Achuckallen

Instigating Better

Friendship

Three Simple Steps to a Better Marriage

by

Three Simple Steps to a Better Marriage, by AChuckAllen

I’ve been married twice. Once for 25 years and again for 13 years. Over the collective 38 years I’ve learned three things that can improve and strengthen every single marriage. After my first wife passed away in 2005, I was determined that I would be single and travel to every NFL stadium and every MLB stadium and settle down in a quiet little town in Southwest Florida. Two years later, I fell in love and asked Jenny and her four girls to marry me an my two girls. 13 years later, I’m happy, healthy and almost to the end of college tuition for 6 daughters. Just praise the Lord!

In the 38 years of marriage I’ve learned these three very simple elements that will benefit every marriage, at any stage. Here you go:

Be kind and be gracious with your spouse.
Never stop using words of gratitude and grace. Speaking kindly and use words of affirmation and value. Determine to be more gracious with your spouse than you would any dignitary you were trying to impress at a party. Your spouse knows when you are breaking out your finest fake graciousness. Keep it real and keep it consistent. Here are four phrases that remain powerfully poignant in every marriage.

I love you every single day and cannot wait to see you tonight
I’m so sorry. I would never want to hurt you. Please forgive me.
Thank you. I am so glad we are us.
I prayed for you today. Thank you for being my sweetheart.

Keep talking about the things that matter.
BUT! Keep listening to what is being said as urgently as you speak. Never rob your spouse of their voice. We all need conversation and we all grow together as we chat and converse about what each other thinks about any number of topics. Jenny and I talk about everything and disagree and some things. But she makes me a better thinker. She has made me a better speaker. And, she has made me a better listener.

Allow your spouse to be your number one encourager, critic and accountability partner.
When you build trust in your marriage, you will find that you can encourage each other easily. Use words of truthful affirmation, like; You look great. You do so much for us, thank you. When trust is strengthen you can also encourage your spouse by making them better by speaking truth into their life, like; You are such a wonderful influence on our family, but when you lose it, the kids and I see the less than the wonderful you. And, when you allow your spouse to be your number one accountability partner, trust and contentment are a hand and glove experience. Share every password, every calendar, every account and your every moment with your spouse and truth will not only make your life more peace-filled, but it will literally build a force-field around you that will protect your peace when circumstances want to destroy it.

Thank you for joining me on today’s article. I’d love for you to join me each weekday for five minutes of PEACE, POWER & DIRECTION on my Weekday Meditation. Just five minutes each day and five days each week. A simple, guided, prayerful meditation designed for busy, thoughtful folks, desiring God to show up in their daily lives.

Go in Peace,
AChuck

The Sermon Not Preached Sunday.

by

The Sermon Not Preached Sunday 9/29 by AChuckAllen

It was a perfectly beautiful Sunday, if it were the middle of July. Ninety degrees and a heat index adding another 10 degrees made for a challenging morning for an outside Worship Gathering. That’s why this sermon wasn’t taught. So, here you go…The sermon not preached on Sunday!

Can you imagine what it’s like to be blind? I mean, what if you couldn’t see anything? What if you couldn’t even imagine what the world’s most beautiful beach looked like? Or what if you had never seen a sunset as the purple turns to orange and the orange fades to pink on a beautiful summer evening? What if you felt like you offered nothing to society? That you were considered a problem rather than a person?

What if, like the character in our story today, you had to panhandle, you begged for your sustenance and survival? Having to sit there every day in the hot sun and call out to people walking down the street, people you can’t even see, who might be mocking you even as they drop something in your cup.

So it was with a man by the name of Bartimaeus. Every day on the side of the road, sweaty and grimy with the nasty dust kicked up in his face, and the stinking animals…well, let’s not go there today..

Let’s try to walk alongside Jesus as we see Him through the eyes of Witnesses. In Mark’s account today from the New Testament writer of Mark 10:46-52.

