Philip James Elliot (October 8, 1927 – January 8, 1956) was an evangelical Christian who was one of five missionaries killed while participating in Operation Auca, an attempt to evangelize the Waodani people of Ecuador.

Early life[link]

Elliot was born in Portland, Oregon, to Fred and Clara Elliot. Fred was of Scottish heritage; his grandparents were the first of his family to settle in North America. Clara's parents moved near the turn of the 20th century from Switzerland to eastern Washington, where they operated a large ranch. They met in Portland, where Clara was studying to be a chiropractor and Fred, having devoted himself to Christian ministry, was working as a traveling preacher in a small Baptist church. After two years of correspondence, they were married in 1918. Robert, their first child, was born in 1921 while they were living in Seattle, and he was followed by Herbert, Jim, and Jane, all three of whom were born after the family moved to Portland.^[2] Elliot's parents had firm Christian beliefs, and they raised their children accordingly, taking them to church and reading the Bible regularly. Elliot professed faith in Jesus at the age of six and grew up in a home where obedience and honesty were enforced. The Elliot parents encouraged their children to be adventurous, and encouraged them to "live for Christ".^[3]

In 1941, Elliot entered Benson Polytechnic High School, studying architectural drawing. There he participated in numerous activities, including the school newspaper, the football team, school plays, and the public-speaking club. His acting ability led some of the teachers in the school to suggest that he pursue acting as a career, and his oratorical skills were similarly lauded—after preparing and delivering a speech in honor of President Franklin D. Roosevelt hours after his death, a faculty member praised it.^[4]

Elliot used his speaking ability regularly. A classmate recounts how Elliot quoted the Bible to the president of the student body as explanation for his refusal to attend a school party. Another time, Elliot risked expulsion from the public-speaking club by refusing to give a political speech, believing that Christians were not to involve themselves in politics. A pacifist, he rejected the idea of using force to eliminate slavery in Africa, and he was prepared to stand as a conscientious objector had he been drafted to serve in World War II.^[5]

Post-secondary education[link]

In 1945, Jim Elliot entered Wheaton College, a private Christian college in Illinois. Believing in the value of physical conditioning and discipline, he joined the wrestling team during his first year. The following year, he refused a staff position within the college, that would have given him a free year of tuition but also a significant time commitment and what he considered foolish responsibilities. He was not even fully convinced of the value of his studies, considering subjects like philosophy, politics, and anthropology to be distractions to one attempting to follow God. After a semester of relatively low grades, he wrote to his parents that he was unapologetic, deeming study of the Bible more important.^[6]

Elliot's interest in missions solidified during years at Wheaton. He soon followed the pattern of other "faith missions" by not seeking to be sponsored by a denomination.^[7] A member of the campus organization Student Foreign Missions Fellowship with his roommate David Howard, Elliot spoke to an InterVarsity Christian Fellowship group on the role of the Holy Spirit in missions. During summer 1947, after his second year of college, he and his friend Ron Harris did missions work in Mexico. He stayed there for six weeks, working with and learning from a local missionary family.^[8] At the end of the following year, he attended the International Student Missionary Convention, sponsored by InterVarsity. There he met a missionary to Brazil, and this encounter led him to more firmly believe that his missionary calling was to tribal work in Central America.^[9]

At the beginning of Elliot's third year at Wheaton, he decided to pursue a major in Greek, believing that it would both help him in his personal study of the Bible and make it easier to translate the Scriptures into the language of a people group unreached by missionaries. Although he believed that romantic relationships often distracted people from pursuing God's will, Elliot became interested in one of his classmates, Elisabeth Howard. He took advantage of opportunities to get to know her and her family better. They agreed that they were attracted to each other, but not being convinced of God's leading, they did not immediately pursue a relationship.^[10]

Leaving for Ecuador[link]

While at Camp Wycliffe, Elliot practiced the skills necessary for writing down a language for the first time by working with a former missionary to the Quechua people. The missionary told him of the Waodani – also called the "Auca", the Quichua word for savage – a group of Ecuadorian indigenous people considered violent and dangerous to outsiders. Elliot remained unsure about whether to go to Ecuador or India until July. His parents and friends wondered if he might instead be more effective in youth ministry in the United States, but considering the home church "well-fed", he felt that international missions should take precedence.^[11]

