Elisabeth Elliot's Memorial Service at Wheaton

Live Life to the Hilt

Elisabeth Elliot's Memorial Service Will be at Wheaton College on July 26, 2015.  We hope anyone who is able will join us.  

There will be an informal hymn sing at 3:00 in Edman Chapel at Wheaton College on July 26, followed by the "official" memorial service starting at 3:15. The public is invited. Afterwards there will be a light refreshment at a reception in the Kresge Room and possibly outside where we will have chocolate chip cookies, Elisabeth Elliot's favorite.

If you would like to donate something to the Elisabeth Elliot memorial funds, please give to www.coastalchurch.org (by mail), the address is:
CCC, PO Box 11107, Southport, NC  28461

The Memorial Service will be streamed live at 3 pm on the 26th at a link to be announced. 


The Funeral Service from Gordon College is still available at 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3L7dbNlD9Ak
or just search Elisabeth Elliot Memorial Service.

funeral and memorial service for Elisabeth Elliot

The funeral for my mother will be on Tuesday the 23rd of June at 10:30 in the  A. J. Gordon chapel at Gordon College, 255 Grapevine Rd, in Wenham, Massachusetts.  There will also be visitation on Monday night  at 6-8:30  at the Greely Funeral Home, 212 Washington Street, Gloucester.  More visitation on Monday at 9 AM at Gordon, before the funeral. 

We are holding a memorial service on July 26th in Wheaton, Ill. Stay posted for details- it will be in the afternoon, but time and place are still not decided. The public is invited to both. 

Elisabeth Elliot, my dear mother

“Wherever you are, be all there! Live to the hilt every situation you believe to be the will of God.” by Jim Elliot, whose whole name was Phillip James Elliot

My father lived out this quote of his, and my mother loved him for his absolute commitment to the Kingdom, and courage to do whatever it would take to glorify Him. My mother has now gone on to see Jesus Christ, face to face, and I am so grateful that she has been freed from the chains of this earthly life. In her last 10 years, with dementia, she was peaceful and I saw that serenity most when we sang hymns to her. It used to be that when she and I would sing together, she would point out special lines that meant a great deal to her, and it would give me more appreciation for each one. I would say some of her favorites were:
 Beneath the Cross of Jesus
 Guide me O, Thou great Jehovah
 For all the Saints
 Jesus the Very Thought of Thee
 Jesus keep me Near the Cross
 Jesus Thou Joy of loving Heart
 Tallis's cannon- Glory to Thee, my God, this night
 Praise my soul the King of Heaven which was sung at her second two weddings
 Trust and Obey
 Praise the Savior ye who Know Him
 I cannot Tell, why He whom angels worship
 My Faith has Found a resting place
 The Lord's my Shepherd
 At Even, ere the Sun was Set
 And Can it be

 She knew hundreds and I'm so glad she sang them to me throughout my childhood, especially right before going to sleep. She taught me to pray to our Father, always starting her prayers with "Dear Father." I learned trust and contentment at her side. I learned that God's will was the most important thing to pursue in life. I learned to laugh and enjoy funny, fascinating, and fortifying stories. Several of them were about Gladys Aylward, the "small woman of China." She had heard her speak once and could imitate her perfectly. One of the stories was about her leading a group of children through forest and a mountainous terrain, which had bandits, and singing to them, "I will not be afraid, I will not be afraid, I will look upward, and travel onward, and NOT be afraid!" One of the main themes of her training of me was based on Jesus's teaching of Luke 16:10- "One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much." I remember that verse almost daily in my routines.

 As the weeks go by, and I think of her teaching and love, I will share more. I'm looking forward to honoring her at the memorial service in July. It will be announced on her website- Elisabethelliot.org and on Face Book.

Praising Him

May the Holy Spirit use these words to help you to praise Him, our Triune God. 

This text is based on the anonymous fourth-century Latin hymn “Te Deum Laudamus," which in one modern English prose translation reads:

We praise you, O God,
we acclaim you as Lord;
all creation worships you,
the Father everlasting.
To you all angels, all the powers of heaven,
the cherubim and seraphim, sing in endless praise:

Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might,
heaven and earth are full of your glory.

The glorious company of apostles praise you.
The noble fellowship of prophets praise you.
The white-robed army of martyrs praise you.

