Posts by Jim Elliff (Page 2)
Authenticating Glory in Scripture
Though the Scripture may be shown to be trustworthy by many historical and logical proofs, it is essentially received as true because of the revelation of God’s glory experienced through it. Just as nature reveals God (Rom 1:19-21), and some receive or reject his glory, so man receives or rejects the glory of God in Scripture. In other words, a man sitting on the edge of a cliff overlooking a majestic display of nature has every reason to believe in…
A Letter From Jim | September 2018
Dear CCW family, Those kids! Pam and I have three older ones, along with their two spouses and two grandchildren. Steve and Patty have three in the mid-range. Kole and Rachel have two that are younger. Through the years we have often taken our family with us as we travel. We believe this is important for them and for the churches and conferences when at all possible to do. It’s been our desire to promote both fear of God and…
What It Means To Love Christ
Do you love Christ? Let’s start to answer that question by asking another: Is love something you feel, or something you do? Love is undoubtedly seen in action, even when feelings are fugitive. We all believe we should obey the Lord even if our heart isn’t necessarily warm toward him. Surely we are living in love when we rule against our negative emotions in order to obey. A missionary says he loves Christ as he goes to serve others, but…
A Letter From Jim | August 2018
Greetings! We’re working hard on completing Bryan Elliff’s book called SURPLUS: FEARLESS GENEROSITY IN 2 CORINTHIANS 8-9. Here’s a portion of the introduction: I can remember when I first took seriously the Bible’s teaching on money and possessions. I was a college student at home for the summer and Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount was a topic of vigorous discussion among my friends. As I read and talked about those fascinating and memorable words of Christ, I realized just how…
A Letter From Jim | July 2018
We are in a new day of hatred and demeaning language. I’m sure you see it. One US senator said that he had just come off a seven month fast from social media and realized that he had forgotten that people were supposed to hate each other. Believers must do better. I have often been shocked by spiritual leaders, along with otherwise faithful Christians, spending so much of their public speech in vitriolic, accusative language about political issues, at the…
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…
It Isn’t About Me
When you meet with the body of believers in which God by his sometimes secret design has put you, remember this great truth: it’s not about “me.” You don’t gather mainly about you, but them. “Let all things be done for edification,” Paul said. That is, do all you do together for the building up of others. Amazingly, you will be most edified yourself if you think of the body of Christ in this way. And, it may well lead…
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 plea to social media, blog and forum participants 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…
A Letter from Jim | June 2018
I’ve just listened to a young man named Marcin Patrzalek playing Nicolo Paganini, “Caprice No 24” and “El Colibri” by Julio Sagreras. I’m shocked to hear this young man play as he did, and with such difficult pieces. Look him up on YouTube. He could not be more than 15 or 16 years of age. I love classical guitar, but it isn’t just the music that makes it for me, nor the quality of the guitar—as you know, it’s the…
Pain to Gain for Others
Muslim extremists murdered Ayub’s grandmother on one of the many islands of Indonesia. We stayed in the home of this warmhearted Christian leader. He serves as an elder for the church meeting in a home nearby. We loved this brother and his wife immediately and shared some really happy moments together in Christ. But, Ayub’s life was a troubled one at first. When he was a teenage boy, as a consequence of declared Jihad, Muslim zealots insisted that everyone on…
A Letter from Jim | May 2018
For some years we aggressively published and distributed books through CCW. We were thrilled to find that these works proved to be a help to so many, several items being disseminated in multiple tens of thousands of copies and one item, Wasted Faith, reaching around a quarter of a million. These books continue to play a role in evangelism and spiritual growth for many. Here’s how it began. Those were the days You might say I wrote Wasted Faith under…
A Common but Misguided Perception
It is misguided and a dangerous misconception to base God’s acceptance of you on your worthiness, or attempt to comfort others with the concept that, “underneath it all, you are actually beautiful in character, and therefore truly deserving of God’s love.” Why? 1. You aren’t, and the Bible makes that very clear. Though all people are created in the image of God, all of us are sinful, abusing our status, both by nature and behavior and are therefore deserving of…