Mark 10:46-52

[46] Then they reached Jericho, and as Jesus and his disciples left town, a large crowd followed him. A blind beggar named Bartimaeus (son of Timaeus) was sitting beside the road. [47] When Bartimaeus heard that Jesus of Nazareth was nearby, he began to shout, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” [48] “Be quiet!” many of the people yelled at him. But he only shouted louder, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” [49] When Jesus heard him, he stopped and said, “Tell him to come here.” So they called the blind man. “Cheer up,” they said. “Come on, he’s calling you!” [50] Bartimaeus threw aside his coat, jumped up, and came to Jesus. [51] “What do you want me to do for you?” Jesus asked. “My Rabbi,” the blind man said, “I want to see!” [52] And Jesus said to him, “Go, for your faith has healed you.” Instantly the man could see, and he followed Jesus down the road.

I wonder, as he awakened that morning, if Bartimaeus thought there to be anything unusual about this day? I doubt it. It likely dawned like any other day; he was likely awakened by the early-morning noise of the city of Jericho.

Bartimaeus clutched his ever-present coat around himself and struggled to his feet. His crude living quarters provided him shelter and little else. With matted hair and unshaven face, this blind beggar began to make his way into town.

Most of those who did see him diverted their attention away from him quickly. It is difficult for the sighted to fathom the handicap of blindness; it is difficult for us to fathom what grinding poverty must be like. He lived a life of surviving on charity, on people’s leftovers. He experienced little joy in life, little success, little peace. His daily goal was survival.

And so he sat. Passover was coming, and the crowds in the streets would be larger—maybe this would be a more profitable day than most!

Meanwhile, a crowd had gathered around Jesus. Jericho was only about 15 miles away from Jerusalem, and the main road ran right through town. Jesus was on His way to the Passover; and so, people gathered around and listened to his teaching on the trip.

If Vice-President Pence were walking through Sugar Hill, a lot of folks would come out! So the streets would be lined with people. And maybe, just maybe, this would be a red-letter day for a beggar like Bartimaeus!

Anticipation was heavy in the air as the crowd began to enter the city of Jericho. The mood was festive; people were hopeful that they were in the beginning stages of ushering in God’s long-awaited Messiah, the political deliverer who’d get them out of this bondage to the Romans.

They say that when a person loses one of their senses, others compensate to the degree that they are able. His sense of hearing then being keenly developed, Bartimaeus could tell that something had caused a huge crowd.

He had to find out what all the commotion was all about, and so he cried out, asking if anyone could tell him the reason for the ruckus, and he was told: Jesus of Nazareth was coming that way!

He had heard stories about the rabbi, the miracle worker.

“How could a man do these things unless God is with him?” Many times he had thought, “If only I were in the presence of this Jesus, he could heal me too!”

He had no eyesight, but perhaps he had remarkable insight. Helen Keller said, “Better to be blind and to see with your heart, than to have two good eyes and see nothing.”

This was Bartimaeus’ moment of truth; it was act now, or forever be consigned to blindness; forever wonder what might have been; forever live with regret and pain. There come such moments of decision in this life for all of us. Moments which, looked back upon, are make-or-break moments.

He swam in the sea, drank of the deep Embraced the mystery of all he could be. This was his time!

For Bartimaeus, the opportunity was now-or-never. He didn’t allow the negativity of the crowds deter him. He didn’t worry about his handicap; he didn’t lament what he couldn’t do, rather he just did what he could. He didn’t hesitate; he began calling out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me! Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”

Did you catch the response of resistance from the crowd; they tried to shut him up. Why spoil the Passover celebration? “We’re on our way to the Holy City; we have no time for a blind beggar!” “Don’t bother the Master, you old beggar man!” “He’s got more important things to do than to fool with you!”

Oh the irony here!

This is the church crowd, on their way to a religious festival! These are people who are listening to Jesus’ talk about the kingdom of God! They are in the right place, listening to the right thing and they completely miss the point!

Sunday morning doesn’t matter a whole lot if what we do when we leave this place doesn’t reflect the truth that we have met with Jesus, the Son of the Living God!

There were people who were with Jesus, listening and taking it all in, in the right place, if you will, but when it came to helping out a blind man, they told him to shut up. They failed to seize a golden opportunity that smacked them right in the face. Does that represent what the church does sometimes? They were so interested in listening and so woefully short when it came to obeying. They told the blind man that Jesus wouldn’t have time for him.

