"Turning 60" by Garris Elkins

As I approach my 60th year I am beginning to feel mortal. I am sensing the final curtain is probably a few decades down the road and this new realization changes things. There is something about “60” that makes me ponder such realities.

I have started to read John Steinbeck's “Travels with Charley – In Search of America” again, after an absence from its pages of almost 40 years. I read it first as a young man in college, now I read it as an older man who is responsible for teaching others. I liked the book when I was a young man because it fed a restlessness in me– now I like it because it feeds a rest within me.

For many years I lived in the limiting mindset that made me believe that people who did not align with me in spiritual truths had nothing to teach me. This is sad because I wonder who walked in and out of my life without my noticing their potential contribution.

Steinbeck is one of those writers I enjoy at a deeper and more profound level because of his personal history. He grew up in Salinas, California not far from my own childhood home. Like all great novelists he wrote of what he knew. He knew the older California where I grew up, before the freeways came and when orchards and vineyards once stood where the malls and sub-divisions now squat. He wrote from within the fruit harvests and lives of migrant workers. I feel at home when when I read his words.

When John Steinbeck was 58 years old, and preparing for the road trip, his son said that his father knew he was dying and wanted to see America in all its fullness one last time. Steinbeck had a GMC pick up truck and camper made especially for this journey and one fall day in 1960 set out from his home in Sag Harbor, New York to see how America had changed since his youth.

Steinbeck wrote to his doctor and said that “deep down in his bones” he felt he would not survive beyond his physical death and that the end of his biological life was the end of his life. I could get theological here, but really don't want to.

I must admit there have been times when I have thought it would be easier, maybe, that the end of life would be better served if it did not go on into eternity. This is somewhat controversial for a pastor like myself to admit because leaders are supposed to always be “up”. From what I have read, heaven sounds like a wonderful place. These kinds of thoughts emerge in my mind when I think I am responsible to carry the full load for the church. When I take on the unassigned weight of leadership I can sometimes get depressed and those feelings cause me to forget about things like hope, the future and the heart of God. I really do believe in a God who promises better things than our temporary seasons of earthly depression try to tell us.

Over the years I have come to realize that somewhere deep inside my still developing soul is a performance mentality that never measures up to the standard – God's standard included. I am not alone. If I were counseling someone in my office I would say to that person that they don't understand what grace is all about. I am thinking that the phrase, “growing older gracefully”, is something we do not fully understand and that maybe we should re-phrase the words to say, “growing older in grace.”

Seeing 60 coming up on my calendar is a strange process for my mind to engage. In some ways I am tired of the pretender version of youth I have held on to for the last couple of decades. My skin is changing. Some new aches and pains have come as reminders that reality trumps illusion.

Maybe that is why I am reading Steinbeck once again. It is appealing to think of Steinbeck hitting the open road in his GMC pickup truck and camper with Charley his poodle riding shotgun. I am in that place. I want a change. It is not about needing a vacation – it is about living well in transition. I want to engage this transition and learn from it.

Steinbeck warned that approaching age can get you into a way of thinking that resembles a spiritual and physical semi-invalidism. We are told to slow down. Men trade their manhood for a promise of a small increase in their life span. In this process men become the newest child in the house. Steinbeck wrote, “My wife married a man; I saw no reason why she should inherit a baby.” It is usually at this realization that a fear of loss sets in and some men go off and do stupid things. That is unfortunate because these feelings are part of a journey that can take you beyond resignation and fatalism, into engagement and hope.

Something is dying in me. I have no death premonition of a secret disease lurking within my body. What is dying is my is ambition. Of all the evils I think ambition is the sickest. Ambition can raise its ugly head at this stage in a man's life and cause you to hang on too long or reach out too harshly for some finishing work that you will be known for. Or worse yet, I have heard of some leaders who failed to engage their life-transitions and then went out and bought a sports car and ran off with their secretary to Las Vegas.

I would like ambition to die in me before I die in it. Maybe that was some of what Steinbeck found on his road trip with his poodle Charley. Another novel would not give him anything. He wrote plenty of them. In his travels Steinbeck found great joy in not being known. Once he got out of the novelist context people did not recognize him. In fact, in his entire three month journey across America, not once did anyone notice him for the public figure he had become. Maybe the gift in any transition is being able to keep your identity intact in the process of change.

I am coming to realize that approaching 60 years of age means that my life context is changing and this new journey is about learning to recognize this older guy who is looking back at my face from the reflection in the mirror.

