FROM RESOLUTION TO REJOICING: A MOMENT WORTH WAITING FOR

The impatient anticipation of Christmas gives way to the impatient anticipation of the new year.  We resolve to make this the year----- the year that we achieve and attain all the things that we’ve been waiting for.  We can’t wait to see the results that a new year promises. 

In the Biblical timeline of the first Christmas, sandwiched in between the shepherds and the wise men, there is a story of two people and 6 week old baby named Jesus.  Their story teaches powerful lessons about resolutions, waiting, and the way to actually experience the fulfillment of the greatest promises of God. 

As we transition into a new year, learn the powerful lessons of Simeon and Anna in a message titled:  FROM RESOLUTION TO REJOICING:  A MOMENT WORTH WAITING FOR

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

HOW JESUS DID EVANGELISM

Jesus taught, commanded, and practiced evangelism.  The evangelism of Christ was a ministry of preaching AND deliverance.   Jesus and His disciples invited people to repent and become part of the Kingdom of God.   Jesus and His disciples healed people and helped people, but not as a condition of conversion. 

Jesus’ approach to evangelism was powerful, that is it was full of power; but never coercive. 

Jesus cared when people didn’t believe Him, but He never made, legislated, or begged anyone to believe.   Jesus taught His disciples to take “No” for and answer and then move on.

He sent them to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick.

[And He said to them] And whoever will not receive you, when you go out of that city, shake off the very dust from your feet as a testimony against them.”

So they departed and went through the towns, preaching the gospel and healing everywhere.   (Luke 9: 2, 5-6)

But Jesus’ disciples then, like His disciples now, sometimes took themselves far too seriously.  They became personally offended when their message was rejected.   They, like we, wanted to “defend” the gospel against unbelievers with the force of their power. 

But they did not receive Jesus, because His face was set for the journey to Jerusalem.

And when His disciples James and John saw this, they said, “Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them, just as Elijah did?”

How did Jesus teach His disciples to respond when people in the larger culture rejected the person of Jesus Christ, the Christ who died for them?!

But He turned and rebuked them, and said,  “You do not know what manner of spirit you are of.  For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives but to save them.” And they went to another village.  (Luke 9: 53-56)

Jesus taught His disciples to take “No” for an answer.

Teach the Truth.  Offer the gospel.  Help the people. 

And if they reject  the message?

Dust yourself off.  Move on.  Repeat.

That is BIBLICAL evangelism.  That is what real church looks like on the street.

If you want to be a part of real church in 2014, I invite you to meet me at Hall Memorial CME Church.  The address is below.

---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

THE EMPHASIS IS ON "YOU"

Emphasis says a lot when you’re talking.  The choice of which words to stress in a sentence can alter the emotion and even the meaning of the conversation.   

So it’s interesting that though the Bible tells us a lot about what people said, it says very little about how they said it.  Word emphasis is left to the reader.  And that, like everything else about God’s holy anthology is intentional.

I teach my Bible study students to re-read conversational passages, changing the word emphasis around.  When they do that, they get to hear the nuances of deeper meaning embedded in the Scripture.

Those nuances are important, because we tend to hear certain verses quoted over and over in the same tone.  Over time we subconsciously think those verses the way we’re used to hearing them. 

And the way we think the Bible becomes the way we live the Bible.

Jesus said:  For the poor you have with you always…. (Matthew 26: 11; Mark 14: 7; John 12: 8)

Typically this scripture is quoted with emphasis on the words poor and always.  Hearing that over and over reinforces the idea that poverty is inevitable, incurable, and, in a sense, acceptable.

Mark gives the fullest version of this quote.  Read the verse aloud with new emphasis.

Jesus said: For YOU have the poor with YOU always, and whenever YOU wish YOU may do them good; but ME you do not have always.  (Mark 14:7)

How does that sound in your head?

Imagine yourself in the scene.  Can you feel Jesus’ eyes on you?  Can you see Him leaning forward and pointing at your chest with every “YOU”?

Poverty is an old and chronic social problem.  But we don’t get a pass on dealing with it.   The poor are not an unfortunate part of the  background of our lives.  They are our problem.  We don’t get to pray for the poor and walk away as though prayer is our full and complete Christian duty.

YOU do them good. 

Yes, the poor are always there.  Which means that they’re always YOURS to deal with. 

We say we love Jesus.  We say we want to please Jesus. We say we worship Jesus.  Well, Jesus isn’t physically present with us right now.  So, how did Jesus say He wants to be worshipped and taken care of in the time of His physical absence.

I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’

 “Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You?  Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’

And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’  (Matthew 25: 35, 36, 40)

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. (James 1: 27)

For YOU have the poor with YOU always, and whenever YOU wish YOU may do them good; but ME you do not have always.  (Mark 14:7)

Read it again.  And hear the emphasis on 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, 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

CAN HE STILL GET A WITNESS?

