A WORD TO THE WISE. Proverbs 29: 27

Proverbs 29: 27     An unjust man is an abomination to the righteous, and he who is upright in the way is an abomination to the wicked.

Proverbs 29: 27.  There are people who think that all junkies should be carted off en masse and shot, but get a bunch of addicts together getting high and they will ridicule people who “just say no to drugs.” 

A guy who doesn’t drink may think that his buzzed friends are making fools of themselves, but a room full of drunks will taunt the one guy who says “No.  I don’t drink.”

The faithful husband condemns his cheating co-worker.  The adulterer calls the faithful man “whipped.” 

The honest man can’t understand how his friend can cheat on his taxes.  The cheater can’t figure out why his friend would let those thieves in the government keep his money.

The quiet girl calls her loud classmate “ghetto.”  The loud girl calls her quiet classmate “fake.”

The Pharisees carefully observed Jesus, behavior, and teachings.  They compared His actions to the Old Testament prophecies.  They followed Him around and sent people to question Him, test Him, and report on His conduct and the populace’s response.  They KNEW that Jesus was sent from God. (John 3: 1-2).   They didn’t condemn Jesus to death because they didn’t understand.  They condemned Jesus because they did.

No matter who you are, no matter what you do, whether right or wrong, whether good or bad------ some sizable group of people will hate you for it.

I’m not talking about the people who hate you without understanding you.  I’m telling you that the Bible tells us that people will pay attention to you as an individual, understand your reasoning and your motives, accurately comprehend where you’re coming from and what you’re about------- and hate your guts.

Therefore, what you choose to do and how you choose to live must never ever, ever be based on the need to please everybody or the fear that somebody will dislike you.    

Sin always offends God.  But people?  Could go either way with people.

Faith and righteousness, righteousness in faith always please God.   But people?  Could go either way with people.

Life will only make sense, you will only find peace when you arrange your life to please God.  Everybody else can kick rocks---- or throw them (as they may see fit).

Do the right thing because God says it’s right. 

Live the right way because God says it’s right.

Follow your calling and purpose according to God’s Word because it’s the destiny that God made you for.

Haters gone hate.  Lovers gone love.

Jesus gone remain the same.

---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

OUT OF MANY ONE

Delivered for our 2013 Family & Friends Day service, listen to a message about what the Bible really says about who we are, why we are, and what we are supposed to do about one another.

OUT OF MANY---ONE.

Listen well.

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---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

STOP CHANGING THE SUBJECT (a sermon on relationships)

In our most intimate relationships--- with our spouses and with our Savior----- we sometimes the greatest blessing when God starts showing us what to do, we make the mistake of changing the subject.

From our sermon series on relationships, hear a challenging message called STOP CHANGING THE SUBJECT.

Listen well.

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---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

A WORD TO THE WISE. Proverbs 29: 26 "DO I KNOW YOU?"

Proverbs 29: 26     Many seek the ruler’s favor, but justice for man comes from the Lord.

They say, “It’s not what you know. It’s who you know?”  

Buford Graves said, “There’s always one person who can tell you, ‘Yes,’ when everyone else has said, ‘No’ and can tell you, ‘No’” when everyone else has said, ‘Yes.’ Meet that person, and when you have a problem, that’s the person you talk to.”

Pay attention now.  The key thing in Pops’s advice is meeting that key person BEFORE you have a problem.  

My father gave me this advice on my first day as a freshman at Alabama State University.  Then he dropped off my bags in front of C.J. Dunnn Arena, gave me some money, and drove back to Mississippi. I didn’t have  schedule or a dorm room.  And this was before cell phones. 

Alone, on a college campus, I followed Pops’s advice.  I walked from office to office meeting every administrative vice president, director, and dean even remotely related to my majors.  

“No, sir. No, ma’am. I don’t need anything. I’m Anderson Graves, Thurgood Marshall scholar from Mississippi, and I just wanted to introduce myself to you.”

And do you know what every one of those ph.d.’s and power-brokers said to me before I left his/her office?  They said, “If you have any problems, you come directly to me.”

Now, some of my friends had hook-ups in the front of these offices.  They knew the work-study student who worked in filing, or the secretary who worked reception, or the clerk at one of the desks.  I was respectful and polite to all those people, but when I needed something, I walked past their desks.  I entered the big door in the back and talked to the one person who could say yes when everyone else had said no and no when everyone else had said yes.

