“Roy’s Three Questions” by Garris Elkins

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 on Kingdom preaching wrecked me for desiring anything less in my own ministry.

One day in one of our classes Roy said, “There are three questions you need to ask yourself as you prepare to teach God’s Word.  ‘What is God’s heart in the passage? What is the human response? What is the personal application?’”

I will never forget Roy’s words.  Over the years I have studied the disciplines of sermon preparation, like Hermeneutics and Homiletics, and have benefited from these studies, yet those three questions from Roy have had the strongest influence on my life.

Once, Roy gave each of us a copy of his sermon notes.  It was only one page in length.  I thought there would have been more. Embedded in that single page of notes where the answers to his three questions.  I still have those notes.

Today, almost 35 years later, I still teach those same three questions to the young men and women who attend our school of ministry in Medford, Oregon. Roy’s questions have been so impacting because they have caused me to dig deeper into the Word beyond just a commentary level of study. Roy’s questions made me press into the heart of God.  The questions have also made me apply the Word to my own life as I prepare a message each week.  This has been painful at times. I think this kind of sermon preparation is part of the continuing process of incarnation where the Word becomes flesh in the people of God. 

“A Missional Jesus” by Garris Elkins

I have been around the Church-world for many years. I have seen lots of buzzwords enter the vocabulary of the Church.  A current word in our ecclesiastical buzz-a-sphere is, “missional.”  It’s not a bad word – it’s a good word.  In using this word we are trying to get the Church to revisit her assignment and make sure she is tracking with God’s mission.  I have seen the health that has come from this conversation. As I look at our current definition, in some ways, it appears to be a three-legged stool trying to stand with a leg missing.

If you had a friend who had served God and who was about to die by execution, – a beheading to be precise, what would you tell them as they waited to die? What words would you use to assure them they had not served in vain or invested in the wrong things? In other words, what would you tell them so they could die in peace?

John the Baptist was in such a predicament.  He was arrested for telling a political figure that his lifestyle was perverted.  As he waited in prison he began to doubt.  He was sensing his days were numbered so he sent a delegation to Jesus to ask him if he was the One. 

Jesus sent back a profound answer,

“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.”  (Matthew 11: 4-5)

Of all the information Jesus could have sent back to John, so John could die in peace – this was it.  He didn’t include in his message a statement of things that could be done in human power and strength – good things like painting houses, raking leaves in your neighborhood or doing oil changes for single moms in the church parking lot.  Jesus sent back a functioning definition of a Spirit-empowered Church living in culture.

As I look at the early disciples, and the Church birthed on the Day of Pentecost, I see a missional church that was a supernatural cohort embedded in culture making God known in any and every way possible – good works and the supernatural included.

If you are reading this and you serve in the Church, I don’t mean to step on your toes.  I write this to simply have each of us revisit our definition of what it means to be missional and make sure it includes something of the supernatural dimension that Jesus shared with John along with all the other wonderful works we do in his name.  These elements work together, not in exclusion of each other.

If we don’t revisit and expand our current definition of missional to include something supernatural, we will end up producing a ministry of good works that our local service club could do without Jesus and that would not be a message that would have brought John much peace as he waited in prison.

2015: A Coming Transition in Leadership – Living Waters Church, Medford, Oregon

(The following letter was given to the congregation of Living Waters Church in Medford, Oregon, on Sunday, November 11, 2012, announcing a coming change in pastoral leadership that will take place in 2015.)
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In the fall of 1998 Jan and I were in Athens, Greece.  Early one morning the Lord awakened me and downloaded a word about our future, showing me a twenty-year timeline. The first five years of the timeline revealed that Jan and I would participate in building and rebuilding something. In the middle 10 years, we would see the reason why God had sent us to that assignment. During the last 5 years of the timeline, which will begin in 2015, we would enter a time of transition.

At that time, I thought the timeline was for our next assignment in Europe. In 1999, through a set of God-ordained steps, we found ourselves being offered the pastorate of this wonderful church.  From the very start we have felt God’s hand upon this assignment.

One of the first things the Lord said to me upon our arrival in Medford was, “Start giving this away.” From the start, I knew that in order to give away ministry we would need to function as a team. While I am responsible to lead the church, the pastoral team has always been released to function in their unique and individual callings. God’s plan has been for all of us to come alongside one another as a team, not to function in a top-down structure where the man on top calls all the shots all of the time.

