FAMILY & FRIENDS WEEKEND AT HMCME

Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brothers & sisters to dwell together in unity!—Psalm 133: 1

Hall Memorial CME Church (541 Seibles Road, Montgomery) invites all to join us for FAMILY & FRIENDS WEEKEND on Saturday & Sunday, May 26^th & 27th, 2012.

The Weekend kicks off Saturday, May 26^th, with a Community Picnic from 10 A.M. – 4 P.M.  There’ll be free food, music, moonwalks, & more.

Sunday, morning at 11 A.M., guest messenger, Rev. Gloria Longstreet will bring the message. 

At 2:30 P.M.,  Sunday, May 27^th, join us for the Community Worship Service.  Hall Memorial’s  own Pastor Anderson T. Graves II will bring the Word.  Refreshments will be served following the afternoon worship service.

For more information or for directions, call (334)318-3004 or e-mail HallMemorialCME1@aol.com.

If you’ve ever visited Hall Memorial CME Church, come back.  If you’ve never been by to see us, come on over.  You are our family.  We are your friends.

Hall Memorial CME Church:  The Church Where Faith Works!

HOW TO GET BETTER AFTER THE STORM

A county commissioner in a storm ravaged county was interviewed about the aftermath of storms  on April 27, 2011, that left 250 people dead across the state of Alabama.  He said that the despite the cost of the tragedy, that day of storms had actually made the folks of his county become better people.

Is that kind of transformation possible when the storms are psychological, financial, or spiritual? 

Yes, it is.

Open your Bible and your mind.  Learn How to Be Better After the Storm?

Listen well.

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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 made  out to: Hall Memorial CME Church

Mail all contributions to :

Hall Memorial CME Church
541 Seibles Rd.,
Montgomery, AL 36116

A WORD TO THE WISE: Proverbs 26: 14

Proverbs 26: 14     As a door turns on its hinges, so does the lazy man on his bed.

Proverbs 26: 14. People move doors move all day long, but though the doors move, they never go anywhere.  It’s easy to become that kind of person--- moved by others, directed to open/ close, go/return, move out of the way/ stay there behind me.  It’s as easy as falling asleep to find yourself constantly busy doing stuff but never actually accomplishing anything; constantly in motion but still, still always right where you were before.

Like a stupid door.

So read John chapter 10. 

In the 9^th verse, Jesus called Himself “the door”  but He didn’t stop there.  He also called Himself the Good Shepherd who leads the sheep in and out through the door.

It is good and right to work on behalf of others, to help them make the transition from the old place in their lives to the next position God has for them.  That’s part of our calling, but there’s more.

Jesus didn’t just open the path from Earth to Heaven for others. He travelled the path Himself. 

The solutions you see so clearly are for you to share with others, but those solutions are also for you to apply yourself.   Your gifts, your anointing should open the door to a brighter future for others; but they can also open the door to a brighter future for you. 

Be careful not to neglect or diminish your service to others (That’s the primary purpose & practice of your anointing.).  But add to your schedule the extra waking hours you need to figure out how to walk the path you so naturally guide others along.

Change the world, and change your world, too. 

----- 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 made out to: Hall Memorial CME Church

Mail all contributions to :

Hall Memorial CME Church
541 Seibles Rd.,
Montgomery, AL 36116

ACT LIKE A What, THINK LIKE A Who?

Steve Harvey's "Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man" was generally applauded when the book came out.  The worst of the criticism was leveled at the movie.  The book is advice, direct, I'm telling you to do this stuff for real advice; and though some folks disagreed, most of those who spoke/ posted about it referred to Mr. Harvey's wisdom. 

The movie on the other hand is point-blank fiction.  It's a made up story presented purely as entertainment.  It wasn’t distributed as a documentary.  "Think Like a Man," the movie no more claims to be true than "Avengers."  

So, why are folks angrier about the fictional movie than the non-fiction book?   Why are we more emotionally invested in entertainment than in truth? 

