LADY ANNE'S TREES

Jesus said, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain. He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.”    (John 12: 24, 25)

Lady Anne Grimston, born to nobility and married to a Baron, died in 1713 and was buried in St. Peter’s churchyard in Herfordshire County, England; but the wealth she’d enjoyed was dwarfed by the tragedy she’d endured.  Both of her children died in childhood.  Her husband died at 57 with no heir to carry on his hereditary title.  The story goes that on her deathbed Lady Anne declared, “I shall not continue to live. It is as unlikely that I shall continue to live as that a tree will grow out of my body.  If, indeed, there is life hereafter, trees will render asunder my tomb.”

Here’s a 1908 picture of her grave.

Today, 4 large trees sharing one root grow out of Lady Anne’s marble tomb.   

You may not be British nobility, but if you’re a born-again believer in Jesus Christ, then your body is more than the fleshy mortal consequence of a merger between sperm and egg.  If you are a Christian in the genuine spiritual sense of the word, then your body will not just be a corpse; it will be a seed. 

So also is the resurrection of the dead. The body is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption. It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory. (1 Corinthians 15: 42-43)

Like Lady Anne’s trees, one day in the sweet by-and-by, you will rise from your grave, but as Jesus explained to Lazarus’ sisters, there is a real sense in which the resurrection is now. (John 11: 23-25)

Without Jesus our sins become our lives.  Our lusts for things, our greed for stuff, the forgiveness we refuse to give, the wounds we nurture: they come to define us.  They become our lives.

God bids us die to that life.  Nail it all to the cross with Jesus (Galatians 2:20; 5:24).  Give up those ghosts.  Be buried with Christ “that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.” (Romans 6:4)

Jesus’ Resurrection gives His followers the promise of a personal, bodily resurrection from the dead one day.   The Resurrection also delivers the opportunity for new life right now. 

From the broken shell of whatever is sucking the life out of you, God can bring forth life as abundant as 4 great trees in a cemetery.

But you have to confess your sins and trust in Jesus.  Then believe that you shall continue to live.  Believe that it is as certain that you shall continue to live as it is that trees grow from that body in Herfordshire County, England.   Live that faith and today --- not just hereafter, but today --- you can render asunder the issues that have entombed you and break forth into new life.

God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. (Ephesians 2: 4-6)

---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

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You can help support this ministry with a donation to Miles Chapel CME Church.

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Support by check or money order may be mailed to 

Miles Chapel CME Church

P O Box 132

Fairfield, Al 35064

A WORD TO THE WISE. Proverbs 31: 31. "Last Verse: Final Grade"

Proverbs 31: 31     Give to her of the fruit of her hands, and let her own works praise her in the gates.

Proverbs 31: 31.  Last verse of the last chapter of the book of Wisdom.  Class is about to be dismissed and the Teacher explains how you will be graded.

You will get credit for your work. 

The question at the close of this series is:  When a wife receives credit for what she has given as a wife will the grade place her on honor roll or in remediation?

First, a review.

God created male human beings to work and to think and to be fruitful.   For most men that destined productivity is divinely ordained to occur in the context of marriage---- God’s original social institution.  Marriage is the only social institution that was created under perfect conditions.  God put together the first marriage in Eden.  Every other human institution, including organized religion, was organized after the Fall in the context of a fallen,  already corrupted world. 

Marriage is something special.

And so, God proclaims that it is not good for man to be alone.  God gave His already gifted, talented, doubly employed, PERFECT man----- a wife. 

Therefore, a wife is something special.

But admittedly, that’s not for every man.    Marriage is special, and therefore marriage in this sinful world is especially difficult.

At one point as Jesus was teaching about marriage and laying out the difficulty and depths of the marriage commitment,  Jesus’ disciples said to Him, “If such is the case of the man with his wife, it is better not to marry.”  (Matthew 19: 10)

Jesus acknowledged that not every man can handle it.He said to them, “All cannot accept this saying, but only those to whom it has been given”.   (Matthew 19: 11)

But, as Jesus explained, if a man is meant to be a father then he is also meant to be a husband.  Cause if he doesn’t want the deal with a wife, then he should be celibate. 