Some things are too important to just take one person’s word for it.  Those most important situations have to be verified, preferably by the testimony of multiple witnesses.

Jesus claimed that He was the actual Son of God.  In fact Jesus claimed to be God Himself.  That idea, the doctrine of Christ’s divinity,  is the basis of our faith and the primary theme of the Biblical story of the Nativity.  The birth of Jesus as God with us is so important that God arranged for multiple witnesses to verify the facts.

This final message before Christmas walks through the testimony of those witnesses and poses a crucial question for believers in this Advent season:

The sermon is titled:  CAN GOD STILL GET A WITNESS?

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

THE SAD RADICALIZATION OF ATHEISM

I read something sad and scary yesterday.

Yesterday on my Facebook page, I shared a blog article called “WHAT LITTLE GIRLS WISH DADDIES KNEW” by Tara Lee.  Tara Lee is a counselor who writes on her personal blog.

The article included a list of 25 statements in the voice of a young daughter telling her daddy what she wishes he knew.

The comments were pretty positive until someone said:     “Great list, except #5.”

Number 5 on Tara’s list was:   Every time you show grace to me or someone else, I learn to trust God a little more.

The comment prompted the usual internet back and forth about God and Christianity and America.  The exchange didn’t break any new philosophical ground.   

Another comments was:        “Please remove #5 – no one likes it when people try and push religion down their throats. It’s unbecoming. If you want to do it so badly, don’t publish what you write.”

What did Tara Lee do that was “unbecoming”?    

She used the word “God” in a positive way one time in one sentence of one item among a list of 25 items.

And that alone someone believed amounted to an attempt to “push religion down their throats.”

Follow the comment thread on faith based links that get shared around Facebook and you’ll see that this commentator isn’t an anomaly.  His response is very much typical.

I believe that the commentator was sincere, and that’s what’s sad.    It’s sad that people believe that just saying “God” amounts to pushing religion down their throats.  And it’s scary that there are those who sincerely feels that ANY positive reference to God even on someone’s PERSONAL blog should be censored, that the internet should be cleansed of such “unbecoming” language.

Christian leaders are more and more tolerant of other belief systems.   Christian scholars are more and more critical of basic Biblical doctrine and supportive of everything other than basic Biblical doctrine. 

In the meantime, atheism/ anti-Christianism/ post-Christianity is becoming less and less tolerant of Christians.  The culture is becoming more and more hardened in its response to even the slightest expressions of dissent from a strictly non-Christian philosophy. 

As Christian theology become less orthodox, atheist theology is becoming more radicalized.

And that is sad and scary.

But mostly---- scary.

Here’s the link to Tara’s article.  http://tarahedman.com/girls-daddies-knew/ 

---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

WHAT GOD NEEDED FOR HIS SON

God is omniscient.  He knows everything.

 

He’s aware of every event, every thought, every subatomic particle in every dimension and universe.     God even knows the all of the certainties and possibilities of every permutation of future events, actions, and thoughts.

After all, God created matter, energy, life, space, and time.  He composed the rules by which all things seen and unseen operate. 

God knows. 

But.

The Old Testament declares that  God is not a man, …, nor a son of man  (Numbers 23: 19)

Until the Incarnation, the Son of God, had never personally experienced life as a human male.  True the Old Testament refers to God taking on human form from time to time to communicate with His special servants, but those were singular events not day-in-day-out life.

When Jesus was born as a babe in Bethlehem,  the omniscient 2^nd person of the Trinity was encapsulated by the flesh of a human infant.    Jesus knew all of the biological processes at work in human labor and birth.  As the Word made flesh, Jesus knew what was occurring at the subcellular level when Mary pushed.  He understood the responses of His own neurons to the muscular contractions moving His fetal form through the birth canal. Better than any mother or any doctor who would ever live, Jesus knew what childbirth was.

But Jesus didn’t know what it was like to be born until He came as a baby.

Pause.  Take a breath.  No, I haven’t become a heretic.  I am not disputing the doctrine that God knows EVERYTHING.

I believe that God’s omniscience is superior to our experience. (Just look at how we continuously screw up situations even when we have experience dealing with them.)   Omniscience is superior to experience, but omniscience isn’t the same as experience.  God knows everything, but He did not know what it was like to personally go through the things He knows.   God has all knowledge, but He had not had every personal experience.

Just think about it.  God knows all about the human body and the process of hunger.  The Lord created the human body. He created food, and He created the human body to need food(Genesis 1: 29).  God knows all about it, but God had never actually been hungry.  Not until He came to us as Jesus and was ahungered.

Omniscient God knows everything about adolescence and relationships, but God had never been a 14 year old boy dealing with girls in the village who think (or don’t think) he’s cute; not until Jesus came and lived as a 14 year old boy.

