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The truth is, more likely than not, our social media use is having a greater negative impact on us than a positive impact on others.

A quick search shows that:

• Some estimates say as a low as 1.5% of the people who follow you on social media will actually see what you post. (But you can have an impact on 100% of the people in your home!)

• On average adults are spending 2 hours and 30 minutes on social media a day.

• For teens, the average time spent on social media ranges from as low as 4.1 hours per day for 13-year-olds to as high as 5.8 hours per day for 17-year-olds. Girls spend nearly an hour more on social media than boys.

• The average American spends 4 hours and 30 minutes on their phone a day. (My daily average this week has been just over 3 hours. It’s been a lot higher.)

I won’t argue the pros and the cons, the good and the bad, of our phones and social media and the internet. We use our screens for a lot if not most of what we do for our daily work and lives now, whether we “need” to or not. (Because it inhibited his creativity, I read a favorite of mine and brilliant Oscar-winning Director only uses a “dumb” phone. Ever. So I guess it’s possible!) I’ve had an iPhone for 14 years now and joined Instagram and Facebook 13 years ago. I’ve had X (when it was Twitter) and various other social media accounts over the years.

As a pastor, I’ve made comments on social media use in sermons and posts. And I have, when necessary, publicly called us out on our social media behavior. Then I called us up, since we represent Elim Grace Church and above all Jesus Christ to our community.

But recently a personal and lingering, convicting question has been, what if I’m not quiet enough or still long enough to hear the voice of Jesus? What if I’m tuning in to too many voices? What would happen if for any fixed amount of time in a day I didn’t tune my ear to the voice of social media? Would I find the space and the time to hear Jesus’ voice more clearly? I know He wants to speak to me.

If there’s one thing I despise, it’s religious pride. My pride in my spiritual zeal often leads me to feel I’m better than others. Yet, my zeal too often masks and covers up my spiritual pride. “But look at my prayer life and all my good works!”

Dear Elim Grace, my pastoral goal in this short post is not to add guilt or shame for how long we’re on social media (or the internet or our phone or any screen). The goal is simply this: to urge us on towards asking, desiring and proactively seeking to know and to hear the voice of Jesus above all.

For one week, what if I didn’t go on social media from 9-5 (or 12-3 or for any fixed amount of time)? So that I could be more tuned in to the voice of Jesus. So that other lesser important voices might be quieted. Not silenced forever, but quieted for a moment. What would happen? Would it be worth it?

In a time when media giants seem to make their attacks on Christian values as blatant, public, and unapologetic as ever, the idea of interacting with Hollywood in a positive way can leave us feeling conflicted, reluctant, or even angry. As film after film and show after show are released pushing anti-Biblical ideology, we often feel discouraged or lose hope all together.

But the real question is, do we stop watching? Listening? Scrolling? Buying concert tickets? Subscribing? If we’re honest with ourselves, most of the time the answer to these questions is no. While we may tailor exactly what we consume based on content, very rarely do our frustrations cause us to throw out the system altogether.

But before we begin to feel ashamed of this, have we ever considered that it may be a good thing? We are, after all, members of a society in which music, film, and television serve as primary mediums for exploring life’s questions and expressing values and ideas. If we are to be the salt and light of our world, is the solution really to alienate ourselves from the heart and soul of our society?

The Hollywood Prayer Network (HPN) is a Los Angeles-based ministry which aims to address this question for the American Church. Their solution, found in their name, is prayer. They challenge Christians to view Hollywood as a “Nineveh”, a place which can be redeemed, rather than as “Sodom and Gomorrah”, a place too far gone. In addition to serving the local church in Hollywood, HPN provides various avenues for Christians to become involved in prayer for the American entertainment industry and those who work within it, including live weekly prayer calls, monthly update emails, and even a prayer calendar for children.

HPN teamed up with a large group of local Christian ministries and churches in the greater Los Angeles area to create an estimate of how many Christians work in the Hollywood entertainment industry today. Their results? About 10,000. Who knew? Ten thousand self-proclaimed Jesus-followers all working in the same spiritually dark place, knowing that they will likely not be accepted or admired for their identification with the Church. That is something to be excited about! That is something to pray fervently for, remembering the Apostle James’ assurance that “The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective” (James 5:16).

