This Week in Blogworld 6/05

Mike Leake

This is powerful: The Gospel and Personal Criticism.

Absolutely HUGE updates to TheResurgence. Be sure to check them all out.

Timmy Brister points out the truth behind the Christian Index’s statement: Denominations do not fulfill the Great Commission. Timmy asks some good questions in response.

Abraham Piper’s excellent blog 22 Words has been redesigned.

John Piper is now tweeting. Find out why.

This is the Carl Trueman article about Blog Attackers that CJ referenced in the first link.

I really appreciated this article by Don Dunavant (a guest post at Between the Times). He compares the downfall of GM with a few alarming trends in the SBC.

Helpful article for us young preachers. James McDonald offers advice on Common Mistakes Young Preachers Make:

If I comprised a list of the Top 10 people within the history of the church that I could hang out with and be mentored by John Newton would probably be in the Top 5. Here is one of the reasons why: The Peril of Pastorla Popularity and Pride

One of my favorite Shane and Shane songs:

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(HT: Justin C.)

Hump Day Humor: Laugh at Songs I Have to Endure

Mike Leake 1 Comment

Warning!! You will be singing this song all day long.

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My son loves to bob his head to this one…

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Daniel 6 for our day…….Illegal Religion or Mandatory Religion?

Mike Leake 1 Comment

In Daniel 6, the enemies of Daniel set out to destroy him, but quickly realized their only hope of finding fault was to use his religious faithfulness against him (Daniel 6:3-5). They watched him carefully and came to the conclusion that he was man of prayer and making prayer illegal was the way to go. (I assume you know the rest of the story.)

In studying this passage to preach this Sunday, I wondered how these characters would go about effectively setting a trap for Christians today? Would the opposite approach net more arrests? By opposite approach, I mean instead of making religious exercise (Biblical Christianity) illegal….make the exercise of one’s faith mandatory for those who call themselves believers. In other words, instead of making prayer illegal, make it mandatory. Instead of passing laws against witnessing to the lost, giving one’s tithes, and reading the Bible, pass laws that say Christians will practice their faith.

How hard would the church of our culture have to work at getting into the habit of practicing what we preach? How long would it be before we fell back into our old ways only to find ourselves under arrest and in the lion’s den because we do not regularly pray, read, witness, give, and minister in the name of the Lord?

Which kind of laws would reveal our unfaithfulness the most…..illegal religion or mandatory religion? Just thinking out loud. What say you?

Lessons from Aesop: Jesus Our Only Hope of ‘Belling the Cat’

Mike Leake

Long ago, the mice had a general council to consider what measures they could take to outwit their common enemy, the Cat. Some said this, and some said that; but at last a young mouse got up and said he had a proposal to make, which he thought would meet the case. “You will all agree,” said he, “that our chief danger consists in the sly and treacherous manner in which the enemy approaches us. Now, if we could receive some signal of her approach, we could easily escape from her. I venture, therefore, to propose that a small bell be procured, and attached by a ribbon round the neck of the Cat. By this means we should always know when she was about, and could easily retire while she was in the neighborhood.” This proposal met with general applause, until an old mouse got up and said: “That is all very well, but who is to bell the Cat?” The mice looked at one another and nobody spoke. Then the old mouse said: “It is easy to propose impossible remedies.” From Aesop’s Fables.

How do we win the world for Jesus? How do we purge sin out of our camp? What will it take for us to see the nations holy? How do we go about spreading the glory of God to the nations? What will it take to cast down the enemy and see Jesus exalted and praised by people of every tribe, tongue, nation, and language?

Go to your local Christian book store or search the internet and you will find a host of answers to those questions. Some of them utterly insane, others wonderfully biblical. Can’t you picture the general council of mice discussing this great problem. Now put suits and ties on them and give them each a Bible and a scheduled potluck after the meeting. Now they are a group of Baptists discussing how to win the world for Jesus. Someone comes up with an amazing idea. It seems like a great plan. But just like mice lack the power to bell a cat we really lack the power to convert souls.

The only answer to each of the above questions is Jesus. Jesus is the only one that can do that which is impossible. Remember the story of the Rich Young Ruler. In that culture it was assumed that the wealthy were closer to God (sounds a tad familiar). This is why the disciples strange question after the young man walks away: “If he cannot be saved then who can”. Then Jesus tells us that the only one that can bell a cat is God Himself: “with man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

So, the next time you have an idea like belling a cat—remember that Jesus is the only one that can carry it out.

Solutions to solving the church, curing the nations, healing the world, etc. that are divorced from the gospel. The only one that can accomplish impossible remedies is Jesus.

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