Twelve years ago, I brought Ryan Rhoden on as a part-time Youth Pastor and a short while later he became full-time.  About eight years ago, Ryan came to me with a wonderful vision to develop a school of ministry for young men and women called Anthem. Since that time Anthem has become a vital part of the life of Living Waters.

As I watched Ryan’s leadership skills develop, and saw both Ryan and Kate’s integrity and passion for God, their love for this church and the community, it became obvious God was preparing and commissioning Ryan and Kate to someday lead Living Waters.  This year I released Ryan into a new and increased assignment as Lead Pastor where he functions in an executive role of leadership, handling the daily administrative tasks of the church.

Most church structures are built vertically.  In this kind of structure change only happens when the leader on top either dies or falls off. These situations can be crippling for the potential growth and life of a local church. As we look at church history, all five gifts of Apostle, Prophet, Evangelist, Pastor and Teacher, are needed to have a strong, healthy and functioning church. 

We have prayerfully desired to rely on God to direct us into the future, raising up and releasing a strong and gifted team who will “equip the saints” to do the same.  We are on a continuum of life expecting increase and change, a sign of transformation and good fruit.

Two years from now, in January of 2015, Ryan and Kate Rhoden will assume the Senior Pastor assignment at Living Waters. At that time we will enter the last 5-year phase of our ministry timeline. After Ryan assumes his new role, Jan and I will continue to function as part of the pastoral team, but we will be released to do other things that come at this stage of life and ministry.

Ryan and I have been talking about this transition for the last 2 years.  Ryan once said, “I don’t want to do this without you.”  I replied, “I don’t want to do this without you, either.” All of us are being invited to enter this season together as a church family, serving alongside each other with love and honor.

The end of the 20-year timeline will come during my 69^th year, 7 years from now. At that time God could give us a new assignment.  Whatever that new assignment may be, this valley is our home and this church is our family. It has been and will continue to be a joy and great honor to be part of what God is doing in the life of Living Waters.

“The Push of God has Begun” by Garris Elkins

Recently, I took part in a conference with people attending from all around the world. The worship was powerful.  During one of the morning worship sessions the Lord began revealing to me a developing image of a father’s heart. I saw a father gently pushing one of his children out onto a stage where the child was about to take part in a school play.  He had never been on this stage before. The child began to resist the Father’s gentle push. He was afraid of being abandoned and left alone in front of the audience.

As this image developed I realized this was a word for the Church.  It was a picture of God who was beginning to propel his people out onto the world stage by the breath of his Spirit. Some who are feeling his push are resisting.  They have been given promises in the past that have not yet been fulfilled and they are responding to God out of disappointment and fatigue. 

As this image was taking place, I heard the Lord say,

“I am beginning to push my people into a new season upon the world stage. This push will be a work of my Spirit needed to overcome a reluctance that has developed in your hearts. I will never call you to a new place where I would ever leave you alone and without power.  As I told my servant Joshua, I tell you today, ‘I will never leave you or forsake you.’ The stage upon which I am now positioning you is a place complete with everything you will need to accomplish my will.  My presence will be your single resource in this new place. Bring nothing with you. I want your trust to be placed in my presence alone, not in your performance or what has worked for you in the past. I will stand with you in this new place to help you experience the fullness of what I have called you to do in my name.  I have begun a good work in you and this push of my Spirit is to move you to a new place where you will stand confident until my good work is completed in you.”

This is a season of countdown for the drawing of a curtain where things God has promised are about to be seen.  Many have chosen to remain standing in the wings of God’s miraculous stage instead of stepping out onto this visible platform of faith.  It has been such a long time that some have forgotten why they are waiting. They have forgotten the words of their part in God’s play. They don’t remember their cue.  The push of God’s Spirit is coming to launch them out onto God’s stage for a demonstration of His love and power as the curtain of time is pulled back.

“The Endorsement of God” by Garris Elkins

Recently, I was channel surfing and came upon the end of a NASCAR race.  The winning driver crossed the finish line and took his victory lap.  After the victory lap he pulled into the Winner’s Circle.  What happened next was interesting.

Once his car came to a stop he climbed out of the driver’s side window and sat atop his car.  His vehicle was covered with advertisements and company logos.  Every square inch of the car was covered with product endorsements for things like sports drinks, car insurance, home refinancing companies and motor oil. The car was a piece of rolling advertising artwork that brought in huge income paid by the advertisers.

As I continued to watch the victory celebration, one of the driver’s assistants ran up to him with a baseball hat that had a company logo on the front of the cap.  As soon as his hat was on his head the assistant handed the driver a can of some kind of sports drink. 

