WHAT GOOD DO YOU DO? (audio of sermon)

Imagine a shiny new car with custom everything sitting in your driveway, shining in the sun with no gas and no engine.  What good does it do?

Sometimes you may feel as useless as a shiny car with no engine; like your actions, your life don’t really make a difference in this big world.  You may have found yourself wondering, “What good do I do?”

Maybe more than you ever imagined.

This message was originally delivered for a celebration of church ushers.  The sermon is titled WHAT GOOD DO YOU DO?

Listen well.

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

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---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

HEY! YOU'RE MISSING A MONKEY

The three wise monkeys are the visual representation of the Japanese proverb, “Hear no evil.  See no evil.  Speak no evil.”    The monkeys, or rather, the apes are named Kikazaru, covering his ears, who hears no evil;  Mizaru, covering his eyes, who sees no evil; and Iwazaru, covering his mouth, who speaks no evil.

Our culture has embraced the 3 monkeys motif, putting them on posters, statuettes, t-shirts, and of course internet memes, because they give ancient philosophical support to our very contemporary desire to not get involved. 

We mind our own business.  We stay out of it.  We let it go.  We don’t snitch.    But not because we’re cowardly, or selfish, or heartless.  No, it’s because we are enlightened with the ancient wisdom of “Hear nothing.  See nothing.  Say nothing.” 

Blah, blah, blah.

The truth is we like the 3 monkeys because we really don’t give a Shizaru.

Shizaru is the name of the 4^th wise monkey, the one with his hand on his hand.  Yeah, the real ancient Japanese pictorial shows four, not three apes.  

The proverb actually goes:

Hear no evil.

See no evil.

Speak no evil.

Do no evil.

That last one?  That last one throws a monkey wrench (Sorry, couldn’t help myself.) in your passive, isolationist plans.  At least he does if you’re a Christian.

Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin. (James 4: 17)

Christians who do nothing when we could do something to help are, according to our Bible, doing evil.

It’s not enough for me  to not hurt people.  As a follower of Jesus,  I HAVE TO actively help people. 

Doing no evil means helping my brother and sister Christians.

Whoever has this world’s goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him? (1 John 3: 17)

Doing no evil means helping the wounded and abandoned “neighbors” outside of my culture.

But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was. And when he saw him, he had compassion. (from Luke 10: 31-37)

Doing no evil means helping means turning toward the needs of the hungry, homeless, strangers, incarcerated, and sick, as if I were helping Jesus Himself.

And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’ (from Matthew 25: 31-46)

And it doesn’t count if I just throw a tract and a cliché at them and send them on their way

 If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you says to them, “Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,” but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. (James 2: 15-17)

I don’t listen for evil things about people. (Kikaru)

I don’t look for the evil in people.  (Mizaru)

I don’t go around telling the most evil things I can about people. (Iwazaru)

That doesn’t mean that I have to be the naïve or stupid Christian who doesn’t know when I’m being played.

But it does mean that no matter how much people disappoint, I have to give a Shizaru.

Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith.  (Galatians 6:10)

  

---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

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 DONATEbutton 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 (REST OF THE) GOLDEN RULE FOR PARENTS

In Matthew 7, Jesus praised God’s parenting skills.  Our Heavenly Father, as Jesus explained, is the standard and model for all human parents.

If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him! (Matthew 7: 11)

And that is the context for one of the most quoted (and misquoted) verses in the Bible, the Golden Rule.

Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets. (Matthew 7: 12)

Jesus repeated this rule, probably lots of times.  Luke recorded one of those reiterations in  chapter 6. 

And just as you want men to do to you, you also do to them likewise.(Luke 6: 31)

Or, as we put it on our decorative plates, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”

Jesus, genius that He is, encapsulated the entirety of ethics and social morality in one sentence.   But, for us to fully apply the Golden Rule, we have to do what our Heavenly Father did.  We have to apply the Golden Rule forward AND in reverse.

The inverse of Matthew 7 would read: “Whatever you want done to other men, do that also to yourself.”

God proclaimed judgment for the sins of men, judgment by death and separation from His grace.  So, what did God do to Himself?

He gave Himself, the Word of His Trinity to take sin upon Himself and die.  And when He, His Son, was covered in sin on the cross, the Father looked away and the Son cried out “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” that is, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” (Matthew 27: 46)

God did to Himself/ His Son what He would do to others.

God applied His own rules to Himself.

For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you.  (Matthew 7: 2)

And God is our model as parents------ right?

O.K.  Now think about how you reacted when you heard about Chris Brown beating up Rhianna. How indignant were you when you saw the video of a big pro football player punching his slender girlfriend in the face?  Recall your reaction when you read about a federal judge beating up his wife and getting away with what amounts to a promise to erase the charge from his record?

Don’t you want justice for the women?  Don’t you want JUDGMENT against the men who treated those ladies with violence instead of the respect they deserve?

Good.

But now, imagine (or remember) your son’s principal calling to tell you he hit a girl at school?

Do you want YOUR son punished?  Do you want YOUR SON  to lose his place on the football team?  Do you want your son to feel the full weight of JUDGMENT?

