Blog
Many of us have a growing awareness of the need and desire to stand firm in the shaking, planting seeds for the future to grow. What can we endure and succeed under pressure? How can we bear fruit, and even be ever blessed, ever prosperous for the following...
I wonder what my response would be if I heard Jesus tell me what He told all the disciples: “Garris, you will desert me.” Even thinking about those words hits me in the pit of my soul. I know that whether in thought, word, or deed, I am capable of doing just that....
When I started in pastoral ministry many years ago, most of us wore jackets and ties to preach on Sunday morning. Some even wore suits. Recently, I looked at some old pictures of me from the early 1980s, and by the fashion standards of the day, I looked just fine....
Of late, with all that is happening in the world and in the lives of people we love, Jan and I are spending more time praying together in the Spirit. This is not abandoning a prayer list. It is taking our prayers beyond the list to a place only the Spirit knows. The...
When we listen to reports of wars and rumors of war, or when we hear people speak things motivated by doom and gloom, we must take account of God’s promises so that what we say and report is not motivated by fear, but by our faith in God. Joshua and Caleb are notable...
Large reservoirs in the western United States, like Hoover and Grand Coulee, have occasionally experienced what is called a “dead pool.” A dead pool means that there has not been enough rain to fill these reservoirs and activate the power generators inside the...
One of the greatest truths that Jan and I discovered and live by to this day is to inquire first of the Lord to find out His answer before we act prematurely and do something we would live to regret. Thirty years ago, the Lord planted this truth deep in our hearts. We...
Prophetic acts are something not many in the Church understand. These acts declare in the present, before a spiritual victory comes, of what God will do in the future. Prophetic acts declare God's authority and faithfulness in spiritual conflict. Often, they are...
We can too easily think that those who do not agree with us are the enemy. We can form narrow assumptions and miss a greater truth: we cannot always discern who the real enemy is, those who are shaping our thoughts and leading us to make false assumptions. That...
The Church is in transition. The Lord is leading us to a new place that needs new leaders. Some leaders lost their authority due to disobedience, but those failures will not prevent the Lord from fulfilling His promises. This transition mirrors a pivotal moment from...
As nations strategize for war, the Lord has secret plans that He will reveal to His followers at the proper time. Initially, the revelation of God’s plan will be rejected by the strategists, to their dismay, because they made their plans using human logic rather than...
Jan just sent this blessing of encouragement to a man on the other side of the globe who, with his various businesses, is bringing great change to his nation. This has not been without government interference and political warfare. This blessing is not just for him;...
Each year at this time, plots of daffodils sprout and blossom in fields and gardens. Their appearance is a colorful announcement that spring has arrived. Daffodils are not concerned with wars and rumors of wars. They follow the impulse of their bulbs that have lain...
Many times, people will speak prophetically, quoting Moses, telling them they will become the head and not the tail. They forget to quote the full verse where that phrase is used, “If you listen to these commands of the Lord your God that I am giving you...
When hiking the trails above our town, I will occasionally see something left behind. It could be a single glove, a jacket, or a pair of sunglasses placed in an obvious place for the owner to find. Fellow hikers place these items in a conspicuous place for the...