"We do not take a trip - a trip takes us" John Steinbeck

"Restocking the Shelves of Ministry" by Garris Elkins

Recently, Leslie Keegel spoke in our church. Leslie is the President of the 1,500 Foursquare Churches in Sri Lanka, a nation just off the coast of India. He carries an apostolic anointing along with a strong gift of revelation and miraculous healing. Throughout the three days Leslie was with us he shared in various venues - in our public services, to a gathering of regional pastors and leaders and to our Anthem School of Ministry. In each setting something of the supernatural heart of God was deposited in our lives.

Leslie prophesied about the destiny of our church - Living Waters Church in Medford, Oregon. Like any true prophetic word there was both a promise and a responsibility. Leslie said Living Waters would become a well-spring of miraculous healing to this region and to the nation. That was our promise.

Leslie also said that God was asking us to be intentional as we pursue the supernatural and to be willing to take risks in faith. We were told to deal with any reluctance and reticence that would hold us back in a place of comfort. That was our responsibility.

When any leader ministers I watch and learn from them. I watch for the pauses that tell me he or she is listening for something fresh from God. I watch to see if someone is drawing from a dated bag of proven ministry formulas and principles that lack fresh revelation. I watch to see from where the things being ministered are coming from. As I watched Leslie I saw a man extending his hand into eternity, through the veil that separates what is seen and unseen, and waiting for God to place words in his hand to bring back into this realm. Leslie reached out in faith and brought back something supernatural from God. This is how miracles happen.

After I dropped Leslie off at the airport, I was alone to process what God had spoken through this anointed servant of God. I went to sleep that night pondering the future. During the night I had a dream. In the dream I saw an old basement storage room lined with wooden shelves. The shelves were partially filled with old canned goods. There was a layer of dust on the shelves and the cans. The storeroom looked somewhat neglected. The air was stale and not moving.

When I awoke the next morning I sought the Lord for a meaning of the dream. I began to hear the Lord say that many of us who lead the church need to restock the storehouse of our ministry. Many of us have been ministering with cans that have expired labels. Instead of reaching into eternity for something fresh we are reaching into a dusty and dated storeroom. These shelves are only restocked by a day-by-day fresh encounter with God. These new and fresh words from God are retrieved because we have reached into His presence in faith.

I am praying this prayer for my life and ministry - “Father, today I give you permission to lock the door of my ministry storehouse. I choose instead to reach into your presence and wait until you drop something into my hand. When I sense the weight of your word in my hand I will bring that miraculous word back into this realm expecting to see things happen that are beyond all that I would dare to ask or think. Amen.”

"Winds of Change and the Coming Shift" by Garris Elkins

Recently, a friend of mine sent this communique to thousands of church leaders around the world:

“In 1998, Hurricane Mitch wrecked havoc across Central America, especially in Honduras. The casualties were steep: 5,600 people perished, 12,300 were injured and 8,600 people disappeared. The infrastructure of roads was decimated and 150 bridges were destroyed or damaged. The Choluteca Bridge, built by Japanese engineers and donated to the Hondurans, was the most modern bridge in the region and it remained intact. While it was not damaged, the bridge was no longer necessary because the hurricane changed the flow of the river that once ran beneath it. A bridge typically spans a body of water and connects two pieces of dry land. When the water beneath it no longer flows, you can hardly call it a bridge. Without water, a bridge has lost its purpose. It is simply a monument to a past feat of engineering but it has no current relevance.”

In the church today the Winds of Change are blowing and this wind of heaven will alter the course of cultures and ministries. God's wind is now blowing and what is not based on His foundational reality will become a relic of the past.

Several months ago the Lord revealed a prophetic picture to me. I saw a vast plain that was covered with sand. As a wind began to blow, the sand was pushed away to reveal a large foundation underneath. The foundation was Christ Himself infused with the ministry gifts that He will use to transform the earth. I realized that the covering of sand was very shallow – just enough to obscure what lay beneath. This foundational truth will not be discovered by human intellect– it will be revealed by the breath of God's Spirit.

For the last several months people have come to me after some of our church gatherings to tell me that they have been feeling a wind blowing against them during our times of worship. These people were not sitting near air conditioning vents. No one walked past them and stirred the air. There was no natural explanation for the wind. At a recent conference in Africa a wind could be felt so strongly that several people were literally blown backwards off their feet during worship. The wind of heaven is blowing on the Church.

While I was in still in Africa, between meetings the Lord impressed upon me the following word: Winds of Change are coming on a global scale - no longer to be viewed in a local context. When the Winds of Change blow in your meetings, the source of the wind will not have its origin from a specific geographic location, but will come from My very breath in heaven. I am blowing a new wind from My throne upon the earth and as it strikes the earth it will disperse in all directions to touch all nations.