Or do you ask, “Well, what did the little b***** do to him?”

Do you want others to judge your son the same way you want them judged?

If God is your model as a parent, you should.

You don’t have to be a monster to turn your child into one.  All you have to do is defend them when they behave monstrously.

When Jesus was covered in sin on the cross, God didn’t make excuses for Him----- and Jesus was/ is personally perfect.  Your baby and mine?  They’re not perfect.    What excuse do we have for the excuses we make for them? 

Spare the rod and spoil the child.  Well what if the rod is in somebody else’s hands?

Yes, protect them from evil. Yes, defend them against every INjustice.  Demand equity.  Advocate for their rights, privileges, and advantage.

But.

Just remember the Golden Rule.   Remember how God applied the Golden Rule to His Son.  Let’s do the same for our children.   It won’t kill them.  It’ll make them better people.

If God is for us, who can be against us?  He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? (Romans 8: 31-32)

---Rev. Anderson T. Graves II   (email:  atgravestwo2@aol.com )

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 (5220 Myron Massey Boulevard) 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 blog at www.andersontgraves.blogspot.com  

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

DO YOU GET IT?

In other words, Jesus wanted to know, “Do you get it?”

The Lord is asking that question of all of us still today.  What is “it”?  And how do you get “it”?

Find out in this message.  Find out: DO YOU GET IT?

Listen well.

---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

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

IT'S A HUMBLING JOB, BUT SOMEBODY'S GOTTA DO IT

And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure. (2 Corinthians 12: 8)

Paul had a problem, a major problem.  He called it a thorn in his flesh.  We don’t know for certain what this “thorn” was, but it was bad.  Paul called it a messenger of Satan.   It buffeted Paul.  (Buffet means it beat him down.)   Three times he went into extended prayer, begging God to take it away. 

God had saved Paul from shipwreck, preserved him from stoning, delivered him from prison, and neutralized the venom of an island viper that bit Paul beside a campfire.  But this thing----this thorn in Paul’s side---- God refused to remove it.

In fact, it was God who sent the thorn to Paul in the first place.    

Now why would God afflict His personally called apostle to the Gentiles with a thorn in his flesh? Why would God afflict His most prolific New Testament author with a messenger from Satan to beat him down.

Paul confessed the reason:  lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations.

Paul had a problem with pride.

Sometimes he got full of himself.  Just skim through 2 Corinthians and look at all the times and ways that Paul used the word boast or its translate equivalent.

Paul found it hard to humble himself.

So God did it for him.

For Christians, especially for Christians called to a level of extraordinary service, God DEMANDS humility.

But He offers a choice in the way we acquire humility.

We can (a) humble ourselves

if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face (2 Chronicles 7: 14)

Now when the Lord saw that they humbled themselves, the word of the Lord came to Shemaiah, saying, “They have humbled themselves; therefore I will not destroy them, but I will grant them some deliverance. (2 Chronicles 12: 7)

Therefore whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 18: 4)

Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.  (James 4: 10)

Or (b) God will do it for us.

People shall be brought down, Each man shall be humbled, And the eyes of the lofty shall be humbled (Isaiah 5: 15)

And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.  (Matthew 23: 12)

But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: “God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble.” (James 4: 6)

Paul taught a lot of spiritually correct things about humility and esteeming others better than ourselves (Philippians 2: 3); but Paul wasn’t good at practicing the humility that he preached.

Paul didn’t do a very good job of keeping himself humble, so God sent a thorn in the flesh , a messenger of Satan to do it for him.

You and I have a choice.  We can learn from Paul’s experience or we can share in Paul’s experience.

Something to think about the next time you assume that your story is the most important story they'll ever hear.

Something to think about the next time it's has to be cheating, or nepotism, or racism, because it's impossible that anybody was actually just ---- better.

Something to think about the next time you walk into a room thinking how blessed these people are to have YOU there.

Humbling you is a dirty job, but somebody's going to do 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 Hall Memorial CME Church in Montgomery, 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).

Email atgravestwo2@aol.com

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

To listen to sermons and learn more about the ministry at Hall Memorial CME Church, visit www.hallmemorialcme.blogspot.com .

You can help support this ministry by clicking the DONATE button on the right-hand sidebar.

Support by check or money order may be mailed to

Hall Memorial CME Church

541 Seibles Road

Montgomery, AL 36116

“Do it for the Vine!”

For those who don’t know, “The Vine” is an app that allows users with no other media software or skills  to make short videos on their phones.  The videos upload to social media and automatically play in a loop whenever anyone scrolls past. 

This app has become so popular that it’s birthed a new social slogan:  “Do it for the vine!”

When someone yells, “Do it for the vine!” you’re supposed to go crazy for the next few seconds.  They want you to do something video worthy. 

You were going to walk away from the argument because it wasn’t going anywhere good. 

No.  Fight instead.  Come on.

Do it for the vine.

You were going to bob your head to the music and keep on walking.

No.  Pull up your skirt and twerk instead.  Come on. 

Do it for the vine.

To “do it for the vine” you have to make a deliberate choice to ACT.  You can’t just sit there “for the vine.”  You can’t just stand around passively observing “for the vine.”  You have to get up and with all your energy DO SOMETHING “for the vine.”

