NOW I SAID ALL THAT TO SAY

This is the concluding message in our journey through the book of John. 

 The title of the sermon is NOW I SAID ALL THAT TO SAY.

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

LEARN THE RULE BOOK

lest Satan should take advantage of us; for we are not ignorant of his devices. (2 Corinthians 2: 11)

This is not a post about sports, but the New England Patriots beat the Baltimore Ravens in the NFL playoffs

They shouldn’t have. 

In the 2^nd half of the game the Ravens were beating the brakes off the Patriots, leading by 14 points, but the Patriots came back to win the game 35-31.   The Patriots’ coach used a series of unconventional plays and never before used formations to break their opponents’ rhythm and score touchdown after touchdown after touchdown.   But that’s not important either.

What made me give a crap about the game was the Twitter exchange between the losing coach (Harbagh) and the winning quarterback (Brady).

The defeated coach accused his opponents of cheating because they used maneuvers he had never seen and would never have thought of using himself.  But the Ravens didn’t cheat.  They pulled trick plays, but even their tricks had to conform to the rule book.

The defeated coach had underestimated the possibilities available to his enemy because HE DIDN’T KNOW THE RULE BOOK.

Our opponent, Satan, is a liar.  He will use every deception and dirty trick he can to corrupt you and break your fellowship with God.  But even the devil is limited by the rules of THE BOOK.

Yes.  I am saying that the devil has to play by the rules.

Remember Job.  Satan had a plan, a series of plays already drawn out to get Job to turn on God, but before he could execute any of those plays he had to go to the Referee, Commissioner, and Owner of the universe and get a ruling.

You and the devil play by the same rules.

The book that prescribes the operations of Divine grace and eternal redemption also describes the possible means that the enemy can use against you. 

The devil can only surprise us if we haven’t learned the rule book.

The Bible is the rule book.  Read it.  Don’t just pick out a couple of sweet prosperity promises and set it down.  Study and see how evil operates, how good people end up doing bad things, how the devil breaks the rhythm of people on God’s team and comes from behind to kill, steal, and destroy.

Stop complaining about how tricky your opponents is and study the rule book, as the Apostle Paul wrote, lest Satan should take advantage of us; for we are not ignorant of his devices. (2 Corinthians 2: 11)

We are not ignorant of his trick plays.

At least, we don’t have to 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).

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

SEE & HEAR

God is smart.  I mean, really, really smart.  And He’s put His super-intelligent thoughts into this anthology of books we call the Bible.  Divine observations and commentary on science, relationships, politics, finance, psychology, human social behavior, and, most extensively, all aspects of spirituality from the origins of the human soul to the future end of the spiritual struggle against sin.

We’ve got all of this in one collection, and yet we still don’t know what the crap we’re doing in any of the areas above because we don’t read the frickin’ Book!  Or, we read the Bible like it’s a dvr’d 90’s sitcom.  We fast-forward to the same scenes we’ve seen a million times and just repeat the dialogue we already know without paying attention to what’s actually happening. 

(Think about the times you started your Bible time by opening to a random page, but you flipped some more pages because you’d landed on a “boring part,” and you kept flipping until you came to a “good part” that you knew so well that you didn’t really even need to read all the verses.  That’s dvr-ing the Bible.)
That’s why you feel like you’re not getting anything out of your Bible study.

I work with kids and adults who have been unsuccessful academically.  I minister to people who often say they don't get anything out of studying the Bible.    Here's what I've realized.

They have the same BAD study habits.   Whether it's the New Testament or the History of the United States, 1870-1940, I see the same pattern.

Does any of this sound familiar?

- You skip the "boring parts" so you have no context for the parts you do read.

- When you read the parts you like you don't pay attention because you think you already know that.

- You don't listen to the text or think of the names in the book as real people with feelings and individual voices, so it all seems abstract and pointless.

- What you call reading is really just running your eyes across the page.

- You don't put yourself in the text or connect what's happening on the page to your life or your community.

From now on, here’s what you do:  LISTEN & SEE. 

Let the text play a movie in your head and listen to the words on the page like the events on the paper are talking to you.

If you would LISTEN to the Bible when you read it you, if you would open your mind to SEE what Scripture says, then you would hear the Holy Spirit speak, you would EXPERIENCE God’s Word, and you would learn so much more than you opened the Book to find out.

