BLeach

Get Out Today

...and vote!

Here's my three cents:)

Identify the issues that most impact your faith and research each candidates stance on those issues.  Some of the issues that mean alot to me are protection of the unborn, care for the poor, and the definition of marriage.

Pray over your choices.  If the Bible teaches us anything about government, it is that God is ultimately responsible for who winds up in leadership positions.  It makes sense to ask Him who to vote for. 

Stay focused.  If you find yourself speaking more passionately about a political issue than you've recently spoken about Jesus, then pause and re-evaluate what matters most.  When the polls close and the composition of Congress is set, we will still have only one mission that matters...

Making Jesus famous.

Be careful of emotionally charged political conversations that might redirect your passion away from Him. 

A Judge has the ability to change laws.  We need to prayerfully select them. 

But only Jesus can change hearts.  We need to passionately exalt Him.

Please Pray

Can I ask you to spend a few minutes tonight before you go to sleep praying for my friend David Okai?  He moved to Metro Detroit 11 months ago to plant a church for West African immigrants.  His 8 month old church meets in our building. 

David hasn't seen his wife and five kids since last December.  Tomorrow morning they have an appointment with the embassy in Ghana.  Please pray for a favorable decision.  If they receive their visas they'll be joining David in Michigan in about two weeks.

The meeting is at 9.30 am; 4.30 am Michigan time.  I'm setting my alarm:)

I've grown to love this man and his simple faith in God. 

Thanks for praying.

UPDATE: David's wife called him at about 6.15 am with sad news.  They were not granted their visas.  David's faith doesn't waver, yet I felt so disappointed for my friend.  If you take some time today to ask God to give his family wisdom you will make a difference.

Domesticated

Saturday was a huge day for me.

A turning point really.

Inspired by my friend Kim, I made beef stew from scratch. 

For the first time in four years of homeownership I used my conventional oven in what is for me a very unconventional way.  I've used it to heat up Boston Market frozen dinners.  But on Saturday I got crazy and put in some ingredients that I prepared myself. 

Finding my way through the grocery store was the most challenging part of the process.  Usually I frequent 7-eleven.  When I do go to Kroger I rarely venture out of the milk, yogurt, cereal and hot pocket aisles.  Saturday I felt like I was in a foreign country.  I visited aisles I didn't know existed. 

Tomato sauce.  Isn't that the same thing as tomato soup? 

Dried onion soup mix.  Never heard of it.

Not one to give up so easily I decided to be a problem solver.  So I bugged the customers around me and called my mom's cell phone twice.  I even bought a Pyrex bowl (the one that says bakeware).  Unfortunately when I got home and opened the cupboard I realized we already had one.  I just didn't know what it was before.

But I'm pleased now to announce to the world wibe web that at 5.35 pm on Saturday evening, when that buzzer went off on the oven, I had one of the proudest moments of my life as a bachelor.  The stew was steaming.  It looked right.  And even more importantly, tasted incredible.  Seriously.  I couldn't tell any difference between my stew and the stew my mom makes.

Alone in my kitchen, I actually clapped and shouted for myself.  Then I took a picture.

I don't know where this unknown talent will lead me next, but I now feel ready for you to email me your favorite recipes.

By the way, please keep this confidential.  Up until now I have been able to visit small groups in our church without being expected to bring any food.  If word of my kitchen skills gets out I'd be ruined.

My Manna Addiction

Hi, my name's Brad Leach and I'm a manna addict.

A little backstory...

Genesis 1 and 2 tell the story of creation.  For five days God got creative with oceans, stars and animals.  When he was done he called it all good.  On the sixth day he created Adam and called him very good.  On the seventh day he rested from his work.  That day, his rest day, he called holy.

Good.

Very good.

Holy.

Was God tired?  Did creation wear him out?  I don't think He rested because He needed to.  He rested because we need to.  And God has always led by example.

So after breaking the Hebrews out of Egypt he told them to remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.  God made it holy.  He set it apart.  It was up to them to keep it that way. 