“For there are eunuchs who were born thus from their mother’s womb, and there are eunuchs who were made eunuchs by men, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven’s sake. He who is able to accept it, let him accept it.”  (Matthew 19: 12)

O.K., so now you’re wondering, “Anderson, what’s your point?”

Right, right.  My points? 

Here are my points:

First, not every man is husband material and not ever woman is wife material, and nothing is wrong with a man or woman who doesn’t want to get married. 

But if you don’t consider yourself to be marriage material then don’t present yourself as sexual partner material either.

To my brothers:  If you are a present or future husband, then your potential for success/ fruitfulness is inextricably tied to the woman you do or will call “wife.”  Choose well.  Your life may not depend on your choice of mate; but the quality of your life does.

To the sisters:  If you and he are truly meant to be together as husband and wife, then you must understand your crucial role in his success.   If God has indeed joined you together, then God has proclaimed that he will never realize his full potential------- without YOUR help.  No matter how good, godly, talented, anointed, hardworking, and driven he is------ if you don’t wife him right, he will never be as good as he could be.

But not every woman can receive this saying.  It is a difficult thing to be a good wife, especially since your man isn’t perfect.

As Paul wrote, “If a virgin marries, she has not sinned. Nevertheless such will have trouble in the flesh, but I would spare you.  (1 Corinthians 7: 28)

As a wife, you have to walk the erratic and razor-thin line between helping your man and trying to run his life.  You’re supposed to help him fulfill his calling without dictating to him what his calling is. 

I understand why a woman wouldn’t want to deal with that kind of drama, but that’s the job.

Your husband cannot do it without you.  

He can’t succeed without you, but if he also can’t succeed WITH you, then what are you there for?

Read this:

I’m not sure how much of this story is true, but the underying principles are spot-on, Biblically accurate.

Ladies, you are the queens who make us kings.  Or not. 

You will be graded on your work.  Show your work.
Make the way you wife----- speak praises in your name.

And let her own works praise her in the gates.
---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 31: 29 "We're Number 1!"

Proverbs 31: 29     “Many daughters have done well, But you excel them all.”

Proverbs 31: 29.  Marriage should be like a losing football team in Alabama. 

(Stay with me on this.)

In Alabama, football is almost like a religion.  People cheer by faith, not by sight.

Walk into any business or gathering  in the state and you will find people passionately arguing that their team is in fact the best team in the country, even if all empirical, observational, and statistical data indicates that their team sucks.     Any given Friday, Saturday, Sunday, or Monday, men and women can be heard shouting, “We’re number 1!” even when their team is ranked at the bottom.

In Alabama football, your belief in your team’s greatness, in your team’s superiority to all other teams really has very little to do with anything other than this one factor:  They are YOUR team.

 

And that, according to Proverbs 31: 29 is how marriage should be.

Proverbs chapter 31, verses 10-31 is a series of statements about the Virtuous Woman.  Each of those verses relates a wise and objective principle about women in general.  All except verse 29.

Verse 29 changes from the 3^rd person “she” to the 1^st person “you.”  This change in pronouns means that King Lemuel isn’t just generally talking ABOUT women, he is talking TO HIS woman.

And Lemuel tells his woman, “Baby, you’re number 1!”

 Lemuel concedes that his queen isn’t the only woman whose children rise and call her blessed.     She isn’t the only wife whose husband safely trusts her.  She probably isn’t the best at negotiating real estate deals, and cooking breakfast, and spinning cloth.  Statistically speaking there are certain to be more chartable women somewhere.  On an empirical scale, Lemuel’s wife might not even be in the top 10 of Proverbs 31 women.

