Planning, Planning, Planning

I'm a little bit of a neat freak when it comes to my daily plans. I like to be in the know. I like to be in control of my schedule. Everything must work clock-wise according to my sovereign plan. If it doesn't I tend to shut down. I do not like conflict. And I do not like unscheduled changes.

This past week I came back from a 10 day trip to Barcelona, Spain. I was helping with a church plant up there by engaging in different ministry projects to help local people plug into the church. Throughout the trip there were many unscheduled changes that took place throughout the trip. This was the first time a large group of students participated in a project of this magnitude in Spain. There was a schedule. There was a plan. But the plan needed changes to be made along the way. And LOTS of them.

This was difficult on the whole team and on the leaders in charge, because there were difficulties that even the leaders were not in control of. There was a lot of grumbling and eye rolling from a few of the team members. Even I made a few comments to others about the changes at the very beginning of the trip.

But very quickly I remembered back to some of my past overseas ministry trips and how when I didn't just go with the flow that it made me miserable. This trip was going to be different. So at that point, I decided to just go with it. Whatever plans or expectations I had in my head I threw out the door. After all, I didn't go on this trip for me. I went to help the missionaries. Whatever they needed me to do that's what I was going to do. If they needed me to dance in a flash mob, (that actually happened, no joke) that's what I was going to do. If they needed me to make balloon animals, that's what I was going to do. Even if it didn't seem super missionary-like, it still made an impact, because that was what the missionary's knew would get the attention of the locals and give exposure to the church so that maybe they might possibly get involved.

I think sometimes we as Christians forget that God can work through anything. We don't have to stand on a soap box and scream Bible verses to be an affective evangelist. A lot of times it's simply putting our plans aside to do whatever God wants us to do.

Since being back in California, I've been thinking about all of the plans that I have made for my life-- My plans to be a Christian Filmmaker, to Plant a Church, to be a Pastor or an overseas Missionary--- and I've realized something...

All those plans are worthless!

They are worthless if that is not what God wants me to do. Sometimes as Christians we get to caught up in the job title. We think its super spiritual to want to be an overseas missionary or a pastor, but in reality there is only one spiritual thing you can do--- and that is to simply to be obedient.

We need to be obedient to God's calling. We are to fulfill the Great Commission. And you don't need to go overseas to start. The mission field is in your neighborhood, your school, your workplace, your local community. We should't even think about going overseas if we haven't even shown an effort to evangelize right where we're at. God is sovereign. He placed us here for a reason. If he has called you overseas that's great. God bless you. But make sure that it's what he wanted you to do, not just so you can look super spiritual.

We need to be willing to give up whatever plans we have at a moments notice in order to honor God. It may not always make sense and it may not be easy. People may not always understand. Your own family may not understand why you gave up a perfectly good job that was paying all your bills, just so you could start a college ministry. They may not understand why you settled for a Toyota instead of a Mercedes-Benz because you started giving 10% of your income to your church.

People may not understand.

But that is part of being flexible with your planning.

That is part of being obedient.

This is not something that I'm good at. This is something that I'm really having to work on, because I like planning. Now don't get me wrong. We should plan! But we need to not get attached to our plans. We need to not be surprised when God takes us a completely different direction than what we thought.

It really helps me to remember that God is actually looking out for my best interest.

When I was a little kid, I did not understand why my Dad would not let me just run wild in the street. It seemed perfectly logical to do whatever I wanted. I could not see the end result. But what my Dad knew was that If I ran into the street, I would die, because a car would run me over. And that would not be good for me.

Well my relationship with God works the same way. His comprehending and understanding is far greater than I can even imagine! Even though I may not understand why God does certain things in my life, and it may not make sense at the time, he sees the end result. Who's plans are more trustworthy, mine or God's?

Isaiah 55:8-9English Standard Version (ESV)

For my thoughts are not your thoughts,neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.

