with AChuckAllen
What Was Going On? Holy Week Monday
with AChuckAllen
with AChuckAllen
Underdog to Hero
Whether you’re watching a ballgame, a TV show or a movie, it’s exhilarating to see “the little guy” overcome odds and win. When Rocky defeated adversity and fought the mythical, world’s greatest boxer, Apollo Creed–And when Rocky came back to fight Ivan Drago we cheered. Now, when Creed, Apollo’s son fights and defeats Draggo’s son, we cheered even more at the box office! Everybody loves an underdog because underdogs remind us of ourselves.
What we don’t always recognize is that every hero starts as an underdog.
The heroes in the Bible are no exception. God used ordinary people to show His extraordinary goodness. When Jesus was on earth, He surrounded Himself with underdogs. Jesus selected 12 guys, His Apostles to travel with and start His redemptive plan for mankind’s sake. He couldn’t have picked a more unlikely, diverse group of underdogs.
Think about it. Jesus selected fishermen, a tax collector, a zealot, a thief, a political activist, and assorted handy-men. After the first church was put in place, God chose a terrorist turned evangelist to write much of the New Testament and become the second greatest preacher of all time, and we know him as The Apostle Paul.
None of these folks were exceptional in their own right, but here we are talking about then more than 2000 years later. Jesus didn’t select scholars, mathematicians, pundits, prophets or preachers…He specifically chose everyday, blue-collar kind of guys…and He worked in their lives to create in them, world-altering leaders.
Have you ever felt like the odds are against you? Jesus selected 12 people that none of us would have put together. Nobody would have looked upon these men and thought, “now that’s a picture of greatness!” So, You’re in good company. Here are just a few of the underdogs Jesus used to make a big difference:
1. The Water-boy.
In Mark 14, Jesus tells his disciples to go into town, find the “man carrying a jar of water” and follow him to his house where they would celebrate the Passover meal. The Bible never mentions this guy again. We don’t know who he was, why he was chosen or how he knew to meet the disciples. The man with the water jar was the epitome of an underdog–unknown and seemingly unimportant. But because he obeyed Christ without question and offered his home, history was made. Little did the man know, his home would be the location of Jesus’s last meal on earth.
2. The Perfume Girl
In that same chapter of Mark is Mary of Bethany. She was a woman accompanied by bad choices and a poor moral lifestyle and yet Jesus says of her, She has done a good thing for me, leave her alone!
This woman is a most unlikely candidate to receive a Medal of Honor and yet Jesus says that wherever His story is told, there will be a Medal of Honor in her name. She broke every cultural norm to become a woman that we still remember as a spiritual hero, because she simply did what she could. Wanna be a hero to your spouse, your kids, your boss, your parents? Get your life focused on Christ and do what you can!
3. The Boy that Brought his Lunch.
In John 6, Jesus uses the faith and the lunch of a little boy to feed more than 5,000 people with only five muffins of bread and two sardine-sized fish. The boy in this story had very little food – only 5 little muffins of bread and two small fish. This was probably just enough for him to eat lunch. But he had faith that Jesus used the ordinary to produce the extraordinary. Because this underdog of a boy gave Jesus all of the little that he had, an extraordinary miracle took place.
4. The Shepherd Boy.
In 1 Samuel 16, God sends Samuel to anoint a new king. He arrives at Jesse’s house, but as he meets with Jesse’s sons one by one, none of them is the king that God sent Samuel to anoint. When Samuel asked Jesse if there were any other sons, Jesse said there was still the youngest, keeping sheep in the field. Basically, Jesse was saying, “Yeah I have one more son, but he’s the youngest and he’s a shepherd. Surely he’s not going to be king,so I didn’t even bother asking him to come up here to meet you in the first place.” More simply put, “David is an underdog. He can’t be king.” But God was for David, regardless of the odds that were against him. God chose the youngest, smallest and most unlikely member of Jesse’s family and worked in and thru him to show God’s greatness.