Exodus 16 tells us about the Israelites introduction to manna; a mysterious bread that fell from heaven.  There was just one catch.  Whatever you didn't gather during the day was lost to the sun.  So they went out everyday to work to put food on the table.  And they would have gone out on the seventh day as well.  God knew it.  So he gave them a manna mandate.  On the sixth day they were to gather twice as much so that on the seventh day they could rest.

Well, I can't really point a finger at what they did because I probably would have been out there with them.  When day seven rolled around, they went back out looking for more manna.  Here's the funny thing.  There wasn't any.  God didn't send it that day.  He was serious about their rest.  So they went out to work but didn't get anything done. 

That sounds familiar.

Are you sitting down?  This may come as a shock.  Some days God isn't in our work.  Some days he wants us to rest.  Some days he wants us to take a break from putting food on the table to remember that He is the One who puts food on the table.

I think most church planters are manna addicts.  I never took a day off in the early days of our church.  I convinced myself that the church would die without my constant attention.  It's really quite funny now that I think about it.  I took myself way too seriously.

Friday is my day off; my Sabbath.  So Friday is the day I typically feel my manna addiction the most.  I wake up and start twitching:)  I feel compelled to turn on Outlook.  I feel compelled to call into my voicemail.  I feel compelled to work on a message.  And I realize every Friday that I am one sick dude:)

To learn to trust is to learn to rest. 

This Doesn't Have To Happen To You

The above picture is of my friend Tony Sebastian.  If you look closely you can see a single tear running down his cheek.  Tony is not a man given to great emotion.  But last Friday night he cried.

Why?

He found out he had missed his 10,000th day of life by 3 days.  That's right.  His 10,000th day was Tuesday and he didn't check the date until Friday. 

If you are still 27 or younger this does not have to happen to you.  Do yourself a favor and check the date.  Put it on your calendar.  Start making plans.  This will only happen once.

I was one of the lucky ones who found out the date of my 10,000th day five days in advance.  Now I feel called to help others:)

Bauer Power

I loved Mark Driscoll's take on Jack Bauer and penal substitutionary atonement.  I had to laugh at his take at the end of the post.  The guy in his jammies during the Christmas holiday watching 24...that guy was me. 

Bring on season six.

Feast or Famine

This past Sunday I talked about appetites.  I really believe that one of the most undervalued components of the discipleship process is building a driving spiritual appetite. 

Bottom line: Appetite is one of the most basic drives that make us human.  A good man will steal if he doesn't know where his next meal is coming from.  And a hungry disciple will do whatever it takes to feed his spirit.  I think we fight a losing battle anytime we try to teach someone discipline who doesn't have any desire.  For sure there will be occasions when the discipline of spiritual growth trumps feeling.  But if we're honest with ourselves we'll admit that you can't feed someone who doesn't want to eat.

Jesus said those who are hungry and thirsty will be filled; not necessarily those who are empty.  An appetite for things spiritual always accompanies spiritual growth. 

You can listen to the teaching here.  Read it here.

Warning: If you are hungry this message will make you want to eat:)

Decision Making

I'm in decision mode right now.  I've got three significant ministry decisions staring me in the face.  None of them are decisions between right and wrong.  All three of them carry uncertainty about the future.  All three of them contain unpredictable variables. 

I came across two thoughts yesterday that gave me perspective. This post from Jeff Leake is right on the money.  My fall-back plan is always reason.  I'm a logical thinker.  I'm a pragmatist by nature.  But sometimes reason fails and a decision requires revelation.

This article by Steve Gallagher explains why receiving revelation seems foreign.  I think reason fits more naturally with the fast paced life.  It's quite natural for a doer to think his way through problems.  Revelation comes differently.  It comes by waiting.  It comes by meditating.  It comes by listening. 

And it occasionally defies logic.

That's when you need to be sure the voice you heard belonged to God.

Perhaps an often unspoken quality of spiritual leaders is learning to recognize that voice.