Have You Noticed This Too?

Mike Leake 4 Comments

I do not mean this question to be loaded by any means; I simply wonder if you have noticed this too. I was reading an article the other day by a very respected Christian leader. In this article he very inaccurately sums up the emerging church movement. It caused me to wonder whether or not this man has even studied much of anything about the emerging church. From his summary statement it appears that he has read an article or two and now feels he fully understands all the intricacies of the movement.

In the past I have also read very ridiculous arguments against Calvinism. I say ridiculous not because I am a Calvinist and what the author said got me thinking. I say ridiculous because the Calvinism the author argued against has absolutely nothing in common with what I believe. Keep in mind this is not some amateur theologian, this is a guy with a Ph.D. and plenty of papers on his wall.

Here is my question. Have you noticed that at a certain point many “big-name” (celebrity) leaders in Christendom rest on their name and no longer engage in scholarly research? I understand that often renowned secular authors and philosophers will do much the same. I don’t have a point, I am just wondering if I am off the wall or if somebody else has noticed this?

Should Student Ministry Be About the Students?

Mike Leake 6 Comments

What do you think? Is ministry about the person you are ministering to? Should the student ministers focus be on the students?

Lifeway has discovered what youth pastors have known for awhile; we don’t keep students after they graduate high school. The statistic being thrown around now is 70% of students will not stay in church. How do we fix that? The Lifeway solution is their new program: Know, Own, Known.

On the back of a promotional pamphlet for the product I found this statement:

“By focusing on students and helping them become all God wants them to be, student ministry leaders, coming alongside of parents, can help students know God, own their faith, and make their faith known”

So, what do you think? Good idea? Great idea? Not so good of an idea? I plan to discuss this (as well as start talking more about student ministry) on Monday.

Compromise is Stupid When Truth is Known

Mike Leake 2 Comments

Compromise can be a good thing. Compromise is especially necessary when partners have conflicting desires in marriage. However, compromise can also be synonymous with selling out the gospel. A quote that Steve Camp referenced made me think of this. Campi quoted Jay McInerney as saying, “The good life is the middle way…” What a wonderful summary of postmodern thought. In one sense I actually agree with the quote. In another sense I disagree with it from the core of my being.

I agree that compromise (or the middle way) can be a good thing. When no clear answer is spelled out in Scripture then compromise is a wise way to go. If my wife wants Burger King (and enjoys their slow service and gross food) and I want Taco Bell (with its luscious Chicken Bacon Ranch chalupas) then a compromise (you decide what that would be) is a good option. Theologically speaking, if there are issues in Scripture that are somewhat unclear and not very close to the gospel then perhaps compromise is a good idea. There are quite a few hills that are not worth dying on.

On the other hand when truth is known compromise is stupid and morally repulsive. Christians believe Jesus is the only way to God. Nobody else does. Compromise in this regard would not be a virtue but tantamount to abandoning the faith. Now, the pomo will tell us that truth cannot be known, therefore, the “good life is the middle way…” As believers in the God that calls believers to worship Him in spirit and truth, we cannot sell out to such garbage. God has clearly revealed Himself in Scripture. There are things that can be known, and known absolutely. On these matters refuse to compromise.

Compromise can be appealing. After all is it not easy to be “unified” when we all seek the middle ground? But, unity for the sake of unity is no virtue. If unity is not unified around the truth of Christ then it stands just as opposed to God as the people in Genesis 11. Brothers and sisters, there are things that we must NOT compromise on. The good life is not the middle way, it is the narrow way.

One last thing. There is a difference between compromise and cooperation. Take the debate in the SBC over those darn Calvinists. I would consider myself on the Calvinistic side of the debate. To me compromise is not an option. My Arminian friends would probably say the same thing. The truth is compromise for either side would be (in the opinion of each) a sell out. Therefore, in these situations the call is not to compromise it is to cooperation. It is having a “self-sacrificing conformity to a shared vision” and cooperating despite our differences. Compromise is stupid, cooperation is not.

Duty Fired By Love!

Mike Leake
This quotation will probably reveal how far I am behind in the Puritan Reading Challenge. It is May (almost June) and I am 3/4 of the way finished with March’s The Godly Man’s Picture. Eventhough it will reveal my lackluster performance in the Puritan Reading Challenge, I had to share this quote from Thomas Watson:

“If our hearts were more fixed with love, they would be more fixed in duty, an oh, what cause we have to love duty! Is not this the direct road to heaven? Do we not meet with God here? Can the spouse be better than in her husband’s company? Where can the soul be better than in drawing near to God?” (164)

Watson’s marriage of duty and love is painfully foreign to our contemporary minds. To the Puritan the lifeblood of his fellowship with God was the performance of duties. That sounds legalistic doesn’t it? Keep in mind that to a Puritan true performance of duty came from the principle of grace imparted to the soul by God Himself. To truly be faithful in duty is to cling to the Cross.