From killing giants with pebbles and leading a nation as king, God turned the underdog, David into one the greatest heroes of all time. When it comes to heroes, David is the GOAT!
God Himself Ordains and Anoints David as a boy in the shepherd fields just out side Bethlehem. Nobody would pick the baby of the family. He’s a nobody in everybody’s eyes except in the eyes of God! And we know that Samuel is directed by God to choose this underdog, David to become King.“This is the one; anoint him.”
Now, we know the rest of the story, David has more than a few challenges that might would have disqualified himself from becoming a man after God’s own heart and yet, as a true underdog, he returns to the ways and will of God and becomes Israel’s most powerful and beloved king! He not only took out the giant, Goliath, he became the man after God’s own heart!
If the odds are against you, take hope. God is in the business of using underdogs. And God wants to use an underdog just like you.
What do these people have in common? They were regular folks. They weren’t the stereotypical leaders or well educated scholars. They weren’t privileged kids from powerful families. They weren’t household names with any fame or fortune. They were like me and you – just regular people that learned to do ONE THING: Obey the God of All Creation!
God chose to use them and is still in the business of choosing regular folks to step into hero roles. Folks like you!
I know you are tempted to say, well Chuck, that might be true for other folks, but not me. And my answer is that you are not much different than Simon Peter, or Andrew, James or John.
Just as Jesus walked along the seashore and selected them, so He walks thru your life today and says the same words…come follow me! And He will do great and heroic works in and thru you!
–AChuck
GRIT is Your Superpower
GRIT is Your Superpower by ACHUCKallen
John Wayne was one of America’s great actors and great Americans. He somehow seemed bigger than life, and that may have been a result of the fact that he was popular in the age before social media took over!
My two favorite John Wayne quotes are:
# 1 “Life is tough, but it’s tougher when you’re stupid.”
# 2 “Courage is being scared to death…but saddling up anyway.”
John Wayne won his only Oscar in 1969 for the movie “True Grit.” In the movie, 14 year-old Mattie says to Wayne’s character, Marshall Cogburn, ”They tell me you are a man with true grit.”
Angela Duckworth did her research on what seperated successful people in various high stress situations, from those that crumbled. After an extensive study, one characteristic emerged as a significant predictor of success. And it wasn’t social intelligence. It wasn’t good looks, physical health, and it wasn’t IQ. It was grit.”
The best definition I’ve ever heard of grit is: “Grit is doing what you don’t want to do, to be what you want to be.”
If you want to succeed wildly, you need to develop grit. True grit or more properly put God-honoring GRIT is your super-power. And here is how you get that kind of grit.
Guard Your Heart
Proverbs 4:23-27 ”Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life. [24] Avoid all perverse talk; stay away from corrupt speech. [25] Look straight ahead, and fix your eyes on what lies before you. [26] Mark out a straight path for your feet; stay on the safe path. [27] Don’t get sidetracked; keep your feet from following evil. …And just how are we going to do that? Let’s start with our emotions.
Reel in Your Emotions
A person with true grit will never give in to the list of following seven emotions. There is a difference between being attacked by these things and allowing them to take you over. The list includes: “anxiety, fear, doubt, guilt, depression, discouragement and jealousy” It is not mind over matter for the Follower of Christ. It is the continual applying of God’ Word to overcome your negative emotions.
Here are the seven.
Anxiety. Philippians 4:6 Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.
Fear. 2 Timothy 1:7 For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.
Doubt. Mark 11:23 says:I tell you the truth, you can say to this mountain, ‘May you be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ and it will happen. But you must really believe it will happen and have no doubt in your heart.
Guilt. Isaiah 43:25 “I-yes, I alone-will blot out your sins for my own sake and will never think of them again.
Depression. Psalm 40:1-2 I waited patiently for the LORD to help me, and he turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the pit of despair, out of the mud and the mire. He set my feet on solid ground and steadied me as I walked along. He has given me a new song to sing, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see what he has done and be amazed. They will put their trust in the LORD.
