What is a hiatus and why did we just have one?

Mike Leake

Hiatus (hi-ate-us) is probably one of the coolest words in the English language. What is a hiatus? It is a break or interruption in work, action, series, etc,. I am certain that you already knew that though! Most of you probably know what I hiatus is…but those of you who faithfully visit this website might be wondering why has there been NO POST since Thursday Feb 11th. Two reasons. 1) I have been very busy preparing sermons. I was asked to preach at Cornerstone Baptist Church last Sunday and had to quickly put together a couple of sermons. This made my time for preparing the blogs zilch. 2) It actually has worked out quite well because we are spending an extra week on verse 10-11. You’ve already got devotionals for those. So, tomorrow I am going to do one last post on verse 11. Then starting Thursday we will again pick up with daily devotionals (Lord willing).

In the mean time, you guys are really bad at guessing the WHO AM EYE? C’mon people! I thought this one was easy. But I do appreciate more input this time. We’ve actually had about 6 guesses (of course all of them wrong). And no Jordan Anderson it is not YOUR EYE! Nor is it Nikki’s eye! I will reveal who it is Wednesday–until then keep guessing!

Also starting Thursday we will have a youth article of the week. You will find the link for it on Thursday’s summary post. Also, pictures and a message from Nikki will appear sometime this week about the girls lock-in. Love you guys, and keep faithful! See you Wednesday!

The essential element of love

Mike Leake

Last night we discussed the essential element of love. Unfortunately I believe that the message was missing a very essential component–“so what”. I feel as if in many ways I did not hook you in a productive way so that you realized the desperate need that we have for “love” in advancing the gospel. Yet I do believe in the Holy Spirit and know that the Great Sovereign King can do all things and can use even this scattered sermon to sear deeply in your heart the “so what” of this message. The Lord can teach you this awesome need and it is my hope that you are passionate about advancing the gospel–and that you are passionate about advancing this gospel with love and in love. Remember the acronymn D-E-A-R for growing in love. Dig deep-Experience God-Ask for it-Realize the truth of the gospel! Do not forget there is not one square inch (or one second of the day) that does not belong to Christ!

The full-text sermon can be found at http://uncutsermons.blogspot.com/2007/03/essentials-to-gospel-advancement.html

Also, a new quiz and a new WHO AM EYE? Will be posted either today (Thursday) or Friday. A new devotional might appear sometime today or tomorrow as well.

How to produce fruit you must have–Philippians 1:11

Mike Leake
“…filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ…”

This is such a difficult concept yet it is profoundly simple. You must produce fruit. The Bible is clear about that. 1 John is replete (full) of examples of this great truth. Jesus often spoke of those who do not produce fruit being “cut down”. Yet Jesus is equally stern in reminding us that “Apart from me you can do nothing”. (John 15:4) And it is at this point that we so often get confused in the way we live our lives. The Christian is called to produce fruit, yet we in our own strength can NOT produce this fruit, yet in Christ Jesus we WILL produce this fruit of righteousness. As Paul’s prayer states, “the fruit of righteousness THAT COMES THROUGH Jesus Christ”.

How do you have fruit in your lives? It is by being attached to Jesus Christ, by abiding in the vine, that you will bear fruit. If you are not producing fruit then it is because you are not in Christ. Sadly, in our modern “churchianity” we have made up a third type of person. We have erroneously used Paul’s words in 2 Corinthians to create a “carnal Christian”. We have told people that there is a “Spiritual Christian” and there are people who are “Carnal Christians”. These carnal Christians are those who are not following after the Lordship of Christ. They perhaps are not filled with the fruit of righteousness. By their own stubbornness and sinfulness they refuse to abide in the vine (although they did make a decision for Christ at one time) and therefore they do not bear fruit. We are told that we cannot question their salvation, because they sincerely believed in Christ, yet they produce NO fruit! Biblically speaking there is no such thing as a “carnal Christian” as defined above. There is no such thing as a Christian that ultimately does not follow after Christ as Lord. There is no such thing as a Christian that does not produce fruit.

