Elliott's Muses

Our Church has persevered in this LONG series entitled, "From Garden to Glory".  It was/is an attempt to tell the whole story of the Bible from Genesis to Revelation.  It has been a desire on my part for several years; but I do admit, it's outside of my comfort zone in terms of teaching, and it is almost like remodeling: "It will take longer than you thought, and cost more than you hoped". We are in the Epistles right now...trying to understand the way in which the early church saw the unfolding revelation of God's redemption - which they had just seen up close in Jesus' life, death, resurrection and ascension.  The book of Acts serves as a historical picture of what they went through.  That is one reason I'm including the two videos of Acts at the end of this blog. What is absolutely clear in reading both Acts and the Epistles is that the GOSPEL of Jesus was, and therefore is, the message the Church proclaimed, and therefore must Proclaim today....

The Foundation of Our Faith is in the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  Paul wrote to his young son in the Lord - Timothy and reminded him of this too: 2 Timothy 2:19  But God’s firm foundation stands, bearing this seal: “The Lord knows those who are his,” and, “Let everyone who names the name of the Lord depart from iniquity.” "God's firm foundation stands...."  Musing on Spurgeon's words, I rewrote this: The foundation upon which our faith rests is this, that "in Christ, God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them." (2 cor. 5:19).   The great fact on which genuine faith relies is that "the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, " (John 1:14) and that " Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God "; (1 Peter 3:18)  " He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree "; (1 Peter 2:24) " Upon him was the chastisemen...

One of my favorite passages of Scripture is from Paul's letter to the Philippians.  I've heard the book of Philippians described as "Paul's happy book".  He loves this fellowship of believers - that is obvious.  The 2nd chapter is especially a beautiful admonition to unity and fellowship in Christ together.  Philippians 2:1-4 1  If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, 2  then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. 3  Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. 4  Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. A church like this is a church that is focused on Christ above all other things.  What is it that Christ Jesus demonstrated in his own life th...

I recently was reading a devotional from Charles Spurgeon.  It was entitled, Christ's Glory With Spurgeon's words as the backdrop, I reworked some of the language to make it my own...It is Spurgeon who brillantly paved the way with his words that I used.   This last Sunday I finished the Gospel's story of Jesus with his Resurrection and Ascension.  The week before we looked at the Cross.  As I said yesterday there is so much that I could have said about Jesus and didn't.  Trying to do an overview of the story of the Bible - a panoramic view - is filled with difficulties...and for the most part I struggle to say it effectively.   Still in my reading Spurgeon said is so well...and with my editing, I repeat it here for you: 1 Timothy 3:16  Great indeed, we confess, is the mystery of godliness: He was manifested in the flesh, vindicated by the Spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed among the nations, believed on in the world, taken up in...

A lot of people know that Luke's Gospel is only Volume 1 of Luke's writings.  He also wrote the book of Acts...which has been called "The Acts of the Apostles", but would be better entitled, "The Acts of the Holy Spirit". As we dive into the next part of the Bible's story we remember that Luke ends his Gospel account with a short reminder that "more is yet to come".  Luke 24 contains the Resurrection account, the meeting of Jesus with the 2 on the road to Emmaus, and then an appearance/visit with the Disciples - all that first Easter Sunday.  Then Luke sums it up: Luke 24:46-53 46  Then Jesus said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, 47   and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. 48   You are witnesses of these things. 49   And behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you. But stay i...

The title sounds like an assignment for a journalism class.  It is in actuality a short series of questions that give us the ability to sort through the story of Jesus in the Gospel.  AS we work our way through the Gospels - Matthew, Mark, Luke and John - the perspective of Jesus is like a Kaleidoscope.  It depends upon how you turn the eye piece.  Keep your eye on Jesus and look at his works.  One moment he is declaring - repentance, forgiveness, compassion, warning, rebuke, love.  He is again  teaching, healing,  confronting...but most of all asking questions. For example, Who do you say that the Son of Man is?  Matthew 16:16  16  Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” There you see...  Son of Man (look at Daniel 7 to understand this), the Christ (Messiah, the Promised one of God) and the Son of the Living God.   What?  If we had to sum up Jesus' ministry we need on...

Charles Hadden Spurgeon was a preacher and teacher of God's Word for decades in the 19th century.  His Pulpit was the Metropolitan Tabernacle in London and without microphone or other sources of technology he preached to 10,000 people with a voice that made clear his authority arose from the Word of God.  While a great preacher, he was first of all a Pastor.  He loved God and his people. He wrote this masterpiece entitled -  "God will Finish His Work" Hebrews 12:22-24  22  But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, 23  and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, 24  and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.  Remember that there are two kinds of perfectio...