Now, I’m not saying that Brother Steve’s book is truth.  I bought and read it--- way before the movie.  I thought there was some wisdom in it, some great jumping off points for a discussion between a man and woman about what they expect and need from one another.  But, a lot of what he said was wrong.  Some was wrong as in inaccurately taking his personal stuff and assuming it to be general principles for all men.  Some was wrong as in directly the opposite of what God has said.

My question is:  Why are we more personally and emotionally attentive and invested in fictional entertainment than in actual questions of truth?

An hour-and-a-half movie is really a 2 ½ hour investment of time.  That’s fine, but let church go from 11-1:30 and see how folks act? 

Mid-week concerts sell out all the time, but mid-week Bible study?  Folks gotta get up and go to work the next day.

To find a sale on shoes or suits we’ll search the internet for hours, print coupons, call stores, text and download promotion codes, input coordinates into GPS, create itineraries based on store openings, and scout locations in advance.  But, if we have a question about life and how to save our family and someone responds, “Let’s pray and search the scriptures for an answer,”  we’re likely to say (or think), “That takes too much time.  I need an answer right now.”      Really?

Really?

It’s a twist of the culture.  It’s a sign of the times.  It’s a flaw in human nature.  But most of all, it’s a dangerous way to arrange our lives.     Truth should not take a back seat to entertainment.

Jesus said that He is the Truth.   He also said that He is the Way and the Life.  

Jesus never said that He was the leisure, the distraction, or the entertainer. 

No doubt, worship can and should be engaging, exciting, and passionate.  We can lose ourselves in the experience.  But that’s not all (or mainly) what Jesus calls us to.

He calls us to love like Him (John 15: 9-17).  He calls us to serve like Him (Matthew 20: 26-28).  .  He calls us to learn of Him (Matthew 11:29).  

If you and I are really going to keep calling ourselves Christians and claiming the promises of Christ’s Kingdom, we really need to invest in the Truth of Christ at least as much as we invest in Christian entertainment. 

We need to learn how to Act like a Christian, Think Like Jesus.

And, you’re not going to learn that from the movie.

You’re gonna have to read The Book.

----- 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 made out to: Hall Memorial CME Church

Mail all contributions to :
Hall Memorial CME Church
541 Seibles Rd.,
Montgomery, AL 36116

A WORD TO THE WISE: Proverbs 26: 13

Proverbs 26: 13     The lazy man says, “There is a lion in the road!  A fierce lion is in the streets!”

Proverbs 26:13.  The road leads from your general position to the distant, the long term destinations/ destiny to which God has called you. The streets run right up to and from where you are right now.  The streets are the short term paths that you must negotiate to reach the roads of greatness. 

But you think there’s a lion on the road, and you think there’s a lion prowling the streets.  Before you even take the first step of progression from where you are to where you say you want to be you begin to obsess over the potential problems, the inevitable difficulties, all the reasons why you “know it won’t work,” all the people who “ain’t gone let you do that.”  Long term and short term, you believe there will be some lion enemy standing in the way of you making any real change.

And maybe you’re right.

I mean, in the most basic sense every Christian faces a lion in the road and a fierce lion in the streets.

1 Pet 5:8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. 

The devil does want to steal your joy.  He is looking for a chance to steal your blessings.  He and his agents are actively pursuing an opportunity to destroy your potential for fruitfulness in the Kingdom of God.   The obstacles, the enemies, the traps, the schemes, the lions ---- are real.

So?

So, what?

You still have places to go.  You still have things to do.  Lion or no lion, sitting in the same place doing nothing more and nothing better?  Nah, dude.  That’s not an option.

Sooooo?  What about the lions?

You know what will make a lion shut up and get off the road?   A bigger lion. 

When the biggest lion roars, all the little lion enemies lower their heads and back down---- except those who are part of the biggest lion’s own pride/ family.  They walk behind the biggest lion without fear. 

And guess what? 

The other lions don’t mess with the biggest lion or with the biggest lion’s family, not when they stick close.

Jesus Christ, the lion of the tribe of Judah, is the Biggest of all the lions.  Next to Him, satan’s a kitty-cat.  Oh, satan’s scary compared to you or me, but compared to Jesus?  Pssh! Whatever, man.

