7 Ways The Lord Uses Depression in the Life of a Minister

The Minister’s Fainting Fits, has proven to be one of the most personally helpful chapters in Spurgeon’s Lectures to My Students. There he writes:

Knowing by most painful experience what deep depression of spirit means, being visited therewith at seasons by no means few or far between, I thought it might be consolatory to some of my brethren if I gave my thoughts thereon…It is not necessary by quotations from the biographies of eminent ministers to prove that seasons of fearful prostration have fallen to the lot of most, if not all of them.

I am one of those ministers that battles seasons of deep depression. (I’ve chronicled my struggle elsewhere). These “fits of melancholy” can be quite confusing to the pastor. In the midst of darkness we are pressed to wonder how in the world we will deliver a sermon on Sunday morning, counsel the struggling, and lead the faithful. I’ve said with John Piper, “Have mercy on me. I must preach on Sunday, and I can scarcely lift my head.”    Continue at Mike Leake

Why Ministers Need the Wilderness

“It takes a crucified man to preach a crucified Savior.” –Alexander Maclaren

“I abhor the thought of God being robbed of his glory…” That was part of the response that a young man was giving in one of my seminary classes. I shudder as I type the latter part of his comment. “…and if that means the damnation of infants then so be it”.

It’s not my concern to throw this dude under the bus. Truthfully, I see some of myself in him. Getting so wrapped in theology, idealism, and the way things ought to be that I forget the way that things actually are. Grace will likely grab hold of this young man and transform him. Jesus has a way of doing that. While we roll our eyes at statements like this (and maybe rightly so) Jesus moves in and administers grace. Grace that crushes…but grace still.

I was concerned that day as I thought about this young man pastoring a church. I was worried for him and for his congregation. Mostly because broken men don’t say things like that. Even if it were theologically true, broken men just don’t speak like that. As I’ve gone through seminary for a few years now I am becoming convinced that students should have to spend at least one semester in the furnace of suffering before we can graduate.

Jesus was 30…    Continue at Mike Leake

Would You Go to Prison For Your Stance on Homosexuality?

What would you do if you received a letter from the authorities that said:

“If you continue preaching the gospel and attempting to convert people to Jesus Christ, you will be sentenced to prison for an indeterminate period of time”? I know my response (or what I hope) my response would be. I would continue preaching until they followed through on their promise—and then I’d keep proclaiming Christ in prison.

But what if I received a letter that said this:

“If you continue preaching that homosexuality is a sin and attempting to counsel those with a homosexual orientation to pursue celibacy and/or healing in Jesus Christ, you will be sentenced to prison for an indeterminate period of time”?

Could I never again preach what God says about homosexuality and still be faithful in preaching the gospel of Christ? I mean is it really something worth going to prison for—sacrificing my cherished freedom, life with my family, further gospel ministry? I see nothing about a stance on homosexuality in 1 Corinthians 15. I know that I could never say, “Homosexuality is not a sin” but could I simply say nothing? 

Help from John Bunyan and Martin Luther

John Bunyan had only been married two years when he was carried off to prison. He left his wife with four children (none of them her own) and the grief of having just lost a newborn baby. He was in prison for twelve years. He could have left any moment if he would have promised not to preach. This was Bunyan’s response:    Continue at Mike Leake

Suggested Resources for Family Ministry

I recently had a dear friend ask me to give him a few resources for implementing a family ministry structure in the church that he pastors. I thought that perhaps others might benefit from the list I provided.

Conceptual:

“Our church wants to begin doing family ministry”. That sentence can mean any number of things. The people in your church probably have differing ideas as to what actually constitutes family ministry. That is why you need to have a season where everyone gets on the same page as to what family ministry actually consists of. The most helpful book for doing this is3 Views of Family Ministry edited by Timothy Paul Jones from the Perspectives Series. (Read my review here).

Though I ultimately embrace a different model, one book that will need to be considered is Voddie Baucham’s Family Driven Faith. Here he makes a strong case for the necessity of family ministry. I prefer the Family-Equipping model and so I believe that Baucham overstates a few things. However, this is a valuable resource in showing the need for doing family ministry.

