Grounded with Chuck Quinley

By: Learn to be steady even if the world around you is not
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  • Summary

  • Grounded is a podcast by Chuck Quinley covering the power of our personal narrative, mindset, relational network, and meaningful work, all from a Christian perspective.

    chuckquinley.substack.com
    Chuck & Sherry Quinley
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Ministry & Evangelism Philosophy Social Sciences Spirituality
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Episodes
  • Why was God so Patient with Cain???

    Why was God so Patient with Cain???
    Sep 10 2024
    Well, I hope you got a good nights sleep. I'm in India and it means that I'm awake at three or 4 AM most days. Just can't get the transition right this time.Well, you can look at things as a curse or a blessing. I'm trying to find good use for all the extra time from waking up super early rather than just watching TV or looking at my phone. Today, I spent hours digging through the story of Cain and Abel. It's so tragic that in the first generation of natural-born humans the first baby grows up to be a murderer. Take a minute right now to read the story in Genesis 4Now Abel kept flocks, and Cain worked the soil. 3 In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the Lord. 4 And Abel also brought an offering—fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock.The Lord looked with favor on Abel and his offering, 5 but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor. So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast.6 Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? 7 If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it.”8 Now Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let’s go out to the field.”[d] While they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.9 Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?”“I don’t know,” he replied. “Am I my brother’s keeper?”There’s a lot HereIt’s a very nuanced story, with lots of insights discretely woven into the way the narrative is delivered. I’m in love with Genesis 1-12. It’s a masterpiece. Every verse is important and I think this story has a lot to say to us—if we can just figure out what verse 7 is saying. More on that later.I guess the thing that's always bothered me in this story is how much Spotlight is on Cain, the selfish, entitled, stubborn, immature man-child, not Abel, the good guy who was sincere and did everything right. Abel is the first martyr, a man killed for his worship of our Creator. The scene describing the background and moment leading up to his murder is so painful. I can hardly read the story. Family is so important to me and to think that a big brother would use his little brother’s innocent trust to lure him away from the family so he could murder him just breaks my heart again and again. Which makes it even harder to understand why God spends so much time in this story engaging Cain and trying to help him process his emotions.Ruled by EmotionsEmotions, man, that’s the Gen Z theme! If the Eskimos have 1000 words for snow, young people today may end up with that many words for their feelings. In our generation, we were just told to suck it up and get on with life and not expect everything to be great. "Your attitude determines your altitude.” On the other hand, something very real is happening inside the minds of young people. New Zealand, of all places, leads the world in suicides by young men age 12 through 17.Cain was a man ruled by his emotions. In general, humans are portrayed as moral infants in the book of Genesis. God is working with us so we will grow up and assume the role for which we've been created. We are made to be the likeness of God in the world. We all have a long way to go. Perhaps Cain never got there. His name in the Old Testament is connected to the line of rebellious humans who always resist everything God wants to do.And yet, God is patient with Cain. He’s comforting him when most of us would kill him for what he had done to his innocent kid brother. (Maybe they were both teens, who knows?) How does this story affect you, emotionally? Leave a comment to share your processing of this tale.Word Salad in Verse SevenScholars tend to hover around verse seven, the most “obscure” (incomprehensible) Hebrew in the Old Testament. The English translations have simplified it by ignoring all the problems in it. The editors just come to the conclusion that the verse is about the power of sin, and they harmonize the pronouns that are out of whack. It's understandable to want to make things clear for the reader, but it's a real problem when you do it as a translator, in my opinion. I believe that everything in the Bible is there on purpose, so if a verse runs in the face of a cherished doctrine I think it's a dangerous practice to just "fix the verse”. I could show you a dozen places in any translation of the Bible where this has been done. I'm not saying that the English translation of this verse is heretical, just that the ancient writer knew his language perfectly, and if he wanted it harmonized, he would have used the proper gender in his pronouns. I explain more about all this in the video so if you're interested, I hope you will watch it. The point is whether this is a story where God warns Cain about the power of sin which is like a crouching lion ready to devour him, or ...
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    12 mins
  • Are you using these days to prepare yourself for persecution?

