Achuckallen

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4forFRIDAY with AChuckAllen

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This week’s 4forFRIDAY August 9, 2019

I love to share good reads, learnings, listens and reviews with friends and followers. So, thanks for joining me on my 4forFRIDAY BLOG. Each week, the 4forFRIDAY offers recommended Reads, Listens, Learnings and Reviews, simply for your enjoyment. Thanks Again! If you don’t already subscribe to my Weekday Meditation Podcast, I encourage you to check it out HERE. If you missed thearticles that I posted earlier this month regarding my trip to the Southern Border, you can find it HERE.

A Really Fun Television Show: Ellen’s Game of Games

It’s funny, clean and a bit slapstick, but we love watching it! It’s a fun family show…even for folks that don’t like Ellen. I think she is hilarious.

A Really Good Read from James Clear: Constant Improvement

As many of you know, I’m a huge James Clear fan. He is practical, insightful and challenging. I cannot encourage you enough to be a part of his creative writing!

A Gadget that I Really Like: Self-adhesive Leather Pen Holder with Elastic Loop for Notebooks, Journals, Planners and Calendars

I use these on my iPad, my notebooks and my Power Routines. They fit every size of pens and I find them super handsy, even on my Bible.

A Great Listen from Jennie Allen: How Shame Affect All of Us

I’m a Jennie Allen fan and this episode, which was shared to me. I thought it was a powerful learning!

My New Devotional, Power Routines 2 is now available at Sugar Hill Church.
Instigating the habits of Gratitude, Scripture Reading, Journaling and Guided Prayer is a powerful way to CHANGE THE TRAJECTORY OF YOUR LIFE! Pick up your copies of POWER ROUTINES II at Sugar Hill Church!

A Quote from PAULA WHITE

“Don’t waste another moment crying over what went wrong! If it wasn’t a blessing – it was a lesson.”

The Weekday Podcast and the Weekday Meditation

The Podcast is a 5 minute/day, 5 day/week Cup of Encouragement, straight from the Scriptures. The Meditation is about 7 minutes/day, 5/day/week and is designed to give you a combined and guided prayer/meditation experience.

Both of these resources are available on the Sugar Hill Church APP or WeekdayPodcast.com & WeekdayMeditation.com

Go in Peace, 
AChuck

More from the Southern Border

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More from the Southern Border by A-Chuck Allen

I am writing this articled from the El Paso Airport. The President is flying in and while I respect the office, POTUS is messing up my airspace and departure time!

I spent a few hours in Juarez, Mexico yesterday. I walked across the bridge from El Paso to Juarez and within five steps realized why people from Mexico and the Northern Triangle of Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras try anything to get into the United States. I visited a few shelters and saw what is in store for the folks that are awaiting their NTA (Notice to Attend). The NTA is a good indicator of their qualification to claim asylum in the States. Like him, hate him, or just cannot take the tweets, this administration has opened doors for faith communities to step in and help more than any administration than I have been aware of in my short 59 years on this planet.

As folks say, the proof is in the pudding. And here is the latest from the Southern Border of these great United States of America:

