GIVE THEM SOME SPACE?

At a press conference Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake explained why she held the police back from early and aggressive response to protestors.  She wanted police to “…make sure that the protesters were able to exercise their right to free speech.”

She went on to say “…we also gave those who wished to destroy space to do that as well, and we work very hard to keep that balance and to put ourselves in the best position to de-escalate." (NBC News)

The mediaverse lit up about Baltimore Mayor’s “Space to Destroy.”  The mayor was accused of incompetence, indifference, complicity with the violence, even racism and conspiracy to see poor Baltimore burn.  The mayor and her defenders said her words were mischaracterized, taken out of context, etc. etc.   

I don’t know.  

But I do know that what Mayor Rawlings-Blake said sounded an awful lot like something Jesus said.

In Revelations chapter 2, the Apostle John quotes Jesus from His letter to the church of Thyatira:

^Nevertheless I have a few things against you, because you allow that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, to teach and seduce My servants to commit sexual immorality and eat things sacrificed to idols. ^And I gave her time to repent of her sexual immorality, and she did not repent. (Revelations 2: 20, 21)

The King James Version renders the quote like this: I gave her SPACE TO REPENT. 

Jezebel was the evil wife of King Ahab, queen of northern Israel-Samaria, and nemesis of the prophet Elijah.  She was responsible for the slaughter of hundreds of Jewish prophets, the corruption local and national leaders; and she nearly succeeded in making pagan worship the official and exclusive religion for 10 of the 12 tribes of Israel.

Jezebel was not a good person.

Jesus said that John the Baptist was the Elijah of his day.  In similar manner, this woman in Thyatira was/ would be the new Jezebel.

Not a good person.

But the Lord didn’t/ wouldn’t intervene early to stop Jezebel’s murderous activities.   In 1 Kings 18 & 19, God authorized Elijah  to call down fire from Heaven and order the execution of Jezebel’s favorite prophets, but God didn’t let Elijah take out Jezebel.   The Lord let her live for years more, sending unheeded warning after unheeded warning to her, her husband, and their subjects.   

When the Lord finally fulfilled His prophetic promise to destroy Jezebel and all of her house,  Elijah had gone on to glory in a flaming chariot, and his protégé Elisha had to certify the execution (2 Kings 9).

But why wait?  She was not a good person.  She’s a Jezebel.  Her name is synonymous with being a bad person.  Why stand back and let her do all that damage?

Well, why stand back and let you do all the damage you’ve done?

How many hearts have you broken?

How many lies have you told?

How much pain and suffering has been caused by you, or the friend you love, or the child you adore, or the sibling you still believe in?

And why didn’t God take YOU or THEM out early?

We are all given more “space” than we deserve.

The theological terms for this are: grace, mercy, longsuffering, love.

Gracious, merciful, loving God gave, and will give, Jezebel space to repent.   She used, and will use, it as space to destroy.  Gracious, merciful, and loving God responds to that choice with destruction.

Anderson T. Graves II, circa 1992, was not a good person.  I wasn’t a murderer, but in other areas of my personal life I had some decidedly Jezebelish ways.  God gave me space to repent. In February 1994, I used that space to repent.  God saved my soul and changed my left for better than I had imagined. 

Samaria, Thyatira, Baltimore, Montgomery, or wherever you are---- in those places, we are all given more space than we deserve. 

It can be space to repent or it can be space to destroy.  The choice is in your control.

The consequences of that choice are not. 

---Anderson T. Graves II   is a writer, community organizer and consultant for education, ministry, and rural leadership development.

Rev. Anderson T. Graves II is pastor of Miles Chapel CME Church in Fairfield, Alabama;  executive director of the Substance Abuse Youth Networking Organization (SAYNO);  and director of rural leadership development for the National Institute for Human Development (NIHD).

Subscribe to my personal blog  www.andersontgraves.blogspot.com .

Email atgravestwo2@aol.com

Friend me at www.facebook.com/rev.a.t.graves

Follow me on twitter @AndersonTGraves 

#Awordtothewise

You can help support this ministry with a donation to Miles Chapel CME Church.

You can help support Rev. Graves’ work by visiting his personal blog and clicking the DONATE button on the right-hand sidebar.

Support by check or money order may be mailed to 

Miles Chapel CME Church

P O Box 132

Fairfield, Al 35064

THROWING ROCKS AT THE SAME GIANTS

“We’re all throwing rocks at the same giants.”

