Not sure about you but I loved The Music Man starring Robert Preston. It was our High School play and I know it was for many others. And of course in it was that famous line "We got trouble, right here in River City. yeah we got trouble..."!

I believe that one of the hardest parts of life is to live in the trouble zone. Tough to endure, and often even tougher to make the difficult decisions in the midst of it. We may also feel like we don't understand why or even what caused it because we were doing the right thing. Understanding that it is going to happen somewhere in our lifetime and probably more than once should prompt us to prepare for it.

Jesus said in John 16:33 that In this world you will have trouble, but take heart I have overcome the world. No doubt that comforts us with words but it should also inspire us with action to know we will get through it if we believe in him. He also confirms what is written in Psalm 46, God is our refuge and our strength, an ever present help in trouble. 

That same Psalm also provides a way to prepare for it. Be still and know that I am God. The key being whether we have first come to know him and secondly have we spent the time to be still enough to speak with him and hear his voice? How long has it been since we have taken the time out to have silence to focus on him and not the thousands of distractions this electronic world provides us?  In silence, real silence.

Yeah we got trouble, but when we get to know him and the history of how his people overcame trouble, it becomes a whole lot easier to get through it. Here's a simple prayer request to God to get us in the right frame of mind, Help me God, to make time for silence and solitude to get in touch with my spirit.

Then read the Book of Psalms about how David handled his trouble, it will certainly help us to prepare for our own. And one more thing, Jesus overcame his own fear of the coming trouble by getting on his knees and praying before he faced it - not only did he overcome it, but he changed the world because of it.

Be still, be confident of who your God is and his power to do anything, and lean not on your own understanding, Trust in his wisdom to overcome it as he gives you his instructions how to do so.

Problem solved!

This time of year is special. It seems people are a little nicer, givers come out of the woodwork, families get a little closer together and the name of Jesus is uttered many more times than the rest of the year.

Yet, for others it is a stark reminder of loved ones lost, gifts that cannot be afforded, and a depression of sorts because of increased isolation and loneliness. I certainly don't have all the answers that would soothe the situation except for my own ways of dealing with the joy of the season, yet the loss of significant loved ones. They are simple, yet they bring a consolation of peace.

First, do good at every opportunity! Take the time to step out of yourself, your own pain to invest in others. You will be amazed how much it helps ease the pain.  In Psalm 37 it says this: Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy the pasture. Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart.

Simply, the more good we do the more pasture we have to dwell in. Then, we carry Jesus with us wherever we go and even through the dark times he delights our hearts with the knowledge that the best is yet to come. We trust in Him and not the seasons of the year or the fragility of life itself. If the stock market, the amount of toys we can buy for our kids or how much of a macho man or superwoman we are defines us, then our lives will be governed by a proverbial Santa Claus outlook on God.

Secondly, understand the plan. It's not about our 401K, how much we have or don't have it's about where the shelter of our life is. Here's Solomon's take on this: Wisdom is a shelter as money is a shelter, but the advantage of knowledge is this: that wisdom preserves the life of the possessor.

Believe me, I used to be caught in the achievement and possessions trap, going for all the money and fame, but it all comes and goes. However, God's plan is that our focus should be on Him, then all the circumstances of this life we make between the dashes can be processed through his perspective rather than our own human concept.

Sorry for the length of this blog, but I felt compelled to get real today about how a significant perspective change in my life altered the way I think. Loss of life in Viet Nam, loss of four loved ones in four consecutive years, and my youngest son seven years ago. Loss of marriages, ups and downs of success - now at an older age I understand, and the wisdom learned has preserved my life and my joy for every moment of life experienced, good or bad.


I've been naughty and I have certainly been nice, but now I can truly say 'Tis The Season to experience his presence rather than his presents!

This saying is actually saying your plans have little or no chance of success. I heard that a lot back in 2018 when ATB was incorporated as a non-profit. However, that was not what God had in mind. He uses impossible situations to show that anything with him leading the way is possible. Let's correct the mindset of this saying.

This formula, A Wing And A Prayer was used dramatically when the Apostle Peter was put in jail. Here are excerpts from the story in Acts 12:4-11:

V5. So Peter was kept in prison, but the church was praying to God for him.
V7. Suddenly an an angel of the Lord appeared and a light shone in the cell. He struck Peter on the side and woke him up. "Quick get up!" he said, and the chains fell off Peter's wrist.

It goes on to the point where Peter admitted without a doubt that the Lord sent an angel to rescue him. Thus, he was saved by A Wing (the angel) And A Prayer (the church praying for him). So somebody has created a negative saying out of what God intended to be a solution - not the first time that's happened.

So how about us? Do we have others praying for our success, our sobriety, our deliverance from evil situations? Are we praying earnestly for someone else for the same? Sometimes there is no more we can do but that but it is actually the most powerful persuasion there is for God to change an impossible circumstance.

Then, think about what angel may trying to poke you to wake you to stop being so negative, stop doubting the power of God, stop dwelling on where you are presently at and think of where He can take you to be. The chains can come off the plans can succeed, a life can be transformed by a simple plan originated by the one who can control the plans.