There is a shift taking place. This shift will re-align those hearing My voice to prophesy in the direction of My coming changes. You will at first appear to be speaking into nothing, into the lesser places – to unrecognized locations, but this is part of the shift I will bring.

This Wind of Change will stir into existence new ministries and uncover new giftings in My people. The wind will blow away the layer of dust that lies atop My foundation. Clarity will come as the wind blows.

It will appear that an old foundation has been revealed. It is neither old nor new. My revelation is from timeless eternity. As the wind blows you will begin to understand what these last years have been about. I have not given you a full understanding of this last season because understanding is not what you have needed. I have covered what I am about to reveal until this time. These things will not be discovered with the mind. I will reveal these things to you by the breath of My Spirit. I have allowed this foundation to be covered, not to hide it, but to give it time to become seasoned and strong.

Hear Me, Church. My Wind is blowing. A shift is taking place. You are about to see the effects of My breath upon the earth. Just as I breathed life into Adam, and just as I breathed life into the Church at her birth, I am about to breath a new thing upon you. My Winds of Change are coming.

"The Believing Remnant" by Garris Elkins

God never leaves His people without a believing remnant.

We have all read about the children of Israel wandering in the wilderness for forty long years. I have personally processed this as a time when unbelief had to die off so a new generation, based in faith, could be birthed.

Just last week something occurred to me – faith-filled people like Moses, Joshua and Caleb were there in the midst of all the unbelief. They were the believing remnant in that unbelieving and complaining crowd that God used to deliver a nation. Numbers and resources don't impress God – faith does. It doesn't matter how small the believing remnant might be. Faith exercised anywhere releases life.

Some of you are in families, relationships and social groups where there is a overwhelming sense of faithlessness and unbelief. You feel alone and surrounded. Don't let the unbelief overcome your ability to believe. God has you there to give the good report of faith. You are in that circumstance to help others see with the eyes of God through the impossible maze of sorrow and tragedy into the supernatural outcome that God will eventually bring.

God always leaves a believing remnant in every circumstance of life because it is from this remnant that God will birth a new generation that won't have to take the same wilderness detour again. Your posture of faith in the midst of unbelief is an act of mercy from God. He leaves a remnant so the seed of life will stay alive long enough to give birth to a new season of hope and promise.

If you have faith in the midst of overwhelming unbelief you will be part of that great historical band of faith-walkers who changed history. You are a Hebrews chapter 11 kind of person. If you walk in faith, in the midst of unbelief, God will change the world through you because the supernatural solutions of God are drawn to faith.

"Five Degrees to Separation" by Garris Elkins

A few years ago a trivia game emerged called “Kevin Bacon and the Six Degrees of Separation.” The theory goes that in this game any actor could be linked through their acting roles to Kevin Bacon, a fellow actor, within six relationships. While this trivia game is fun for actors in Hollywood, there is a more serious game afoot amongst Christians - it is called, “Five Degrees to Separation.”

Over the last thirty years of shepherding people within the church, I have noticed a strange pattern develop in some relationships. There are five steps that people go through from living in relationship with each other to a disconnect and eventual separation. The progression takes place in this order : peace, suspicion, fear, judgment and then separation.

We start in a relationship at peace with each other. The peace brings with it hope and joy and the anticipation of a long and lasting relationship. Then something happens. The peace is disrupted and a tugging sense of suspicion about the other person begins to disrupt the equilibrium of peace. After the suspicion grows unchecked, fear sets in and we begin to self-protect from the fear of hurt or abandonment that our suspicion feeds upon. The fears motivated by what could happen become a judgement against the other person and once the judgement is in place we feel justified in separating ourselves from the person we used to live in peace with. Separation is the by-product of judgment.

How does this happen? I think it happens when you and I fail to protect the peace. We can protect the peace of God in our lives when we challenge the first knock of suspicion at the door of our relationships with other believers. When we hear that first suspicious knock we should go to the person we used to live in peace with and ask, “Why am I feeling this way?” Hell cannot breed in the light. When we bring a dark knock to the light of day, the one knocking will slink back into the shadows and not approach our door.