Do that, and you’ll “get it.”  You won’t understand everything, but once you get a taste of how good the Bible really is, you’ll never think of this Book as boring again.

Open my eyes, that I may see wondrous things from Your law. (Psalm 119: 18)

---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

WHAT IF THE PROBLEM ISN'T OUR PRAISE?

One of the things I do when I'm studying the Bible is look for words, phrases, and ideas that are repeated across the passage(s) I'm reading.

I compare the uses to see if there's a common message or a meaningful pattern. 

Now I caution that when studying the Bible we have to be careful about snatching pieces of verses up and attaching them to other pieces.  It's tempting to cut and paste verses and snippets with no regard for context just to support a personally pre-established point.  The purpose of Bible study isn't to prove your or my point, but to discover God's point.

However, analyzing for repetition can reveal precious gems of truth. Case in point:  Psalm 50 and the word rebuke.

In the New King James Version, rebuke appears twice in Psalm 50----- in verse 8 & in verse 21.  Take the 2 clauses where "rebuke" is used and put them together, and you get the following statement from God: 

I will not rebuke you for your sacrifices or your burnt offerings, …but I will rebuke you.

If you walk through the entire chapter, this repetition connection turns out to be a pretty accurate summary of the main idea.  (It doesn’t always work this way, so you always have to read the entire passage for context.)

Basically, the voice of God speaks from Psalm 50 and says, “You know, your praise isn’t the problem.”

God says, “I’m not upset with you because of the form and phrasing of your worship.   Right now, that’s not really a big deal to me.  Keep your rituals.  I don’t need your sacrifices.  I’m unhappy with you, but not about that.”

God says, “I’m ticked off at you because:

you haven’t genuinely given Me glory (Psalm 50: 14, 15);
you’ve made Me promises that you haven’t kept (verse 14);
you live evil lives and then act like you can name-n-claim My promises anyway (verse 16);
you disregard and disrespect My Word (verse 16);
you enable and endorse sin in others (verse 18);
you talk all kinds of filth (verse 19);
you lie like lying is what you’re supposed to doggone do (verse 19);
you talk about everybody and stir up drama, even in your own family (verse 20).
"And," God says, "because I didn’t strike you down, you have the audacity to claim that I ‘understand’ and ‘know what it’s like’.  I’m not a pimp.  I’m not ‘cool like that.’ I’m GOD.”(VERSE 21).

Like most preachers in my immediate circle, I love energetic, moving, well-delivered praise and worship.  I think the gifts that lend themselves to praise should be nurtured and allowed to minister to God’s people.

Yet, in some churches we have become obsessed with music and shouting and saying all the right things in unison.  We say, “when praises go up blessings go down.”  We admonish people to just “praise your way through.”  We instruct people in the appropriate ways and times to shout because there is “power in our praise.”

We rebuke our congregations for not making enough noise or showing enough energy. 

And yes, sitting there like a bump on a log can be an expression of stubbornness and an unwillingness to submit to the Holy Spirit.    But it’s just as true that exuberance can be faked and performed out of an unrepentant and hypocritical heart or a shallow and selfish understanding of the concept of “blessing.”

But, maybe it’s not quite that big of a deal either way.

Maybe the problem isn’t the way we praise God.

 

Maybe, the problem is our lack of commitment and genuine submission to God’s commands.
Maybe the problem is that we don’t study God’s Word with depth and consistency.
Maybe the problem is we’re too O.K. with who we are when who we are is sinners.
Maybe the problem is that we’re not scared of God anymore.
So, when God steps in and chin-checks our church, our family, or ourselves; consider the possibility that it wasn’t because we shouted too much or because we didn’t shout enough. 

Maybe God’s chastisement has more to do with the way we live everyday than with the song selection last Sunday.

I will not rebuke you for your sacrifices or your burnt offerings, …but I will rebuke you.

Maybe the problem isn’t our praise.  Maybe the problem is our sin.

---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 hear sermons, read devotions, and learn more about the ministry at Hall Memorial CME Church, visit www.hallmemorialcme.blogspot.com .

You can read more on Pastor Graves's personal blog at www.andersontgraves.blogspot.com  .

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

WHAT IF THE PROBLEM ISN'T OUR PRAISE?

One of the things I do when I'm studying the Bible is look for words, phrases, and ideas that are repeated across the passage(s) I'm reading.

I compare the uses to see if there's a common message or a meaningful pattern. 

