Mike Leake

This week we will complete the 31 Day Pray For Your Wife Challenge. It has been an amazing experience to dedicate an entire month to pray for my wife. I believe other men have been blessed as well. I’ve been taken aback by the way that God has answered prayers in the life of these men. Many have asked how they could continue praying for their wives. I know I intend to keep praying for my wife as well. To help men continue to pray for their wives, and to extend this beyond the initial group, I’ve decided to make available a free eBook for all those that participated in the prayer … [Read more...] about Free Pray For Your Wife eBook

Apparently one is not supposed to plant a Magnolia tree close to the house. As first-time home buyers my wife and I were not aware of this tip. We liked looking out our bedroom window and seeing the beautiful flowering magnolias. That is until our basement wall started to crack. This past week—when I was supposed to be on vacation—I spent my evenings killing and uprooting a Magnolia tree. I decided to do this in a three stage process. Stage one is chopping down the tree and leaving a 3 foot stump*. Stage two is to dig a hole around the tree until I expose and then kill those dastardly … [Read more...] about The Gospel’s Root Work & Axe Work

Imagine that the apostle Paul has an iPhone with Instagram capabilities. Do you think he would send this out to all of his Jewish friends:     “Eat this Jews!” Because of the work of Christ people are now free to eat bacon. Yet, some early Christians had a difficult time making this transition. They grew up thinking that everything that came from a pig was dirty and defiled. In the same way some Gentiles had a difficult time eating food that had been previously offered to idols. Others believed they were free to do anything. This was Paul’s response to both: For though I am free from … [Read more...] about Flaunting Our Bacon

Last week I listed 7 Reasons Husbands Should Pray for Their Wives. It had a favorable response and so I thought that perhaps we should take this a step further. Beginning on August 1st, I want to challenge guys to a 31 Day Challenge of praying for your wife every day. As I’ve thought about this what I believe I really need is to put a FACE on praying for my wife: Focus—I need to know what specifically to pray for my wife or I’ll just keep praying the same things over and over again. Accountability—I need a group of guys to keep me accountable and remind me daily to passionately pray … [Read more...] about Pray for Your Wife: 31 Day Challenge

Okay I cannot prove that the ancient Hebrews did not have coffee mugs. But I do know that if they did they would not put Bible verses on them the same way that we do. If I paint Philippians 4:13 in eye black and go out and play a tremendous game of church league softball, you know the statement that I’m making. I’m saying “I can do all things [like kick your tail in softball] through him who strengthens me.” End quote. That is not the case with the way that the New Testament writers would quote the Old Testament. When Jesus says from the Cross, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me” He … [Read more...] about Jews Didn’t Have Coffee Mugs

“I feel like I am going to explode. I know that it is unhealthy to hold stuff in. So I just need to vent to someone. I don’t need advice, counsel, or anything—I just need to express all of my feelings.” I’ve heard such statements numerous times. In fact I’ve heard something similar pouring from my own lips. Social media has given a new medium in which we can vent; namely Facebook. Just scroll down your news feed and within 15-20 posts you are likely to read some sort of complaining, whining, griping, or venting. But is it biblical? Is it okay for us to vent to other people? Is it … [Read more...] about Is It Okay to Vent?

Watch about a minute of this: Hopefully you didn't watch much more than a minute. If you did you’re likely tearing through your house looking for scratch & sniff stickers, Hulk Hogan T-shirts, and stonewashing your jeans—anything to magically transfer you back to the wonderful world of the 80’s. The 80’s were amazing. And also deadly. Mr. T’s message here isn’t as bad as it could be. Actually Mr. T could be helpful as he says, “you don’t have to be famous to be somebody”. Unfortunately, that message was drowned out by the pervasive narcissism of the 80’s. Us children of the … [Read more...] about How I Disappointed Mr. T

You clicked here because of the title. If you are a blogger hopefully you know by now that one of the most important things you do as an author is craft a catchy title. To create an effective title you need one that predicts the content, promises reward for reading it, perks interest,paces the article, and promotes it to search engines and social media. Here is what I mean: Don’t put ‘Super Bowl’ in your title just because the game is on. Especially if your article is about the French Revolution. The title needs to predict the content. Put words like How, Quick, Why, What, etc. in … [Read more...] about Quick Tips for Writing Effective Blog Titles

I watched this clip earlier today: I’ve played Xbox with people like this before. Their joy is contagious. Their giddiness transcends the game itself and makes you want to enter into their happiness. I want to be this guy when I’m 84 (actually when I’m 34--which isn’t far away). And I want my son to be this guy too. That has me wondering what I can do not only in my own life but also in the life of my son to teach him not to take himself so seriously. Here’s what I’ve come up with. To the veteran dads that have cultivated the grace of a good time in the life of their children I could … [Read more...] about Teaching a Little Boy Not to Take Himself So Seriously

I’ll just come out and say it. Scripture can be really confusing. Not only is it confusing because I’m a Western-whitey that speaks English instead of Greek and I live in an age when a Camel is a cigarette instead of a ride to town or an uncomfortable shirt; but it is also confusing because Scripture is just flat out difficult. Hence thousands of years of disagreement over the sacred text. Part of this is because each side of an argument usually has a litany of valid Scriptures to back up their point. And that’s actually a good thing. Here is what I mean… I picture biblical truth like … [Read more...] about Don’t Go There Man