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.
If you're really
good at something, whatever it is: art, sports, ministry, organizing, . . .
whatever; if you're really good at it, a moment comes when you have to choose
between CELEBRITY & SERVICE.
If you’re an artist
or entertainer, you’ll face a moment when you have a platform from which you
can speak truth. From there you can
direct people to community-changing action.
Or, you can use the aftermath to promote your
album.
SERVICE or
CELEBRITY?
If you’re a servant-leader
who leads and serves well, you’ll get noticed and you’ll get access to
resources, opportunities, and people you’d never imagined. You can use your new access to resolve the
most stubborn problems in the community you serve and empower masses of people
to help their neighbors. Or, you can
become a brand and build your brand while ignoring the people and places you supposedly
serve.
CELEBRITY or
SERVICE?
Acts 8 tells the
story of a celebrity magician named Simon.
Simon got saved and served faithfully as a member in good standing of
the 1st Church of Samaria.
But then, as recorded in Acts 8:14-19, Simon realized that if he could
make folks catch the Holy Ghost, it would be worth a lot of money.
And when Simon saw
that through the laying on of the apostles’ hands the Holy Spirit was given, he
offered them money,saying, “Give me this power also, that
anyone on whom I lay hands may receive the Holy Spirit.” --- Acts 8:18 - 19
The moment came and
Simon chose CELEBRITY over service.
That was the wrong
choice.
Peter said to him,
“Your money perish with you, because you thought that the gift of God could be
purchased with money! You have neither part nor portion in
this matter, for your heart is not right in the sight of God. ---- Acts 8:20 -
21
Simon, the
celebrity, issued a public apology. He
said he’d learned the error of his ways.
Then Simon answered
and said, “Pray to the Lord for me, that none of the things which you have
spoken may come upon me.” --- Acts 8:24
I don’t know. That’s the end of Simon’s story in the Bible.
Jesus served 5,000
hungry men with accompanying women and children by miraculously multiplying 2
fish and 5 loaves of bread. It made him
famous.
Then those men, when
they had seen the sign that Jesus did, said, “This is truly the Prophet who is
to come into the world.” --- John 6: 14
Jesus didn’t just
have disciples. Now He also had
fans.
His public demanded
that he take a bigger contract, launch a national platform, become the face of
the people.
. . . Jesus
perceived that they were about to come and take Him by force to make Him king.
. . --- John 6:15a
But Jesus understood
history and human nature. Jesus
understood that when the adoring public didn’t want a king like Jesus; they
wanted Jesus to be a king like the kings they saw online and on tv (or the 1st
century equivalent of online an on tv).
Remember 1 Samuel 8: 4-20.
Jesus declined to be
made their celebrity.
Therefore when Jesus
perceived that they were about to come and take Him by force to make Him king, He departed again to the mountain by Himself
alone. ---- John 6:15, emphasis
added.
Jesus didn’t stop
working miracles. He walked on water
that very night (John 6:15 – 21).
He didn’t stop
helping people. The next day, Jesus
healed a bunch of people (Matthew 14:34 – 36).
Jesus chose SERVICE
over celebrity.
Now think about
this: Jesus is the most
famous person in history, BECAUSE
he chose to be a servant instead of a celebrity.
Take a second and
process that. It’s a paradox. Take a sec.
By doing what He had to do to serve the people, Jesus built a platform,
amplified His voice, and expanded His audience.
But He still spent the bulk of his time on the ground, in the trenches,
getting dirty, being genuinely vulnerable and present with the least of these,
His brothers.
In conclusion,
Simon saw the
purpose of God for his life but left his purpose to follow the cameras. Jesus followed his purpose and the cameras
followed Him.
You and I get to
decide: service or celebrity. You may get both, but you can’t pursue
both. Yeah, they say you can. You can’t.
No one can serve two
masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be
loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon. ----
Jesus, Matthew 6:24
Oh, wait! There’s
one more thing.
The Bible doesn’t
say what happened to Simon, but we know what happened to Jesus.
When the Servant who
was not seeking celebrity got famous and his fame started shining real bright,
the reigning political celebrities killed Him.