Social media has made this call to choice and action a call to foolishness and self-degradation.

But like many cultural sins, the current trend is a corruption of something good.

You see, before we had an app for that, Jesus was telling people to “do it for the Vine.”

In John chapter 15, Jesus said,   “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser…I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.(John 15: 5)

Jesus is the true Vine and He wants us to be a part of Him-----and not a passive part.  The Lord commands the branches of His Vine  to DO something.

But not just any something.

If you are in Christ, if the Lord Jesus is in your heart, if He is Lord of your life, etc., etc. , then you should produce a certain type of fruit.

John the Baptist called it fruits worthy of repentance (Matthew 3: 8)

If you have truly repented of your sins and been engrafted into Jesus the True Vine, then you’ll talk to people as though you have left your sins behind not like you’re looking forward to sinning more.  (Colossians 4: 6)

If you’ve really received Jesus as your Lord and Savior then you’ll do your job (whatever that is) as though the integrity of your work was an expression of worship. (Ephesians 6: 6, 7)

If you are part of the Jesus Vine for real, then you will live in such a way that even when surrounded by the darkness of a sinful world, your good works shine as such a light before people that those who see you give glory to God.(Matthew 5: 16)

Speak, and act, and work, and live as though every choice were going to be played back in a loop for Jesus to watch.

Cause it kinda is.

But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment.  (Matthew 12: 34)

Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.  (Matthew 7: 19)  

What we SAY about ourselves is just the caption we place under the scene.  The truth of where we stem from is recorded in our actions every day, every moment.

“You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles?” Jesus said. (Matthew 7: 16)

At any given moment, someone may entice you to do something.  To show out.  To let go and show off the real you.

Do it for the vine!

But before you decide what to do, ask yourself:   Which vine?

Which vine are you part of?    Your fruit will tell.

Which vine defines you?  Your choice will answer.

Every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. …Therefore by their fruits you will know them. (Matthew 7: 17-20)  

Jesus told His disciples, You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Abide in Me, and I in you. (John 15: 3, 4)

He promised that If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples. (John 15: 7, 8)

Jesus said that the good that is Him is already in you.  Just hold to His Word. Just rest in His presence.

Jesus said that if you abide in/ find your center in Him & His Word that you can bear good fruit.  Any good thing you want to accomplish you can do.

If you abide in Christ and in His Word, if you lose yourself and find yourself in Jesus, then you’ll be able to hear it---- the sound of Jesus chanting, “Come on, my child.  Show them what you got!  Get up.  Do your thing.  Bear My fruit.”

Do it for The Vine!

(Acknowledgement:  This blog post was my wife's idea.  God gave her the title and the concept.  She told me that I had to write it.  The Holy Spirit in us both did the rest.)

---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 Hall Memorial CME Church in Montgomery, 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).

Email atgravestwo2@aol.com

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

To listen to sermons and learn more about the ministry at Hall Memorial CME Church, visit www.hallmemorialcme.blogspot.com .

You can help support this ministry by clicking the DONATE button on the right-hand sidebar.

Support by check or money order may be mailed to

Hall Memorial CME Church

541 Seibles Road

Montgomery, AL 36116

Part 2: THE SCRIPT-FLIPPING CHURCH

We continue our walk through the early days of Jesus’ public ministry as we review how the Lord organized His disciples into the world-changing movement that was the early church.

In part 2 of what is now a series of messages on the SCRIPT-FLIPPING CHURCH,  Pastor Anderson Graves II follows Jesus through His first preaching circuit.  The Lord’s journey draws our attention to details in the gospels that we often miss and confronts us with some challenging questions about ourselves, our motives, and the reasons why we the church fail to be all that God called us to be.

Listen well.

---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 Hall Memorial CME Church and the executive director of SAYNO (Substance Abuse Youth Networking Organization) in Montgomery, Alabama.

Call  334-288-0577
Email atgravestwo2@aol.com
Friend me at www.facebook.com/rev.a.t.graves

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

If you enjoy our work, please help support our work in the community. Send a donation of any amount by check or money order.
Mail all contributions to:
Hall Memorial CME Church
541 Seibles Road
Montgomery, AL 36116

WHAT ARE YOU DOING WITH IT? (the forgotten question in stewardship)

When I was a kid I talked my way into a good-paying job.  Then I lost the pay---- not the job, just the pay.  What had happened was -------- what Jesus said happens when we misunderstand His definition of stewardship.

Follow a message that follows Jesus through His parables about service and stewardship.  Learn what Jesus said is required to receive the rewards of a good steward.

You might think that the reward comes from answering the question, “How much did you give?”   But here’s a challenge from the words of Jesus to go back and reconsider the question:    WHAT ARE YOU DOING WITH IT?

Listen well.

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---Anderson T. Graves II

Rev. Anderson T. Graves II is the pastor of Hall Memorial CME Church

Call/ fax: 334-288-0577
Email us at hallmemorialcme1@aol.com  
Friend Pastor Graves at www.facebook.com/rev.a.t.graves
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