New Location

I have moved my BLOG to my newly revised website www.bigchuckallen.com.

If you follow me, please redirect your RSS from that page.

Thanks, Chuck



Thanks for sharing a few minutes with often not so great thoughts and my occasional creative brilliance. Please feel free to call at 404-433-7851 or email at bigchuckallen@me.com. Peace

A Cup of Security

This Life Can Be Scary

If you're like me, life is often scary. Having seen a spouse and a Mom die in my arms and in my presence doesn't do anything but make me a bit fearful of death...at times.

I know, you are probably thinking, come on Chuck - for goodness sakes, you're a preacher, teacher, Jesus kind of guy! You can't say that! Well, it's true. Why shouldn't I be a bit herky-jerky and afraid? We were not created to live this twisted, abnormal way of life. We weren't built to die. Way to go Adam and Eve. You blew it for all of us. LOSERS!

Now that I think about it, I don't feel so bad about my little fear-filled thoughts. It's only human, right? So, is it also human to live and stay in fear? No, Nada, Uh-Uh, No Way Jose.

The Gospel of Jesus Christ can give me security in both life and death. For the Gospel to do that, I have to believe it and value it. I'm finding it easier to trust and believe that God guards and protects me on His foundation of love supported by immovable pillars.

Those pillars can strengthen me more and more as I recognize them in my everyday walk with Him.

The first pillar is Jesus' perfect life, which means in Him I have hope for holiness (which God requires)
The second pillar is Jesus' death which takes care of the punishment I deserve for all my junk. (another God requirement)

Both Jesus' life and death have been given to me (and you) freely, which really means that I am in Jesus in LIFE (Galatians 2:20) and in Him in DEATH (Romans 6:4-5). That's cool, but here's the sizzling butter on top of the perfectly cooked Ruth's Chris filet - "We will also be in the likeness of His resurrection" (Romans 6:5)

So, along with your cup of coffee tomorrow morning, have a cup of safety with a dash of security on His immoveable pillars of LOVE. Then you can get a second cup of gratitude to get your day started off just right.

Chuck

Thanks for sharing a few minutes with my often not so great thoughts and my occasional creative brilliance. Please feel free to call at 404-433-7851 or email at bigchuckallen@me.com. Peace

More Terminal Certainty

I've recently shared with you the nature of a disease under the weight of which I am literally collapsing. The leaders and coaches in my life refer to it as "TERMINAL CERTAINTYITIS". The more certain I become that I must control my surroundings rather than leave an imprint of Jesus where I tread should lead to the most certain item of all - I actually grow more uncertain each day by clinging to my terminally certain perspective that I can rise above and conquer the world as a "self made man". The true and ugly reality is - I need to long for gracious insecurity. Look, I don't have the answers to life's dilemmas anymore than you do... but I understand that He does. What good is clinging to man made certainty once we realize that the certainty of man (including this one) is wholly insecure and facing relational bankruptcy. Certainty is the mark of the commonsense life - Gracious Uncertainty is the mark of the spiritual life. "Our natural inclination is to be so precise, trying always to forecast accurately what will happen next, that we look upon uncertainty as a bad thing...The nature of the spiritual life is that we are certain in our uncertainty... Certainty is the mark of the commonsense life... gracious uncertainty is the mark of the spiritual life. To be certain of God means that we are uncertain in all our ways, not knowing what tomorrow may bring. This is generally expressed wit ha sigh of sadness, but it should be an expression of breathless expectation. We are uncertain of the next step, but we are certain of God. As soon as we abandon ourselves to God and do the task He has placed closest to us, He begins to fill our lives with surprises. Jesus said, "...unless you... become as little children..." (Matthew 18:3). The spiritual life is the life of a child. We are not uncertain of God just uncertain of what He is going to do next. If our certainty is only in our beliefs, we develop a sense of self-righteousness, become overly critical, and are limited by the view that our beliefs are complete and settled. But when we have the right relationship with God, life is full of spontaneous, joyful uncertainty and expectancy. Jesus said, " ...believe in Me" (John 14:1), not, "Believe certain things about Me." Leave everything to Him and it will be gloriously and graciously uncertain how He will come in, but you can be certain that He will come." --Oswald Chambers

FEAR

If you're like me, there are many things that I fear. I am convinced that what I really fear is ME.  If fear breeds fear, then faith and courage breed more faith and courage...who are you today? The fear filled fugitive or the courage filled champion? In a rough paraphrase from FDR The only thing we have to fear is me, myself!

