All Posts (Page 18)
Ten Reasons Why Nursing Homes Are Great Places to Minister
While recently reflecting upon Jesus’ compassion toward those who were “distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd” (Matt. 9:36), I determined to find similarly downcast people in my neighborhood so that I might serve them and tell them about Christ. I now find myself regularly in a nursing home, and the ministry opportunities abound. Perhaps you might consider ministering in a nursing home. Maybe there are others in your church who would enjoy such an outreach. I’ve compiled ten…
An Appeal for the Use of House Churches to Extend Sanctuary-Style Churches
This brief article is a plea. I’m not going to give an apologetic for the house church model. You may read some of this on our website (christfellowshipkc.org) or other places. I am only going to make an appeal for sanctuary-style churches to consider using the house church concept to advance their work for God. I am especially concerned that readers of our articles, most of whom have sound theology and practice, would pick up the burden for this now.…
Do We Still Need the Local Church?
The down-the-street local church is not the only show in town anymore. We are able to enjoy faith-building messages, listen to the latest Christian music, and explore the rich diversity and variety found in the most noted Christian gatherings, all with the click of the mouse or the touch of a button. Many local church pastors now say, “The world is my parish,” just as did the horseback-riding evangelist, John Wesley. But they mean this without ever going out of…
My Preferred Way to Read the Bible
In this book Jim Elliff shares the Bible reading plan that has helped him the most over the last several years. Many have joined him in this approach and have experienced the same joy and discovery that has enriched his life. Jim encourages the believer to read one or two books of the Bible repeatedly as a way to understand the Scriptures on a new level. Practical advice is given, as well as guidance through some subtle distractions from Bible…
Book Tribalism
A tribe was exposed to the Bible for the first time in its own language. For fifteen to twenty years, this was all they had. If there were questions about practices or beliefs, the Bible alone was studied by the elders until a clear view emerged. The people memorized it, read it aloud to each other, enjoyed its language and encouragement, and heeded its rebukes and challenges. They taught the Bible to their families and in their church as if…
An Outline for Understanding Issues of Conscience and Legalism
Most of us have seen the movie “Chariots of Fire” and have been greatly encouraged by the example of Eric Liddell who refused to compete in races on Sunday. But if a Christian held a different position regarding what is allowed on Sunday, could that believer be just as dedicated to Christ with his differing opinion? Convictions of personal conscience are those areas where a strict absolute is not laid down for us in the Bible. Having such personal convictions…
Sanctifying Reason
Note from Jim Elliff: Here is a chapter from my little book entitled Led by the Spirit on the important subject of the use of reason in decision-making. It is a practical guide that will give most any believer help regarding any decisions they might need to make. The book also deals with illuminism found among believers, that is, the practice of constantly receiving “a word from God” in a more or less direct way. I recount some of my earlier…
Audacious Prayer
Christians must be people who pray with audacity, not because we deserve an answer, but because God will give it. When one of Jesus’ followers requested of Him, “Lord, teach us to pray just as John also taught his disciples,” Jesus’ response was two-fold. He first gave an example of how we ought to pray, and then he told a story about a man who desired bread from a friend. “Suppose one of you has a friend, and goes to…
Women in Your Ministry Context: An Appeal for Male Christian Leaders to Choose Male Assistants
A fine young pastor and his family take a small church in a rural area, or perhaps in a tired part of an otherwise thriving city. It’s their first opportunity to lead a church, and they have dreams of something deep, growing, and lasting. There is little money given by the church to hire anyone else other than this single leader. Well enough. It can’t be other than it is in the beginning. But right off the pastor is in…
Shadows of Hell: Fear and Emptiness Before Death
This poignant note came to a faithful friend of mine who is suffering from life-threatening cancer. It concerns a woman in the nursing home who has been a “good church-goer only.” The note reads: “It is sad beyond words to watch mom’s health failing and see her fear and anxiety or detached numbness as she faces each day. She wavers back and forth. It is all sad and full of despair. There is no longing for glory, no hope of…
Cremation or Burial?
There is no sin in cremation, that is for sure. And there is no inability on God’s part to raise a cremated body from the dead. But is cremation, a practice most often seen in Eastern religions, the best for the believer in Christ? It is clarifying to note that burial was God’s preferred method of disposing of the body of Moses. God had the power to cremate Moses’ body on the spot, but rather, this gentle and loving phrase…
Hard Work: The Spurgeon Way
Charles Haddon Spurgeon, the renowned preacher of London in the 1800s, was not only a gifted leader, but was a hard worker. By the time most pastors write a few emails, wrestle with the dates for VBS and read the junk mail, Spurgeon would have completed a mountain of tasks. For instance, each week he preached several times (often 10), trained pastors in the pastor’s college, wrote several hundred letters (“I’m immersed to my chin in letters.”), led an elders’…
Children Obey Your Parents? But How?
If you are a child, read this to your parents so that you can train them well. If you are an adult, then you may wish to read this together with your child. First of all, kids, it is YOUR parents you are to obey. It is up to your parents to tell you which other adults are to be obeyed. Probably they will want you to obey teachers, policemen, some church leaders, babysitters they chose, and your grandparents. If you…
The Rationale for Wrath
A cartoon depicted Noah’s ark surrounded by desperate people drowning in the water, begging for help. The rains were coming down hard while Noah and his family were safe inside. On the outside of the ark was a “smiley face” with the words, “Smile, God Loves You.” Are you sure God loves everybody? John the Baptist didn’t think so. He said, “He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not…
Preparing to Be an Amazing Old Man or Woman: Six Motivating Suggestions
Like it or not, if you continue to live, you’ll get old. As you look around at all those ancient people in the grocery store, the golf course, the retirement village and the nursing home, don’t be smug — you’ll be there soon enough. It will do you well to prepare to make those years the best they can be for the glory of God. It’s not uncommon for God to use older people. Take Caleb who fought giants as…
Suffering and Seeking the Kingdom
Below are some thoughts on Matthew 6 that I wrote one year ago. I sent them to my wife, Rachel, who read them and saved them on the eve of an impossibly difficult year. Today, still in the midst of our darkest suffering, I want to tell you that I have often failed to believe and do what I am encouraging you toward. Rachel sent my words back to me last week, and there they were: staring into my heart,…