Discouragement. Deuteronomy 31:8 Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the LORD will personally go ahead of you. He will be with you; he will neither fail you nor abandon you.”
Jealousy. 1 Corinthians 13:4 Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud
Tenacity What does the Bible have to say about tenacity? What does the Bible have to say about tenacity? Hebrews 10:36 Patient endurance is what you need now, so that you will continue to do God’s will. Then you will receive all that he has promised.
Amelia Earhart once said: “The most difficult thing is the decision to act, the rest is merely tenacity. The fears are paper tigers. You can do anything you decide to do. You can act to change and control your life; and the procedure, the process is its own reward.”
The strength of a person’s character. . .their grit and drive to success is determined by whether or not they can finish what they started.
Philippians 1:6 “And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.”
If God doesn’t change, and He doesn’t. If His word doesn’t change, and it doesn’t. If God’s promises remain the same, and they do. Then it’s pretty obvious: We need to change.
Acts 3:19 in The Living Bible says: “Now change your mind and attitude to God and turn to him so he can cleanse away your sins and send you wonderful times of refreshment from the presence of the Lord.”
But hear this,“faith is a fact, but you’ve got to act.” Life is full of people who talk about what they’re going to do someday. I have a friend who is one of the most creative people that I’ve ever met, but he has a totally unrealistic view of what it takes to make the things in his mind become a reality. Here’s a word of truth: A creation without implementation with never come to fruition.
Do you want to move from where you are to where God wants you to succeed? Then do something instead of talking about it. Take one step and let Him propel you thru the next 30!
When you read or listen to God’s Word, then simply obey and act on His Word. And when you do, God will bless you and reward you! This is True Grit!
This is how we push past pandemics, failures, market crashes and circumstances outside of our control. Go get your grit on!
CHUCK ALLEN Pastor · Speaker · Author · Coach
• SOCIAL | @AChuckAllen
• PODCAST | Weekday Podcast
• MEDITATION | Weekday Meditation
• RESOURCES | Power Routines
4forFRIDAY with AChuckAllen
This Week’s 4forFRIDAY April 3, 2020
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.
My Favorite Book on Marriage: Your Best Us by Ted Lowe
No matter where you currently find your US, you can experience more moments of awesome and fewer moments of awful. And it’s easier than you think. Your US can become more. Not some cookie cutter, cloned version of someone else’s marriage, but the best version of your US.
I think every Believer would experience a powerful walk with the Lord if they would take seriously the wisdom found in this treasure trove. You’ll be glad you walked through this book. If you want to order multiples for a small group or study, give me a shout. chuck@achuckallen.com
I Love this Playlist from Sugar Hill Church
Thanks Pastor Zach and Austin. I have this playlist going strong in my office, home and truck. If you aren’t a Spotify customer, it’s my favorite music app. I like it much better than Pandora or Apple Music. I think you’ll enjoy the playlist!
A Ted Talk that is Frank and Powerful: Sleep is your Superpower by Matt Walker
I spent years thinking that tough, rugged, successful men only need 4-5 hours of sleep. Over the past few years, I’ve discovered that my appreciation for the necessity of sleep isn’t overly related to age, but rather a desire to be fully present and retaining the maximum effort from today. You’ll be glad that you spent 20 minutes to watch th eTed Talk from 2019
My Spiritual Journals, Power Routines are now available at the Sugar Hill Church Store and Amazon. 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 at Sugar Hill Church or Amazon. The Brand New Volume 5 will be out next week!
A Quote from Eugene Peterson—
“When we submit our lives to what we read in scripture, we find that we are not being led to see God in our stories but our stories in God’s. God is the larger context and plot in which our stories find themselves. ”
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
Gloom, Despair and Agony on Me
I remember watching “Hee-Haw” as a kid and thinking it was possibly the dumbest show that I had ever known of. After all these years, the only TV show that comes close is the “Masked Singer.” On that old show, “Hee-Haw,” they had a spoof song that went like this; “Gloom, despair, and agony on me. Deep, dark depression, excessive misery. If it weren’t for bad luck, I’d have no luck at all. Gloom, despair and agony on me.”
