Bible Reading Plans: Start Today, Complete by Year's End

Read the New Testament in 90 days: Click here.

Read the Old Testament in 180 days: Part I, Part II

What About Your Relatives?

by Jim Elliff

In the New Testament, we find new believers confronting their own family first with the gospel. One writer calls this "oikos evangelism." The word "oikos" means "household" in the language of the New Testament.

A model for reaching our families is found in the first encounter Andrew had with Jesus. Read what it motivated him to do:

"He found first his own brother Simon [Peter], and said to him, 'We have found the Messiah' (which translated means Christ). He brought him to Jesus" (John 1:42-42a).

It begins right at home.

What are you doing to introduce Christ to your immediate family? There are many ways to do this. For one, having times of family Bible reading and prayer has a great history in evangelism. When children are young, reading the historical sections can be most easily digested by their immature minds. Reading the lives of great Christians and evangelistic books can also be helpful.

It goes without saying that we should plant our family in a true church where the Bible is believed and where the gospel of free grace is presented clearly. Carefully chosen camps and youth activities may also help. One way to help your children know Christ is to ask them to conduct interviews with godly men and women you respect, finding out all they can about how they came to Christ and how life has gone for them.

What about the extended family?

Some friends of mine have made a long list of all their relatives. They carefully wrote out their testimony and an introductory letter (with a personalized note) and slipped it into a book we provided that explains the gospel. This was sent to parents, brothers and sisters, cousins, nieces and nephews. The resulting conversations and changes have been remarkable.

Some of you have relatives that may soon die. Do you really want to let them slip into hell without a clear explanation of the gospel? Aren't you the one to do that?

A friend's father was old, blind, and grumbling about life. He sent some literature to his brother and asked him to begin reading it to their father in the retirement home. Much to their surprise the man was converted and has become an excited believer, though he is over 90 years old!

Admittedly, some relatives are difficult to talk to. But that should not keep us from trying. One way to deal with such strong "resisters" is to be more forthcoming about arranging a time to talk it out. Instead of waiting for the opportune moment, just state, "Dad (or whoever it is), you know that I am concerned about you having a true relationship with Christ. I need to talk straight with you about it at least once. Let's plan for this and have nothing to distract us. How about this week on Tuesday night?"

It should be noted that sometimes people resist because they are under conviction about their need for Christ. Avoiding discussion is their only way to keep it at a comfortable distance. God can reach anyone if He wishes, even the person who seems the most incorrigible. Take literature with you and sincerely ask them to read it and talk with you about it. You may also tell them, if appropriate, that you wish to have this conversation about knowing Christ even if they are not interested. You are asking them to listen, even if it is only out of respect for you.

Although conversion is a sovereign act of God, He uses people to sow the seed. Until you try, you do not know what will happen. And you do not know what the gospel seed may do later if it is sown in their lives now. Don't expect that you will have all the answers for them, or that you will do a great job at speaking the truth. You will likely fumble about a bit. But God has always condescended to our imperfections when doing His work through us.

Copyright © 2010 Jim Elliff. Permission granted for reproduction in exact form. All other uses require written permission. Find more free articles at www.BulletinInserts.org, a ministry of Christian Communicators Worldwide: www.CCWtoday.org.

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What You CAN Do When Your Church is Failing

by Jim Elliff

You're stuck. The church you once loved is now sliding downhill. Some are disgruntled, leadership is faltering, attendance is low, fellowship is almost non-existent, and interest in improvement is weak. Even the building reflects the neglect of dispassionate saints. What should you do?

I realize the problem is systemic, but there are some things that may yet be done to revitalize the church. I'm not going to give you the main things (restoring regenerate membership, establishing church discipline, promoting forgiveness, reshaping the leadership team, igniting biblical vision, church repentance, etc.), but the kind of things that almost any church (or even church member) can do immediately. The best thing is this: you can get busy doing them without much pain or major church decision-making.

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Just in Time for VBS: Gospel Colors

An Introductory Word from Jim Elliff:

The concept of using colors to depict aspects of the gospel has been around a long time. Perhaps you have used, for instance, "The Wordless Book." Gretchen Brewer and Karen Eppler, friends of our ministry, have worked out what we believe is a more complete use of colors to explain the gospel. We believe this approach has some decided benefits.

We have formatted this material in the following ways:

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Just in Time for the Southern Baptist Convention: "The Integrity of the Local Church"

by Jim Elliff

The following is a portion of a conference message presented in St. Louis in 2001.

I have chosen chapter 5 of 1 Corinthians to help us consider the integrity of the New Testament Church. This is a short chapter with only 13 verses out of which I wish to uncover five observations.

Before I read this passage let me tell you a story that took place in 1837.

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Southern Baptists, an Unregenerate Denomination (Revised)

by Jim Elliff

"How are you doing?"
"Pretty well, under the circumstances."
"What are the circumstances?"
"Well, I have a very effective arm. It moves with quite a bit of animation. But then I have my bad leg."
"What's wrong with it?"
"I guess it's paralyzed. At least it doesn't do much except twitch once a week or so. But that's nothing compared with the rest of me." "What's the problem?
"From all appearances, the rest is dead. At least it stinks and bits of flesh are always falling off. I keep it well covered. About all that's left beyond that is my mouth, which fortunately works just fine. How about you?"

Like the unfortunate person above, the Southern Baptist Convention has a name that it is alive, but is in fact, mostly dead (Rev. 3:1). Regardless of the wonderful advances in our commitment to the Bible, the recovery of our seminaries, etc., a closer look reveals a denomination that is more like a corpse than a fit athlete. In an unusual way, our understanding of this awful reality provides the most exciting prospects for the future—if we will act decisively.

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What the Book of John Says About Eternal Life

by Jim Elliff

If you would have eternal life, something must change. The man, woman or child who remains as he is will die forever.

The Gospel of John, from which all the following verses come, was given to present Christ and this eternal state. “Many other signs therefore Jesus also performed in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book,” John wrote. “But these have been written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name.” (20:30-31) Will you die? Yes. Then what will happen eternally?

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