But Lemuel doesn’t care about all that “evidence” anymore than a die-hard Auburn University fan cares what the NCAA or the SEC say about their team.  Auburn fans still shout “War Eagle!”  Auburn fans still declare and decree that “We’re number 1!”

Why?  Because it’s their team.

King Lemuel is his queen’s #1, ride-or-die fan

A husband and wife have to be each other’s #1.  He’s your #1, and you’re his #1 fan.  She’s your #1, and you’re her #1 fan.

No matter how good your mama’s fried chicken is, your wife’s chicken is #1. 

When the 6-pack of abs turns into a case of rolls, it’s still “Baby, you’re the best!”    

When them other chicks drop hints about how much more they’d appreciate a man like you, you don’t switch teams.  You hold up your ring finger and tell ‘em, “This is my team.  Ride or die. We’re number 1!”

Many other daughters have done well.  Yea.  Yea. Yea.  Whatever.   Baby, you’re #1!

WE’RE #1!

---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

Proverbs 31: 29 "WE'RE NUMBER 1!"

Proverbs 31: 29     “Many daughters have done well, But you excel them all.”

Proverbs 31: 29.  Marriage should be like a losing football team in Alabama. 

(Stay with me on this.)

In Alabama, football is almost like a religion.  People cheer by faith, not by sight.

Walk into any business or gathering  in the state and you will find people passionately arguing that their team is in fact the best team in the country, even if all empirical, observational, and statistical data indicates that their team sucks.     Any given Friday, Saturday, Sunday, or Monday, men and women can be heard shouting, “We’re number 1!” even when their team is ranked at the bottom.

In Alabama football, your belief in your team’s greatness, in your team’s superiority to all other teams really has very little to do with anything other than this one factor:  They are YOUR team.

 

And that, according to Proverbs 31: 29 is how marriage should be.

Proverbs chapter 31, verses 10-31 is a series of statements about the Virtuous Woman.  Each of those verses relates a wise and objective principle about women in general.  All except verse 29.

Verse 29 changes from the 3^rd person “she” to the 1^st person “you.”  This change in pronouns means that King Lemuel isn’t just generally talking ABOUT women, he is talking TO HIS woman.

And Lemuel tells his woman, “Baby, you’re number 1!”

 Lemuel concedes that his queen isn’t the only woman whose children rise and call her blessed.     She isn’t the only wife whose husband safely trusts her.  She probably isn’t the best at negotiating real estate deals, and cooking breakfast, and spinning cloth.  Statistically speaking there are certain to be more chartable women somewhere.  On an empirical scale, Lemuel’s wife might not even be in the top 10 of Proverbs 31 women.

But Lemuel doesn’t care about all that “evidence” anymore than a die-hard Auburn University fan cares what the NCAA or the SEC say about their team.  Auburn fans still shout “War Eagle!”  Auburn fans still declare and decree that “We’re number 1!”

Why?  Because it’s their team.

King Lemuel is his queen’s #1, ride-or-die fan.

A husband and wife have to be each other’s #1.  He’s your #1, and you’re his #1 fan.  She’s your #1, and you’re her #1 fan.

No matter how good your mama’s fried chicken is, your wife’s chicken is #1. 

When the 6-pack of abs turns into a case of rolls, it’s still “Baby, you’re the best!”    

When them other chicks drop hints about how much more they’d appreciate a man like you, you don’t switch teams.  You hold up your ring finger and tell ‘em, “This is my team.  Ride or die. We’re number 1!”

Many other daughters have done well.  Yea.  Yea. Yea.  Whatever.   Baby, you’re #1!

WE’RE #1!

---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 31: 26. "Gracious Lady"

Proverbs 31: 26     She opens her mouth with wisdom, And on her tongue is the law of kindness.

Proverbs 31: 26.  The ideal woman, the kind who’d make a great queen, knows what to say and exactly how to say it.  She is not the airhead  laughing mindlessly and loudly all the guys’ jokes while squeezing her shoulders together so they can see her cleavage.   The future queen is too wise for that.  She understands that if she presents herself like a fool that any man can have then men will treat her like a fool that any man can have.

