WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?

I come home to my wife at the end of every day.  Yes, there are some nights that I am out of town on business or for emergencies in my extended family, but I have never chosen to not come home simply because I didn’t feel like it.

My spouse dwells in our house and I don’t neglect the responsibility to be in this house at the end of every day.  I don’t come home only on days that I know Sheila will be waiting for me in something slinky, not just on the days that some crisis has happened in my life and I need her to comfort me, not just on the special occasions that socially obligate us to spend “quality” time together.   I come to our house at the end of EVERY day.

I come home to this house every day because Sheila and I have a covenant relationship.  We are married.  To neglect the house of where my spouse and I dwell together would be to dishonor the covenant of our relationship.  My mouth might say, “Baby, I love you,” but my actions would say, “I don’t really give a crap about you or this relationship.”

True, Sheila’s grown and she can drive.  And, if I got a room at a hotel in town, she could find me and come there if she really wanted to see me.  

But really?

By neglecting our home I’d still be saying, “As far as I’m concerned, our relationship does not define home for me.  I define home for myself.  So today I’m going to act like I’m still single.”

This whole being a Christian thing is most essentially about beginning and living out a covenant relationship with Jesus Christ.  It’s about becoming and being the bride, the spiritual spouse of Christ. 

Ephesians 5: ^31 “For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” ^32 This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church.

The church is the house of God.  At the end of every week you ought to go to your Spouse’s house.   

Oh, you can use your mouth to say, “But God is with me wherever I am on Sunday morning.  I don’t have to be in some man’s church.”

O.K. But let’s be real here.    Your actions and your heart are actually saying, “This covenant relationship I’m supposed to have with God isn’t a priority for me.  Today I’m going to act like I’m still spiritually single.”

 

Mark 7:6  Jesus answered and said to them, “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written: ‘This people honors Me with their lips, But their heart is far from Me.' "

Work, emergencies, and sickness do sometimes happen on Sunday morning; but the regular EVERY  Sunday pattern of your life should be----- I’m at Jesus’ house, our house, my church.

Hebrews 10: ^24 And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works,  ^25 not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as isthe manner of some…

Church involves some trappings and rituals.  Songs and offerings and titles and such------ that’s all just housekeeping.  Some of it needs to be done.  Some of it needs to be done differently.  Some of it is decorative and unnecessary.  But none of the housekeeping chores in the Lord’s house change the fact that you ought to be there at the end of EVERY week.

Not just the weeks when the Holy Spirit will be waiting to give you an ecstatic experience.

Not just the weeks that you are in crisis and you want God to comfort you and the church to give you some a$$istance.

Not just the weeks that fall on special occasions when society expects you to be in the Lord’s house.

Not because of who’s preaching or who’s singing or who’s single.

But because you love the Lord and you value this covenant relationship you have with Him, you should end your week automatically headed to the house of God just like you start your week automatically headed to work (or wherever you go when the week starts).

If I just didn’t come home at the end of today, and then I showed up in the morning asking Sheila to cook me breakfast, she might have reason to doubt my commitment to our relationship.

So you don’t show up week after week after week, and then during the week you ask God to bless you with this and with that.      Really?

Maybe the reason your life in one crisis after another has less to do with haters and more to do with neglecting your Spouse’s house.

Haggai 1:9 You looked for much, but indeed it came to little; and when you brought it home, I blew it away.

“Why?” says the Lord of hosts. “Because of My house that is in ruins, while every one of you runs to his own house.” 

I’m just saying.

---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 Rd.,
Montgomery, AL 36116

Alabama Voter ID Implementation

Voter ID Implementation
http://www.sos.state.al.us/Elections/VoterID.aspx

In the 2003 regular session, the Alabama Legislature approved, and Governor Riley signed into law, Act 2003-381, Alabama's new voter identification law. The law was precleared by the United States Department of Justice on August 7, 2003, and, therefore, will be in effect beginning with the September 9, 2003, special constitutional amendment election.

Following is a list of acceptable forms of identification under this new law. Each voter should ensure that he or she has one form of identification available when he or she goes to vote.

Questions about the voter identification requirements may be directed to the Elections Division by email or by phone (242-7210, in the Montgomery area; or statewide at 1-800-274-8683).

