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The Discipline of God is Strong

The discipline of the believer provides one of our greatest assurances of God’s love. Please read and think deeply about “The Discipline of God is Strong.”

The Unrepenting Repenter

The believer in Christ is a lifelong repenter.  He begins with repentance and continues in repentance. (Rom. 8:12-13) David sinned giant sins but fell without a stone at the mere finger of the prophet because he was a repenter at heart (2 Sam. 12:7-13). Peter denied Christ three times but suffered three times the remorse until he repented with bitter tears (Mt. 26:75). Every Christian is called a repenter, but he must be a repenting repenter. The Bible assumes the…

Say What You Love About God

May I suggest something of value for you to do that has great returns. It is so simple, yet profound and effective. We all can do it. Here it is: DESCRIBE SOMETHING YOU VALUE ABOUT GOD TO OTHERS. I mean by this to thoughtfully tell somebody what God is like. Portray as colorfully as possible a characteristic of the Father, Son, or Spirit that you value and think is worth being known. A believer who could learn to do this…

Until We Die

Poem written for Jeannie Elliff just before her death on 7/20/15 UNTIL WE DIE Jim Elliff We don’t know how to live until we die– die to trust in living as that which keeps a life, die to fear of dying as that which ends a life. And if we die to living, And live by dying, We live the truest life by Him whose life we’re given, Who came as life And lived to die And rose to life…

Fifty-five Years: Your Letter From Jim

Dear CCW family, It was 55 years ago that I first read the book, George Muller of Bristol, by A. T. Pierson. I remember where I sat to read it. It was my sophomore year at Ouachita Baptist University. I had borrowed the book from my father’s library and was sitting in the sun outside of my apartment. As I read the words and imagined the actions of Muller, I was moved deeply. Muller had fed and clothed over 10,000…

A More Spontaneous and Genuine Evangelism

It was not Jesus’ intent to say that the individual Christian must change locations in order to evangelize. But it is most certainly the whole church’s responsibility to see to it that we make disciples where we are, now. Evangelism is not to be done later when the move takes place, or when the trip is taken to another far off country, or when the special evangelistic project commences, though it is certainly inclusive of these. Yet, nothing is more…

Don’t Be Like the Ant

Don’t be like the ant who thought that it was his strong legs that pushed the log down the river. He overestimated. No pastor, teacher, or serious Christian could possibly know accurately what God does through our words and work. Not really. Evaluation of effects is futile and frustratingly unpredictable. It may be years before gospel seed germinates. How can you know if or when or how He does that? And your most effective moment may come and go without…

Borrowing? Consider This Possibility

The Old covenant people of God heard a second telling of God’s commands and purpose for them on the Plains of Moab before Moses died. Within those commands, there was a pronouncement of a remarkable blessing for them related to lending and borrowing. There is a principle to consider in that anticipated blessing spoken so many years ago: ___“But there will be no poor among you; for the Lord will bless you in the land that the Lord your God…

My Friend’s in Hell

John Bunyan, the author of Pilgrim’s Progress, said that is “better to be born a toad than to die unconverted.” Why? Because toads don’t go to hell and humans do. The subject of hell is so solemn that our natural instinct is to either ignore it or reject it. Yet, like the cancer patient before his doctor, it is better to hear the whole truth. Once a woman told me, with an nervous giggle, that she “guessed it would be…

Deacons in the New Testament: Questions and Answers from the Elders of Christ Fellowship of Kansas City

The office of deacon has been subject to a wide variety of practices and interpretations, even among biblically minded Christians. Much of this variance stems from the fact that few New Testament passages mention the office, let alone explain its function. Yet the biblical information we do have indicates that deacons are a vital aspect of “how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, a pillar and buttress of the…

Lofty Grosart : Your Letter From Jim

Dear CCW family, Like many of you, we are aware of the battle for the mind. We are especially concerned that those who profess to know Christ do indeed know him. As we write and speak, we are always aware of deception. “These things I have written to you about those who are trying to deceive you,” John said in the epistle of 1 John. Paul told Timothy about those who were deceiving and being deceived (2 Tim 3:13). This…

Revival May Not Bring What You Expect

Christianity survived and grew in totalitarian regimes in its first centuries and has done so many times since. We need revival desperately, but it does not necessarily create a political/cultural reversal except in individuals and churches. It more likely will increase polarization and bring on added misunderstanding and persecution as it did in the earliest days recorded in Acts. Revival is even strongly associated with splintering among denominations because of the inability of revived people to continue in their old…

Something Like Hell

I once saw a horrible sight at the coffee shop while discussing the Bible with a friend. A man, obviously in an advanced stage of dementia, gnashed his teeth, shook violently in anger, and cringed with fear for several agonizing minutes. I’m often moved by the plight of mental anguish. My mother died of Alzheimer’s. We cannot always tell which direction dementia will take. Will it turn a person angry or will he be docile? So, with respect, and with…

The Old Covenant Ends and the New Covenant Begins Here

Observe the exact time when the New Covenant began and the Old Covenant, whose sacrifices never could take away sins or make anyone perfect, was made obsolete (Heb 8:13;10:4): “Then He [Christ] said, ‘Behold, I have come to do your will.’ He takes away the first [covenant] in order to establish the second [covenant]. By this will we have been sanctified [as in consecrated] through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.” (Heb 10:9-10) The New…