by Garris Elkins | Jul 14, 2017 | Courage, Discipleship, Forgivenss, Freedom, Humility, Kingdom of God, Mercy, Peace, Pride, Reconciliation, Restoration, Revelation, Teaching, Truth
When we pile on a perceived error the truth gets buried. This piling on can resemble a football game where the ball is in the hands of one of the players at the bottom of the heap. The officials referring the game must remove each person from the pile to find the...
by Garris Elkins | Jul 9, 2017 | Courage, Discipleship, Family, Fear, Freedom, Joy, Peace, Pride, Relationships
Earlier this week, Jan and I had dinner with friends at a nice restaurant. Shortly after being seated, a young family sat at the table next to us with three young kids. Our child-rearing years took place decades ago. We smiled as the parents tried to herd cats and eat...
by Garris Elkins | Jul 7, 2017 | Hope, Humility, Mercy, Peace
If you want to know what death sounds like speak a word of hope. Death will always protest hope and demand that all voices be silent except its own. A word of hope has greater authority than the language of condemnation. Just a whisper of hope will shout down the...
by Garris Elkins | Jul 3, 2017 | Change, Courage, Death, Eternity, Future, Hope, Peace, Promise, Resurrection
There are times in our lives when someone we love is taken away. An unexpected turn of events, death or changing relationships can move a person beyond our most desperate reach. In these times our only hope is in the tomorrow promised by God to those who suffer loss....
by Garris Elkins | Jul 1, 2017 | Future, Hope, Identity, Peace, Transition, Wisdom
At age 15, 25 or 39 if you asked me about crossing the age-threshold of 60, I would have had no comment. In fact, that passage would have been seen as a place set aside for grandparents, older people and Social Security recipients to park until they died. Now that I...
by Garris Elkins | Jun 28, 2017 | Faith, Joy, Peace, Trust
The image I was seeing in the Spirit was depressing. I felt for the person I was watching. I saw them walking through a difficult season of life with heavy feet. Their feet were so heavy they could barely shuffle along the floor sliding one foot in front of the other....
