The McRae’s Are Moving to Cali…

I don’t even know where to start. To some of you this may come as surprise, to others it will be something you have seen coming for years. As of this past weekend, I am now the new Senior Pastor of Hillside Community Church in Alta Loma, CA.

 Our journey over these past years has been an interesting one filled with twists and turns that no one could have anticipated. The last few years have come with more uncertainty and suffering than we have personally ever known. Our lives are still today full of questions in regards to Kate’s health and treatment options. However, over the course of the past couple of months God has been gracious in clearly leading us to Hillside.

We are incredibly grateful for Cornerstone Christian Fellowship. As a father and a husband I could not have asked for any more freedom to care for my family than I have been given. Pastor Linn and the leaders of Cornerstone have been supportive and gracious, and we can not imagine having to endure this season without that kind of blessing. In the midst of our struggles I have been given opportunities in leadership and teaching beyond what I expected or deserved.

We have made lifelong friends during our time here, and this move will have its challenges on many levels for our family. Yet, as we engaged in a conversation with Hillside we sensed God leading us step by step by step. Every move forward was filled with more confirmation, which we desperately needed for making a decision in the middle of such extenuating circumstances.

Hillside is a great church and we have already met so many wonderful new friends. God has been doing an amazing work at Hillside for years and it is a special honor to be able to join His work. I am humbled beyond words and so excited about this next chapter at Hillside and look forward to the challenge and responsibilities. The kids are pumped to be so close to Disneyland and the beach, so we continually have to remind them that we won’t be at Disney ‘everyday’. Will already has the surfers hair style down, we will just have to see if he and I can find the moves to match.

We would love your prayers during this time of transition. The prayer partners that God has given us through this journey with Kate continue to amaze and encourage us more than anyone will ever know. We need prayers for wisdom in determining treatment options for Kate, choosing new doctors in California and for all the many details associated with moving in general. I will continue to share more details and timelines as we walk forward.

God Bless

Do Your Daddy Issues Define You? Which One?

My son is a great reminder of the influence or ‘issues’ I pass on. Now, the truth is, I only want credit for certain desirable actions seen in him… like when he prays, ‘thank you God for defeating the devil and destroying the keys of death.’ Or, when he makes up songs in his raspy voice, ‘You’re the one I want, You’re the one I picked, You’re my ripe apple baby!’ I don’t know where he gets it, but I’ll take partial credit.  However, when his strong will is on full display or he has a big time attitude, I would rather attribute those behaviors to my wife and in-laws.

I personally have my own ‘daddy issues’, don’t we all? YES! It’s my dad’s fault that my penmanship is so atrocious and I’m sure he has some responsibility for these cowlicks.

Our society is full of examples of the effects that our fathers, or lack thereof, have on us… just go to a prison, street corner, or a home for runaways… just read the staggering statistics… just listen to the countless stories that place the blame for ones condition on their ‘daddy issues’. A common refrain is ‘I can’t help it, it’s all his fault’! The truth is our relationship to our father can be foundational to our sense of identity.

On this topic, the Bible has much to say. The idea of God as Father is discovered in a multitude of places throughout Scripture. For children of God, his fatherhood serves to reinvent our identity, shape our sense of self and be a force that transforms the way we view everything, including ourselves.

So…What if we chose to be like our Father in heaven? What if our ‘daddy issues’ were influenced more from above than from down here? It is possible! Read the following scriptures and think about the implications they have for your identity…

Adopted: Galatians 4:4-7 ‘I am a child of God!’
Love: 1 John 3:1 ‘God greatly loves me!’
Compassion: Psalm 103:8-13 ‘God sees me and knows me!’
Merciful: Luke 6:35 ‘God has been so merciful to me!”

If we receive God’s parenting, our identity will be profoundly impacted. We will still have to pass the blame for our ‘daddy issues’. For instance, when we are loving, we will have to confess, ‘I can’t help but love, cause my Father loves me, it’s his fault.’ If we show compassion, we must say, ‘I can’t help but be compassionate. I was jacked up but my Father was compassionate to me. It’s his fault, I’m like this!’

