Posts by Jim Elliff

Posts by Jim Elliff

Steve’s Story: A Letter From Jim

Dear CCW family, So that you don’t get confused, I’ll start by letting you know that this is Steve Burchett writing. I’ve had the privilege of being Jim Elliff’s assistant since moving to Kansas City in 2007. Before then I was the sole pastor of a church in Athens, Ohio, starting in 2001. How did I get connected with Jim and the ministry of Christian Communicators Worldwide? I’m not exactly sure, though I think it might have been through his…

The Body: Important to God

What an alarming statement from God to Adam is found in Genesis 3: “You are dust and to dust you shall return.” That was for Adam, yes, but also you, his progeny, for it is affirmed throughout Scripture, and with ample imperative data. This is a succinct statement, arresting and unambiguous. You are not going to escape this fact. Your body is an arrangement of dust particles that will disassemble into dust again, and further, into whatever components that dust…

Confessionism: The Misuse of 1 John 1:9

Do you believe that you must confess every known sin to God? For many years earlier in my ministry, I made statements such as the following: “In order to be restored to fellowship with God and to be filled with the Spirit you must confess every known sin to God.” What am I to think of such instructions now? Sadly, this teaching adds a layer of requirement for our forgiveness not intended by God. And it may lead to confusion…

Jacob Saw Him

Jacob, on his flight to Paddam-Aram, had a dream of a ladder leading to heaven with the Lord at the top and angels descending and ascending. This took place at what he would call Bethel, or “house of God.” “And behold, the Lord stood above it and said…” is a phrase which indicates that he was actually speaking with the preincaranate Christ. That it was the preincarnate Christ that Jacob saw that night is made clear later when Jesus met…

The Past Symbology and the Present Glory

“Those twelve stones which they had taken from the Jordan, Joshua set up at Gilgal. “He said to the sons of Israel, ‘When your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying, “What are these stones?” then you shall inform your children, saying, “Israel crossed this Jordan on dry ground. For the Lord your God dried up the waters of the Jordan before you until you had crossed, just as the Lord your God had done to the Red…

SBC Recovery

The SBC must recover a high view of the meaning of conversion and membership, and must bring back or expel non-attenders through a loving and thoughtful process. We must pursue the doctrinal understanding and biblical practices necessary to overcome the remaining membership bloat, and the ongoing increase of unregenerate membership. We have much to be thankful for—for instance, the quality and training of young leaders is the best I remember it. Yet, we must address unregenerate membership—or we die. It’s…

Losses of a Prayerless Christian

Though God is sovereign over all things, He ordains the means of prayer. There are some things He will not do unless we pray, though He always does all He purposes (Psalm 135:6). The mystery does not change this truth: You do not have because you do not ask (James 4:2). If you do not ask . . . 1. Evangelistic work will be hindered. “The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray the Lord of…

Rational Forgiveness

According to the ESV calculation for a talent (“a monetary unit worth about 20 years wages for a laborer”), the master in Jesus Mt 18 parable forgave a debt of ten thousand talents equal to 200,000 years of labor, which is equal to 73,000,000 days of labor. The forgiven man however would not forgive a debt owed him worth 100 days of labor (100 denarii) which is 730,000 times less that he was forgiven. Jesus intends for his listeners to…

The Whining Christian Schooled by Paul

Amazingly, the Apostle Paul seemed never to have worn the mantle of victimhood as a redeemed man, regardless of the physical suffering or social condemnation he experienced. It was antithetical to his “in Christ” perspective. He would not be put to shame as a person for whom Christ had died, risen, and ascended. He had it all! He could enumerate his insults and beatings to instruct, sure, but he wore them like a badge of honor. To suffer for Christ…

Dear Eden from Sweden

I write poetry for my grandchildren as their “PaJim.” This is one. We have a strain of Swedish ancestry on my wife’s side — a farm family in Sweden who moved to Canada and then to Minnesota in the 1800s. This poem reflects that connection. Likely the members of that family used “kulning” to call the cattle. Before you read this poem, listen to the enchanting kuhning of Jonna Jinton at this address to understand the poem better: https://youtu.be/KvtT3UyhibQ?feature=shared. The…

Closing With Christ: Rethinking What Has Become Sacrosanct

[This is an article written many years ago now, but still useful for many of us. My tone was fairly strong because of the urgency I felt. I still hope it stirs us up. Thank you for reading it.] When modern evangelical churches seek to bring the unregenerate to Christ (and they should do so with passion), they often fall prey to a formula which produces disappointing results. The pattern runs something like this: Extending a public altar call Praying…

The Spirit Moves Us Around—Some Reflections

“And they went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia. And when they had come up to Mysia, they attempted to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them. So, passing by Mysia, they went down to Troas. And a vision appeared to Paul in the night: a man of Macedonia was standing there, urging him and saying, “Come over to Macedonia and…

Cataracts of Unbelief Remaining

We are not perfect believers. Cataracts of unbelief cloud our sight and therefore we still stumble, much to our dismay. However, if we gaze intently at his glory revealed in his word to us, due to the transforming aid of the Spirit, our sight of him is clarified from one degree to another creating increasing conformity to him. And, we look with hope because we know that when we see him as he is, there will be no filtering doubts…

The Negotiables: Must We Forever Do Things The Same Way?

I am a lover of the local church in any form I find it, provided we mean the same thing by “church.” I’ve had sixty years of ministry in all kinds of churches, internationally and here in the States. I have seen some great ones and some very sad, sickly ones—and that has little to do with size. If it is a true church, however, I’m for it and wish to see it flourish. I’ve not lost my enthusiasm for…