The personal blog of Anderson T. Graves II. Education, Religion, Politics, Family, and TRUTH------ but not necessarily the truth you want to hear.
I still love ya' though.
September 27, 2020. The Bailey Tabernacle CME Church
worship experience.Rev. Anderson T.
Graves II, pastor. From the 9th plague, Exodus 10: 21-29, a messge
titled: “FOUND IN DARKNESS, LEAVE IN LIGHT.”
THANK YOU to all of you who continue to be faithful in
supporting the ongoing ministry of Bailey Tabernacle CME Church.
Visit us at baileytabernaclecme.org
. You may use any the following
options for tithes, offerings, and donations:
For the sister whose husband works too
much: Listen to a man praise his wife as the most
important thing in the world.
And Adam said: “This is now bone of my
bones and flesh of my flesh. She shall be called Woman because she
was taken out of Man.” (Genesis 2: 24)
See how Adam praised his wife. He affirmed their
relationship as unique. He declared that from now on her name would
include his name because no one and no thing in their whole perfect world means
as much to him as she does.
Neither Adam nor Eve had biological parents, so verse 24
isn't commentary. It's prophesy. Therefore a man shall
leave his father and mother and be joined his wife, and they shall
become one flesh. (Genesis 2: 24)
God intended for husbands to give uniquely focused attention
to their wives, attention that deliberately excludes everybody else, even your
daddy and your mama.
So what's up with your godly man? How do
you get him to fulfill his prophetic role of paying attention to
you? You want some of that Genesis 2 love, don't you?
Let me help you, girl.
For women, attention is a sign of affection, and indication
of genuine
love. For men, attention is a result of shared
purpose and camaraderie.
Your man, his clients, and colleagues work on the same projects,
fighting the same obstacles, and
impacting each others' ambitions. That why he gives them his attention.
Good men are conditioned to respond negatively to people who
try to distract them from their purpose. That's why he sometimes gets angry
when you ask for more of his time. His inner Adam tells him that
he's supposed to tend the garden and name the animals, or whatever God has
called him to do; and he interprets your need for attention as an attempt to
move him off-task.
You and he share a unique relationship, a special love. Like
no one and no thing else in the whole world, you have his heart. But to get his attention, you have to share
his purpose.
Which is how God intended it. He designed the husband-wife relationship not
primarily around romance but around shared purpose.
…In the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and
multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion… (Genesis 1: 27, 28)
Our human purpose is to be productive and to multiply until
the image of God has dominion over all the earth.
For a while in Genesis 2, Adam pursued that purpose all by
himself. Adam had a set of Divine rules
and two jobs well before he knew what a wife was. He was a good man,
a man who embraced his purpose and its work.
Still, the Lord said, “It is not good that man should be
alone” (Genesis 2: 18). Not good because God didn't just want a man
who pursues his purpose. God wanted a family that pursues their
purpose, and so God declared, "I will make him a helper comparable to
him.”
God didn't create Eve to ease Adam's loneliness. God
created Eve to share Adam's purpose. No. God created Eve to share in purpose with
Adam. The man of the family should lead the in fulfilling the family's purpose, but that purpose doesn't originate from the man. Purpose comes from God.
Sisters, if you want your man's attention, be the one he can
share his passion with. Be the sounding board for his ideas. Working
together, articulate your mission as a family.
Be his partner in that
purpose.
As his partner you can remind him that regular rest is also
part of God's ordained purpose. As his co-laborer in Divine purpose
you can say, "WE need some time away from the work. Let's (Let
us) get away for a few hours or a few days." As his partner in
purpose, you can even help him schedule a romance Sabbath, when you decompress
together. You know: date night.
Adam recognized that he and Eve had had both been blessed
with the same purpose. She "got him." This is now
bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh.
Therefore: because she is one with me in
my work, I prophetically declare that I will give her my full and
unique attention.
Therefore, because she is my partner in purpose I know that
she knows what I'm going through. I can
share anything with her. "And they were both naked, the man and his wife,
and were not ashamed." (Genesis 2: 25)
As it was in the beginning, so it is now.
Share his purpose, and you'll have his attention.
---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).
This is the final message in our 4-part
preaching series on Advent/ Christmas.
The message is a lesson about how: YOU CAN'T ALWAYS GET WHAT YOU WANT FOR
CHRISTMAS BUT YOU CAN GET WHAT YOU NEED.
--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 Bailey
Tabernacle CME Church in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. He writes the
popular blog: A Word to the Wise at www.andersontgraves.blogspot.com
Then God said to Jacob, “Arise, go up to Bethel and dwell there;
and make an altar there to God, who appeared to you when you fled from the face
of Esau your brother.” (Genesis 35: 1)
Chapter 34 ended with Jacob worried the Canaanites would attack
his family to avenge the men of Shechem whom Jacob’s sons had all murdered.
Chapter 35 begins with God telling Jacob, “Arise, go up to Bethel and dwell
there.”
It seems that between the two chapters, Jacob said, “God, I gotta
get out of town. Where can I go that
these people won’t kill me?”
And God replied, “You can go to Bethel.”
Or, more specifically, BACK to Bethel.
Bethel is where Jacob stopped on his way to Syria to look for a
wife and escape his brother Esau, who wanted to kill him. By the end of chapter 35, Jacob was back on
his father’s land. He had retraced his steps with a great deal of repetition along the way.