I was at the Montgomery Job Corps center waiting to talk to the students on behalf of SAYNO.  The other end of the conversation was staffer for MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving).  The students hadn’t arrived yet, but some of the instructors, counselors, and administrators had all come in.  The conversation between adults had turned to the different kinds of red tape between public schools, non-profits, and in–between groups like Job Corps.

It was one of those I-can’t-do-this-but-you-can’t-do conversations.

The words came from somewhere (rather, Some One) deeper than my brain.

I said, “We’re in this together.  We’re all throwing rocks at the same giants.”

When young David of Bethlehem killed the 9 foot tall champion of the Philistine army it inspired the Israelite troops. After 40 days of being too scared to move, they rushed the Philistines and beat them all the way back to Philistia.  (1 Samuel 17)

But.

When you knock down a giant problem, you soon realize that there are a lot more where that came from.   You can only wade so far in the infinite tide of new giants before fatigue overwhelms you.  You can get burned out.

It happened to David. 

When the Philistines were at war again with Israel, David and his servants with him went down and fought against the Philistines; and David grew faint. (2 Samuel 21: 15)

You can’t do it all.   But guess what?

You were never supposed to.

God knew how many giants there were when sent you to take on the first one, and he made arrangements for those problems to be solved as well.

See, our job isn’t just to slay giants.  It’s to inspire, to instruct, and to connect with other giant-slayers.

The Lord didn’t send David against Goliath just to remove that one big sweaty obstacle.  God sent David against Goliath to teach Israel something they had forgotten since the days of Joshua and Caleb (Joshua 14): Giants can be killed. 

  

Eventually David became king and commander of his own elite team of  warriors---- a team of giant killers.

Then Ishbi-Benob, who was one of the sons of the giant, the weight of whose bronze spear was three hundred shekels, who was bearing a new sword, thought he could kill David. But Abishai the son of Zeruiah came to his aid, and struck the Philistine and killed him. ( 2 Samuel 21:16-17.)

David’s men were so confident in their giant-slaying skills that they asked David to retire from active combat and take a desk job.   

Then the men of David swore to him, saying, “You shall go out no more with us to battle, lest you quench the lamp of Israel( 2 Samuel 21: 17.)

David, the monarch, agreed.  He sat down, and his men proceeded to continue kicking gigantic butt!

Now it happened afterward that there was again a battle with the Philistines at Gob. Then Sibbechai the Hushathite killed Saph, who was one of the sons of the giant.  (2 Samuel 21:18)

Yet again there was war at Gath, where there was a man of great stature, who had six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot, twenty-four in number; and he also was born to the giant. 21 So when he defied Israel, Jonathan the son of Shimea, David’s brother, killed him(2 Samuel 21:20-21)

Seek out and embrace others who fight as you fight, even if their agencies and approaches are different.   Don’t hog the spotlight.  Recognize.  And celebrate victories in which you had no part.  

And learn how to sit down and let somebody else do their thing.

After all, we’re all throwing rocks at the same giants. 

---Anderson T. Graves II   is a writer, community organizer and consultant for education, ministry, and rural leadership development.

Rev. Anderson T. Graves II is pastor of Miles Chapel CME Church in Fairfield, Alabama;  executive director of the Substance Abuse Youth Networking Organization (SAYNO);  and director of rural leadership development for the National Institute for Human Development (NIHD).

Subscribe to my personal blog  www.andersontgraves.blogspot.com .

Email atgravestwo2@aol.com

Friend me at www.facebook.com/rev.a.t.graves

Follow me on twitter @AndersonTGraves 

#Awordtothewise

You can help support this ministry with a donation to Miles Chapel CME Church.

You can help support Rev. Graves’ work by visiting his personal blog and clicking the DONATE button on the right-hand sidebar.

Support by check or money order may be mailed to 

Miles Chapel CME Church

P O Box 132

Fairfield, Al 35064

BLIND SHEEP & THE GOOD SHEPHERD

You probably know that Jesus called Himself “the Good Shepherd,” but do you know why and how the conversation started?

See, Jesus had gotten into an argument about healing a blind man on the Sabbath day when He started talking about…

You know what?  Just open your Bible to John chapter 9 and  listen to the sermon.  The title of the message is: BLIND SHEEP & A GOOD SHEPHERD.

Listen well.

If you can’t get the audio on your device, visit the main podcast page at http://revandersongraves.podomatic.com/

The podcast is on iTunes at https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/anderson-graves-podcast/id918990482

---Anderson T. Graves II   is a writer, community organizer and consultant for education, ministry, and rural leadership development.

