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Jan 15, 2025 | 
christianity.com | Mike Leake
When I was a kid eating my Smurf Berry Crunch, one question never crossed my mind. “Gee, I wonder who makes these, what kind of company are they, and are they ethical?” I didn’t think about the bookkeeping practices of Mattel, I just enjoyed trying to defeat Skeletor with my He-Man action figure. It never crossed my mind to think about the global economics of purchasing my Nintendo from Japan. That’s not the case with Generation Z. They ask more questions.
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Jan 14, 2025 | 
crosswalk.com | Mike Leake
Six California fires have devastated Los Angeles. As of this writing, two of those fires are mostly contained, but four more continue to cause destruction. More than 12,000 homes and numerous businesses have been burned. So far, over 40,000 acres have burned, with multiple blazes still raging. The stories coming from the area are heartbreaking, and the photos are startling. To be frank, it looks like hell. Which, unsurprisingly, has caused many to make connections to God’s judgment.
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Jan 14, 2025 | 
crosswalk.com | Mike Leake
You’re watching funny cat videos on YouTube when suddenly that dreaded wheel of death invades your good time. Your video is buffering. Nobody likes buffering. In fact, one study found that “buffering reduces video watch time by about 40%.” Even a millisecond of buffering can cause a user to jump from that video to another. Enough buffering events and you’ll abandon the app altogether. We don’t like to wait.
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Jan 13, 2025 | 
christianity.com | Mike Leake
If we’re speaking here in biblical terms, the difference between a diet and a fast is like the difference between an airplane and a chariot. They are both methods of transportation, but one of these would not have even entered into the mind of a biblical author. That’s why, if I’m being honest, I find all these books on biblical dieting to be strange.
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Jan 13, 2025 | 
christianity.com | Mike Leake
Despite only being a freshman in high school, Marci has a wide social media following. Young girls from around the globe watch videos of Marci putting on makeup and explaining her beauty hacks to the world. She’s always surrounded by friends at school. If freshmen could be prom queen, she’d be a favorite to win. Marci is popular and connected. But Marci sits with her counselor on this snowy Thursday in tears.
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Jan 10, 2025 | 
crosswalk.com | Mike Leake
Last month, the Pope made an important plea to pastors: “Please, do not go longer than ten minutes, ever! This is very important.”His point was that people tend to lose their attention after 8 minutes or so. If they aren’t paying attention anymore, why should you keep rambling? Though he allowed for rare 20 to 30-minute sermons, he argued the less time, the better. “One idea, one sentiment, and one invitation to action,” that’s all, he said. Is he right? Should we have sermons under 10 minutes?
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Dec 11, 2024 | 
theaquilareport.com | Mike Leake
God actively wrestles with us. He’ll hold us at arms-length (still graciously hanging onto us) and letting us swing ourselves dry. And then in those moments, when we’re but a heap of tears and helplessness, He makes himself “grabbable.” He makes Himself able to be held onto and able to hear us cry out for His blessing. Those little subheadings in your Bible can be helpful. But they can also keep us from discovering meaning. One of those places is in Genesis 32. Let me explain.
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Dec 8, 2024 | 
christianity.com | Mike Leake
It’s getting colder here in Southwest Missouri. By the time you read this, it’s possible that we’ll have even watched a few flurries peacefully glide onto the cold earth. I both love and hate winter. I don’t like that it means no more baseball. I’m not a fan of going outside, and it feels like nose hairs have frozen. Or shivering to work as I wait for my car to warm up, only to remember that I most definitely need to put more anti-freeze in the car so the heating system works better.
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Nov 29, 2024 | 
thewordsacramento.com | Mike Leake
In 1995 I was only fourteen years old. But I was expected to make a judgment on a legal case that was surprisingly convoluted. In this case, issues of race, spousal abuse, economics, whistle-blowing, and media responsibility all converged. And yet here I was, only fourteen, expected to render a verdict upon whether or not this man was guilty of murdering his wife and her “friend.”Did OJ do it? That was the question that forced itself upon our young minds.
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Nov 29, 2024 | 
995theword.com | Mike Leake
In 1995 I was only fourteen years old. But I was expected to make a judgment on a legal case that was surprisingly convoluted. In this case, issues of race, spousal abuse, economics, whistle-blowing, and media responsibility all converged. And yet here I was, only fourteen, expected to render a verdict upon whether or not this man was guilty of murdering his wife and her “friend.”Did OJ do it? That was the question that forced itself upon our young minds.