You could tell the driver was schooled about camera presence because he kept the drink close to his face. The products were now in the hand of “a winner.” The not-so-subtle message was that if you used these products and drank this drink you could also be “a winner.”  All of this was taking place as the pit crew was shaking and squirting champagne all over the driver and anyone else within twenty feet.  It was a joyous moment, this endorsement party in the Winner’s Circle.

After I moved on and channel surfed my way to a news show, I thought of where I had recently read the word, “endorsed”, in the Bible.  It was in Acts 2 where Peter was trying to explain what happened on the Day of Pentecost to an amazed crowd of people who just saw God do something no human words could adequately explain.

Peter said, “People of Israel, listen! God publicly endorsed Jesus the Nazarene by doing powerful miracles, wonders, and signs through him, as you well know.” (Acts 2:22)

This verse followed Peter quoting the prophecy from Joel 2 where God promised to pour out His Spirit on the Church allowing us to do things not in our natural abilities to accomplish. Joel prophesied a coming endorsement for the Church that God was in our midst.

As I read this verse, I realized those of us in the church in Western cultures need to be careful when we pull into our personal Winner’s Circle of life and ministry. We need to be careful we are endorsing things that required God to show up and do something beyond our best plans and programs. 

We cannot accomplish the task Jesus gave us as His Church without the manifestation of His power in our cities. This is the endorsement that He is in our midst. The frontiers of darkness are not breached by the kindest of our intentions or by the most noble of our good works.

This kind of an endorsement means that we will have to redefine the Winner’s Circle.  This needs to be a place where there is only one product being endorsed – the supernatural works of God.  Without the manifestation of this kind of victory our cities will remain untouched by the love and power of God.

“The Hush, a Can of Beer and an Answered Prayer” by Garris Elkins

I live in an area surrounded by beautiful mountains.  This area used to be part of the old Oregon Territory that was comprised of the states of Oregon, Washington, Idaho and bits of Montana and Wyoming.  Before statehood, if someone was “going to Oregon”, they would have been defining a very large piece of real estate. The Oregon Territory began to fragment as newly formed states emerged in the region in the 1800’s.

To the west and south of our home are the Siskiyou Mountains.  These mountains straddle the Oregon-California border.  The pioneers called them the Boundary Mountains because they separated the Spanish Empire of Old California from the Oregon Territory.

From time-to-time I like to get out and hike in the Siskiyou Mountains.  On these hikes I am looking for what I call, “The Hush.”  The Hush is a deep pocket of forest where the sounds of civilization cannot reach.  You find these quiet places as you hike along and then all of a sudden the mufflers of silence surround your ears and you are there – in The Hush. 

When I walk into these quiet places I always stop and listen to the nothingness.  These places soften and restore those edgy parts of my life created by the noise of culture.

On one particular hike in late spring I was hiking above Applegate Lake.  The roads were still impassable by the remaining drifts of snow.  Some of these drifts were a few feet deep and getting across them took some effort. 

These drifts lingered into early summer under the shadows cast by tall trees.  Where the sun was able to penetrate the forest, its warmth would melt away the snow revealing fresh moist soil now visible after a long buried winter.

For about an hour, I had been working my way along an abandoned logging road pressing through the drifts of snow.  I had worked up a good sweat.  On these hikes, I go prepared with a backpack containing water, food and some basic survival gear.

As I rounded a bend in the road, I stopped and stood in the bright sunlight. It was almost midday.  The sun was warming the back of my shirt.  I felt really good to simply stand there.  Then I realized I was standing in “The Hush.”  As my body drew in the warmth of the sun through my sweat-laden skin, I also took in the therapeutic blessing that comes from experiencing the absence of sound.  I felt so good to be there and simply be aware of the moment I was experiencing.

I uttered one of those conversational prayers that resemble a continuing fragment of an on-going dialogue with your Maker. Out loud in a resting exhale, I said, “Lord, it sure would be nice to have a cold beer.” To some this might sound like a strange request from a pastor, but I prayed it and that is the fact.

As soon as I voiced my desire, I turned my head and looked at the snow bank ahead of me.  What happened next runs the risk of sounding made up, but you will have to trust me on this one – there in the snow bank was a single, unopened, can of beer.  I thought someone was playing a joke on me until I reached down and realized it was not a piece of litter, but a full can. All I can figure out was that someone had dropped the can last winter and there it stayed until it was uncovered in the melting snow.