This week we turn the page in the series I'm teaching about the story of the Bible - the Big Picture story - that I've entitled "From Garden to Glory".  Volume 1 of that story  is the Old Testament story - which prepares the way for the Lord Jesus to come.  The entire Old Testament story is one of the great need for Redemption, and the impossibility of any human, or system of religion, or attempts to change the world for the better to do what only God can do. There is the 1st lesson for us in terms of Faith and Salvation - it is completely and only a work of God.  From beginning to end we recognize that God is the central person for any good thing that can occur in relation to us in the world and in eternity. God is the Creator - He begins it all...and the Prophets kept reminding us that the significance of that cannot be underestimated.  The Prophet Isaiah speaking some 700 years before Jesus stated it clearly: Isaiah 42:5 This is what God the LORD says--...

The Bible is a unified story.  It is as some would say a collection of writings over several thousand years of time that were brought together and called the Bible.  The Bible is a unified story.  The Unifying factor of the Scriptures (which is a word I prefer over the word Bible) is that it is the story of how God redeems a sinful world through the death, burial and resurrection of his Son, Jesus Christ. "The Bible is a book that not only do we seek to understand, but a book that so clearly understands us." - Alistair Begg The more we value the story of Jesus' redemption for us, the more we understand what God is doing, and what God wants to do in our lives.  Salvation is not the END, it's merely the beginning of LIFE in Christ Jesus.  Romans 8 reminds us that God has a much bigger picture in mind for what salvation is meant to do. Romans 8:28-30 28  And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called ac...

This last Sunday I had hoped to finish the Old Testament portion of this series of teachings I've entitled "From Garden to Glory" - a Big Picture look at the story of the Bible.  Alas, the weather turned ugly with blowing snow and ice and it shut down church services for a large part of southern and central Wisconsin...even well into the northern parts of the state.  The last part of our Bible is from the Minor Prophets.  They are not called Minor because are as important as the Major Prophets; but they are called Minor because of their length - both in terms of writing as well as history.  These Prophets served God as spokespeople to the nation that had decidedly stepped away from their covenant with God. Now, lest you say this is all OLD stuff, and therefore it is of little value to us today; I would point out that they are people whose words are timeless....it's as if they could have written it today.  It was Paul Simon who wrote in music:  "The w...

My twin brother Ed (Edward) is retiring this month after 20 years of Missionary work, and 35+ years of Ministry.  I'm very proud in a human way of having him to be not only my brother but a friend.  We fought and played with each other as kids growing up; and after I came to Christ he went into the military for a number of years.  Yet at some point we talked about the Gospel and he came to know Christ as his Savior.  That began almost 40 years ago.  Now after 35 years of serving Christ in ministry he is going to retire, but knowing Ed that just means he'll stop receiving a salary for what he does. He often writes papers on important subjects related to theology and Bible.  He just completed his most recent one and I decided to reproduce it here...not because I don't want to write this week, but because I want to honor him.  I hope you enjoy it: Christ in You, the Hope of Glory!  by Edward Pollasch I went through “confirmation” in the Luth...

No other Prophet in Scripture quite scares me as much as Ezekiel.  As a little boy growing up in Fox Lake, I use to venture out on my bike almost daily.  There was one house at the intersection of two streets...a corner house...that had a couple who were "Scary".  The couple weren't bad, or angry, or bothersome...but they dressed weirdly and acted even more weird.  Ezekiel was a Prophet God sent to speak to the nation both before and after the EXILE.  A little history is in order:  Babylon attacked and took captive a number of Jews from Judah (Jerusalem) in three stages:  First in 605 b.c., then 8 years later in 597 b.c., and finally 11 years later in 586 b.c. it was completed - the walls of Jerusalem torn down, the temple destroyed.  Among the people in the Exile was Ezekiel. While in Babylon, Ezekiel has numbers of Visions...often strange visions.  Besides that God tells him to use graphic imagery, symbolic acts, and words that show that...

This week we turn our attention to Jeremiah - sometimes called "the weeping Prophet".  Of all the Prophets, Jeremiah - in my opinion - is the easiest to understand...which doesn't mean his message is easy to take in.  But, to understand his message, a little history is in order. Israel - the 10 northern tribes - had one King after another who proved unfaithful to God's Covenant.  They disobeyed with religious idolatry that descended into despicable actions such as burning children as sacrifices, cultic prostitution, and injustice towards the poor.  Isaiah (read blog before) had prophesied warnings and judgement against the Northern Kingdom; and sure enough, in 722 b.c. Assyria attacked the northern Kingdom and took many of the Israelites into Captivity.  The only part of the nation left was the southern Kingdom that was called Judah and was centralized in Jerusalem. You would think that people in Judah would notice when this unfaithfulness to God in the Nort...