That’s why with Jesus we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.  (Hebrews 4:15)

Now, if you’re past the point of wanting to burn me at the stake, let me explain why I’m thinking about this at CHRISTmas time.

Joseph.

Joseph, husband to Mary and stepfather to Jesus.

God chose Joseph to be Mary’s husband.  The Lord even sent an angel to overcome Joseph’s (reasonable) decision to call of the wedding after discovering Mary pregnant an not pregnant by him (Matthew 1: 20).    God selected Joseph over all of the other descendants of King David living at the time, and there were at least enough sons of David to fill up every motel in Bethlehem.(Luke 2: 3, 4, 7)

Why Joseph?  

Mary conceived as a virgin, so God didn’t need Joseph’s genetic material. 

So why Joseph?

Because though Jesus knew everything about men and manhood, He had never actually been a human male before.  He needed a model with experience.

Joseph was Jesus’ model for manhood.

Joseph was the kind of man that God wanted His Son to be like.

Ruminate on that for a minute.

Now, brothers, ask yourself:  Am I?

Could God trust you with His Son?

O.K., bring that down a notch.   Can God trust you with YOUR SON?

When your son is born he has never been a human male before.   Genetics and instinct will only take him so far.  He needs a physically present model of manhood to imitate.  He needs a model with experience.

If your son grew up modeling your moral, spiritual, and personal behavior would God look down on him when he is grown and say, “In him I am well pleased”?

There are (I guarantee you that there are) boys around you who do not share your genetic material but they do look to you as an example of manhood.

Can God trust you to be a good example to them?  

Not just from time to time when you feel like schooling the young boys, but day-in-day-out when you don’t even know they’re watching?  

Can God trust you with His sons?

---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

CAN GOD TRUST YOU WITH HIS FAVORITE?

Most people have a favorite something---- an outfit, a gadget, maybe a heirloom, or even a pet.  Whatever it is, you don’t let just anybody keep it.  They’d have to be someone very special, someone you can really trust.

So what does it mean that God entrusted two people---- Mary and Joseph with His favorite, His Son Jesus?

The answer reveals the principles to opening the door to God’s greatest blessing for you, your family, and your community.

Hear a message called CAN GOD TRUST YOU WITH HIS FAVORITE?

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

WE STILL LOVE YOU, THOUGH

In Luke 19, Jesus was there when the corrupt tax collector Zacchaeus repented and became a charitable, honest, born-again believer.    Jesus rejoiced saying, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he also is a son of Abraham” (Luke 19:9)

In Luke 10, Jesus ordained 70 disciples to evangelize and minister to the communities where He preached.  They worked so hard.  When they reported back they weren’t perfect, but they had done well and Jesus was proud of them. 

In that hour Jesus rejoiced in the Spirit and said,  “I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and revealed them to babes. Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in Your sight. (Luke 10:21)

Jesus was also there when a young man declined His personal invitation to join the apostles because he didn’t want to leave his wealth behind.  Yes, Jesus told him to liquidate his holdings and give it all to charity, but the Lord also promised to be personally responsible for his daily bread.  Where Jesus had told others to go their way, He invited this man to “Come, take up the cross, and follow Me.” (Mark 10: 21)

Jesus watched the man just walk away.  But, Jesus didn’t go after him, even though He saw the young man’s potential and , looking at him, loved him, (Mark 10: 21)

As a pastor I often get to be present at the very moment when a person or a family turns their life around. 

I’ve been present when the light of love and commitment comes back on in a marriage.

I’ve been present when a young parent learns a better way to discipline her/ his child and bring out the baby’s unique gifts.

I’ve watched children independently choose to give their lives to Jesus.

I’ve presided over the moment when a gathering of church elders, without my intervention, debate and decide to make space for a younger generation to have power and prominence in their church.

And I have rejoiced in those moments! 

But I have also been present when a husband tells his wife that he’s done and that’s it, the marriage is over.

I’ve also been there when a man or woman decides to leave the rehab program and go back to the streets.
I’ve been present when the mother decides that she’s just gone let DHR take the baby because she prefers to live ratchet and she ain’t got time for no kid.

I’ve been there when the young person ignores every warning and offer of help and drops out of school because they can get food stamps, or an SSI check, or section 8, or a spot on the corner hustling, and they don’t need no school.

I’ve held the last session of couples’ consultation for 2 people who insisted on going to “the next level” with a relationship that scripture, common sense, and psychological examination had proven should never have begun.

I’ve been there at the precise moment when somebody makes the decision that begins the downward spiral for them and their family.

And I have sorrowed because I loved them.

But I can’t make the decision for them.  I can’t make them answer the Lord’s call to redemption and wisdom.   I can’t force them to take up their cross and follow Him.   And even when I followed behind them and begged them to do the right thing it didn’t work.  They just went back to the other things they valued more.

