Mike Leake

I’m growing, but I still have pack-rat tendencies. There are still a few objects that I have a really hard time getting rid of: screws, bolts, springs, various parts that I have no idea what they are or what they are for, old shirts, ratty jeans, and “important” papers that will probably in reality remain unnecessary until well after Jesus returns. I keep these things because, hey…you never know when you might need them.  Which has proven itself true maybe about three times in my life.  There was that one time that I was able to use a spring, then I needed some ratty jeans for a paint … [Read more...] about Hoarding v. A Daily God

I had just finished preaching another message from 1 John.  Very shortly after closing the service I was approached by one of our Jesus-loving teenagers.  She seemed sad.  I knew what she was getting ready to say… “Mike, I don’t think there is any way that I’m saved”. I knew what she was going to say because we had already had this conversation quite a few times.  She was, as many of us are tempted to be, prone to a morbid introspection.  If you gave her the “tests” of 1 John—she’d fail them every time…at least in her own mind.  But if you asked everyone that knew this girl they would … [Read more...] about Review of Am I Really a Christian?

“It is a terrible thing to keep a wound of some great sin upon the conscience, for it makes a way for a new breach; because when the conscience once begins to be hardened with some great sin, then there is no stop, but we run on to commit sin with all greediness.”  (Richard Sibbes, The Tender Heart, 35) What Sibbes is saying here, with his Puritan language, is that we must be quick to root out sin because once it takes root it will only make way for more hardening and more sin. Earlier in this text Sibbes gives the example of King David.  When he spiraled out of control with Bathsheba he … [Read more...] about Hardening, Hiding, and the Gospel

I tend to give the type of directions that people hate.  Actually, I give the type of directions that I hate.  You know the ones that are never detailed and usually end with something like, “don’t worry you’ll know when you get there—you can’t miss it”. Well, what if I do miss it?  What if I’m a total moron?  I am the guy that once stopped at a gas station to get directions for the building across the street.  It is possible that I could totally miss the obvious building that even a monkey could drive to. These type of directions stress me out because they require a good amount of trust … [Read more...] about You’ll Know When You Get There

I don’t typically respond to other people’s articles, and I try to stay out of controversy.  Hopefully I do not regret responding here, but Les Puryear seems to be a reasonable man and if there were any discussion I think it would be cordial. Puryear recently posted an article on what is wrong with the SBC.  Number two on the list (in no particular order) was “preachers and Seminary professors who teach that the biblical principle of storehouse tithing is not valid today.”  He followed up that article with one this morning accusing those that “eliminate the tithe” as “jumping through … [Read more...] about Eliminating the Tithe: Magnifying Christ and Missions – A Response to Les Puryear

In Mark 5 we read of a woman “…who had a discharge of blood for twelve years, and who had suffered much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was no better but rather grew worse.” There were many options for this lady to find healing.  The Talmud lists eleven.  In Lightfoot’s Commentary we are made privy to a few of the more ridiculous ones: “Take of gum Alexandria, of alum, and of crocus hortensis, the weight of a zuzee each; let them be bruised together, and given in wine to the woman that hath an issue of blood. But if this fail, “Take of Persian onions nine … [Read more...] about Sifting Through Donkey Dung

I have been doing youth ministry in some form or another for around 10 years.  Through this time I have vacillated between several different philosophies of ministry.  I began as a lone-ranger save the kids from their stupid parents type of mentality.  That view did not last long.  Frankly, either that view had to go or I did.  I’m glad it was the former.  (Well, actually it was both because I did leave my first position as youth pastor during this time). After my foray into ministry as the self-proclaimed messiah of students I quickly learned the importance of parents.  I discovered on my … [Read more...] about Review of Perspectives on Family Ministry

“Woe to you, when all people speak well of you, for so their fathers did to the false prophets”  (Luke 6:26) “Moreover, he must be well thought of by outsiders, so that he may not fall into disgrace, into a snare of the devil.”  (1 Timothy 3:7) These two verses are not in contradiction.  In fact they are meant to compliment one another.  A Luke 6:26 church (to the exclusion of 1 Timothy 3:7) is not healthy.  Neither is a 1 Timothy 3:7 church (to the exclusion of Luke 6:26) a healthy church. Some churches believe that being persecuted (no matter what reason) is the mark of a true church.  … [Read more...] about Your Church Should Be Hated…But For the Right Reason

In Richard Baxter’s work The Reformed Pastor he discusses the preachers need to “screw the truth into their minds, and work Christ into their affections.”  As I read over that the phrase, “screw the truth into their minds”, Baxter’s unique wording struck me.  Notice that he did not say “nail the truth” or “drive the truth”, he said “screw the truth”.  I think that is intentional. Consider the nail.  A nail will go into a board with one swift blow.  Even a child, with minimal labor, can plunge a nail into a board.  Not so, with the screw.  The screw often requires a power tool.  Screws … [Read more...] about Monday’s Ministry Musing: Screw the Truth

One mustard stain can ruin everything.  It doesn’t really matter that 99.4% of my shirt is clean.  It’s that .6% of mustard stain (or maybe 15% pending on how I tackled that sandwich) that my eyes immediately go to. We are like that aren’t we?  Some more than others.  We tend to focus on the blemishes.  Blemishes have a tendency to register a pretty hefty on the “am I cool or not” scale.  Enough blemishes (whether perceived or real) and you won’t feel adequate even if you have a staff that turns into a snake or a hand that can change from leprosy to healed quicker than a Hollywood … [Read more...] about Mustard Stains and Stuttering Speech