If you have somewhere to go in life, just walk with Jesus.

Hosea 11:10 “They shall walk after the Lord. He will roar like a lion. When He roars, Then His sons shall come trembling from the west.

When you line up your walk closely with God then He actually grants you authority to act on His behalf against the lions who stand in your way.

 Consider Samson. 

Judges 14: 5, 6.  So Samson went down to Timnah with his father and mother, and came to the vineyards of Timnah. Now to his surprise, a young lion came roaring against him.

And THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD came mightily upon him, and he tore the lion apart as one would have torn apart a young goat, though he had nothing in his hand. …  (Judges 14: 5, 6)

Don’t fear the lions in the street or the lions in the road.   Don’t let the possible (or actual) problems and opposition keep you from giving new & better service to God.  Don’t let fear (or laziness disguised as fear)  keep you in the same place doing the same little or nothing you’ve been doing. 

Get up, get out, and go handle your Father’s business. Just stick close to Jesus, the lion who roars from Heaven.

----- 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 made  out to: Hall Memorial CME Church

Mail all contributions to :
Hall Memorial CME Church
541 Seibles Rd.,
Montgomery, AL 36116

A WORD TO THE WISE: Proverbs 26: 12

Proverbs 26: 12     Do you see a man wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.

Proverbs 26:12.    Wisdom is a progression not a destination. 

A person is wise relative to his/her movement toward God and away from sin.  A person is foolish relative to his/her movement away from God and toward sin and self.  The progression is essential because the natural momentum of this sinful life moves you toward sinful and stupid.  Unless you’re pushing, pressing toward the mark of the high calling of Christ then momentum/ gravity will pull you back toward the center of foolishness.

In theology this is known as putting away the old man and taking on the mind of Christ (Ephesians 4: 17-23).

In mathematics this is known as “approaching infinity.” I learned this when I took college calculus.  I still remember the concept (though once I changed my major to English, my brain dumped all the actual calculations to make space for Shakespeare). 

If you ever feel like you’ve reached the end of your progression to wisdom, if you ever look at yourself and think, “I know it all.  No one can tell me anything,” then you’ve stopped progressing.  You nullify your wisdom.  Since you’re no longer approaching the mind of Christ, you default back to the old man, the sinful mindset.  You become the worst kind of fool: the fool who remember just enough wisdom to convince himself and others that he’s actually profound. 

Stay humble.  Stay teachable.  Don’t excuse your immorality and occasional idiocy by trying to spin it into anything other than wrong.  Learn.  Get better. 

Wisdom is progression. 

 

As one of my Facebook friends posts: Keep it moving.

Philippians 2: 5     Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus,

WHEN YOU OPEN THE DOORS OF THE CHURCH, BE SURE YOU OPEN THE RIGHT DOOR

Some preachers indicate the closing of their sermons by saying, "The doors of the church are open."  The meaning of the phrase is deeper than the physical entryway to the sanctary and deeper than the call to membership in any denomination or local fellowship.

 

Re-examine the Parable of the Good Shepherd in John chapter 10.  You may never see the door(s) of your church the same way again.

Delivered for the Ushers' Anniversary of Abraham Baptist Church, the message is called WHEN YOU OPEN THE DOORS OF THE CHURCH, BE SURE YOU OPEN THE RIGHT DOOR.

Listen well.

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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 made out to: Hall Memorial CME Church

Mail all contributions to :
Hall Memorial CME Church
541 Seibles Rd.
Montgomery, AL 36116

A WORD TO THE WISE: Proverbs 26: 11

Proverbs 26: 11     As a dog returns to his own vomit, so a fool repeats his folly.

Proverbs 26:11.   This is one of, if not the, grossest verse in Proverbs.  But, it’s still true.  If you have a yard dog, you’ve seen it run to and eat it’s own or any other regurgitation it can get to.  It doesn’t matter how well-trained or well-fed your pooch is, if they puke it, they’ll eat it.  It’s like they think, “Hey, I already ate that, and my system rejected it.   Buuuuut, I’m sure it’s fine now.”

