Posts by Jim Elliff (Page 26)
Multi-ethnic Glory in the Church: Should We Have Black Churches and White Churches? Or Cowboy Churches?
I have just returned from Milan, Italy, where a portion of my time was spent with leaders of The International Church of Milan (ICM). We talked together about the diversity of their congregation, which consists of 14 nations so far. Among the leaders were two families who are not only working with this congregation, but are praying and feeling their way toward an Italian-speaking congregation that will work in tandem with the ICM. I felt compelled to express my concern…
Strange Givers: More Outlandishness in Circulating Gods Blessings
I laughed out loud when a well known conference speaker told me that most people give just enough to make themselves miserable. I’ve always tried to be a radical giver. God stirred me up about this many years ago when reading the life of George Muller. I’ve attempted to increase my giving year by year so that a large percentage of the resources He provides come through me rather than stopping with me. An old friend of our family once…
The House Church Way of Life
I still appreciate the institutional church. I’ve spent most of my life in such churches, leading them, speaking to them, attempting to nurture believers in them. I have most of my memories of God’s work in my life related to them. Almost every church I speak to today is an institutional one. I haven’t given up on this model, but I think I have discovered something far better for meeting my expectations of church life and my compelling interests as…
Worth A Lot of Sparrows
Are not five sparrows sold for two cents? And yet not one of them is forgotten by God. Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear; you are worth more than many sparrows. Luke 12:6-7 At two cents per five sparrows, one dollar’s worth would buy two hundred and fifty of them. Imagine that! I once saw a stack of chicken heads in a Bolivian marketplace numbering about that many, all staring one way, eyes…
Recent Travels to Africa, 2007
Benjamin hunkered Vietnamese-like at the Dulles Airport gate, sick at his stomach. It did not seem to matter that people were passing on either side of him to get into the transport which would take us to our plane. The flu passed to each of us over the next few days. This is the way Jim, Benjamin and Bryan Elliff began our latest trip to Africa. It was not an auspicious start. We were greeted by my friend, Martin Holdt,…
Seeking Miraculous Healings: Musings and Cautions
“While John performed no sign, yet everything John said about this man [Christ] was true” (John 10:41). Could anyone doubt that God was powerfully at work through the life of John the Baptist? Jesus said there was none like him (Matt. 11:11) and assigned him a strategic place of importance in the unfolding history of redemption. Like many great saints to follow, he did not do any miracles. Should we consider the miraculous essential to our Christianity? Yes, of course,…
What You Can Do When Your Church is Failing
You’re stuck. The church you once loved is now sliding downhill. Some are disgruntled, leadership is faltering, attendance is low, fellowship is almost non-existent, and interest in improvement is weak. Even the building reflects the neglect of dispassionate saints. What should you do? I realize the problem is systemic, but there are some things that may yet be done to revitalize the church. I’m not going to give you the main things (restoring regenerate membership, establishing church discipline, promoting forgiveness,…
Should I Say More About Meeting in Homes?
I have only six and a half years of experience with a house church model. My inexperience may disqualify me from saying much. Though I don’t want to get older any more quickly, I am anxious to have years of experience so as to speak more convincingly about this concept. I also do not in any way wish to imply that we are experiencing the absolute “right method,” or that, in fact, other meeting patterns could not be even more…
Reading Our Children: Is There Somebody Alive in There?
I have tried to say with as much clarity as possible, and often, that the assurance a person has that he or she is actually a Christian does not have to do with praying a prescribed prayer, being affirmed by a Christian leader, walking an aisle, signing a card or raising a hand, but whether that person has life from God. An unregenerate person does not have this life, even if he is religious. A child who is unregenerate, for…
The Negotiables
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 forty 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…
How Should We Get a Crowd for the Gospel?
The title expresses one of the two main questions concerning evangelism that are before us at this time in our history. The other question is, “What is the gospel?” That question has been discussed in relation to the Lordship controversy some years earlier, the current New Perspective issue, and the ongoing Calvinism/Arminianism debate. A lot hangs in the balance on these various viewpoints, and evangelistic practice is governed by which side you are on even if you are not aware…
A Cathartic Sickness
NOTE: I wrote this in 2005 when I was going through a series of minor health issues. They were nothing really, but did do some good for me. I did not publish this article at the time, but believe it still has meaning. I hope you can share it with those who might benefit from it. JE One of my longtime friends died recently, and another is extremely sick. I have also had some uncomfortable physical challenges myself, the latest…
Life of Trust
Long ago I learned that people are not so interested in what a man can do for God, but rather what God can do for a man. I wanted my life to be a visible demonstration of the fact that God exists and that He hears and answers prayer. This led me to make financial choices that many of you ask me about. I am happy to talk about this since one of the very reasons I have taken this…
A Mission of Peculiarity: John 17:13-19
It is the task of the Christian to demonstrate his or her peculiarity to the world. In reading through the catalogue of people of faith in Hebrews 11, it is the peculiarity of the men and women of faith that is most prominent. You cannot get much stranger than Noah, for instance, who hammered on a boat for 120 years waiting for a promised flood in a world that had not yet even seen rain. Think about it. This man…
Babylonian?
I talked with a charter member of the church I attended in another town that Sunday, a church with less-than-conservative views on the Bible. The question I asked was designed not only to give me information, but also to engage my new friend in thinking about his beliefs. “What is your church’s view on the Bible?” I posed. “Well,” he answered, “I’m a chaplain for the Masons and I think we have a little stronger view of the Bible there…
What Do You Do With Immorality?
When the apostle Paul heard that there was immorality in the Corinthian church, he was shocked. The brand of immorality was of such a kind that the sensibilities of the pagan world would even be offended—”a man has his father’s wife”. But his amazement was mostly because the church tolerated it as a badge of honor. The church had so distorted the meaning of love that it was proud of its acceptance of such persons. “And you are arrogant. Ought…