When Remembrance of Sins is a Means for Joy

Mike Leake

In a letter to a man that had asked whether the sins of believers shall be publicly declared at the Great Day, Newton responded in part:

I think those are the sweetest moments in this life, when we have the clearest sense of our own sins, provided the sense of our acceptance in the Beloved is proportionally clear, and we feel the consolations of his love, notwithstanding all our transgressions. When we arrive in glory, unbelief and fear will cease forever: our nearness to God, and communion with him, will be unspeakably beyond what we can now conceive. Therefore the remembrance of our sins will be no abatement of our bliss, but rather the contrary.

You can read the entire letter here. 

I think Newton gets this idea from the sinful woman in Luke 7:36-50.  The more we come to grips with our sinfulness, the more they too become a cause for rejoicing.  We have been forgiven much; few people understood this as deeply as John Newton.  May the Lord cause us to rejoice that even the darkest of sins cannot separate us from His love. 

Five Insane NCAA Predictions

Mike Leake 4 Comments

1. East Tennessee St. will give Kentucky a run for their money in the first round.  Kentucky will still win, but this one will be surprisingly close. 

2. Oklahoma St. will knock off Ohio State in Round 2.

3. BYU will make it to the Elite Eight

4. Syracuse will play Duke for the title, with Syracuse edging Duke. 

5. Old Dominion, Utah St., and Mizzou will make the sweet 16. 

In addition I pick these, perhaps not so insane, first round upsets:

Northern Iowa over UNLV, Missouri over Clemson, Washington over Marquette, Utah St. over Texas A & M, Old Dominion over Notre Dame, Sam Houston St. over Baylor, Murray St. over Vanderbilt. 

One thing I think will actually happen, but I do not have the chutzpah to pick it—Baylor will be in the Final Four or at least Elite Eight. 

UPDATE: Apparently I’m a moron! Though my actual bracket was good enough to be not only President Obama but Pastor Jason Harris as well.

An Appalling Parable

Mike Leake 1 Comment

Imagine with me a small city.  This small city is economically strapped due to some debatable decisions.  People are losing jobs.  The townspeople are miserable.  To top it all off many of their children are being kidnapped and eventually murdered.  Worse yet, this serial killer has been murdering at least one child every day for the past 37 years. 

The really ridiculous part is that everybody knows who this serial killer is.  Then, why haven’t they caught the guy?  Well, they decided they had better focus on economics first.  The logic is that rather than worry about the future of the children that do not make it, they want to ensure a bright future for the children that are not needlessly murdered. 

Appalling right? 

That is what this is: Tea Party Avoids Divisive Social Issues.  (HT: DG)

Upcoming at Borrowed Light

Mike Leake 2 Comments

I have several writing projects that I am working.  But I have limited time to write.  There are also a few issues that I am trying to figure out whether I should even bother writing about.  Here are the things I am working on; tell me if anything interests you.

1. I have about 15-20 book reviews that I need to do. 

2. I am currently working on rethinking my view of the extent of the atonement, and figuring out how to best articulate it.

3. I am very passionate about interacting with the Southern Baptist’s GPS push.  This is one I am really struggling with.  I want to interact with this program as a whole, and a good amount of what I have to say may not be positive.  I am struggling with whether that would be positive or counter-productive.  Alongside of this…

4. I want to write about my excitement of the Great Commission Resurgence.  But I also want to interact with the SBC’s “Find it Here” website.  I am excited about taking the gospel to the nations but I wonder which gospel we are taking.

5. John Newton.  I would like to start a weekly column sharing and potentially interacting with Newton.

6. I have more I want to say about Gospel Sounding Legalism. 

7. I have more I want to say about Christian Unity.

Comments?