As a drill instructor, Brandon Graham barked orders, broke recruits and turned out battle-ready Marines. He was fierce, tough and fearless, with crass language and harsh treatment all part of the package.<\/p>\n
That all began to change, though, when driving to work one day Graham had what he calls a \u201cDamascus Road experience\u201d that left him weeping on the side of the highway.<\/p>\n
The journey there, however, began long before he got in the car that morning. Graham, a 34-year-old Oklahoma native who now serves as assistant pastor at RockPointe Church in Flower Mound, said news that he and his wife would become parents is what first pointed their lives in a new direction.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy wife and I began going to church before our first child was born in an effort to \u2018clean ourselves up,\u2019 as if going to church would make us better parents,\u201d Graham said. \u201cIt was while attending church in San Diego that God began to work on me… The Scripture was coming alive for the first time in my life.\u201d<\/p>\n
Shortly after their return to church, the Grahams received devastating news. Brandon\u2019s close friend, Marine Sgt. Mark Adams, had been killed in action in Fallujah, Iraq.<\/p>\n
\u201cHis death rocked me to the core,\u201d Graham said. \u201cFor the first time in my 25 years of existence, I realized I was mortal. The Marines train the fear of death out of you. A Marine infantryman is taught, \u2018We don\u2019t die; we just go to hell to regroup for a counter-attack.\u2019 Death was never an option.\u201d<\/p>\n
God used Adams\u2019 death as well as the unshakable faith of Adams\u2019 parents in the wake of the tragedy to get Graham\u2019s attention.<\/p>\n
\u201cI began to wonder what else there was in this life, other than doing 20 years, getting out and getting another job somewhere. I really started to search. There had to be more out there than just this.\u201d<\/p>\n
For Graham — the man accustomed to harsh language, loud orders and the thunder of a .50-caliber machine gun — a still, small voice deep in his spirit on his daily commute provided the answer to his search and a new mission.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was driving to work on California State Highway 163 in San Diego,\u201d Graham said. \u201cI heard God speak to me in a way I\u2019d never heard before. I won\u2019t use the word \u2018audible.\u2019 I didn\u2019t hear it out loud but in my spirit. It was one of those things that was not of me. \u2018It\u2019s time,\u2019 it said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just broke down. It was such a humbling experience because I knew what \u2018It\u2019s time\u2019 meant. God broke my spirit right there and called me to salvation. I prayed to receive Christ right there. I just said, \u2018I don\u2019t know what you have for me. I don\u2019t know what you want me to do, but I\u2019m going to follow you.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Graham initially argued with God. With a young family, this was not the best time to leave the Marine Corps. And for a few moments, he resisted.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was overwhelmed, but I couldn\u2019t not follow him,\u201d Graham said. \u201cI said, \u2018God, whatever you call me to do, I\u2019ll do it. I\u2019m yours. I surrender my life to you, and whatever you say, I\u2019ll do.\u2019 That\u2019s what I consider my moment of conversion.\u201d<\/p>\n
That evening, some six hours after his roadside encounter, Graham received a tearful phone call from his wife Crystal, who had just completed a devotional.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need to talk,\u201d Crystal said.<\/p>\n
Brandon imagined the worst: a divorce, trouble with one of their kids, something dire. But the Graham family had new orders.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just finished a Bible study, and the Holy Spirit clearly told me you\u2019re supposed to go into the ministry,\u201d Crystal said, with no idea of what had happened six hours earlier. For all she knew, Brandon said, he was still a \u201creprobate.\u201d<\/p>\n
He recounted the roadside testimony, and together they wept.<\/p>\n
Real change<\/p>\n
Graham completed his military commitment but not before his fellow Marines noticed a transformation.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll of a sudden I started carrying my Bible. I was reading it in my duty hut. Other [drill instructors] were going out to party, but my desire was to be home with my family,\u201d Graham said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI really started to transform from the inside out. The old was truly dying away. I\u2019d like to say my language got perfect overnight. It didn\u2019t. But people could see a distinct difference right away.\u201d<\/p>\n
That change led Graham to help a backslidden fellow drill instructor return to faith. Graham was also able to come alongside another believer in Company E as a source of encouragement.<\/p>\n
The change was obvious not only to new drill instructors and recruits but to a Marine in combat half a world away.<\/p>\n
\u201cI made sure I treated my guys with the utmost respect. I made sure they got plenty to eat, plenty of sleep. It\u2019s very rare. But part of it was because of the mercy and grace extended to me by Christ,\u201d Graham said.<\/p>\n
When dealing with new recruits, Graham would share Hebrews 12:11: \u201cNo discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.\u201d (NIV)<\/p>\n
Graham had signed a recruit\u2019s Bible and included that verse. Later, he received an email from the recruit, now home from battle.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile he was at war, when things got tough, he kept going back to that verse. And he knew he was going to be OK,\u201d Graham said.<\/p>\n
Years removed from Graham\u2019s roadside conversion, when he argued with God about the cost of discipleship, he\u2019s OK, too.<\/p>\n
According to senior pastor Ron Holton, Graham, who is also studying for an advanced master of divinity degree at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, fills a utility role at RockPointe. Graham\u2019s tireless work ethic and sterling integrity have made an impression on the pastor.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s not a specific thing that he does,\u201d Holton said. \u201cBut he is just so talented. He has the confidence that if you were looking for an example of a person that said, \u2018God, just use me, and I\u2019ll do whatever\u2019 — that\u2019s Brandon. Brandon\u2019s not afraid to try.\u201d<\/p>\n
These days, Graham\u2019s mission is simple.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe older I get and as each day goes by, I really focus on making each day count and making each day purposeful, so at the end of 70, 80 years or however many God has for me, I\u2019m not looking back and wishing I\u2019d done something different.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
As a drill instructor, Brandon Graham barked orders, broke recruits and turned out battle-ready Marines. He was fierce, tough and fearless, with crass language and harsh treatment all part of the package. That all began to change, though, when driving to work one day Graham had what he calls a \u201cDamascus Road experience\u201d that left […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[391,4834,324,4833,4835,2539,455,520,534,3739],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.churchedge.com\/illustrations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5511"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.churchedge.com\/illustrations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.churchedge.com\/illustrations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.churchedge.com\/illustrations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.churchedge.com\/illustrations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5511"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.churchedge.com\/illustrations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5511\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.churchedge.com\/illustrations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5511"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.churchedge.com\/illustrations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5511"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.churchedge.com\/illustrations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5511"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}