Rev. Anderson T. Graves II is pastor of Miles Chapel CME Church in Fairfield, Alabama;  executive director of the Substance Abuse Youth Networking Organization (SAYNO);  and director of rural leadership development for the National Institute for Human Development (NIHD).

Subscribe to my personal blog  www.andersontgraves.blogspot.com .

Email atgravestwo2@aol.com

Friend me at www.facebook.com/rev.a.t.graves

Follow me on twitter @AndersonTGraves  #Awordtothewise 

You can help support this ministry with a donation to Miles Chapel CME Church.

You can help support Rev. Graves’ work by visiting his personal blog and clicking the DONATE button on the right-hand sidebar.

Support by check or money order may be mailed to 

Miles Chapel CME Church

P O Box 132

Fairfield, Al 35064

OUR PROBLEMS, HIS POWER, THE PLAN or LESSONS FROM ISRAEL’S HOOD

The man God named Israel had 12 sons, at least 1 daughter, 3 wives, and 2 baby’s mamas-- give or take.  The Biblical account of the family that became the Jewish nation is not a pretty story; but it is a profoundly and relevantly human story.  In this in-depth message for a Men-to-Men ministry workshop, Pastor Graves provides a contemporary profile of the community that became a nation.

You’ll never forget the children of Israel, and you’ll never think about “the hood” the same .

The title of the message is: OUR PROBLEMS, HIS POWER, THE PLAN or LESSONS FROM ISRAEL’S HOOD.

Listen well.

If you can’t get the audio on your device, visit the main podcast page at http://revandersongraves.podomatic.com/

The podcast is on iTunes at https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/anderson-graves-podcast/id918990482

---Anderson T. Graves II   is a writer, community organizer and consultant for education, ministry, and rural leadership development.

Rev. Anderson T. Graves II is pastor of Miles Chapel CME Church in Fairfield, Alabama;  executive director of the Substance Abuse Youth Networking Organization (SAYNO);  and director of rural leadership development for the National Institute for Human Development (NIHD).

Subscribe to my personal blog  www.andersontgraves.blogspot.com .

Email atgravestwo2@aol.com

Friend me at www.facebook.com/rev.a.t.graves

Follow me on twitter @AndersonTGraves  #Awordtothewise 

You can help support this ministry with a donation to Miles Chapel CME Church.

You can help support Rev. Graves’ work by visiting his personal blog and clicking the DONATE button on the right-hand sidebar.

Support by check or money order may be mailed to 

Miles Chapel CME Church

P O Box 132

Fairfield, Al 35064

THE WEAKEST LINK (to revival)

The presenter pointed at no one in particular in a way that made it feel like he was pointing at everyone at the same time and said, “Churches have to be honest.  We love to talk about our strengths, but we have to be honest and transparent about our weaknesses…” 

Then he started an exercise in which we were to state---  out loud, in front of all 19 churches represented --- what was our congregation’s greatest weakness.

A well-dressed sister on the far seat of a pew on the right side of the church raised her hand.  “I recently realized that I am my church’s greatest weakness.  It was hard, but I’m working on being better.”

It was one of the bravest things I’ve heard anybody say.

Without caveat or disclaimer, she took upon herself primary responsibility for whatever progress her church had not made.   Oh, and did I mention that the audience at this meeting was made up of pastors and representatives ELECTED by their congregation.  The sister who spoke up had the local prestige and pull to win a church-wide election.

Imagine a senator on the floor of the statehouse saying, “I’m the biggest weakness in my district.”  Kinda unimaginable, isn’t it?

But that’s the equivalent of what this sister did.

The Apostle James made a presentation to the New Testament church and taught, “Confess your faults/ trespasses  to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.” (James 5: 16)

James wasn’t only talking about confessing our moral transgressions.  The word translated faults or trespasses includes all the ways we “fall short” in our Kingdom assignments.  To become whole/ healed in our Kingdom work we must each publicly own our Kingdom weaknesses.

Peter couldn’t be “The Rock” Jesus nicknamed him until he came to grips with his tendency to set his mind on man’s interest instead of the things of God (Matthew 16: 17-23) and the cowardice that his impulsivity and bravado were covering up (John 13: 37, 38)

Thomas had to openly face his doubtful nature (John 20: 24-29) to regain the courage to follow Jesus even to certain death (John 11: 16).

Paul had to face his personal demons every day and admit to the church--- in writing--- that despite his impressive theological credentials, he regularly failed.

