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SharePastor Connect 2010
- Fri, Jan 1, 2010
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Articles In This Issue
Article- Bill Elliff
- Wed, Sep 1, 2010
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If it's all about me, I will pay little attention to what I am doing to Christ's body. "Wishing to satisfy the crowd, Pilate ... handed Him over to be crucified" (v. 15). A man-fearing, man-pleasing spirit, illustrated perfectly here by Pilate, is really nothing but a self-pleasing spirit. I want to be recognized and honored by others, and I am willing to sacrifice anything—even Christ—to hear my name applauded by the multitude. Each time we live for such a wicked, base goal, we unleash a cascade of wickedness that hurts Christ's body in more ...
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- Bill Elliff
- Tue, Aug 17, 2010
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Are you worshiping idols? Are the people in your church bowing down before false gods? Before you react emphatically, listen to Tim Keller's definition of idolatry in Counterfeit Gods: A counterfeit god is anything so central and essential to your life that, should you lose it, your life would feel hardly worth living. An idol has such a controlling position in your heart that you can spend most of your passion and energy, your emotional and financial resources, on it without a second thought. It can be family and children, or career and making money, or achievement and critical ...
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- Bill Elliff
- Wed, Aug 4, 2010
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"And Joshua said, 'Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you'" (Joshua 3:5). Every day, God manifests Himself; and most days, we miss it. Clouded by secular cataracts, distracted by the barrenness of a busy life, we move through our schedules and wonder why God never seems to speak to us, why we never see His miraculous work in our family, why we never hear His call to the extraordinary. Even the heavens declare God's wonder with daily regularity, but for us it's just a "nice night." Our overcrowded souls have no room for ...
- Article
- Bill Elliff
- Thu, Jul 22, 2010
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Every communicator of God's Word, if he desires to grow, must evaluate himself by Christ's earthly teaching, because it perfectly illustrates anointed preaching. A man who is merely interested in self-glory will never evaluate himself by such a standard. But every sincere preacher who desires God's hand on his life and ministry will gladly stand before this searchlight. As the Pharisees gave their pompous evaluations of Christ's teaching, Christ gave two thoughts to measure all preaching:
- 1. Is my preaching God-initiated?
- 2. Am I preaching to be known?
- Article
- Bill Elliff
- Wed, Jul 7, 2010
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Without question, getting the "right seats on the bus and the right person in the right seats" in ministry is a challenge (as Jim Collins says in Good to Great). Evaluating Candidates The second greatest piece of advice I ever heard regarding how to select a staff member or volunteer is a now often-repeated equation by Bill Hybels. When looking for good paid and unpaid workers in the church, he said you must look for three things: character, competence, and chemistry. A lack of character always manifests itself. When you sense some character issue in an interview, you had better ...
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- Bill Elliff
- Thu, Jun 24, 2010
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It seems impossible. Right in the middle of Paul's admonitions to the Thessalonians, he gives a simple, three-word command: "Pray without ceasing" (1 Thess. 5:17). Most think this is unattainable, but these words form life's most important door. Pray. We talk about prayer, we know we should pray, we encourage others to pray ... but we don't pray. Prayer is being with God. It implies humility, for real prayer is turning to a Source beyond yourself. It is the publican beating his chest and groaning for God. It is a solemn recognition that you need Someone ... for ...
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- Bill Elliff
- Wed, Jun 9, 2010
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"They do not need to go away; you give them something to eat!" (Matthew 14:16). People are hungry—starving, really, but most of them don't even know it. Their relentless search for something, anything, to fill their emptiness illustrates their famished condition. Any true believer recognizes this. We talk about the world's "lostness" and people's need for the only thing that will satisfy—Christ Himself. We even plead with Christ to meet their desperate needs. But Jesus simply replies, "You feed them." In Matthew 14:13-21, often called the "Feeding of the Five Thousand," Jesus gives ...
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- Bill Elliff
- Fri, May 21, 2010
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God has designed this world's DNA so that just one man can start a great movement; and this truth is not confined to righteous causes. Look at Hitler, Lenin, Hussein, and Bin Laden. In American life, radical feminism, humanistic education, and the homosexual "rights" movements all began by small groups with loud voices. For some reason, most Christians cower before today's prevailing forces. But occasionally, a Martin Luther stands up and changes the world. What does it take to start a movement? The Apostle Paul knew. Whether he understood in advance the broad influence his life would carry ...
