A Bridge Over Troubled Water

To contact us Click HERE
On Saturday, July 7th I was in Ottumwa to conduct a Living Free Training Seminar with the hopes of offering Lifeline Connection to Wapello County by the end of the year.

Pastors & Church Leaders in Wapello County Living Free Training

It was an awesome day hosted by Pastor Tim Ward of the Penn Avenue Free Methodist Church. One thing I forgot to discuss with Pastor Ward before the event was the importance of snacks and refreshments. Actually, I didn't worry about it too much. I could tell these like-minded brethren would have it taken care of. And it was an awesome spread. I think the snack table could have been our lunch resource as well.

Pastor Bryan Wyldes of Ottumwa Community Church organizaed the lunch delivery from Pizza Hut so all of our physical needs were taken care of. We had a great room, good equipment, hot coffee, cold juice, fresh-baked cinnamon rolls and lots of other goodies.

The best part of the day was obviously the fellowship and the time of sharing about how we can help more people who are struggling with life-controlling addictions by starting a Lifeline Connection outreach in Wapello County, Iowa.

One of the goals of Lifeline is to offer clients a faith-based alternative to the groups mandated by the new concept of drug court which is something the judicial districts of Iowa have been implementing for some time now. We also want to actively offer help to those who are not able to go to a residential rehab program like Teen Challenge, or ready to go, or even needing to go. Many of the inmates being ministered to through corrections ministry, prefer and need encouragement and accountability, but choose not to go into a residential program because of time already served by incarceration, and excess loss of family and work time. Each Lifeline ministry is unique, and adjusts to the uniqueness of their community and regional needs.

That is why it was such a blessing to spend a Saturday with these guys who have such a heart for their community! But one of the most impressive qualities that I took away with me both times I met with them is the fact that even though they pastor different churches in the same community, they really do believe and act like they are on the same team! It is an exciting, spiritual phenomena. I have worked with a lot of pastors and church leaders through projects like Convoy of Hope, Food shelters, etc. But this is a long-term group of guys that really do love each other and want to see each other succeed. I am blessed by them.

I think one way of looking at Lifeline Connection is as a bridge. We help people cross over from a life controlled by addictions, dysfunction and behaviors of bondage to a life of freedom and wholeness.  Other pastors pictured above include: Doug Meyer, Evangelistic Foursquare; Les Buchanan who pastors Second Baptist Church in Ottumwa but lives in Des Moines where he works as a teacher. I first met Pastor Buchanan when we were working on the Convoy of Hope outreach in Des Moines. Also pictured is Jim Olson of Heartland Ottumwa; Rick Bick, Pastor of New Life Christian Center; Loyd Osborn of Calvary Open Bible; Jeremy Skinner, Albia Road Baptist Church; Mark Eigsti, Pastor of Trinity Nazarene Church; and Jim Altmeier who is Pastor of Ottumwa's Plymouth Congregational U.C.C. church. 

A depicton of the Dee Bridge Disaster

In the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries there were a series of great bridge collapses. By some accounts, as many as one in four bridges collapsed. That is probably exaggerated, but the point is powerful. As commerce expanded during this time period, the transportation grid was also taxed. The demand for new bridges in the growing infrastructure increased, and more people were dying.

One engineer during this time period had this expression, "Build it by the mile and cut if off by the yard." Good judgement was sacrificed at the altar of profit and pride.

In 1845, Robert Stephenson's Dee Bridge, the largest metal truss built to that date, buckled and claimed five lives. In 1879, Thomas Bouchi's Tay Bridge over Scotland's Firth of Tay went down in a gale, killing seventy-five people. In 1907, the collapse of Quebec Bridge over the St. Lawrence in Canada caused the death of another 84 people.

Manitoba Free Press, Winnipeg, Canada, Friday, August 30, 1907, Page 1.

All of these disasters, experts now believe, could have and should have been prevented. Engineers and bridge companies--often working in isolation and conpetition, and the pursuit of reputation and money--were simply negligent. Their failure to cooperate with others, to seek help and assistance, and, where appropriate, to work together; became the tragic downfall of their bridge-building efforts.

Again, it was...

• Isolation
• Competition
• Pursuit of reputation

     that caused the failure of these bridges to transport people safely from one location to their desired destination, not the lack of competence or skill.

I meet many leaders in all walks of life who are very competent and even reputable in what they do, but without a willingness to link arms and join forces, I believe their potential is limited and even cut short.

More and more churches are discovering that nothing brings churches together in a city better than prayer and serving others. Relational unity, forgiveness of one another, and genuine humility speaks to a community when they see church leaders and pastors building bridges together for the benefit of the community!

I really got side-tracked by this soap box. I hope you hear my heart! The pastors in Ottumwa blessed me in a big way last Saturday, July 7th! But I believe that is nothing compared to the blessing they are going to have on their community as they implement Lifeline Connection in their county.

Please continue to pray with us that we will continue to gain favor with the Judicial Districts around Iowa. As we raise up more groups around Iowa who want to offer a faith-based option to people who are facing legal problems because of their addictions, we would like them to know about us. One of the greatest resources for us to get the word out is through the parole officers, attorneys, law enforcement, and judges. Not everyone would be interested in attending a faith-based program like Lifeline, but I know that many people will. And the best part of it is that it doesn't cost the tax-payer a dime, and it costs the participant very little.

I received this email today from the Supervisor of Parole for the western half of Iowa's Fifth Judicial District:

"I did talk to my staff yesterday about the possibility of starting a group out here, they all agreed it would be a good idea but finding the right 10-15 guys will be the difficult part. I told them to start bringing it up to their offenders and see where it goes. We need to start with one and go from there."

Also included in the email was an update status of a young man we have been working with. He is going to serve time somewhere. If he wants to come to Teen Challenge, his parole officers, the prosecuting attorney, the judge, etc. are in favor of allowing him to do his time at Teen Challenge, but he has to be willing to be part of a discipleship process. If he doesn't do his time with us, I fear the long-term consequences of his decision after spending a year with more seasoned and hardened offenders.

One of the interesting things that has come out in my conversation with this young man is how he is more afraid of the changes that will come to his life if he surrenders to Christ, than if he just slides into the criminal system, does his time, and then goes back to his "normal" life once he is released from jail.
Yes, it is easy to sometimes judge others. But in our "judging" may we always remember that if we had lived their lives instead of ours, our perspectives may be different and our decisions may change as well. 

The notorious Minnesota Bridge Collapse in the Twin Cities is a reminder, that we always need to be alert and paying attention. It is easy to get into ruts and isolate ourselves from other people. We know from Scripture that this is one of the enemies' most successful schemes that he uses against us! It is easy to get confident in our comfortable routines, but then one day we are shocked when we are dumped into troubled waters and we realize we have not been practicing our swim stroke. 

I love my friends in Ottumwa and I am excited to see where God will end up taking this awesome group of church leaders!

I-35W Mississippi River bridge (officially known as Bridge 9340) was an eight-lane, steel truss arch bridge that carried Interstate 35W across the Mississippi River in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. During the evening rush hour on August 1, 2007, it suddenly collapsed, killing 13 people and injuring 145. The bridge was Minnesota's fifth busiest, carrying 140,000 vehicles daily. The NTSB cited a design flaw as the likely cause of the collapse, and asserted that additional weight on the bridge at the time of the collapse contributed to the catastrophic failure

Thanks for reading this update! I hope you know how much you are loved!