A. Current, Valid Photo Identification

1. Government-issued photo identifications (current and valid)
2. Employee identification for employee with photo of employee produced by the employer
3. Photo identification card issued by Alabama college or university
4. Photo identification issued from Alabama technical or professional school (current and valid)

ORB. One of the following

1. Utility bill of voter with voter's name and address
2. Bank statement with voter's name and address
3. Government check with voter's name and address
4. Paycheck with voter's name and address
5. Valid identification card (authorized by law) issued by the State of Alabama (including any branch, department, agency, or entity of the State of Alabama)
6. Valid identification card (authorized by law) issued by any of the other 49 states (including any branch, department, agency, or entity of that State)
7. Valid identification card (authorized by law) issued by the government of the United States of America (including any branch, department, agency, or entity of the federal government
8. Valid United States passport
9. Valid Alabama hunting license
10. Valid Alabama fishing license
11. Valid Alabama pistol/revolver permit
12. Valid pilot's license issued by the FAA or other authorized agency of the federal government
13. Valid United States military identification
14. Birth certificate (certified copy)
15. Valid Social Security card
16. Naturalization document (certified copy)
17. Court record of adoption (certified copy)
18. Court record of name change (certified copy)
19. Valid Medicaid card
20. Valid Medicare card
21. Valid electronic benefits transfer (EBT) card
22. Government document that shows the name and address of the voter

Note: Those items listed in Section B can be the original document (license, card, etc.) or a photocopy of the document.

Without one of these forms of identification, a voter is permitted to:

1. vote a challenged or provisional ballot
2. vote, if he or she is identified as a voter on the poll list who is eligible to vote by two poll workers and both poll workers sign the voting sign-in register by the voter's name

11 Amendments Are on the November 4th Alabama Ballott

This is the link and text of the best concise, neutral explanation I could find of the amendments on Tuesday's ballot. 
It comes from The Montgomery Advertiser.
The candidates are crucial, but these measures are important, too. Make no mistake, the legislature didn't propose this stuff out of a sense of symbolism. Each one of these amendments is about where millions or billions of dollars are going to stay, go, stop going, or start going.

http://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2012311030036

Below are summaries of the 11 statewide amendments on the ballot Tuesday.
Written by Brian Lyman

AMENDMENT 1

Amendment 1 would reauthorize Forever Wild, a program that purchases land with an eye toward recreation and environmental preservation.
Approved by voters in 1992, the program said it has acquired over 227,000 acres of land in 22 counties. The program takes up to 10 percent of interest generated by the Alabama Trust Fund, a repository for income from oil and gas leases, and purchases land that has been used to protect important habitats, expand additional state parks and provide public hunting opportunities.
The amendment would allow the program to continue acquiring land. If the amendment is rejected, the land already acquired by Forever Wild will remain under the management of the Alabama Department of Conservation, but no new lands would be acquired.
The amendment was approved by the Legislature in 2011 over the objections of some groups working for agricultural entities, who said the land acquired by Forever Wild came off the tax rolls. Proponents said the program not only protects environmentally critical areas, but also generates revenue from tourism.

AMENDMENT 2

Amendment 2 would allow the state to refinance bonds issued through the Capital Improvement Trust Fund.
The Capital Improvement Trust Fund, created in 2000, provides funding to support economic development projects around the state. Bonds issued from the CITF were part of the major incentive package used to lure German steelmaker ThyssenKrupp AG to Mobile County in 2007. The CITF’s bonding authority was expanded that year from $350 million to $750 million to assist the ThyssenKrupp project but has bonded out $720 million. The refinancing would allow the state to issue approximately $126.7 million more in bonds to support economic development projects.
The CITF gets its funding from 28 percent of oil and gas payments received by the state.

AMENDMENT 3

Amendment 3 is a local amendment for Baldwin County that would make the community of Stockton a landmark district that could not be annexed by other municipalities.

AMENDMENT 4

Amendment 4 would remove segregation language from the state Constitution, but maintain other language added in response to the U.S. Supreme Court’s 1954 Brown v. Board of Education ruling.
The amendment would delete language requiring separate schools for black and white children that was included in the 1901 Constitution. The measure would also remove a section of the constitution and two subsequent amendments related to poll taxes. Poll taxes were made unconstitutional for federal elections by the 24th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, passed in 1964 and finally abolished at the state level in a 1966 U.S. Supreme Court case.
However, the amendment also would leave in place language from a 1956 amendment asserting there is “no right to education or training at public expense.”
Proponents of the amendment, including the Business Council of Alabama, said it will help Alabama move on from its ugly racial past and improve the state’s image and competitiveness with industry.
Opponents, including the Alabama Education Association, said they are concerned the changes still would retain the civil rights era-language denying a right to an education and potentially undermine education funding.

