by Garris Elkins | May 8, 2013 | Church, Future, Kingdom of God, Leadership, Teaching, Transition, Trust
A couple of years ago, Jerry Cook came and spoke at our church. Jerry is one of my ministry heroes. For the last 30-plus years he has been a mentoring presence in my life through his writing and teaching. He has also functioned in this mentoring role to...
by Garris Elkins | Feb 13, 2013 | Apostle, Church, Faith, Hope, Kingdom of God, Leadership, Teaching, Transition, 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 Cook...
by Garris Elkins | Feb 5, 2013 | Church, Hope, Leadership, Ministry, Teaching, Transition
We have a tendency to think a person who has become a legend is stronger and more capable than the offspring of the legend themselves. If some of our legends were alive today they would challenge that way of thinking. In 1967, I was a junior in high school...
by Garris Elkins | Jan 16, 2013 | Church, Future, Holiness, Kingdom of God, Ministry, Teaching, Transition, Word
We have just come through a moment in time where the Church has been repositioned into a new place. Few of us really understand this new position. Something has changed. This new place is not yet fully defined, but will become more evident with each passing day as we...
by Garris Elkins | Nov 26, 2012 | Five-Fold Ministry, Kingdom of God, Leadership, Teaching, Word
Many years ago, when I was a student at Ministries Institute at Faith Center in Eugene, Oregon, I learned a valuable lesson about sermon preparation from my pastor, Roy Hicks, Jr. Roy was a profound teacher of God’s Word. He taught about God’s Kingdom. His focus...
by Garris Elkins | Aug 21, 2012 | Church, Culture, Evangelism, Identity, Kingdom of God, Teaching, Transition, Vision.
When I started in full-time ministry over 30 years ago most of us wore jackets and ties to preach on Sunday morning. Recently, I looked at some old pictures of me back in the early 1980’s and according to the fashion standards of the day we looked just fine....
