WHICH CHRISTIANITY?

I saw this picture on Pinterest.  I choked down the reflexive indignation and took a moment to really, really think about what the poster was saying.  

I see her point.

Think about it.  If all you knew of Christianity was what you saw on tv then what would you know?  More importantly, what would you NOT know?

You wouldn’t know about the Methodist preacher pastoring 2 churches every other Sunday and working a 3^rd job because those two salaries together still aren’t enough to cover gas money on the 4 hour commute.  But that pastor still teaches Bible study at both churches, still visits all of the sick, elderly, and incarcerated, still makes graduations (even the GED ceremonies), and still gives more financially than any other member of either congregation.

But that pastor doesn’t get on “Preachers of L.A.”

If all you knew of Christianity was tv, then you’d see us spending all our time waving flags, toting guns, and yelling hate at gays, pregnant teens, Democrats, Republicans who vote with Democrats, and soldiers coming home in caskets.  If you got your Christianity from tv, you’d think that we sat around idly watching Black communities dissolve into violent, drug-ridden 3^rd-world type neighborhoods.  You’d think we walked out of church stepping over the bodies of Black men until somebody White pulled the trigger so we could march downtown and elbow each other for camera time in our gaudy suits.

You wouldn’t know about the 20 person congregation that picks up cans to keep the hot water on, and only keeps the hot water on because they let homeless families sleep in the sanctuary even though they aren’t zoned for that.

That congregation won’t get a featured segment on TBN.

If you got your Christianity from tv, you’d know about “Preachers’ Wives” and “Preachers’ Daughters,” but you wouldn’t know about the pastor who has to explain to his family why he spent the Disney World money saving somebody else’s family from eviction.

Those pastors don’t get their own show.

I understand why the poster of that picture is so indignant.  If seeing is believing, then how can she believe anything other than that Christians suck?

^ [You]…rest on the law, and make your boast in God, ^and know His will, and approve the things that are excellent, being instructed out of the law, ^and are confident that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, ^an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of babes, having the form of knowledge and truth in the law. ^

You, therefore, who teach another, do you not teach yourself? You who preach that a man should not steal, do you steal? ^You who say, “Do not commit adultery,” do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? You who make your boast in the law, do you dishonor God through breaking the law? ^

For “the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you,” as it is written. (Romans 2: 17-24)

And what does it say about us---- us church folks---- that these are our representatives? What DOES it say that we make their shows possible with our credit card donations, dvd purchases, and orders of prayer cloths and anointed miracle water?

Where ARE the shows about community ministries?  Where are the features on the pastors who were reaching out on behalf of young men in Michael Brown’s neighborhood while he was still ALIVE?  Where are the special reports about good old-fashioned, boring, Jesus-style Christianity?

Would we support that with our one-time gifts of any amount?  Would we consider being a gold-level partner to make those broadcasts possible?

I hope the person who put up that picture on Pinterest gets to see some boring, not-made-for-tv Christianity.  I hope she gets to see love, and mercy, and grace, and self-sacrifice like I see (and try to live) every day.  I hope she gets to see Jesus Christianity not just channel 10 Christianity.

I hope we get the chance to show it---- in person, not just on tv.

---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

THE REAL REASON WHY WE DON'T TRUST THE BIBLE ANYMORE

One day, my father sent me to town to pick up a load of lumber and other supplies for a shed we were building.  Everything Pops wanted was on a written list that he gave me.

 I drove into the lumber yard, handed the list to the warehouse manager, and said, “Buford sent me to get this stuff for the shed we’re building.”  

The manager read the list silently and barked instructions to his crew.  All loaded up, the manager read Pops’s list back to me, pointing to the items on the truck.  It was all there, just like he read it. 

When I got home, Pops met me outside. He looked into the bed of the truck and went off!  I don’t remember which part of the order was wrong, but something was not what he’d asked for. 

I quickly----very quickly---- explained how this fiasco could not possibly be my fault since I had handed his list to the warehouse manager who confirmed every item on the list before I left the lumberyard.

Pops led me into the house.  I stood sweating in the center of the living room while he called the lumberyard, got the manager and interrogated him.  Through the pounding of my pulse in my ears, all I made out clearly was, “I don’t care how YOU would build a shed.  It’s not your shed I’m building.  I know what I want for my own shed.  Next time just send what I put on the damn paper!”