  • The guy in the picture above is Chief Clay Thomas of the El Paso Border Station #1. He’s a 25 year veteran of the Border Patrol. I’ve seen this guy interact with the Border Agents and Migrant families. I have tangibly felt the character, competence and commitment he brings to the job. I want to vote for him! This dude is all that is right with America. He loves baseball, he’s a family man, he’s a straight shooter and he’s the right man for what we need on the border! He’d make a great President, but then he’d have to take a demotion from his role. Here’s to you, Clay!
  • The administration’s MPP (Migrant Protection Protocol) is working. The threatened tariffs have forced the Mexican government to create a very nice shelter that can house some three-thousand people that have expedited notices to appear to plead their case for asylum. I visited that shelter on Tuesday while in Juarez, Mexico. I saw the food that they were being served by Mexican soldiers and it looked great. According to the folks in the shelter, “it was really good.” The people in the shelter are comfortable, safe and well cared for. They can only be there for two weeks before they either have their NTA or need to seek shelter elsewhere on the Mexican side of the border. That’s where the breakdown occurs. But there are faith groups, churches and NGO’s (non-governmental organizations) that are trying their best, but they need a lot of help. They need food, clothings, necessities and they need on-mission churches (stateside) to come to their little spot in this world and help make their stay productive (as in training them in real-world skills), comfortable (as in air conditioning, clean water, food, diapers, beds and generators), and meaningful (as in showing them the love of the Divine). Many of these folks are already returning to their home countries and the Mexican Department of Immigration (IOM) is delivering these folks as far as they can (Guatemala). Many will await their NTA, and many will be placed on US soil and discover a new community and the experience of living in the greatest country on the planet. It’s not ideal yet, but it is a far greater situation than just a few short weeks ago.
  • Families are only separated when they are proven to not be a family at all, the parent is a know felon with proven criminal activity, or the child/parent has a viral sickness, and that is temporary. To continue that line of political positioning is unfounded and irresponsible. But we can help by assisting the families that are placed on US soil and our friends at Care Portal are preparing a Border database that will allow families in the States (connected to churches) temporarily “adopt” these folks and meet their needs as they get acclimated to a new way of life. This is a joint effort with Care Portal, Operation Border Blessing, Sugar Hill Church and the United States Health and Human Services in Washington. I have found that all of these parties are committed to discovering long-tern solutions. When people claim that the church cannot work side by side with our governmental agencies, that’s just a lie. They are working with us. I’ve been on multiple telephone and zoom video calls putting this in place. They are no different than me and you. They just want us to offer some gratitude for what they do and help them to succeed.
  • The city of El Paso is in a state of shock and grief following the shootings last Saturday. After spending a few hours with victims at University Hospital, I stopped by “ground Zero (Walmart) and there were still hundreds of people there with flowers, candles and objects that, in some way, were conveying their deep sorrow. It was reverent and respectful. As you looked over the hill into the parking lot, it was startling to see the remaining cars of the victims parked in what feels and smells like a place where death resides.
  • My time of prayer and grief counseling included a family of three survivors. A daddy that had attempted to hide his wife and nine-year old daughter in a small office when the madman chased them down and shot all three. The dad is still in ICU and is touch and go. The wife had additional surgery and the little girl is still healing from her wounded thigh. This dad did what daddy’s are supposed to do…protect his family. The family is from Chihuahua, Mexico, some four hours from this Walmart. They had come to visit family in Juarez and shop a bit at Walmart and then head back to Chihuahua. Now, they face months of hospital recovery and rehab. My assurance to them was that the CHURCH would step up and make certain that they would be cared for. While I was with them, Pastor Paula White called and assured them with the same comfort and prayed with us all. More details on how you can help with that next week.
  • I was able to visit two of the Border Stations in the El Paso Region, agaion and I am happy to report that the numbers are still higher than the old normal, but are manageable to yje new normal, and the Border Patrol have done a great job. While at the centers, the agents displayed some of the biometric tests, document proofs and DNA rapid results. Not only did it amaze me, it shows the degree of commitment that while there is still so much to do, our Border Agents are doing a great job. Did I mention that I’d vote for Chief Clay Thomas in a heartbeat?

I’ll share more about how we can all help next week, but for now, please pray for El Paso. They are reeling from the fear, the new normal and the fact that their typically safe West Texas town has been thrust into the national spotlight in the worst possible way.

There is so much to do and I am working with many in preparing a more comprehensive serve strategy that can assist Migrant Families, Border Patrol Families and all involved. In the meantime, please pray for this dear family. They are in need of our financial assistance to continue remaining together through this trial. The doctors have prepared them that they will need to stay in El Paso for at least 7 months. That’s a lot of meals, housing and expenses for a small Mexican family. If you would like to help this family, please email me – chuck@achuckallen.com

One other encouraging word is that my good friend, Todd Lamphere has coordinated the efforts of the National Association of Christian Counselors to provide the spiritual, emotional and familial counseling and grief recovery counseling for any of the families that have been involved in this crisis, including the first responders.

Finally, I want to thank Sugar Hill Church! You folks are the most generous, gracious people ever! You have shared your pastor and your gifts with Migrant families, Border Patrol Officers, families in the midst of horrific grief and I am so grateful. I love you, Sugar Hill Church!