Have someone or a bunch of somebody's pray for you and lookout for that angel's presence. A Wing And A Prayer - it happened to me too, and it can happen to you!

I posted a picture on FB today from 9 years ago that I took while on a walk in Daphne, AL where I worked for a short but enjoyable time. Crossing a bridge were these two signs:

No Loitering On Bridge and Do Not Feed The Alligators

Daphne is located on the other side of Mobile and just is an absolute beautiful place but there are alligators present. Saw two myself, one on a golf course and one crossing another bridge in front of me at night (the Across The Bridge analogies here are so fitting). You cannot ignore them, in fact at one of the seafood restaurants on the causeway to Mobile they have a pet gator (Alice) that prowls the parking lot so you best beware at night walking to your car.

In addiction recovery we must adhere to these warnings, first, don't dwell on the past and loiter on your bridge to recovery - keep going to the other side before you are trapped by those gators looking to have you for breakfast or dinner. They will catch you if you are standing still.

Second, when we feed our addiction or more precisely our beast, it can also devour us for being kind to it. That's right, being kind. The beast won't go away, the demons won't come out, unless there is a desire to expel them not feed them. This means turning our back on some long standing friends, places and things that have sustained us through survival. It's not about that anymore, it's about a revival of our entire lifestyle.

Biblical examples abound including the wild cave man in Mark 5 who cut himself and cut himself off from others. Only the power of Jesus could tame his beast and drive out those demons. But he asked Jesus a most important question, was he going to torture him? Let me ask you a question, would it be better to experience some pain through a recovery process, or being eaten by your alligators?

Once that question is answered the bridge can be crossed safely in the guiding hands of the one who knows how to handle those alligators and any other wild beast that is in us.

Go visit Daphne, enjoy the Gulf beaches, but don't ​feed the alligators!

Across The Bridge is proud to announce the formation of Warrior Groups in partnership with the PTSD Foundation of America which offers Christ-centered solutions for Combat Trauma. This group will be open to all veterans, especially combat and deployed veterans and first responders. Our first meeting will be December 2 at 6 PM in Suite B at ATB.

From my own experience in Viet Nam as a U.S. Marine I am well aware of the challenges veterans face when coming home from war, or veterans experience when dealing with extensive subversive training, or first responders faced with the dangerous situations they are placed in.  The format of this meeting will be much the same as a 12 Step group with guidelines from their Combat Trauma Healing Manual.

Trauma is an event outside normal human experience and fuels mental illness and addiction, so this is right in our corporate wheelhouse and that of my own experience. I can tell you that in coming back from war it was a long time before I felt like I fit back into a peaceful society. The effects on my marriage, children and looming addiction created added trauma on top of  that trauma and fortunately my faith in God and working through the Steps helped pull me out. Now, we can offer a meeting and fellowship that can certainly help sooner.

I will help lead this group with their assistance and seek out future leaders to be a part of this. If you or someone you know may benefit from this group please call or email me at 404-915-7376 or at acrossthebridge@att.net.

In the meanwhile, please pray for us and for the thousands of veterans and first responders who lay their life on the line every day in the cause of freedom.

May God Bless America!

Some of my favorite go to verses in the Bible are in Isaiah 40:29-31 which is packed with hope and encouragement for all of us:

He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.

In these past four years of ATB's existence we have experienced every emotion in these verses because in addiction recovery we travel a hard road. It is not for the faint of heart, it is for those who never give up even in the face of overwhelming odds to fail. Even when those closest to us fail we continue on to help the next person as in "next man up". And when those who fail come home we greet them with open arms.

For us and the amazing sober living facilities we partner with, we must learn to soar above the fray of mediocrity and chaos and reach for the proverbial stars of light that God provides. We must use his power to soar when things look the bleakest as those who misunderstand our mission to foster redemption attempt to move us to a convenient corner rather than offer greater support.

Ours is a difficult business but one we choose with eyes wide open knowing that God has an endless supply of power, despite our shortcomings, to provide the strength and energy for us to run when we are weary and walk without fainting. We fly together in a pattern much like the world famous Blue Angels performing the most difficult stunts that most thought impossible, mirroring that majestic eagle's flight.

We are imperfection flying in a pattern of His brilliance, not only angelic, but ever soaring to reach one more person to join us on this journey. It is certainly a non-stop flight!

There is so much negativity in the world in general. With immediate media access to everything and how scrutinized every word that is said seems to be, we have lost something special - Value!

Every man, woman and child on this planet deserves to be respected and valued despite their considerable flaws. As Jesus so eloquently said, "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone". Whether we are eminently spiritual or a struggling drug addict we all have value because we were created in God's image and all given the option of redemption through a relationship with Christ.

We can't be so hyper-critical and judgmental that we discount one another for our mistakes. One has to only look at the blatantly critical political ads going on at this moment. Instead of boasting of the great deeds a candidate has accomplished, they are blasting the other for many of the same things you and I have done that fortunately don't go public. Negative destruction of character and devaluing another human being.

Not just in politics, it's everywhere. In the Book of Proverbs there are many words that would apply to treating each other with value, but I like this verse: The man of integrity walks securely, but he who takes crooked paths will be found out.