Pops hung up the phone, and then he went off on me.

After a long, long, long profanity-laden lecture/tirade/verbal whooping, Pops

looked at me and growled, “This time.  When you get out there, you read my list for yourself.  Don’t let them change my instructions and don’t you bring back anything less, anything more, or anything other than what I.  WROTE.  DOWN.”

God sent us written instructions  by the prophets and apostles.   But we the Church, the earthly managers of His kingdom, have gotten into the habit of looking at God’s written instructions and saying, “That’s not how I would build a world.  That’s not what I’d prohibit in a democratic society.  That’s not what I would require of people if I were the head of the body.”

So, even though we can plainly see what’s written on the paper, we change the directions. 

We reform and revise Biblical truth because deep down we don’t think that God really knows what He’s doing.

God says, “Keep these 10 commandments.” 

We say, “You only need 3 or 4 of those.”

God say, “Jesus is the only way to salvation.”

We say, “There are many paths to Heaven.”

God says, “Be holy.”

We say, “Sin responsibly.”

We change up the truth because we think that our plans make more sense than His.

And that’s the real problem.  The reason why so many Christians (including an increasing number of Christian clergy and theologians) reject the inerrancy or reliability of the Bible is that deep down, in a place they don’t talk about or admit exists, a lot of Christians are afraid that the canonized Bible actually IS the Word of God.   We’re afraid that Scripture accurately relates the words that God breathed into the ears of His chosen prophets and apostles because the instructions God sent are not the way WE would build a world.

We’re afraid that the Bible is accurate and God is wrong.

We’re idiots. 

It really doesn’t matter how you or I would construct a plan of salvation.  The Bible does not describe OUR plan. 

It really doesn’t matter if you or I think charity, forgiveness, humility, hospitality, service, self-sacrifice, and personal holiness are all necessary for being part of a church.  It’s not OUR church.  It’s God’s church and God put those items on His list.

Matthew 25: 44     “Then they also will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?’ 45     Then He will answer them, saying, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’

Mark 11: 25      “And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses. 26     But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father in heaven forgive your trespasses.”

James 1: 27     Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.

Our job as Christians is not to load up the church with the stuff we think ought to be on God’s list. Our job is to thoughtfully read the instructions for ourselves and make sure that we do what’s on the paper!

The manager in the lumberyard had intentionally misread the instructions.  That was his fault.  But, I was at fault, too.

I had access to the same written words as the manager, but I didn’t read them for myself.   Even though the manager had the training and the title, I was supposed to check behind him based on my father’s list.

I was supposed to say, “Pastor, that was a wonderful sermon, but you said something that didn’t sound quite right.  Would you sit down with me and explain from the Bible why you said ________?”

I was supposed to say, “Reverend, I read something in the Bible that I don’t agree with.  I know that it’s true because it’s in God’s Word, but I’m still conflicted about it.  Will you show me the other scriptures that talk about this and help me study and pray to a place of understanding?”

The leader of the house and I were supposed to have dialogue the way the Apostle Philip had dialogue with an Ethiopian visitor in Acts chapter 8.

Acts 8: 30     So Philip ran to him, and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah, and said, “Do you understand what you are reading?”

31     And he said, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” And he asked Philip to come up and sit with him.

At the lumberyard, it was easier and faster for me to just let the manager do all the work and then take his word for what my father’s words were.   

It’s always easier and simpler to just believe whatever the nearest or most comforting preacher tells you.  But if he/she loads you up with the wrong stuff, YOU are still the one who has to bring your wrong life back to your Father.

And yes, some of our Father’s instructions are hard sayings.  Sometimes we wonder Who can understand it? (John 6: 60)

Doesn’t change your responsibility one bit.    We are each responsible for our individual handling, mishandling, or neglect of God’s Word. 

The Apostle Peter said that his beloved brother Paul had written some things hard to understand, which untaught and unstable people twist to their own destruction, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures.  (2 Peter 3: 16)

Didn’t change the church’s responsibility to engage those difficult passages and ask the difficult questions.

The first questions we have to ask is not whether or not we trust the Bible.   The question is:  Do we trust God?