Throughout the world the holy Church acclaims you:

Father, of majesty unbounded,
your true and only Son, worthy of all praise,
the Holy Spirit, advocate and guide.

You, Christ, are the king of glory,
the eternal Son of the Father.
When you took our flesh to set us free
you humbly chose the virgin's womb.
You overcame the sting of death,
and opened the kingdom of heaven to all believers.
You are seated at God's right hand in glory.
We believe that you will come to be our judge. 

Come then, Lord, and help your people,
bought with the price of your own blood,
and bring us with your saints
to glory everlasting.

-English Language Liturgical Commission, from Praying Together, 1988

Sometimes our minds need words written centuries before us to focus on what we're really praising and thanking Him for.  May this be a help to your worship today, Good Friday, the day we remember more deeply what Christ went through, all for our sake. "He paid a debt He didn't owe, (because He was sinless), for us who owed a debt we couldn't pay, (because we are sinners)."

A classic text of the church, "Te Deum Laudamus" has been a staple item in many liturgies and is sometimes extended with versicles and responses. It is loved by all traditions of Christendom: Eastern, Roman Catholic, and Protestant. Much of the text consists of liturgical phrases and acclamations, including some from the "Gloria in excelsis Deo" (see 247). Over the centuries many composers have set this text in large choral works; it has been translated and versified into many languages and expressed in numerous hymns.

The sacrifice of Genesis 15

"The gospel writers note that when Jesus died, darkness fell over the land, and in that moment, we see the sacrifice God made in order to honor his promises to us. It is a reminder that he went to the grave to give us the skies, became alienated to give us a home, and experienced deep darkness to bring us into the light. In fact, this vision is what comforted Abraham’s fear in Genesis 15:1" (“Fear not, Abram, I am your shield.”)

Genesis 15 is a mysterious story of Abraham's asking assurance from God that He would give him a land that he had never seen. God represents Himself as a smoking pot and a torch, and Abraham experiences dreadful darkness. The quote above is from my Youversion devotional of reading the plan "Preparing our hearts for Easter." What an awesome God we are saved by, serve, love, and are sanctified by!  May this season prepare us not only for the mysterious gift of Christ risen to make all things new, but also the command of our God to trust Him, be at rest because of His sacrifice, and to live in holiness. My heart is so unholy, still, like a butterfly, being distracted by this flower or that, the visual things around me taking the place of the spiritual call for me to abide with and IN HIM. Lord, make our hearts whole and completely given to honoring You first!

Working on a book, and not going to be speaking as much next fall and spring

Hi readers, I am working on a book about my father's letters to my mother and their journals. I am excited and eager to work hard on it, learning now not to procrastinate, but as my oldest son suggested to me at Christmas this past year, that I try to do 45 minutes a day on it. Most days, if I'm not traveling to a speaking engagement, I am able to do this and it has been a joy. Please pray for me to continue on in this coming year, hoping to have at least 3/4 of it done by June, 2016. I will not be taking speaking engagements for fall of 2015 or spring of 2016 except for 2 I accepted in Mich. and Iowa in Sept. of this year. I will speak within 2 hrs of home, but not further, as that usually involves staying overnight.

Poem of my father

6/5/48 "O Lord, against this bosom-blast of coiled and seething feelings, Batt’ring passions, ebbing yearnings, oozing ache of inner man, Raise Thou the flinty walls of stuff of which Thy Son was made- Yea, build in me the buttressed bastions of faith That shall resist the under-suck- ing flow of soulish tide, And make me to endure this late attack, I pray, In Jesus’ name."

JuanaMikels.com: Choosing Him Marriage Blog Tour!

JuanaMikels.com: Choosing Him Marriage Blog Tour!

Live Life to the Hilt

Book review-Choosing him all over Again

My friend Juana Mikels has written a lovely book about her journey from selfishness to Christ-centeredness, in her experience of leaving her husband because of self-love and discontentment, to coming to Christ, and learning what true love is. It is clearly God's pursuit of her, her slowly coming to faith in Him, and then going back to her husband, because of God's new control of her. I am blessed to recommend it to any woman, as a very good read, and as a help in understanding our own need of Christ as our First Love. The love in a marriage that He may give to us is blessed only if Christ is the True Pursuit and center. Thank you, Juana, for writing a Real Story- the one God gave you to write! 

Live Life to the Hilt: Prayer

Live Life to the Hilt: Prayer