by Garris Elkins | Nov 23, 2017 | Courage, Freedom, Future, Humility, Intimacy, Kingdom of God, Love, Mercy, Miracles, Pride, Promotion
God created you to make the sound of Heaven on Earth. Paul told the church at Ephesus instead of sounding like immature believers we are to rise to a place of spiritual maturity where we will “speak the truth in love”. Speaking the truth in love is the...
by Garris Elkins | Nov 22, 2017 | Creativity, Discipline, Family, Freedom, Giving, Honor, Intimacy, Love, Marriage, Ministry, Obedience, Peace, Relationships, Wisdom
My pastor, Roy Hicks, Jr., told a humorous story about how his wife Kay got his attention late one night. After many years pastoring the Eugene Faith Center, Roy became the Director of Missions for the Foursquare Church. It was a demanding job. Roy spent many...
by Garris Elkins | Nov 19, 2017 | Family, Future, Honor, Identity, Intimacy, Restoration, Transition, Trust, Vision.
As a young pastor, everything was new to me. One part of that newness was the fact that we were pioneering a church in Kalispell, Montana. I had never been to Montana. That has been a repeated theme for each new ministry assignment Jan and I have accepted over the...
by Garris Elkins | Nov 4, 2017 | Discipline, Eternity, Freedom, Hope, Intimacy, Peace, Spiritual Warfare, Thankfulness, Trust, Wisdom, Worship
I awakened in the middle of the night and turned over in bed. I was now facing in Jan’s direction. Like I do many times in the middle of the night, I took a moment to pray for her before slipping back to sleep. Jan was sleeping so deep and in such peace that she...
by Garris Elkins | Oct 31, 2017 | Discipleship, Forgivenss, Gifts, Holy Spirit, Identity, Intimacy, Obedience, Pride, Provision, Trust, Wisdom, Women
Our character is not determined by our geography or our social status. It would be an insult to a single mother who is trying to raise her children in an inner city ghetto to honor God and then limit the potential of her children to the level of sorrow that surrounds...
by Garris Elkins | Sep 18, 2017 | Creativity, Discipleship, Discipline, Dreams, Giving, Honor, Identity, Intimacy, Kingdom of God
Last night, Jan and I watched the new version of the classic movie, Ben-Hur. One scene touched me more than the others. It was when Jesus was carrying His cross while wearing a crown of thorns stumbling through the streets of Jerusalem toward His crucifixion. As...