Mike Leake

29 March by Mike Leake

The Root of Angry and Divisive Calvinists: Part 2

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Last time  we looked at the story of Mark, a young seminary student coming back to his home church to set them straight.  We wondered “what happened to Mark”.  Unfortunately that fictional story is all too real in many church settings. For our discussion we will be tackling the problem of angry and divisive Calvinists, but [...]

27 March by Mike Leake

The Root of Angry and Divisive Calvinists: Part 1

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“What happened to Mark?” asks one of the bewildered purple-haired saints. Two years ago Podunk Baptist Church sent a bright, energetic, and humble young man off to the seminary. This little gathering of believers has for over two-centuries housed some of the dearest saints. But Mark was different. Though young and a relatively new believer [...]

23 March by Mike Leake

Review of Trained in the Fear of God

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There is a classic story (that probably has Jewish roots) about a new bride that is cooking her first big dinner for her husband.  She decides to go with a recipe that has stood the test of time; a roast that was passed down to her by her mother, who in turn had learned it [...]

28 February by Mike Leake

Sleeping Away Our Mission Field

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“God put Jonah in the midst of a serious situation with seriously broken people, and he slept” –D. Patrick & M. Carter from For the City This one hurt. I’ve been Jonah way too many times.  My excuse has always been the same, “my wife and I are planning to move soon, this is only temporary, [...]

22 February by Mike Leake

Affliction, Marriage, and Rescue

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There are abominations which, like nests of vipers, lie so quietly within, that we hardly suspect they are there till the rod of affliction rouses them; then they hiss and show their venom.  This discovery is indeed very distressing; yet, till it is made, we are prone to think ourselves much less vile than we [...]

15 February by Mike Leake

The Danger of Not Letting the Text Speak

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Sometimes we are told that we cannot come to Christ unless the Father draws us, that without Christ we can do nothing, and that if we live, it is not we, but Christ who lives in us.  Now these views tend to hide pride from man, to create a diffidence of ourselves, and to center [...]

7 February by Mike Leake

The Church Should Be Less Like Angry Coaches

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I was listening a few days ago to a radio show that featured an interview with a college basketball coach.  His team had recently pulled off a few surprising victories.  The interviewer acknowledged a good amount of their successes and then asked the coach his thoughts on the games.  The coach, without skipping a beat, [...]

30 January by Mike Leake

What If You Couldn’t Read Your Bible?

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I’m from Perry, Missouri.  Less than 1,000 people are housed in her city limits.  Few of them anything but White Anglo-Saxons.  Most of them perhaps not sure what an Anglo-Saxon is; that’s not to insult my hometown—merely to say that in an agrarian society, like Perry, knowing what an Anglo-Saxon is really doesn’t matter. I [...]

24 January by Mike Leake

Which Child Do You Want to Parent?

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Mark It’s always been difficult raising Mark.  From a very young age his temper was a problem.  He was kicked out of kindergarten for violent behavior towards the other children.  The screaming was one thing.  The shoving another.  But once he began biting and stabbing other kids with pencils the school’s guidance counselor knew that [...]

17 January by Mike Leake

Santa-god and Psalm 44

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He’s making a list,And checking it twice;Gonna find out Who’s naughty and nice. Good little boys and girls can be assured that if they are good then Santa Claus will bring them presents.  But the bad little boys and girls had better shape up because Santa Claus is coming to town and these little sprouts are [...]

12 January by Mike Leake

Review of Real Marriage by Mark and Grace Driscoll

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If you have yet to hear of Mark Driscoll’s latest book Real Marriage you are a little late to the party.  There are countless reviews already (see here, and for some of the earlier ones see here).  Honestly if I was not contractually obligated (ala got the book for free in exchange for a review) and if [...]

10 January by Mike Leake

Simple Discipleship and Preaching Advice

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I still remember a good chunk of advice that one of my professors in college gave me.  Dr. Pelletier (not the skater) was a man that taught me a great deal about ministry.  Perhaps one of the most profound things he taught me was about family devotions.  I was single at the time but engaged [...]

5 January by Mike Leake

Preparing For When the Lights Go Out

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I’ve shared in the past that I struggle with depression, discouragement, or if you’re feeling extra Elizabethan “fits of melancholy”.  I loathe these times. I know what it is like to live in the enjoyment of what Christ has purchased.  I know what it is like to be “on fire for the Lord”.  In these [...]

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