It doesn't take long to get from peace to separation. It can happen in a day. In fact, it can happen in minutes. Romans 12 tells us that, “as far as it is possible with us, be at peace with all people.” The “as far as possible” part means that in order for it to be possible we first have to do everything possible. That can mean rebuking the words of doubt in our mind that came from the dark side taking those thoughts captive, and walking them to the Cross where we put them to death. It can mean we get really serious about this and commit ourselves to bless someone each time we think of them, so the motivating spirit of separation will flee at our resistance. We have to be proactive and fight for the peace.

The test of whether or not we have lost peace with another believer can be found in the way we think about them and how we choose to relate to that person. There are some common attitudes that surround a work of separation:

We find that we no longer want to be around the person we are suspicious of.
We no longer live in honor with them and speak words of death, not life.
We begin to talk to others about them in secret – we make secret plans.
We entertain accusations without giving the other person a chance to respond.
We start to gather a following to agree with our suspicion and judgment.
We make plans to be gone from their life.

The writer of Hebrews tells us that Jesus broke down the barrier walls that separated us from God. When God's Spirit is present and we are walking in communion with Him, walls of separation come down. When we are not following God's lead walls of separation are built.

When I lived in Berlin, Germany, the remnants of the old Berlin Wall still lingered. That wall went up to separate people. In some cases the wall was built right through an apartment complex and divided life-long friends who had lived next door to each other for years. The wall was built unexpectedly one day and stayed in place for years. The day the Berlin Wall came down the city of Berlin, and the world celebrated.

The only way the walls between believers can come down is that we live in the open and honest environment of peace with each other and fight with all we have when the first knock of suspicion is heard upon our door. What is at risk is the peace of God. This peace is worth fighting for because once we experience it, we will never want to live without it. Where the Spirit of the Lord is there is peace and where there is peace, believers dwell in unity with one another.

"The Pivot Point" by Garris Elkins

Recently, I have been talking to believers about establishing their “pivot point”. A pivot point is that place where you put one of your feet conceptually and say, “This is my bottom line – I can't give this up."  There is not a lot that should occupy that spot.

The Early Church father, Clement, said, “In the essentials unity, in the non-essentials liberty and in all things love.” Clement was wise. He knew that as the Church developed, some people would start to get nervous if other believers did not live their faith in lock-step agreement with them.

I have always thought the essentials should be reserved for those things that had to do with the God and Jesus as the “way, the truth and the life and no one comes to the Father but through me” kind of things. I want my feet firmly planted in those essentials because without them we don't have a biblical Christianity.

The power of having a pivot point is that I can pivot towards something new without disconnecting with the essentials and closing the door on expanding my circle of fellowship. I can pivot towards the Presbyterians and bring something Presbyterian back into my pivot point. I can pivot towards a healing revival and bring back a new level of faith from a Latter Rain revivalist. I can pivot towards a Catholic and bring back a new respect and reverence for the Lord's Table. As one pivots, with their belief in the essentials firm and unshakeable, spending time with different kinds of Christians is actually a lot of fun.

"Expectation - The Power of Belief" by Garris Elkins

(This is part five in a five-part article about the “H.O.P.² E.” acronym taken from the book, “They Told Me Their Stories,” where the environment of faith was described that attracted God's healing power to that great revival. This article deals with the final letter in that acronym – Expectation.)


A good friend of mine is now in his late 60's. He grew up working on his family ranch and then he was called by God to walk away from that life and enter the ministry. He has been all over the world training leaders, planting churches and starting training institutes. He has served God faithfully, but has few of the physical possessions our culture equates with success.

My friend wrote something on his blog recently that really touched me. He said, “Sometimes I think, 'What would life have been like if I had spent the same years building a business as a missionary and pastor? Where would I be and what would I have to show for my work at this stage in my life.'  So much of what I have now is very intangible. And here's the scary thing about it – if I stop believing, I have nothing. The only way to have a sense of satisfaction and achievement about how I've spent the years of my life, is to believe- to believe that Jesus is real, that God called me to do what I have done, and eternity is what really matters.”

I was struck by the phrase, “ - if I stop believing, I have nothing.” I stopped to ask myself, where in my life am I living like this? Where is the raw belief and expectation that causes me to be truly dependent upon God? This isn't about where one lives on the economic scale – it is about where we stand in our belief. A rich man can say this just like a poor man. This believing posture is that place of faith where we choose to make God our only option.

When the Azusa Street Revival was taking place expectation was high. The people on Azusa Street were in the same place my friend found himself. They knew that unless God showed up nothing was going to happen. All they could do was believe. The saints on Azusa Street expected God to move when they gathered, and he did. They expected the blind to see; the lame to walk; an arm to grow out and the deaf to hear. Expectation changes the spiritual environment of our lives.

