Peter Graham

I know I’m gonna step on a few toes by writing this but I felt it was something that needed to be addressed. I have noticed that people treat facebook like its Las Vegas .. its almost like “what happens on facebook stays on facebook”, but we all know thats not true. Now, I am a self confessed social networking addict and facebook is my main drug of choice. What I’ve noticed is that people tend to unintentionally reveal more about themselves then they realize. I love to browse through my friends photos to see what’s going in there lives .. its like a window into ones life. One thing I have noticed is that every now and then I see photos of someone at a party with a beer in there hand looking a like they have had more then two or three. These are people I know as Christians and while I have many friends in the church with many different views on drinking alcohol I tend to take the stance that getting drunk is a bad thing. So I pose these questions: What do your facebook photos say about you? If Jesus came back today and decided we would all be judged based on our facebook photos would you be nervous?

What are you looking for in your church? If you go to a large church like I do it wont take you long to find someone who isnt happy with the way things are going in the church .. They feel left out and neglected .. They feel like outcasts. They are seeking the love of the people in the church they attend. But are they putting that love and acceptance of the people above there relationship with Jesus? A friend of mine asked me a serious question today .. “how do we keep people satisfied in church, to take their mind off them being fed, and to reach a hand out to those who need help themselves.” .. It was that question that inspired me to write this blog.

The question is not so much how to keep people satisfied in church so much as it is about how to get people to the point in there faith walks where they realize the following .. Salvation is not found in the church or its people. Salvation is ONLY found through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Once people begin to understand that and walk in it then church becomes less of a place of stress and acceptance and more of a place where they can relax and connect with God. Once they are relaxed and focusing on Him they are more likely to be able to walk in the flow of the Holy Spirit and then they will automatically start building the relationships they were previously to distracted from building.

The Bible does not say seek first the church and the acceptance of its people .. it says this .. “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” – matt 6:33. God allowed me to place my faith in people and in return those people failed me time and time again .. but it wasn’t so much the people at fault .. it was more that I was looking for the perfect friendship when really .. that can only be found in Jesus. Once I realized that I should’ve been relying on Jesus first he then sent me people that I could rely on. Gods got a funny sense of humour like that. Sometimes he has to sit back and wait for us to be obedient before he can move. I’ve always told people how vitally important it is to maintain a solid personal and devoted relationship with Jesus but I wasnt applying it to one of the key areas of my life .. fellowship. If I am in true fellowship with Jesus everything else flows .. if we’re not in true fellowship with Jesus we tend to displace those deep inner desires for fellowship, love and salvation on people and not Jesus and it always leads to heart ache and bitter disappointment. But for some reason ever since I set foot in Australia I had been diverting my need for salvation onto people instead of Jesus.

I even dragged my wife out of the church we were called to be at in the desperate search for what was right in front of me the whole time.. JESUS! Rather then go into the ugly details I’ll skip to the chase and let you know that were back where we’re supposed to be and quite content.

So .. feeling invisable in your church? feeling unwanted or unloved? maybe they are legitimate feelings or maybe your displacing your need for salvation on people who are just trying to keep themselves a float much less be your saviour. Maybe just maybe Salvation is meant to be between you and Jesus and once you realize that you begin to develop and grow in your relationship with Jesus .. and in turn you begin to walk in the natural flow of the Holy Spirit and suddenly you start making friends and church becomes something you look forward to again. More to come! stay tuned.