More to Come,
AChuck

The Hatred of Mass Shootings

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The Hatred of Mass Shootings by AChuckAllen

It seems so incredibly terrible that we now have to think of an active shooter at every place that large groups gather. I am beyond greived that this is the new normal in America. This evil could happen anywhere in our country.

There is no explaining how an individual can be so overcome by evil that they might actually load a magazine and empty it’s contents into the bodies of unarmed, innocent people. I understand that many of these evil perpetrators are mentally ill, but even in that state, it requires an evil presence that extends beyond the typical barbarian bigotry that resides in their souless person.

My heart breaks for the families in El Paso and Dayton. My heart still breaks for the familes at Sandy Hook, Charleston and Columbine. I am not here to ask for more stringent laws for guns, although I must ask, “why does any civilian need an assault rifle with extra large magazines filled with enough amunition to reel off multiple deaths in a few seconds?”

I am appealing to the churches and the people that attend them to rise up in a radical force of graciousness, kindness and service to our neighbors! I am asking each of you that read this article to start where you are and offer a graciousness to every person that your life crosses paths with. I am asking you use what you have and extend grace to the extent that it changes the narrative from what is wrong in our society to what is great about walking in the peace, power and presence of Jesus, the Son of the Living God! I am asking each of you to do what you can, and create an attitude of servanthood, that causes you to act more like Jesus and serve others as His story of the Good Samaritan describes.

I greatly appreciated the wise words of Dr. Jim Denison in the wake of these needless killings – “While society should obviously take all effective measures to protect itself, here’s my biblical point: Jesus can change any life he touches. He can heal any trauma. He can redeem any crisis. The God who turned a murdering Pharisee into a missionary of grace can transform anyone. The more secularized our culture becomes, the more evangelistic our churches must become. The more people during a crisis ridicule our prayers, the more they need our prayers. The more traumatized and victimized our society, the more vital our compassion.

As I write this article, I am on the way to El Paso to help minister to first responders and families that have been scarred forever by the evil hatred deployed by a madman intent on breaking our will and thus allowing evil to win.

I beg you, do not allow hate to win! Don’t allow the wild-eyed, bigoted haters infect you with their vile evil. Do not let the fear of hate-filled evildoers rob you of your peace! Do not give in to bigotry and to those who spew it from their mouths! Don’t buy the lies that good and godly people are extinct! To give in is to join these wicked, cowardly people in their desire to rid our world of people created in the image of God.

I plead with you to not join the ranks of “us versus them” in your conversations. Please don’t join the likes of talk show pundits on the right or left side of the aisle. To do is to grant the wish of every evil shooter that has ever walked the face of this planet. This isn’t about Republicans, Democrats, Independants or politics. This the result of sin and hate-filled hearts. Yes, politics and policy are part of the discussion, but we must cease the rediculous finger pointing and blame game.

The only way to defeat hate is to overwhelm it with love. Like many of you, I enjoy a good ol rip roaring dress down of whoever “the other side is.” But friend, we cannot afford to only see solutions in others! We can no longer cast blame to whoever or whatever is the “other side.” We can no longer fall prey to the ratings demons that clammer for our attention as we nod our heads as though the shtick they play is the gospel truth. We must have an answer within us, before the problem comes to our door. That solution has been clearly described in the four gospel writers, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. In short, it is a world striving to live more like Christ and walking away from the bait cast before us as though we were being fished for, only to be weighed, fileted and displayed as co-conspiritors in Satan’s grand game of evil.

For the first time in my ministry, I received a threat that disturbed me. I feared for my family, my church and my community. But hear me! I will not be detoured from the high calling to love one another and neither should you. It is in that faith-filled commitment that we will regain the sanity of this run amuck evil.

I cannot adequately write how desperately I long for you to stand firm on the foundation of Jesus and proclaim in your words, actions, attitudes and convictions, that He was right when He walked on this earth and He is still right. We are to love one another. We are to love white people, brown people, black people and all people. We are to love the immigrant, the migrant, the Muslim, the Jew, the Athiest, and the Hindu. We are to love gay people and straight people, the transgender and the redneck. We are to love the rich, the impoverished, the single mom, the addict, the widow, the orphan and the hardliner. We are to love each other. Not just those we agree with, but love others…period!