But that’s where they were wrong, dead wrong. Jesus was far more concerned with the hurting and the needy than His schedule or His fame.

Bartimaeus just cried out all the more, “Jesus, Son of David, hey, have mercy on me!” When the cry reached Jesus’ ears, it froze Him in His tracks. That phrase, “Son of David”, had significant overtones; this is the first time we read that anyone had publicly referred to Jesus as such. He heard a plaintive cry and a prophetic salute at the same time! Jesus knew who was crying out for Him and why.

And so Jesus, on His way to becoming the Savior of the world, stops to become the servant of a blind beggar!

The fickle crowd had been saying, “Shut up!” Now, their refrain changes, as they say, effectively, “Cheer up!”

There was a real reason to cheer up, to take courage, for Someone was here Who could make a real difference! Now the crowd said, “Get up!” The Master was calling, and when Jesus calls, we better not stay where we are. Up to his feet he leapt, and following as best he could the sound of the voice, he made his way to Jesus. Tossing aside his old coat he made his way to Jesus. Bartimaeus responds to the call of Jesus.

“What do you want?” Jesus asked. In Bartimaeus He saw true faith. God responds to faith! And He asks Bartimaeus, “what do you want?” He asked Bartimaeus to articulate the words of faith, words that acknowledge why the blind man had called for Jesus in the first place: “Teacher, I want to see!” And Jesus granted His request!

Think of it: total darkness to 20/20 vision in a millisecond! And just think – the very first thing that blind man saw was the face of Jesus! He once was blind, but now he sees!

But the story doesn’t end here. Bartimaeus “began following Jesus on the road.” He never went back and grabbed the old coat. When Jesus changes us, we don’t need the old things anymore! Just imagine the things that Bartimaeus would see just a few short days later, as this gentle Healer was scourged and mocked and then crucified.

The faith that caused Bartimaeus to call out “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” was a faith that sustained this man, having been delivered by the mercy for which he cried, through the most trying of times, a faith that was bolstered by the event of the resurrection!

And there, lying on the ground by the Jericho roadside, is an old coat, no longer wanted or needed by a man whose life has been radically transformed by Jesus, now a memorial of the fact that, when Jesus changes a life, we don’t need the old stuff anymore!

Are you ready to lay down your old coat and let Jesus, the same Jesus that stopped for Bartimaeus stop here in Sugar Hill and offer you healing, forgiving mercies?

Peace by Yours, ACHUCK

These are Superpowers

by

These Are Superpowers by ACHUCKAllen

I grabbed a Delta jet to my hometown, Daytona Beach, Florida Sunday afternoon to officiate a friend’s son’s wedding. It was a rainy afternoon with thunderstorms strong enough to sweep the beach of every vacationing family. I thought that we would definitely be having an indoor wedding. This is a young couple that needed a wedding to happen on the beach, just outside the condominium that the groom has been vacationing at for 20 plus years. It wasn’t looking good as the skies grew darker.

But at 7:00pm, just thirty-minutes before the wedding, the clouds blew out and the sun started peeking around the now white and fluffy clouds. By 7:30, there was a nice breeze and it was a beautiful evening for a wedding on the beach.

What was the superpower that moved that storm away? A daddy that loves his boy and a couple that has chosen the path of grace and kindness over judgement and legalism. The answer the groom’s daddy gave every person regarding the weather was simple. To every person, whether they were Followers of Jesus or not, his answer was, “well, the Lord is good and He heard our prayers.” Was the prayer the superpower or the kindness? And the answer is YES!

Here is what I know with great certainty: When you openly speak about the things of God, good things happen.

On Monday, I was on my way from my room to the hotel elevator when I met Kadian . Kadian is a young mom from Jamaica. I said the usual “good morning and how are you today” remarks and she seemed timid and a bit distracted. I was hungry and hopped on the elevator and hit the button for the lobby. It was at that moment the Lord spoke as clearly to me as I was hoping a server would when I ordered my breakfast. The Lord was clear. “Chuck, stop the elevator, go back and give that girl some money.” He was specific about the amount and the action. I responded like I often do, “Lord, I’ll find her after breakfast.”