What does the idea of God as your father mean to you?

How Are You Being? (Thoughts After 2 Years of Cancer)

Today marks two years since our daughter Kate was diagnosed with a brain tumor! These have been, without a doubt, the most difficult two years of my life. There have been more tears and heartache in these years than in my previous 34+ combined.

‘How are you doing?’ This is the question I am probably most often asked. What a STUPID question! How do you think I am doing? I needed to say that! Now it’s not the worst question ever. It’s usually a question asked out of concern, or at least I hope it is. Often this question is asked as an attempt to reach out.

I confess, I have asked this question hundreds of times to others and will probably ask it in the future out of my continued ignorance and further attempts at small talk. Still, it can be a stupid question to ask.

There is a better question to be asked. There is a question that goes beyond the surface of activity, and blows away our superficial responses. ‘How are you being?’ This is a better question, and it actually penetrates much deeper, to the core of ones soul. Most days, we all just do what we have to do! Whether you are caring for a sick child or carrying out mundane details around the office we just ‘do’ the stuff that needs to get done.

However, this better question forces us to deal with our heart, our motivations, our source of hope and our faith, not just our actions. For me, a simple verse I read yesterday spoke volumes…

Isaiah 43:10 “You are my witnesses,” declares the LORD, “and my servant whom I have chosen, so that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he. Before me no god was formed, nor will there be one after me.’

Here is my much needed reminder… God is God, he is the “I Am”. Even in this incredibly difficult place in life, God is God, and God is still good! Even in our pain, he is working that we may know him, believe him, and understand him and his ways.

I do not live this well everyday! I do not ‘know, believe, and understand’ always as I wish. My ‘being’ is not always right. However, today I am planting myself into these truths. Two years into this painful path, I trust that God is sovereign over every detail of life! I believe that he knows what he is doing, so today my ‘being’ is good because my ‘being’ is rooted and grounded in Christ!

STARTING POINT: Before asking someone else this, ask yourself:
‘How am I being?’

Dig deeper and ask yourself probing questions like:
-What/Who am I trusting in and depending on today?
-What do I believe to be true today (about life, about me, about God)?
-Where is my outlook on life rooted (circumstances, emotions, Christ)?

WARNING: Don’t ask this question to someone else unless you are a very close friend and have been given permission to speak into their lives!!! Otherwise, it’s probably none of your business.

Man of Sorrows…Here With Us

Isaiah 53:3 He was despised and rejected by men;
a man of sorrows, and acquainted withgrief…

This incredible passage written hundreds of years before Jesus Christ tells in vivid detail the path our Savior would walk. Jesus could have absolutely avoided pain. He could have looked away from our sin and left us to fend for ourselves. He could have distanced himself from the suffering of our world. However, instead of keeping grief at arm’s length Jesus opened himself up to it, entering into it. Instead of leaving us alone in our sins Jesus became like us in order to redeem us. For many of us who know real pain, Jesus is a close acquaintance, present and full of compassion!

He is here in our pain, He sees, He knows, He feels, He grieves!

AND

He loves, He hopes, He prays, He comforts, He guides!

As only one who has walked a similar road can do, Jesus longs to take us by his side and lead us through. Whenever we question this journey, struggle with our lot, and when there are no answers…He is there! Whenever we can’t look on our circumstances any more… seeing the man of sorrows, here with us, the one acquainted with grief is the only vision that can bring hope. Hallelujah, what a Savior is true, may it echo in our souls today! How has Christ met you in your pain?

How Do I Know If It’s Success or Being Blessed?

Do you ever wonder why God seems to ‘bless’ the proudest of people? Does it ever disturb you that the most successful are at times the biggest scoundrels?

God can still accomplish great things through proud people, and He at times even blesses the work of the pompous. However, we shouldn’t necessarily equate success with honor. Popularity is not the same as blessing. The Scriptures say it this way:

Proverbs 18:12 Before his downfall a man’s heart is proud, but humility comes before honor.

Any one of us can find ourselves in the midst of notoriety and accomplishment yet still miss out on the joy, peace, and gratitude that accompanies true honor from God. In the Hebrew language this Old Testament word for honor poetically refers to the soul of humanity. It’s not a reference to our outward performance but rather our heart’s well-being.