There is nothing remotely passive about being part of the kingdom of God. Faithfulness is not holding the fort; it’s storming the gates of hell. A group of early 20th-century missionaries became known as “one-way missionaries” because they packed all their earthly belongings into coffins and purchased one-way tickets when they departed for the mission field.

They knew they’d never return home. One such missionary was named A.W. Milne. He felt called to a tribe of headhunters in the New Hebrides. All the other missionaries to this tribe had been martyred, but that didn’t keep Milne from chasing the Wild Goose. He lived among the tribe for thirty-five years and never returned home. When the tribe buried him, they wrote on his tombstone: “When he came there was no light. When he left there was no darkness.”

When did we start believing that God wants to send us to safe places to do easy things? God wants to send us to dangerous places to do difficult things. And if you chase the Wild Goose, He will lead you into the shadowlands, where light and darkness clash.

Read Joshua 1:1-9 today and see if you are ready to live courageously!

Peace, Chuck

Hungry?

Every now and then, it's a good thing to post a written devotional thought. I really enjoy the video devotions, but often find myself multi-tasking my way through it. As a result, I often get "the gist" of the devotion, but seem to miss the meditative or contemplative opportunity to see what it might really mean to me. In other words, I often seem to forget that The Lord desires me to stop and hear directly from Him...not Chuck.

This is a very brief, but challenging devotional thought that I was studying this morning and thought I would share it with you as well.

Keep visiting www.sugarhillchurch.com for our video daily devotions, but take the time to hear from Him in your own listening heart...ENJOY!

Under the Same Wing,

Chuck Allen

In John 6, a large crowd crosses the Sea of Galilee looking for Jesus. But when they find him, instead of welcoming their “seeking,” Jesus says to them,

Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. Do not labor for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. (John 6:26-27)

A little later on in the chapter, he purposely offends them with his “hard sayings” so that many turn away and no longer follow him. But weren't the crowds coming to the right source of blessing? Didn’t they believe that he could and would heal them and give them bread to eat?

They did, and he certainly had the power to do it, but the problem was that that was all they wanted. They didn’t join the disciples in saying, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life" (John 6:68).

The Israelites who fell in the wilderness had this same kind of "faith." They believed in God enough to complain to him about their dry tongues, but they lacked a thirst for righteousness.The sort of faith that pleases God—real faith—is the kind that is created by him through the hearing of the gospel (Ephesians 2:8-9). It rests in Christ alone and hungers and thirsts for righteousness. It is the kind that, when calamity strikes, results in worship and comfort that our “redeemer lives” (Job 19:25). It is the “peace that passes understanding.” This sort of faith causes us to cry out for mercy, knowing we are sinners in need of the righteousness that only One could purchase for us.

By faith, we hunger and thirst and are satisfied (Revelation 21:6). By faith, we are comforted that all things, no matter how painful or sweet, will work together for our good, reaping eternal benefits that are so wonderful that they can’t even be compared to our grief (1 Peter 1:6, Romans 8:28). True faith believes that God is good and rewards those who seek him (Hebrews 11:6).

If as Christians we are called to endure difficult trials and yet always receive temporal blessings like health and safety, our peace could not rightly be called the “peace that passes understanding.” It would actually be quite reasonable.

If you hunger and thirst for righteousness, blessed are you! (Matthew 5:6)

I hope to hear your thoughts on this by way of your email to me at chuck@mysugarhillchurch.com

Peacebigchuckallen@me.com

Doxology

As a kid, I learned about the power and presence of God in an old school, traditional church in North Kingstown, Rhode Island. What sticks with me most is the learning of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit through a small song we sang at the opening of every Sunday service. 


We called it The Doxology...
Praise God from whom all blessings flow.
Praise Him all creatures here below.
Praise Him above ye Heavenly Hosts.
Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost.
Amen.

Aloneness