Desiring to Drink Afresh

Mike Leake

A resting in notions of Gospel truth, or in the recollection of past comforts, without a continual thirst for fresh communications from the Fountain of life, is, I am afraid, the canker which eats away the beauty and fruitfulness of many professors in the present day; and which, if it does not prove them to be absolutely dead, is at least a sufficient evidence that they are lamentably sick.  -John Newton to John Ryland

In other words to rest upon a past experience or a mere belief in certain Christian doctrines without having a desire for a fresh drink from the Fountain of Life is a sure sign that you are either spiritually dead or at least very sick.

Newton can say this because Christ is exceedingly beautiful.  One does not have a true experience of the beauty and majesty of Christ and then forever turn away without longing for more of Jesus.  To do so either means that you have never actually beheld the glory of God or that something has gone so awry in your heart that you have become like a man dying of thirst that rejects water because he craves salt instead. 

What do I do if this describes me? 

Repent and turn to Jesus: either as a redeemed but sin-sick believer or as an unbeliever that needs to see Jesus for the first time. 

What To Do With “Young Whippersnappers” and “Old Coots”

Mike Leake

“I wish my letters may be a bridle to you and yours a spur to me.” 

Those words came from the pen of John Newton to a much younger John Ryland, Jr.  Newton was almost 50 when he wrote these words, and Ryland was only around 20.  Ryland was just beginning in the ministry and Newton had been converted and laboring for the Lord for almost as long as Ryland had been alive. 

It seems to me that Newton’s relationship with Ryland should be one that is emulated all throughout our churches. 

Those that have been believers for quite some time can and engaged in ministry for a decent season can have a tendency to get calloused and thereby complacent.  They (am I at the point of saying “we”?) sometimes need to be spurred on by those young whippersnappers that have zeal, youthful vigor, and really crazy ideas. 

Those that are just setting out in living the Christian life and in engaging in Christian ministry can have a tendency in their zeal to act to hasty, think too black and white, and many wear themselves out quickly.  We (yeah, I’m still going to claim to be a young whippersnapper at only 30) need more seasoned men and women to bridle us. 

Every Newton needs a Ryland.  And every Ryland needs a Newton.  It takes humility for both parties to see this.  I pray that the Lord may raise up many relationships like this within our churches. 

He may not appreciate being the “seasoned minister” but my friend Terry has often been my Newton.  There were many times that through email correspondence he would “reign in” my youthful vigor with seasoned words of encouragement.  I owe a good amount of my Christian growth and irenic spirit to not only folks like Newton but men in my life like Terry. 

If you are a Newton I encourage you to pursue a Ryland to pour your life into and also one to be spurred by.  Allow yourself to be rebuked by his/her passion and boldness.  Have patience with his youthful zeal—commend it, but reign it in. 

If you are a Ryland I encourage you to pursue a Newton to learn from.  Allow yourself to be trained and seasoned by these gracious men/women.  Do not be so arrogant to think that you know things far better than someone that has probably already lived your life.  But also do not be afraid to ask questions and spur this man/woman on in the Lord. 

One last thing of note.  Newton pursued a young Ryland via letter writing.  He called him on his youthful arrogance but encouraged him with warm affection.  The Newton’s of the world will probably need to be the ones that pursue the Ryland’s…it seldom will work the other way around. 

Eliminating the Tithe: Magnifying Christ and Mission a Response to Les Puryear

Mike Leake

I don’t typically respond to other people’s articles, and I try to stay out of controversy.  Hopefully I do not regret responding here, but Les Puryear seems to be a reasonable man and if there were any discussion I think it would be cordial. 

Puryear recently posted an article on what is wrong with the SBC.  Number two on the list (in no particular order) was “preachers and Seminary professors who teach that the biblical principle of storehouse tithing is not valid today.”  He followed up that article with one this morning accusing those that “eliminate the tithe” as “jumping through hermeneutical hoops to dismiss biblical teaching”.

Here I am not so much going to respond to the discussion of tithing specifically but what I believe is a faulty hermeneutic that drives Puryear’s conclusions. 