It feels like that old song is appropriate for the anxiety riddled status of American today. It seems as though the overall attitude of the folks that I join on a Zoom call gets a bit more gloomy and lethargic as each sheltered in place day drags on. That’s perfectly understandable, but also unnecessary.
Do you ever wonder why Scripture tells us to count it all joy when we face various trials and tribulations in life?
James 1:2-4[2] Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. [3] For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. [4] So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.
Joy is different response to suffering. And yet our faith promises us that God is committed to doing good when the enemy intends harm.
God is committed to bringing life out of death.
Romans 4:17 [17] That is what the Scriptures mean when God told him, “I have made you the father of many nations.” This happened because Abraham believed in the God who brings the dead back to life and who creates new things out of nothing.
God is committed to taking every bad thing that happens to us and using it to bless us.
Romans 8:28[28] And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.
Friends, the President of the United States would love to get this economy back to full speed, and so do I. Your employer wants to return to business as usual, and so do I. Your schools cannot wait to return to class, and I think you’ll all agree with me, when I say, so do I. Everyone wants us to return to “NORMAL.”
But what if God, as only God can…what if He sees in our future the opportunity to be a part of a far “BETTER NORMAL?”
What if, in God’s power and His plan, He chooses to use this evil virus to take what was designed for evil and turns it into good? (see Romans 8:28 above) What if we, as individuals and our collective neighbors were to see this season of shelter in place as an opportunity to redirect our desires and wills and energy to align with God and His desires and will that are purposefully planned for our good?
I read these words from one of my favorite authors and bloggers, Terry Hershey: “While I’m waiting for “normal”, the sacred is still alive and well. And the ordinary is the hiding place of the holy. This is the life. Yes. And human connection is alive and well. Empathy and compassion are alive and well. Beauty and gladness are alive and well. Sanctuary is alive and well. Ministry is alive and well. Spontaneous gestures of kindness are alive and well. Music from the heart is alive and well.”
May our kindness and compassion rise to a collective crescendo and still come roaring back once a better normal is in place. May our sacred times with the Divine linger for our time on earth, as they are in the midst of sheltering in place. May our connection to our neighbors become like the Good Samaritan. May we each take up the call to serve one another, long past the crisis of Covid-19.
4forFRIDAY with AChuckAllen
This Week’s 4forFRIDAY March 27, 2020
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.
A Really Good Movie on Amazon Video: Chernobyl
It’s intense and it’s really challenging to stick with, but I’ve enjoyed learning things I knew very little about.
My New Favorite Song from Alicia Keys: UNDERDOG
Here are a few of the lyrics: So I sing a song for the hustlers trading at the bus stop
Single mothers waiting on a check to come
Young teachers, student doctors
Sons on the frontline knowing they don’t get to run
This goes out to the underdog
Keep on keeping at what you love
You’ll find that someday soon enough
You will rise up, rise up, yeah
A Really Good Read: The Storytelling Code: 10 Simple Rules to Shape and Tell a Brilliant Story
Everyone loves a good story―but how do you turn a fun anecdote into one for the books? Whether you’re hoping to impress others during a job interview, trying out stand-up, or giving a hilarious wedding speech, The Storytelling Code provides step-by-step help on crafting your narrative, as well as simple exercises to put those public speaking skills into practice.
A Really Good Documentary on Netflix: World War II in Color
Being a history nerd, I really enjoyed the quality of this piece. It included footage that I’ve never seen before. If you like history, you’ll really like this docu-series on Netflix.
My Spiritual Journals, Power Routines are now available at the Sugar Hill Church Store and Amazon. 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 at Sugar Hill Church or Amazon. The Brand New Volume 5 will be out next week!
A Quote from Marcus Aurelius
“The nearer a man comes to a calm mind, the closer he is to strength.”
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