Tom Elliff

You can build a Kingdom Family. Whoever you are, and in whatever circumstances you may presently find yourself, it is possible for you to both become a member of God's Kingdom Family and to begin building a Kingdom Family according to God's blueprint. Each week, when the congregation I am privileged to pastor gathers for […]

After almost three years of study, the SBC Council on Family Life will present a standard to which they are encouraging every Southern Baptist family to aspire. The document, titled The Seven Pillars of a Kingdom Family begins by calling upon families to "glorify God by surrendering every area of life to Him." It culminates […]

DEL CITY, Okla. (BP)--Recently our youngest daughter and her husband received notice that the International Mission Board had approved their application for missions service in Southeast Asia. In a few months they will be appointed and then go to the Missionary Learning Center near Richmond, Va., for their training. They and their four children will leave for the field just prior to the Thanksgiving holidays. Jeannie and I are excited about this new and exciting turn in their lives, having known for several years that their hearts were always sensitive to this possibility.

On more than one occasion I have stood beside anxious family members who were soon to be faced with a decision of monumental consequence. Another member of the family was in the adjacent Intensive Care Unit and near death. Medical attendants shuttled in and out of the room, doing all they could to stabilize the […]

OKLAHOMA CITY (BP)--For most families across our nation (and throughout the Southern Baptist Convention) the "family altar" is considered a relic of the past. While some hold firmly to the individual practice of a daily, personal "quiet time," many openly confess that such a practice is attended to only sporadically, or not at all.

DEL CITY, Okla. (BP)--"I had a grandmother who was a believer," a man once told me as he sat across from my desk, "and she was my favorite. I always wanted what she had. Do you think it's possible?" As we shared for a few more minutes, he became the beneficiary of his grandmother's legacy of faith.

DEL CITY, Okla. (BP)--It was mealtime at the annual family reunion and, this year, the entire family was present for the traditional time of fellowship, reminiscing ... and food. Little did they know that they were in store for one of the most moving and memorable moments in their lives. Their father stood awkwardly at the head of the table, cleared his throat and asked for their attention.

DEL CITY, Okla. (BP)--Some time ago, my wife and I drove down to Warren, Ark., where I preached my aunt's funeral, saw the old "home place" and did a lot of reminiscing. That's where I started out at my first church, and it was in that family environ that I learned the important lessons of life regarding faith, truthfulness, work, honesty, perseverance and loyalty. Now only one of the 11 children remain alive; one more library is closed up forever to this world and heaven is more real than ever. But I can say with my mother who remarked when she saw her home place shortly before her own death, "There's that place I love so much!"

A once-popular Country/Western duet opened with an admission that the two married "in a fever." They were not alone. Today's crumbling marriages are evidence that, more often than not, couples enter marriage with little time given to the foundation upon which they hope to build a union that will last a lifetime. Good homes, like […]

DEL CITY, Okla. (BP)--The 2003 meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention in Phoenix will feature one of the most remarkable events in recent convention history. At the invitation of Dr. Mac Brunson, president of the SBC Pastors' Conference, the Southern Baptist Council on Family Life will present a first-ever Kingdom Family Rally at the Monday evening, June 16, session of the Pastors' Conference.