Life Action Ministries

Pastor Connect 2011

Sat, Jan 1, 2011

Articles In This Issue

Getting Things Done

Mon, Dec 19, 2011

Bill Elliff

Pastor Connect 2011

Getting Things Done

Every Christian leader struggles with how to get things accomplished in God's kingdom. Our hearts stir us to build great things in ministry. One constant problem is a lack of resources and personnel to make it happen. Another is the lack of a clear plan for ministry development. God wanted something done through Moses and His people, and Exodus 35 records the God-ordained process that made it happen. It is absolutely vital for us to study the way God accomplished His work then, because He hasn't changed. He operates in the same way today. The following is a ...

View Full Article

The Glorious Irony of Faith

Wed, Dec 7, 2011

Bill Elliff

Pastor Connect 2011

The Glorious Irony of Faith

Only God could design it this way. In perfect wisdom, He created a world order than can only operate properly through the irony of faith. God has chosen to be physically unseen to the human eye (except for the brief, stunning revelation of Himself through His Son). This does not mean, however, that He has not made Himself fully known. Romans 1, in fact, teaches us the opposite. God has revealed Himself through creation, conscience, and Christ. In fact, He gives every single man, woman, boy, and girl just enough vision of Himself to demand faith and make us all ...

View Full Article

The Waiting Mercy of God

Mon, Nov 21, 2011

Bill Elliff

Pastor Connect 2011

The Waiting Mercy of God

Why would God ever forgive us? Why would He ever help us? When you really, really consider our rebellion and sin, our almost complete ignoring of His call on our lives, our short attention span, our quickness to return to old ways after He has at times revived us ... why would He revive us again? There is only one explanation: mercy. God is gracious and merciful. He spoke through Joel 2 to remind us: "Yet even now," declares the LORD, "return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; and rend your hearts and not ...

View Full Article

Divinely Intentional

Mon, Nov 7, 2011

Bill Elliff

Pastor Connect 2011

Divinely Intentional

God never wastes words. When He prompts us to take a step, there is a reason. Philip was led by God to leave a place of great ministry and go to the desert. His response carried no questions, no arguing, no "But, Lord ..." "Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, 'Rise and go toward the south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.' This is a desert place. And he rose and went. And there was an Ethiopian, a eunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all ...

View Full Article

Dealing with Sin in the Church

Tue, Oct 25, 2011

Bill Elliff

Pastor Connect 2011

Dealing with Sin in the Church

How should we deal with flagrant sin in the church? And how does this affect revival? It will always be with us. Until Jesus returns, there will never be a moment when we don't have to deal with the agony and messiness of sin, in our own lives and in the church. Times of revival deal dramatically with sin (in fact, they usually begin there). But I wonder if we might be forestalling revival by our unwillingness to obey God in how we deal with sin in the church. Perhaps this is why the issue of church discipline is ...

View Full Article

Who Are You?

Wed, Oct 12, 2011

Bill Elliff

Pastor Connect 2011

Who Are You?

"Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God" (Romans 1:1 ESV). Our grasp of who we really are defines and drives us more than we can possibly imagine. If this is not settled for us, we will find ourselves continually confused and aimless. One reason Paul was so effective is that he had a very clear understanding of who he was. In the opening sentence of Romans—which is God's most detailed and deliberate explanation of the gospel—he begins by stating his credentials. SERVANT This was one ...

View Full Article

Five Marks of Truly Great Leaders

Tue, Sep 27, 2011

Bill Elliff

Pastor Connect 2011

Five Marks of Truly Great Leaders

Leadership is hard. But for those who are connected to God, it doesn't have to be complicated. And with God in the equation, clear direction and effectiveness is assured. Humility David was one of the greatest leaders in human history. His leadership legacy begins and ends with his humility. "David knew that the Lord had established him as king over Israel, and that his kingdom was highly exalted for the sake of his people Israel" (1 Chronicles 14:2 ESV). David knew who had made him king and why. He did not suffer under the delusion that it was ...

View Full Article

How to Always Make the Right Decisions

Thu, Sep 15, 2011

Bill Elliff

Pastor Connect 2011

How to Always Make the Right Decisions

Life is nothing less than a series of daily decisions. How can we be assured we're not "missing it"? That we're making the right decisions all the time? Jesus made right decisions—all the time. One of God's purposes in letting us see Jesus in the flesh was to learn how that could be true in our lives. The difference between Jesus and us, obviously, is His perfection. But He intends for us to move more and more into right decision making as we mature into His likeness. So, how can we make decisions like Jesus did ...

View Full Article

How We Defeat Our Enemies

Fri, Aug 26, 2011

Bill Elliff

Pastor Connect 2011

How We Defeat Our Enemies

Victory is sweet. Whether it's your son's football game, your favorite team, making it a week with no failures on a diet plan, paying off nagging debt, closing a business deal—success brings a tremendous joy and sense of fulfillment. The amount of joy is directly related to the size of the enemy and the scope of the conflict. A small victory is satisfying, but when a victory is won that dramatically affects your life and the lives of those you are responsible for, it can feel nearly overwhelming. How do we win the battle over our greatest ...