AMENDMENT 5

Amendment 5 would authorize the merger of the Water and Sewer Board of the city of Prichard to the Mobile Area Water and Sewer System. The amendment will not go into effect unless a majority of residents served by each system approve the amendment.

AMENDMENT 6

Amendment 6, targeting the Affordable Care Act, would forbid “any person, employer or health care provider” from being compelled to participate in a health care system.
The measure targets the mandate portion of the law, which is scheduled to go into effect in 2014 and would require individuals to carry health insurance, either by themselves or through their employers. For households that cannot afford insurance, a sliding scale of subsidies would be available; a family of four making about $88,000 a year would qualify for the subsidies. Individuals that do not carry insurance and do not qualify for any existing exemption would pay a tax penalty. By 2016, that would amount to $695 a year per household or 2.5 percent of a household’s income, whichever is greater. The Urban Institute, a liberal-leaning Washington think tank, estimates about 7.3 million people — two percent of the population — would face the tax penalty.

It is unclear what effect the amendment would have if it were passed; state laws are generally pre-empted by federal ones.

AMENDMENT 7

Amendment 7 would require all union elections to take place via secret ballot.
Under current federal law, workers interested in creating a union must get at least 30 percent of their fellow employees indicating that they want to be organized. If the petition is validated by the National Labor Relations Board, it will call a secret election to determine whether or not to form a union. The employer has the option of waiving the secret election and allowing the union to form if a majority of workers indicate their preference.
The amendment is a response to federal legislation proposed in 2009 that would allow unions to form automatically if at least 50 percent of workers indicated their willingness to do so, effectively removing the secret election portion. The legislation did not pass and is unlikely to come up in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives.
Supporters of the measure argue it will keep union balloting secret and allow workers to make up their own minds on the measures.
Opponents said the measure will allow employers to pressure employees to reject unions and make it harder to organize workforces.

AMENDMENT 8

Amendment 8 would tie lawmakers’ compensation to the median household income in the state and take future decisions about legislators’ pay out of legislators’ hands.
If the amendment passes, lawmakers’ pay next year would be set at $41,413, the most recent estimate of median household income according to the U.S. Census. Lawmakers also would be reimbursed for mileage outside their districts and would have expense allowances removed. Supporters estimate the average legislator would make $46,921 per year, down from the current minimum of about $55,000 a year.
Due to mileage limits, lawmakers in the River Region would likely make less than the average legislator, while lawmakers from northern and southern Alabama would likely make more.

AMENDMENTS 9 AND 10

Amendments 9 and 10 will respectively overhaul the state Constitution’s corporation and banking articles. The articles contain outdated language — some of it antiquated since the New Deal — and the amendments would remove that language.

AMENDMENT 11

Amendment 11 would prevent municipalities outside Lawrence County from collecting taxes or enforcing any municipal ordinances in police jurisdictions that may include Lawrence County.

Frequently asked voting questions.

