by Garris Elkins | Apr 2, 2013 | Church, Identity, Kingdom of God, Leadership, Revival, Transition
Twenty years ago, I sat in a large convention center with several thousand pastors. We were attending a denominational conference. One of the scheduled speakers had to cancel at the last moment and Roger Whitlow, a pastor of a large and impacting church in...
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 29, 2013 | Church, Faith, Family, Kingdom of God, Leadership, Transition
My pastoral transition will take place in my 65th year. I have been learning a lot about myself in this new season. As Jan and I prepare to hand the leadership of our church over to Ryan and Kate Rhoden, Ryan and I have been having wonderful conversations...
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 | Dec 28, 2012 | Family, Forgiveness, Future, Healing, Hope, Leadership, Transition
One of the most stress-filled things I have ever done was being an entry man on a SWAT team. Entry men were the first members of the team to breach a door and cross the threshold of a house to gain entrance. We never knew what was waiting for us on the other...