View Full Article

How Our Enemies Defeat Us

Fri, Aug 19, 2011

Bill Elliff

Pastor Connect 2011

How Our Enemies Defeat Us

It is a sad but true commentary that most Christians live defeated lives in comparison to what they could be experiencing. A large measure of this is due to our ignorance of our enemy. We do not understand the "schemes of the devil" (Ephesians 6:11 ESV), which gives him a massive tactical advantage. The Bible, in all its parts, is given to instruct us. Each story is an illustration, a teaching to equip us in living a victorious, God-glorifying life. And our daily lives should be the continuation of that story, giving encouragement and teaching to those who follow ...

View Full Article

THE Issue

Thu, Aug 4, 2011

Bill Elliff

Pastor Connect 2011

THE Issue

Since our Declaration of Independence in the Garden of Eden, God's main agenda has been to bring us back into dependence. This is variously called trust or faith in the Scriptures and is always the point of the exercise between God and man. It's always the issue, in fact, in your life. The Faith Call Peter, a young disciple, was a professional fisherman (Luke 5:1-11). He knew what he was doing. Jesus gave him a clear word ("Put out into the deep and let your nets down for a catch"), but it seemed absolutely foolish to every ...

View Full Article

All the More

Mon, Jul 18, 2011

Bill Elliff

Pastor Connect 2011

All the More

"He cried out all the more, 'Son of David, have mercy on me!'" (Mark 10:48 ESV). We live in a wicked day. The recent decision of New York, one of our largest states, to legalize homosexual marriage is a tragic illustration. Seven states have taken this step to legalize a practice that God labels an "abomination," and there will surely be more to come. Divorce is at an all-time high. Everyone knows some child who is dying from the effects of a broken family. Materialism and debt (both individual and collective) spiral as we spend what God gives us ...

View Full Article

The Source of Most Conflict

Tue, Jul 5, 2011

Bill Elliff

Pastor Connect 2011

The Source of Most Conflict

Conflict in the church has raged since the first century. Strife, division, and anger have done more damage to the kingdom than any outside force. At the heart of many church conflicts, you will most often find a Pharisee. These modern day legalists, true to their ancestors, are men and women with an authority issue. Christ's Evaluation Matthew records a very interesting string of insights from the life of Christ. Some Pharisees came and asked a foundational question of Christ: "Who gave You this authority?" (Matthew 21:23 NASB). In other words, "We're the authorities around here, and ...

View Full Article

Why Don’t We Tell Everyone TODAY?

Wed, Jun 22, 2011

Bill Elliff

Pastor Connect 2011

Why Don’t We Tell Everyone TODAY?

Some friends and I were talking about the reality of hell recently, and the obvious thought became, "If we truly believe that hell is real and terrible, why don't we tell every person we meet every single day about Christ?" So, why don't we? And the answer is simple: Fear. In Matthew 10, Jesus is addressing these very fears with His disciples. They are real and manifold and, if left unaddressed, will keep our mouths shut—which we have all experienced. Why should we not fear? 1. Because God's Spirit will give us exactly what we need ...

View Full Article

The Glorious Privilege of Tithing

Mon, Jun 6, 2011

Bill Elliff

Pastor Connect 2011

The Glorious Privilege of Tithing

Deuteronomy 26 The word tithe literally means "ten percent." The "firstfruits" are exactly what they imply, i.e., the first of all that is received as a result of God's blessing. The Israelites were called by God to give a tithe of the firstfruits of their harvest. I have a friend who reminded me once of the simplicity of this. "This is easy," he said. "Take your paycheck, move the decimal point over one place, and write the check ... every time." Not complex. But why? We are master forgetters. It is astonishingly easy to forget the One who is ...

View Full Article

Self-Examination in Leadership

Tue, May 24, 2011

Bill Elliff

Pastor Connect 2011

Self-Examination in Leadership

"Practice these things, immerse yourself in them, so that all may see your progress. Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers."
(1 Timothy 4:15-16 ESV) A great deal of attention is being paid these days to self-examination for cancer, both in men and women. And for good reason. Many cancers are deadly. Before you are aware, they can spread to such proportions that nothing can be done. Studies have shown that certain types of cancer can best be perceived by the ...

View Full Article

Observations on God's Spirit Leading Us to Prayer

Thu, May 12, 2011

Bill Elliff

Pastor Connect 2011

Observations on God's Spirit Leading Us to Prayer

As some of you know, the Lord has graciously led us in five weeks of spontaneous nightly prayer meetings that have lasted 2-4 hours each. This is a mercy drop of revival, but in over 42 years of ministry, I have never been involved in or observed a moment quite like this, and I am humbly amazed and grateful. And it is a PRAYER MEETING. The agenda every night has been to hear our direction through God's Word, open the microphone, and shepherd all that happens into fervent, travailing prayer. Each night the Spirit of God has graciously directed ...

