Connecting churches and homes—the future of spiritual engineering!

building bridges

By Ron Hunter, Jr.

While my wife holds her breath and hides her face, I am fascinated—not at her gasps but at the architecture of the bridges we cross. Bridges have always intrigued me. The old Florida Sunshine Skyway was first big bridge I remember crossing. At five and a half miles, it was noted as the longest cable-stay main span bridge in the world. Pretty hard for my wife to hold her breath over that one!

Some bridges have become quite famous, from hearing children sing about the London Bridge to watching the Bridge over the River Kwai blow up one more time. People make long journeys to see the massive Golden Gate Bridge and the romantic Heartland Covered Bridge.

I developed this fascination with bridges while watching a PBS documentary directed by Ken Burns about the Brooklyn Bridge. The initiative to build this amazing structure started in 1866, one year after the Civil War. Construction began in 1871 and was completed in 1883. I have both walked and driven across this majestic structure that stands as a testament to the possibility of spanning the gap through hard work.

Where would we be without bridges? We would be farther away from the shortest distances. Bridges span chasms and provide passage over seemingly insurmountable barriers. They are engineering marvels and icons of connectivity. It takes years to build them, yet they can be demolished in a moment by a stray barge or an intentional act of destruction.

Blowing up bridges happens more quickly than we can imagine. Adam and Eve destroyed their fellowship with God with a bite. Jacob blew up the bridge between him and 10 of his sons with a single coat. And countless thousands of parents and children through the ages have torn down bridges of communication with harsh words and careless conversation.

Yet from Deuteronomy six to Ephesians six, Scripture makes it clear that parents should bridge this communication “gap” intentionally so the next generation learns to be faithful, and spiritual values are transferred.

Building a bridge between teens and parents can be difficult because bridges are never built from one end to the other. They start at both sides and meet in the middle. That is where Randall House comes in. Our purpose is to help the church partner with the home, reconnecting parents and kids. Our D6 initiatives are the building blocks of the bridge between generations. Bridges rarely look alike, but all of them serve the same purpose. Each service and product Randall House provides to the church and home is unique, but all are based on the principles of D6 (Deuteronomy six).

It is hard to believe we still drive across a bridge built in the 1800s, but its sturdiness and success speaks for itself. In a day when many people look for “the next big thing,” Randall House provides a bridge constructed in the Pentateuch, with God as the architect. The columns supporting this D6 Bridge are the directives to love God, obey His Word, and teach children to do the same. The parents are the suspension cables, lifting their children and guiding them across the “bridge” to a godly, faithful life. The D6 bridges built today will connect generations to come.

Today we benefit from those who once said, “We need a connection here” and worked to make it happen. Connecting churches and homes is the future of spiritual engineering! Generations to come will marvel at the D6 bridges built today—not for their iconic value but for the connections they established. Where are you building bridges?

About the Writer: Ron Hunter, Jr. is the director/CEO of Randall House Publications. He is the co-author of Toy Box Leadership.