Achuckallen

Instigating Better

God and Country

Politics and Theology

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October 21, 2021

We live in a strangely spiritual world here in America. On the one hand, we are more spiritual than ever and yet less religious than ever before. We are a country founded on Christian principles, yet we have and still fight over race, gender, and faith systems.

I doubt that a backwoods pastor|author|speaker like me can help that dysfunction, but I’d like to take a shot at what is a gross misrepresentation (maybe) of how our theology can get our faith in trouble when we replace it with politics.

I’m a political junkie. There, I said it. Whew! But I’m so disgusted by the way we have replaced our convictions with policy and politics. Please don’t hear me say that they do not intersect, but listen to me when I say that we have gone way past the point of reason.

I grew up in the home of a politician and pastor. I watched my dad serve as a voice of reason and delineate the difference between the two. Dad never seemed to replace his convictions grounded in his faith with the party politics, even though he was a state chairman of one of the two major parties. He somehow found a way to be a Republican without blindly going along to get along.

Here are the “things” that I fear we “evangelicals” are dangerously close to or have already crossed the line in.

  1. All policy matters. All policy affects all other policies. To choose a party, person, or policy, we must see the person’s whole and the entirety of the platform.
  2. The idea that any single person is qualified to run the country is truly a silly concept. The people the person surrounds themselves with are of equal or greater significance than just the person.
  3. To assume that as a Follower of Jesus, you must support one party and park your brain regarding the immediate contextual concerns is ridiculous. There are extraordinary people of faith on both sides of the aisle.
  4. We must be confident that we do not worship any person, plan, party, or policy. Let our worship be connected to God alone.
  5. The voice of American Christians is far more vocal when it comes to our political preferences – or favorite news channel – than we are about the wonderful Christ we claim as Savior. No explanation needed, I fear.
  6. We must be willing to question our motives when it comes to our politics. The Christian life doesn’t change leaders every four years. He is the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. He is not subject to voters and their whims.
  7. Character and decency matter as much as toughness and savvy. It’s an age-old challenge. But I am confident that the ends rarely justify the means. How we lead is as important as what we accomplish.

Let us not confuse our politics with our faith-filled convictions. We are a great country. Let’s not slip into another political has been and depart from the framework of integrity, decency, and honesty.

Peace, Chuck

Haiti and the Southern Border

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AChuckAllen.com

There are no easy answers to the mess found on our Southern Border. Some problems go back over multiple administrations. I’m not suggesting that any solution alleviates every issue. But come on, man!

Two hundred thousand plus people have been crossing the border due to this administration’s policies. That isn’t what concerns me nearly as much as how we have treated the thousands of migrants who somehow made their way from Haiti to Del Rio, Texas.

When you think about the realities that these poor people have experienced, you must wonder, if these Haitian people do not qualify for asylum, who does? Haiti is in the midst of another crisis. A country riddled with earthquake and hurricane recovery. A country with horrific poverty and filth. And a government that has been poorly led and often ruled by corruption. These people are desperate.

I know that the United States needs controlled border security. I am aware that we can’t salvage everyone. But again, if the Haitians don’t qualify for asylum, who under the blue sky of Texas does? Knowing all of that, the best answer we have is that we are flying them back to Port ‘au Prince? The living quarters under the bridge in Del Rio are light years better than their lives in Haiti. I’ve been there enough and seen it up close.

I’ve been told that as a pastor, I really should not write anymore “politically charged articles.” Come on, man!

While I’m whining a bit, let me also get something off my chest. I’ve spent a fair amount of time on America’s Southern Border and with the men and women in the green uniforms. The U.S. Border Patrol Agents are the very salt of the earth. They are the least paid of all the federal law enforcement officers – the lowest. They are primarily Hispanic-Latino, themselves. They are not the ICE agents you see banging on doors, and they deserve far better than the demonization being thrown at them by Washington. These folks are underpaid, overwhelmed, and understaffed.

I’ve been in the Border Stations and Ports of Entry on our border. I’ve seen the Border Patrol show more compassion and concern for people than most churches do for their communities. They do their job with no appreciation at all. This ridiculous issue about horses and whips is foolishness—shame on our elected officials for misrepresenting these folks in the green uniforms. Horses are necessary because of the terrain. Whips are tools to keep the horses where they belong. Not one shred of evidence points to the Border Patrol doing anything wrong. But pictures of horses and river crossings draw outrage, while many Haitians living under a bridge draw apathy. Unbelievable.