God Bless,

Jonathan D. Graham

Pharisees in the Church

As Easter is fast approaching, I have been reading over the book of John, which outlines the life of Jesus. I thought this would be appropriate in preparation for celebrating Easter Sunday, the day that Jesus was resurrected from the dead.

Throughout the Gospel of John, there are these guys that just keep showing up and pretty much spoil all the fun. You may have heard of them: the Pharisees.

The Pharisees are the Jewish religious leaders that are in charge of maintaining the customs and traditions of the Jewish people.

When Jesus went about preaching the good news, the Pharisees saw him as a dangerous prophet that was going against God's will. Much like how there are certain popular Christian leaders today that others are skeptical of, the Pharisees were skeptical of Jesus.

Think about it, Jesus was this young charismatic preacher, with followers that were multiplying day by day. They were concerned about the doctrine that this man was instilling in their people.

So they were always criticizing Jesus, calling him a false prophet, and claiming that his miracles were  from the power of demons.

Jesus was very untraditional in his approach to theology. He questioned much of the legalism that was instilled in the culture of the Jewish people.

In fact, most of the arguments that Jesus had were with the Pharisees. Most of the people that Jesus offended were the Pharisees.

I think the Pharisees get a very bad rap from Christians when we read the book of John.

However, I going to say something that you may not have thought of before or considered.

Many of us as Christians are the Pharisees. If you are a person that was raised in a Christian family, have gone to church all your life, and you feel very proud of being "separated from the world," there is a good chance that you are a pharisee."

Don't get me wrong, I'm not pointing a finger, I myself am very guilty of this. I have definitely been a pharisee. Unfortunately, I feel that this is a natural trend in someone who tries so hard to be radical in their walk with Christ.

Think about it. We are critical now of the pharisees simply, because Jesus was. But, let's pretend the Pharisees were living in our time.

The Pharisees would probably be Christians that we as Christians would actually have high respect for. They would do all the right things, have all the right doctrine, and would appear to be "sinless."

Do those people sound familiar to you?

Yeah. I have been one of those people.

On a much smaller level.

When I was younger, I had been very outspoken on so many topics.

I was very critical of anyone who made a mistake in their walk with Christ in the slightest. I pretty much had a zero-tolerance level for imperfect people. (Kinda hypocritical right.)

Basically I could put on a good show, being a pastor's kid and all.

But then, overtime God shook me. He showed me things that stopped me dead in my tracks.
I started to see unbelievers for who they really were: people.

They were no less than me.

I'm not saying that I am not still a pharisee. I am at many times throughout the week when my pride sneaks back in. But, I am trying to work at throwing out that "holier than thou" attitude.

I am in no way saying that we shouldn't try to do good things. I'm not saying that. I am saying that we shouldn't try to fool ourselves into thinking that we are any better than anyone else.

Are we so perfect that we should not associate ourselves with the lost?

Quite the opposite!

A lot of Christians, try to justify going around spreading judgement by saying that "Jesus offended people." They are right. Jesus did offend people. But do you know who he offended?

The religious people.

The very people that we would consider to be "the best Christians."

They appear holy and righteous, but are actually hypocrites. They stand there and pass judgment when really there is sin in their hearts.

Jesus taught against this.

Jesus ate with the sinners. He gave forgiveness to those who asked. He turned lives around, not ridiculed them. He never treated anyone as an outcast because of their pasts.

Shouldn't we do the same?

Shouldn't we be going out and caring for the lost and and showing them Christ's love rather than excommunicating them and boasting how we are not of the world?

Honestly, if God were to treat us how we treat unbelievers, things would not be so good for us.



Jonathan Graham

Apologetics: Should We Use Them?

Today, in many Christian circles, a lot of focus is put on apologetics. Apologetics are a very popular subject in Christian schools and in churches. We are concerned about where our society is headed and that we as Christians are being persecuted. Our natural reaction to this is to defend our faith.

Let me start by saying this: I believe that apologetics are useful to a believer- for personal use. Apologetics are very useful. They help increase a believer's personal faith in God. They help reduce doubt of God's existence. Therefore, they can be very beneficial for Christians to study on their own time.