This world is not our ultimate home; and yet we find ourselves placed here by God for such a time as this. As the Lord said to the Judean exiles through the prophet Jeremiah, “Build houses and settle down…seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper” (Jeremiah 29:4-7). Hollywood is the biggest entertainment industry in the world, exporting to most developed countries. If we take seriously our Great Commission calling, it is not only permissible, but right and appropriate to be invested in the health and happenings of Hollywood. So rather than bury our guilt for still caring about what Hollywood is doing, let us consume with discernment and pray with hope.

For more information about the Hollywood Prayer Network, visit www.https://hollywoodprayernetwork.org or email me at jesusinlapodcast@gmail.com

My oldest, Joshua, is married to Hayley and they now have a son, William. My first grandchild! My second oldest, Hannah-jae, is getting married to Jonah this Fall. My third oldest, Aidan, is attending college in Rochester this August. Adelyn will be a freshman in high school. Emagine will be 11. And our foster baby is 16 months old (whom we hope to adopt this year).

In all of this, I’ve begun to look back on my seasons as a father. I’m grateful for each. Yet in reflecting on it, I think the single greatest thing I’ve been able to give my children across every season is this: I was home (almost) every night. 

I have made it a point in my work/ministry over the last 23 years (and especially in the last 7 as Senior Pastor) to schedule no night meetings. Of course, there have been exceptions and a season may require it in the short-term, but as much as it depended upon me, I was home every night.

Preaching is not my utmost priority. Ministry is not my utmost priority. Elim Grace is not my utmost priority. My utmost priority is my wife and my children. Someone else could and can preach. Some one else could and can pastor Elim Grace. Someone else could and can run an important meeting and make strategic decisions. 

But no on else could nor can be husband to Alissa-jae or father to my children (or now grandfather to my grandchildren).

I recognize not every father can be home every night. But the fact remains that the single greatest thing a father can give to his children is time. And as much as it depends upon you, dear father, you should strive and work and sacrifice towards spending as much time as you can with them. 

Eat dinner with your children as often as possible. Read a book to them. Listen and learn and have conversations with them. Watch a show or a movie of their choice together. Play Madden with them even though you’re going to lose. Listen to (and learn to enjoy!) their music and share your music with them. Text, and read/reply to their texts. Laugh at the reels they send you and send them the reels you find funny. Hug them. Kiss them. Tell them you love them. Show them you’re proud of them.

Money can’t make up for lost time. Gifts can’t make up for lost time. Other people’s admiration can’t make up for lost time. I dare say it, repentance can’t make up for lost time. Time makes up for lost time. 

It’s never too late to give your time to your children. In any amount, it’s an investment worth making, with a return you won’t ever regret. 

It was over ten years ago. I was in a three year Elim Fellowship training course for young leaders called “Wings”. This particular weekend was teaching and training on “preaching”. To my knowledge I had already been preaching longer than anyone else in my cohort. So, to be honest, I felt I needed the course the least.

Our instructor was Mike Cavanaugh, well known in my circles for being a great preacher. He had in fact also been a pastor here in Oswego at Elim Grace. The end goal that weekend was for everyone in the cohort to preach a short sermon. Mike would then “grade” or make comments on the preacher and their preaching. I was selected as one of the last to go.

I remember spending Friday night in preparation and feeling that I was “ready”. That Mike would be pleased.

As we began to preach our sermons, Mike offered a stream of positive and encouraging comments. Everyone was doing the right thing in the right way. And then it was my turn. The most “experienced” preacher. I preached, sat down, and Mike stood up for the first time: “Thank you Jonathan, I finally have something to talk about.” He proceeded to offer observations, corrections and constructive criticisms. “Embarrassed” was how I felt, but that would be the wrong word. “Humbled” would be the right one. It was the worst and yet the best thing that ever happened to me as a preacher.