If you are sick of this evil, stop blaming congress, the administration, the gun, the educational system, or the government! Take a deep and sincere look at your own heart and ask where bigotry, hate, anger, pettiness or unconfessed sin might remain in your heart. Confess that before the God of all Creation and receive His forgiveness…and then open up your heart and hands to love people into a radical, life-altering relationship with His Son.

For those of you that know me, you know that I can be sarcastic, quick tempered and completely biased. I am asking you to hold me accountable to a higher standard! I am part of the problem and I desire to part of the solution. Will you join me in taking the high road when everything is screaming to take a bite of justice on your own? Will you join me in seeking to take the lowest possible position and serve others in the model of Jesus, instead of demanding more rights? Will you lay down your pitchfork long enough to allow the voice of reason, found in a daily walk with God to shock you into the trust that God can and will deal with evil, if we will simply trust Him more and enough?

One last thought, for those of you that might say, “Chuck, that’s just preacher-talk.” Will you try the way of Christ before you jump to earthly assumptions? I think you know what assuming does to us.

Choose Peace Today,
AChuck

4forFRIDAY with AChuckAllen

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This week’s 4forFRIDAY August 2, 2019

I love to share good reads, learnings, listens and reviews with friends and followers. So, thanks for joining me on my 4forFRIDAY BLOG. Each week, the 4forFRIDAY offers recommended Reads, Listens, Learnings and Reviews, simply for your enjoyment. Thanks Again! If you don’t already subscribe to my Weekday Meditation Podcast, I encourage you to check it out HERE. If you missed thearticles that I posted earlier this month regarding my trip to the Southern Border, you can find it HERE.

A Really Great Pizza: Nancy’s Pizza

I love a good pizza. I love thin crust, hand tossed, you name it, but whe I ate a personal stuffed pizza from Nancy’s it was a full meal in one slice. If you’ve never had a Chicago syle really, really deep dish pizza from Nancy’s you’re missing out!

A Really Good Biography: Martin Luther by Heinz Schilling

This isn’t one of the books that you rave about unless you love history. I was fascinated by the theological, political and sociological positions and platforms Luther stood on and how they shaped the future of Christianity.

A Binge-Worthy Amazon Original: The Man in the High Castle

We are midway through season two and are hooked. Based on Philip K. Dick’s award-winning novel, The Man in the High Castle explores what it would be like if the Allied Powers had lost WWII, and Japan and Germany ruled the United States. I think you’ll be entertained watching this thriller.

BONUS RECOMMENDATION!

Another Great Read from James Clear: 5 Lessons on Being Wrong

I love this guys writings. They always challenge and sharpen me. I especially was challenged in this really good article.

A Really Good Listen: What We Often Get Wrong About Our Emotions with Alisdair Groves

This is a heady listen and it’s challenging, but really good. I want to encourage you to be sharpened by this podcast. Stick with it for the full 32 minutes!

My New Devotional, Power Routines 2 is now available at Sugar Hill Church.
Instigating the habits of Gratitude, Scripture Reading, Journaling and Guided Prayer is a powerful way to CHANGE THE TRAJECTORY OF YOUR LIFE! Pick up your copies of POWER ROUTINES II at Sugar Hill Church!

A Quote from Gene Edwards

“It appears that having a close walk with the Lord is not religiously acceptable.”

The Weekday Podcast and the Weekday Meditation

The Podcast is a 5 minute/day, 5 day/week Cup of Encouragement, straight from the Scriptures. The Meditation is about 7 minutes/day, 5/day/week and is designed to give you a combined and guided prayer/meditation experience.

Both of these resources are available on the Sugar Hill Church APP or WeekdayPodcast.com & WeekdayMeditation.com

Go in Peace, 
AChuck

Operation Border Blessing

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Operation Border Blessing by AChuckAllen

I’m headed back to our southern border next week and this time I have a plan. It is abundantly clear that we have a humanitarian crisis on the border, but it is a crisis that can become a blessing.