When the Word of God says what we would not have said, do we conclude that God made a mistake?

Or, do we accept that God knows what the crap He’s doing, and we ought to just do what’s on the paper?

If we answer that question correctly, then we can engage every other question about Scripture with a sense of hope. 

The Bible is valid and reliable, because God is valid and reliable.  We trust that Scripture has come down to us with integrity because God has watched over the transmission of Scripture through the ages and delivered it to us the way He wants it to be delivered. 

How is that possible when human beings are so fallible and prone to mistranslation? 

Because we trust that God is smarter than we are.  

And if you don’t believe that, then that’s why you can’t believe the Bible.

Isaiah 55: 8     “For My thoughts are not your thoughts,

Nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord.

9     “For as the heavens are higher than the earth,

So are My ways higher than your ways,

And My thoughts than your thoughts.

---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 .

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

WHY I FAILED FIRST GRADE MATH

My first report card in 1st grade included an F in math.  I was a smart kid.  I had a great teacher.  I understood the concepts, and I had ample opportunity to practice the concepts as taught.  The reason I failed math is that I liked addition, and I didn’t like subtraction. 

Addition was cool.  You take two little numbers and turn them into one big number.  That was nice.  But subtraction turned two big numbers into one little bitty number.  That was mean, and I didn’t like it.  So I decided to add all of the math problems, even the ones that contained a minus sign.  Once I'd made that small reinterpretation of the principles, math became one of my favorite subjects.

In my mind, I had good reasons for changing the directions of the problems, but my reasons didn’t change the reality of the assignments.  Hence, the F in math on my first grade report card.

The Bible contains some uncomfortable directions.  There are things in scripture that sound uncool, even mean.  Many of us have really good personal reasons why we’d rather do, teach, and believe something other than what the directions in the Bible tell us.   We have the freedom to do that, but  neither our reasons nor our liberty change the reality of God’s revealed Word.

What a sad, sad shame it would be to spend a life joyfully and sincerely doing and teaching the opposite of what God’s Word, to exchange the truth of God for a lie (Romans 1: 25) only to discover that the big red “F” doesn’t stand for “fine” or “faithful.” 

But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed.   As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed.  (Galatians 1: 8, 9)

True Biblical doctrine isn't always as nice or as cool as we imagine it could be; but it’s still the Truth.  And we owe it to God, to the world, and to ourselves to deliver the Truth no matter how much we dislike the problems that come from faithfully speaking what the Bible honestly says.

 Jesus said: Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.  (Matthew 5: 19)

---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

BAD JUDGMENT, GOOD JUDGMENT, & TRUE FRIENDS

The effectiveness of the church out there in the world is constantly hampered by our issues here inside the church, so the Bible says that the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God.  But Jesus also said, Judge not, that you be not judged.

How do we reconcile reconciling the apparent contradiction between the call to judgment and the call to grace?   The solution lies in a fresh understanding of  Biblical idea of friendship.

The message is called  BAD JUDGMENT, GOOD JUDGMENT, & TRUE FRIENDS.

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

NO CONTRADICTION

Matthew 7: 7-11 records the  same teaching that Jesus gave in Luke 11:5-13.  But the two accounts give different time contexts and slightly different wordings. 

That DOES NOT INDICATE A CONTRADICTION.

The fact is that preachers not only tend to give complicated answers to simple questions.  We also tend to repeat ourselves.  We make the same point at different times using slightly different words.

(Which I just did.)

Also, keep in mind that Jesus didn’t burn any cd’s or post any messages to His blog.   So, He had to sorta repeat the basic points of His message every time He preached/ taught it at a different time or location.

Shoot, sometimes preachers repeat and rephrase in the same lesson.

That’s not a contradiction.

(See what I did right there?) 

In fact, the record of slightly different wordings across the gospels actually presents a more credible record of events than if the gospels showed Jesus only making each point one time, exactly the same way, and never going over the same material or rephrasing things as He retaught.

A sterile record with no rephrasing would mean that the 4 gospel authors had just copied and pasted off somebody rather than recording eye witness accounts.

So it isn’t that Matthew and Luke record the same event differently (and therefore, inaccurately). 

