“Pastor’s Comments” newspaper column, “The Bridge,” proclaims Jesus as Only Bridge to God

Oct. 1, 2010 - PRLog -- “The Bridge” column is one of the weekly “Pastor’s Comments” newspaper columns written by Pastor Daniel E. Lundmark of Northampton Assembly of God, Northampton, PA.  The newspaper column ministry started in 1975 in a Northampton newspaper and then moved on to other newspapers in or near the Lehigh Valley with circulations totaling over 150,000.  Recently, the church increased that circulation by placing a “Pastor’s Comments” ad on The Morning Call online site which presently has 40,000 unique users per day.  The weekly column is emailed free to all who request it using the pastor@naog.ws email address.  

While Pastor Lundmark writes on various topics, the basic purpose of the column is to reach souls for Jesus Christ.  The column is intentionally not on the religious page so that it might serve, in the pastor’s words, "As a fishing hook in the waters."

In this column on “The Bridge,” Pastor Lundmark first writes about the longest suspension bridge in the world which was constructed in Japan to cross the treacherous Akashi Strait after two ferries sank in a storm there killing 168 children.  He states, “The center span of the Akashi-Kaikyo Bridge, also known as Pearl Bridge, is 6,532 feet long.  Its total length is 12,831 feet.  Before it was built, ferries carried passengers across this dangerous waterway which often experiences severe storms as was the case in 1955 when the two ferries sank killing 168 children.  The ensuing shock and public outrage convinced the Japanese government to build a suspension bridge to cross the strait.  It took ten years to construct the bridge which opened with six lanes of traffic in 1998.  The two main supporting towers rise 978 feet above sea level.”

Then Pastor Lundmark turns the attention of the column’s readers to an even greater bridge declaring, “There is a bridge greater than Pearl Bridge that spans an even greater chasm.”  Before revealing the bridge that is greater than Pearl Bridge, he tells of the “greater chasm” that exists, “The Bible declares in Isaiah 59:2 that sin creates a great separation between man and God:  ‘Your iniquities have separated between you and your God.’  This great chasm exists between God and all mankind as Romans 3:23 states, ‘For all have sinned.’  Some vainly hope that their good works will bridge the great gap between themselves and a holy God, but all such human efforts are inadequate—they ‘come short of the glory of God’ (Romans 3:23).”  
Concerning his mention of the inadequacy of human works to bridge the gap between a holy God and sinful man, Pastor Lundmark says that he feels it is absolutely critical to point out the error of one’s tendency to trust in his own goodness or good works to be accepted of God rather than divine mercy and grace.  He says, “Again and again I talk to people who think that they will end up in heaven with God just because they consider themselves to be good people who have done good things on earth.  Just this week I spoke with a young man who expressed this to me.  He said that when it comes to the end for him and he stands before God that he feels God will accept him because he has been a pretty good person and has done lots of good things.  He seemed to be very sincere.  I had to tell him that according to the Bible he was entirely wrong!  If people would just read the Bible they would see that the Scripture is clear on this matter.  In Ephesians 2:8-9 we read, ‘For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.’  This truth is stated in many other verses in the Bible such as Titus 3:5-6, ‘Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour.’  It is clear that human good works will never bridge the gap between man and God!  God has provided only one means by which sinful man can be brought back into fellowship with a holy God.  The exclusiveness of truth and fact are highly regarded in the fields of mathematics, physics, science, etc.  Shouldn’t the exclusiveness of truth be all the more highly respected when it comes to what God has clearly stated in the Bible about eternal things?”

In his column, Pastor Lundmark declares, “The only Bridge to God is Jesus.  God ‘hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ’ (2 Corinthians 5:18).  Jesus spanned the great gulf between man and God by dying on the cross ‘that he might bring us to God’ (I Peter 3:18).  Jesus declared Himself to be the only Bridge to God in John 14:6, ‘I am the way…no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.’”  
Included in the column is a link to: www.naog.ws/theway.htm which Pastor Lundmark says clearly shows from Scripture that Jesus Christ is the Only Way—the Only Bridge to God for now and eternity.

Pastor Lundmark ends the column asking, “Will you repent of your sins and trust in Jesus as your Bridge to God now?”  He says that anyone can experience salvation from sin and have fellowship with God by believing in Jesus Christ and taking Him as their Savior as is promised in John 3:16, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

See http://www.naog.ws/TheBridge.htm to read or print “The Bridge” column.  At the http://www.naog.ws/ site you can also read “Pastor’s Comments” newspaper columns from the past several years and peruse the Northampton Assembly of God website where you can hear some church worship services and preaching under “Sermons” or see, for instance, the billboards that the church has had in the area such as the one showing waterfalls and the one word question: “Thirsty?” followed by the words of Jesus “Come unto me and drink!” at: http://www.naog.ws/thirsty.htm