Posts by Jim Elliff
Imagine This: God’s Astonishing Thoughts About You
Imagine God planning the universe, intending to make the field of his great interest the world he would make. He envisioned establishing a kingdom for His Son, and in his own mind he populated that kingdom with people of his own choice to become his adopted children through the Son for the praise of his glorious grace. You are among those he chose to bless in Christ who would redeem you, forgiving every sin you would ever commit, making you…
He’ll Stand
The following words by Paul the Apostle make for tangible peace between sincerely conscientious Christians who differ in convictions: “Who are you to judge the servant of another? To his own master he stands or falls; and he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand” (Romans 14:4). A true believer will ultimately stand justified before God, regardless of differences in those matters about which God has chosen to give no definitive command. In such areas we…
Spiritual Inventory for Pastoral Visits
Name_______________________________ Date_____________ Spiritual Inventory for Pastoral Visits For systematic pastoral visitation of church members____________________“Warn those who are unruly, comfort the fainthearted, uphold the weak, be patient with all men.” 1 Thess. 5:14 “Shepherd the flock of God which is among you, serving as overseers, not by compulsion but willingly, not for dishonest gain but eagerly, nor as being lords over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock; and when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the…
An Appeal for the Use of House Churches to Extend Sanctuary-Style Churches
This brief article is a plea. I’m not going to give an apologetic for the house church model. You may read some of this on our website (christfellowshipkc.org) or other places. I am only going to make an appeal for sanctuary-style churches to consider using the house church concept to advance their work for God. I am especially concerned that readers of our articles, most of whom have sound theology and practice, would pick up the burden for this now.…
Mother Teresa Leona
James, the youth: If a person shows all the outward signs of being a Christian, should we assume the person is truly a Christian? The elderly but wiser Mr. Brockton: Not at all. The evidence for being a Christian will undoubtedly be seen in every true Christian, but the appearance of the evidence may deceive you. You must start at the starting place in your observations and be careful not to mistake the effect for the means. James: But suppose…
Check Your Guns at the Door: Responding Like Christians to Social Media, Blogs and Web Forums
Those of us who have a ministry of writing are usually pretty tough folks. Many of us have been in the combat zone for quite a while and can take almost anything that is said by readers of our articles. This short is more about my embarrassment for all of us who are web-interactive Christians than it is for my own hide. In short, I’m appealing for etiquette characteristic of believers in reader’s responses to articles, blog entries, and social…
An Appeal to Churches to Use Bibles
I’ll never forget my shock the first time I attended a Bible-less church. My kind of church was a Bible-teaching one and Bibles were standard operating equipment. The last word I heard as I got in the car to drive to church was, “Jimmy, do you have your Bible?” A child might forget his belt or socks, but never his Bible. Just as dutifully, the church children found their mothers after the church meeting to load her up with their…
THE CONVERSION OF DAVID BRAINERD: INSTRUCTIVE TO THOSE EXPERIENCING THE RECENT COLLEGE/SEMINARY REVIVALS
As an illustration of the revelaton of the glory of God being instrumental in conversion and subsequent exuberant ministry, read David Brainerd’s story below. Our view of revival is the same as our view of conversion. God can break in to reveal himself any time he wishes in order to glorify himself, the only one deserving glory. This is what I hope is happening now in some lives related to the current stirring work in the colleges and seminaries and…
Appearances of Jesus to Paul
Paul saw Christ. There, on the road to Damascus in Syria the future apostle met up with a vision of Christ that shaped his entire future, the future of the Christian world, and of the world in general. Later, in his defense to King Agrippa, he recalled what Christ said to him on that day: “But get up and stand on your feet; for this purpose I have APPEARED to you, to appoint you a minister and a witness not…
The “I Pray That” Prayer
What are we saying when we pray like this — “I pray that you will make yourself known to us in this meeting”? We intend to ask the Lord for something, but we are actually telling the Lord what we are asking. Perhaps it is hard even to catch this problem because it so ingrained in our methodology. It would be wise to correct this. There is a difference between prayer which is direct from believers’ hearts to the Father…
Memories of Apartheid
Memories of Apartied Years ago in what was then called a “Colored Township” in Capetown, South Africa, I wondered at the hatred that caused that circular black burn mark on the street close to the front door of the gentle believers who had opened their hearts and home to me. What causes a person to “necklace” another with a flaming tire? In those days of both Apartheid and tribal strife, nerves were strained. Many mornings in that enchanting country we…
In the Loamy Field
I do not walk in the fields around my town often, but when the air was chilled beneath the trees and under the shade of the houses, and when I delighted in morning rays shooting their light and heat at me from behind each house and tree in straight lines on my face and coat, I was lured away for an hour or two of quiet to those gentle fields where the sun was not to be hindered. I laughed…
My Father Said to Me
My father tried to teach each of his children those great lessons he learned in his long life, some from the crucible of failure. Here is one. His mother, an exemplary Christian, had a weakness in the area of worry. She fought it and worked to turn her worries into prayer. It was a besetting sin, often showing up to hassle her. My father fought against worry also. He considered worry to be a true battleground in his life. I…
Childhood Conversion
A woman came to humorist Will Rogers, saying, “I struggle with this problem. Every time I look at myself in the mirror, I’m proud.” He said, “Ma’am, that’s not pride, that’s a mistake!” Now I know that you are proud of your children, but you have never been as proud of a child as a woman I met who claimed that her five year old daughter had never sinned! She was serious. I realize that this woman was not doctrinally…
The Cupcake Transgression
After we moved to Kansas City, Missouri, where my father would become the pastor of Bethany Baptist Church (1952-60), I began my school career. Kindergarten to MDiv degree took 17 years. At the beginning of that first year I was chosen, along with JoAnn, my classmate, to pull the wagon full of sleeping mats leading the way for the rest of the class into the brand new kindergarten addition. Miss Taylor, one of my favorites, was our teacher. My years…
Christians and No Work Sundays
Believers haven’t always had Sundays free from work. Though our culture is changing in this regard, it still is largely expected that most of our members will be exempt from Sunday work to give attention to our worship. The earliest Christians did not have such a privilege. Though surely some believed that it should be so prior to this, it appears that “work free Sundays” were imposed upon the Roman society through an A.D. 321 decree of the Roman Emperor…