In 1906 people would travel into Los Angeles from all over the world for business and pleasure. Many would arrive by train. Historical records tell us that the glory of God flowed out from the meeting place on Azusa Street into the surrounding neighborhoods. People exiting the train would step off onto the arrival platform and fall down under the power of God. They had no idea that just a short distance away one of the greatest revivals in modern history was taking place. The glory of God was flooding into the city.

One young Hispanic boy lived near Azusa Street. He said each day he would look towards the building where the revival was happening. He knew the meetings had started when he saw flames of fire appear on the roof. These were the flames of God's Spirit – not a natural fire.

The City of Los Angeles was experiencing the glory of God because the Church was living in the expectation that God was at work in their midst. The hope of a city is the church living in expectation of God. Real hope for our cities is not found in a newly elected government official, a unique community program, or a well-crafted budget. The hope of a city is the Church rising in her calling and aligning herself with the will of God.

At the start of Matthew 11 Jesus had just instructed His disciples in the previous chapter to go out and preach the Kingdom by healing the sick, cleansing lepers, raising the dead and casting out demons. He told His disciples that this kind of ministry would bring them persecution. He told them to fear God – not man. He told them to take up their cross and follow Him.

Following these instructions, chapter 11 begins with Jesus saying,

“ When Jesus had finished giving these instructions to his twelve disciples, he went out to teach and preach in towns throughout the region. John the Baptist, who was in prison, heard about all the things the Messiah was doing. So he sent his disciples to ask Jesus, “Are you the Messiah we’ve been expecting, or should we keep looking for someone else?” Jesus told them, “Go back to John and tell him what you have heard and seen— the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised to life, and the Good News is being preached to the poor. And tell him, ‘God blesses those who do not turn away because of me.’”

John the Baptist was in prison awaiting his execution. In just a few days John's decapitated head would be presented as a macabre party favor for a dancer in the king's court. John is now wondering whether Jesus is the real thing. This is the same John who was there at the beginning of the Lord's ministry when the skies opened up and the Spirit descended upon Jesus and the very voice of God spoke from heaven. John saw the miraculous affirmation of Jesus, but now he is wondering. Places of imprisonment can do this to a person. The past miracles are not what comforts us in places like this. We need a real-time word from the Lord.

The answer that Jesus sent back, “the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised to life, and the Good News is being preached to the poor” is an answer with evidence. The evidence is what John needed to hear to confirm that Jesus was the Messiah.  

There are some questions we need to ask.

1. What can we expect from God?

We can expect that God will be with us. “I will not abandon you as orphans – I will come to you.” John 14:18.

No matter where we find ourselves, Jesus promises to come to us with the evidence of his love and presence, affirming us as his children.

2. We can expect to be empowered by God.

“You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere – in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” Acts 1:8

God promised to send his power to us. What God calls us to accomplish in his name cannot be done in human strength or strategy. Because God is faithful we can expect his supernatural power to be there when we need it because he made a promise that we would receive the power.

3. We can expect to do the greater works of Jesus Christ.

“I tell you the truth, anyone who believes in me will do the same works I have done, and even greater works, because I am going to be with the father.” John 14:12

The greater works come because Jesus has sent the Spirit back to the Church. Acts 2: 33 says, “Now he sits on the throne of highest honor in heaven, at God's right hand. And the Father, as he had promised, gave him the Holy Spirit to pour out upon us, just as you see and hear today.”

The Lord sits above all power structures, disease, world governments and demonic powers. We as the Church are now seated with Him in the heavenly realms. We live in two realms - here on earth and with him in eternity. As Jesus pours the Spirit upon the Church on earth the descending flow of God's presence carries with it the power to break the chains that imprison people.

4. We can expect that Jesus will prove himself true.

“During the forty days after his crucifixion, he appeared to the apostles from time to time, and he proved to them in many ways that he was actually alive. And he talked to them about the Kingdom of God.” Acts 1:3

Jesus comes to His Church, and to the unbelieving world, to prove he is alive. His proof is found in the answer Jesus sent back to John the Baptist. This proof is what Peter said when he spoke to the crowd on the Day of Pentecost, “just as you see and hear today.” When God shows up, what he does will be seen and heard. God doesn't show up as a voiceless theory or an invisible concept. He makes his presence known by bringing the evidence of heaven down upon the earth.

When we expect God to come, that expectant mindset will change everything. No longer is our life a holding pattern for heaven. We begin to believe now, in this present hour, the message Jesus sent back to John in prison. That message helped John refocus on the Lord and then die in peace.