I was never the same after that. Yes, the practical side of my preaching went on to improve. But I mean my heart was never the same after that. I’m convinced God used that moment to work deep humility in me as a preacher. And I hope the fruit of that humility and repentance is something Elim Grace has reaped. And, by God’s grace, will continue to reap. That experience with Mike stands as a “living monument” in my life.

To grow in our calling, in our gifting, in our serving there must come times of deep humbling. It’s more than embarrassment over how bad you did something you claimed to be good at. It’s a breaking down and crushing of pride in the heart. Self-reliance. Self-affirmation. Self-exaltation and self-glory.

I always thought God’s anointing on me to preach was solely because he was being faithful to me and to my preparation. But now I see that His anointing comes because He is first and foremost faithful to His word. He is His word. Therefore, His Word is glorious and powerful. Living and active. I am as a preacher but a “jar of clay”. Filled to be emptied over and over again for the sake of the people God’s called me to. I know now that before (if ever) I strive to be the best preacher in the world, I should surrender to becoming the best preacher for my flock.

If we were always self-aware and self-forgetful, there would never be any need for humbling experiences. But we’re not always. We’re not usually! Humility strikes us by surprise. It ambushes us when we least expect it. Often in times when we feel stronger than all. Wiser than all. Better than all. Yet, if God’s loves you, that’s exactly when He disciplines you as any good, wise and loving father would do.

Dear Elim Grace, don’t despise the humbling. Don’t walk away from your calling. Don’t quit on your training. Don’t give up on the good work God’s called you to. Humility is the best thing that will ever happen to you. The fruit overtime will prove it.

Pastor Jonathan

Some believe the recent full solar eclipse was a sign of judgment from God. Others don’t. Some believe there was a plot to take down the Francis Scott Key bridge. Others don’t. On social media we post and repost images, memes and headlines confirming or debunking signs of God and conspiracies of man.

In weightlifting, it’s wise to often incorporate dumbbells into your training. A barbell can often mask imbalances. You might not recognize a small imbalance in either your right or left shoulder, if you only ever use a barbell. Only by identifying and working on that weakness can you achieve a greater strength. Using dumbbells helps you to see and to feel where that imbalance exists.

As Christians in a sincere pursuit of discerning the times and the truth, we often don’t realize we’ve developed imbalances. Are we giving too much weight to signs and conspiracies? Too little? The following fruit are “dumbbells”. They can help us identify and correct an imbalance in us. 

1. BUSYBODY: You are always looking for the next sign, always seeking the next conspiracy. Yet, what God wants you to know, He’s already made clear to you in His Word. Nothing good does He withhold, nor has He withheld, from you for life or godliness.

2. RESTLESS: You can’t rest, you won’t rest. You are always with expectation and anticipation of something negative or life-altering happening. Yet, if your heart is not at rest when you don’t “see” or understand, then you’re not at rest in Christ who is sovereign over all things.

3. AFRAID AND ANXIOUS: In Luke 21:26, Jesus says “people fainting with fear and foreboding” is fruit he expects from the “nations,” not His people. The people of God should be the most stable people on the planet.

4. ALARMED (Bells going off all day!): Jesus states in Matthew 24:6, “see that you are not alarmed” when you see and hear of certain events. Keep your head and don’t panic, this is “routine history”. On the other hand, Jesus says, “when these signs appear” in history pay attention. The Spirit will speak to those who have ears to hear what He is saying.

5. DIFFICULT TO TRUST: A child-like faith trusts quickly and fully in God. So, even IF, signs or conspiracies prove to be true, it doesn’t change anything. You are still a child of God and your Father is still your good and heavenly father.

6. FIGHTING AND QUARRELING: Paul commands Timothy to “Have nothing to do with foolish, ignorant controversies; you know that they breed quarrels” (2 Timothy 2:23). Today we are intolerant of disagreement and tolerant of cruelty. You are too invested on your side if you hate the other side and avoid them whenever possible.

7. SLANDERING AND GOSSIP: Slander occurs whenever someone says something untrue about someone else that results, intentionally or unintentionally, in damaging that someone else’s reputation. God hates slander (Proverbs 6:16, 19). Paul lists it as a behavior of those who hate God (Romans 1:30), and James calls it demonic behavior (James 3:15–16). We must not slander even our enemies (Matthew 5:43-48).

