Review of Redemption by Mike Wilkerson

Mike Leake

When I first learned of my opportunity to review this book for Crossway I was excited.  I had been exposed to Wilkerson through one of my classes in seminary.  My class had an hour long phone conference with him as he shared about what Mars Hill did for soul care in their congregation.  He also mentioned this book as an adaptation of the material they use in their Redemption groups.  I quickly jotted down the title as one to pick up in January.

I expected Redemption to strengthen the way that I do ministry and help me develop a plan for healing the brokenness in our church community.  I did not expect it to confront my idolatry.  But it did. 

One of the things that I often pray is, “Break me where I need broken and heal me where I need healed”.  There are certain books that have a tendency to be used by God to do both.  Wilkerson’s book confronts our idolatry (breaks us) but it also displays the beauty of Christ and provides substantial healing. 

As stated earlier this is an adaptation of what Mars Hill uses for their redemption groups.  Their redemption groups are an interesting concept.  Rather than having specific groups for various addictions they have one specific group.  But what is even more interesting is that they not only combine the various forms of addiction, they also have those that are victims go through the same material in the same group.  This book is essentially what they use. 

How can something possibly tie together victims and addicts?  The thread that holds these two together is the biblical theme of Redemption.  In this book Wilkerson uses the biblical story of the Exodus as a framework for God’s pattern of redemption.  One thing that addicts and victims have in common is a desperate need for redemption (freedom). 

This is why I thought I would use this book to strengthen ministry to broken people.  I know that I am broken but I would not have classified myself as much of a victim or an addict.  But this book is useful for every sinner that needs redemption and healing.  We all carry wounds and we all worship idols.  Wilkerson uses the story of the Exodus to both break and heal sinners in the name of Jesus. 

The book is eight chapters long.  Stories of real people is interwoven with the real biblical story of the Israelite Exodus.  God redeems people today just as He redeemed the Israelites, and he does it through Christ.  Wilkerson shows his firm commitment to the Scriptures and solid biblical scholarship.  But he also shows that he is a physician of the soul as well.  He shows how the gospel heals real life sinners. 

I heartily recommend this book to everyone.  In fact I am trying to figure out ways to use this book in our congregation.  Immediately after reading it I told my wife to put down all my other book suggestions (I have a tendency to suggest way too many books for people to read) and to focus on this one.  In the coming months we are going to slowly go through this book and use the discussion questions at the end of each chapter. 

I would like to see something from Wilkerson and the folks at Mars Hill on the specifics and ministry side to these Redemption groups.  I think it is an awesome idea and I would love to see something that is a little more small-group/curriculum based as well.  But don’t wait for those.  Whoever you are if you have a beating heart this book will greatly benefit you.

You can buy the hardcopy for only 10.87 or you can buy the e-book for 7.99

The Bridge of Grace

Mike Leake 1 Comment

O LORD, how many are my foes!
        Many are rising against me;
     many are saying of my soul,
        there is no salvation for him in God. Selah

    But you, O LORD, are a shield about me,
        my glory, and the lifter of my head.
     I cried aloud to the LORD,
        and he answered me from his holy hill. Selah

    I lay down and slept;
        I woke again, for the LORD sustained me.
     I will not be afraid of many thousands of people
        who have set themselves against me all around.

    Arise, O LORD!
        Save me, O my God!
    For you strike all my enemies on the cheek;
        you break the teeth of the wicked.
    Salvation belongs to the LORD;
        your blessing be on your people! Selah
(Psalm 3 ESV)

I love this Psalm.  Here is David broken, hurting, and feeling trapped.  I mean the guys own son is thirsty for his blood.  And to top it all off he hears their taunting, “there is no salvation for him in God”. 

Now that can mean a couple of things.  It could mean that they are saying, “David, you are so wicked there is no hope for you to be found in the Lord; there is no way that God can forgive someone like you.”  Or it could be simply questioning the faithfulness of God.  More than likely it is the first one. 

Have you heard these messengers? 

Perhaps they are saying, “your sins are so bad there is no hope for your soul.  Clean yourself up and then maybe the Lord will find you acceptable”.  Sometimes it cuts deeper.  It’s not just our behavior that is unacceptable, it’s our entire being.  And at times they sound like this, “You are on your own. If you want change you better make it happen yourself. God is sick of having to do it. It’s about time you start carrying your load”.

And every day we hear from messengers saying, “This will save you”. Underneath this idolatry is the message that you had better find refuge in this new (fill in the blank) because God isn’t sufficient to make you acceptable.