But, of course, we’re smarter than dogs.

Really?

What craziness caused the demise of your last potentially good relationship?   Was it the same craziness that destroyed the two relationships before that?

What attitude and work habits was your boss tripping about before he fired you this time?  Was it the same attitude and work habits that had the bosses at your 3 previous jobs tripping before they let you go?

What accusations are the teachers making about your perfect baby this year?  Are they the same accusations that you heard the previous year, the previous school, the previous school system? And you still think he’s/she’s innocent?

What behavior did you most despise in your ex, your parents, your neighbors?  Look hard now.   Does the same stuff come out of you?

I know.  It didn’t agree with you then, but surely it’s O.K. for you to have now?

It ain’t.

It’s wrong.   It’s gross. 

You’ve already processed through that. Don’t consume it all again Take the lessons that you’ve learned.   Let them nourish you toward wisdom and righteousness.  Leave the crap that’s left where it fell.  Don’t repeat it.  Don’t return to it. 

Be smarter than that.

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 made out to: Hall Memorial CME Church

Mail all contributions to :
Hall Memorial CME Church
541 Seibles Rd.
Montgomery, AL 36116

A WORD TO THE WISE: Proverbs 26: 10

Proverbs 26: 10     The great God who formed everything gives the fool his hire and the transgressor his wages. (New King James Version/ NKJV)

Proverbs 26: 10     Like an archer who wounds at random is he who hires a fool or any passer-by. (New International Version/ NIV)

Proverbs 26: 10.  Just the other day I was saying how  exciting it is to seek God in the scriptures as I reconcile what at first look like contradictions in the Bible.   And then I come to this verse.  Proverbs 26: 10 had me reviewing translation notes for Hebrew to Latin to English and analyzing the interpretive philosophies of several generations of Bible translators.  This was especially fun since I don’t read Hebrew or Latin.

The King James style translators wrote the verse one way.  The more contemporary translators (NIV-style) render the verse a different way.   In this case the light is found not in reconciling apparently contradictory passages in a single translation but in reconciling what look like contradictory translations of a single passage. 

So look:

In most companies or agencies you’re hired by one person/ department but you’re paid by another.  Regardless what the human resources guy says, if your information and documentation isn't correct with accounting, you won’t get paid what you think you’re going to get paid.

We choose/ hire our leaders.  We can choose to set foolish or immoral people in positions of influence & honor.  Current leaders can give promotions for the sake of expediency.  They have a spot to fill & they just need the first warm body they can to find to fill the vacancy. 

But even/ especially for ministries, when we (intentionally or thoughtlessly) elevate the wrong people, bad leaders create chaos and damage within the Kingdom.  It’s like firing arrows in the dark into a crowd and hoping that nobody innocent gets hurt.  Yeah, sometimes you pick a good leader, even choosing at random, but it’s a dangerous & foolish way to choose.  Bad leaders do harm.  We can try to cover the damage (damage control), but God sees the whole scene for what it is, and God will respond.

God is the supreme accountant who pays each & all of us based on our actions (Hebrews 4: 13; Romans 14: 11, 12). 

If our actions cause chaos & damage to the body of Christ, God will pay us/ pay us back for that.  If our actions hinder the gospel of Jesus  He will pay us/ pay us back for that.  If our actions oppose the will & plan of God out of laziness, convenience, or political expediency, God will pay us/ make us pay for that.

It may be human beings who hire, elect, or appoint new leaders, but if the actions of leadership aren’t right with the Lord who keeps full account, then the  pay (or payback) won’t be what we or our leaders want it to be.

- 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 made out to: Hall Memorial CME Church

Mail all contributions to :

Hall Memorial CME Church

541 Seibles Rd.,

Montgomery, AL 36116

A WORD TO THE WISE. Proverbs 26:9

Proverbs 26: 9     Like a thorn that goes into the hand of a drunkard is a proverb in the mouth of fools.