However, what I am about to say may offend some Christians who dedicate their lives to apologetics. Please be aware that this is just my opinion on the subject and I am not denying the good that has come from apologetics.

With that said, I do not believe that apologetics should be used in evangelism.

Here is why: apologetics are centered on argument. Argument typically does not persuade anyone to change their view on anything.

Think about it: If you are deeply convinced about something and someone comes along and says that you are wrong and argues it with points, even if their points are valid, are you going to say "Hey, that was actually a pretty good point, I think I will change my view completely because you are totally right."

Of course not!

You are just going to keep arguing.

Nevertheless, I have known many Christians that couldn't get through to the person to just give up and say "Well I gave them the Gospel and they just couldn't handle the truth."

That response from those Christians is just absurd!

Stop blaming non-believers for not believing the truth and actually examine yourself. How are you presenting the Gospel? Is it not possible that you are actually the one not presenting it effectively?!

I believe that apologetics are just no longer effective on a large scale for Evangelism in modern times in the United States of America.

I am not saying that no one has and no one will come to Christ through apologetics. I just haven't seen it happen personally.

I have, however, seen people come to Christ time after time through another method:

Example.

The best type of example is when you do not even need to approach the person about Christ. They approach you.

You are friends with non-christians. You hang out with them. They do sinful things, however, you are different.

You live a different lifestyle- a godly lifestyle.

You are very optimistic and a nice person in general to be around.

You are trustworthy and loving and non-judgmental.

They can trust you with things that they cannot trust their fellow non-believer friends with.

Overtime they watch you and they wonder why you are so different.

They are curious and they want the life that you have.

They ask you "why are you the way that you are?"

This is the perfect time to tell them about Christ!

Tell them in an upbeat, excited, and energetic way. Not condescending. Not judgmental. Do not tell them about how they are a sinner- (at least not right off the batt.) When you do talk about sin, include yourself in the equation.

You are not trying to convict guilt in them!

If they do not sense that you are loving them, you are not doing it right!

You should emphasize that Salvation is a free gift. All they have to do is take it!

Constantly talk about God's love and acceptance.


I've seen a lot of churches talk about truth. I do not understand why they focus on this concept. If they were to look at our current society, they would realize that we live in a largely relativist society where whatever is truth to the individual is true to them.

So whenever a church says "Come to our church! We have the truth!" A non-believer is just going to say, "Yeah, so does everyone else!"

We need to realize that non-believers think differently than us. We can't start teaching the gospel with some assumptions already made. We have to start on their level. We need to see eye-to-eye with them before saying anything related to the gospel. You must be relevant. You must relate to their felt needs first and foremost.

In the U.S., most people do not want truth. They want love and acceptance. Well as Christians, we know that Christ is the most loving and accepting person there is. So focussing on the love and acceptance of Christ, is not deceiving them. Because it is truth. So if you say it in that way, you provided biblical truth to them while still addressing their felt needs.

Now go out a fulfill the Great Commission!

Good Luck and God Bless,
Jonathan D. Graham

Teen Jesus Talk

Fighting Within the Church

The Bible warned Christians that we would be persecuted, but little did I think that a lot of the persecution would come from Christians themselves. You may reading this and wonder what are you talking about?

Think for a second... Has there been a preacher or church or denomination that you have outwardly expressed dislike for even though they've never directly verbally attacked you in any way?

Let's face it, most of us as Christians are guilty of this. 

I'm guilty of this. 

Of course, the dilemma is that Christians try to justify this by saying that they are somehow not following biblical principles. But, I'm willing to bet that most of the time what they are against it's not against what Scripture says. It just goes against their personal take on scripture is. They forget that we as human beings are not all-knowing. There are some issues that we will not figure out until we get to Heaven. 

Some Christians would respond to that and say, "Well the Bible warns us about False Prophets!"

That is very true and we are supposed to call out false prophets, but the question remains- What is a false prophet?