Having walked down that crooked path before in my life, I understand that walking confidently with the Lord makes you a more positive, encouraging and valuing human being. Without that we tend to build our own self esteem on the backs of the others we walk over to make ourselves feel better.

In the end, as that Proverb says, taking that crooked path, de-valuing and cheating others will eventually lead to destruction. On the other hand, if we value others as Jesus did while he walked this earth, we will be building foundations of growth in the human race while being secure in our integrity.

Now that is a valuable commodity!

There's a long joyous story as to how we picked the name Across The Bridge, but to me the key in the name is the word The. Let me explain please.

In the A.A, Big Book it says "We never apologize to anyone for depending upon our creator." Thus my emphasis on the word The as in He is the one we depend on for our guidance, strength and hope. He is The Pile or The foundation that holds up that bridge for safe passage across.  In thinking about this, who would ever apologize for a solid structure that held up a bridge unless it collapsed? For sure, God will never collapse, but we may because we don't build our foundation on him.

So if we do collapse into depression, anxiety, addiction relapse, despair or just sadness or grief, we must remember The will always be there to connect the bridge of hope back together again. Anytime, anywhere God is present and ready to connect us to healing and take us across that bridge from darkness to light, addiction to recovery, sadness to joy,  and lost to found. All we have to do is accept that he can and will if he is sought.

He is always The Bridge, and if anyone asks me how I know let me tell them how He put this broken man back together again to help others cross that bridge as well. In fact speaking of the cross, the final word from the Lord to me after many moments of prayer was to make sure that our name had that word in it. Thus it became Across The Bridge.

And we know for certain that if that cross is holding together our bridge of life we might feint but we will never collapse!

A trigger on a gun does nothing until someone fires it. It takes a human act of the will to make it a weapon of self defense or of destruction. It takes a conscious decision to put it into practice so to speak.

David, a man after God's own heart, the slayer of the giant Goliath, the person who killed the lion and bear with his bare hands, the highly decorated warrior and chosen one to be King, fired a trigger that set off a chain reaction of destruction even though his heart was good.  He saw something he wanted (Bathsheba) and went after her without any regard for the cost because after all, he was King.

Some might say his trigger was a naked woman bathing, but in fact it was described in these words: In the spring when kings go off to war....but David remained in Jerusalem. He was so used to the battle, but for whatever reason (tired maybe, fed up with war, needing something different) he stayed behind. When he became restless he awoke and took a walk on the roof of the palace. What he saw, he immediately wanted.

In the A.A. Big Book it says this: When I am unwilling to do the right thing, I become restless. irritable, and discontent. It is always my choice. I need much more than a blog on this (see me at ATB Raw this Monday for more) but David was all three of these when he sent his men to go get her, knowing it was wrong but knowing (here comes THE TRIGGER) he was lonely.

But then, as in all cases when a trigger leads an addict to use (even after years clean), there was a cover up, destruction toward another man, death in his family and a spirit that changed him from a mighty warrior of great faith to a whimpy broken king. Until he repented, until he surrendered, until he realized he had no control over his desires, he was lost.

More to come Monday but ponder on this as to how he got his groove back, and how we can get ours: But thou O Lord are a shield around me, you are the lifter of my head. We need a shield between us and that bad decision to pull the trigger, that's called the Holy Spirit that utters three prophetic words to us in the heat of the moment very loudly:

NO, NO, NO! Then, what choice will we make? Have you surrendered to the process yet or are you still taking nights off to relapse when you should be battling against this addiction?

I find myself often singing that old Mr. Rogers song, "It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood, won't you be my neighbor". It's a good way to deal with life on life's terms because it emphasizes two important things: our attitude regardless of circumstances is so important, and serving and loving our fellow man is critical to that attitude.

Left alone and isolated life can get overbearing. Given fellowship with friends, family and others can be challenging but yet so fulfilling. We were meant to be together, not set apart. If we are to live a life of purpose we have to "love God, and love our neighbors as ourselves". That requires a whole lot of conversation more than a blog can handle, but it requires answering important questions for those of us dealing with addiction that we can talk about here.

First, can we stay sober, next can we keep in emotional balance, and finally, can we live to good purpose under all conditions? In the Big Book of A.A. it quotes "What we really have is a daily reprieve contingent on the maintenance of our spiritual condition".  If we are connected to the source, we develop a God-consciousness or if you prefer, being led by the Spirit that helps to answer every one of those questions. It keeps us in balance.

It's one thing to know all the scriptures or quote all the pages of the Big Book or the 12 and 12, but do we put into action what Mr. Rogers was talking about? Is our attitude a reflection of our pain or the willingness to let God remove it so that we can look at life as beautiful? Or, is our attitude one that invites others in or locks them out?

​The daily reprieve requires that we have a spiritual program of action whatever that program may entail for each one of us. If it's working we begin to sense the flow of God's Spirit within us instead of the desire to use the spirits of alcohol and drugs. One is beautiful, the others quite ugly.

There is a lifetime reprieve - his name is Jesus! Won't you be his neighbor?