I am incredibly grateful that God is gracious to the proud, among whom I am first. However, if a person is inwardly rotting away from pride they are not experiencing the blessing of God, no matter how popular or successful their life may seem to be.

The pathway to true honor always come through humility. A heart that is being cultivated for God is always an indicator of true blessing. So I am asking myself these kind of questions…

1. Do I experience joy in God’s blessings?
OR Do I constantly crave more, bigger, and better?

2. Do I fully acknowledge the hand of God in everything (good and bad)?
OR Do I only focus on circumstances and situations?

3. Do I use my platform to point to Christ?
OR Do I try to take the credit?

4. Do I have a spirit of gratitude?
OR Do I constantly criticize & complain?

5. Do I have a continuing commitment to my personal/private spiritual formation?
OR Do I neglect ‘practicing what I preach’?

Paul sums up these ideas best in this passage…
Philippians 4:⁴ Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! ⁵ Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. ⁶ Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. ⁷ And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Preparing the Heart for Good Friday

Isaiah 53:5 But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. ⁶ We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
What is bad news for us is only made ‘good’ through the cross! Notice the responsibility: ‘our trangressions’, ‘our iniquities’, ‘we have gone astray’, ‘we have turned’ but Jesus takes it all upon himself on the cross. Take time to confess, repent, and acknowledge your culpability in the cross!

I Corinthians 1:¹⁸ For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
What makes no sense to this world, is for us who believe, the very thing that gives our life meaning! The message of the cross is God’s power saving, forgiving, delivering and sustaining. What a cost Christ paid, what pain he accepted! Praise Him for his sacrifice, acknowledge your debt of gratitude.

1 Peter 2 :14 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed.
All our sin is covered by the cross! Every heartbreak, disappointment, failure, and act of shame has been pierced through, condemned to death. Declare death to your guilt! Let the cross of Christ cover your pain and release your regrets. Die to sin! Live for righteousness! Christ has made the way!

1 John 4: ⁹ This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. ¹⁰ This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.
Look to Christ on the cross and see how bad things are, that He had to die for us! Look to Christ on the cross and see how good things are, He loved us that much! Receive His love, revel in it! Let the love of Christ mold you, shaping your heart & filling your soul with His purpose.

Doubt: It’s Not Just in Your Head

Sometimes I battle doubt! This war rages not just in my head but also in my heart, in my choices, in my attitudes, in my motivations, in my desires, in my will…

For many of us the litmus test for doubt has rested on ones ability to pass a Sunday School pop quiz, ace it and you are in. Yet, this move of justifying ourselves only masquerades the real issue. We see in James 4:17 that the individual ‘who knows the good he ought to do and doesn’t do it, sins.‘ This persons problem is not in their head but in their actions. The need here is not to correct wrong thinking but to provoke right living.

The obvious truth is, how we live reveals what we believe!
What we believe is revealed…
in our choices,
in how we treat others,
in where we find joy and pleasure,
in what gives meaning and purpose to our lives,
in who we run to for help, hope, and rescue from ourselves…

Maybe we all need to be reminded today of Jesus’ declaration to Thomas in John 20:27 “Stop doubting and believe.” May we receive this gift of faith and remember that Christ is our life (Colossians 3:1-3).

Put the Cell Phone Down & Step Away From Your Twitter

This year a number of friends have told me that for Lent they are taking Twitter and/or Facebook off their phones. The distraction of these networks had consumed more time and energy than desirable. What is their problem?

Well, if you are like me, you may have noticed or actually you may have not noticed how you can unconsciously scan the list of recent tweets from your friends or check-up on your FB friends. For some of us these actions have become so familiar we give away our attention without even realizing it.

This week I have tried to pay attention to what I give my attention to, particularly in regards to social media. My smart phone doesn’t always lead to smart decisions: like when I am checking twitter at every stoplight, reading emails at dinner in the middle of a conversation with friends, or checking FB when I need to be playing with my kids.

