Blog
Increasingly, Jan and I are turning off TV shows we began to watch on Netflix or Amazon in hopes of enjoying some simple entertainment. Some of these shows began to reveal content that left us feeling slimed. If we didn't make a choice to stop watching it would soil...
An increasing number of Christians have dismissed the Old Testament as irrelevant. Some in their dismissal have said it represents a cruel God, not the God of compassion. Those dismissals are very dangerous assumptions. As Scripture tells us our God does not change,...
There is a great deal taking place in our world that has people asking the question, “How did we get here?” The answer to the question cannot be spelled out at the moment the question is asked. We must trace backward to reverse engineer an outcome, perception, or...
We have a tendency to think a person who has become a legend is stronger and more capable than the offspring of the legend themselves. If some of our legends were alive today they would challenge that way of thinking. In 1967, I was a junior in high school...
It is always a joyful day when you sit down with your editor (my daughter, Anna Elkins) and obtain an ISBN number and register the title for a new book - The Leadership Rock: A Journey of a Life in Leadership. Looks like a May 1 release date.
My pastoral transition will take place in my 65th year. I have been learning a lot about myself in this new season. As Jan and I prepare to hand the leadership of our church over to Ryan and Kate Rhoden, Ryan and I have been having wonderful conversations...
Several years ago, I realized that if I was going to finish well I would need to invest in those things that allowed me to go deeper in my intimacy with God. Over the years of ministry I have seen the encroachment of demands and needs taking over my calendar and...
My weekends are important times for me. This is the time each week the church gathers and when I teach. I take it seriously. I always want to be fresh for Sunday morning so I can give my best to God and his people. As the weekend rolls around I try...
We have just come through a moment in time where the Church has been repositioned into a new place. Few of us really understand this new position. Something has changed. This new place is not yet fully defined, but will become more evident with each passing day as we...
When Jesus gave us the Great Commission he said, “Go and make disciples of all the nations.” The Great Commission has become the marching orders for the Church over the last 2,000 years. At the end of Mark’s Gospel, Jesus told his disciples to “Go” in another...
In 2013 God will begin moving in powerful ways. This move of God will not be age, gender or race-specific. It will include many elements of previous revivals and renewals. Be careful of criticizing any one element you do not fully understand or agree with. What God is...
One of the most stress-filled things I have ever done was being an entry man on a SWAT team. Entry men were the first members of the team to breach a door and cross the threshold of a house to gain entrance. We never knew what was waiting for us on the other...
For years, I have heard some of my brothers and sisters in Christ appealing for a totally non-violent approach to life. I like the idea and wish somehow this could be our reality in every circumstance. I dislike the thought of having violence as an option...
It doesn't take long to explore our social media sites and realize in some areas of the Internet you can find conversations that resemble "The New Killing Fields." These are places where we conveniently destroy another person by accusation and narrow personal...