Proverbs 26:9.  Being foolish is like being drunk.  When you’re drunk and you get cut it doesn’t hurt.  As much.  At the time.  But the numbing of the pain does nothing to change the depth of the actual wound.  If you’re drunk enough you might not even feel the cut that kills you. 

And that’s why pain’s important.  Pain tells you that you’re wounded.   When a sober man gets cut, his hands and eyes automatically move to the site of the injury. Sober hurt moves you to deal with the actual wound. 

Sometimes the truth is supposed to hurt.  That’s why Hebrews 4:12 compares the Word of God to a sharp sword that cuts to the bone.

When reality shows that you’ve wasted your money, done wrong by the ones you love, squandered your gift, and/or sinned and grieved the Holy Spirit --- you are supposed to feel bad.  You’re not supposed to be O.K. with all that.  The guilt, the shame, the tears, the pain are there to warn you & to motivate you to deal with the real issues. 

The truth hurts, unless you’re either drunk or stupid. 

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 made out to: Hall Memorial CME Church

Mail all contributions to :
Hall Memorial CME Church
541 Seibles Rd.,
Montgomery, AL 36116

A MESSAGE THAT LASTS ALL DAY

Don't worry, the sermon doesn't last all day. Sometimes though we just don't get the point from a single Sunday morning message and God has to spend all day, or days, weeks, months, or years teaching us the same lesson.

Learn how Jesus spent His first Easter and the message He was determined to get across to His disciples. The story will convict and encourage you.

Listen well.

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Rev. Anderson T. Graves II is the pastor of Hall Memorial CME Church, Montgomery, Alabama.
Call/fax: 334-288-0577
Email us at halllmemorialcme1@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 out to: Hall Memorial CME Church.

Mail all contributions to:
Hall Memorial CM Church
541 Seibles Road
Montgomery, AL 36116

Proverbs 26: 1

Proverbs 26: 1     As snow in summer and rain in harvest,

So honor is not fitting for a fool.

Proverbs 26: 1.  It makes no sense to reward someone for living wrong/ foolishly.  When you tell someone who’s wrong that because of your wrong I’m going to do something good for you, you reinforce their desire for wrongdoing. 

If your child’s acting a fool in the grocery store, don’t buy them candy to shut them up.  You’ve basically paid them to be bad. 

If your teen puts on an attitude and demands that you buy them a car or an outfit cause “it’s stupid” for them not to have one; don’t buy them anything or take them to buy anything.   That would be honoring their foolishness.

If your toddler gets mad and slaps you, don’t say, “Oh, that’s O.K.  He/she was just a little upset.  I’m sorry.”  Don’t label that foolishness with legitimacy.

That’s crazy like snow in the middle of summer.

 

At harvest time, the desired crops have reached the peak of their growth.  If there’s a stretch of rain at harvest, it doesn’t help the crops you want.  The intended crops over-ripen and rot in the fields.  The good dies.  Ironically though the same weather that destroyed the months of planting & cultivation give new life to the weeds you’d spent the same months fighting back.  The bad flourishes.

When you reward foolishness it doesn’t motivate the fool to act wisely.  In fact, you’re likely to do more damage than good. 

Jesus commands us to be merciful (Luke 6: 27-38) , even to those who wrong us.  But mercy is about meeting legitimate needs not indulging foolish desires.  Mercy is logical.  We show mercy to others because God showed mercy to us (Luke 6: 36). 

But rewarding/ paying off behavior that’s wrong and foolish?
That makes no sense.

RAIN ON YOUR PARADE

In the midst of the excitement and pageantry of the triumphant Palm Sunday procession, Luke 19:41 says that Jesus wept.  He cried in the middle of His own parade.  Jesus rained on His own parade.

Why?  What difference does it make for our lives and spiritual progress today?  Find out in a message called ‘RAINING ON YOUR PARADE.”

Listen well.

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 made out to: Hall Memorial CME Church

 Mail all contributions to :

Hall Memorial CME Church
541 Seibles Rd.,
Montgomery, AL 36116