Another helpful book is Trained in the Fear of God edited by Timothy Paul Jones and Randy Stinson. This books gives theological, historical, and practical reasons for installing a family-equipping ministry model.    Continue at Mike Leake

5 Reasons a Calvinism Discussion Doesn’t Matter

Editor: Mike is away from his computer – I don’t think its fatal, but perhaps we should pray for him? – and gave me permission to post this. I’m planning to, after this post, return to my commitment, which I wish I had not strayed from, to avoid any discussions of Calvinism! This post was originally published at Mike’s site, Borrowed Light. If it is not in your feed, put it in immediately! Because I said so!

Earlier this week I explained why this discussion on Calvinism matters. Now I’m going to explain in what way this discussion doesn’t matter and why I wish we’d spend our efforts elsewhere. Apparently 5 points are really helpful for discussion…so in honor of all the problems those five points have caused…here are 5 reasons why this Calvinism discussion doesn’t matter. 

Truth is the Spirit’s job

I don’t need to be the truth police. I cannot change someone’s heart and make them embrace the truth. All I can do is present the truth as I see it in Scripture and leave it up to the work of the Spirit. It’s not my job to beat truth into someone’s head. Besides there is a decent chance that I’m wrong myself. There are likely doctrines of which I hold (yes even important ones) of which I’ll need to repent of no more than 5 minutes after entering into heaven.

If I really believe that leading brothers and sisters into all truth is the Spirit’s job it changes the way that I interact with them. John Newton is instructive here. When explaining his position on election and perseverance he said, “If you should accede to my opinions upon my persuasion only, you would be little benefited by the exchange”. Newton knew that what really mattered was the Spirit’s work upon the man to whom he was speaking. And it made him humbly present his position, love the man, and leave the results of the discussion up to the Lord.   Continue at Mike Leake

10 Tips for Destroying Your Children’s Souls

“Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him if a great millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea. (Mark 9:42 ESV)

The above text is actually more about not being the means by which disciples falter, but it can also be applied to being a daddy.  It goes without saying that I do not desire the destruction of my children.  One because I love them.  Two because a millstone seems like a really uncomfortable necklace—especially for swimming in the sea.

If you, however, think a millstone necklace would be fashionable attire here are 10 ways that you can work towards making your children stumble and turn away from Jesus.  In no particular order

1. Be an unrepentant hypocrite.  We all have elements of hypocrisy.  It’s when we are unrepentant in our hypocrisy that it becomes deadly.
2. Display with your life and lips that things are more precious than Christ.  The thing you pick can be as insignificant as parking spaces or as significant as a large house.  It doesn’t matter.  Set something other than Christ as your affection and you are well on your way to shopping for a new millstone.
3. Neglect teaching.  Leave it up to the Sunday school teacher, the television, their peers, or favorite musician and you can start picking out millstone colors.
4. Don’t pray for them.  Discipleship is a work of God.  Your own sanctification as well as that of your children demands a prayerful life.
5. Be silent in times of danger.  You wouldn’t let little Sally have a tea party on a freeway but will you let her give her heart to an unbeliever?  You probably won’t let junior have a pet cobra but do you let him be saturated with the not so subtle advances of our sex-crazed culture?   Continue at Mike Leake

Shocking Barna Statistic

*A new study shows that 100% of Barna statistics are skewed to lend credibility to his anti-church bias. 

I had a friend the other day quote me a Barna statistic.  My response was the above sentence.  I am not doubting that we can gain some benefit from Barna research and that some of it is actually legit and could be helpful.  However, I have become very leery of accepting anything that Barna throws at us.  First, because some of his findings have been shown to be off.  Secondly, because from what I have read of Barna he seems to be promoting a churchless Christianity.  

Bad Numbers

As Frank Turk has pointed out, there are a few secular studies—especially this one from The Wall Street Journal—that pulls the rug out from under Barna’s research.  Reputable statisticians from Baylor have shown that young people are not living the church in droves as Barna has reported and there is not statistical evidence that women are fleeing the church like lemurs on holiday.  

Further evidence is found in a book written by Bradley Wright entitled Christians Are Hate-Filled Hypocrites…and Other Lies You’ve Been Told: A Sociologist Shatters Myths From the Secular and Christian Media.  Wright shows how many of the scare pollsters (like Barna) have bad numbers.  It seems that when those that are actually “born-again”, instead of those just claiming to be, are polled the numbers change dramatically. Continue at Mike Leake