So, this weekend, my wife Holly and I decided we will work to set boundaries on how, when and why we are using or misusing our phones. Is this a struggle for you? If so, how are you working through it?

What can your church learn from a hospital?

I’ve spent a great deal of time in and out of the hospital recently. Sitting around various waiting rooms I began to think about what could a church learn from a hospital. In many ways these institutions are dissimilar. However, there are innumerable real life lessons discovered down the hallways of a hospital that bring focus to mission and visions for life both individually and corporately.

Here are a few reflections…

-Bad stuff happens, be ready!
Life inside a hospital causes you to quickly learn that suffering is inevitable in this life, for some more severe than others. Some try to ignore the possibility of pain, others figure out things to blame the suffering on. But ignoring is ignorance and too many people are busy arguing questions that people who are hurting aren’t even asking. Jesus clearly tells us hard times are part of our humanity. (John 16:33…In this world you will have trouble.)

So, as churches and as followers of Christ we need to prepare ahead of time. We need to be ready for the likelihood of suffering and not be swept away by trouble whether that be our own or that of another. In Christ we have the power and the perspective needed to endure any and every trial, as the remainder of the previous verse states…
John 16:33 In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.

-The proper diagnosis determines treatment
If it’s discovered that you have cancer, advice to ‘take two aspirins and call me in the morning’ is a prescription that would get many doctors a sucker punch on the chin. Diagnosis is foundational and leads to the proper course of treatment. This is why so much time is taken to determine and confirm the right diagnosis, so that the very best plan can be made.

Often in our lives, and in our churches we are more interested in treatment options than we are fully understanding the diagnosis. Christian bookstores are filled with the equivalent of self-help books, sermons are laced with 6 steps to a happier, holier home and a hotter husband. We love to do stuff, we value helping ourselves.

Yet the gospel truth is that everyone of us are ravaged to our core by sin, a disease more menacing and demanding than the vilest cancer. We are held in sins vice grip, and none of our 6 steps to freedom or self-esteem exercises can break it’s power. Only through the loving and costly grace of Jesus Christ can sin be overcome and salvation found.
Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

For some this does not seem to come across as an encouraging story, BUT I believe that only when we discover the gravity of the diagnosis of our sinful state, will we be able to fully embrace and rejoice in the glory of Christ! The biggest problems in our churches and in our lives are not divorce rates, financial or sexual issues, rather, it’s sin! So then, turn to Christ, run to Christ, and trust Christ today, everyday, and every day after!

Christ’s Love in Doubts & Darkness

George Matheson the author of this old hymn, renewed by Robbie Seay, provides a treasure of encouragement for those in the valley . Through a deep time of personal pain and doubt he wrote about his eclipse of faith. He endured a time so dark he, for a season, left the ministry. On top of the prior hymn, he also wrote a testimony of hope for believers who at times struggle with doubt, for those who…
-hear not the bells of Easter mourn
-tread the road to Emmaus but don’t meet the risen Christ
-stand on the mount of Galilee but hear no voice
-frequent the Upper Room but get no hint of his presence

Matheson says “My faith cannot walk by sight in hours like these. Lord what shall I do? Hast thou a remedy for the loss of light? Yes, my Father, Thou hast a gate where faith can enter without seeing where it goes. Its name is love.”

He powerfully continues, crying out, “If I cannot soar with Him in heaven, let me at least go back to finish his work on earth. Let me mourn with the Martha’s whose Lazarus’ I cannot raise. Let me pray with the paralytics whose weakness I cannot cure. Let me sing to the sightless whose eyes I cannot open. Let me lend to the lepers the touch of a brothers hand. Let me find for the fallen a chance to renew their days. Then shall my Easter morn shine again through all the clouds of night. Then shall I know the meaning of the words, ‘Blessed are they who have not seen and yet have believed.‘ “

The love of Christ is sure and strong! Our only hope is found in Jesus and his redeeming love. He will not fail, He will not forget, He will not falter! So we too, with Matheson declare…

O love that will not let me go,
I rest my weary soul in Thee;
I give Thee back the life I owe,
That in Thine ocean depths its flow
May richer, fuller be