Pray For Your Son: 31 Day Challenge—Day Seventeen

Mike Leake

Day Seventeen: That he would be a humble servant of the most High

Isaiah 57:15 – For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: “I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly, and to revive the heart of the contrite. (ESV)

There is much confusion in our world with regard to the measure of a man. The uniqueness of Christianity is this: “Man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7). The greatest men are those who realize their brokenness and look to Jesus to make them whole. True brokenness is beautiful because it invites the very presence of the God of heaven. When we come to the end of ourselves and realize the transforming beauty of life in Christ we bring clarity to the confusion that reigns in our world. Pray today that your sons will be humble servants of the most high God.

Dear Father, I praise you that you don’t require greatness from us in order to dwell with us. I praise you that you require nothing but a broken and contrite heart. I praise you that the work of Jesus makes us whole, and offers hope to the world around us. I pray that you would emblazon the truth about humility on the hearts of our sons. Keep them from the awful destruction of pride. Enable them to follow Jesus and His perfect example of humility. For the glory of God and the eternal good of our sons, this is our prayer. Amen.

Mark Mincy: Husband to the beautiful Tricia, and father to Justin, Jake, Jenna, and Jarynne. Privileged to shepherd the congregation of Waterville Baptist Church.

Pastor, You Have Onion Breath

Mike Leake

“This tastes like the cow got into an onion patch”.

If you’ve watched Napoleon Dynamite more than a couple of times you know what that quote is from. Young Napoleon is taste testing milk for an FFA competition. If you’ve ever lived in a rural community and had milk from a cow you also know that onion-tasting milk is a legit thing.

Unless you like your milk with a nice oniony flavor, you don’t drink milk when the cow gets into an onion patch. It’s nauseating. Her milk is no longer fit for consumption.

Some preaching is like milk from a cow eating onions, it’s nauseating. That’s why Paul told young Timothy to “have nothing to do with foolish, ignorant controversies”. If Timothy eats from that patch of grass then he’s going to feed his congregation the same worthless fodder that he is consuming.

Pastor, if you spend your time indulging in foolish and ignorant controversies your people will suffer. Do you really think that you can feed on hours of controversial articles, blog comments, theological debates, etc. and it not effect your preaching? It does. They can smell your onion breath.

What are foolish and ignorant controversies?

“Certainly,” you argue, “there are important issues that we are fighting about that are not  foolish and ignorant controversies.” That’s tricky isn’t it? Wild onions often look like grass. You might not know that your cow is eating from an onion patch by looking from a distance. But you’ll know when you go to drink the milk.

Having a heart bent towards these foolish and ignorant controversies will cause you to preach the wrong point. Rather than using John 3:16 to exult in the love of God for undeserving sinners you’ll use it as ammunition against Calvinists. Or you’ll use Ephesians 1 to preach against non-Calvinists, instead of standing in awe of accomplishment of God in our salvation.

That’s a cow in an onion patch.

Pastors, I urge you to stop. Stop spending so much time eating from the onion patch of controversial blogs. Even if you are consuming these for the sole purpose of rolling your eyes at the crazies. Just stop.

Feast on that which edifies your own soul. That’s the test. If the books and articles you read cause you to burp onions, you know that you’ve spent your time foolishly. Likewise, if you are encouraged and emboldened in your love for Christ, you’ll likely feed your congregation wholesome milk.

Steer clear of the onion patch, your congregation is begging you.

Pray For Your Son: 31 Day Challenge—Day Sixteen

Mike Leake

Day Sixteen: That he would be courageous

Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:9

Just like Joshua our sons need courage. They need courage to say no to ungodliness. They need courage to boldly stand for the orphan and widow—in a culture that would rather cast them aside. They need courage to stand for the truth of God’s Word in the midst of a crooked and depraved generation. They need courage to believe the gospel and live out all of its implications. Courage comes from delighting in God’s presence. Such courage makes men, like George Whitefield, say, “We are immortal until our work on earth is done.” May our sons have courage.

Lord, I thank you for our courageous Savior. I pray today that my son might have the courage to be a man in a generation that abhors biblical manliness. Stir up in him a heart that stands courageous. Help him to fight the battles that need to be fought. May he be a tender warrior that fights the good fight. Cause the awareness of your presence to go deep into his heart. In Jesus name, Amen.

Tamar’s Wilderness

Mike Leake

Yesterday, I heard Tamar’s cry. She’s empty, broken, abused, and hopeless. Sadly she is not alone. There are millions of women in our world that are crying the same tears as Tamar.

It feels so trite to say things like, “Jesus has been there”. Or to say, “He knows your pain”. Those seem like words you say when you don’t want to actually deal with the person in front of you. It feels like saying—with comfy coat and filled belly—to a homeless person, “Be warmed and filled—God bless you”.

It feels trite. But it’s not. Jesus has been in the wilderness and he went there for the Tamar’s of our world.

The Spirit immediately drove [Jesus] out into the wilderness. And he was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by Satan. And he was with the wild animals, and the angels were ministering to him. –Mark 1:12-13

Those words are in stark contrast to Mark 1:11, where the Father’s voice booms from heaven saying, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased”. Then the wilderness. The two don’t seem to match up. Why is the beloved Son plunged into the wilderness? If God really loved him why place him with wild animals? Why strip him bare and leave him vulnerable to the tempter?

For Tamar. That’s why.

Jesus is stripped because Tamar was.

Jesus is thrust into the wilderness because Israel was.

The Lord is invading hostile ground. Hostile ground that he created. That he owns. But ground that has been taken over by rebels; the same rebel hearts that left Tamar desolate. And that is where Jesus is, in the place the rebels have plundered. The places where a thousand choices have left you wondering if you’re a victim, a perpetrator, or some how both. No matter—rebel and battered alike—Jesus is rescuing.

Desolate is word that Chris is removing from our lips:

Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever. –Revelation 22:1-5

Jesus has the power to transform Tamar’s wilderness into a garden of delight.

But we aren’t there yet…