In his recent article there is one particular statement that stuck out to me:

I do not agree that we should ignore the Old Testament and obey only New Testament commands. If so, then we would be throwing out more than half of the Bible!

He follows that up with citing 2 Timothy 3:16-17, Psalm 119:105, and Matthew 5:18 to show the danger of ignoring the OT commands. 

If the purpose of the Old Testament is to give us a rule book of commands then I would be more apt to agree with Puryear’s conclusions.  But if the purpose of the Old Testament is to point to Christ (in all of its shadows, sacrifices, etc.) then the Old Testament is not thrown out simply because we no longer adhere to certain laws within the Old Testament. 

In this article three things are listed that are no longer valid: “dietary laws, the ceremonial law, and the sacrificial system”.  Certainly Puryear would not argue that we are “throwing out” most of the Torah just because we see it fulfilled in Jesus. 

As Tom Schreiner has aptly pointed out in his work on Christians and Biblical Law, “the tithe is irretrievably tied to the old covenant, which is no longer in force”.  We do not pay regular tithes to the Levites and to the priests.  All believers are now priests.  Do we then pay tithes to one another?  To truly follow the tithe we must live in the Old Covenant; and that is Schreiner’s point. 

But What About Jesus in Matthew 23?

One of Puryear’s points is that Jesus DOES teach tithing in the New Testament.  In Matthew 23 he tells the Pharisees that they should have tithed.  Their problem is that they were neglecting other matters like justice, mercy, and faith.  But the tithing part they got correct.  Jesus does not rebuke them for tithing in fact he affirms them for it. 

But it is worth noting, again as Schreiner does, that “his positive words about tithing were directed to Pharisees who lived under the old covenant”.  Schreiner then goes on to point out that Jesus also “commended offering sacrifices in the temple (Matthew 5:23-24), but no one today thinks such would be advisable if the temple were rebuilt.”

Tithing and Missions

Count me then as one of those that is a problem within the SBC.  I know that many fear that if this teaching would progress…where we no longer required a tithe in our churches…then an already strapped financial church would be buried.  Furthermore, God would not be please because we would be “robbing God” as it says in Malachi. 

I must admit that does cause me to suggest these things with trepidation.  But might I suggest that it may be possible (hear my trepidation) that mandating the tithe is actually hurting our churches.  Inspired by a question from David Platt’s book, Radical, I asked myself the hard question: what would be different if rather than asking how much can I spare I start asking how much will it take?  (Read that article: here)

Is it possible that many people give their minimum 10% (and we know statistically we often fail to do this) when the cause of missions combined with the way that God has financially blessed us would actually necessitate a much larger sacrifice?  Again what would happen if we did not have a fixed 10% that is the expected amount—but instead we began asking “how much will it take”? 

My contention is that we do not “throw out half the Bible” by not mandating a storehouse tithe.  Rather we magnify the beauty of Christ in saying that He has fulfilled the Old covenant and has now set in its place a blood-soaked new covenant that comes with a non-negotiable call to love one another.  Such a call actually necessitates that we live MORE sacrificially than a tithe and not less**. 

**I am not here accusing Puryear of teaching something akin to only giving a minimum and not giving over and above the tithe. 

7 Questions with Mike McKinley: Author of “Am I Really a Christian?”

Mike Leake

A couple weeks ago I had the opportunity to read and review Mike McKinley’s new book, “Am I Really a Christian?”.  I noted that McKinley does a phenomenal job of “walking the fine line between easy-believism and morbid introspection.  He does it with pastoral sensitivity, wit, wisdom, and engaging writing.”

Even in the midst of his wife giving birth to their fifth child Mike was kind enough to take the time to answer a few questions.  And he even manages to use awesome words like “canard” in the interview.

1. What motivated you to write this book?

Well, it’s a question that comes up a lot in the course of my pastoral ministry. 

It’s such a basic question.  Really, the book is about conversion.  We tend to focus so much in the church on getting people to convert that we don’t talk very much about what conversion is and what it looks like in someone’s life.  But a misunderstanding in that arena leads to problems in almost every other area of church life.

