Read This! 2/2

Mike Leake

Overcoming Passivity to be God’s Peacemakers

This is one you might need to chew on for a bit.

How to Respond to the Refugee Crisis

This is from our IMB President. (I think it’s important to consider that this is a rewrite of something he wrote/spoke almost a year ago).

Christian Life Beyond the Quiet Time

Maybe our quiet time shouldn’t be so quiet.

Four Ways God Uses a Leader’s Suffering

We are silly if we think we won’t suffer. And it’s silly to think that God won’t use that suffering.

Five Ways For Your Marriage to Thrive in Ministry

I find that second one the most difficult.

7 False Teachers in the Church Today

Happy to not be on this list….at least I hope not.

7 Ways to Do Political Punditry Wrong in a Polarized World

What?!? I’ve thought these seven tips are the only way to build an online following.

Why Our Son Doesn’t Have a Smartphone

Yep. Same here.

This looks like a great new sitcom…reminds me of another one though:

Pray With Your Spouse: Day Four

Mike Leake

Day Four: Quieted By His Love

The Lord your God is in your midst,
a mighty one who will save;
he will rejoice over you with gladness;
he will quiet you by his love;
he will exult over you with loud singing. –Zephaniah 3:17

I love making my wife laugh. But one of my favorite moments with my wife didn’t involve words, just a peaceful silence. Honestly, it was one of the few moments in my life when internally and externally I felt rest. It began snowing outside—one of those blizzard type of snows. The kids had went to bed and we softly put on some old records. We just sat on the coach together and watched the snow. It was beautiful. We were silent. Quieted by love.

I think of that moment when I read Zephaniah 3:17. The Lord rejoices over us with gladness and exults over us with loud singing—but he also quiets us by His love. His love is so deep for us that we are moved to hushed silence. All of our questions, our complaints, our groans, our unrest, is silenced by the depth of His love. We become like Job putting our hands over our mouth and resting in His goodness towards us. Our marriages need this. Not only that our love for one another would be so deep that we can be silent, but also that we would know and experience God’s love in such a way that we are quieted.

Father, we are amazed by your love. We are astounded that you have chosen to exult over wretched sinners with singing. We do not deserve one bit of your love towards us. But it comes from the depth of your character. You love us not because we are beautiful but because you have decided to love us. There are many things which demand our words, help us to pause today and be quieted by your love. Hush us with your sovereign care.

Why Even A Cessationist Needs an Interpreter

Mike Leake 1 Comment

If any speak in a tongue, let there be only two or at most three, and each in turn, and let someone interpret. 1 Corinthians 14:27

I don’t intend to debate here whether or not tongues are still a gift given to the church today. Nor do I really even want to discuss the nature of tongues—whether it is speaking in foreign languages or a secret language known to God. Today I simply want to consider why Paul was so passionate about making sure the Corinthians had an interpreter. Paul goes on to say that if they don’t have an interpreter then they shouldn’t even express this gift.

His reason is given in the surrounding context. First, he wants the words spoken in worship to be comprehensible to outsiders. If you speak in a language that nobody understands they will leave thinking you are simply out of your minds. Secondly, he doesn’t want there to be confusion. His desire is that the message be clear to both outsiders and insiders.

This leads me to the brief point I’d like to make today. Even a cessationist preacher (one who believes gifts like tongues have ceased) needs to obey the general thrust of this text. And specifically we preachers need to obey these words whenever we are preaching, otherwise we are just as guilty as the Corinthians of speaking in tongues without an interpreter.

I’m all for using important theological terms. This is not an argument to only speak as a simpleton. In fact, I even used the term overrealized-eschatology in my sermon last week. But I made sure to pause and explain what that big word meant. So, I don’t believe we should discard big weighty words like propitiation. They are important, specific, and helpful. We must keep them. But we also must interpret them.

And in our post-Christian society there are going to be even more words that aren’t sensible. Even a words like holiness likely needs to be defined. Just because your hearer might understand the sound of the word you are saying it doesn’t mean they know the full weight of it. To some a call for holiness might equate to getting in a picket line with Westboro Baptist Church. And that’s hopefully not even close to what you mean by pursuing holiness.

So here is my encouragement to my fellow preachers. Go over your sermon (assuming you write it out) and scan through all the big words, technical words, or Christian jargon phrases that you use. Treat these like speaking in tongues. Interpret accordingly.

Pray With Your Spouse: Day Three

Mike Leake

Day Three: Choosing the Best

And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God. –Philippians 1:9-11

Have you ever thought about all the decisions that you’ll make as a couple? Some will be major life decisions, most of them will be small every day decisions. How do you make these decisions? What questions do you ask in order to put your stamp of approval on something?

Paul’s prayer for the Philippians is that their love will be so grounded in the truth that they will always put the stamp of approval on that which is vital and essential. He is praying that when given the choice they’ll choose the eternal and significant over that which is fleeting. It’s actually all of the little decisions which form our character more than the big ones that we usually stress out about. A thousand decisions informed by the gospel will create a couple which accurately shines the beauty of Jesus. So, let us pray along with Paul that we would approve that which is excellent.

Father, we have so many decisions that we have to make. Some of them are major decisions. We also confess that many of the decisions we make every day we don’t even give much thought. Help our love to grow so deep and discerning that we approve what is vital over what is fleeting. May every choice we make together be informed by the eternal. Help us approve the vital. Amen.