Articles (Page 9)
Jesus Was Worshipped
Jesus was worshipped. “And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased. And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, ‘Truly you are the Son of God.’” Jesus had walked on the water. I won’t go through that important story. Rather, I want you to weigh the response of his followers to that miracle. It was simply this: the disciples worshipped him. Worshipping Christ—perhaps you have not thought of the importance of this idea, repeated various times through Jesus’…
The Ten Plagues Memory Tool
The Ten Plagues One, water to bloodTwo, toads in mudThree, thriving gnatsFour, flies that splatFive, flocks that dropSix, sores that popSeven, stones and stormingEight, eaters swarmingNine, nighttime bumblingTen, tykes are tumbling Copyright Jim Elliff 2010
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…
The Rural Church Dilemma
Some time ago I drove to several small towns in rural Arkansas with my 89 year old father and my siblings, tracking the steps of the ministry of both my dad and his father. The experience was memorable. We visited small towns that even Arkansans might not recognize today: Cotter, Caledonia, Hagersville, Greenwood, LaVaca—twelve in all. These were the places where my father, and his father, labored for Christ eighty and ninety years ago. Much has changed in the landscape…
To Obtain the Inheritance
The inheritance for the Christian begins with eternal life, a transformed body, new heavens and a new earth, and extends literally to all there is. We are co-heirs with Christ, meaning all that Christ has received in his ascension, we have received. The realization of all that will not come until later, yet it is ours. We will reign under him over all the universe! Jesus told his disciples to not be afraid of provisional lack because “God has chosen…
As It Is In All the World: Gospel Effects
“ . . . The gospel, which has come to you, just as in all the world also it is constantly bearing fruit and increasing,even as it has been doing in you also since the day you heard of it and understood the grace of God in truth, just as you learned it from Epaphras, our beloved fellow bond-servant, who is a faithful servant of Christ on our behalf . . .” Colossians 1:5-7 This describes how the gospel came…
Packing for Eternity
I travel a lot for our ministry, Christian Communicators Worldwide. I love meeting new people and facing the challenges of leading them into new dimensions of Bible understanding. Years ago a veteran traveler and Christian statesman, J. Oswald Sanders, told me at about 90 years of age that it wasn’t the ministry he had all around the world that was so difficult, but rather, it was “getting there” that was the most tedious part. This author and former head of…
Give Me Justice!
Jesus was telling the people why they should always pray and not lose heart. A woman, in his story, cried out to the impatient, unrighteous judge for justice from her opponent. She kept asking until he relented and acted in her favor. He tired of listening to her incessant pleas. “Now,” Jesus said, “will not God bring about justice for His elect who cry to Him day and night, and yet He is very patient with them”. In other words,…
This Mystery is Profound: Why Are You Married?
Perhaps you have never thought of marriage as a mystery, even though you might sometimes make humorous (or not so humorous) jabs about not being able to understand your spouse. “I’ll never understand you!” is not an uncommon phrase in most homes. But marriage itself is not a mystery, even if you think your spouse is. The institution itself is as common as a potato. After all, since time on earth began, people have been “marrying and giving in marriage.” Even…
The Unforgivable Sin: What Could It Possibly Mean?
There is much that is difficult to understand about the unforgiveable sin. In one place (perhaps only one application), Jesus is instructing his disciples about their future ministry. He says, “And everyone who speaks a word against [blasphemes] the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him” (Lk 12:10). Since Jesus came to live as a perfectly responsive human (though He was God, Phil 2:11), the…
What It Means To Love Christ
Do you love Christ? Let’s start to answer that question by asking another: Is love something you feel, or something you do? Love is undoubtedly seen in action, even when feelings are fugitive. We all believe we should obey the Lord even if our heart is not necessarily warm toward him. Surely we are living in love when we rule against our negative emotions in order to obey. A missionary says he loves Christ as he goes to serve others,…
When Ball Becomes Baal
It’s rare to see kids playing sports in the neighborhood anymore. We’re now organized and “professionalized”—including uniforms, state-of-the-art facilities, endless trips to the field, competitive coaches, equally competitive parents, and the after-season tournaments designed to give parents “bleacher bottom.” In addition, you’ve got to pay to play—and when you’ve paid that much, you’ll be sure to play. It is also fun, and it can be instructive. I love to watch my kids play sports. In fact, they need to play—some.…
The Nod and the Pause: Where the War Begins
Temptation is an opportunist as it passes by. Looking for the slightest nod, it hopes only for our invitation to pause a moment on the porch for our consideration of its merit versus cost and risk. Surely merely thinking about the merits versus risk cannot be too dangerous. By overestimating our moral strength as supposedly detached evaluators we are soon to fail, however, since our resistance is already compromised severely in the nod and pause itself. We did not assume…
Shifts in Audience in the Letter to the Romans
In order to stabilize and strengthen the church members at Rome with their radically divergent backgrounds, Paul shifts in the audience addressed alternatively between all the people in the Roman church as a whole, the Jew-born believers in the church, and the Gentile-born believers. The focus on a new audience does not mean that others of another background cannot benefit in several ways, but allows Paul to deal with special matters of concern principally for that ethnic background. This makes…
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…
A Three-legged Stool: All Sides of God’s Salvation Process
Election by a sovereign God was one of the mainstay doctrines in the preaching used by God during great days of awakening. During the revival ministry of Asahel Nettleton (1783-1844) more than 25,000 were converted, principally in the New England area. According to John Thornbury this figure would be about 600,000 if percentaged to our present population.1 Nettleton, for one, did not shrink back from proclaiming a God who elected. The following vignette comes from the book on his life…