Articles
For Better Conversations
Good conversation went fugitive with the invasion of electronic media. Yet you long for it, and so do those in your circle of acquaintances. Believers in Christ ought to be excellent at it. Even our non-believing friends ought to leave us saying, “That was the best conversation I’ve had for months.” There is an art to develop in conversation, granted, but we should be committed to the process. In my view, it is attainable by any of us. Hint: Self…
Forgetting Who We Are: A Letter From Jim
Dear CCW family, When whimpering Gideon hid himself from the Midianites in the winepress while threshing his wheat, the angel of the Lord appeared to him with this striking greeting: “The Lord is with you, you mighty man of valor!” Man of valor? In Gideon’s mind, nothing could be further from the truth. But the angel continued, “Go in this might of yours, and you shall save Israel from the hand of the Midianites.” Gideon squeaked out a lame response,…
Citizens of the Kingdom; Aliens in the World
The greater reality as believers is that we are citizens of the Kingdom of God and of His Christ (Anointed King) and are therefore aliens in the world. This first reality competes with a second one: we are temporary citizens of a country in this world and are not yet physically in the Kingdom of God as it will be when our King returns and sets it in order. We should not be unconcerned for our temporary country where God…
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…
The Noble New Covenant Woman
Here is an audio message by Jim Elliff describing God’s desire for New Covenant women. These timeless truths are critical to joy and the strength of families and churches.
Thinking Biblically and Strategically About Inter-Church Relationships
I am focused in this article on “inter-church” relationships, not “intra-church” relationships. There is a significant difference. An online dictionary (www.dictionary.com) gives this information: “Inter– is a common prefix that means between or among groups,” whereas “intra– is a prefix which means within or inside one group.” So the content to follow is not about relationships within a single church (intra-), but relationships between multiple churches (inter-). My church is part of a fellowship of churches that meets annually for…
How the Message Spreads
God’s Spirit spreads his truth to others. In the first chapter of Thessalonians we see this dramatically. The Gospel spreads through people of heartfelt devotion to Christ and understanding who speak it in the power of the Spirit and with sincere conviction. It has been characteristically so that God raises up bold preachers from among the responsive people, who speak along with the groundswell of committed Christians promulgating the gospel to family, friends, churches, and people in all places. Here…
Is Zeal Enough? Rethinking the Missionary Call
I’m baffled with the phenomenon that so many become missionaries with a dangerously low level of insight into Scripture coupled with extraordinary romantic zeal. A handful of verses guide them, about which most have little true understanding. Their experience of church life is limited and often built on poor models, even though their labors are to be all about planting churches, making leaders (even if they’ve never been leaders before), and setting churches in biblical order. And, sadly, they have…
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…
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…
Ten Tips for Leading Camp (or Conference, or Retreat) “Reflection” Times
You have some young people assigned to you at camp. An informal gathering for reflection is on the schedule and you are in charge. You’re a little nervous about doing this right. What can you consider doing to give room for the Spirit of God to work in their lives? Below are suggestions that come out of my experience over years of small group leadership. In fact, they were used recently at a camp each evening during a 45 minute…
When Pastors Aren’t Able to Pastor
The church is medium-sized in attendance, yet, on paper the membership roll is even larger. Its solo pastor is a frustrated man. There are some good days, and certainly some fine people who encourage him, but he’s frustrated because the job God called him to do just cannot be done. He has many people to tend to, numbers of which are missing, and even those who are present are more than any average man could possibly care for—that is, really care for. So,…
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…
The Past Symbology and the Present Glory
“Those twelve stones which they had taken from the Jordan, Joshua set up at Gilgal. “He said to the sons of Israel, ‘When your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying, “What are these stones?” then you shall inform your children, saying, “Israel crossed this Jordan on dry ground. For the Lord your God dried up the waters of the Jordan before you until you had crossed, just as the Lord your God had done to the Red…
Culture is the Backdrop for the Real Story
Christians, God is infinitely more concerned about the heart, faith, behavior and unity of true believers in our country than the politics, economics, social trends, racial tensions, sexual downgrade, and international relations of the country. But that does not mean these things have no meaning or present no concern at all. We learn about this priority of God for the true church above culture from examining the emphasis of the New Testament during the time when Christianity was not conjoined…
Moses’ Speech Problem
Some of the most potent speeches ever heard by men were given by Moses. Consider his speech recalling the episodes in Israel’s history on the plains of Moab before his assistant Joshua would lead the Israelites over to the Promised Land. And his eloquence seen in the “songs of Moses” in Exodus 15, Deuteronomy 32, and Psalm 90, is unparalleled. His song in Exodus 15 is sung in heaven (Revelation 15:3)! No Wordsworth, or Dickinson, Keats or Frost will be…