But, as the song
goes, that’s not where the story ends.
The Servant rose and reigns.
Choosing service over celebrity will bring pain. There’ll be seasons where you’ll feel broken
and utterly destroyed. But, that’s not
where your story will end.
Don’t grow weary of
doing well. You will eventually reap
your reward.
So?
What’ll it be?
---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).
The old time hymn asks: Must Jesus bear the cross alone and all the world
go free?
The response may be automatic and seem simple, but as today’s message
explains, the implications of that simple question are so profound that it
drove Jesus to a flashback. Your
response is more than another line in an old hymn. Your response will, one way or another, change
the very direction of your life.
---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).
Roots was a novel and television miniseries that defined the modern American
image of slavery. The most iconic scene
is Roots posed a powerful question, a question that every one of us
today has to answer, a question that not surprisingly the Bible asked first.
Find out what the saga of an American family has in common with the saga
of prophet named Daniel in a message
titled WHAT IS YOUR NAME?
---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).
The Rolling Stones sang, “You can’t always get what you want, but if you try sometimes you just might find you’ll get what you need.”
Centuries before Mick Jagger sang those lyrics, Jesus expressed the idea in His words and His decisions.
As Jesus called the disciples and created the original church, He demonstrated a principle that the church today must learn and apply.
As we continue following the early days of Jesus’ earthly ministry we learn: You can’t always get what you want, but if you follow Jesus------ He’ll make sure that you get what you need.
Part 3 of the series on the SCRIPT-FLIPPING CHURCH,
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.
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
Do not lay hands on anyone hastily, nor share in other people’s sins; keep yourself pure. (1 Timothy 5: 22)
When Paul refers to "laying hands on" he is talking about blessing, anointing, “speaking into the life of…”, “ prophesying over...” and whatever else we call it today.
Paul did not prohibit the practice or tell Timothy, young pastor born four or more generations after Jesus’ Earthly ministry, that “We don’t lay hands on people anymore.” Paul did warn Pastor Timothy not to just run around declaring and decreeing over people randomly or upon request.
The act of laying on hands and blessing someone imparts a connection that flows in both directions: from God through the blessor to the blessee and his/her life; and from the blessee’s life to the blessor and before the eyes of God.
When a preacher lays hands on people to ordain them or to bless them into a particular season of life, the preacher is vouching for that person before God.
That’s not a light thing to be doing.
Yes, each of us is judged for our individual actions. No, you can’t control what someone does when they’re not under your direct supervision.
But.
We are each also responsible to God for the quality of what we set before Him, and that includes the quality of WHO we set before Him.
When God sent the prophet Samuel to anoint a son of Jesse to be the next king, Samuel saw the eldest son and immediately started to lay hands on him.
Samuel looked at Eliab and said, “Surely the Lord’s anointed is before Him!”
But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature, because I have refused him. For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” (1 Samuel 16: 6-7)
You can’t possibly know what’s in someone’s heart except when you know what’s in someone’s heart because you know what in that person’s life.
Do not lay hands on anyone hastily.
Lay hands, bless, anoint, prophesy where the Lord tells you. But are you sure that the Lord told you to speak that over EVERY body who came down to the altar?
Or were you looking on the physical appearance of people who LOOKED like they wanted a Word from the Lord?
And by the way, when did what individuals want from the Lord start deciding what preachers do more than what the Lord wants for those individuals?
When they come to you to be blessed and exalted, and God wants them to be convicted and humble because of their sin, but you bless and exalt them anyway----- you connect yourself to their sin. You walk them into God’s presence and say, “I’m good with what’s going on with them.”
Are you sure about that?
In Acts 8: 9-24, Simon ,an ex-sorcerer and new Christian, asked Peter to ordain him as a bringer of the Holy Spirit. He even offered to “sow a financial seed to the man of God” for his time.
But Peter said to him, “Your money perish with you, because you thought that the gift of God could be purchased with money! You have neither part nor portion in this matter, for your heart is not right in the sight of God. (Acts 8: 20-21)
It’s not your job to anoint people. It’s your job to obey God. And from time to time, if you are following God, not just fulfilling human expectations, you will have to say “No” to somebody who expects you to speak great things over their life.