It’s that Matthew records the time  Jesus said, 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)   ; but Luke wrote down the time Jesus said,  If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!” (Luke 11: 13)

Both true.  Both truth.  Both the inspired, reliable WORD OF GOD.

Keep reading.  See you Sunday morning.

---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

 

A WORD TO THE WISE. Proverbs 30: 5

Proverbs 30:5     Every word of God is pure; He is a shield to those who put their trust in Him.

Proverbs 30: 5.  The word translated “pure” refers to the work of a goldsmith who has heated and refined and cast his precious metal.     This verse is basically saying:

The Word of God has come through the fire.

The Word of God s tried and true.

The Word of God is good as gold.

The Bible has come through the fire of authors and conquerors, languages and  translations, religious realignments and cultural upheavals; and it has come through pure as gold. 

Scholars argue over the original intent of the Bible’s human authors.   God Himself has watched over and preserved His Word so that we have what God originally intended.   Academics debate interpretations for cultural relevance.  The Holy Spirit is present in every believer to deliver accurate interpretations of Divine revelation.  Despite all the grubby fingers that have handled the Bible, the Word of God remains pure, precious, and good as gold.

But the golden Word is not an accessory; it is a necessity.  The Bible is not some extra collection of ornamental ideas to shelve in the corners of your lifestyle.  These are more than pretty words. The Word of God exists and speaks with purpose, great and eternal purpose.

So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.  (Isaiah 55: 11)

The Word goes forth now as it has gone forth for millennia: to show us how to live, how to love, how to see, how to think, how to perceive so that we experience the Divine purpose.  The purpose of all this living isn’t just to experience this and that; it is to experience a relationship with HIM.

Jesus said: You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me.  (John 5:39)

The Bible is the written Word of God.  Jesus is the Word made flesh (John 1: 14).   The whole purpose of the written Word is to turn us to Jesus.

When Agur scratched out the words of Proverbs chapter 30, the majority of our Bible had not been written.  Most of the Biblical authors hadn’t even been born.  But God is eternal; He transcends time.    And so, 9 or 10 centuries before Jesus was physically born in  Bethlehem, the Holy Spirit inspired the son of a scholar to write about God’s SON (Proverbs 30: 4) and to call the “Word of God” by the pronoun HE. 

Not “it.”  HE.

Every word of God is pure; He is a shield to those who put their trust in Him.

Don’t neglect God’s Word.  If you do, you’ll never know Jesus like you could.

Don’t let anyone or any institution diminish the value of God’s Word to you. If you do, you’ll miss the deepest and most powerful principles of life and life abundantly.

Don’t allow any argument or philosophy to make you doubt the integrity of what God Himself has sent forth into the world.  The Word is tried and truth. 

If you trust Jesus, then trust the Bible.

 ---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.

Call  334-288-0577
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@blogspotcom.

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

Proverbs 30: 5

Proverbs 30:5     Every word of God is pure; He is a shield to those who put their trust in Him.

Proverbs 30: 5.  The word translated “pure” refers to the work of a goldsmith who has heated and refined and cast his precious metal.     This verse is basically saying:

The Word of God has come through the fire.

The Word of God s tried and true.

The Word of God is good as gold.

The Bible has come through the fire of authors and conquerors, languages and  translations, religious realignments and cultural upheavals; and it has come through pure as gold. 

Scholars argue over the original intent of the Bible’s human authors.   God Himself has watched over and preserved His Word so that we have what God originally intended.   Academics debate interpretations for cultural relevance.  The Holy Spirit is present in every believer to deliver accurate interpretations of Divine revelation.  Despite all the grubby fingers that have handled the Bible, the Word of God remains pure, precious, and good as gold.

But the golden Word is not an accessory; it is a necessity.  The Bible is not some extra collection of ornamental ideas to shelve in the corners of your lifestyle.  These are more than pretty words. The Word of God exists and speaks with purpose, great and eternal purpose.

So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.  (Isaiah 55: 11)

The Word goes forth now as it has gone forth for millennia: to show us how to live, how to love, how to see, how to think, how to perceive so that we experience the Divine purpose.  The purpose of all this living isn’t just to experience this and that; it is to experience a relationship with HIM.

