by Garris Elkins | Oct 21, 2013 | Church, Family, Honor, Hope, Restoration
In October of 2006, I rented a room in a lodge along the Rogue River in Southern Oregon. I went there for a three-day prayer and study retreat. Each day I would hike along a graveled road high above the river. On one of these hikes, I spotted a smooth and...
by Garris Elkins | Jul 2, 2013 | Church, Family, Forgiveness, Honor, Humility, Obedience
When I read the story of Judas Iscariot betraying Jesus, I find myself wanting to distance myself from him. Maybe my need to keep my distance is because I have found him living in me from time-to-time when I have betrayed the things that God holds dear. This...
by Garris Elkins | May 8, 2013 | Faith, Family, Hope, Miracles, Obedience, Trust
Each family will go through seasons of challenge and suffering in the course of a lifetime. As a family, we recently experienced one of those times. In the end, God showed up and pointed the situation in a new direction, but at the start we felt...
by Garris Elkins | Jan 29, 2013 | Church, Faith, Family, Kingdom of God, Leadership, Transition
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...
by Garris Elkins | Dec 28, 2012 | Family, Forgiveness, Future, Healing, Hope, Leadership, Transition
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...
by Garris Elkins | Dec 14, 2012 | Church, Culture, Family, Forgiveness, Future, Hope, Prayer
As I think of the killings in Connecticut my soul has been sickened hearing the cries of mothers and fathers. This has reminded me of a time recorded in scripture at the birth of Jesus when hundreds of little boys were senselessly murdered in Bethlehem by Herod who...
