Break the Walls Down: Why?

[[READ THE SIDE BAR FOR A BIO OF SPEAKERS SUMAIR MIRZA AND STEPHEN HAWKINS]]

Love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this [is] the first commandment. And the second [is] like, [namely] this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these. -- Mark 12:30

This is the verse that does it for all ministry within Triumph Music and Media. This command is the one that fuels and spurs on the development of Triumph, and it also takes the most effort to fulfill. Break the Walls Down is no exception -- "breaking down the walls of misconception". The rest of the motto should read "so that we can learn to love the world in the way that Jesus commanded us to."

The BTWD series will be an annual series that is dedicated to providing insight on topics that us as the Christian community are generally not knowledgeable OR that we purposely ignore (which makes us ignorant). Jesus' command to love people is the driving force behind BTWD. While I do not feel that the commandment of "love" is dependent on how much we know or don't know about a topic or person, I feel that taking the time to learn about a person, culture or faith is a step in the right direction.

For example, when we befriend a person, the element that makes that friendship build and grow is the amount of time we take to get to know that person. Break the Walls Down can be seen as a time to get to know people, faiths and cultures. To love His sheep and for us to get to know the Lord, we must get to know Him on a daily basis. That's what makes God so amazing: He knows us all individually and can literally count the hairs on our head.

With the growing animosity everywhere in the world, the media has surely taken advantage of our sensory inputs by bombarding us with daily news designed to slowly change our perspective about life. The younger one is, the more susceptible we are to being influenced by the media machine. As consistent as the media will ever be, I feel that the church has not maintained the same pace nor has it attempted to. While it is not the role of the church to entertain, it is the role of the church to provide an environment of spiritual growth. I feel that spiritual growth also includes preventing and counteracting spiritual decay. This is a testament to how comfortable the church has become.

One of the biggest topics that the church has failed to address is The Middle East -- the history; the culture; the religions; the order, structure, perspectives and ideologies; the present, the future and what's to come. How can a topic that is so widely addressed by the world not even be looked upon by the church? The historical value of the Middle Eastern (minus Christianity) -- namely Islam and Judaism -- should be held in high-esteem. This is the origin of the world and literally where everything began.

In 2008, our view of Judaism and Islam have been so shattered in our minds -- stereotypes and misconceptions rule our thinking about the history, present and the future. Students and adults alike share a view of Judaism being an old-time religion with no current day value. Likewise, students and adults in most cases cringe at the word Islam -- as if it represented some sort of disdain or caution.

These peoples are humans just like anyone else. They're born, grow up, and die just like the rest of us. They eat, sleep, poo, pray and laugh in the same ways that we do. The media has done such a great job at illustrating an image that perhaps they are different. If the media is playing such a heavy role in depicting these peoples in one way, then the church must ante-up to counter-act this.

Why you say? According to adherants.com, a statistic website, Islam represents 1.8 billion of the world's overall population. Judaism likewise represents 14 million people around the globe. In total, that represents 1.1814 billion people in the world that are no exception to the love of Jesus Christ. My question is, how are we expected to love these people if in fact the media is telling us to hate them? The church must address this.

On September 27th, 2008, Triumph Music and Media will be hosting an evening based on testimony, knowledge and application. Featured are speakers Stephen Hawkins and Sumair Mirza. These two speakers, through testimony, Biblical and Cultural experience will take us on the journey of "breaking down the walls of misconception."

We will also receive performances by local MC "Chronicle" and a mystery band that has been assembled specifically for Triumph's endeavors.

This event is open to anyone of all ages. BTWD is wired to be a "mind-widening" evening rather than a "mind-narrowing" experience. This experience is geared and ONLY geared towards taking the steps towards loving (knowledge+appreciation+respecting) our brothers and sisters in the Middle East and abroad.

Please invite your friends to come.

Yours truly,

Jermaine