by Garris Elkins | Aug 17, 2020 | Faith, Faithfulness, Family, Father, Future, Marriage
The prayer of one person can change the course of a family’s history or the destiny of a nation. God does not rule by consensus. He is sovereign above all things, even our determined, yet short-sighted understanding of His ways. A single prayer uttered at a...
by Garris Elkins | Aug 9, 2020 | Family, Father, Fathers, Grace, Healing, Honor, Hope, Integrity
Last night, Jan and I watched a movie that was different from our typical fare of drama, action, and intrigue. It was a western. At first, I thought it might be too corny to endure, but it grew on us as the minutes rolled on. The theme of the movie was redemption,...
by Garris Elkins | Jul 23, 2020 | Culture, Deliverance, Family, Fear, Freedom, Future, Hope, Justice, Kingdom of God, Leadership
The older translations of Romans 13 tell us the government does not bear the sword in vain. In more contemporary language, we would read that phrase as “without purpose.” One noted translator rendered that portion of Romans 13 to read “’not to hide it (sword) in...
by Garris Elkins | Jul 8, 2020 | Family, Fathers, Favor, Fear, Forgiveness, Freedom, Honor, Hope, Identity, Love, Marriage
On July 4th, Jan and I had the honor of officiating our daughter’s wedding. Toward the end of the ceremony, I had Anna and Jared exchange rings. I explained to them wearing my wedding ring for the last 47 years was a daily reminder that I belonged to someone – to Jan....
by Garris Elkins | Jun 18, 2020 | Deliverance, Discipleship, Family, Favor, Fear, Forgiveness, Freedom
Jan and I have learned and God has faithfully reaffirmed, a powerful life-lesson after each painful betrayal we experienced. We learned that betrayal is a doorway into hope and resurrection. This was only possible if we did not allow our hearts to grow hard, cold, and...
by Garris Elkins | Jun 16, 2020 | Apostle, Change, Church, Courage, Culture, Discipleship, Family, Fear, Freedom, Future
Recently, someone said they would prefer a place in the kitchen before they were offered a place at the table of cultural dialogue. I thought that statement to be very insightful. In the kitchen is where we prepare the meal that we will serve at the table of...
