This Issue’s Thought Provoker

Would the REAL Floyd Allen
Please Stand Up!

Floyd Allen, Editor-in-Chief
GOD’S GOOD NEWS GAZETTE

A few decades ago a bunch of friends were talking about the fact that we have no longer have ANY privacy, because we can be researched on-line and folks can learn virtually anything and everything about us! Welllll, wanting to know what could be learned about ME, I immediately typed my John Hancock into the search bar and was stunned to learn that I was the mastermind behind a courtroom massacre!

Floyd Allen was the central figure in one of the
most sensational and bizarre incidents in Virginia
criminal and legal history, the so-called Hillsville Massacre.
In the great Carroll County shootout in Hillsville on
March 14, 1912, a judge, a sheriff, a commonwealth’s
attorney, a juror, and a spectator were all killed by shots
fired by Allen and others after Allen was convicted of assault. Allen and several members of his family immediately fled the courtroom but were later captured and convicted of murder. Allen and his youngest son, Claude Swanson Allen, were both executed for their crimes.
Floyd Allen (1856–1913) - Encyclopedia Virginia

       To say I was stunned would be a gross understatement! Preparing to write this Blog, I researched myself again and discovered that if you didn’t like THAT version of who I am, you could choose this one:

Former Ole Miss WR Floyd Allen signs first NFL contract

Floyd Allen was a bit of a forgotten man at Ole
Miss last season, with the Rebels’ receiving corps featuring
A.J. Brown, D.K. Metcalf and DaMarkus Lodge. However,
Allen appeared in six games, recording four catches for 44
yards while playing mostly in a special-teams role. Now,
though, he’s signed an NFL contract, as he impressed the
Houston Texans enough this offseason to land a deal: If he
is able to make the squad out of training camp, Allen may
end up in a special teams role for the Texans this fall, too.
However, he has his NFL chance, and now it’s up to him
to make the most of this opportunity.
Former Ole Miss WR Floyd Allen signs first NFL contract

Obviously, neither one of these describes the REAL me!

       Now, this Blog isn’t about me at all, and this information about “Floyd Allen” was presented ONLY to give a little background for a seldom recognized aspect of one of the most intriguing of all of THE BIBLE stories you’ll ever read. What I am referring to is found in Acts 9:1-19:

“And Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest, ² And desired of him letters to Damascus to the synagogues, that if he found any of this way, whether they were men or women, he might bring them bound unto Jerusalem. ³ And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven:

⁴ And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? ⁵ And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks. ⁶ And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do. ⁷ And the men which journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice, but seeing no man. ⁸ And Saul arose from the earth; and when his eyes were opened, he saw no man: but they led him by the hand, and brought him into Damascus. ⁹ And he was three days without sight, and neither did eat nor drink. ¹⁰ And there was a certain disciple at Damascus, named Ananias; and to him said the Lord in a vision, Ananias. And he said, Behold, I am here, Lord. ¹¹ And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the street which is called Straight, and enquire in the house of Judas for one called Saul, of Tarsus: for, behold, he prayeth, ¹² And hath seen in a vision a man named Ananias coming in, and putting his hand on him, that he might receive his sight. ¹³ Then Ananias answered, Lord, I have heard by many of this man, how much evil he hath done to thy saints at Jerusalem: ¹⁴ And here he hath authority from the chief priests to bind all that call on thy name. ¹⁵ But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel: ¹⁶ For I will shew him how great things he must suffer for my name’s sake. ¹⁷And Ananias went his way, and entered into the house; and putting his hands on him said, Brother Saul, the Lord, even Jesus, that appeared unto thee in the way as thou camest, hath sent me, that thou mightest receive thy sight, and be filled with the Holy Ghost. ¹⁸ And immediately there fell from his eyes as it had been scales: and he received sight forthwith, and arose, and was baptized. ¹⁹ And when he had received meat, he was strengthened. Then was Saul certain days with the disciples which were at Damascus.

       What I want you to take notice of are the three main characters that ended up in Damascus: Saul, Judas, and Ananias. Now, if I hadn’t pointed this out to you and someone asked you about them, you would have been pretty apt to say that Judas was a terrible person, because he betrayed Christ and then hung himself; That Ananias was a terrible person because he and his wife, Sapphira, sold some property and lied to Peter AND the Holy Spirit about how much they got for it and were struck down dead; and, as we learned in Acts 9, the people of his day thought Saul was a terrible person as he was “breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord.”

Acts 9:1-19

        So, you may be wondering, what, exactly, is to be learned from this Blog. Simply this – – Don’t judge people on what you think you know about them. You see, you may be thinking about the wrong person, OR, and perhaps more importantly, God may have changed them and they are no longer the person they used to be!!!

P.S. “Tune In” next time and I’ll tell you when Saul became Paul!