As I wrote earlier, I know that these problems do not have simple solutions. And this is not intended to be political writing, although it will be received that way on both sides. This is a cluster of bad decisions and a historically political hot potato that could be resolved. But that would require some common sense.

Why do we constantly resort to binary thought patterns? Why does it always have to be one extreme or the other? Why not put a bit of compassionate common sense to work here?

Here are a few thoughts:

  1. Vaccinate the thousands of Haitians with temporary housing in between shots. That could have already happened, given the timeframe they have been in Texas.
  2. Expedite asylum hearings for them as they are escaping a disaster.
  3. Redirect much of the funding of the“infrastructure package” to fund additional Border Patrol staffing and expedited asylum hearings.
  4. Redirect all ICE funding and assets to Border Patrol.
  5. Allow faith-based organizations and NGOs to operate in conjunction with Border Patrol to care for as many immigrants as possible. They could hopefully ease some of the care required of the overworked, underappreciated Border Patrol.
  6. Stop playing politics with the border and care for people. It shouldn’t be that hard.
  7. Restrict entry until Border Patrol and legal assistance can be put in place to handle the ongoing, not soon ending crises.

I’m just a pastor in Atlanta, Georgia, but even I can do three things.

  1. Lead my church and community to pray earnestly for the Border Patrol and the Immigrants.
  2. Support the Border Patrol by getting to the border and encouraging them, and offering pastoral support for their families. And remind them that America appreciates them.
  3. Take teams and encourage others to take teams to serve the men, women, kids, and families stuck in the middle of the foolish political bickering. America has roughly 400,000 churches. If 5% of those churches raised $500 each and sent eight people twice, we would have $10mil and an army of 320,000 caring people.

America is better than turning desperate people away and doggone it; she’s better than demonizing her own faithful law enforcement officers. Come on, man!

This article isn’t about President Biden, former President Trump, Obama, or Bush. And it isn’t about donkeys or elephants. This is about people. People doing their best in green uniforms, and people seeking hope in a place where health and safety aren’t radically uncertain.

More to come…

Chuck

A Prayer for Today

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I cannot think of a more passionate, powerful prayer for today. May this wash over you in grace and mercy.

“Amazing God, There’s more to life than we can see, or we can fathom.

Yet, how often we try to shrink your mystery. To tame your dream for us. To limit what is possible.

Remind us that the spirit is always blowing new life into our days, surprising us with wonder and blessing.

Forgive us for our dull awareness and hesitant witness. Let us be made new again and again.

And let us hear, again and again of your mercy and your grace. Amen”

May you be at peace today.

Chuck

How to Fix the World

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AChuckAllen.com

I know! Who would possibly think you could fix all of the world’s problems in one article? Well, I’m not so naive as to believe that you can improve the world with the following seven ideas, but I’ll guarantee you, these seven would radically make our world a better place to live in.

Seven ways to FIX THE WORLD.

