by Garris Elkins | Dec 31, 2017 | Death, Eternity, Faith, God, Jesus, Miracles, Peace, Relationships, Revelation, Spirit, Trust, Worship
Today, December 31, would have been my dog’s 15th birthday. Abby died Thanksgiving weekend. I have missed her so much in the last month. A few minutes ago, a most beautiful and amazing thing happened to me. When I opened my iPhone calendar to check any...
by Garris Elkins | Dec 27, 2017 | Courage, Faith, Father, God, Honor, Identity, Obedience, Power, Relationships, Restoration, Resurrection, Spiritual Warfare, Thankfulness, Transition, Trust
In the last few days, we have set a lot of timers in our home. Timers were set to bake pies. I set one to check the Christmas prime rib smoking on our Traeger barbeque. A timer was set for the rising dough for Jan’s crazy-good holiday cinnamon rolls. Our house was a...
by Garris Elkins | Dec 24, 2017 | Creativity, Faith, Family, Gifts, Giving, God, Intimacy, Peace
When Jan and I pastored our first church in Kalispell, Montana, we experienced a lot of firsts. We had our first Sunday as pastors of a new church with only one visitor attending. Our first real Rocky Mountain winter was a new experience, and so was the view from our...
by Garris Elkins | Dec 22, 2017 | Change, Creativity, Culture, Freedom, Gifts, God, Obedience, Promise, Vision.
God is about to bring understanding to the contrasting, and sometimes confusing seasons of your life. One season does not fully define you. The total must be seen in order for each of the parts to be understood. On my first visit to Madrid, Spain, I was invited...
by Garris Elkins | Dec 16, 2017 | Courage, Death, Deliverance, Discipline, Family, Father, Fathers, God, Justice, Marriage, Mercy, Obedience, Peace, Power, Spiritual Warfare, Trust
When I was a street cop, I wore a bulletproof vest, also known as body armor. My vest was made by a company called Second Chance. It had two panels. One panel covered my chest and the other panel covered my back. I never hit the streets in uniform without wearing my...
by Garris Elkins | Dec 3, 2017 | Destiny, Discipleship, Father, God, Honor, Hope, Jesus, Joy, Peace, Provision, Rest, Revelation, Teaching, Trust, Wisdom
As a little boy, I usually slept like a rock. But one winter night I woke up and walked into the living room. I was about 6 or 7 years old. My stirring also awakened my father. While standing in front of our fireplace staring at the remaining embers of a fire from the...