As I held the can of beer in my hand, I looked up through the top of the trees and let out a huge laugh that broke the silence of The Hush. I said, “God, you are amazing.”  It was time to eat, so I sat down and pulled out my lunch and popped open the can of beer.  I have eaten in some fine dining establishments in my life, but this was one of the best. I was feeling really thankful.

I have some dear friends that would probably think the devil put the can of beer there in the snow bank to try to entice me to drunkenness.  Since that lunch, I have thought about those dear souls. If they ever bring it up, I would probably say if the devil wanted me drunk he should have left a half case of beer in the snow bank instead of that single can.

As I look back on that moment, I think the can of beer was a gift.  The God we serve is the same God Who turned the water into wine at a wedding 2,000 years ago. He is probably OK with letting one of his sons connect with a cold beer in the snow.

After lunch, I crushed the can and packed it out.  That event happened almost ten years ago and it still amazes me. As the years go by, I find myself more at ease with this Almighty God Who is revealing Himself to me as a Father Who waits in the hushed places to answer my prayers in the most unusual ways.

“Man Made Formulas of Faith” by Garris Elkins

Today, there are many formulas floating around the American Church promising success. If you do this – that will happen. They don’t require much faith – you simply follow the formula and you will arrive at your spiritual Disneyland.

Most of these so-called formulas perpetuate a mindset that has crippled the effectiveness of the Western Church. Here are a few of these formulas:

“You need to read in order to lead.”

The need to read in order to be an effective leader in the Church is a phrase that has surfaced in our educationally empowered Western culture.  I don’t mean to say that reading is a bad thing.  It is simply overrated.

This formula doesn’t hold water in the interior of China where a leader may not own a book and may only possess only a small fragment of the Bible. If a phrase doesn’t work in the outback of Africa or the interior of China maybe we should cull it from our Western church vocabulary.

I have always thought the best leaders led from a place of revelation.  Maybe that is why so many leaders in the undeveloped parts of the globe are now leading in the power of the Spirit instead of the published opinions from someone in a developed nation.

“If you build it, they will come.”

Just before the Recession hit, faithful pastors I know bought into this formula and led their churches into building programs that could not be paid for once the bottom of our economy fell out.   It doesn’t take faith to get a bank loan.  All you need is the good credit that came when the financial bubble was in full bloom.

People will only come to what we construct if God is the One calling them.  He is not calling those in our care to come and pay for our presumption. He is not impressed with the brick and mortar facilities we build in His name.

“Dress for success.”

When I lived in a developing nation, I remember how poor the people were.  They had two changes of clothing.  One set was literally rags worn to work the fields during the week and the other was a polyester suit from the 1970’s pulled from a “missionary barrel” to wear to church on Sunday. These leaders were wildly successful in God’s eyes, but not in a culture where we have a great deal of discretionary income we can devote to the changing tastes of personal attire.

“Do things decently and in order.” 

This formula has led some to create controlled church environments that are structured around a fear that warns us things could somehow get out of hand.  A wise theologian once told me when Paul used the words, “decency and in order”, those words actually mean, “What is appropriate.”

Paul was not issuing a prudish prohibition.  What was decent about Jesus smearing spit-laced mud in a blind man’s eye? What was orderly about His tipping over tables in the Temple? What made sense when He said to eat His flesh and drink His blood?  Jesus was not tidy.  What is appropriate is our obedience to whatever God asks us to do in the moment, no matter who likes it or not.

The danger with these kinds of statements is for some they have actually become formulas for success in life and ministry. Faith can never be reduced to a formula that guarantees a predictable outcome.  Faith has us step into dark and undefined places where we have never stepped before. Faith produces actions that are not always figured out before we take the step. Simplistic formulas cause us to invest in things attainable only by our natural logic and human understanding.

These formulas produce a way of thinking that infers “it” can only happen along my narrow lines of definition.  Our formulas also have a by-product - they begin to exclude people from our lives who do life and ministry different from us.  Our formulas become the knives we use to amputate parts of Christ’s body that don’t fit into our equation.

Ephesians 3:20, is the wrecking ball used to demolish these manmade formulas.

“Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.”

Whenever I read this verse, I am reminded of those times I have failed God and His people by trying to create formulas through which I would evaluate them or include them in what I perceived God was doing. I have had to repent of this a few times over the years.

God is at work outside and beyond our formulas in those places that require a raw exercise of faith. This can have us looking like we don’t fit anyone’s formula.  It is in these times that God does His most profound work apart from our manmade attempts to formulize how He accomplishes His will.