A false prophet is someone who is deliberately preaching against God's word in God's name. 

Unfortunately, I see Christians missusing this term to put down preachers that they do not like, even if they are not necessarily preaching bad doctrine. 

We also need to remember that there are differences in denominations. Denominations will disagree.

That doesn't mean that either one is wrong. They just have different ideas on certain topics. I mean it when I say we need all denominations to reach all types of people. Not every church can reach every type of person.

Don't get me wrong, I don't agree with every denomination, but I can recognize that God is still using them in ways that I know God couldn't use me.

For example, I come from a Southern Baptist background, so much of my theological line of thinking is baptist. So I don't really agree with Pentecostals about speaking in tongues being a spiritual gift to all believers. However, I have friends that are pentecostals that I know are rock solid believers and I see God doing great things through them.

I also have friends that are Methodist, Calvinist, Presbyterian, Anglican, Episcopal, and Catholic. There are aspects of each of those denominations listed that I disagree with. I probably would not attend any of those types of churches regularly, because I am just wired with a Baptist line of thinking. It's what I was raised on and it's what I agree most with. 

However, I know that my church is not necessarily better or more in line with God's word. It's just a difference in opinion. 

So where do you draw the line?

How do you know that it's just another denomination and not a cult?

Well there are what I like to call Primary Issues and Secondary Issues.

Primary Issues

The Trinity - Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit

The Bible is without error (That includes Old Testament and New Testament.)

There is no other God than God

Jesus died for our Sins

There is a Heaven and a Hell

God Created the Universe

10 Commandments

Secondary Issues

Spiritual Gifts (such as tongues)

Predestination (Did Jesus die for everyone or just an "elect"?)

Eternal Security (Can a person lose their salvation?)

Baptism

Tithing 

How the Church is run

Preaching Style

Interpretation of Certain Scripture (that which the context is unclear in the Bible)

When you are trying to figure out if a certain denomination is legitimate and not a cult, you only need to look at the Primary Issues. If it violates one of the Primary Issues, it's a cult. If not, you should treat it with respect, even if you disagree with one of the Secondary Issues. That doesn't mean you have to agree with them, just recognize that God is using them.

If they are not against you, they are for you. We need to realize that we are all on the same team. Also, it's not always our place to judge within the church, especially if it is not our church. 

We need to remember that God is ultimately in control. He will deal with False Prophets, he doesn't need our help. 

Too many times have I seen my fellow Christians spend all their time just looking for Preachers and Churches to put down, when they could have been spending time living out God's plan for their lives. 

It looks pretty pathetic to Unbelievers when we fight amongst ourselves. 

Rick Warren had some good stuff to say about this topic in The Purpose Driven Church:

"I always refuse to debate which method of evangelism works best. It depends on who you are trying to reach! Different kinds of bait catch different types of fish. I'm in favor of any method that reaches at least one person for Christ- as long as it's ethical. I think it will be very embarrassing someday when critics of a particular method of evangelism get to heaven and discover all the people who are there because of it! We should never criticize any method that God is blessing."

Romans 14:4 says "Who are you to judge someone else's servant? To their own master servants stand or fail. And they will stand, for the Lord is able to make them stand.

God Bless,

Jonathan D. Graham

Maturing While Attending a Seeker Friendly Church

As a figured it would, my last article about Seeker Friendly Churches being biblical sparked some responses. They weren't mean responses (I greatly thank you guys for that!) They were actually some very good points. Here is basically a run down of what was said:

It is great that Seeker Sensitive messages are available for beginner Christians, however, "maturer" Christians should have access to "meatier" messages in order for them to grow.

Ok, so here's a problem with that statement. What is "meat"? Do you want to know the Greek and Hebrew translation of every single verse in the Bible? 

At my church, our speakers don't water anything down. We teach relevant messages to help grow people spiritually. Yet just because we preach topical, instead of studying the Bible in order from Genesis to Revelation, there are always a couple of people that visit that claim it to be "watered down." 