Here’s a life lesson. The Lord doesn’t desire His kids to delay in acting on His directions.

So, I got off the elevator at the Lobby, smelling the sausage, bacon, French toast and biscuits (sorry). And I got back on the elevator and road back to the tenth floor. I found Kadian and told her that the Lord told me to bring her this money. She teared up and asked me to stop in the middle of the hallway and pray for her. I did and decided to pray big. When I said amen and finished, two separate couples had joined in the serendipitous prayer meeting and we were all crying. Kadian looked me in the eyes and said that she told her son, as she left their apartment early Monday morning that “God would provide today.” Well, how bout that?

Was it the money or the act of Kindness the Lord directed me with. The answer is YES!

Again, When you openly speak about the things of God, good things happen.

You have superpowers at your disposal every single day. Prayer, Kindness, Graciousness and Obedience. I wonder what our world might look like if we were to lay down our egos, logos and personal preferences and replaced them with Prayer, Graciousness and Obedience? Imagine a day that you choose the superpower of openly speaking about the things of God…and good things happen? Would we really make a dent in this planet for the betterment of mankind? The Answer, YES!

Go in Peace,
AChuck

The Politics of Jesus

by

The Politics of Jesus by AChuckAllen

I grew up in the home of a politician. For those of you that knew my father, you knew him as Brother Ken or Pastor Ken. But long before that he was Ken Allen, State Representative, State Senator, Chairman of the Republican Party and almost Lieutenant Governor.

You can imagine, there were no donkeys in our home and when I voted in my first presidential election and cast my vote for Jimmy Carter, my dad almost cried.

Over the years I’ve voted for folks on both sides of the aisle and I must confess that in my past 4-5 years I’ve discovered that there is a reason why we are such a diverse culture —- we don’t think the same way for a purpose. I’ve learned to lay down my party lines and sought after the line that God the Creator of the Universe has laid down. Friend, that’s worth this discussion.

Here are a few thoughts to prime your pump.

1. If Jesus had chosen to walk the face of this earth in our generation He wouldn’t sit on either the right or left side of the aisle. He has an aisle all His own. If Jesus were here in the flesh today, what would He do in our present political environment? Would He campaign to get His favorite candidate elected? No, He would still be declaring the message He spoke about when He came during the first century. The solution to man’s problems is not to reform present governments, but rather to replace them with the Kingdom of God.

2. If Jesus were to vote, He would vote for His Father and His FATHER’s ways. “Now after John was put in prison, Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel’” (Mark 1:14-15)

3. If Jesus were to lobby the hallowed halls of Congress, He would hold up His Word as evidence. Under the scrutiny and temptation following 40 days without food, Jesus replied to Satan…”It is written” The Son of God knew the Word of God was the Bond of God as a Covenant with God and His people!

4. If Jesus were to be under the scrutiny of a special counsel, He wouldn’t be guilty of anything but being fully, completely and utterly the way, the truth and the life. The question we should be asking, then, isn’t whether Jesus is on our side, but whether we’re on his. This is the appropriate question not only for politics and government, but also every other concern.

5. If Jesus were to look at our present government, He would say, honor your government. Pray for your leaders and seek the face of the Heavenly Father before you vote…but vote! “Let every soul, be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves” Romans 13:1-2

In the Old Testament, in a time of political upheaval…some might have called it a constitutional crisis, three young guys show us the way. In Daniel 3:1–30, the King builds a golden image (most likely of himself) and demands, by law that all the people of the kingdom fall tp their knees and worship this golden image when they here music. I mean, what in the world?

Friend, This World Wants You to TRUST in POLITICS and POLITICIANS

These men – really young men had been enslaved and removed from their homes forced into a new land with new faiths and new politics. Babylon and King Nebuchadnezzar had become a godless and wicked land. It had become a land filled with angry people, living ungodly lives and were being ruled by even worse governmental leaders.