After the completion of his linguistic studies, Elliot applied for a passport and began to make plans with his friend Bill Cathers to leave for Ecuador. However, two months later Cathers informed him that he planned to marry, making it impossible for him to accompany Elliot as they had planned.^[12] Instead, Elliot spent the winter and spring of 1951 working with his friend Ed McCully in Chester, Illinois, running a radio program, preaching in prisons, holding evangelistic rallies, and teaching Sunday School.^[13]

McCully married later that summer, forcing Elliot to look elsewhere for an unmarried man with whom he could begin working in Ecuador. That man turned out to be Pete Fleming, a graduate of the University of Washington with a degree in philosophy. He corresponded frequently with Elliot, and by September he was convinced of his calling to Ecuador.^[14] In the meantime, Elliot visited friends on the east coast, including Elisabeth. In his journal he expressed hope that they would be able to be married, but at the same time felt that he was called to go to Ecuador without her. Elliot returned to Portland in November and began to prepare to leave the country.^[15]

Ecuador[link]

Elliot and Fleming arrived in Ecuador on February 21, 1952, with the purpose of evangelizing Ecuador's Waodani Indians. They first stayed in Quito, and then moved to the jungle. They took up residence at the Shandia mission station. On October 8, 1953, he married fellow Wheaton alumna and missionary Elisabeth Howard. The wedding was a simple civil ceremony held in Quito. Ed and Marilou McCully were the witnesses. The couple then took a brief honeymoon to Panama and Costa Rica, then returned to Ecuador. Their only child, Valerie, was born February 27, 1955. While working with Quechua Indians, Elliot began preparing to reach the Waodani.

Elliot and four other missionaries – Ed McCully, Roger Youderian, Pete Fleming, and their pilot, Nate Saint – made contact from their aeroplane with the Waodani using a loudspeaker and a basket to pass down gifts. After several months, the men decided to build a base a short distance from the Indian village, along the Curaray River. There they were approached one time by a small group of Waodani and even gave an aeroplane ride to one curious Waodani whom they called "George" (his real name was Naenkiwi). Encouraged by these friendly encounters, they began plans to visit the Waodani, without knowing that Naenkiwi had lied to the others about the missionaries' intentions.^[1] Their plans were preempted by the arrival of a larger group of about 10 Waodani warriors, who killed Elliot and his four companions on January 8, 1956. Elliot's body was found downstream, along with those of the other men, except that of Ed McCully which was found further downstream.

His journal entry for October 28, 1949, expresses his belief that missions work was more important than his life. "He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose." This is the quote that is most often attributed to Elliot, but apparently it is very close to the English nonconformist preacher Philip Henry (1631–1696) who said "He is no fool who parts with that which he cannot keep, when he is sure to be recompensed with that which he cannot lose".^[16]

Legacy[link]

Wheaton College commemorating Elliot and Ed McCully

Life magazine published a ten-page article on Elliot's and his friends' mission and deaths. After her husband's death, Elisabeth Elliot and other missionaries began working among the Auca Indians, where they continued evangelical work. She later published two books, Shadow of the Almighty: The Life and Testament of Jim Elliot and Through Gates of Splendor, which describe the life and death of her husband. In 1991, the Jim Elliot Christian School was created in Denver, Colorado. In 1997, the Jim Elliot Christian High School was founded in Lodi, California.^[17]

In 2002, a documentary based on the story was released entitled Beyond the Gates of Splendor. In 2003, a musical based on the story of Jim and Elisabeth Elliot, entitled Love Above All, was staged at the Victoria Concert Hall in Singapore by Mount Carmel Bible-Presbyterian Church. This musical was staged a second time in 2007 at the NUS University Cultural Centre. In 2006, a theatrical movie was released End of the Spear, based on the story of the pilot, Nate Saint, and the return trip of Saint's son attempting to reach the natives of Ecuador.

