Posts by Jim Elliff (Page 2)
Is Healing in the Atonement?
It is a valid question to ask, “Is physical healing in the atonement?” The answer is, without equivocation, “Yes.” But maybe not as is commonly perceived. All good things come to the believer through Christ’s death for us. “By his stripes you are healed” in every way possible! It is judicially right that mercy is yours forever due to his death in your place. When merciful actions come to unbelievers, however, (which happens over and over again — God “sends…
Good Works Are Not Your Problem
Rather than writing off good works, the Apostle Paul considered good works and faith to be the closest of friends. The Christian life is “faith working through love” (Gal 5:6). In fact, Christ “gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people for his own possession, zealous for good deeds.” Good works are a major reason Christ died for you. Don’t think little of them. Rather, it is Mosaic Law-works (such…
To A Living Hope!
Here’s an audio teaching on persecution of believers that Jim Elliff has been sharing recently out of Peter’s manual on suffering for Christ, 1 Peter 1:3-9. Click here to listen when Jim taught this at Antioch Bible Church in Johannesburg, South Africa.
What is a Missionary?
What is a missionary? He is not only an evangelist because there is a such person as an evangelist that God has gifted and given to the churches. But he must at least be sincerely, consistently and powerfully evangelistic, because it is out of new converts that he will begin churches. He isn’t only a teacher, because there is such a person as a teacher that God has given to the churches. But he is no less than a very…
Christ is Building His Church: Reports from South Africa, Austria, and Lebanon
Here are a couple of reports from recent trips by Steve and Patty, and Pam and me. Christ is Building His Church: Steve Burchett’s Report from Austria and Lebanon It’s one thing to think “in theory” about Jesus’ promise to build his church (Matthew 16:18), but it’s another thing entirely to actually hear first-hand accounts and to see that promise being fulfilled. On a recent ministry trip with Patty to Salzburg, Austria, and then Beirut, Lebanon, I got to hear…
What Did They Mean, “Believe in Christ?”
How do we explain the sudden reversals of life found in the New Testament? As Jesus spoke, or Paul or Philip or any of the other presenters in the early days of Christianity, scores of people believed. It’s the suddenness of belief that shocks you. In a moment, before a day was over, or before a few days had elapsed, so many turned from paganism or centuries-old religious traditions to Christ. The New Testament says that they “believed.” Or it…
A Gospel Shotgun | A Letter from Jim
My grandmother Elliff was a presenter of the gospel. Are you? She looks harmless, but in the case in this photo was a sawed off gospel shotgun! One day a tramp came to her screen door asking for food. Grandmother and her pastor husband lived close to the train tracks and this was not an uncommon experience during those days. Always accommodating, she asked the man to remain at the front door while she went back to get him something…
God’s Supply: A Letter from Jim
Do you realize what an amazing thing it is that God has supplied everything we have needed for our ministry and our personal needs and the needs of our team for over 32 years? He has an ocean-like supply to meet all our needs. This means that many tens of thousands of dollars have come in to this ministry every year without solicitation to anybody but God alone. He did it again this year, providing over $210,000 for our living…
This Mystery is Profound
The Apostle Paul wrote about the marriage relationship this way in Ephesians 5: “Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands.” “Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her,…
California Christmas | A Letter From Jim
California Christmas! We just returned from sunny California, where the Christmas season is, frankly, a whole lot more like Israel than Kansas City. Years ago, I pastored a church in Orlando, Florida. Warm Decembers were part of the mystique, yet I never quite got used to it. But now it seems VERY appealing to live in such a place. We’ve already had a couple of snows here in KC and will see much more than that, I’m sure. We arrived…
The Faithful Rural Church
I have a deep respect for the rural churches. I’ve been in many that have retained their vibrancy and usefulness for 100 years or longer. Don’t underestimate the potential of such churches. God may very well pass over the clever church for the faithful one. It would be like God to surprise us by awaking rural churches and pouring out his blessing in them once again as he did in the past. He delights to make the weak strong. Rural…
Seen by the Unseen
“For a man’s ways are before the eyes of the Lord, and he ponders all his paths.” Proverbs 5:21 Perhaps you do not consider the implications of being watched. Among the panoply of spiritual beings said to see into our world, none is more pervasive, interested and involved than God himself. Everything is in his preview, without any strain to his perception or cognitive reach. This means that we are never truly alone. As really as a person who is standing…