by Garris Elkins | Jan 18, 2014 | Fathers, Future, Hope, Kingdom of God, Leadership, Ministry, Trust
As a young pastor, I listened a lot. I listened to the many voices of leaders who went before me. There were times in those early years when I would ask a simple question and receive a profound answer. In my first year of pastoring, I asked Jerry...
by Garris Elkins | Jan 12, 2014 | Family, Future, Honor, Hope, Leadership
About 20 years ago, I began asking myself four questions. I also asked the same questions of our church staff during our quarterly planning sessions. The questions helped us engage a process of evaluation where we could leave behind what needed to be left behind and...
by Garris Elkins | Nov 13, 2013 | Church, Faith, Father, Future, Hope, Leadership, Transition
In October of 2014, I will complete a transition out of the Senior Pastor role at Living Waters Church in Medford, Oregon. The man God is raising up to fill that role is Ryan Rhoden. Ryan is a good and godly man with a vision for the future. We have...
by Garris Elkins | Oct 26, 2013 | Discipline, Future, Hope, Leadership, Love, Trust
I grew up in one of those wonderful little hometowns we nostalgically read about today that once dotted the landscape of 1950s America. My hometown was Campbell, California. The grade school I attended in Campbell was called San Tomas Elementary. I attended that...
by Garris Elkins | Oct 25, 2013 | Discipline, Family, Leadership, Repentance, Trust
My father was not a strict man. Not much bothered him. Maybe it was because he was 42 years old when I was born. I was the first of two boys born to my parents. In some ways, I was raised by parents who were the age of young grandparents. Over...
by Garris Elkins | Oct 10, 2013 | Church, Holiness, Humility, Leadership, Revival, Spiritual Warfare
Some Christians throw the word “heresy” around with reckless abandon. It appears in heated conversations over coffee. The word is used each time a revival takes place that confronts and shakes the existing religious establishment. It is used in the script of...