8. SPIRITUAL ARROGANCE AND BLINDNESS: To see through everything is the same as to not see. If everything is a sign, nothing is a sign. If everything is a secret plot, nothing is a secret plot. We can become puffed up with true and false knowledge.  If we are always looking up for signs, we’ll miss the secret sins in our own hearts. On the other hand, if we are always looking down at our feelings, we’ll miss the arrival of “the Bridegroom,” the blowing of the Spirit, the “angels in disguise,”  Jesus in the least of these, and all the possibilities in the resurrection of Christ.

9. DISTRACTED: Are you distracted by your fighting/quarreling from what matters most? If you can’t have a family dinner without arguing, if you and your spouse can’t sleep in the same bed, if you can’t go to the same Sunday service with someone you disagree with, you might be distracted from your priorities. If you can’t serve the least among you or if you don’t love the lost, the stranger, and the enemy around you, then you might be distracted by less important things.

10. A SPIRIT OF SELF-CONTROL: Do you have self-control over how much you’re online? Over your thoughts and feelings related to the things you’re reading or listening to? “Self-control” means control over something in you, not others (2 Timothy 1:7). What are your intentions when you research and share? To help, serve, inform? Or to draw attention to yourself? Is there peace or chaos around you? Is there faith or fear? Clarity or confusion? Are you running to extremes or filling the space between?

11. STAY AWAKE: The simplest way to “be ready” for Jesus is by keeping your eyes on Him and doing the things He’s already commanded you to do (Matthew 24:42). Yet, ask questions! “Lord, what are you doing?” Don’t put God in a box! Be a student of a supernatural God. Ponder like Mary did some of the “impossibilities”! A healthy curiosity is a good thing!

12. STRAIGHTEN UP: Don’t be spiritually lazy thinking either everything or nothing is a sign and a conspiracy. Rather, “straighten up from a bent over position” (Luke 21:28). Strengthen your spiritual “core”. Wrestle with and study Scripture. Listen more than you speak. Don’t swallow everything, but also don’t spit everything out!

13. RAISE YOUR HEADS: You’ll know Jesus then (when He appears), because you know Him now. On the Mount of Transfiguration, the light of the glory of God wasn’t added to Jesus, it was revealed in Him. His light and glory transcend all signs, conspiracies, plans. They transcend all laughter, natural wonders, “ordinary” life. No matter what, when, where, or how Jesus shines with glory. All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Him. There’s a quality and familiarity to His glory that is present in all that is true. In all that He has made. In all that comes from Him.

14. THE SPIRITUAL TIDE IN YOUR HEART IS LOW/HIGH: It is when the spiritual tide in our hearts is low that we find it easier to lean on and trust in our own understanding or in another’s understanding of events, signs, theories. To know God as high and lifted up — to have a fear of the Lord — is the surest way both to protect yourself against false signs and empty conspiracies and to train yourself to recognize Him in genuine signs and providential events.

15. EVANGELISM: Evangelists for who? Do you proclaim more signs than Jesus? More conspiracy than Gospel? If a nonbeliever scrolls your feed, what’s the fruit they will see?

16. SIMPLE OBEDIENCE: The highest does not stand without the lowest. Even the highest signs or highest conspiracies do not change the lowest or most fundamental fact about who you are and what you are called to do as a Christian: love God and love your neighbor as yourself. On the other hand, even the most mundane and boring days and tasks don’t change the highest and most fundamental fact about who you are and what you are called to as a Christian: you are a new creation, a citizen of the kingdom of God on earth, filled and empowered with the very Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead.

Dear Elim Grace, my pastoral goal is not to prove or disprove whether what you claim or believe is true, but whether what you believe is producing the right kind of fruit in you and through you as a Christian towards God, other Christians, and “the world”. If you and I are serious about the right kind of fruit – the fruit of the Spirit – being produced in our lives, then we must also be serious about identifying and working on the imbalances in our lives. 

Pastor Jonathan

*This post is adapted from the sermon “Signs, Conspiracies and Our Christian Response”