Borrowed Light

You know I’m going to support this idea.

Holy Boldness is Needed in Hostile Climates

I’m chewing on this a bit and might write something related to this soon.

Lessons From the Faith of Teddy Roosevelt

I love little history snippets like this one.

Three Reasons to Never Say “I Would Never Do That”

Very good. Also bonus points for alliteration.

5 Reasons You Can Have Hope in the New Year

Yeah, I know this was written on New Year’s Day. But we need hope 365 days of the year.

When Discontent Sheep Show Up

I totally agree with this, and frankly wish several other pastors did as well.

3 Reasons We Don’t Preach Gospel-Centered Sermons

Yep. “It’s just a theory, but perhaps the reason so many preachers who read all the gospelly books and blogs, listen to all the gospelly podcasts, and follow all the gospelly Twitter accounts still struggle to preach gospelly sermons is because they are not in regular communion with the Christ who is the center.”

Why You Shouldn’t Stop Blogging

This was encouraging to me. I’ve considering giving up a few times, but that was silly.

I don’t know why I find this so hilarious but it is: a compilation of Piper wrestling with his pulpit mic:

Jesus is More Captivating Than Teleportation

January 14, 2019Mike Leake

“And when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord, carried Philip away, and the eunuch saw him no more, and went on his way rejoicing…”

Can you imagine if this happened to you? You were propelled by the Spirit to leave a revival in Samaria and run out into the desert and share the gospel with one Ethiopian man. You baptize him in a pool of water. And the next thing you know you end up about 30 miles away in Azotus. We’re talking teleporting here. One moment baptizing a guy, you get out of the pool and in the blink of an eye you’re 30 miles away.

Who hasn’t watched Star Trek and thought it’d be absolutely amazing to teleport? I realize if we wiped out our morning commutes it’d hurt podcast numbers, but it’d be worth it. One of my favorite questions to ask people concerns teleportation. If you could teleport but there was a 1% chance you’d turn into goop, would you do it?

So you’re Philip and you actually teleport. What are you talking about?

Do you write a best-selling book on the glories of teleportation? Sell t-shirts? I’m guessing that the guy who teleports has a great story at dinner parties. He probably can even one-up Brian Regan’s moonwalker. You pack out auditoriums telling your story.

But not Philip.

He lands in Azotus and goes from town to town telling them a story. But it isn’t a story about his teleporting. It’s the story about God becoming man, dying amongst thieves, rising from the dead, and giving new life to people just like Philip. That is the story which captivates Philip, not teleporting. It’s Jesus who he cannot shut up about.

So, yeah, for those who are Spirit-filled, the gospel really is better and cooler and more captivating than even teleportation.

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Photo source: here

The Running Type of Obedience

January 11, 2019Mike Leake

And the Spirit said to Philip, “Go over and join this chariot.”So Philip ran to him and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?” –Acts 8:29-30

If this text were written about me, it’d read a bit different. It’d say something like, “The Spirit directed Mike to go over and talk to that guy at the gas station. So Mike drug his feet and kept debating whether or not it was God talking to him or a bad burrito. By the time Mike decided to saunter over there the man was gone and the only creature left was a cat softly bunting against the gas pump.”

I don’t know how many times something like that has actually happened to me. I’ll get a pretty distinct impression that I ought to go talk to somebody, or do some thing, and I’ll debate forever whether or not its actually the Lord. I suppose I’m worried about being seen as a fool—or maybe even being a fool. I don’t want to be one of those loons who gets weird impressions and does really strange stuff and then blames my weird behavior on the Lord. But I can’t get around those words…

“So Philip ran…”

I want that kind of obedience. I want that kind of excitement and expectancy. Philip ran because he figured this was why God pulled him away from a revival in Samaria to go out to a desert. He knew that God was up to something. And so he didn’t drag his feet, he ran.

Running was quite the undignified act in Philip’s culture, and that is telling (convicting?) as well. I sit and deliberate on whether or not I’ve actually heard God’s voice while the opportunity passes me by. Why do I do that? Cause I don’t want to be made a fool. I don’t want to be undignified. Sure, there is some good theology behind it as well. I don’t want to be a false prophet who claims that God has spoke to me when really it was just my own silly thoughts. But if I’m being honest my bigger fear is probably in looking like a false prophet than actually being afraid of actually being a false prophet.

Philip was a man who was filled with the Spirit. He loved the Lord. And he was a guy who loved people as they are. It didn’t matter if they were widows in the Jerusalem church, Samaritans, or an Ethiopian eunuch. It seems that the Spirit worked in him to make him a man who loved people at first sight. So it’s not surprising that his obedience is as swift as it is. And that’s my answer too. Little steps of Spirit-filled obedience. It’s the type of obedience that Jesus had. And it’s the obedience He has purchased for us.

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Photo source: here