Josh and the Big Wall

The first Veggie Tale Heidi and I ever saw was called Josh and the Big Wall. It was about this story. My buddy Josh, a pastor from MN, arrived today and went to the Seussical with us at Eastern Nazarene College. Incredible imagination! I've asked him to guest blog tonight:

Thanks, Matthew! With my name I guess it is fitting that I get the Joshua text as a guest blog. The words "Be strong and of good courage" that God gave to Joshua were important to me in preparing for the first trip I took by myself (to Europe when I was 17). Now I'm on a new trip and the story of Joshua still inspires me. While I am waiting for a call, I've been driving across the country, connecting with ministries, friends, and churches that help me get perspective on my own calling. I share ideas, hopes, and concerns with the new friends and old friends I meet on the way. It's a bit of an updated mission journey (you know like from the New Testament!) and I've also called it a "people pilgrimage." So far it has been amazing and I am excited to be in New England now to visit with Matthew and friends I met on my last visit here in July.

As I've been driving I have passed through many cities and I cannot say I have wished for the destruction of their walls or any other part of them (maybe less traffic sometimes). Instead conversations with ministries in the heart of cities like Detroit, Indianapolis, Toledo, and Fort Wayne have made me think about what Christians with faith like Joshua could do if they applied the same faith that destroyed the walls of Jericho to rebuilding the industrial cities of the "rust belt" that have seen so much poverty and destruction. The leaders of places like Englewood Christian Church come to mind as people that have faith like the Israelites, to see new life in a community that had the highest foreclosure rate in Indiana. They walk around their neighborhood many more than seven times with eyes to see God's work in that reality, tearing down walls of separation so they can truly call themselves neighbors and brothers and sisters of those they meet.

Give us faith to see Jesus in our midst, in our city, in our neighborhood. Give us strength and courage to tear down the walls of distance and differences that separate us from each other, and vision to see your mission alive in the love we share.