  1. SLOW DOWN. Seriously, slow your life down and get off the hamster wheel. Constant hurry robs you of your peace and happiness. Always running creates health and emotional sink holes in our lives. Science and faith agree on this. Research on naps, meditation, nature walks and the habits of exceptional artists and athletes reveal how mental breaks increase productivity, replenish attention, solidify memories and encourage creativity. The Scriptues remind us of our need to “be still.” I find myself, and many of my circle of friends are addicts. Addicted to productivity to the degree that productivity hacks become our life’s theology. That’s a dangerous slope to live on.
  2. DON’T BE A BUTTHEAD. I’m passionate about this one. If every morning we chose to not be a butt with each other, life would be so much better. Here are a few thoughts that might apply to you.
    – Don’t Be a Butthead to “That Annoying Person in Your Life” – I think of dealing with annoying people like managing a dam on a river. Every annoying thing they do is water flowing into the reservoir. You can manage that by letting water pass over the dam, or you can let it build until the dam breaks. The dam breaking is you being a jerk and screaming, “I DON’T CARE ABOUT YOUR DIET! CAN’T YOU SEE I’M BUSY?!”
    – Don’t Be a Butthead to a Butthead. When presented with butthead behavior, just take a deep breath and put yourself in their shoes. Your responding in kind just escalates whatever negative stuff that’s in the air. If you can help it, do so.
    -Don’t Be a Butthead Because You’re Having a Bad Day. We all have bad days. Maybe your child is sick, a project is late, or a supplier sent parts that were all damaged in transit. Stuff happens to all of us, but not everyone responds by being a butthead. If the bad thing is your fault, own it, and move on. The worst your employer can do is fire you, and I’d rather be fired for messing up (as we all do from time to time) than for being a butthead. The people around you will see that you handled this setback with grace, and it will be remembered. If you handle stress by being a butthead, that will also be remembered.
  3. TURN OFF YOUR DEVICES. Imagine a day without answering every text like your life depends on it. Or stopping at a traffic light without checking your email. How about this – can you imagine talking with your family rather than comparing your likes and follows with everyone else?
    -Your brain will work better. By now most of you have heard of the many scientific studies that show the brain can’t actually multitask. What feels like multitasking to us is actually the brain switching rapidly among tasks. It feels good, and provides plenty of stimulation–something the brain tends to like. But it makes us the opposite of productive.
    -You’ll get better at solving problems. The biggest concern with constant connectedness is that people stop thinking. It’s very hard to think when you’re constantly interrupted, or distracted.
  4. FIND YOUR SACRED SILENCE. Two ideas with this one: 1) Every day, we all need to have a few minutes to meditate prayerfully, and 2) We could all talk less and make less noise. What a wonderful world it would be if we had less noise in our lives?
    –Silence offers opportunities for self-reflection and daydreaming, which activates multiple parts of the brain. It gives us time to turn down the inner noise and increase awareness of what matters most. And it cultivates mindfulness — recognition and appreciation of the present moment.
    – Silence also has physical benefits. “When we’re frazzled, our fight-or-flight response is on overload causing a host of problems,” says Dr. Sullivan. “We can use calm, quiet moments to tap into a different part of the nervous system that helps shut down our bodies’ physical response to stress.”
    – That means, being still and silent can help you: Lower your blood pressure Decrease your heart rate Steady your breathing. Reduce muscle tension. Increase focus and cognition.
  5. LEARN THE POWER OF GRATITUDE. We humans are naturally selfish, greedy, and ungrateful. If we were to experience widespread gratitude, we would become aware that when you are grateful, what you have is more than enough.
    – “In positive psychology research, gratitude is strongly and consistently associated with greater happiness. Gratitude helps people feel more positive emotions, relish good experiences, improve their health, deal with adversity, and build strong relationships.” – Harvard University
  6. EXERCISE MINIMALISM. When we become grateful, we exercise minimalism. Minimalism is the art, and appreciation of less is more. We stop buying what we do not need, and we stop comparing what we have to everyone else.
    -Minimalism isn’t just a concept that helps us reorganize our homes and lives in a more effective and aesthetically pleasing manner. In fact, minimalism can be a helpful way to combat mental illness of all degrees of severity, from anxiety to schizophrenia and back.
  7. PRIORITIZE JESUS. I know this to be true. When we get Jesus in the proper priority within our life, we will get every other issue right. Notice that I didn’t say, get your going to church life, right? I didn’t say, look more christianly, or talk more like a church person. It’s this simple – properly prioritize Jesus and watch how all the world’s pettiness and angst are replaced with peace, contentment, and gracious living.
    – When asked what was the most important commandment, Jesus dropped the mic, when He said, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself [that is, unselfishly seek the best or higher good for others].’ The whole Law and the [writings of the] Prophets depend on these two commandments.”

I never said it would be easy, but it is simple.
Seven personal steps to better the world – immediately!

Peace, Chuck

9/11 Never Stop Telling the Story

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Where Were You When the World Stopped Turning?

This weekend, we Americans remember the tragic loss of life and liberty experienced on 09.11.01.

I recalled walking into the Alpharetta office building, where I worked at that time, and seeing the reports that American Airlines Flight 11 had struck the North Tower at 8:46 am.

By the time that I reached my office, just seventeen minutes later, at 9:03 am, the World Trade Center’s South Tower was hit by United Airlines Flight 175.

Given the degree of hate and division in our country, only 20 years later, I am amazed at our incredibly short memories. On September 12, 2001, we were a country unified in serving one another, caring for our neighbors, and honoring our heroes. I pray that it doesn’t take the great uprising of evil to stir our American hearts toward faith and unity…once again.

I also pray that we will REMEMBER how horrible the pain was, deep in our American souls when we saw people murdered on live television and thousands of family’s futures ripped from them as a result of pure hate.

We must tell the story of why we were attacked, how we were attacked, and the way we responded in the moments following the attack. We must remind our next generations that cannot remember, or did not experience the ache which we all felt.

