In Joshua ch 6, Joshua is instructed to walk around the walls of Jericho and have seven priests blow their seven trumpets and when the time came, they were to blow a loud blast, the army was to shout, and the walls would come down.  This miracle of God is used in many Sunday School lessons and spoken of by those that have never read the Bible.  The story is for all who wish to hear it.

Isn’t it too bad that many churches build doctrinal walls for themselves?  Many denominations think they are “it” and too often fail to realize that we are all “it” in God’s eyes.  Don’t get me wrong, we need doctrine.  Without it, we would all be new-agers or budhists or some combination or hybrid of all attempts to reach God.  But doctrinal walls should come down if churches want to grow.  The single biggest reason I never went to church when I was younger was because I didn’t feel that I would be welcome.  Finally, when God pushed me enough and I knew I wanted to know Him more, I went, but it was never because the church I went to was inviting and had an open door for me.  It just so happened that on that day, the trumpets blew and the walls came down and I entered in.  God was behind me going, God was behind the members welcoming me.

As it turns out, that day in the summer of 1994, I went to a fantastic church and they did not have the doctrinal walls, but the church walls were enough to keep me out until God pushed me.  I praise Him for doing so; it changed my life.

So what should we do?  We need to meet the people where they are, just like Paul did as he speaks about in 1 Corinthians 9.  We need to eliminate any doctrinal walls so that if a baptist comes to you in your Christian church, welcome him.   If a Methodist wanders one day into the land of the presbytery, welcome her.  If a friend meets an apostolic, they should converse.  We are all flesh and blood, carbon and oxygen, synapses and electrical currents.  We are not separated in the eyes o

f God and most importantly, neither are the people that are not labeled as any of the above.

Jesus came to establish relationships, not doctrine.  He came to save, not separate.  He came to show us the way, not tell us to have our own way.  What do you think?  Isn’t it time we return to the Lord, especially in lands where we are?  Shouldn’t we return to the Lord, seek His grace and invite others in to share the love we have found?  Give me your thoughts and learn more about Jericho here

Fire and brimstone may have been effective in previous centuries, but I have come to believe that preaching someone into hell is not an effective way to spread the Gospel.  In fact, the one and only time that Paul speaks of hell is in 1 Corinthians 15 when he claims that Jesus overcame it.

So why do so many church signs say things like “Stop, Drop, and Roll won’t work in Hell” or “There are no fire escapes in hell”.  Even a popular Christian rock band known as Newsboys sang a song about it.  ”They don’t serve breakfast in hell”.  Let me be clear, I am not trying to preach universal reconcilliation, I am not trying to say hell was a doctrine made up by Catholics.  It’s in the Bible, but neither Jesus nor Paul preached people into it.

In fact, Jesus said “Come to me all you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”   Why didn’t He say “if you don’t believe me, I am going to throw you into the fire?”  I say it’s because when He did speak of people in that regard it

was for those that had already rejected Him.

My point is that if we are going to witness to someone, it would be better to witness God’s love.  Speak about what God has for them and not the punishment.  Research has shown that people revolt in the face of punishme

nt, but are drawn to love.  If you explain what a friend the Lord has become to you, instead of explaining how you have purchased “Fire Insurance”, then the person just might listen.  Unless of course you really don’t have a relationship with the Lo
rd and are trying to preach yourself out of hell.  In that case, stick around as I speak more on this

Let me know what you think.  What are your thoughts on hell and if it is an effective evangelical tool or not.

I recently discovered by watching the new Millionaire show (I forget what the real title is) that the famous fist bump that so many do these days was first popularized by the wonder twins.  I mean, it makes perfect sense, right?  They put their fists together and say “Wonder twin powers….Activate” and then turn into an iceberg and a mountain lion or something like that.  That got me thinking about the glory days of super friends and the hall of justice and the legion of doom.  No matter what though, batman and robin always remains my favorite.  The dynamic duo.  Maybe it was because of the quirky pop out POW and BAM that used to accompany the television show.  Two is always better than one.  There has to be reason God gave us two eyes, two ears, two nostrils, two sets of teeth, two hands, etc.  Two lives too.  Jesus said that whoever loses his life for His sake will earn it.  Yes, we must give up that first life, in order to have the second.  But getting there is where the magic really comes into play.  Getting there, that losing of one’s life, involves a new dynamic duo.  It involves YOU and JESUS Christ.

Did you ever notice how when Robin was caught, Batman would get him out, or vice versa.  When one wonder twin was caught, the other would come to the rescue.  When Superman was captured by Brainiac, Wonder Woman would lasso him free.  There was always someone to help even the greatest of super heros.  That’s how it is with Jesus.  When we get caught by the enemy, He rescues us.  He always comes in and saves the day.  He changes our thoughts, He guides us, He lifts us up and brushes us off.  He is the main part of our dynamic duo.  Without Him, we would have nothing.  Without His love, we would be lost.  Without His help in our lives, we would be left to help ourselves and we would fail miserably.

It’s an awesome thing to fall into the hands of a loving God.  Even if it is for an occasional fist bump.