    Are you using these days to prepare yourself for persecution?
    Aug 27 2024
    10,000 Years from TodayIf you believe the Bible, then you will know that you will be alive and conscious somewhere 10,000 years from today. Oh, your current existence will be behind you and you will have probably passed through death into the new creation, but you will be alive again with the memory of the year 2024. Your current concerns about a stock market crash will seem silly then. For that matter, all your worries will be exposed as a complete waste of time and energy. You will be in the new kingdom of the Lord Jesus, the undisputed victor of the war for the world. He will reign in the New Jerusalem forever.On that day, you and I are going to really wish we had done a better job with this season in our lives. We will be in the group that can tell the story of what it was like to live in the post-Covid era of total surveillance, the early dominance of technology, and the open worship of Satan at the Grammys, the Olympics, and a host of other formerly normal events. These were the beginning of the sorrows.Some disciples will be highly honored for letting their light shine and using these days to evangelize and share their testimony daily. Others won’t have much to show for their life as a believer. They basically lived as quiet and comfortable a life as they could and they went to church sometimes.Persecution Prepares us to Face the LordNo matter your view of the end times (I’m mid-trib) you cannot escape the reality of persecution.“…All who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.” 2 Ti.3.12 NKJVChristians have always been persecuted. Sometimes it's cultural pressure fueled by the devil. He always resists the message of Jesus and the true embrace of the kingdom of God. At other times persecution is bloody. We’ve have 2000 years of Christian blood shed across the world.When Sherry and I moved to Asia in 1990, that region of the world was averaging 250,000 martyrs a year. The 90’s saw the resurgence of radical Islam and many precious believers were killed from Saudi Arabia to Iran for following Jesus.Persecution in America???—Never!I never dreamed there could be federal persecution of Christians in the United States of America. When I heard this preached as a boy, it just seemed totally impossible that churchgoing America could ever become a place where believers might be persecuted. The behavior of the government from President Clinton using RICO extortion laws to jail abortion protesters, to the weaponization of the FBI justice department, and the collaboration of internet media giants from Google to Facebook reveals that the persecution of believers has, in fact, already started. The only question is how far, how fast?You can lose your job now for simply stating what the Bible says. In England, over 3,000 people were arrested last year for something “offensive” they said on Facebook, Twitter, or on a post-it note on their desk. One man’s crime was posting Bible verses on a screen in his small store.First, we are witnessing a campaign to silence us and get our voices off the internet. Then the narrative can be controlled and all the “breaking news” stories can paint Christian individuals and groups to be dangerous monsters, intolerant, and right-wing extremists with no one to say differently.What Should We Do About it?The #1 thing Jesus said about living in these days was to not be anxious from overthinking about it. Sherry and I have seen a spirit in people from the persecuted church that is bold and confident, hardened by their own response to the pressure that wants them to bend. Those who will not bend become stronger from the pressure. Think of the three Hebrew boys when threatened by the fire of the king. “16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego answered and said to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. 17 If that is the case, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us from your hand, O king. 18 But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up.” Dan. 3.16-18 NKJVFire hardens steel. Persecution prepares God’s true people to shine.Let’s not waste these days. Let this early pressure steel our resolve to sit among the valiant ones 10,000 years from today. Sherry and I are determined to live more confidently and boldly than ever. We want to be more loving and careful in all our words, especially toward those who are opposed to our Lord, but to make certain that everyone in the heavenlies and those around us know that we honor Jesus for all he has done for all of us. We want everyone we meet to receive a chance to know him too. That’s what’s keeping Jesus from coming already so let’s get stronger and bolder day by day.In His Love,Chuck and SherryThe attached video is about believers overcoming the rise of the Beast in Revelation 13. Hope it ministers ...
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    10 mins
  • Walk with God--how I started

    Walk with God--how I started
    Aug 13 2024

    One of the best parts of creating and posting content online is the occasionally great conversation you have with someone who follows you. In the last week I’ve been talking with someone who has walked away from faith in Christ. He/she disagrees with me on most points fundamentally, but we’ve have an honest dialog that hasn’t gotten snarky. That’s a big deal in the online world.

    When I hear of someone walking away from Jesus and Christianity it always seems they are primarily walking away from doctrines and traditions and their family habits of church. It makes me wonder if they ever had a personal encounter with Jesus.

    Knowing Jesus or Going to Church

    I didn’t fall in love with the teachings of Jesus, the doctrine of the cross or how awesome our pastor’s preaching was. Jesus himself intercepted my life. He followed me around in my consciousness and would not let me go. This personal encounter started my transformation, but it didn’t stop there. He’s never left me alone since. I’m challenged, encouraged, inspired, and instructed daily by the voice of Jesus working in me through the Holy Spirit.

    This experience isn’t unique to me. It’s the new birth and it is offered to everyone who will return to him and submit to his lordship. Most of you reading this doubtless have your own story to tell. This is our testimony, the origin story of how we were and then what Jesus did to “fix” us once we opened to him.

    The stories are always so fascinating to Sherry and me. Once we know that a person is in Christ, we always ask how it happened for them. They smile immediately at the opportunity to share again all that the Lord has done for them.

    This installment is a video I made for newbies to help them in their first steps. Rather than saying, “Find a good church and read your Bible,” I want to say, “Get to know the LORD and spend time with him daily.”

    Jesus will reveal himself personally to them and guide them directly. Church and Bible are great, but knowing Jesus is essential. You can walk with Jesus even if you are illiterate, blind, deaf or isolated from others.

    That’s the approach we take in our missions work in SE Asia. We lead people to know the Lord personally and the rest will sort itself out.

    I’d love to hear your story. Medialight can teach you how to share your story through short videos online if you’d like. Just visit Medialight.network for more.

    Walk with Him!

    Chuck



    This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit chuckquinley.substack.com
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    11 mins

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