BROKEN OR BEAUTIFUL

You can have it all and feel like you have nothing.  You can be persecuted and oppressed on every side and yet be triumphant.  In whatever circumstances, society, or season, God offers a choice.

This message, originally delivered for the 108^th anniversary of Miles Chapel CME Church is about the choice.  The message is called: BROKEN OR BEAUTIFUL. 

Listen well and leave a comment.

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 

Click here to support this ministry with a donation.  Or go to andersontgraves.blogspot.com and click on 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

ASK THE QUESTION, CHRISTIAN

In the gospels, the disciples of Jesus had an irritating habit of not asking the question that most needed to be asked.  Such is the case in the closing verses of Jesus’ evangelistic campaign to Samaria.  The questions they didn’t ask turn out to be 4 of the most crucial inquiries for Christians today. 

Find out what those questions are.  The title of the message is ASK THE QUESTION, CHRISTIAN.

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

GOD & THE TOOTH FAIRY

Some people hate religion.  They are vehemently opposed to the very existence of Christianity and other faiths in God or a “god.”   These people maintain that the world and life are the product of chance and evolution.  They reject the idea of a Creator or a Divine plan.

But then.

Then those same people say, as proof of their position, “If there is a God, where was He when…”

… when my child died.

… when my father abandoned us.

… when Hitler murdered millions of Jews.

… when the Twin Towers were attacked.

… when etc., etc.

The atheists reason that if they can show God lacking accountability for tragedy then they can disprove God.

Well, here’s what baffles me: Why don’t they ask, “Where was chance and evolution when…”

Why aren’t they angry at evolution for randomly selecting a child as unfit for survival?

Why aren’t they mad at natural selection for marking entire ethnic groups for genetic extinction?

Where’s the indignation that the steady progress of evolutionary “advancement” created Hitler, who as a later member of the species should have been a better specimen than say Socrates or DaVinci or Isaac Newton?

Why aren’t they mad that “Science” or “Nature” didn’t intervene to facilitate the punctuated evolution of the people in the Twin Towers so that they could survive such a catastrophe?

Why are atheists who say they find religion illogical, so irrationally mad about what they think God did or didn’t do?

When I or my wife get a toothache I don’t demand answers from the tooth fairy because I don’t believe that the tooth fairy exists.   

It’s not simply that I don’t want the tooth fairy to exist.  It’s not that I think the tooth fairy is being mean or unfair so I’m going to say she doesn’t exist because I’m mad at her.  It’s that I really don’t think there’s a tooth fairy. 

I don’t question the fairness or fairy-ness of the tooth fairy because that would be me delusionally arguing with a non-entity.  So why, why do atheists use God’s behavior in their arguments?    

Either there’s something in even the most ardent atheist that makes it impossible not to subconsciously acknowledge God.

Or atheists are delusional.

He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man’s heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end. (Ecclesiastes 3: 11)

The fool has said in his heart,“There is no God.” (Psalm 14: 1)

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

AGE OLD EXCUSES

Often in our very traditional churches where leadership is held for long periods by a small core of older members, a common reason/ excuse is given for excluding younger adults from leadership. 

That excuse is, "They're not ready."

Other versions of that excuse include:

They haven't gotten far enough in their careers.
They're too caught up in their careers.
They aren't even married.
They haven't been married that long.
They don't have children.
They have young children.
He's/ she's got all them tattoos.
I heard he's been to jail.

That's what they say.

Here's what He says:  

Ecclesiastes 4: 13     Better a poor and wise youth than an old and foolish king who will be admonished no more.  14     For he comes out of prison to be king, although he was born poor in his kingdom.

When you get to the point that you know it all backwards and forwards and “They can’t tell me how to do this job.  I”ve been doing this for ___ years,”  at that point you know so much that you can no longer be admonished.

At that point, you know too much to stay in that position. 

If you prefer, look at it like this:  It’s time for a new challenge.

In the Methodist tradition, bishops admonish preachers “Not to stay in one place longer than you ought.” 

That’s fine advice for lay leadership, too. 

And, no.  The new up-and-comers don’t know all that you know.  But that’s your fault.  You should have already shared your knowledge.   If you haven't trained them so far, then let them learn as they go.   The wise youth will ask when they need help.  They will recognize your value as a human resource.  But, in truth they will need you a whole lot less than you may want to be needed. 

At this point in the church, it’s time to let the poor and wise youth lead.   At this point in the church, it is time to let the poor and wise ex-con lead.  At this point in the church it is time to stop saying that young adults are the leaders of tomorrow.

They are supposed to be the leaders of TODAY.

---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 29: 9. "You Can't Fix Stupid----Can You?"

Proverbs 29: 9     If a wise man contends with a foolish man, whether the fool rages or laughs, there is no peace.

Proverbs 29:9.  Comedian Ron White said that you can get laser surgery to correct your vision; you can get plastic surgery to tighten your skin; you can get ear implants to restore your hearing------ “But you can’t fix stupid.”

Now Mr. White isn’t exactly a theologian, but his bit does hit on a recurring idea in the Bible. 

Passages like Proverbs 29: 9; Proverbs 26:4; Ecclesiastes 10: 13 seem to say, “You can’t fix foolish.”

And that’s a hard saying, especially for us preachers, teachers, change-the-world type crusaders.  We’re out there every day and up late into the night trying to find an actual, non-rhetorical answer to the question: How do you help somebody who doesn’t want to be helped?

People keep telling us that the answer is: You can’t.

But we just keep asking the question anyway.