References[link]

• Elliot, Elisabeth (1981). Through Gates of Splendor. Wheaton, IL: Tyndale. ISBN 978-0-8423-7151-3. 
• Elliot, Elisabeth (1989). Shadow of the Almighty. San Francisco: HarperCollins. ISBN 978-0-06-062213-8. 
• Henry, Matthew (1839). The life of the Rev. Philip Henry, A.M.. W. Ball. http://books.google.com/books?id=BUfCH_MaUS8C. 
• Rusten, E. Michael (2003). The One Year Book of Christian History. Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House. ISBN 978-0-8423-5507-0. 
• Tucker, Ruth (1983). From Jerusalem to Irian Jaya A Biographical History of Christian Missions. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan. ISBN 978-0-310-23937-6. 

Videography[link]

• Beyond Gates of Splendor (2004 Feature Film)
• Torchlighters: The Jim Elliot Story (2005 Animation)
• End of the Spear (2006 Feature Film)
• Steve Saint: The Jungle Missionary (2007 Documentary)

Notes[link]

External links[link]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Jim Elliot

• "He is no fool" quote at the Billy Graham Center

Sermons[link]

• Feeding of the Five Thousand (33 minutes)
• Resurrection (41 minutes)

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Lincoln Brewster
Lincoln Brewster performing live at the Creation Festival NorthEast 2009.
Background information
Born	(1971-07-30) July 30, 1971 (age 40) Fairbanks, Alaska
Genres	Worship, CCM
Occupations	Musician, songwriter, worship leader, pastor
Instruments	Guitar, vocals, drums, mandolin, percussion
Years active	1994–present (Solo)
Labels	Integrity
Website	www.lincolnbrewster.com
Members
Lincoln Brewster (guitar) Peter Burton (bass) Serge Lysak (drums) Roman Vysochin (keyboard)
Past members
Norm Stockton (bass) Mike Johns (drums) Steve Padilla (keyboard) CJ Hatlevig (drums) Reid McNulty (bass)

Lincoln Brewster (born July 30, 1971 in Fairbanks, Alaska) is a contemporary Christian musician and pastor. As a guitarist, singer, and songwriter, Brewster became a sought-after session guitarist in the early 90s. Brewster is the senior worship pastor at Bayside Church in Roseville, California.

Biography[link]

Brewster has been musically inclined since his early childhood in Homer, Alaska. At the age of one, his mother, Cheryl, noticed how well he could keep rhythm on a drum set his grandfather had given him. At the age of five, his mother introduced him to the mandolin. Quickly mastering the instrument, he began playing for cruise ship tourists alongside his mother in Homer.

By the age of 12, Brewster had a band called Lincoln and the Missing Links, which included his mother on bass and vocals. In his late teens, he moved with his family to Modesto, California, where he attended Grace M. Davis High School and joined the high school jazz band (playing guitar and drums) and marching band (playing snare drum).

Due to connections gained in Los Angeles, he had recording contract offers by 19. Feeling an emptiness in his life, Brewster attended church services with his high school sweetheart, Laura. He recalls feeling God drawing him close after attending a drama ministry performance with Laura. "I was afraid to lay down a lot of things in my life," Lincoln said. "One night, I laid all my cards on the table. I asked the Lord to come into my life, all by myself. It was the best night of sleep I'd ever had. I was very peaceful. I think that was what enabled me to blow off that record deal."

After receiving a call from Steve Perry inviting him to audition as lead guitarist for his next solo project, For the Love of Strange Medicine, Brewster accepted and began songwriting and rehearsals for the album. Brewster's guitar technique, tone, and equipment choices possessed similar qualities and texturing to Journey's Neal Schon, and was touted as a favorable feature in the resulting album.^{[citation needed]} He was then married to Laura and soon after toured with Perry for six months from 1994 to early 1995.

At the end of the tour, Brewster moved back to Modesto, California to be with his wife where they attended Calvary Temple Church. After working as a sound technician for the church for a while, the senior pastor offered Brewster the position of associate music director and youth worship leader.

In 1997, the Brewsters left California and moved to Nashville to serve as youth pastors and eventually as full-time music ministers at The Oasis Church. It was there that Brewster met with executives from Integrity Incorporated who were there to work on a new Hosanna! Music album. After seeing his talent on the guitar, one executive listened to a demo project Brewster had produced. Already impressed with the production work and artistry, the executive also learned that Brewster had played every instrument and performed all the vocals himself. In 2001, Lincoln moved back to California to become the worship pastor at Bayside Church in Sacramento.

Brewster was signed to Integrity's Vertical Music label with whom he has released five full-length albums.

While working on his own self-titled album (with producer Paul Mills), Brewster worked with label-mate Darrell Evans, contributing vocals, guitar and co-writing on Evans' Freedom project. He also spent some time on the road, touring with Michael W. Smith during Smith's 1998 Live the Life tour. Brewster's second album, Live to Worship (produced by Jeff Quimby and co-produced by Brewster), was released in 2000. According to his biography in his official website, "Lincoln now combines his talents and determination to record songs that will minister to a new generation of believers."

Brewster's album, Today Is the Day, was released on September 23, 2008.^[1] The album's first released single, was the title track "Today Is the Day". On September 22, 2009 Lincoln released Today Is the Day (Deluxe Edition), a CD/DVD edition with same songs as Today Is the Day, two music videos, a few song stories and a part of his instructional video.

Lincoln released his latest project, Real Life, on September 28, 2010. The record is packed full of upbeat, contemporary worship tracks such as "Best Days" and the optimistic "Reaching For You." It also includes contemplative radio-ready songs such as the title track "Real Life," and the rhythmic "Whom Shall I Fear."

Gear[link]

Brewster primarily uses two different 57 reissue Fender Stratocasters with DiMarzio pickups, one with Ash body on an Aztec Gold finish, the other on a three-color sunburst finish with an Alder body, both with maple fingerboards and necks.^{[citation needed]} He has other Stratocasters as well as a few Gibson Les Pauls and an SG and other different guitars.^{[citation needed]}

Brewster also achieves his live tone solely from 2 floor POD x3 live units. One is kept as backup. He uses a provided amp for stage noise only and goes direct to the PA system with the floor PODs.^{[citation needed]}

Discography[link]

Albums[link]

Singles[link]

Compilations[link]

Collaborations[link]

References[link]

Resources[link]

• Lincoln Brewster Official Website biography
• Vertical Music profile for Lincoln Brewster

External links[link]

• Official website
• Vertical Music profile
• Lincoln Brewster's profile & Images at NewReleaseTuesday.com

Randy Alcorn is an American Protestant author and director of Eternal Perspective Ministries, a non-profit Christian organization dedicated to teaching an eternal viewpoint and helping the needy of the world. ^[1] He has written several novels, including Deadline, Dominion, and Deception. He received a Gold Medallion Book Award in 2003 for his novel Safely Home.^[2] He has also written a number of non-fiction books, including Heaven, The Purity Principle, and The Treasure Principle. Eternal Perspective Ministries owns the royalties to his books and 100 percent of them are given away to support missions, famine relief, pro-life work, and other ministries. ^[1][3]

He and his wife, Nanci, have two grown up and married daughters, Karina and Angela, who assisted him in writing the novel The Ishbane Conspiracy in 2001. Randy and Nanci have four grandsons. They live in Gresham, Oregon. ^[4]

He wrote a book similar to The Screwtape Letters called Lord Foulgrin's Letters. In Alcorn's book, references are made to demons, known only as "ST" and "WW" (for it had become a crime in Hell to even speak their real names), who had their letters found by a human and were punished by Beelzebub for their incompetence. He has also written a sequel to Lord Foulgrin's Letters entitled The Ishbane Conspiracy in which Lord Foulgrin from the first book is put on probation and is receiving letters from a senior demon named Prince Ishbane. In between the letters actual scenes from the humans lives unfold.

