Mike Leake

Apparently, if I were a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle I would be Raphael. Yep, you guessed it, I got sucked into one of those ridiculous quizzes on Facebook that I’m certain is some form of a ponzi scheme. Thankfully, I was able to restrain myself and not take the quiz which would have identified which Golden Girl I am. Though now as I write this my curiosity is growing… I just lost. I’m Sophia–that’s which Golden Girl I am. At least I think. Truth be told, I didn’t understand half the questions. So maybe I’m really closer to Bea Arthur. Why in the world is my Facebook feed filled with … [Read more...] about Why I Care Which Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle I Am

I loathe country music. No, wait, that’s not strong enough. I loathe that detestable sounding genre of twangified non-sense that is filled with beer-drinkin’ truck-drivin’ rednecks bellowing on and on about their lost puppy dog or how nice a beer and a lady is in a pick-up truck down an old gravel road. Other people—and I’m told they are real actual breathing people with valid opinions—actually enjoy this horrid sound. And I’m even told…shudder…that followers of Jesus like this type of music. And these same people would write terrible things (untrue, of course) about my musical tastes. I … [Read more...] about Why Do People Like Country Music

You read somewhere that it is a good idea to blog daily. So, you made that one of your blogging goals for the new year: post something every day by noon. And it worked. You started out invigorated. Ideas kept rolling from your noggin to the computer. With increased writing your traffic naturally increased. Before you know it a handful of people who didn’t give birth to you are actually following  your blog. And you are actually becoming a better writer.”This writing daily thing is easy”, you tell yourself. And then you hit a brick wall. Nothing comes to you. You don’t feel like … [Read more...] about How to Improve Your Daily Blogging

When my son turned five, my wife and I went to the nearest book store and bought him his first Bible. I also wanted a good devotional that we could read together as a family to help us understand the Bible. There were a few things that were decent, but nothing that really fit what we were looking for. What I was really looking for was a devotional that would go through one book of the Bible at a time. And one that would train my little guy in how to do Bible study. Of course, I also wanted it to be engaging and easy enough to actually maintain. But also one that was deep enough that it … [Read more...] about Introducing the Seeds Project

Twenty years ago in a small church, hidden behind a row of trees, and located down a long and dusty road John and Rita stood before a preacher. On that day they covenanted with one another. John promised to love Rita and she promised the same. Years have passed since that Autumn day. John’s gorgeous jet black hair is now graying and mostly found in the sink instead of on his head. Rita carries the battle scars of being married to such a difficult man for twenty years. Her eyes still carry with them the pain of spending their fifth anniversary alone as John was gone. It’d have been one … [Read more...] about How to Fix an Icy Marriage

The frail old man sets aside his walker and gradually places himself in the tub. But this is no ordinary bath. You see, he just returned from the store where he purchased seven gallons of yellow mustard. The old man has scooped, squirted, and squeezed this smelly condiment into his bathtub. Why in the world has this man done such a thing? “Is he senile?” you ask. Nope. He’s just got arthritis and he watches Christian television. One day when he was watching his favorite show he had a strong impression that he couldn’t shake. As the polished reverend prayed over his global … [Read more...] about Would God Ask You to Take a Mustard Bath?

It’s Monday morning. I’m at my desk. And the clock reads 9:00 AM. Designated writing time. I read through a few articles, a few books, I look through some of the random ideas that I’ve had throughout the week. And I start to work on one of them. And then she whacks me in the back of the head. The Muse. The goddess of inspiration. Articles don’t normally flow this freely. And this is going to be a good one. I’ll likely win an award for most traffic generated by one blog post. Digits will drop off my Alexa rank. Newspapers will call. I might even get a letter from the President. And so I … [Read more...] about A Blogger’s Temptation

“We all live in a yellow submarine”…the alarm clock jolts Tom out of bed. He enjoys his morning bowl of Raisin Bran, then takes a shower, shaves his stubble, brushes his teeth, and puts on his suit. He polishes his shoes, straightens his tie, displays his pearly whites for his mirror’s approval, shoves his money clip in his pocket and leaves for an important meeting. The next block down, the screeching brakes of a commuter bus wakes Jim from his slumber. He whacks his newspaper blanket and digs his hand into an empty pocket. His empty stomach growls at him–rebuking him for spending his last … [Read more...] about Why Christian Growth Is More Than Just a Realization that Jesus Christ Is Our Righteousness

In Back to the Future II, Biff Tannen, the stories lug-headed bad guy, travels back to 1955 and hands a Sports Almanac from 2015 to his 1955 self. Biff becomes the “luckiest man on earth” and predictably quite successful. Knowing the outcome of every sporting event might make your Super Bowl party a tad boring but it’d make your wallets quite fat. Sometimes I think about how sweet it would be to have a world almanac that would “predict” the events that were going to take place for the next sixty years. But I’ll tell you what I’d really like. I’d like a lengthy letter from Jesus that … [Read more...] about Biff and His Book

Imagine with me that you are a well-respected pastor. You’ve been serving at your church now for about eight years. Things are going well and you are beginning to gain respect in the larger world of evangelicalism. A new pastor moves into a neighboring town. This new pastor is truly a hypocrite. He denies the Trinity and by his own confession he became a minister for the money, the ease, and the hopes of getting himself advanced in the literary world. He also hates everything that you stand for and has made it known. In fact he often mocks you from his pulpit. He believes that you (and … [Read more...] about How Would You Respond to This Hypocrite?