Their leaders, in particular the king had determined that he was THE MAN. He was the final authority and so he builds a massive statue that was to represent he and his government, his greatness and his power.

But listen to what James says about this problem that seems to be a problem today, just as it was in the day of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.. Don’t you know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? So whoever wants to be the world’s friend becomes God’s enemy. Or do you think it’s without reason the Scripture says that the Spirit who lives in us yearns jealously? James 4:4–5

Now, maybe there were some folks that said to the king, “dude, this might not be the best or play.” “Are you sure that you want to require everybody to bow down and worship it?” But their world and this world wants you to worship something! And by the way, everybody is doing it, right? I mean, it’s a new rule, a new law. It’s what the king has requested.

We were made in the image of God, our Creator. We have been called to a citizenship that exceeds even the greatest country on the planet. The Scriptures teach us that we are citizens of Heaven! As Followers of Jesus, the priorities of our lives are to FIRST be governed by God.

So, a few dudes took this occasion to come forward and maliciously accuse the the three guys Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. They said to King Nebuchadnezzar, “May the king live forever. You as king have issued a decree that everyone who hears the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, drum, and every kind of music must fall down and worship the gold statue. Whoever does not fall down and worship will be thrown into a furnace of blazing fire.

There are some Jewish guys you have appointed to manage the province of Babylon: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. These guys have ignored you, the king; they do not serve your gods or worship the gold statue you have set up. Then in a furious rage Nebuchadnezzar gave orders to bring in Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego to him. So these men were brought before the king. Nebuchadnezzar asked them,

“Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, is it true that you don’t serve my gods or worship the gold statue I have set up? Now if you’re ready, when you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, drum, and every kind of music, fall down and worship the statue I made. But if you don’t worship it, you will immediately be thrown into a furnace of blazing fire—and who is the god who can rescue you from my power?” Daniel 3:8–15

The Politics of this World will DARE YOU to Live for God

These three young men. Bright promising futures ahead of them as leaders and leaders of leaders have been dared, as we are today to step outside of the binary, silly political winds of donkeys and elephants and stand firm on the Word of the Living God.

They were being dared to stand when the political ways and winds said to kneel. Even facing a persecution that goes way beyond being ostracized on social media. Way beyond uncomfortable conversation at the dinner table. Light years away from losing a promotion. They were dared to kneel or die. Kneel or be thrown into the fiery furnace. We are talking cremation heat. Instantaneous death!

But here is what they knew…they knew that they had been made in the image of God. They were image bearers of the Most-High God. They knew He would never leave them or forsake them.

Notice that the King asks the most telling question: “Who is this God that can rescue you from MY POWER?

All of a sudden, these young men have to make three choices:

1. What should I do politically?

2. What should I do morally?

3. What should I do spiritually?

They Were Faced with the Task to TRUST GOD REGARDLESS of the CONSEQUENCES

They didn’t write an op-ed in the Babylon Chronicle. They didn’t form a protest. They didn’t set chariots on fire and pillage stores. They didn’t go on BabylonBook or Jewishgram and see what their other friends were doing. They had to stand on something that mattered with an eternal surety.

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego replied to the king, “Nebuchadnezzar, we don’t need to give you an answer to this question. If the God we serve exists, then He can rescue us from the furnace of blazing fire, and He can rescue us from the power of you, the king. But even if He does not rescue us, we want you as king to know that we will not serve your gods or worship the gold statue you set up.”

Talk about ticked-off. The King was outside of his mind!

So these men, in their trousers, robes, head coverings, and other clothes, were tied up and thrown into the furnace of blazing fire. Since the king’s command was so urgent and the furnace extremely hot, the raging flames killed those men who carried Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego up. And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego fell, bound, into the furnace of blazing fire. Daniel 3:16–23

This World and its Politics will dare you LIVE LIKE YOU TRUST GOD.

  • Our challenges aren’t the result of poor leadership, they are all founded in poor followship! If you want God to step in and walk you through your fire, you must choose to follow Him, not just acknowledge Him
  • We don’t need better political parties. We don’t even need better politicians. We need citizens with a heart and soul turned toward Heaven.
  • We are in desperate need for our politics to be in perfect alignment with who God has created us to be. We have been created in His image, in His likeness, to walk in His ways and trust Him, not the system. Not the party line, spin room or political platform.
  • To get our politics right, we need to get our hearts right!