Jesus said: You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me.  (John 5:39)

The Bible is the written Word of God.  Jesus is the Word made flesh (John 1: 14).   The whole purpose of the written Word is to turn us to Jesus.

When Agur scratched out the words of Proverbs chapter 30, the majority of our Bible had not been written.  Most of the Biblical authors hadn’t even been born.  But God is eternal; He transcends time.    And so, 9 or 10 centuries before Jesus was physically born in  Bethlehem, the Holy Spirit inspired the son of a scholar to write about God’s SON (Proverbs 30: 4) and to call the “Word of God” by the pronoun HE. 

Not “it.”  HE.

Every word of God is pure; He is a shield to those who put their trust in Him.

Don’t neglect God’s Word.  If you do, you’ll never know Jesus like you could.

Don’t let anyone or any institution diminish the value of God’s Word to you. If you do, you’ll miss the deepest and most powerful principles of life and life abundantly.

Don’t allow any argument or philosophy to make you doubt the integrity of what God Himself has sent forth into the world.  The Word is tried and truth. 

If you trust Jesus, then trust the Bible.

 ---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.

Call  334-288-0577
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@blogspotcom.

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

THE BEST BLOG I'VE WRITTEN----- THAT YOU'LL NEVER READ

A few nights ago while I was waiting for my students in the city jail, I wrote a draft for “The Word to the Wise” blog through the book of Proverbs.  It all just flowed out in a rush of scribbling in longhand. Now, I’m not bragging, but this piece was good.  Way better than what you’re reading now.  Eloquent, moving, inspiring. Re-reading the draft made me tear up a little. 

The next morning I started typing and cross-checking scriptures, and I realized something terrible.

My article was Biblically------wrong.  I had taken the scripture somewhere it wasn’t supposed to go.  To justify my points and conclusions I had taken some unjustifiable liberties with the Biblical text.  I had not encouraged sin or denied right doctrine.  But, what I had written was not what the Bible had said.

Now I must remind you that this draft was ------good.  One of the best I’ve ever composed.

I threw it away.

Preachers and theologians tend to be gifted in the use of words.  Therefore, we are accountable to the Giver of our gifts for how we use/ misuse the gifts He’s given.  

It’s easy to get caught in the flow of language and publish a beautiful and inspiring LIE about the gospel.   It’s so easy, and that’s why it happens so often.

Some of the “Christian” posters and quotes shared across the internet promote behavior that is so exactly the opposite of what the Bible says that I expect my screen to burst into flame.    Some of the “prophetic” declarations and decrees posted online must have been delivered by Martians because no angel would dare bring a message so contrary to God’s word. 

Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world.  (1 John 4:1)

That’s a message not only to the audience but to the speaker because even a true prophet can speak falsely when he/she gets caught up in the moment.   In the 7^th chapter of 2 Samuel, David gets the idea to build a temple to God.  He asks the prophet Nathan for his counsel.

Then Nathan said to the king, “Go, do all that is in your heart, for the Lord is with you.” (2 Samuel 7: 3)     

Nathan’s reply was sensible and godly-sounding.  But, Nathan’s reply was WRONG. 

That was not what God had said.

Nathan, a genuine, sincere, called, and anointed man of God had misrepresented God’s Word.   When he checked the Word later that night, God showed Nathan how he’d gone awry.  (2 Samuel 7: 4-16)

What is a prophet, preacher, theologian, writer, blogger, emailer, texter, tweeter, or random Christian copying and pasting online supposed to do when you see from the Word that the thing you’d said is not right with God’ Word?  What can you do when you already put it out there and you don’t wanna look stupid in front of your audience?

You can get over yourself, and you tell the truth.

Nathan marched back to King David’s palace and said, “Umm, David.  About that thing I said that God said about the thing you said you wanted to do for God------- Yeah, I was wrong.”

According to all these words and according to all this vision, so Nathan spoke to David.  (2 Samuel 7: 17)

Sometimes you have to throw a line out of the sermon.  Sometimes you shouldn’t share that cute-sounding quote.  Sometimes you have to throw away a heartfelt composition. 

… let God be true but every man a liar. (Romans 3: 4)

All of us, especially those of us who are called to expound on God’s Word, have to be careful.    We must not let saying what SOUNDS GOOD must take priority over saying what IS RIGHT.

---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