In our darker times we believe the lie.  We try something new.  Even holy, churchy, Jesus-sounding things.  This new study will finally fix me.  This new strategy for conquering addiction will finally break the chains.  This new information will transform me.  This new community will finally heal these wounds. 

But notice David…

He had a history with the Lord.  He believed that God was is shield (notice that it isn’t that God gives David a shield.  God IS the shield).  He knew that these messengers were liars, and it did not matter how many or how loud they shouted.  David had firmly experienced and had it settled in his mind (at least on this occasion) that Salvation belongs to the Lord and in nothing else. 

David is only saying what Spurgeon did thousands of years later:

Ah! the bridge of grace will bear your weight, brother. Thousands of big sinners have gone across that bridge, yea, tens of thousands have gone over it. I can hear their trampings now as they traverse the great arches of the bridge of salvation. They come by their thousands, by their myriads; e’er since the day when Christ first entered into His glory, they come, and yet never a stone has sprung in that mighty bridge. Some have been the chief of sinners, and some have come at the very last of their days, but the arch has never yielded beneath their weight. I will go with them trusting to the same support; it will bear me over as it has borne them.

Don’t believe the lie…the bridge of grace will bear your weight!!!!  Salvation belongs to the Lord. 

Would I Sizzle?

Mike Leake 1 Comment

For some strange reason I was avoiding Don’t Call It a Comeback .  Not sure why but I had some sort of internal revulsion to it.  But I decided to purchase it anyways because usually my feelings like that are stupid.  I am glad I did.  Kevin DeYoung’s first chapter is phenomenal.  (Duh, Kevin DeYoung’s writing usually does ignite my passion for Jesus). 

There is one quote in DeYoung’s chapter that I want to share with you because it is rocking me.  It is actually a quote from W.E. Sangster who was interviewing a somewhat shy ministry candidate that said he doubted he would set the Thames on fire with his preaching and ministry.  To this Sangster responded:

“I’m not interested to know if you can set the Thames on fire. What I want to know is this: If I picked you up by the scruff of the neck and dropped you into the Thames, would it sizzle?”

Wow.  And as DeYoung points out this is very much akin to what McCheyne also said, “What my people need most from me is my personal holiness”.  God is more interested in my heart towards him than he is in anything that I do “for” him. 

Theologically that is a duh for me.  I’ve preached sermons about this.  But this quote (and the truth it stems from) confronts a deep-seated idol in my heart: attention.  You see I WANT to set the Thames on fire.  (Or maybe the Ohio).  And I want to do it for Jesus.  Well, not really.  I’m sure that is in there somewhere, but I want my name to be in lights. 

And here is the disgusting thing.  I want my name to be in lights as being “gospel-centered, loving Jesus,etc.”  If I am being honest with myself for far too long I have been more concerned with appearing to be gospel-centered than actually being gospel-centered. 

Then I read this quote and it stopped me dead in my tracks (combined with a few things as precursors to God breaking me with this).  God wants me to sizzle.  The folks in Matthew 7 set the world on fire (Lord, Lord, didn’t we…) but they didn’t sizzle (depart from me I never knew you).  Jesus wants sizzling servants not “successful” glory-stealers. 

So, I am praying a simple, though passionate, prayer today.  Jesus, make me sizzle. 

Quick Review of Life of Luther by Barnas Sears

Mike Leake

Attic Books, which I believe is a division of New Leaf books is doing the church a great service by republishing these old books.  I was fortunate enough to receive a free copy of Barans Sears’ Life of Luther in exchange for a review. 

As bibliophile (that’s book lover) I have to say that the look of these books is amazing.  I love the “old” feel to them, with their somewhat dilapidated looking edges and rustic covers.  There is something that makes reading history feel more significant when the book feels older. 

But we all know that it is never wise to judge a book by its cover, nor its serrated edges.  So, what is on the inside of this Life of Luther?  How does it stack up to the others? 

For one thing this is a book written in 1850.  Therefore, there are certain issues in modern works on Luther that are not dealt with.  Certain things are assumed (justification by faith as the center of the Reformation) and some things are ignored (Luther and the Jews).  You will not find some of the contemporary discussions on Luther. 

But that is partly what makes this read so fun.  It feels like you are reading something more akin to the literature in Luther’s time period.  It is raw.  It doesn’t hold punches; nor does Sears seem to find the need to defend the bombastic Luther. 

How does this work on Luther stack up to the others?  Of the Luther books that I have read this one was one of the most fun.  Probably because Sears actually includes many quotes from Luther.  This is a pretty comprehensive look at Luther and a pretty typical look at Luther from an 1850’s perspective.  If you like church history, the Reformation period, and/or Luther then Sears’ Life of Luther is certainly  worthy of your consideration.