Borrowed Light

Taking the Long View On Abortion and Politics

January 27, 2016Mike Leake 1 Comment

I’m not totally a single-issue voter. But I will never vote for someone who is not truly pro-life. NEVER.

This means if it comes down to Donald Trump (who supports Planned Parenthood) and Hilary Clinton (who is, well Hilary Clinton) then I will either not vote or vote for a write-in candidate. It has been argued that this is wasting my vote. That in such an instance not voting for the Donald is a vote for Hilary. To which I say, “I really don’t care.”

As a believer I’m called to fight evil. I’m called to expose the works of darkness—not vote for a lesser form (which I’m not confident is really all that lesser). I’m called to speak for the unborn and to do everything I can to end the atrocious acts brought on by Roe v. Wade.

When it comes to the battle to end abortion we must take the long view. It took Wilberforce 46 years to see slavery end in England. We won’t see Roe v. Wade overturned by continually voting for a sort-of pro-life Republican just because they aren’t pro-choice Democrats.

But we do this because we say a third-party candidate could never win. So don’t vote for a third-party candidate it’s a wasted vote. As if winning is all that matters. If evangelicals would refuse to vote for sort-of pro-life candidates then I would say that within a few years the GOP would wake up and realize they aren’t going to win a single election without the evangelical vote—and they won’t ever get the evangelical vote until they truly seek ending Roe v. Wade.

So if I don’t vote this year I’m not wasting my vote. I’m simply hoping to be voting for a decent candidate in about eight to twelve years.

We must take the long view.

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Today in Blogworld 1.27.16

January 27, 2016Mike Leake

My Real Life Hosea Story

This is heartbreaking and also, I believe, God honoring. Though I don’t always agree with his conclusions I’ve always appreciated the work of Craig Keener.

Why Daughters Need Their Dads

“If you fully understood just how profoundly you can influence your daughter’s life, you would be overwhelmed.” Check.

Answering the Abortion Question That Is Sure to Come

I might write in Kevin DeYoung as my presidential candidate for 2016.

A Safe Place to Make Mistakes

Amen. Lord forgive us for creating a culture in our churches which is the exact opposite of this.

Our dog had a similar experience to this pup when he first experienced snow:

TobY Keith For B.B. King Just Doesn’t Work

January 26, 2016Mike Leake 1 Comment

I’ll never be able to check an item off my bucket list. For over a decade now I’ve wanted to see B.B. King in concert. But apparently “Playing for Mike Leake” wasn’t on Mr. King’s bucket list and so I’ll never see him in concert. I almost did though.

You see, I had given my buddy $100 to buy tickets to see B.B. King. Instead he blew the money playing poker with some other friends. Knowing that I was upset he said he would make it up to me. A couple of weeks later he handed me a couple of Toby Keith tickets and figured that should call it even.

Now if you know anything about me you know that I abhor country music—and though I don’t know if I could name any of his songs I’m pretty sure that going to a Toby Keith concert would rank just under putting tiny cuts on my body and then taking a bath in rubbing alcohol. Though it might have been okay in his mind, Toby Keith isn’t an acceptable substitute for B.B. King tickets.

Now I have to confess this story is made up—all except for loving B.B. King and loathing country music, that part is true. I share this fictional story to make a point a substitute is only acceptable if the offended party says that the substitute is acceptable.

I thought of this the other day when studying Genesis and the story of Abraham. Remember the part where Sarah just couldn’t have a baby? And then her and Abe came up with this great plan to have a baby through Hagar. What are they doing? They are coming up with a substitute. Sarah couldn’t conceive. Hagar could. Why not use Hagar?

But God didn’t accept this substitute.

Fast forward to Genesis 22. You get the idea that Abraham learned a lesson. When God—and mind-boggling story this is—calls Abraham to sacrifice his only son Isaac, he doesn’t take a ram up the hill as a substitute. He takes Isaac. The promised son. But he ends up sacrificing a ram caught in a thicket instead of his boy. Why? Because God ordained and accepted the substitute.

What does this have to do with you and I?

Everything, really.

You see, I’ve often got this half-baked idea that I can come up with substitutes that will be pleasing to God. But it never works.

Take me for example. I’ve gotten a bit better at this, but I can have a pretty sharp tongue. I can say things that I regret. Awhile back I was a complete jerk and disrespectful to this guy that I know. The Spirit pricked my conscience and I knew that I was being a goon. But what did I do? Did I confess my sin to this man? Did I repent? Nope. I decided to be really nice to him for the next couple of hours. I figured I could substitute niceness for actual repentance.

And we all do silly stuff like this often. We try to substitute good deeds, baptism, church attendance, moralistic living, recycling, humor, and a host of other things in place of actual God-honoring repentance. Repentance which acknowledges our guilt and runs to the only acceptable substitute; namely, Jesus.

God doesn’t accept any other substitute. But he ALWAYS accepts the substitution of His Son. It’d be wise for us to drop the charade and fly to Jesus. Whatever you are substituting in place of Jesus and His work is going to come up empty. It’s offensive. And it’s prideful. When I’m the offender I don’t get to pick the substitute. I don’t even get to say if a substitute is possible. God does. And God did.

Jesus alone is that acceptable substitute.

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Photo source: here