…a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure--- Paul, 2 Corinthians 12:7

For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice. ^--- Paul, Romans 7: 19

Like the apostles and the brave leader in our last district conference, all of us must find the courage to be transparent without caveat or disclaimer about the WEAKNESSES we bring to the Kingdom of God.

That is how the church experience revival. 

Contrary to popular advertising, Biblical revival is NOT a result of praise.  Praise is the response to revival.  True Kingdom revival is the RESULT of TRANSPARENT CONFESSION & REPENTANCE.

If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land --- God, 2 Chronicles 7:14

Read 1 Chronicles chapter 29.  King Hezekiah presided over a national revival in Israel with offerings and sacrifices (verses 21-24), and praise and worship (verses 25-28).  But first, there was transparency in the form of unmitigated confession and repentance (verses 5-9).  God’s people owned the fact that their present problems were the result of their prior actions.  Then the Lord sent a revival.

 

A chain is only as strong as its weakest link, right?

I am the weakest link.  Each of us is.

If we humble ourselves and admit that--- to each other, and then pray fervently for one another, then God will give greater grace and transform us weak links into a strong chain.

And that is the definition of revival:  the process by which God transforms the humbled weak into the Kingdom strong.

“My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” --- God, 2 Corinthians 12: 9

I have witnessed the beginning of revival.  Now it’s my turn.

And yours.

Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. ( 2 Corinthians 12: 9)

---Anderson T. Graves II   is a writer, community organizer and consultant for education, ministry, and rural leadership development.

Rev. Anderson T. Graves II is pastor of Miles Chapel CME Church in Fairfield, Alabama;  executive director of the Substance Abuse Youth Networking Organization (SAYNO);  and director of rural leadership development for the National Institute for Human Development (NIHD).

Subscribe to my personal blog  www.andersontgraves.blogspot.com .

Email atgravestwo2@aol.com

Friend me at www.facebook.com/rev.a.t.graves

Follow me on twitter @AndersonTGraves 

#Awordtothewise

You can help support this ministry with a donation to Miles Chapel CME Church.

You can help support Rev. Graves’ work by visiting his personal blog and clicking the DONATE button on the right-hand sidebar.

Support by check or money order may be mailed to 

Miles Chapel CME Church

P O Box 132

Fairfield, Al 35064

MEN & WOMEN MOVING ON FAITH IN CHANGING TIMES

My, how times have changed.  In the days of the Judges in ancient Israel God’s people found themselves oppressed by enemies they should have defeated long before.  Men and women debated their roles as leaders in the time of crisis.  The people of God were under pressure to compromise with the culture.  The worship of God based on His written Word was in peril.

Well maybe times haven’t changed that much.

Find out how men and women of faith overcame insurmountable odds in the time of Judges and how their victory shows the path for ours.  The message is about MEN & WOMEN MOVING ON FAITH IN CHANGING TIMES.

Listen well.

If you can’t get the audio on your device, visit the main podcast page at http://revandersongraves.podomatic.com/

The podcast is on iTunes at https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/anderson-graves-podcast/id918990482

---Anderson T. Graves II   is a writer, community organizer and consultant for education, ministry, and rural leadership development.

Rev. Anderson T. Graves II is pastor of Miles Chapel CME Church in Fairfield, Alabama;  executive director of the Substance Abuse Youth Networking Organization (SAYNO);  and director of rural leadership development for the National Institute for Human Development (NIHD).

Subscribe to my personal blog  www.andersontgraves.blogspot.com .

Email atgravestwo2@aol.com

Friend me at www.facebook.com/rev.a.t.graves

Follow me on twitter @AndersonTGraves  #Awordtothewise 

You can help support this ministry with a donation to Miles Chapel CME Church.

You can help support Rev. Graves’ work by visiting his personal blog and clicking the DONATE button on the right-hand sidebar.

Support by check or money order may be mailed to 

Miles Chapel CME Church

P O Box 132

Fairfield, Al 35064

GRACE BY ALL MEANS - The Articles of Religion # 16

Article XVI - Of the Sacraments

Sacraments ordained of Christ are not only badges or tokens of Christian men's profession, but rather they are certain signs of grace, and God's good will toward us, by which he doth work invisibly in us, and doth not only quicken, but also strengthen and confirm, our faith in him.

There are two Sacraments ordained of Christ our Lord in the Gospel; that is to say, Baptism and the Supper of the Lord.