I don’t really care what your position is on immigration, the present administration, or your political preferences. What I do care about are the unaccompanied children and families that are in the middle of this mess. There are thousands of people that are seeking to become Americans every single day on the border. And there are processes in place to receive dozens each day that have been in place for decades. The resultsare a humanitarian mess.

You could take the position that has been touted to me by a lot of folks over the past month – “Those people should stay where they are. They don’t belong here.” Honestly, that is an uneducated and unrealistic view. Most of the folks that are seeking entry are families from South and Latin America. They are leaving the northern triangle of Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador. If you aren’t familiar with what is happening in those countries, get up to speed. These families are fleeing political, military and social disasters. That doesn’t even touch on the economic crisis and the natural disaster of drought keeping the agricultural sector virtually shut down. If you were from there, you would want to come to the US as well.

Did you know that there is a large population of Cubans making there way to the southern border as well? They aren’t thugs and criminals. Most of the Cuban migrants are professionals. They are doctors, lawyers, dentists, and a host of professional, well educated leaders. You could take the position that they got what they deserved and should stay in Cuba. But come on man! They can’t vote for their leaders and they cannot get paid there. There is a reason that communism and socialism fails in every place it has been forced into a society. It is unsustainable! Even though Cuba is one of the most beautiful places on earth, I would want to leave as well.

You could take the position that our government isn’t caring for these folks and that we are herding them like cattle. You could listen to “the squad” and media outlets reporting on things they have not seen for themselves and assume that the USA and specifically, the present administration is cold, callused and heartless. That would be the most rediculous position of all. I’ve seen the realities that our folks in green (Border Patrol) were indeed overwhelmed and overrun a couple of months ago, but the speed at which they have adjusted is beyond any governmental agency I have ever seen. If the DMV were to radically attack their systems like the Borcer Patrol, you could get your license in about 15 minutes every 5 years…just bless their hearts.

You could take the position that we should open up the doors and stop worrying about border security. But come on people. That’s just rediculous! Did you know that the Border Patrol can now identify family members and criminals with immediate bio-metrics and DNA results? Why yes, yes they can. Did you know that those folks don’t get in. But as long as Border Agents that are trained to patrol and protect our borders are needed as child care and nursing specialists, the borders remain more vulnerable to the folks that are criminals? We must have border security and we must be creative in how we can support the men and women in green and add to their numbers and pay them what they are worth! Families are treated with great respect and are placed at the front of the line and the administrations Migrant Protection Plan is working. Often the MPP is shortening the length of the “time in the middle” to weeks rather than years!

Okay, rant over.

After seeing the border firsthand (and by the way, I’m headed back there next week) and meeting with key leaders in the White House, State Department, Health and Human Services and Customs and Border Patrol, I think there are four immediate strategies that we regular people can do to assist in moving the needle from humanitarian crisis to a great blessing. It’s just a start, but every great movement began with something small. Here are four things we can start with:

  1. We are working on a process that would allow US families to “adopt” families that are in transistion on the Mexican side of the border, the American side of the border and families being placed on US soil. I use that term “adopt” loosely, not as a legal adoption, but rather like we can “adopt” a child in Kenya with financial emotional support. We can do this through a web-based system, knowing that most of the US families will never meet our “adopted” migrant familes, but for varying lengths of support, we can do what I believe the faith community should do – Care for widows, orphans, refugees and migrants.
  2. We can serve our existing Border Patrol in two ways. 1) We can support the Operation Border Blessing Appreciation Tour with gifts of many kinds. Gift cards, diapers, school supplies and non-parishable food. We can provide the simpler way to get help to these folks by way of cash gifts that will provide a Appreciation Party for the Border Patrol families. Last month, in El Paso, more than 700 people were blessed by these efforts. They were loved on, cared for and encouraged. Many were in tears, conveying that nobody has ever tried to do anything for them. That’s a shame! These folks are every bit as deserving of our support as any first responder or soldier. Honestly, Paula White’s ministry has lead the way and spearheaded this effort. I am so proud to see the results! I’m asking you to help us broaden this effort to encourage these servant leaders that have been demonized in the media. Please consider a gift of $100, $50 or $20 today. I’ll be in McAllen, Texas later in the month where we are expecting more than 1,000 agents and family members. I cannot do it alone. Would you consider a gift? Unitl such time as my new non-profit 501c3 entity is ready to receive gifts, please go online and give to Sugar Hill Church Border Blessing. Every penny will go to this effort, I promise. 2) We can pray specifically for Heaven sent wisdom and compassion for each agent. These are great people that need our Heavenly Father to overwhelm them with wisdom from on high and protection from harm…including the harm done by our own media. Imagine your spouse, that has 20 plus years in the Customs and Border Patrol being demonized and vilified by their own congressional leaders. You’d want somebody to stand in the gap for them! And these folks cannot stand up and speak out for themselves. We must do this for them!
  3. We can begin planning right now to gather our community and faith leaders to head to the Mexican side of the border to help strengthen the distribution centers, churches and NGO’s trying to serve the families and Unaccompanied Children with work projects, kids sports camps, Backyard Bible Clubs, VBS, Awana, medical and dental clinics, and music camps. We can go, serve and love these folks into the Kingdom all for one reason – we are called to love one another!
  4. We are working on plans that would allow vetted families in the US to become short-term foster families for the unaccompanied children until they can be placed in appropriate long term care with their friends and schools that are already established in the US. More on that to come.