The point for us to understand from today’s passage is that Christians are expected, yea commanded to produce fruit! Yet, this fruit is not something we in ourselves can produce. It “comes through Jesus Christ”. Therefore, we must cling to Christ all the more. We must trust in Him to produce this fruit of righteousness.

Ask yourself today?

  • Is the fruit of righteousness (check Galatians 5:22) evident in my life?
  • Am I trusting in Christ to produce His fruit in and through me or am I trying to produce fruit by my own flesh?

For more information on the unbiblical notion of Carnal Christianity please read:

http://www.wayofthemasterradio.com/pdf/ElvisCarnalChristian.pdf
http://www.soundofgrace.com/feb99/khmarks.htm
http://www.eternallifeministries.org/lrs_gospel2.htm

If you would like resources on “producing fruit” check out the following resources:

Even though it does not specifically deal with “producing fruit” John Piper’s book entitled “Faith in Future Grace” is an excellent resource for “living the Christian life”.

Many of the articles at the following address will help in your “sanctification”:
http://www.monergism.com/directory/link_category/Sanctification/

Being clean when Jesus comes

Mike Leake
“…and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ…”


In ancient times the finest pottery was thin. It had a clear color, and it brought a high price. Fine pottery was very fragile both before and after firing. And this pottery would often crack in the oven. Cracked pottery should have been thrown away. But dishonest pottery salesmen would fill in the cracks with a hard pearly wax that would blend in with the color of the pottery. This made the cracks practically undetectable on the shelf, especially when the piece was painted or glazed. This wax ruse however was immediately uncovered if the pottery was held up to bright light, especially sunlight, for the cracks would show up as darker lines. It was said that the artificial element was detected by “sun-testing.” Such a vase was known as “sun-judged”. It is notable that the honest pottery dealers would mark their product with the words “sine cera” which means “without wax”. Our English “sincere” comes from the Latin words “sine cera”![1]

“Sun-judged” or “without wax” is precisely what the Greek word that is translated here “pure” is referring to (some translations use the word “sincere”). In essence what Paul is saying is that he prays that the Philippians love might abound more and more and that its abounding love might be grounded in knowledge and all discernment. This type of love then leads to approving that which is vital, which in turn leads to being made pure (without wax) and blameless in preparation for the day when we stand before Christ.

How can approving (choosing) that which is vital lead to our being found sincere and without hypocrisy? How does living our lives daily in conformity to that which vital create in us purity? Perhaps whenever we are spend our lives for that which is vital we no longer have lives focused on self (and therefore lives focused on sin). Our approving what is vital serves as a filter. It removes that which we should not be spending our lives on and creates in us a pure and single-minded heart that goes fully after God and the advance of His beautiful Kingdom.

The word for “blameless” can either mean, “Not cause others to stumble” or perhaps “to not stumble ourselves”. How can approving (choosing) that which is vital lead to our “not stumbling” or “not causing others to stumble”. Certainly having a singled-minded focus on the advancement of the Gospel (or “knowing God and making Him known”) will create in us an others-oriented lifestyle. As we line up with God’s great purpose in our lives we are no longer concerned with building our own kingdom but instead we are focused on advancing His. This causes us to be focused on others. Also, having a God-centered life and purpose will allow us to persevere.

In one sense of the word we will stand before God without any purity or blamelessness of our own. We will stand before God filled with our own guilt, yet consumed by the righteousness and the beauty of Jesus Christ! We (those in-Christ) truly will stand before Jesus totally clean.

  • Read Ephesians 5:26-27 and meditate on how you will be presented to Jesus Christ. Also notice how that will come about—how is it that God transforms us into a pure and spotless bride?
  • What are areas in your life that are not as “pure” as they need to be? How can those change?
  • Do you often stumble yourself? Do you cause others to stumble? How can this change?

[1] http://www.preceptaustin.org/philippians_19-17.htm#1:10