No, it’s not for you to judge the quality of another’s soul. No, it’s not for you to judge what God can or can’t do in someone’s life. No, it’s not for you to say who’s worthy of a calling that only God can give.
That’s not your job.
It is your job to obey God rather than men or women or yourself.
There’s more at stake than your popularity.
Do not lay hands on anyone hastily, nor share in other people’s sins; keep yourself pure. (1 Timothy 5: 22)
---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 Churchin 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).
Do not lay hands on anyone hastily, nor share in other people’s sins; keep yourself pure. (1 Timothy 5: 22)
When Paul refers to "laying hands on" he is talking about blessing, anointing, “speaking into the life of…”, “ prophesying over...” and whatever else we call it today.
Paul did not prohibit the practice or tell Timothy, young pastor born four or more generations after Jesus’ Earthly ministry, that “We don’t lay hands on people anymore.” Paul did warn Pastor Timothy not to just run around declaring and decreeing over people randomly or upon request.
The act of laying on hands and blessing someone imparts a connection that flows in both directions: from God through the blessor to the blessee and his/her life; and from the blessee’s life to the blessor and before the eyes of God.
When a preacher lays hands on people to ordain them or to bless them into a particular season of life, the preacher is vouching for that person before God.
That’s not a light thing to be doing.
Yes, each of us is judged for our individual actions. No, you can’t control what someone does when they’re not under your direct supervision.
But.
We are each also responsible to God for the quality of what we set before Him, and that includes the quality of WHO we set before Him.
When God sent the prophet Samuel to anoint a son of Jesse to be the next king, Samuel saw the eldest son and immediately started to lay hands on him.
Samuel looked at Eliab and said, “Surely the Lord’s anointed is before Him!”
But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature, because I have refused him. For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” (1 Samuel 16: 6-7)
You can’t possibly know what’s in someone’s heart except when you know what’s in someone’s heart because you know what in that person’s life.
Do not lay hands on anyone hastily.
Lay hands, bless, anoint, prophesy where the Lord tells you. But are you sure that the Lord told you to speak that over EVERY body who came down to the altar?
Or were you looking on the physical appearance of people who LOOKED like they wanted a Word from the Lord?
And by the way, when did what individuals want from the Lord start deciding what preachers do more than what the Lord wants for those individuals?
When they come to you to be blessed and exalted, and God wants them to be convicted and humble because of their sin, but you bless and exalt them anyway----- you connect yourself to their sin. You walk them into God’s presence and say, “I’m good with what’s going on with them.”
Are you sure about that?
In Acts 8: 9-24, Simon ,an ex-sorcerer and new Christian, asked Peter to ordain him as a bringer of the Holy Spirit. He even offered to “sow a financial seed to the man of God” for his time.
But Peter said to him, “Your money perish with you, because you thought that the gift of God could be purchased with money! You have neither part nor portion in this matter, for your heart is not right in the sight of God. (Acts 8: 20-21)
It’s not your job to anoint people. It’s your job to obey God. And from time to time, if you are following God, not just fulfilling human expectations, you will have to say “No” to somebody who expects you to speak great things over their life.
No, it’s not for you to judge the quality of another’s soul. No, it’s not for you to judge what God can or can’t do in someone’s life. No, it’s not for you to say who’s worthy of a calling that only God can give.
That’s not your job.
It is your job to obey God rather than men or women or yourself.
There’s more at stake than your popularity.
Do not lay hands on anyone hastily, nor share in other people’s sins; keep yourself pure. (1 Timothy 5: 22)
---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 Churchin 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).
If this message helps or touches you, please help support this ministry. 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
In the country church I grew up in, the older men used to line an old song that began with a question: Must Jesus bear the cross alone And all the world go free?
The verse continued by answering the question:
No, there’s a cross for everyone And there’s a cross for me.
These lines reveal an important spiritual truth about the kind of relationship that Jesus calls us to, about the power of becoming a disciple.
Learn how in a message called YOUR PERSONAL CROSS.