I have to wrap this up and I appreciate you sticking with me this far. We can start engaging with this effort right now. Please consider helping me and helping Operation Border Blessing pull off our Appreciation Tour in McAllen, Texas (August 17) by giving generously. Simply Click HERE and give through credit, or debit card. Again, 100% of these gifts will be used on the border with ZERO administrative costs!

I’ll report from the Mexican side of the El Paso sector next week. I would greatly appreciate your prayers as we head into Juarez, Mexico and the border area that has been in the middle of this political firestorm. Thank you for caring!

Go in Peace Today,
AChuck

4forFRIDAY with ACHUCKAllenj

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This week’s 4forFRIDAY July 26, 2019

I love to share good reads, learnings, listens and reviews with friends and followers. So, thanks for joining me on my 4forFRIDAY BLOG. Each week, the 4forFRIDAY offers recommended Reads, Listens, Learnings and Reviews, simply for your enjoyment. Thanks Again! If you don’t already subscribe to my Weekday Meditation Podcast, I encourage you to check it out HERE. If you missed thearticles that I posted earlier this month regarding my trip to the Southern Border, you can find it HERE.

A Great Read for Folks Striving to Achieve Significance from Michael Hyatt: 5 Reasons Why You Should Commit Your Goals to Writing

I’m a bonafide fan of the Michael Hyatt Company. They are a first class organization and I’ve been fortunate to be a part of his coaching network for the past year. I’ve been stretched and pulled into a better leader and have tripled my effeciency and productivity. As a pastor, author, speaker and leader I need all of the help I can get. Take this advice and buy into his planner. It’ll change your life…guaranteed!

A Solid Local Bagel Joint: Everything Bagel in Buford

New York style bagel with southern hospitality. I’ll be a regular to this new business that just opens for the public today. I stopped by for a bite at their soft opening with 680 the Fan on site…good stuff even though it shares the same shopping center with Marathon Gas. I think you’ll like it!

A Great Movie for Families and Date Nights: The Lion King

We loved this movie! The theater was filled with adults and the crowd actually cheered for the film when it finished. I think that a lot of folks took their kids to see the animated version and nostalgia drew them back to see this remade classic. Whatever it is that attracts you, go see it. You’ll be so glad that you did!

A Really Good and Short Read from The Harvard Business Review

If you feel like you are working harder than ever, but making no significant progress, take 10 minutes and read this excellent article! If you are a pastor or business leader, this read will give you a bit of fresh insight.

A Quote from G.K. Chesterton

“Most modern freedom is at root fear. It is not so much that we are too bold to endure rules; it is rather that we are too timid to endure responsibilities.”

The Weekday Podcast and the Weekday Meditation

The Podcast is a 5 minute/day, 5 day/week Cup of Encouragement, straight from the Scriptures. The Meditation is about 7 minutes/day, 5/day/week and is designed to give you a combined and guided prayer/meditation experience.

Both of these resources are available on the Sugar Hill Church APP or WeekdayPodcast.com & WeekdayMeditation.com

Go in Peace, 
AChuck

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