The Other Side of Death Online Audio

This is my first test post of audio to my blog. Its not cute, but I hope to improve on it. These are key audio files from the Other Side of Death CD for those of you who cannot get your hands on the CD.

Click a link below to listen to the “The Other Side of Death”.

3 Introduction of Speaker 03

4 Rev AMcRae Inaugural Sermon

Thanks for trying it out. Please help us to get the word out by sharing this with your friends and co-workers. And may God richly bless all that you put your hands to do!

The Shack: What is it all about?

I met a lady on a plane to Portland, Oregon last year who encouraged me to read a book called The Shack. We had an extensive discussion about life and God. So on landing, she thought the book was well worth reading and that it could significantly impact one’s life. Unfortunately, I have not had the time to read it yet. But I came across this post on Bible.org under the title The Shack: The Good, the Bad, and the Controversial.

In these times, it may be a good distraction from your problems and in the process, teach you something to help you deal with your own anger at God.  I would be very interested in hearing your comments on this article and on the book.

Enjoy!

Wisdom: Dealing With Infirmities

Below are my notes of a sermon by Pastor Stuart Johnson of Grace Community Church, Houston, Texas delivered on November 9, 2008. The information impacted me so, that I wanted to share it with you. My hope is that it will also bless you as it has me. Return to it over and over again to keep these principles fresh in your mind.

He Healed All Our Infirmities (Inadequacies)
Isaiah 53:4-5, Mat 8:16-18, 2 Cor 12:9-12

Infirmities – Sickness, diseases, anxiety (caused by feelings of inadequacy)  Scriptural references: Phil 213, 4:13-, 1 Cor 1:26-31, Mark 11:22-26, 2 Kings 2:9-14 (Mantle – God’s grace)

Principles learned over a life-time of being placed by God in situations when I felt totally inadequate. When I asked myself, why me? When I exclaimed, “I’m not ready!”

• God has chosen the weak to accomplish great things for His kingdom.
• When God leads you to do something, God will provide the resources. Resources are not your problem.  Your responsibility is to say YES.
• Resources will be there when you need them, not before. It won’t happen until you get in the chair (your dreams and aspirations). Your dreams and aspirations are in the chair. God provides the grace for your current position. (Grace – Resources and accomplishments at Christ’s expense)
• Don’t look too far into the future because you will get overwhelmed Mat 6:34.
• God’s grace is like a coat. God gives grace (a coat) to a pastor at a particular church assignment. The coat stays at that position. God provides a new coat for your new chair. In between assignments, you will experience feelings of inadequacies. God provides grace for that too. It may not always feel like it. Nevertheless, it is still true.
• Don’t compare yourself to others; their coat is a different size. Why am I this way? Why can’t I perform, relate, produce, speak like someone else you admire? Each coat is a different size. God can give you a coat that fits you perfectly!
• What you must do is give God your talents and gifts (even yourself) to be used for His glory. And watch God work!

“The Other Side of Death” CD Project

We are on a mission to distribute 100 of these CD’s per month about life on The Other Side of Death. If you have been one of those who have received this CD, we would love to hear from you.

We began a very limited distribution in Charlotte, NC in September 2008. On our next visit to that city in the spring, we hope to multiply our distribution many folds. We expect to begin distribution in Houston by December 1st, in the vicinity of FM 1960 and Veterans Memorial.

Our hope is that Jesus will use this CD to reach our target audience – the unchurched and the unbeliever. We would love to hear about its impact or lack of impact on your life or the lives of your family and friends. So be generous and share it with them, won’t you?

Church 101-03 Are We Losing The War?

It has been more than eight months since my last post on the subject of Church 101. During this time, we have visited several churches, attending some for an extended period. The primary purpose of our visits was to observe how these churches see their mission based on the way they practice church. We have learned a great deal.

Tradition seems to be the overriding theme in most of the churches we have visited. In other words, what is being done in these churches is based on what has been done in the past. While I am not in favor of throwing out our past for the simple reason that it is old and this is the twenty-first century, I am concerned that the picture I see in the Scriptures isn’t always being carried out.

Are you losing hope?

Have you lost hope already? As you look at the rest of today, are you feeling like you don’t care if you live to see tomorrow or not? No. You’re not thinking about suicide. But if you died today, that would be OK. You wish it would all just go away? If you could only have some peace. As you ponder your next move, there is only a blur, an emptiness, a blank space out front. Yet you can find hope, if you know where to look. 

Church 101-02 Work & Purpose

In Luke chapter 19, we find the story of Zaccheus, a Jew and a chief tax collector for the Roman government. Tax collectors were considered to be chief sinners, without a doubt. Yet Jesus walked directly to Zaccheus and said “…today I must stay at your house”. And when the crowd saw it, they began to grumble saying, “He has gone to be the guest of a man who is a sinner.” Zaccheus told the Master that if he has defrauded anyone, he would give back to them four times as much. As a result, Jesus said, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he, too, is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost” (Luke chapter 19, verse 10). Of course this event occurred well before the crucifixion.