And then we come to what Jesus said: Do not give what is holy to the dogs; nor cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you in pieces. (Matthew 7: 6)

We want to teach.  They don’t want to learn.  We can’t both have what we want, so we argue. We rage.  They rage.  Or, we argue at them, and they laugh at us for arguing with ourselves.

What’s ironic is that after all the trying to teach, all the casting of pearls, all the begging the boy to listen, the person who’s most frustrated is the wise would-be teacher who has the knowledge and therefore, supposedly, the power.

(P.S.  Knowledge and power don’t always = PEACE)

You can tell people what they need to learn.  You can show people the solution to their problems.   You can explain, illustrate, and demonstrate by living example the way to better, the truth about progressing, and the life that pleases God.   But, if they don’t want to learn, then they won’t be taught.      

Told.  But not taught.

You/ I/ We can’t fix foolish.

It’s impossible.

Which brings us back to God.

And those who heard it said, “Who then can be saved?”  But Jesus said, “The things which are impossible with men are possible with God.” (Luke 18: 26, 27)

The Biblical principles are:  (1) You can’t fix foolish; and (2) With God no problem is unfixable.

Therefore, the solution is to bring the fools to God, and to bring God to bear on the foolishness. 

When the right intellectual, social, financial, political, and personal resources don’t solve the problem, it means that the main problem isn’t  intellectual, social, financial, or political.  The primary problem is SPIRITUAL. 

When the proven programs and policies aren’t making a dent in the dilemma, then you don’t simply have a troubled community, you have a SPIRITUAL stronghold. 

Now, it’s laziness and sin for the church to neglect physical needs under the supposedly Christian slogan of “Just Give ‘Em the Gospel.” (James 2: 15-17; James 4: 17)

But it’s also foolish for the church to forget that our greatest resource, our final and first line of defense and plan of attack is the invisible power of PRAYER. 

Then Jesus spoke a parable to them, that men always ought to pray and not lose heart  (Luke 18:1).

When they’re like pit bulls attacking you for the holiness you represent, PRAY because God can transform a dog into an example of miraculous faith (Matthew 15: 26-28)

When you’ve exhausted your most valuable resources but they keep turning on you and wallowing in their old mess, PRAY because God can transform an unclean life into a clean one.  

What God has cleansed you must not call unclean (Acts 11: 9).

You can’t fix foolish.  

God can.

---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: 9. "You Can't Fix Stupid----Can You?"

Proverbs 29: 9     If a wise man contends with a foolish man, whether the fool rages or laughs, there is no peace.

Proverbs 29:9.  Comedian Ron White said that you can get laser surgery to correct your vision; you can get plastic surgery to tighten your skin; you can get ear implants to restore your hearing------ “But you can’t fix stupid.”

Now Mr. White isn’t exactly a theologian, but his bit does hit on a recurring idea in the Bible. 

Passages like Proverbs 29: 9; Proverbs 26:4; Ecclesiastes 10: 13 seem to say, “You can’t fix foolish.”

And that’s a hard saying, especially for us preachers, teachers, change-the-world type crusaders.  We’re out there every day and up late into the night trying to find an actual, non-rhetorical answer to the question: How do you help somebody who doesn’t want to be helped?

People keep telling us that the answer is: You can’t.

But we just keep asking the question anyway.

And then we come to what Jesus said: Do not give what is holy to the dogs; nor cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you in pieces. (Matthew 7: 6)

We want to teach.  They don’t want to learn.  We can’t both have what we want, so we argue. We rage.  They rage.  Or, we argue at them, and they laugh at us for arguing with ourselves.

What’s ironic is that after all the trying to teach, all the casting of pearls, all the begging the boy to listen, the person who’s most frustrated is the wise would-be teacher who has the knowledge and therefore, supposedly, the power.

(P.S.  Knowledge and power don’t always = PEACE)

You can tell people what they need to learn.  You can show people the solution to their problems.   You can explain, illustrate, and demonstrate by living example the way to better, the truth about progressing, and the life that pleases God.   But, if they don’t want to learn, then they won’t be taught.      

Told.  But not taught.

You/ I/ We can’t fix foolish.

It’s impossible.

Which brings us back to God.

And those who heard it said, “Who then can be saved?”  But Jesus said, “The things which are impossible with men are possible with God.” (Luke 18: 26, 27)

The Biblical principles are:  (1) You can’t fix foolish; and (2) With God no problem is unfixable.

Therefore, the solution is to bring the fools to God, and to bring God to bear on the foolishness. 

When the right intellectual, social, financial, political, and personal resources don’t solve the problem, it means that the main problem isn’t  intellectual, social, financial, or political.  The primary problem is SPIRITUAL. 

When the proven programs and policies aren’t making a dent in the dilemma, then you don’t simply have a troubled community, you have a SPIRITUAL stronghold. 

Now, it’s laziness and sin for the church to neglect physical needs under the supposedly Christian slogan of “Just Give ‘Em the Gospel.” (James 2: 15-17; James 4: 17)

But it’s also foolish for the church to forget that our greatest resource, our final and first line of defense and plan of attack is the invisible power of PRAYER. 

Then Jesus spoke a parable to them, that men always ought to pray and not lose heart  (Luke 18:1).

When they’re like pit bulls attacking you for the holiness you represent, PRAY because God can transform a dog into an example of miraculous faith (Matthew 15: 26-28)

When you’ve exhausted your most valuable resources but they keep turning on you and wallowing in their old mess, PRAY because God can transform an unclean life into a clean one.  

What God has cleansed you must not call unclean (Acts 11: 9).

You can’t fix foolish.  

God can.

---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