The future queen, wherever she is, whomever she is, speaks with wisdom and kindness.   And she isn’t nice according to class, or ethnicity, or economic status, or how closely the other people match her concept of physical beauty.  She is kind according to the law of God. 

Because God said so, she loves and speaks kindly to her neighbor---- her rich neighbor, her poor neighbor, her Christian neighbor, her you-believe-what neighbor, her same-race-as-me neighbor, her not-my-same-skin-tone neighbor, her looks-like-they-got-it-all-together neighbor, her everything’s-falling-apart neighbor, etc., etc.

She’s not nice because she’s weak.  She isn’t kind because she’s “fake.”  (“Fake” is such a hellishly stupid concept.  Like somehow it’s more genuine to be a gossiping jerk than to be freakin’ polite and professional.)  The woman who will be queen is not polite because she wants something from you.  She is kind because that’s how the Bible, the law of God, teaches her to be. (Ephesians 4: 29-32;  Luke 10: 29-37)

The same speaker who described the virtuous woman also advised the reigning king: 

Open your mouth for the speechless,

In the cause of all who are appointed to die.

Open your mouth, judge righteously,

And plead the cause of the poor and needy. ( Proverbs 31: 8, 9)

A Proverbs 31: 26 woman speaks kindly and wisely because that is what good kings do, and she is a match for a king. 

In the South, we have a word for a such a woman.  We call her a “gracious lady.”  It’s the way we describe the wives of governors and presidents, and the matriarchs of great families.   It’s what we expect of our queens.

Speak to people as a gracious lady.  It’s what God expects of His queens.

Walk in wisdom toward those who are outside, redeeming the time.   Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one. (Colossians 4: 5, 6)

---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

Proverbs 31: 26. "Gracious Lady"

Proverbs 31: 26     She opens her mouth with wisdom, And on her tongue is the law of kindness.

Proverbs 31: 26.  The ideal woman, the kind who’d make a great queen, knows what to say and exactly how to say it.  She is not the airhead  laughing mindlessly and loudly all the guys’ jokes while squeezing her shoulders together so they can see her cleavage.   The future queen is too wise for that.  She understands that if she presents herself like a fool that any man can have then men will treat her like a fool that any man can have.

The future queen, wherever she is, whomever she is, speaks with wisdom and kindness.   And she isn’t nice according to class, or ethnicity, or economic status, or how closely the other people match her concept of physical beauty.  She is kind according to the law of God. 

Because God said so, she loves and speaks kindly to her neighbor---- her rich neighbor, her poor neighbor, her Christian neighbor, her you-believe-what neighbor, her same-race-as-me neighbor, her not-my-same-skin-tone neighbor, her looks-like-they-got-it-all-together neighbor, her everything’s-falling-apart neighbor, etc., etc.

She’s not nice because she’s weak.  She isn’t kind because she’s “fake.”  (“Fake” is such a hellishly stupid concept.  Like somehow it’s more genuine to be a gossiping jerk than to be freakin’ polite and professional.)  The woman who will be queen is not polite because she wants something from you.  She is kind because that’s how the Bible, the law of God, teaches her to be. (Ephesians 4: 29-32;  Luke 10: 29-37)

The same speaker who described the virtuous woman also advised the reigning king: 

Open your mouth for the speechless,

In the cause of all who are appointed to die.

Open your mouth, judge righteously,

And plead the cause of the poor and needy. ( Proverbs 31: 8, 9)

A Proverbs 31: 26 woman speaks kindly and wisely because that is what good kings do, and she is a match for a king. 

In the South, we have a word for a such a woman.  We call her a “gracious lady.”  It’s the way we describe the wives of governors and presidents, and the matriarchs of great families.   It’s what we expect of our queens.

Speak to people as a gracious lady.  It’s what God expects of His queens.

Walk in wisdom toward those who are outside, redeeming the time.   Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one. (Colossians 4: 5, 6)

---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