Mike Leake

It was a terribly sad Sunday. As I stood before the people, preparing to pray with them, I was met with many saddened faces. And yet a few seemed to have a cheery disposition, as if a great victory had been one. I knew what was going on. Clearly our church was divided by the latest controversy launched on the internet. They, like me, had read the scathing article on Friday evening exposing Pastor Celebrity. And so, I knew that the smiling faces were those excited that the latest celebrity pastor had been exposed. Likewise, I knew the frowns were indicative of the sorrow one feels when … [Read more...] about On the Latest Controversy

I scan his body looking for a cape. Shocked that I don’t see one I assume that he’s one of those superheroes that doesn’t actually need a cape to fly. He just gets stuff done. The superhero I’m talking about is Super Dad. Suddenly his passionate preacher voice draws me away from cape gazing and back into his talk. “If we don’t disciple our children we are worse than unbelievers. Listen guys, I know that its tough. I know that you are busy. But what do you gain if you gain the whole world but lose the souls of your children?” his voice now rivaling that of a Seahawks home game. Looking … [Read more...] about A LITTLE HELP FOR FAMILY DEVOTIONS

“This tastes like the cow got into an onion patch”. If you’ve watched Napoleon Dynamite more than a couple of times you know what that quote is from. Young Napoleon is taste testing milk for an FFA competition. If you’ve ever lived in a rural community and had milk from a cow you also know that onion-tasting milk is a legit thing. Unless you like your milk with a nice oniony flavor, you don’t drink milk when the cow gets into an onion patch. It’s nauseating. Her milk is no longer fit for consumption. Some preaching is like milk from a cow eating onions, it’s nauseating. That’s why … [Read more...] about Pastor, You Have Onion Breath

A weary pastor sifts through a mountain of advertisements. Keeping up with these ads is about as daunting as conquering all the fruit in your Fruit of the Month box. Apples rot and the pastor’s desk gets overwrought with the next best thing. On one particular Monday—it’s always a Monday—a particular advertisement appeals to this pastor. It’s in the area. It’s affordable. It seems like a breath of fresh air. He signs up. A few months later he files into the conference hall with a thousand other pastors. Why are they here? Something within them knows that they need to improve in their … [Read more...] about Review of “One Year to Better Preaching”

The scrawny lad heaved his pile of video games onto the counter. With a hint of sadness in his voice, he asks the clerk, “How much can I get for these”? The poor lad looks as if his best-friend just informed him that he’s moving across the state. As I’m wondering why this kid had to get rid of all of his games, I over hear nerd talk. The guys at the video game store are talking about backwards compatibility. Apparently, once this little dude opens up his new PS4 or XBox One for Christmas all of his previous games are obsolete. His old games won’t work on the new system. As I observed … [Read more...] about Backwards Compatible Church

Wiping away tears from his eyes, the once confident man expresses his dismay, “How did this happen, I had such strong faith?” And he did. He’s not the only one shocked. If you asked his pastor to give a list of the top 10 people that would never fall like this, he’d have been on that list. If you needed someone to counsel young couples going through marital strife, this was the guy. He seemed to have a way of helping young men to become better husbands. This guy had a faith in the Lord that was secretly envied by many in the congregation. Now he’s an adulterer. You’re probably … [Read more...] about How You Fell

It’s always the cute boy playing the lyre (the modern day version of the cute boy playing the guitar)*. Michal fell hard for him. Maybe it was his ability to strum up sweet sounding tunes, or perhaps it was his eloquent speaking. The Scriptures don’t tell us what caused her to love this shepherd boy. But she did. Her father, the king, didn’t share her fondness for young David. The relationship started out well enough. David would use his musical skills to soothe Saul’s spirit. But in time Saul saw this gifted young man as a little too gifted. He saw the hand of God on him and he feared that … [Read more...] about When Romance Turns Into an Icy Heart

I’ve been thinking a little about the sufficiency of Scripture. This doctrine is either neglected or misused. One denies the sufficiency of Scripture by completely outsourcing mental health issues, while the other misuses the sufficiency of Scripture by never outsourcing. One brother seems to put Scripture on par with other resources, while another brother believes that the Bible is the only book you need on your shelf and that it alone is needed to speak to all issues. Using cancer as an example, I hope to show how to properly use the doctrine of the sufficiency of Scripture. First, … [Read more...] about Cancer, Mental Health, and the Bible

“Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep.” So what if the person’s weeping is unfounded? Or what if their rejoicing is foolishness? Am I still called to rejoice with them? To weep with them? It’s pretty easy to say that if some guy is rejoicing because he just had an affair, I should not join in his cheer. Nor should I match the anguish of soul my daughter feels when she skins her knee. Rejoicing with those who rejoice and weeping with those who weep does not necessarily mean matching their emotion. What I see Paul saying in this verse (and the surrounding context) is … [Read more...] about Should I Still Mourn With Someone Whose Mourning Isn’t Based in Reality?

“It’s as though all human encounter were one big sore spot, inflamed with opportunities to give, and truculently receive, offense.” So wrote Robert Hughes in his 1993 book, The Culture of Complaint. Twenty years later Hughes’ statement is even more accurate. I’m a child of this little experiment of changing our world through changing our words. For as long as I can remember we have been fighting a war against those dastardly words of black and white. It seems that today we cannot handle the cold reality of concrete words. Orwell was correct: If you simplify your English, you are freed … [Read more...] about I’m Offended That Someone Might Be Offended