by Garris Elkins | Jan 4, 2018 | Death, Deliverance, Discipleship, Discipline, Fear, Power, Spiritual Warfare
The more steps we have to take in order to complete an act of obedience, the more jeopardy we put ourselves in regarding our spiritual well being. When I was a cop, I never carried anything in my right hand. I am right-handed. My right hand held my handgun. My...
by Garris Elkins | Dec 28, 2017 | Courage, Discipleship, Faith, Father, Fear, Honor, Jesus, Kingdom of God, Marriage, Obedience, Peace, Reconciliation, Relationships, Teaching
The term, “cut and dried”, is a term first used to describe an herbalist cutting and drying herbs and then packaging them for sale. It was also used to describe the process of cutting, drying and bailing grass into hay bales as a final product. The term has come to...
by Garris Elkins | Dec 14, 2017 | Change, Discipleship, Discipline, Evangelism, Faith, Faithfulness, Fear, Future, Holy Spirit, Hope, Humility, Kingdom of God, Peace, Promotion, Reformation, Spiritual Warfare, Truth, Wisdom
I grew up in a construction family. My father built houses. Most of my summers were spent on the end of a shovel. My brother and I were human backhoes. Many times our father would say, “Give me a ditch three feet deep from here to the house. See you at lunch.” It was...
by Garris Elkins | Dec 12, 2017 | Apostle, Courage, Discipleship, Five-Fold Ministry, Gifts, Holy Spirit, Obedience, Pride, Provision, Reformation, Revival, Teaching, Truth, Vision.
When I was in the 7th grade, I played the clarinet in our junior high school marching band. I started playing the clarinet in the 5th grade, so I was not an expert. Our band was scheduled to march in a yearly parade in my hometown. One day, about two months before the...
by Garris Elkins | Dec 10, 2017 | Discipleship, Faith, Family, Father, Honor, Identity, Intimacy, Relationships, Restoration, Revelation, Teaching, Word
I was looking at a photo of one of my nieces. She is a beautiful young lady. As I looked at her picture, I saw the eyes of my mother staring back at me. The DNA of a family line is strong. What is even stronger is our spiritual DNA. Our spiritual DNA does...
by Garris Elkins | Dec 9, 2017 | Change, Courage, Discipleship, Five-Fold Ministry, Gifts, Justice, Kingdom of God, Mercy, Pride, Teaching, Wisdom
The most significant piece of advice I ever received on how to preach, and for that matter, how to handle most of life, was given to me by my pastor, Roy Hicks. Jr. He said when you prepare to preach you are not yet ready until you can answer three questions. 1....