At certain times in my life, God has positioned me with a particularly gifted group of people who are only together in a certain place for a limited time. Those intersections of person, place, and anointing teach you things about your work and yourself that you could not have learned any other way.
I like to think that those intersections happen for all of us. I know that when they happen we often don’t realize how special the moment was until it’s passed.
This past Friday night I realized that I had been at such an intersection, ironically in a context that supposedly excludes God.
Friday night, the youth praise dance team of the church I pastor performed before a packed house at the most powerful youth worship service I’ve ever been a part of. The worship was at Anointed Remnant International Ministries, which is pastored by Rev. Willie Bradley. I worked with Pastor Bradley/ Lt. Col. Bradley when he was commander of the JROTC unit at Stanhope Elmore High School.
The youth conference was sponsored by the Gateway Youth Initiative, a ministry of the church pastored by Rev. Emmett Johnson. I worked with Rev. Johnson/ Sgt. Major Johnson when he was JROTC instructor at SEHS prior to Pastor Bradley.
The M.C. for the youth conference was a young brother named Jhae Ray. Brother Ray was my office aid while I was assistant principal at Stanhope Elmore High School.
The offering was blessed by a young minister named Damian Williams, who was a student while I was A.P. at SEHS.
The praise team that led devotion included 2 other graduates from my time as A.P. at SEHS.
The adult praise team of the host church was led by a man my wife taught at Carver High School. His wife, one of the lead singers of the praise group, was my student at Carver Jr. High School.
As youth choirs, soloists, praise teams, and youth preachers came forward to minister in an evening of mind blowing praise, prayer, and petition, I saw student after student and graduate after graduate who love Jesus with all their hearts and are deeply and dynamically engaged in the work of their churches.
We complain sometimes about the government taking God out of the schools, but I don’t think God ever actually left.
I think that a lot of people in our schools stopped talking to God, but He never stopped being there.
All the while some of us have been acting as if God was gone from public education, God has continued to work with and work on those of us who still seek him at school. All the while God has continued to save, anoint, call, and commission students and educators to serve Him in magnificent ways.
I realize now how blessed I have been to walk the educational halls I’ve walked. I see a little more clearly that Holy Spirit filled Christians in the public school system are not the powerless, nearly extinct species that we thought they were.
I don’t quite understand it all yet, but I do see that those intersections inside the public school were more than progressions in a professional career. They were Divine appointments as part of an eternal agenda.
It’s not “just” school. It’s an intersection of God’s people involved in God’s agenda.
I’ll remember that.
You, remember that.
---Anderson T. Graves II is a pastor, writer, community organizer and consultant for education and ministry.
Call him at 334-288-0577
Email him at atgravestwo2@aol.com
Friend Anderson at www.facebook.com/rev.a.t.graves
To hear sermons, read devotions, and learn more about the ministry at Hall Memorial CME Church, visit www.hallmemorialcme@blogspotcom If you want to be a blessing to this ministry, contributions may be made by check or money order.
Mail all contributions to :
Hall Memorial CME Church
541 Seibles Road
Montgomery, AL 36116
I like to think that those intersections happen for all of us. I know that when they happen we often don’t realize how special the moment was until it’s passed.
This past Friday night I realized that I had been at such an intersection, ironically in a context that supposedly excludes God.
Friday night, the youth praise dance team of the church I pastor performed before a packed house at the most powerful youth worship service I’ve ever been a part of. The worship was at Anointed Remnant International Ministries, which is pastored by Rev. Willie Bradley. I worked with Pastor Bradley/ Lt. Col. Bradley when he was commander of the JROTC unit at Stanhope Elmore High School.
The youth conference was sponsored by the Gateway Youth Initiative, a ministry of the church pastored by Rev. Emmett Johnson. I worked with Rev. Johnson/ Sgt. Major Johnson when he was JROTC instructor at SEHS prior to Pastor Bradley.
The M.C. for the youth conference was a young brother named Jhae Ray. Brother Ray was my office aid while I was assistant principal at Stanhope Elmore High School.
The offering was blessed by a young minister named Damian Williams, who was a student while I was A.P. at SEHS.
The praise team that led devotion included 2 other graduates from my time as A.P. at SEHS.
The adult praise team of the host church was led by a man my wife taught at Carver High School. His wife, one of the lead singers of the praise group, was my student at Carver Jr. High School.
As youth choirs, soloists, praise teams, and youth preachers came forward to minister in an evening of mind blowing praise, prayer, and petition, I saw student after student and graduate after graduate who love Jesus with all their hearts and are deeply and dynamically engaged in the work of their churches.
We complain sometimes about the government taking God out of the schools, but I don’t think God ever actually left.
I think that a lot of people in our schools stopped talking to God, but He never stopped being there.
All the while some of us have been acting as if God was gone from public education, God has continued to work with and work on those of us who still seek him at school. All the while God has continued to save, anoint, call, and commission students and educators to serve Him in magnificent ways.
I realize now how blessed I have been to walk the educational halls I’ve walked. I see a little more clearly that Holy Spirit filled Christians in the public school system are not the powerless, nearly extinct species that we thought they were.
I don’t quite understand it all yet, but I do see that those intersections inside the public school were more than progressions in a professional career. They were Divine appointments as part of an eternal agenda.
It’s not “just” school. It’s an intersection of God’s people involved in God’s agenda.
I’ll remember that.
You, remember that.
---Anderson T. Graves II is a pastor, writer, community organizer and consultant for education and ministry.
Call him at 334-288-0577
Email him at atgravestwo2@aol.com
Friend Anderson at www.facebook.com/rev.a.t.graves
To hear sermons, read devotions, and learn more about the ministry at Hall Memorial CME Church, visit www.hallmemorialcme@blogspotcom If you want to be a blessing to this ministry, contributions may be made by check or money order.
Mail all contributions to :
Hall Memorial CME Church
541 Seibles Road
Montgomery, AL 36116
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