Zachary had one stationed in the corner of their room as toddlers.  They loved to go back and forth at warp speed, the faster the better.  Initially, they needed help getting on the horse and staying on but over time they mounted the horse on their own.  Thank the Lord, no one was ever injured falling off the horse or entrapped in the springs.  A stationary horse lends itself to fewer accidents.  Eventfully, they moved on to electronic toys.  The rocking horse had served its purpose and was retired to the Salvation Army.  It was time to leave the rocking horse behind. Proverbs 26:11 11  As a dog returns to his own vomit, So a fool repeats his folly. It is foolish to think you can go forward by rocking back and forth or by repeating the same folly over and over again.  There is a negative side to rocking horses.  No matter how exhilarating or bumpy the ride, when you get off the h...

What does it take for you to praise God?  Is answered prayer enough?  How about a healthy body, godly children or all your material needs met?  We like to believe that if God never did another thing on our behalf we would glorify His name anyway.  Intellectually, we understand that what we already have is enough and even that we did not earn.  But, what if our prayers go unanswered?  Would we still lift our hands in worship?  Could we still adore Him?  Is your praise conditional?  Must God earn your praise? Psalm 34:1-3 34 I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth. 2  My soul shall make its boast in the Lord ; The humble shall hear of it and be glad. 3  Oh, magnify the Lord with me, And let us exalt His name together. Evidently, all times means all times.  In every situation, we are to praise God.  Feelings are irrelevant.  Difficult circumstances do not...

My husband was jumping rope in the pulpit today, specifically “Double Dutch.”  No, he was not emulating the lead actor in the movie, War Room .  I remember the anguish that would come over me trying to decide when to make the dash into the ropes. I would jump in and then jump out unsure if I could keep up, get hit with the rope or be tripped up. We would all jump in and jump out.  Pastor Howelton presented a vivid illustration of what we look like when as a believer we cannot choose between living saved in the world and being of the world. One minute we jump in church and the next we have jumped back to doing what we use to do.  Most of the time we are anxious while jumping between two worlds because we know eventually, we will trip ending in a disastrous fall. James 4:4 4  Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? Whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God. No, it does...

Deny is a four-letter word.  To deny oneself in America today is counter-cultural.  No one does that.  It’s about my needs, my things and my rights.  We want it our way and if we don’t get our way, we leave the sandbox with our toys.  We promote ourselves via social media with streams of mundane information about “ME.”  We have stopped taking pictures of other people and have started using a long stick and a camera function in order to take pictures of “ME”.  To be asked to give up anything and deny oneself in this world is akin to cursing someone’s very being.  How can I give up anything and expect anything in return? Matthew 16:24-26 24  Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.  25  For whoever would save his life [ a ]  will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.  26  For what wi...

My exam rooms are covered with pictures of my patients. Over the years, parents have sent pictures of me with their children.  Today, a four year old at a well visit for his two year old brother stood in the corner intently scanning the pictures.  I was preparing to exit the room when he asked, “Is that you holding the baby?”  I replied, yes it is.  He asked,” Is that you standing next to the little girl?”  Again, I said yes.  With laser focus and in rapid fire, he pointed to the picture you see above and said, “Is that you?”  With a smile, I told him that is my son, Zachary.  There are over a hundred pictures posted in that room and this four year old was able to see me in my youngest son. Was it the eyes, the shape of the head or maybe the smile that he thought resembled Dr. Howelton?  Somehow he knew this child looked just like me. Romans 8:29 29  For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His S...

A 22 year old man was riding his motorcycle on West Loop 1604 on Thursday.  As he approached the intersection at Wiseman Road, a Ford pickup was attempting a wide U-turn onto Loop 1604.  The motorcyclist collided with the front end of the truck and was sent flying through the air, hitting a highway sign.  The impact severed both his legs.  Illegal U-turns can result in dire consequences, causing collateral damage to innocent victims. The ramifications of making an unapproved U-turn are life changing for everyone involved. Genesis 19:15-17, 26 15  When morning dawned, the angels urged Lot, saying, “Up, take your wife and your two daughters who are here, or you will be swept away in the   punishment of the city.”  16  But he hesitated. So the men seized his hand and the hand of his wife and the hands of his two daughters, for the compassion of the  Lord  was upon him; and they brought him out, and put him o...

What is a sheaf?  As a child, I loved singing, “Bringing in the Sheaves,” but I had no clue what the song referred to or why there was joy in gathering sheaves.  I later understood that a sheaf was harvested grain tied into a bundle. Row upon row of standing wheat can be seen while driving through farm country.  Some diligent farmer sowed seed in moistened dirt, thoroughly irrigated the ground then patiently waited for the harvest. Despite drought, financial instability, difficulty finding workers or personal illness or stress in the home, the farmer tills the soil, pulls the weeds and puts down fertilizer knowing joy will come at harvest time.  Psalm 126:5-6 5  Those who sow in tears Shall reap in joy. 6  He who continually goes forth weeping, Bearing seed for sowing, Shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, Bringing his sheaves with him. God promises joy when we toil diligently in His field.  The Christian life is not exempt f...

C rooked teeth need straightening.  Orthodontist use devices known as braces to straighten and position teeth according to a person's bite.  Molds and impressions are made to create the proper appliance to produce the desired outcome, a perfect set of teeth.  There are no one size fits all braces. Each is customized for a specific patient.  Braces are adjusted periodically to shift teeth into the correct alignment.  The entire process causes discomfort which is to be expected.  Where there is not pain, there is no gain.   Hebrews 12:7-11 7  Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children.  For what children are not disciplined by their father?   8  If you are not disciplined—and everyone undergoes discipline —then you are not legitimate, not true sons and daughters at all.   9  Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit ...

Five years is a long time when your life is turned upside down.  In 2010, my mother knew my name, walked and talked with me and shared a meal at my dinner table.  The effects of Lewy Body Dementia changed everything.   Over the years, the ravages of disease took its toll.  She no longer recognized her husband of 59 years.  She forgot how to walk, how to take care of her bodily functions or how to feed herself.  But through it all there was a peace about her that never waned.  The sparkle in her eyes never dimmed.  She was a calming presence in a devastating situation.  Finally, she forgot how to breathe.  On August 28, 2015, she was released from the confines of her stiffened, contracted body.  The peace she shared with all who knew her was extended to her by God, eternally. John 14:1-7 14  “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me.  2  In My Father’s house are many m...