§ I turned in a voter registration application. Am I registered to vote?
Just because you turned in a voter registration application does not necessarily mean you are registered to vote. Once your application has been processed by your local Board of Registrars, you should receive an acknowledgement from the Registrars indicating the status of your application. This acknowledgement will usually be a voter identification card confirming that you are registered to vote. However, if your application was incomplete, you may receive a letter requesting additional information to complete your application. If you are unsure about the status of your application, you can always call your localBoard of Registrars or visit our Polling Place and Registration Status page.
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§ I turn 18 after the voter registration deadline but before the election. Can I vote in the election?
Yes. As long as you turn 18 on or before election day, even if your birthday is after the voter registration deadline, you can apply for voter registration and participate in that election (as long as you meet other voter qualifications). Please note that you must turn your voter registration application in before the 10-day close for voter registration.
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§ I have moved from one part of the country to another and want to vote. What should I do?
You must contact the Board of Registrars and submit an update to your voter registration record. Remember, where you live determines who represents you. To be sure you are voting on candidates in the correct district, it is important that you vote in the correct precinct.
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§ I have moved from one county to another and want to vote. What should I do?
When you move across county lines, you must register to vote in your new county of residence. Voter registration does not automatically follow you from one county to another.
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§ It's the day before the election. I forgot to register to vote. Is it too late?
Yes, it is too late to register to vote for that election. To participate in an election, you must submit your application before registration closes for that election. Registration is closed during the ten days prior to an election and on election day.
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§ What if I make a mistake marking my ballot?
If you have not already placed your ballot in the electronic voting machine or ballot box, you may ask a poll worker for another ballot. The poll worker will spoil your first ballot so that it cannot be counted or reused.
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§ Are candidates allowed to campaign outside my polling place?
Yes, electioneering or campaigning is permitted outside the polling place. However, this activity must not be closer than 30 feet to the entrance of the polling place. If the polling place is located in a room within a building, the campaigning must not be closer than 30 feet to the entrance of the building.
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§ Can a candidate assist me in marking my ballot?
Yes, if you ask the candidate to help you. The only people who cannot assist a voter are the voter’s employer, an agent of the voter’s employer, or an officer or agent of the voter’s union.
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§ Can I wear campaign buttons or t-shirts with political advertisements into the polling place?
Yes. However, you should not loiter or leave any campaign materials in the polling place.
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§ Can I carry a sample ballot into the voting booth?
Yes. However, you should not leave the sample ballot in the polling place.
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§ If Constitutional Amendments are included on the ballot, must I vote on them?
No. You are not required to vote on constitutional amendments. Similarly, you are not required to vote in all races on the ballot. Participation is your choice.
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§ In a Primary Election, am I allowed to vote for the Constitutional Amendments only?
Yes. In fact, if you choose not to participate in nominating candidates for either political party, you can request a constitutional amendment ballot that contains only the proposed constitutional amendments.
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§ When I voted in the Primary Election, I was asked to declare a political party preference. Why is that?
In Alabama, the primary election is part of the nominating process for a political party. It is used to select who will represent a party in the general election. You are required to choose one political party’s primary over another because you cannot participate in the nomination of both parties’ candidates. However, in the general election, you may split your ticket and vote for candidates from each political party.
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§ What happens if I do not want to declare a political party preference at the Primary Election?
If you choose not to declare a political preference at the primary election, you will not be eligible to vote in any political party’s primary election. You are, however, still eligible to vote on any proposed constitutional amendments that are up for a vote.
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§ I voted in my political party's Primary Election. My party is not having a runoff. Can I vote in the other party's runoff?
It depends on the political party. The Democratic Party has a cross-over voting rule which prohibits anyone who voted in the Republican Party primary from voting in the Democratic Party’s primary runoff. The Republican Party does not have a cross-over voting rule. It is okay for voters who participated in the Democratic primary to vote in the Republican runoff. Therefore, if you voted in the Democratic primary, you may vote ineither the Democratic runoff or the Republican runoff. If you voted in the Republican primary, you may voteonly in the Republican runoff.
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§ Can I take photographs or videotape inside my polling place?
No. Each voter has a right to cast a ballot in secrecy and in private. The U.S. Department of Justice has advised that photography or videotaping inside a polling place does not serve any useful purpose and may instead actually intimidate voters who are exercising their right to vote.
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§ Can I take a cell phone into my polling place?
Yes. However, use of the phone in the polling place should not disturb other voters or disrupt the polling place. If your cell phone has a camera, you cannot take photographs or film video inside the polling place. Each voter has a right to cast a ballot in secrecy and in private. The U.S. Department of Justice has advised that photography or videotaping inside a polling place does not serve any useful purpose and may instead actually intimidate voters who are exercising their right to vote.
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§ I do not see my question on this page. What do I do now?
If your question is not addressed on this page, please call the Elections Division at 1-800-274-8683 or 334-242-7210.
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WHERE DOES THE END COME FROM? (The End Times)

Every parent dreads the moment when his/her child walks up and asks, “Where do babies come from?”  And though the answer means dealing with some difficult facts and possibilities, every good parent has to answer that question. You have to answer because other people will answer it for your child, and the others who answer may give the wrong information or even intentionally use misinformation to damage or exploit your child.

Romans 8: 22, 23 says that all of creation is in labor to bring forth the end of this age.  Where does that end come from.  What does the Bible say compared to the misinformation that “they” are giving about the 2nd Coming, the Tribulation, and the uncomfortable facts about the End of the Age.

The message is titled: WHERE DOES THE END COME FROM?

Listen well.

