John Newton On the Boston Bombers

Mike Leake


There was no little turmoil in the world in 1801. England was only a few years removed from the Revolutionary War and now they faced the ever-increasing advance of Napoleon Bonaparte’s rule. Newton, writing to Hannah More, reflects upon the times:

He does and will overrule all the designs of men for the furtherance and accomplishment of his holy plan. Not only his friends but his enemies contribute to it. The wrath of man, so far as it is permitted to act, shall praise him, and the remainder of their wrath, whatever they mean more than is subservient to his purpose, He will restrain…We, perhaps, have been tempted almost to wish that some persons had not been born, or had been taken away before they had opportunity of doing so much mischief, but what the Lord said to Pharaoh will apply to all like-minded, ‘For this very cause have I raised thee up.

Words like this usually draw sharp criticism in our day. How in the world can we say that the Boston bombers are somehow instruments in the hands of Almighty God? Doesn’t this make God evil and wicked? How could we serve such a God?

Such questions are tough. And I don’t know all of the answers to them. But at the end of the day I find comfort in the words of Newton, especially these:

When I consider all second causes and instruments as mere saws and hammers in the workman’s hands, and that they can neither give us pleasure nor pain, but as our Lord and Savior is pleased to employ them, I feel a degree of peace and composure.

Suffering is tough. Easy answers do not suffice. It seems that every day we open a newspaper some new story of suffering is unfolding. Abortion clinics, bombers, train wrecks, explosions, tsunamis, on and on the litany of pain continues. We either believe that God’s drama is somehow unfolding or we believe that He’s a reactionary. I don’t understand all the implications of it but I believe Scripture paints the first picture. 

Newton went on to say, “how little can we judge of this great drama by a single scene!”. We don’t have all the answers and that is intentional. But somehow we have to trust that God has a good purpose in all suffering.

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For a more complete treatment of this theme I would invite the reader to check out my book, Torn to Heal, which releases tomorrow.

Timothy Paul Jones (@timothywashere) Endorses Torn to Heal for #Royals Fans

Mike Leake 2 Comments

According to Timothy Paul Jones, Torn to Heal is a great book for Royals fans:

“As two of the few remaining fans of the Kansas City Royals, Mike Leake and I know what you’re talking about when you talk about suffering. After two decades in the tomb of the American League, it is true of the Royals what was true of Lazarus: ‘Lord, they stinketh.’ And verily, we are tempted to become Stoics or dualists about it. Books like this, however, may help Royals fans to see a purpose in their suffering. Purchase a copy for the Royals fan in your life, even though it’s highly unlikely that you have any Royals fans in your life since most people have assumed for several years that the Royals have turned into a high school team. And last year, they played like it–but they’re still officially Major League and, thus far this year, they’re almost playing like a professional team but we’re not holding our collective breath. Even if you don’t know any Royals fans, this book may work for Cleveland Indians fans too and maybe even Cubs fans, if you know any. So buy it for them.”

He also seriously endorsed the book:

“Mike Leake takes us on a gospel-driven path between dualism that acts as if God has lost control of his world and fatalism/stoicism that tries to bury pain beneath emotionless acceptance of whatever happens. The result is a brief but potent primer for ordinary people on the purpose of suffering.”

Dr. Jones is one of my favorite professors at SBTS. I’m honored that he took the time to not only endorse the book once but twice. The book is scheduled to release tomorrow. Be sure to get your copy today. (For those of you that asked it should be available on Amazon in the next couple days).

Today in Blogworld 04.30.13

Mike Leake

What Would Churches Do With More Money?

This was interesting.

Getting Through a Preaching Slump

Great advice from Thabiti Anyabwile on how to get through a preaching slump.

Why I Pray Publicly for Other Churches

For all those that pray in public this is a great thing to do. Greg Gilbert explains why.

Broussard, Bigotry, and the NBA

How long until Chris Broussard gets fired for his “intolerant” comments? Denny Burk has the story.

There are a couple of words in here that some might find slightly offensive. I post it here because I want to scientifically prove to my wife and many others that when my son or daughter punches me there I’m not over-exaggerating—or at least only slightly.

How to Get Your Blog to Appear on Morning Roundups

Mike Leake

There are thousands of people every day that plead with me to appear on Today in Blogworld (TiB).

Ok, not really.

But every article written aims for wider exposure. We want what we write to be read. Every link you get (even from a little guy like me) extends the life of your article. It’s a win if you get picked up by a curator.

Here is how I decide what appears on TiB in the morning. I use Feedly and subscribe to hundreds of feeds. I click through them relatively quickly. If something even looks mildly interesting I save it for later. At a set point in the day I go through everything that I saved for later. I read a little of each article and either link to it, trash it, or save it for tomorrow. I imagine others do something similar.

Here are six ways to keep yourself from appearing on TiB

  1. Make me click through. Nine times out of 10 if you make me click through to keep reading I won’t do it. In fact if this is the pattern for your blog I probably don’t even subscribe.
  2. Don’t have a catchy title. If you don’t have an effective title, no matter how amazing the article I doubt I’ll ever see it. This might help.
  3. Bore me out of the gate. Your title might have caught my attention so I saved it. But if I start reading and fall asleep I’ll quickly move on.
  4. Write a novel. This rule can be broken. Some articles are so good that they need to be over the typical 7-800 words. Some can pull this off. Don’t assume that you can.
  5. Fail to ask. On occasion people will email with an article that they’ve written and ask me to take a look. I almost always do. Go the extra step and email me. But don’t do it daily or be Sir Spam-A-Lot
  6. Promote sin. I want to be helpful to my readers. If your article promotes sin (which means slander, gossip, needless controversy, etc.) then I won’t even bother.

Here are five positive tips

  1. Be helpful
  2. Be unique
  3. Spend time on your title
  4. Use shorter paragraphs
  5. Pictures can be helpful but don’t overdo it