They shared advice,  explained how the system really worked,  solved problems for me, and offered me new opportunities, but not because I knew who they were. Anybody with a campus directory or a school yearbook knew who they were.  I could get resolution while others were bound up in red tape because I had established a relationship with the bosses.  I had access to the bosses because THEY KNEW ME. 

It’s not just what you know.  It’s not just whom you know.  There’s also, critically a matter of WHO KNOWS YOU?

Does the Boss know you?

You need guidance and blessing that only God can provide.  Do you already have a personal one-to-one covenant relationship with Jesus?  Does He already know you?

Or, do you keep trying to get in good with God because of what you need at the moment.

You may begin to say, “Come on, Lord.  It’s us.  Don’t you remember us?   We went to your house on Sundays sometimes.  We had dinner in your fellowship halls.  We did the communion thing.  You had a preacher in and out of our neighborhood.” (Luke 13: 25, 26) 

But God will say, “Hey, Jack!  I said I don’t know you like that.  This blessing isn’t for people who are outside of My will and My favor.  So all of ya’ll can kick rocks!” (Luke 13: 27)
You may know of Jesus, but if He doesn’t know you, then ultimately it ain’t gonna work out well. 

There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, and yourselves thrust out. (Luke 13: 28)

It’s not just what you know, or whom you know.  The crucial question is DOES HE KNOW YOU? 

You may find yourself at the door/ gate of opportunity having little to open the door.

If you have and are living according to a real personal relationship in Jesus Christ, then He knows you.

He’ll see you at the door and say, “Hey.  I know you.  You’re one of Mine.  I know your work.  I’ve seen what you’re trying to do for My kingdom, in line with my will.  Come on around here, son.   Forget all these fools crowding here trying to get into a closed opportunity.  Come down to an entrance just for you.” 

See, I have set before you an open door, and no one can shut it; for you have a little strength, have kept My word, and have not denied My name. (Revelations 3: 8)

Pops was right.  What you know matters.  Whom you know matters. But the most important thing is WHO KNOWS YOU.

---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

A WORD TO THE WISE. Proverbs 29: 25. "Trapped by Fear"

Proverbs 29: 25     The fear of man brings a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord shall be safe.

Proverbs 29: 25.  Frightened people run to get away from danger.  In a moment of panic, people lash out to protect themselves from harm.  The fear response or, more accurately the FEAR-REACTION, is supposed to keep us safe.  And, in basic things, it usually works. 

Snatching your hand back from a hot stove, leaping out the way of a car,  instinctively knocking away a pencil flicked toward your eyes, or screaming and fighting when grabbed from behind on the street----- these fear reactions can save you from harm/ keep you safe.

But when you move beyond primal danger to the relational, financial, professional, and the spiritual----that fear-reaction ceases to be a defense against danger; it becomes a dangerous trap.

For centuries, the Plains Indians of America successfully hunted buffalo, animals that were much larger, stronger, and more numerous than they.  And the Native Americans did this before they had guns.  They overcame the natural advantages of their prey by manipulating its fear. 

They’d scare the lead buffalo, and the fearful leaders would run.  The followers would----- follow, and fear would spread through the herd.   The hunters could steer the buffalo off a cliff or into a sealed canyon, or just shoot arrow after arrow until the buffalo dropped.  The hunters didn’t have a net or rope strong enough to hold the massive beasts.  They snared them with fear.

If you live your life in constant fear of Black people, White people, Muslims, poor folks, the government, the gangs, gays, the Tea Party, your spouse, your father even though he’s been dead for ten years, those boys with their pants sagging, those men with the white hoods folded neatly in their memory chests, or any other individual or demographic of mankind--------- you are trapped.

Your persistent fear of “them” enables them to make you run whenever they want you to run.  Your fear makes you subject to stampede economically into hoarding or frivolous spending (which if you really think about it--- are the same thing).  Fearing them makes you susceptible to panicked voting, reflexive hatred, and mindless flight over whatever cliff your fear-blinded leaders are hurtling toward. 

Fear of man will immobilize you, curl you up in a fetal position, pull your knees into your chest, and rock you back and forth while “they” take whatever they want.