Now I caution that when studying the Bible we have to be careful about snatching pieces of verses up and attaching them to other pieces.  It's tempting to cut and paste verses and snippets with no regard for context just to support a personally pre-established point.  The purpose of Bible study isn't to prove your or my point, but to discover God's point.

However, analyzing for repetition can reveal precious gems of truth. Case in point:  Psalm 50 and the word rebuke.

In the New King James Version, rebuke appears twice in Psalm 50----- in verse 8 & in verse 21.  Take the 2 clauses where "rebuke" is used and put them together, and you get the following statement from God: 

I will not rebuke you for your sacrifices or your burnt offerings, …but I will rebuke you.

If you walk through the entire chapter, this repetition connection turns out to be a pretty accurate summary of the main idea.  (It doesn’t always work this way, so you always have to read the entire passage for context.)

Basically, the voice of God speaks from Psalm 50 and says, “You know, your praise isn’t the problem.”

God says, “I’m not upset with you because of the form and phrasing of your worship.   Right now, that’s not really a big deal to me.  Keep your rituals.  I don’t need your sacrifices.  I’m unhappy with you, but not about that.”

God says, “I’m ticked off at you because:

you haven’t genuinely given Me glory (Psalm 50: 14, 15);
you’ve made Me promises that you haven’t kept (verse 14);
you live evil lives and then act like you can name-n-claim My promises anyway (verse 16);
you disregard and disrespect My Word (verse 16);
you enable and endorse sin in others (verse 18);
you talk all kinds of filth (verse 19);
you lie like lying is what you’re supposed to doggone do (verse 19);
you talk about everybody and stir up drama, even in your own family (verse 20).
"And," God says,"because I didn’t strike you down, you have the audacity to claim that I ‘understand’ and ‘know what it’s like’.  I’m not a pimp.  I’m not ‘cool like that.’ I’m GOD.”(VERSE 21).

Like most preachers in my immediate circle, I love energetic, moving, well-delivered praise and worship.  I think the gifts that lend themselves to praise should be nurtured and allowed to minister to God’s people.

Yet, in some churches we have become obsessed with music and shouting and saying all the right things in unison.  We say, “when praises go up blessings go down.”  We admonish people to just “praise your way through.”  We instruct people in the appropriate ways and times to shout because there is “power in our praise.”

We rebuke our congregations for not making enough noise or showing enough energy. 

And yes, sitting there like a bump on a log can be an expression of stubbornness and an unwillingness to submit to the Holy Spirit.    But it’s just as true that exuberance can be faked and performed out of an unrepentant and hypocritical heart or a shallow and selfish understanding of the concept of “blessing.”

But, maybe it’s not quite that big of a deal either way.

Maybe the problem isn’t the way we praise God.

 

Maybe, the problem is our lack of commitment and genuine submission to God’s commands.
Maybe the problem is that we don’t study God’s Word with depth and consistency.
Maybe the problem is we’re too O.K. with who we are when who we are is sinners.
Maybe the problem is that we’re not scared of God anymore.
So, when God steps in and chin-checks our church, our family, or ourselves; consider the possibility that it wasn’t because we shouted too much or because we didn’t shout enough. 

Maybe God’s chastisement has more to do with the way we live everyday than with the song selection last Sunday.

I will not rebuke you for your sacrifices or your burnt offerings, …but I will rebuke you.

Maybe the problem isn’t our praise.  Maybe the problem is our sin.

---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 hear sermons, read devotions, and learn more about the ministry at Hall Memorial CME Church, visit www.hallmemorialcme.blogspot.com .

You can read more on Pastor Graves's personal blog at www.andersontgraves.blogspot.com  .

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

(For Grown Folks) BIBLE STUDY GUIDE FOR PROVERBS 5: 15-20

Our Wednesday evening Bible study is walking through the Book of Proverbs.  We've come to Proverbs 5: 15-20, one of the "for grown folks" passages of the Bible.

The study questions are attached. 

This one's gonna be interesting.
http://media40.podbean.com/pb/5602cc669b4cd611e662727bbde1c5ca/51374fb5/data2/blogs30/46502/uploads/Proverbs5BibleStudyverses15_20.pdf

If you're in the Montgomery, Alabama area, you're welcome to join in the class at 5: 30 P.M.

We're at 541 Seibles Road, Montgomery, AL 36116

---Anderson T. Graves

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