Romans 8:5 give us the key: “For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit.”

The Psalmist wrote in Psalm 34:7 “The Angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear Him, and rescues them.”

This desperate world needs to be rescued!

The King looks into the furnace and sees, not three, but four men in the fire. This is a King’s Holy Crap moment! These guys exited the furnace with all of the clothing intact. Without a scent of ash or fire. And the fourth guy? Well, He is no other than God Himself. He stepped in and didn’t let these faith-fille dudes avoid the fire. He did something far better. He got in the fire with them! Friend, God didn’t leave Heaven and come to this Earth to keep you from the fire, He came to get in the fire with you!

Politics is a game. A costly game. But listen, God isn’t playing a game. From the time of creation He has set His Kingdom in place and His Son, Jesus the Lord came to allow us entry into His Kingdom. A Kingdom with no term limits, no political limits and no limits of power. He has no boundaries, no treaties, no equals. He needs no allies, He isn’t elected and He has always been in charge, always will be in charge and doesn’t need the UN, NATO, presidents, kings, prime ministers or dictators. He is the Creator, Sustainer and Savior of the World and our allegiance is first and foremost to Him and to His ways and His will and we are to believe in Him, hope in Him, trust in Him and love Him. Why? Because He doesn’t need a strategy team, a press release, a spin doctor, a pollster, a pundit or a party.

He has one platform – YOU! You are who He has come to redeem and claim as His own child and in Him, the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. He is the rule, the law and the truth.

When we get our politics in line with God’s will, we will receive the hand of God’s blessings. America doesn’t need to ask for God’s blessings. America needs to become a land that is blessable.

Looking for a better way? Looking for a fresh and simpler way? Need a platform you can trust and a leader you can follow with all of your heart mind and soul? Then Jesus, the other in the fire is here for you!

The political position of Jesus is simple! You live for Him and He’ll never leave you alone. He’ll never leave you in a mess. He’ll never break a promise.

Go in Peace, AChuck

Here Comes the Judge

by

Here Comes the Judge by AChuckAllen

To judge means: to separate, to pick out, select, choose. By implication, it means to condemn, punish—avenge, conclude.

Our culture often uses Jesus’ words in Matthew chapter seven (“Do not judge, or you too will be judged.“) to promote a tolerance that often encourages acceptance of behaviors that the Bible forbids. We know that wasn’t Jesus’ intention. So, what did Jesus mean when He told us not to judge?

The Bible says we can’t judge what is in someone’s heart. We may assign bad motives to someone who ignores us when, in reality, they are fighting hidden battles. They may have just learned their spouse has been in an affair, or their child has cancer—or both.

Jenny and I were at her garden the other day and noticed a woman about 40 years of age in tattered clothing and a delapidated car parked at the garden park. I made a few assumptions like, “she is going to need money,” and “what’s she doing here?”

A few minutes later, she exited the junk car and walked our way. I asked Jenn if she had any cash, and honestly, I thought, “here we go again.” She stopped and gave us a lot of helpful gardening tips, showed us her thriving garden and then asked about our faith. For a pastor, I was convicted beyond undersatanding. I had assigned to this kind, gracious new friend an assumption that carried with it some significant judgement. Shame on me!

To judge another person shows our degree of selfishness and pride. Only God knows what is in a person’s heart and the effort it takes to function where they are. We might often assume that the late mom is irresponsible. But she may be a single mom working a couple of jobs and caring for a special needs child. We might not know what’s going on and not attempt to know simply out of the terminal certainty of our assumptions.

We can make vast assumptions without caring enough to know the story, heartache or need. The further we are from a problem, the easier the solution seems to us. Just nuke em! Until you realize there are children behind those closed doors, being educated by a missionary from the west. You see, a really good reason not to jump to our preferred assumptions is that the closer we get to a problem, the more complex the solution becomes.

