CHRISTIAN POEMS

INSPIRATIONAL STORIES

THE BRIDGE

THE BRIDGE

There once was this turntable bridge which spanned a large river. During most of the day, the bridge sat parallel with the tracks, allowing ships to pass freely on both sides. But at certain times each day a train would come along, and the bridge would be turned sideways across the river allowing the trains to cross.

A switchman sat in a small shack on one side of the river where he operated the controls to turn the bridge and lock it into place as the train crossed.

One evening as the switchman was waiting for the last train of the day to come, he looked off into the distance through the dimming twilight and caught sight of the train's light. He stepped to the controls and waited until the train was within a prescribed distance when he was to turn the bridge into position. He turned the bridge, but to his horror, found that the locking control didn't work. If the bridge was not locked into position securely, it would wobble back and forth at the ends when the train came onto it. This would cause the train to jump the track and go crashing into the river.

This train was a passenger train with many people aboard. He left the bridge turned across the river, and hurried across the bridge to the other side of the river where there was a lever he could use to operate the lock manually. He could hear the rumble of the train now. He took hold of the lever and leaned backward to apply pressure to keep the mechanism locked. Many lives
depended on this man's strength. Then, coming across the bridge from the direction of his control shack he heard a sound that made his blood run cold: "Daddy, where are you?" His four year old son was crossing the bridge to look for him. His first impulse was to cry out to the child, "Run, run!" but the train was too close, the tiny legs would not make it across the
bridge in time. The man almost lifted the lever to run and snatch up his son, and carry him to safety, but he realized he could not get back to the lever in time.

Either the people on the train or his little son must die. He took just a moment to make his decision. The train sped swiftly and safely on its way, and no one aboard was aware of the tiny, broken body thrown mercilessly into the river by the rushing train. Nor were they aware of the pitiful figure of a sobbing man still clinging tightly to the lever long after the train had passed. They didn't see him walking home more slowly than he
had ever walked, to tell his wife how he had sacrificed her son.

Now if you can comprehend the feelings which went through this man's heart, you can understand the feeling of our Heavenly Father when he sacrificed his Son to bridge the gap between us and eternal life. How does He feel when we speed along through life without giving a thought to what was done for us through his Son, Jesus Christ? Can there be any wonder that He caused the earth to tremble and the skies to darken when His only Son died?

THEY WON'T LET ME IN & THE ANGEL

They Won't Let Me In
what's your church like?

It was a beautiful Sunday morning. People were filling the church to itsfullest capacity! As they entered, each were given a bulletin filled with announcements, topic of today's sermon, what songs they would sing and,who to pray for. At the end of the line stood an older man. His clothes were filthy and you could tell that he had not bathed in days. His face was covered in whiskers where he had not shaved for a very long time. When he reached the usher, he removed his tattered old brown hat in respect. His hair was a long, dirty and a tangled mess. He had no shoes on his feet, and wore only soiled black socks to cover the sores upon his feet. The Usher looked at him turning up his nose at the old man and said, "Uh, I'm sorry sir, but I'm afraid we cant' let you in. You will distract the congregation and we don't allow anyone to disrupt our service. I'm afraid you'll have to leave."

The old man looked down at himself and with a puzzled look on his face, he placed his old brown hat back upon his head and turned to leave. He was sad as he loved to hear the choir sing praises to the Lord. He loved to watch the little children get up in front of the church to sing their little songs. He carried in his pocket a small worn out Bible and loved to see if the minister preached a passage from the Bible that the old man had underlined. But he was respectful enough and didn't want to cause
any commotion, so he hung down his head and walked back down the steps of the big brick church. He sat down on the brick wall near the edge of the church yard and strained to listen through closed doors and windows to the singing going on in the church. Oh how he wished he could be inside with all the others. A few minutes had passed by when all of a sudden a younger man came up behind him and sat down near him. He asked the old man what he was doing? He answered, "I was going to go to church today, but they thought I was filthy and my clothes are old and worn, and they were afraid I would disrupt their service. Sorry, I didn't
introduce myself. My name is George." The two gentlemen shook hands and George couldn't help but notice that this man had long hair like his. He wore a piece of cloth draped over his body tied with a royal purple sash. He had sandals upon his feet, now covered with dust and dirt and the stranger reached out to touch George's shoulder and said, "Hello George, don't feel bad because they won't let you in. My name is Jesus, and I've been trying to get into this same church for years and they won't let me in either. "


Author unknown.



THE ANGELS

A friend of mine told me this story that I will never forget. She now has grown children and lots of grandchildren. She said when her children were small she had 2 little girls and a little boy. The little boy was the youngest. At the time her little girls were 7 and 5 and her little boy was 3. They were a very happy family and the little boy was such a blessing to everyone!! They were the normal family, she stayed home with the children while her husband worked. They went to Church on Sundays and lived a pretty normal life.

One morning her little boy came in her bedroom and woke her up and said, "Mommy, I had a dream about an Angel! The Angel told me I would be coming to see them really soon!!" She didn't quite know what to make of this dream. She just told him that one day he would go to heaven and he would see the Angels but not right now. He went on about his day like any normal 3 year old little boy playing with his trucks and getting dirty!!

The next morning he came running into her room again and said, "Mommy, I had another dream about the Angels!! They told me I will be with them tomorrow!! Mommy they are so beautiful. They told me that I would be happy there with them but you would be sad so I needed to tell you that I would be very happy with the Angels so you wouldn't be sad." She was stunned. She grabbed her
little boy and cried and said, "Oh, honey that isn't going to happen!! I love you so much and God knows I couldn't bear to lose you!" Her little boy just smiled and said, "Well mommy, that is why God sent the Angels, so you won't be sad!" Again he just ran off like any normal little boy and for that day the dream was forgotten.

The next morning he came running into the room again and told him Mom the Angels told him they would be with him today. His mother did not know what to think about this!! She wanted to hold her little boy and never let him go! Then she laughed it off thinking, "this is just a 3 year old little boy having silly dreams!!"

Later that day while her little boy was taking his
nap she started getting dinner ready. She was in the middle of cooking when she heard her 7 year old little girl scream from the back yard. She dropped what she was doing and ran out the back door and looked down and to her horror saw her 3 year old little boy face down in the swimming pool. She jumped in and got him out but it was too late. He was already gone from her.
She was hysterical! Her little girl called 911 and the ambulance came and they tried and tried to revive the little boy but could not bring him back. He was gone. They called her husband, made the funeral arrangements, and she went through the next few weeks in a complete daze. Over the next couple of weeks she was severely depressed. She didn't want to take care of the house
or her other children. She just wanted to lay in bed and cry. This particular night she went to bed and had a dream. In her dream an Angel came to see her and told her that her little boy was okay and that he was happy. That is all of the dream that she remembers but it made her remember something else. She finally remembered her sweet little boy's dreams about the Angels. She remembered how he told her that the Angels said he would be with them and how happy he would be. She remembered him telling her how the angels said she would be sad but she shouldn't be because he would be with the Angels. At that moment she felt complete, total peace and she knew this was God telling her that her little boy was all right. Praise God! He cares
for everyone - her little boy and the grieving mother that misses him so.


Author - RITA WOOD