Country artist, Alan Jackson asked the question, “Where Were You When the World Stopped Turning?” Here are the lyrics:

Where were you when the world stopped turning on that September day?
Were you in the yard with your wife and children
Or working on some stage in L.A.?
Did you stand there in shock at the sight of that black smoke
Rising against that blue sky?
Did you shout out in anger in fear for your neighbor
Or did you just sit down and cry?
Did you weep for the children who lost their dear loved ones
And pray for the ones who don’t know?
Did you rejoice for the people who walked from the rubble
And sob for the ones left below?
Did you burst out with pride for the red, white, and blue
And the heroes who died just doing what they do?
Did you look up to heaven for some kind of answer
And look at yourself and ask what really matters?

Let us be a people that look at ourselves and ask, what really matters.

Peace, Chuck

Reacting to Global Crises

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August 31, 2021

Let’s face it, this world is in a mess. Afghanistan, Southern Border, COVID-19, Hurricane Ida, Western Fires. Oh, my stars!

The world has gone mad. And in the middle of all the chaos, we humans have grown more angry, anxious, and intemperate. Don’t hear me say that I’m not joining you. I am most definitely angrier, more anxious, and certainly more intemperate these days.

If you wear a mask, you’re humiliated. If you don’t wear a mask, you are insensitive. If you vaccinate, you love your neighbor, if you don’t, you are selfish. If you voted red, you hate gay people and black people. If you vote blue, you don’t love America.

In a world that is in desperate need of solutions, we have become a nation of whiners and finger pointers! Never before, have we been so divided, on so many different issues.

I find that people who claim to be Christians are often at the center of the fight. I often see people that have been forgiven and redeemed by the sacrificial death of Jesus, the Christ pointing the same fingers, screaming the same diatribe, and succumbing to the ridiculous rhetoric of the right, left, up, or down leaning of the crowd of choice.

Friends, it doesn’t have to be so. Much of the angst and anger we experience and share is rooted in fear. Fear that people don’t agree with us. Fear that the world has lost its way. Fear that things will never be better. Fear that we will never be enough or amount to anything. Some of us are experiencing fear in such a way that we are fire hydrants of anxiety and hate, spewing out our anger, anxiety, and fear on all who walk in front of us.

There is a better way! But it requires us all to answer a question. What do you think of, when you think about God?

AW Tozer once stated,
“What comes into our minds when we think about God
is the most important thing about us.”

I believe that is absolutely true. It also makes the case for the fact that there is a better way! But you have to settle on what you believe about God. It’s that simple.

Once again, it is of the utmost importance!

If you do not believe that God created you with a spirit of power, love, and sound mind, then you will continue to believe that you were created with a spirit of fear and timidity.

Paul, author of a large part of the Bible’s New Testament wrote to his understudy, Timothy, in 2 Timothy 1:7 that “God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity but of power, love, and self-discipline.

I get it. You might be saying, Chuck, I do not need some preacher lobbing a bible verse hand grenade at me. Here is the good news. The same God that created you and wired you into the unique human that you are today, is the same God the created you with the ability to change the way you think and renew your mind!

You can literally change the way you think because you have been given the spirit of power, not fear. You’ve been given the spirit of love, not hate. And you’ve been given the spirit of a sound mind and self-discipline, not chaos. All of that is evidence that you can quite literally change the way you think about the way you think!

My friend, Julie Homrich is a psychotherapist, and one of the brightest people that I’ve ever met. She calls thinking about we think, metacognition. I call it the 2-step of change. Stop and face reality, then change the way you think about it. Get it? Stop and think! Take all the problems in the world and just stop and think about how you see them and how you are reacting to them.

  1. Can you change the outcomes of any of them today? If not, then pray for them. If yes, what 2 things will you do today to help resolve the problem?
  2. Does your opinion on the matter help discover a solution to the problem? If yes, then by all means, share! If no, then take that anxiety and pressure of your plate.
  3. Are you holding on to the news, the worst case scenarios, or the what-ifs? then write those down and leave them on your nightstand. Before you call it a day, just offer up this simple prayer to the Creator. God, I do not understand all that is happening, but I want to be a part of solving, not complaining. Give me wisdom and protect the people in the line of this problem with your care and your love. Amen. Then leave it all with Him.

You do not have to live in doubt, fear, or timidity. But you also do not have to live in anxiety, stress, and anger. Especially if you cannot directly own that solution or problem yourself!

Because you were not given fear and timidity by your Creator. Then where did it come from?

Satan would love to convince you of your fears and insecurities. He would love to keep you locked up in emotional knots over crises found across the world.

But God has given you POWER, LOVE, and SELF-DISCIPLINE! Don’t fall for the bait! You can live in peace, even through all of the storms we face in this life. It’s a matter of what you think about, when you think about God.

Peace, Chuck