Posts from October 2025
This is WHAT Day the Lord Has Made?
This Is WHAT Day the Lord Has Made? Jim Elliff When we quote or sing “This is the day the Lord has made,” we aren’t saying that this very day, the day we are in presently, is the day the Lord has made. That is true, of course, but it isn’t what Psalm 118: 22-24 is about. Rather, something much more important is being said. Read it closely: “The stone which the builders rejectedHas become the chief corner stone.This is…
The Role of Timothy and Titus: Apostolic Representatives, Not Pastors
I sometimes hear respected Bible teachers refer to Timothy as the pastor of the church in Ephesus. One of my favorite expositors also refers to Titus as the pastor on the island of Crete. But were Timothy and Titus really pastors? Pastor Titus? Titus is never mentioned in Acts, but his name is found often in Paul’s letters. After Paul was released from his first Roman imprisonment (at the end of Acts, around A.D. 62), he ministered with Titus on…
Indian Night
I wrote this one early morning while teaching outside of Mumbai, thinking about the devastation due to mosquito-born illnesses. We had talked about those persistent pests when there, who buzz near your ear to let you know they are in control. That buzz may stir you. But what is stirring on a different level and in a different way is the massive number of people who die from the royal mosquito. His buzz is the sound of war. He’s potentate…
The Feast of Cover-Over: How Yahweh Protects His People from the Coming Destruction
I was in my bedroom reading through Exodus 12. I don’t recall if I was preparing to lead the Lord’s Supper or just reading that passage for some other reason. In any case, I came to verse 23: “For Yahweh will pass through to strike the Egyptians, and when he sees the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, Yahweh will pass over the door and will not allow the destroyer to enter your houses to strike you.”…
The Coasting Christian: A Letter From Jim
Dear CCW family, My beloved father-in-law had a curious habit of turning off his car engine to coast into his garage. I was always amused by this unique practice. Maybe it was done to save gas (they were a frugal couple) or, more likely, to keep fumes out of the garage, or perhaps just to humor his son-in-law. But it made an impression. Now that I’m clicking off more years (just like you, by the way), I can imagine why…
How and When Will All Israel Be Saved?
And so all Israel will be saved. Romans 11:26 This phrase has often stymied students of the New Testament, and has been a verse with many interpretations. I offer mine. To adamantly conclude that I have the right one, or even one that has not been proposed by others is presumptuous. What I’m offering is merely from my Bible reading and not from diligently studying other authors on the subject, so I could likely be repeating what another has said.…
God Doesn’t Need You
“He is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else.” Acts 17 Paul on Mars Hill in Athens proclaimed the entire self-sufficiency of God. We are his body, it is true, which is the fullness or completion of the Head. He uses us. But he needs nothing from us. Let that sink in. We do not add to him in any way, but rather, he gives…
The Rural Church Dilemma
Some time ago I drove to several small towns in rural Arkansas with my 89 year old father and my siblings, tracking the steps of the ministry of both my dad and his father. The experience was memorable. We visited small towns that even Arkansans might not recognize today: Cotter, Caledonia, Hagersville, Greenwood, LaVaca—twelve in all. These were the places where my father, and his father, labored for Christ 90-100 years ago. Much has changed in the landscape of rural…
On the Nose of Jabawanga
I long to see my grandchildren become Warrior Kings for the Lord. Here is a poem written to one of them. Look carefully and you can see the nose and a future warrior standing there.
10 Strategies for Memorizing Larger Sections of Scripture
“The thing that you do crowds out the thing you might have done.” That was a line I heard in a message at a youth camp for multiple churches. It was said in a message about Enoch walking with God, and connected to the use of digital technology and social media. I was deeply convicted. The Bible teacher went on to talk about how if we all just memorized two verses of Philippians a week, by camp the next summer…
Christ’s Headship in the Church: The Neglected First Principle of Decision-making
I may seem naïve and overly simplistic when I say that Christ is the Head of the church and that this one fact, properly understood, will do more to clear up confusion over decision-making in the church than any other consideration. From this truth we are able to deduce that elders and members have one goal in decision-making—to find out what the Head of the church wills for His church. I don’t think most church leaders think this way. Starting…