John’s Gospel says “Stop judging by mere appearances, but instead judge correctly.” We aren’t to judge other Followers of Jesus who practice their faith in ways different than us. We may decide someone is spiritually immature because they don’t pray, dress, or practice faith in the way we do. But we do, don’t we?

Somebody is blasting away at another believer out on Facebook or Twitter about how they teach, preach, dress, sing and far too often we jump on the bandwagon of the mean string of comments. I really cannot find anything about that action that honors the Lord. Has it ever occured to you that you too could be blasted? As a person that gets blasted regularly, it’s often a matter of no significance, but rather, preference.

Maybe you don’t like the tattoo she wears on her ankle or that he has a cold beer when he comes in from cutting the grass. Maybe you think that neighbor that cuts their grass on Sunday morning should be in church, but you don’t really know if they worship at some other time.

Paul wrote, “You, then, why do you judge your brother or sister? Or why do you treat them with contempt? For we will all stand before God’s judgment seat… So then, each of us will give an account of ourselves to God. Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in the way of a brother or sister” (Romans 14:10, 12, 13).

When we stand before God, He won’t ask us why our friends, neighbors, co-workers or family members did what they did.

He will ask us to give an account of ourselves. To manage ourselves is a full-time job. The Holy Spirit doesn’t need us to do His job.

The scales of justice, God’s justice are not blind at all. You are not to judge others because you have an entire lifetime – and it will take that entire lifetime – to work on you. For every minute you spend judging and criticizing others, you are losing 30 minutes of self-help.

As a Follower of Jesus, what we see in the mirror, and more importantly, what the Lord points out in our time of meditation is more than a lifetime’s worth of effort and surrender without wasting a second on judging, gossiping and critiquing others!

If we truly want a better nation, state, county, city, community, school or home, we might should start by working on a better us.

“Judge not,” like all of Jesus’ commandments, is summed up in love. “Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law” (Romans 13:10).

Let’s lay down our gavels and hang up our robes. Let’s grow up spiritually and know the ways of God. Let’s be wise, be loving, be filled with grace, and let’s be overwhelmed by the mercy of the Divine.

Judge not, lest you be judged.

Go in Peace,
AChuck

CNN vs FOX NEWS

by

CNN vs FOX NEWS by AChuckAllen July 2, 2019

Okay, buckle up. This brief, but thoughtful article has been chewed on from every angle. I realize that this might be one of those equal opportunity offensive articles, but here goes.

I’m in what I believe to be a growing populous of Americans that cannot stand cable news channels. I just can’t take it anymore.

I feel like like I grow a bit more liberal in my older age, but honestly, I grow more liberal in grace, in love and in a desperate desire for a more civil society.

But I also grow more fiscally conservative in that same time of maturation.

Having said that, the blatant bias from alleged news outlets is completely out of control. It is brutally biased along party lines and ideological lines. But that’s not new. It’s been meeting and pushing the preferred agenda going back decades. Since I am a Baby Boomer, I can trace it back to the race, war and political riots of 1968. The difference is the amount of awareness in the age of the internet.

The answer cannot be to simply hunker down and take the thoughts of pundits with a political shtick and a b-level part to play on a stage and a talking point based in ratings, not truth.

The answer must be in what we choose to listen to and watch. I do not believe we are to park our brains and take in the predictable insanity of party line smack talk. It’s time to view cable news with the same degree of sincerity and significance as professional wrestling.

If CNN is Abdullah the Butcher and FOX NEWS is The Sheik, just wait for one of them to jump off the top rope and offer the world a tag-team, caged, death match.

In the meantime, let’s:

  • Pray for our leaders without concern for their political affiliation.
  • Choose to research wisely before assuming that your favorite pundit would never speak an untruth.
  • Never, ever demonstrate your lack of knowledge by using someone else’s manuscript as your alleged conviction.
  • Seek to understand, in an effort to provide solutions rather than piling on with more problems.
  • Start by recognizing that none of us are always correct.

If we were to invest the same amount of time on our personal development as we do watching cable news, we might actually solve a few problems instead of simply discovering more problems.

What do you think?

Peace, AChuck

%d bloggers like this: