Article ID: JAMEM20180411 | By: Hank Hanegraaff

Just five months ago, Elliot Miller, my long-time friend and colleague at the Christian Research Institute, was diagnosed with stage IV metastasized bone cancer. And today, April 11, 2018, he is absent the body, present with the Lord.

At times like this, we grieve, but not as those who have no hope! We believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those (like Elliot) who have fallen asleep in Him. According to the Lord’s own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those (like Elliot) who have fallen asleep in Him. For the Lord Himself will come down from heaven with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ (including Elliot) will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together (with Him) in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage each other with these words.1

With Elliot’s passing, we are again reminded to throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. To run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. To consider Him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that we do not grow weary and lose heart.2

That is precisely what Elliot did. As with the apostle, he fought the good fight, standing for truth no matter the cost. He finished the race and finished it well, and he kept the faith! Shortly before he died, he told me that he knew he would soon be with the Savior and the saints and, more so, looked forward to that certainty.

Elliot’s life accomplishments are many. They include his book, A Crash Course on the New Age Movement (Baker, 1989); shepherding his beloved CHRISTIAN RESEARCH JOURNAL; and devoting forty-two years of faithful service to CRI. And now, he has without doubt heard words he has longed to hear: “Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!”3

Elliot leaves behind his dear wife Corinne and two stepchildren, Andree and Eric, and a treasured legacy. He will be sorely missed until we are reunited again in glory. —Hank Hanegraaff

*Excerpted from Hank Hanegraaff, “In Remembrance of Elliot Miller (1951–2018),” CHRISTIAN RESEARCH JOURNAL 41, 2 (2018).

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