Creative Writing
On the Nose of Jabawanga
I long to see my grandchildren become Warrior Kings for the Lord. Here is a poem written to one of them. Look carefully and you can see the nose and a future warrior standing there.
Jesus and Joseph
Like Jesus, Joseph was the special son of his father, beloved; like Jesus, Joseph was hated because his father loved him and because of his words and predictions of future authority; like Jesus, Joseph was plotted against; like Jesus, Joseph was stripped of a wonderful tunic, made bloody; like Jesus, Joseph was sold for silver; like Jesus, Joseph was taken to Egypt; like Jesus, Joseph was falsely accused; like Jesus, Joseph was given authority after humility; like Jesus, Joseph began…
The Book Alive
The husband had fallen asleep as his wife finished reading her Bible in bed. Suddenly she threw her hand on to the chest of the sleeping spouse, screaming out, “There’s a man in this book!” There is, indeed! In one sense, the Bible is simply a book, with rows of words in order, telling a story, informing or instructing. Yet, when the eyes of the person reading it are opened to its truth, and that God himself authored it, those…
Mother Teresa Leona
James, the youth: If a person shows all the outward signs of being a Christian, should we assume the person is truly a Christian? The elderly but wiser Mr. Brockton: Not at all. The evidence for being a Christian will undoubtedly be seen in every true Christian, but the appearance of the evidence may deceive you. You must start at the starting place in your observations and be careful not to mistake the effect for the means. James: But suppose…
He’ll Stand
The following words by Paul the Apostle make for tangible peace between sincerely conscientious Christians who differ in convictions: “Who are you to judge the servant of another? To his own master he stands or falls; and he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand” (Romans 14:4). A true believer will ultimately stand justified before God, regardless of differences in those matters about which God has chosen to give no definitive command. In such areas we…
Morning Gaze
A Reminder . . .
The Elderly Mr. Phipp
James, the youth: Is affection necessary for true spirituality? I mean, can’t a man be Christian, yet cold as a stone emotionally? Mr. Brockton: Affection cannot be separated from true religion. James: But are we to strain to be affectionate toward God when it is not natural? Brockton: We are to strain to know God, and that is enough. Mr. Phipp will make my point for me. Hear his story: When the elderly Mr. Phipp lost his wife, he cried…
A Tale of Tested Assumptions
Quincey was an exacting man, an accountant. He wanted to be forgiven by God for his many sins because his conscience was troubling him. He assumed that he must confess each of his sins to receive that forgiveness, and that this confession could not be just an act, but genuine. So he set out to do that. Not all sins are of the same weight, since Jesus talked of “greater sins” and “worse sins,” so he further assumed he must…
In the Loamy Field
I do not walk in the fields around my town often, but when the air was chilled beneath the trees and under the shade of the houses, and when I delighted in morning rays shooting their light and heat at me from behind each house and tree in straight lines on my face and coat, I was lured away for an hour or two of quiet to those gentle fields where the sun was not to be hindered. I laughed…
God’s Glory in the Joy of Men
“I will,“ God said, “forge for Myself, Out of the vastness of My wealth, An immeasurable expanse With stars and planets in a dance Rejoined by all of heaven’s host For joy that I would choose to boast The power of My potent hand. In this, I will have caused to stand The earth. Like some immense platform; A battle-ground for battle-storm Laid bare before heaven’s wondering eye. That it might be the place where I Display My power and…
A Fine Window
A window serves us various ways, but this is its most important work. Let’s learn from that.
Her Unchanging Place
This poem coveys many memories of our mother and the home she loved outside of Warren, Arkansas. It was written originally for my siblings — Sandy Smith, Tom Elliff and Bill Elliff. She loved that home and either lived there or returned there all her life. We cherished that home as well. Close to the end of her life, while suffering with Alzheimer’s, we took her back. Her sister was there and was able to care for her for a…
Taraxacum Terrorists
Ah, the dandelion season. Military activity sited.
The Ten Plagues
The Ten Plagues One, water to bloodTwo, toads in mudThree, thriving gnatsFour, flies that splatFive, flocks that dropSix, sores that popSeven, storms and stormingEight, eaters swarmingNine, nighttime bumblingTen, tykes are tumbling Copyright Jim Elliff 2010
My Father Said to Me
My father tried to teach each of his children those great lessons he learned in his long life, some from the crucible of failure. Here is one. His mother, an exemplary Christian, had a weakness in the area of worry. She fought it and worked to turn her worries into prayer. It was a besetting sin, often showing up to hassle her. My father fought against worry also. He considered worry to be a true battleground in his life. I…