View Full Article

Preparing the Soil for Revival

Wed, Apr 27, 2011

Bill Elliff

Pastor Connect 2011

Preparing the Soil for Revival

Who knows when God calls His people to pray? Who understands His activity? Who knows what is accomplished in prayer? God alone knows who is really praying, and heaven records this intercession and its results. But we do have the promises of God. We do know that He has commanded us to pray. We do know that He said, "The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much" (James 5:16 NKJV). Over thirty years ago, the Lord prompted at least one woman to begin to cry out for her city. She came home from a conference, took a ...

View Full Article

Releasing and Shepherding the Microphone in Revival

Wed, Apr 13, 2011

Bill Elliff

Pastor Connect 2011

Releasing and Shepherding the Microphone in Revival

By the grace of God, our church has been experiencing an amazing movement of God's reviving in the last week. On Sunday, April 3, 2011, as I was preaching on "Quenching the Holy Spirit," I could not finish my message. A dear brother stood up and said, "We must do this [obey the Lord instantly] right now!" For four weeks I had put a microphone on the floor, without anyone knowing it, in preparation should the Lord chose to break out. We went to a time of prayer, and I told people to do exactly what the Lord prompted ...

View Full Article

The Adverbs That Describe Us

Tue, Mar 29, 2011

Bill Elliff

Pastor Connect 2011

The Adverbs That Describe Us

Therefore Hebron became the inheritance of Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite to this day, because he wholly followed the Lord, the God of Israel.
(Joshua 14:14 ESV) No one is inspired by a half-hearted athlete, businessman, or leader. The people we are impressed with are those whose lives exhibit full devotion. Who go all out. Who give it all. Like Caleb. Caleb is one of the two spies who went into Canaan and came out believing. In spite of the obstacles, he encouraged the people to move forward in faith. He was realistic about the presence of ...

View Full Article

Before I Die

Wed, Mar 16, 2011

Bill Elliff

Pastor Connect 2011

Before I Die

All of us have dreams. Some want a certain home, complete with grass and picket fence. Others would love to have a certain job or car or vacation.

A good way to determine your dreams is to ask yourself, "If I could experience anything in the world, what would it be?"

I have a lot of dreams, fueled by a few years' experiences and a passion for something transcendent. You don't want to ask me about my dreams unless you've got a full pot of coffee and a good bit of time. I'll wear you out.

But ...

View Full Article

Blessed Hope

Wed, Mar 2, 2011

Bill Elliff

Pastor Connect 2011

Blessed Hope

The absence of hope is the most debilitating human condition. Hopelessness is the exiting emotion—the final stop on the last stage of a marriage, a business, a ministry, a life. When we have lost hope, there seems to be nowhere else to turn and no promise for improvement. The tragedy of hopelessness is that hope is available ... all the time. Genuine, biblical hope is more than the humanistic idea of wishful thinking. It is the confident expectation of a better future. God-instilled hope is based on God-given facts about the coming days. It is a certainty based on reality ...

View Full Article

Debunking the American Dream of Ministerial Success

Wed, Feb 16, 2011

Bill Elliff

Pastor Connect 2011

Debunking the American Dream of Ministerial Success

We would be hard pressed to find someone more successful in ministry than the apostle Paul. His ministry continues to touch millions of lives every day and will until the end of time. It would make sense to get our idea of ministerial success from the most successful minister (other than Christ) in human history. Here's a sampling of his formula: "But I will stay in Ephesus until Pentecost, for a wide door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many adversaries" (1 Corinthians 16:8-9 ESV). That formulation doesn't fit well in our Americanized ...

View Full Article

Lone Ranger Leaders

Tue, Feb 1, 2011

Bill Elliff

Pastor Connect 2011

Lone Ranger Leaders

"What you are doing is not good" (Exodus 18:17 ESV). It never works. God designed that men should lead—in their homes, in the workplace, and in His kingdom work. But the One who designed that you should lead also designed a plan for your leadership. And His plan rarely includes lone ranger leaders. The Problem with Most Leaders Moses' father-in-law (what a blessing to have a father-in-law like this!) observed his beloved son-in-law and gave him advice. He confronted him lovingly but truthfully. "What you are doing is not good," he said. He told him what the results ...

View Full Article

Our Most Important Calling

Tue, Jan 18, 2011

Bill Elliff

Pastor Connect 2011

Our Most Important Calling

Worship is our main calling and occupation. It is the highest form of human activity and should never be thought of merely in terms of a Sunday morning experience. It is our response to God that gives Him worth and dominion and honor through our lives, and it should be participated in 24 hours a day. But what precedes worship? Why do some people worship and others don't? "The people believed; and when they heard that the Lord had visited the people of Israel and that he had seen their affliction, they bowed their heads and worshiped" (Exodus 4 ...

View Full Article

Falling, but Not Failing

Thu, Jan 6, 2011

Bill Elliff

Pastor Connect 2011

Falling, but Not Failing

"Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers." Peter said to him, "Lord, I am ready to go with you both to prison and to death." Jesus said, "I tell you, Peter, the rooster will not crow this day, until you deny three times that you know me."
(Luke 22:31-34 esv) Everyone deals with failure. Most men, I have discovered, feel like a failure in most things nearly all the time ...

View Full Article

Email Print

Top Of Page
You are here:
- Revival Resources »
- Publications »
- PastorConnect e-Source »
- Pastor Connect 2011