I'm not saying it's bad to do in depth studies of every book in the Bible in Greek and Hebrew. But, thats not a scriptural requirement for the church. It's not learning verses in Greek and Hebrew, what  some call "meat, that's going to help you become a solid believer. 

There is one thing other than the message that is going to mature you as a Christian- Application.

If a person is not applying what they learn, of course they are not going to mature. Even if they had the "meaty" messages, they still would not mature.

Application is huge!

I've personally known Christians from both types of churches- Fundamentalist and Seeker-Friendly.

To be honest, I've known some Christians that attend seeker friendly churches that are more mature in their faith than some that attend Fundamentalist.

Why?

It had absolutely nothing to do with the style message that was preached. It was all because the person that attended the Seeker Friendly church was applying what he knew. 

Actually, I prefer topical. I think I learn more from that style. But, I realize different people learn different ways.

We need both types of churches. 

I think some people misconstrued the message I was trying to give in my last article.

I am not against fundamentalist churches.

I am against believers claiming that seeker friendly messages prevent older Christians from maturing.

That is a false statement.

God Bless,

Jonathan D. Graham

The Seeker-Friendly Movement: Is it Biblical?

There has been a trend that has been growing even more in churches these days. It's known as the Seeker-Friendly movement. Despite the amount of converts it has brought about, a lot of Christians aren't too happy about it. They claim it's "worldly," and the pastors teach a "watered down" message, and the music has a "sexual beat." Most of them come from fundamentalist churches where they sing hymns, sit in pews, and the messages are 2 hours long. It's hard for them to accept churches with coffee shops, fancy concert lights, fog machines, upbeat worship music, and trendy pastors with cool haircuts.

I completely understand! Change is difficult to accept, but they have to realize that their churches are from the result of change, whether they want to admit it or not. In fact, many of the tunes of hymns came from songs that were sung at pubs. And we must not forget that the traditional baptist church, presbyterian church, methodist church, and calvinist church were all a product of the reform and separation from the catholic church.

Change and reform is a natural part of life and in a lot of ways, healthy for the church. The day that your church stops changing is the day that it dies.

Many fundamentalist Christians get "Seeker-Friendly" mixed up with "Seeker-Run." You do not need to change message in order to change your method. You can have a doctrinally-correct message without feeling the need to condemn your congregation. Just because it's contemporary doesn't mean its worldly. We are to be in the world, not of it. So it is perfectly fine to use methods that are relevant to seekers, just as long as the message doesn't change. I think one of the scriptures that Christians really take out of context is Romans 12:2 which says, "Do not conform to the pattern of this world." Many people stop there. But it doesn't stop there. "But be transformed by the renewing of your mind, Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is- his good, pleasing and perfect will."

What is God's will? Well, I believe that God's will is to reach the lost. The best example of this mission was Jesus. He said himself that he did not come to save the believers, he came to save the lost. Shouldn't churches follow his example?

Mark 2:17 "On hearing this, Jesus said to them, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners." 

To not pursue unbelievers basically sends the message "you all can go to hell!" Jesus never said that! He wants everyone to go to heaven. There is no "elect." 

Churches can and should change their format of the services to accommodate the people that are visiting the church. They should not feel judgment from the congregation or any of the staff as they walk through the door. They should feel welcomed. Jesus welcomed all- and so should churches.

I realize there are churches that take this too far, in that pastors will not even preach about sin, however, do not be too quick to judge churches, especially if you do not know much about them.

They could be used by God to bring people into the kingdom that your church can't. 

Don't become a Pharisee. Just because your church teaches sound doctrine doesn't mean that it is living out the church's purpose. 

1 Corinthians 13 "If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don’t love, I’m nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate. If I speak God’s Word with power, revealing all his mysteries and making everything plain as day, and if I have faith that says to a mountain, “Jump,” and it jumps, but I don’t love, I’m nothing. If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don’t love, I’ve gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I’m bankrupt without love."

God Bless,
Jonathan D. Graham