In November 2009, Alcorn signed an ecumenical statement known as the Manhattan Declaration calling on Evangelicals, Catholics and Orthodox not to comply with rules and laws permitting abortion, same-sex marriage and other matters that go against their religious consciences.^[5]

Bibliography[link]

Non-fiction[link]

• Christians in the Wake of the Sexual Revolution: Recovering Our Sexual Sanity (Multnomah 1985), ISBN 0-88070-095-5 ^[6]
• Women Under Stress: Preserving Your Sanity (Multnomah 1986), ISBN 0-88070-157-9 (with Nanci Alcorn) ^[6]
• Money, Possessions, and Eternity (Tyndale House 1989), ISBN 0-8423-8731-5 (2003 rev. ed., ISBN 0-8423-5360-7) ^[6]
• Sexual Temptation: How Christian Workers Can Win the Battle (InterVarsity Press 1989), ISBN 0-87784-223-X ^[6]
• Is Rescuing Right?: Breaking the Law to Save the Unborn (InterVarsity Press 1990), ISBN 0-8308-1301-2 ^[6]
• Pro Life Answers to Pro Choice Arguments (Multnomah 1992), ISBN 0-88070-472-1 (2000 rev. ed., ISBN 1-57673-751-9) ^[6]
• In Light of Eternity: Perspectives on Heaven (WaterBrook Press 1999), ISBN 1-57856-299-6 ^[6]
• The Treasure Principle (Multnomah 2001), ISBN 1-57673-780-2 ^[6]
• The Treasure Principle Bible Study (Multnomah 2003), ISBN 1-59052-187-0 (with Brian Smith) ^[6]
• The Grace and Truth Paradox (Multnomah 2003), ISBN 1-59052-065-3 ^[6]
• The Purity Principle (Multnomah 2003), ISBN 1-59052-195-1 ^[6]
• The Law of Rewards (Tyndale House 2003), ISBN 0-8423-8106-6 ^[6]
• Heaven (Tyndale House 2004), ISBN 0-8423-7942-8 ^[6]
• If God Is Good: Faith in the Midst of Suffering and Evil (Multnomah 2009), ISBN 1-60142-132-6 ^[6]
• 50 Days of Heaven: Reflections That Bring Eternity to Light (Tyndale House 2006), ISBN 1-4143-0976-7 ^[6]
• Heaven Study Guide (Tyndale House 2006), ISBN 1-4143-0977-5 ^[6]
• Heaven for Kids (Tyndale House 2006), ISBN 1-4143-1040-4 (with Linda Washington) ^[6]
• Why Pro Life? (Multnomah 2004), ISBN 1-59052-369-5 ^[6]

Fiction[link]

• Courageous: a novel (Tyndale House 2011), ISBN 978-1-4143-5846-8 ^[6]
• Deadline (Multnomah 1994), ISBN 0-88070-660-0^[7]
• Dominion (Multnomah 1996), ISBN 0-88070-939-1^[7]
• Deception (Multnomah 2007), ISBN 1-59052-616-3^[7]
• Edge of Eternity (WaterBrook Press 1998), ISBN 1-57856-085-3 ^[6]
• Lord Foulgrin's Letters: How to Strike Back at the Tyrant by Deceiving and Destroying His Human Vermin (Multnomah 2000), ISBN 1-57673-679-2 (2001 revised edition, ISBN 1-57673-861-2) ^[6]
• Safely Home (Tyndale House 2001), ISBN 0-8423-3791-1 ^[6]
• The Ishbane Conspiracy (Multnomah 2001), ISBN 1-57673-817-5 (with Angela Alcorn and Karina Alcorn) ^[6]
• Wait Until Then (Tyndale House 2006), ISBN 1-4143-1041-2 ^[6]
• Tell Me About Heaven (Crossway 2007), ISBN 1-58134-853-3 ^[6]
• The Chasm (Multnomah 2011), ISBN 978-1-60142-339-9 ^[6]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Stafford, Tim (April 1, 2003). "The Pastor without a Paycheck". Christianity Today. http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2003/april/7.90.html. 
• 700 Club guest bio
• Author website: Eternal Perspective Ministries
• Author Randy Alcorn's Blog
• Author Randy Alcorn's Facebook
• Author Randy Alcorn's Twitter
• Interview with Randy Alcorn