Podcast Powered By Podbean

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 Rd.,
Montgomery, AL 36116

A WORD TO THE WISE. Proverbs 28: 26

Proverbs 28: 26     He who trusts in his own heart is a fool, but whoever walks wisely will be delivered.

Proverbs 28:6. Disney movies have a common theme:  Just follow your heart. 

Yeah…..?

Well, if your heart and/or your mind tell you, “Yes,” but the Word of God says, “No,” then who wins?

If your heart and/or your mind say, “No,” but the Word of God tells you, “Yes,” then whom do you obey?

In real life, many of our sins and bad decisions are tied to things (and people) that are near and dear to our hearts.  No one wants to hear about sexual sins or immoral relationships because that gets close to criticizing love or family. 

You can’t tell people what to do or not do with their time, their money, or their bodies; because that’s like infringing on intellectual liberty.

But, look around.  We’re following our hearts in opposition to God’s Word.  We’re justifying our actions when they violate God’s commands.  And it’s not really working out that well for us. 

But, O.K. We fall down, but we get back up again.  We mess up and God cleans us up.  Redemption and restoration are at the core of Christianity.  True.  True. 

But.

Redemption and restoration require repentance.  Repentance means being sincerely sorry and then sincerely changing. 

We ain’t sorry, and we don’t wanna change.

We want to follow our hearts, and we want God to go with us as we do.

I’m sorry, but that’s stupid.

Do I really think that some re-conceptualization of the family, faith, or function that I came up with out of necessity created by the consequences of something I never should have been doing in the first place is betterthan what omniscient God came up with when He invented people?

Yeah, I gotta do the best I can with what I got, but I shouldn’t lie to myself.  My back-up plan isn’t as good as God’s original plan.

And so, when I teach the generation that looks to me for wisdom I have to choose to either (A) justify and perpetuate my foolishness; or (B) confess my sins as sins and teach the next generation to follow the wisdom of God.

Which is the wiser choice?

We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them. --- Albert Einstein

---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 Rd.,
Montgomery, AL 36116

IS GOD A DEMOCRAT OR A REPUBLICAN?

In his radio broadcast, Dr. Tony Evans posed the question, “Is God a Democrat or a Republican?”

He referenced Joshua chapter 5.

Joshua 5: ^13 And it came to pass, when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted his eyes and looked, and behold, a Man stood opposite him with His sword drawn in His hand.

 And Joshua went to Him and said to Him, “AreYou for us or for our adversaries?”

Joshua’s question today would be, “Are you for the Democrats or for the Republicans?”

The Angel of the Lord’s answer was then what it is now.

^ Joshua 5:  ^14a So He said, “No.”

To paraphrase Dr. Evan’s comments, “God’s answer was, ‘I didn’t come to take Democrat’s side. I didn’t come to take the Republican’s side.  I came to take over.’ “

Is God a Democrat or a Republican?  The answer is no.

Joshua 5:  ^14a So He said, “No.  But as Commander of the army of the Lord I have now come.”

So, what should be our response when we realize that God’s agenda transcends the Democratic platform and the Republican platform?  In a 2-party America, how should we proceed once we understand that God isn’t a conservative or a liberal?  How do Christians decide when we realize that neither available party and none of the available candidates faithfully represent the Biblical truth in all areas of policy?

Joshua 5:  ^14b And Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshiped, and said to Him, “What does my Lord say to His servant?”

We seek God’s guidance.  We compare each candidate and each resolution with the Word of God.  And then we choose.

We vote for people, not for parties. 

We vote based on the merit of individual resolutions, not based on the platforms of parties whose agendas, though different are on the whole equally godless.  

We vote knowing that none of the options will be perfect from a Kingdom perspective, but then none of us is perfect from a Kingdom perspective either. 

The lack of perfection among the choices does not exempt any Christian from participation in the process.

Joshua still had to fight.  Joshua’s side had God’s favor and won.  Israel won the military/political battle, but Rahab and her family of Jerichoans survived and became the most honored family in Israel, the family from whom the kings of Israel and the Messiah of the world would be descended.

It was a split ticket.

As Christians, it’s our duty to participate in the political battle, but our loyalty must remain to God above all.

Pray.  Vote.  Pray.

Trust God. 

Proverbs 21:1 The king’s heart is in the hand of the Lord.  Like the rivers of water; He turns it wherever He wishes.

---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 Rd.,
Montgomery, AL 36116