All I could do was look on them and still love them.
When Peter declared his faith in Jesus as the Son of God, the Lord rejoiced and praised Peter (Matthew 16: 17); and when Peter turned right around and said something stupid and totally the opposite of God’s will, Jesus turned right around.  He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men.” (Mt 16:23)

But Jesus never stopped loving Peter.

I’m not always happy with what the people I serve in the church and community do with their lives.    Your foolish choices weigh on me and on my brother/sister pastors in ways that few people outside of the calling can understand. 

But even when you break our hearts, we still love you.

We may/ will rebuke you, but we still love you.

We may/ will look at you like you’ve lost your ever-lovin’ mind, but we still love you.

We may let your next couple of calls go to voicemail, but we still love you.

We can find resources for you.  We can distill hours of research and Bible study to answer a question for you.  We can fight the inertia of age-old church traditions just to help you.  But,  your pastor cannot do more to improve your life than you do to improve your life.

So when you insist on a making the worst possible decision available, don’t expect us to applaud, endorse, or otherwise validate your choice. 

But that doesn’t mean that we don’t still love 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, 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

THE REST OF THE STORY (of the Virgin Birth)

I've read and heard some very eloquent and well-researched debates about the virgin or "virgin" birth of Jesus. The theological back-and-forth basically revolves around the translation that yields the English word "virgin" in Matthew 1 and Isaiah 7. 

Historically we took the word "virgin" to mean VIRGIN.  But theologians correctly point out that the original term could also mean simply "young woman," not necessarily a young woman who's never had sex.

This argument continues as though there's no authoritative source that clearly and definitively says whether or not Mary and Joseph had sex before Jesus was conceived. 

Oh, wait.   There is THE REST OF THE BIBLE.

Matthew 1: 24, 25 says: 24  Then Joseph, being aroused from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord commanded him and took to him his wife, 25 and DID NOT KNOW HER till she had brought forth her firstborn Son. And he called His name Jesus.  (The New King James Version)

The NIV says, that Joseph did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.

The NRSV says, that Joseph had no marital relations with her until she had borne a son;and he named him Jesus.

So if you just keep reading you soon realize that the Bible clearly states that Mary did not have sex until after Jesus was born which means that MARY WAS A VIRIGN WHEN JESUS WAS CONCEIVED.

Now, what was it we were arguing about again?

Riiight. 

Nothing.

---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

PRELIMINARIES, PRIORITIES, &THE MAIN EVENT (A Message for Advent)

Our Nativity displays miss a lot.  The full Nativity story in the opening chapters of Matthew and Luke begins a year or more before that night in Bethlehem, continues through at least the first 2 year of Jesus’ earthly life, and includes the birth of 2 miracle babies.  The first was John the Baptist.

Take a fresh look at the first chapter of Luke and the birth of Jesus’ cousin John.  Learn how God moves in seemingly unconnected lives to lay the groundwork for His greatest miracle---- the incarnation of God in human flesh.  Along the way, learn how to receive answers to the prayers you may have given up on praying.

This 2^nd in a series of messages for Christmas (Advent) delivered at Hall Memorial CME Church is about PRELIMINARIES, PRIORITIES, &THE MAIN EVENT.

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

10 Symptoms

10 Ideas of Post-Christian Morality:

1.       The past doesn’t matter.  Traditions and ancient ideas should be discarded because they are traditional and ancient.

2.       It’s not your fault.  Any bad things that you’ve done are because of negative environmental factors or mental illness/ disorders caused by trauma, including trauma you may not be aware you’ve experienced.

3.       Marriage, monogamy, church, and other social constructs, including friendships, are simply utilitarian connections to which you owe no inherent loyalty except when they enhance your own positive sense of self.

4.       Do whatever feels good to you right now.  You only live once.

5.       There is no right or wrong.  No one, no institution, and no system has the right to judge you for your personal choices.

6.       Defiance is always the best response.

7.       Repentance is a trick to take away your dignity.   Don’t let anyone or anything change you.  Be it parents, or the government, or God----- don’t let anyone break you.

8.       Stay in touch with your inner child. 

9.       Guilt is a deceptive and destructive emotion.  Cleanse yourself of guilt.  If you did it, you did it.  So what?

10.   You are the creator of your own truth.  You are the architect of your own universe.  There is no greater moral or spiritual authority than your own consciousness.   You are god.

Incidentally, ten general symptoms of antisocial personality disorder, better known as being a sociopath/psychopath:

1.       not learning from experience

2.       no sense of responsibility

3.       inability to form meaningful relationships

4.       inability to control impulses

5.       lack of moral sense

6.       chronically antisocial behavior

7.       no change in behavior after punishment

8.       emotional immaturity

9.       lack of guilt

10.   self-centeredness

---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