Blog
I saw the image of a tornado tossing about the debris of human opinion. The storm was a distraction. What was true for Elijah is true for us. Elijah was told the Lord was not in the storm. He is the still small voice offering the peace of God's truth. If we want that...
How we choose to see God in the middle of the trauma and troubles of life will determine how we live. Apart from making that choice, despair and depression will rule the day. The word of God offers adjustments to our thinking when dark and dismal outcomes are ruling...
When Israel realized the Assyrian army was about to overcome their nation, it was a desperate time. Fear and uncertainty were overcoming the hearts of the people. At that time, Isaiah offered the people an invitation, “Search the book of the Lord and see what he will...
In real life, paper targets don’t shoot back and martial arts mannequins don’t fight back. This is true in spiritual matters. The only place we will ever understand the gritty realities of a life of faith is in the trenches of actual spiritual combat. Make sure to...
Some of the most profound theologians are not theologians by definition. They are men and women who work outside the walls of churches and seminaries in ordinary jobs. These unrecognized theologians walk daily in an intimate relationship with God and in that intimacy...
I never allowed the rookie cops I trained to run toward danger. Until we knew what was actually taking place, I wanted them to move forward with caution under cover and concealment taking the time to assess what was happening. Some of these so-called emergencies...
Unexpected greetings from the past will arrive to build your faith and reconnect you to old relationships you had long forgotten. God has a purpose in these reconnections and that purpose will be revealed in the coming season of your life. A few minutes ago, I reached...
One of the things that will come and visit my life from time-to-time are the memories of my youth. The young Garris will come and talk with the older me. Some of these experiences are a blend of the bitter and the sweet. One such visit took place this morning when I...
The power of God’s presence is underestimated. The presence of God alone has the power to challenge and dismantle entrenched darkness. This is illustrated in Scripture regarding the false god Dagon. Dagon was the god of fertility worshiped by the Philistines, a people...
As a young pastor, I supplemented our family income by working as a pilot. Most of my flight time was instructing new students, but there were times when I would have a charter flight. On one such charter, I was flying back to our home base in Kalispell, Montana solo...
This morning the following blessing appeared in my email in-box from my wife, Jan. It is a blessing she is writing for her third book of blessings. Jan inserted my name as a personal encouragement to me. The original will have the words, “your spirit”. There is...
I was awakened in the middle of the night hearing the 1964 blues song written by Tommy Tucker titled, Hi-Heel Sneakers. The opening lyrics are, “Put on your red dress, baby, cause we goin’ out tonight.” As the song played on, instead of the words, “Put on your...
In a time of great personal crisis or in the moment of approaching death, it is not our opinion about a particular strain of theology or a narrow worldview that people will reach for to find hope. In those moments people are reaching for the hand of God. Before these...
There have been a few times when I listened to people share their concept of God that I come away from those conversations seeing an image of a god who is so damaged that I want to hand the person a bottle of anti-depressant pills to help medicate their stressed out...
I remember the painful day when I accidently threw away all of Jan’s childhood family photos. We were pastoring our first church and our kids were in grade school. Jan’s mom and dad were downsizing so they wanted to make sure all the old family photos pertinent to...