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- Bill Elliff
- Thu, Apr 29, 2010
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"Absalom stole away the hearts of the men of Israel" (2 Samuel 15:6). Some call it good, aggressive leadership. Books laud its quality, and conferences feature those who have risen to the top in their field through its use. But God has a different opinion about personal ambition. He forever reveals its gaudiness by contrasting Absalom, whose ambition was merely for himself, with his father, David, whose sole ambition was for God. GAINING VISIBILITY TO USURP CONTROL Absalom wanted to be king. He was naturally gifted and in line for the job. But he couldn't wait. Discontent to ...
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- Bill Elliff
- Wed, Apr 14, 2010
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Small groups abound, and I'm glad. One of the most significant trends in the American church has been the growing value placed on small groups. There is NO substitute for the house-to-house, life-to-life environment of 10-20 people where "everybody knows your name."
This is the primary (but not the only) place where authentic community occurs in the life of the church. The special kind of honest communication, life application, and accountability that takes place in small groups is hard to replicate in any other setting.
But now we hear the rumblings of an over-correction. It always seems to happen ...
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- Bill Elliff
- Tue, Mar 30, 2010
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God's grace intersects our lives to bring change which would be impossible without Him. "I am what I am," Paul admitted, "by the grace of God" (1 Cor. 15:10). God's initiating intervention gives us something we could not have, makes us something we would not be, and uses us to bless others in ways we could never dream. But God The Bible describes grace often with two simple words: "But God." Simple men and women are made heroes in God's story, not by their mighty works but because of this divine conjunction. Noah, as he was ...
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- Brian G. Hedges
- Wed, Mar 17, 2010
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We recently started doing family devotions ... again. Mark Twain once quipped that to give up smoking was the easiest thing in the world—he knew because he had done it thousands of times. We all know that bad habits are hard to break and good habits are hard to make. At least for my family, sustaining a regular family worship time has been something I've begun repeatedly, only to lose steam, settle into apathy, and repent and start over again weeks or months later. So I'm not writing this from a platform of perfection, but rather out of ...
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- Bill Elliff
- Tue, Mar 2, 2010
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In His sovereignty God has ordained preaching as a primary means of transforming lives. He has graciously given us creation, His Word, and most dramatically Himself, in the person of His Son, so that we might know Him. By these three means God sufficiently reveals Himself. On the human side, He calls out certain men to come to know Him through these means and to communicate His truth to a broader audience—to preach. Why He did it this way, particularly in light of our human frailty, only He can say. But those of us who have been called to ...
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- Bill Elliff
- Wed, Feb 17, 2010
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When they had gone a long time without food, then Paul stood up in their midst and said, "Men, you ought to have followed my advice and not to have set sail from Crete and incurred this damage and loss. Yet now I urge you to keep up your courage, for there will be no loss of life among you, but only of the ship. For this very night an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve stood before me, saying, 'Do not be afraid, Paul; you must stand before Caesar; and behold, God has ...
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- Bill Elliff
- Wed, Feb 3, 2010
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"When He entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to Him while He was teaching, and said, 'By what authority are You doing these things, and who gave You this authority?'" (Matthew 21:23 NASB). The church in America today is filled with good Pharisees. Just as in Jesus' day, they choke the life out of the church. I've encountered them all my life. Genuine Pharisees are not true believers, although they are often camouflaged by Christian wording and activity. They are the Enemy's "tares sown among the wheat" to wreak havoc ...
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- Bill Elliff
- Thu, Jan 14, 2010
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Preachers come in all sizes, styles, personalities, languages, voices, backgrounds, and hairstyles. In infinite wisdom, God makes no two of us alike, and He loves the variety. But while this uniqueness is part of God's deliberate plan to reach various people, every preacher should have some non-negotiable, foundational elements of anointed preaching. The Foundational Elements First, we must preach God's Word. Paul's clear command to "preach the word ... in season and out of season" (2 Tim. 4:2 NASB) is not a suggestion but a calling. We must diligently study to cut it straight, not imposing our ...
- Article
- Bill Elliff
- Fri, Jan 8, 2010
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We love heroes—and we should. They are the men and women who willingly give themselves for a higher cause—firemen who save lives, policemen who protect us, and military heroes who pay the ultimate sacrifice. You don't have to wear a uniform to be a hero, though. Mothers who give every waking breath for their children, and fathers who nobly lead their homes are also heroes. There is something in every hero, even if it's only a temporary surge, that makes them recognizable: courage. In every heroic act, someone boldly puts his or her life on the ...
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