Unmet Expectations

Have you ever had your mind set on something, you knew exactly what you wanted to happen, when it should happen, and how it should happen? But when it comes, it is not happening the way you were expecting. So what do you do? Click here to read more …Unmet Expectations 01

Christianity: Marriage is Ministry

Thank you Lord for my Spouse! Yet God says I gave them to you and I charge you with the task of ministering to their deepest needs for love and self worth, to minister to your mate for Me. I know you think I gave them to you for you to get your needs met. But in fact, I have given them to you so you can care for them, so you can minister to their needs. Click here to read more… Marriage Is Ministry

I’m Back!

Hello everyone. I apologize for the long delay since my last post. Since then I have graduated from seminary and experienced my first post high school graduation ceremony. It was truly great. I enjoyed it very much. I debated about going to the ceremony. But since I did not attend my undergraduate ceremony, I thought I should go this time. I owed it to myself. I am so glad I did!

Since seminary consumed so much of my time, I have a lot of work to catch up on. So I’ve been tied down with that.

I have also traveled to North Carolina to perform my first wedding. I married my 50-something sister. This was her first ever wedding. She was a beautiful bride. I only made three or four mistakes, minor ones of course. Everyone thought it was a wonderful wedding. But of course, most of the guests were family. It was a big deal too! We had several guests to travel all the way from New York.

I also had occasion to attend a family member’s high school graduation here in my hometown.

And some final bit of news to update you on. In addition to our North Carolina trip, we have traveled to Alabama as well. We suffered the death of our only surviving aunt on my wife’s side of the family. She was 84 years old and fully committed to Jesus Christ. She was the last of her siblings. She left us a powerful bit of wisdom as spoken through her pastor in his remembrances of her and what she meant to him. I hope to share it with you sometime in the future.

We also experienced the lost of a very dear and long-time friend. We had lost contact for many years and had only reconnected within the last three years. He too was a very Godly man, more so than I had known. I only learned how much so at his funeral. I feel somewhat like I didn’t really know the real person, as a result of a limitation in me, not in him. Maybe I’ll have more to say about that in the future as well. His wife is sure to be very lonely without him. So please pray for Doris, her son’s and grandson.

So here I am, back on track. While I am still not caught up, it is time I got back to my calling, and what I love. I hope to have a first installment, albeit a short one, for my online book in a couple of weeks. And I also plan to publish other articles as well to include the mention of other projects we have been working on. We are looking forward to your input on them.

Thanks again for stopping by. We invite you to come back again real soon. And please, if you find something interesting, that causes you to think; or perhaps you’ve seen something you would like to explore with us, please leave a comment. We would love to hear from you. We won’t share your email address or other personal information outside of our ministries.

The grace of God be with you all.

Church 101-00

What is the church? Why has Jesus created the church? Who is the church today? What is the mission of the church? What is the purpose of the church? How is the church to go about its work? When is the church to be experienced? Where does one experience the church?

As I observe church today, I am concerned, very concerned that the church has lost its way. Admittedly, my exposure is limited and I may not have sufficient evidence to draw such a conclusion. But I am not alone in this observation. I have heard several prominent ministers say essentially the same thing. And since my concern has weighed heavily on my mind for quite some time, I have given considerable thought, and had many conversations with God, regarding the nature and purpose of the church. So I have decided to share some of what I have learned with you by writing a book that focuses on what the nature and work of the church should be.

As a part of this project, I want to solicit your help. I propose to write the book on this blog so you can participate in its development by contributing to it.

You can help me by providing feedback – your observations, your agreement or disagreement with our premise, even your criticism of my views or the churches you have experienced, and your disappointments with the church, the people of the church, compared to your expectations. As you provide your feedback, I ask you to consider whether your expectations, your own beliefs are any more valid, as measured against Scripture, than those you may have reason to complain about.

As a contributor to this project, you agree that all posted comments become the sole property of the owner and originator of this blog and may be included in the final version of the book without compensation to you or your descendants.

Look for the first installment soon.

Are You In An Angry Marriage?

Are you in an Angry Marriage? The essential predicament of an angry marriage is one or both partners having an unbearable and great discrepancy between what they get from their partner and what they need from their partner: a missing piece. Click here to read more… Marriage – Forgiveness 01

Church 101-0

In the coming weeks and months, I hope to address some burning questions and express some of my current views on what Christ’s plan is for His church. As I do, I hope you will join in the discussion and help me to formulate a constructive argument for my own views and concepts of church, which I expect may change as a result of your input. You can begin now to share your own experiences, good or bad, pleasant or disappointing with church and church people. In the mean time, please consider also the questions on the Church 101 page and provide any input you may have.

To help kick things off, here are a couple of posts on the subject I discovered today

Church Revitalization Guide 101 Part 1

Church 101 or “It’s about the relationship, stupid”

Thanks for your interest, your input and your visit.

The Will of God

The will of God! What is the will of God? “This is the confidence we have in approaching God: That if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. “And if we know that he hears us – whatever we ask – we know that we have what we asked of him.” (1 Jn 5:14-15, NIV).

Be Careful What You Pray For

Be careful what you pray for. You just might get it! Why do people say that? Where did it come from? I want what I pray for! I wish God would answer all my prayers just like I pray them!What does that mean any way: “Be careful what you pray for”? Click here to read more … Be Careful What You Pray For