Bethel used to be called Luz. His first stop there, Jacob dreamed
of angels climbing a ladder to Heaven and he christened Luz with the new name Beth-el, “the house of God” (Genesis 28:18-19). On his return visit he re-renamed the spot El
Beth-el which means “God of the house of God” or “God’s house of God.”
His first night in Beth-el, Jacob was running out of Canaan, away from
a vengegul brother. This time he was fleeing
deeper in Canaan, away from vengeful neighbors.
God made Jacob retrace his steps.
And not just geographically. God wanted Jacob to retrace the spiritual and emotional steps that began his journey.
Coming out of Syria on his way to Shechem, years ago, Jacob had
been afraid of meeting Esau, but his fear was unfounded. His brother never tried to harm him. Coming out of Shechem, Jacob feared the
Canaanites would attack, but “they journeyed, and the terror of God was upon
the cities that were all around them,
and they did not pursue the sons of Jacob” (Genesis 35: 5).
His first time at Bethel, Jacob “took the stone that he had put at
his head, set it up as a pillar, and poured oil on top of it” (Genesis 28:18). This time, he repeated the ritual. “Jacob set
up a pillar in the place where He talked with him, a pillar of stone; and he
poured a drink offering on it, and he poured oil on it“ (Genesis 35:14).
Earlier, the Lord had said, “Your name shall no longer be called
Jacob, but Israel” (Genesis 33:28). Now
exactly two chapters and an indeterminate number of years later, God said to
him AGAIN, “Your name is Jacob; your
name shall not be called Jacob anymore, but Israel shall be your name” (Genesis
35:28).
When you feel your life going into a skid, when the negative hypotheticals
overwhelm you, when you can’t focus on the blessing for the fear and anxiety,
when you’re gifted and anointed and destined and falling apart ----- retrace
your steps.
“Nevertheless I have this
against you, that you have left your first
love. Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works” (Revelation 2:4–5).
Re-reread those goals you wrote down when you first set off to
change the world. Pray like you prayed
when you had nothing but you believed, you KNEW God had a plan for you. Remember before you had possessions, and
middle-class debt, and important relationships with influential people that you
can’t afford to jeopardize by taking a stand.
Remember how disciplined, and creative, and bold you were when you had
nothing and therefore weren’t afraid of losing.
“So we may boldly say: ‘The Lord
is my helper; I will not fear. What
can man do to me?’ “ (Hebrews 13:6)
Jacob had forgotten, so God made him retrace his steps.
But the walk back requires you to leave some of your new stuff
behind.
And Jacob said to his household
and to all who were with him, “Put away the foreign gods that are among you, purify yourselves,
and change your garments.
Then let us arise and go up to
Bethel . . .
So they gave Jacob all the foreign
gods which were in their hands, and
the earrings which were in their
ears; and Jacob hid them under the terebinth tree which was by Shechem.” (Genesis 35:2-4)
Go through your emotional baggage and take out the idols you’ve
collected along the way. Bury them and
leave them behind. There’s no place for
them in God’s house that God is building in you. Purify yourself. Put off the trappings of title and your new
class. Then, retrace your steps.
Therefore say to them, ‘Thus says
the Lord of hosts: “Return to Me,” says the Lord of hosts, “and I will return
to you,” says the Lord of hosts. (Zechariah 1:3)
Go back and re-anoint the pillar of your calling. Go back and re-dedicate your life to the
mission. Go back and listen to God. Listen like you listened when you were hungry
in every sense of the word. Go back
because maybe you don’t need a NEW solution.
Maybe you need a reminder.
Go back so God can remind you who you are.
“Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel” (Genesis
33:28).
“Your name is Jacob;
your name shall not be called Jacob anymore, but Israel shall be your name”
(Genesis 35:28).
---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. He writes a blog called A Word to the Wise at www.andersontgraves.blogspot.com
In
the space of one chapter, the number of trained, qualified, anointed, engaged
leaders multiplied 7 fold. Think about
what your church cold accomplish with 7 times more powerful leaders engaged, united,
and committed to the work of Jesus Christ.
If only there were a process for producing that kind of growth.
There
is.
In
this detailed lesson originally delivered for Empowerment Week at Wesley Chapel
CME church, we see how Jesus multiplied the power of leadership in his ministry
and learn the steps to doing the same in the ministries of Jesus Christ where
we serve.
The
message is called: THE PURPOSE & PROCESS OF
POWER.
---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).
What
should a church or a Christian do when their best, most logical, and wisest
choice turns out to be wrong? How does a
believer choose among all the options and advice that seem good and godly and
wise --- at the time? The answers can be found a Christmas story about wise men
trying to find their way. Originally
delivered at Evergreen Baptist Church in Birmingham, the title of this message is
WISE MEN GO ANOTHER WAY.
---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).
A ship is safe in harbor, but that’s not what ships are for. A Christian is safe when he/she leaves missionary
work to a few religious specialists. But is that what Christians are for? A missionary is safe when he/she accepts the
title but avoids outreach.
And that brings us to the message for Missionary Day at Miles Chapel
CME Church. The sermon is titled: WHAT ARE MISSIONARIES FOR?
---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).
We make our resolutions and our plans but things always seem to go
another way. Jesus had the same
experience. Take a new look at the
familiar story of the feeding of the 5,000.
Hear a necessary message for the new year and every new move.
The title is CHURCH WHEN
THINGS DON’T GO AS PLANNED.
---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).