Fear of man will make you lash out like an animal and strike down whatever’s in front of you because it/she/he looked at you wrong, wore the wrong colors, or “looked suspicious” in your neighborhood.

A healthy fear of physical peril can keep you physically alive, but the fear of man is a trap that you must escape.  If you don’t get out of that trap, you’ll die.  Relationally, financially, professionally, and spiritually fear of “them” will kill you----- inside.

Let God spring you from the trap. 

…but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.  (1 Corithians 10: 13)

Trust in the Lord.   Give your fears to Him.   Stop choosing your direction based on what “they” do, but let God direct your path (Proverbs 3: 5, 6). 

Let the Word of God enlighten your eyes and cast out your blind fear of “them” (Psalm 119: 105)

Instead of following the herd over the cliff, let the Holy Spirit guide you (Romans 8: 14, 15).

Instead of reacting to your fear of “them,” respond to the love of Jesus.

Jesus said, “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” (John 14: 27)

---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

DEJA VU: LIVING HISTORY

Have you ever had déjà vu, the feeling that this has happened already?  Might just be your mind playing tricks on you----- or not. 

The Bible explains that the reason you feel like this has happened already---- is because it has.  And that’s a really good thing.

Find out why in a message called Déjà Vu : Living History.

Listen well.

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---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

 

A WORD TO THE WISE. Proverbs 29: 24 "Community Guilt"

Proverbs 29: 24     Whoever is a partner with a thief hates his own life.  He swears to tell the truth, but reveals nothing.

Proverbs 29: 24.  If you keep quiet about the crime in your community, then you are part of the problem.  Or, to put it in Biblical terms, you are “a partner” with the problem.  This thing we have in some of our communities, where we protect the people we need to be protected from------ that’s stupid, ; it’s sinful; and it’s self-destructive.   

Destructive social mechanism come into play in a neighborhood that enables criminals to operate with impunity.  But, do you understand how the culture of silence activates destructive spiritual mechanisms?

Sin, particularly the collective and unrepentant sin of a people whom God has delivered out of great trouble and into great promises, cries out for judgment.  If basically everybody in a community collectively does the same wrong then, it sets off a spiritual chain reaction that explodes in Divine wrath----- in this world, in our physical, financial, biological, academic lives. 

Deuteronomy 8: 19     Then it shall be, if you by any means forget the Lord your God, and follow other gods, and serve them and worship them, I testify against you this day that you shall surely perish.

But, of course you might respond that “Everybody in the neighborhood isn’t a criminal.  Most folks aren’t partners and accomplices with the criminals.”

Well, let me ask: Is the lookout for a group of murderers considered an accomplice to the murder?

Yes. 

And what does a lookout do? 

He/she watches, sees, does nothing to stop the crime, but uses his/her voice to protect those who commit it.

When the culture of a community becomes so twisted that people see crime every day and do nothing; that they  watch and know the evil being done, but they say nothing, and when they have the chance to speak out, they speak only of what others owe the neighborhood and how the criminals (closest to them) should not be held to account------ that’s not the behavior of a neighbor.  That’s the work of a lookout.

Through the whole “No Snitching” culture, we make ourselves accomplices, partners, and co-conspirators with the people who are destroying us.

Ironically, in these same communities, we talk about and tell everything else.

We share everybody’s sins, but report nobody’s crimes.  In other words, we gossip; but we won’t testify.

Everybody knows who slept with whom behind closed doors last night, but nobody knows who shot that kid out in the middle of the street in broad daylight?......?

You can pick up an lookout, but as long as he refuses to be a witness, he remains an accomplice.  Even under oath, and accomplice swears to tell the truth, but reveals nothing.

In the eyes of God, an accomplice, whether an individual or neighborhood, is inviting wrath upon himself/ themselves.   The silent and unrepentant accomplice is self-destructive.  Despite loud protest to the contrary, his/their action say  that they want their community to keep getting worse.   The partner with a thief hates his own life.

What am I implying?  

I’m not implying.  I’m reading.

I’m reading the Bible, and the Bible says that God wants you/us to STOP GOSSIPPING, and START SNITCHING.

---Anderson T. Graves II

 

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

TO, FROM, or WITH THE SPIRIT?

When the Holy Spirit moves which way will you go:  TO, FROM, OR WITH THE SPIRIT?

Listen well.

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---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