Those five commonly called sacraments, that is to say, confirmation, penance, orders, matrimony, and extreme unction, are not to be counted for Sacraments of the Gospel; being such as have partly grown out of the corrupt following of the apostles, and partly are states of life allowed in the Scriptures, but yet have not the like nature of Baptism and the Lord's Supper, because they have not any visible sign or ceremony ordained of God.

The Sacraments were not ordained of Christ to be gazed upon, or to be carried about; but that we should duly use them. And in such only as worthily receive the same, they have a wholesome effect or operation; but they that receive them unworthily, purchase to themselves condemnation, as St. Paul saith.

Something supernatural happens when we pray.

Through the consciously physical act of speaking or thinking words toward God, God Himself personally and directly connects with us.  The divinely instituted but humanly executed act of prayer is what John Wesley called a means of grace.

Wesley, the founder of the Methodist Movement, defined a means of grace as “outward signs, words, or actions, ordained of God, and appointed … to be the ordinary channels whereby He might convey to men, preventing, justifying, or sanctifying grace.”

Imperfect people pray because they want to experience the grace that only God can convey.  Prayer is the means, but it’s not the only one. 

Jesus taught that “men always ought to pray and not lose heart.” (Luke 18: 1).  The Lord also commanded that we keep the Lord’s Supper “as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me” (Luke 22: 19); and that we carry on “baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”

The means of grace include prayer and other works of piety, works of mercy, and keeping the sacraments. These are the channels God uses to connect us to Himself and to “convey to men, preventing, justifying, or sanctifying grace.”

The sacraments are means of grace.  This means that baptism and communion are more than rituals.  Baptism isn’t just symbolic.  The Lord’s Supper is more than a re-enactment. 

Something supernatural happens when we participate in the sacraments.

Like prayer, the sacraments, open a channel  of direct connection to God.  That’s why Paul told the Galatians that “as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ” (Galatians 3: 27)

That’s why the apostle warned the Corinthians to  recognize/ discern the presence of God in the Lord’s Supper, and to take that connection seriously.

For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body. (1 Corinthians 11: 29,30)

Too often we act out the rituals but we don’t discern the Lord’s presence connecting with us in the sacraments. We need to take the language of prayer and of worship and reconnect that language to the sacraments.  That language includes:  faith, enthusiasm, and expectation. 

We pray expectantly.  Let us baptize with expectation, thanking God in advance for what He will do to sanctify the life being baptized.

We worship enthusiastically.  Let’s come to the communion table with enthusiasm.  Let’s be happy and grateful for the chance to be at the altar of the Lore one mo’ time.

We approach God in prayer and in worship by faith. Then let's also baptize by faith, not just because it’s time for the infant or the new convert to be baptized but because we know that God is connecting with this person in this act.  

Let's commune by faith, not just because this is the Sunday that we do the juice and crackers, but because we KNOW that God is actually pouring out His grace on those who come to the table with honest hearts, even if they don’t have perfect lives.

But let's not confuse the MEANS with the END.  Nothing in the man-composed words of our rituals and nothing in the physical elements of the sacraments are supernatural in and of themselves.    A consecrated cracker can’t save you or protect you.  

But if you receive the sacraments the way you pray a sincere prayer, if you participate in the sacraments the way you give yourself over to authentic worship, then God does something supernatural.   God gives grace.   

Supernatural isn’t always spectacular.  The experience of God’s grace isn’t always a burning bush or a flaming pillar.  Grace reaches us as peace in unchanged circumstances, as direction along a still mysterious path, as assurance in the deep places of ourselves for which we have no adequate names.  

Grace is good.  By all means, get more of it.

---Anderson T. Graves II   is a writer, community organizer and consultant for education, ministry, and rural leadership development.

Rev. Anderson T. Graves II is pastor of Miles Chapel CME Church in Fairfield, Alabama;  executive director of the Substance Abuse Youth Networking Organization (SAYNO);  and director of rural leadership development for the National Institute for Human Development (NIHD).

Subscribe to my personal blog  www.andersontgraves.blogspot.com .

Email atgravestwo2@aol.com

Friend me at www.facebook.com/rev.a.t.graves

Follow me on twitter @AndersonTGraves 

#Awordtothewise

You can help support this ministry with a donation to Miles Chapel CME Church.

You can help support Rev. Graves’ work by visiting his personal blog and clicking the DONATE button on the right-hand sidebar.

Support by check or money order may be mailed to 

Miles Chapel CME Church

P O Box 132

Fairfield, Al 35064