2. You probably could have gotten quite a few different people to write the foreword for such an important topic. I’m curious, why Kirk Cameron?

The book is not aimed at pastors or theologians, so it didn’t seem to make a lot of sense to have a pastor or theologian do the preface.  It seemed like the themes of the books fit well with a lot of the themes of Kirk’s ministry, and he is known and respected by Christians all over the country. 

Plus, my sister had a huge crush on him in the 1980’s.

3. As I read through this book I could tell that you are a pastor. I’ve read books and heard sermons on assurance that seem to lack pastoral sensitivity. You seem to effectively walk that fine line between easy-believism and morbid-introspection. What were some of your helps in doing this? Do you have any pastoral experiences that either taught you to be more sensitive in your approach or also experiences that taught you to be more pointed?

The sensitive part is easier.  If you’re a pastor, you’re going to deal with people who love the Lord but struggle with assurance.  It’s always a joy to point those people to kindness of Christ.  I always keep extra copies of Sibbes’ A Bruised Reed on hand in my office for just such a purpose, and it seems like a go through a stack of them every year. 

But I’ve also dealt with a good number of professing Christians who are hardened in and even proud of their sin.  It’s a sad kind of ministry, but love requires you to use the Bible a bit like a pinata stick.  You hope that God shows people their state and leads them to repentance.  

The old canard is that pastoral ministry requires you to afflict the comfortable and comfort the afflicted.  It’s true.

4. In your book you list 5 things that the Bible says will accompany a true conversion. What if I get 3 out of 5?

The 5 things are:
1.  Belief in true doctrine.
2.  Hatred for sin in your life.
3.  Perseverance over time.
4. Love for other people.
5.  Freedom from the love of the world.

The Bible speaks of the absence of each of those 5 things in terms of being deal breakers.  So it may be that some of those things are stronger or weaker in specific Christians, but the total absence of any one of them is very concerning.

5. Some have suggested that books like this are not helpful because it causes true believers to doubt their salvation. It is their belief that we should never question our salvation. What is your response to that? (Really, I’m looking for what is your response to those in the free-grace-Lordship-salvation-is-the-devil camp).

The apostles Paul (II Corinthians 13:5) and Peter (II Peter 2:10) didn’t seem to share that concern. 
My fear is that there are millions of people who are inoculated to the gospel because they prayed a prayer or were baptized when they were a child and received a false sense of assurance.  As a result, they never hear the call to repent and believe as directed to them.

So I guess I’d say that there are worse things than doubting your salvation.  Like thinking you’re going to heaven and winding up in Hell. 

6. As an Eagles fan how excited are you about the upcoming season? How excited were you when you found out the Eagles had signed top free agent Nnamdi Asomugha?

Well, my heart tells me that this is our year.  But history makes me think that this is just another way for football to get my hopes up and then crush me.

I’m insanely excited about Asomugha.  I was sitting in the NICU with my newborn child when I got the text that they had signed him.  It was strange, my wife wasn’t as excited as I was.  But when I explained that this meant we had three shut down corners and we could now dominate from our nickel defense, she understood.

7. Your book has been on the shelves for a couple months now. Many people have read it and you have probably gotten a good amount of feedback. Is there anything that you would change in a second edition?

I think I’d build upon chapter 9, where I talk about the role of the church in helping us determine whether we’re Christians.  There’s a lot more to say there than what I said.

8. This last one isn’t really a question. I just wanted to thank you for chapter 9. I think that what is lacking in many books on this topic is the relationship between assurance and the body of Christ. I would love to see somebody even build upon what you have written here. So, thank you!

Thanks.  I think people have really appreciated that chapter, and the credit goes to my good friend and editor Jonathan Leeman.  He read the first draft of the book and suggested that the role of the church needed to be much more prominent.  He was correct, I think.
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Thanks again for taking the time to answer these questions.

If you think this book may be helpful to you or a friend you can buy it for around 10 bucks.