This is the Truth Network. He has gone and got ordained into Christian ministry. Who am I talking about? I'm talking about my good friend, evangelist, athlete, man of God, Doug Elks. Doug, congratulations, brother.
You are an ordained Christian minister. Of course, you've been ministering a lot longer than before it came official, haven't you, brother? And Sue, thank you so much. Glory to God. I'm humbled and just so thankful for Pastor J.D.
Greer at the Summit Church and just the blessing it is to be a part of the body of Christ there. And it's just an exciting time, and I just want to continue to serve Jesus, man. That's my only goal. And I'm just humbled that we get to do it every single day that God gives us.
Well, God's put you on this planet, Doug, to reach people for Christ, young and old. People that are, you know, broken down and out, people that are. Religious and think they have it all together, but they're empty on the inside. And you have been on a whirlwind of preaching recently. Can you get us caught up, brother, from Red Rocks to?
The coast to all over to other countries to what what's give us the update of where Doug Elks has been preaching. Tell us what God has done. What's the Lord doing in the hearts of people? Take our people like on a panoramic view of everything God's been doing. Stu, it's been incredible, man.
Truly, I'm just humbled every day that we get to wake up and do this work. And, you know, God has been gracious to open up doors for the gospel all over the country. We've been blessed to partner with an incredible ministry and organization called K-Love. Many people are familiar with K-Love and the work they do in the Christian space, but we were fortunate to get to preach at the Greek in Los Angeles where we saw around 6,000 people gather together to worship. But we also saw, Stu, around 700 people respond to the gospel that night, which was unbelievable and truly exciting to see what God has done, what God did there.
And then a few weeks later, man, this past week, we had the great privilege of preaching the good news of Jesus Christ at Red Rocks for two nights in a row, where we saw an incredible lineup of artists that have a heart for the Lord. And we came together in partnership with them and K-Love to proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord. And we saw a great deal respond as well.
So, man, I'm just, I'm encouraged. My faith has been built. And I know at the end of the day, all that matters is that Jesus Christ is exalted and that we get to come to know the truth. And the truth will. Set us free.
I love it. I love it. Doug Elks. My friend, you've challenged me in Challenge me, as long as I've known you, to be bold about sharing Christ, to seize every opportunity. You and I were at a high-level basketball academy not too long ago.
And we're shooting the bull and hanging out and dropping shots and getting ready for some pretty intense competition. I'm like, where's Doug? And I look over, and you're sharing Christ with some NBA guy. It's like, you're not selfieing and Google eyeing these guys. You're sharing the Lord with them.
But, Doug, why is it we need to look at every opportunity? Every person, every person is special to God. Open door is a door for the gospel. Can you help us give us ignite a little urgency in us? Will you, brother?
You're so encouraging on this area. Man, I'm honored by that. Thank you for that encouragement, Stu. And truthfully, you know, as I study the gospels and I look at the life of Jesus, you know, you see so many incredible characteristics about our Savior. But one of the ones that's been really sticking out to me lately is Jesus had compassion for the lost.
And I think it's great to be fired up. I think it's great to know the scriptures. I think it's great to want to go see a lot of people come to Christ, of course. But man, one thing I've been praying, Stu, is that God would continue to break my heart for the lost and give me deep compassion for people that do not know Jesus. And I believe the Lord has graciously been answering that prayer.
And it's an opportunity every single day for every person listening. When we walk outside of our doors, and sometimes even in our doors, in our own homes, there are people that need to come to Christ. And it's just like, man, Lord, help me view that person the way that you do. And I think that's helped me a lot to just have a loving compassion for the lost. And ultimately, man, I'll tell you, when we tell someone the good news about Jesus, I think it's the most loving thing that we can do.
It's very loving to tell someone the truth. And it's a true that God loves them. Doug, you're very talented. I've seen you hit NBA 3s. I've only heard, and I've seen.
Video shots of you run in like these 50-mile marathons, just crazy stuff all over the world. You did the one, you did the big Jerusalem one, but. You know, you're able to connect with these young people, but one thing that a friend of mine who was at the Red Rocks with you told me, he said, you know, Stu, I thought this would be a, you know, this young. you know, crack a bunch of jokes and be super relatable, but he said Doug was very relatable, but he said, Doug just gave him the gospel. Doug just spoke very directly.
Doug, there is a very real sense that That are a whole generation is careening recklessly to go over a cliff. And to go into a fiery hell if they don't have Christ. Can you share a little bit about the urgency and the message God put on you when you shared this massive? Massive amphitheater in Colorado Springs. Kind of take us into that message and.
How they responded to that. Absolutely. You know, I've been very fortunate. I know we've discussed this on the show before, but I've been very, very fortunate to begin to travel and spend time learning from the Graham family. And Billy Graham's been, without a doubt, the greatest inspiration of my life from a ministry standpoint.
And I have the great privilege of learning and serving under Will Graham, his grandson. And one thing that's very common in the Graham family and the way they've been called to preach is they preach the Bible. They preach God's word. And that's where people's faith will be built. And so, yes, it's great to tell a story.
Yes, it's great to give an illustration to help someone understand something. Jesus did that. But ultimately, the greatest thing I believe we can do is share the very truth of God's word because God's word is alive and active, sharp as in a double-edged sword and will cut right to the heart. And there's power in God's word. And so I want to say where the power is.
And so, you know, the night one of Red Rocks, I preached a very simple message on John 3:16 about God's love. And the second night, I preached on Matthew 16, where it talks about Jesus confess or Jesus asking the disciples, who do you say that I am? And truly, that's the most important question. Have to answer in this life is who is Jesus Christ to us? Doug, take us out of here with a verse, maybe a challenge.
The old adage, you know. Every believer is a missionary. Every child of God is a witness. You know, I think about the great quote, another pastor friend of mine always says, he says, We're not called, we're called to be fishers of men, not keepers of the aquarium. Can you challenge us?
On stepping up and sharing that gospel more and. Also on how everyone listening, if they know Christ. If every believer would just share their faith. What kind of revival would break out, brother, in this world? It would be truly incredible, man.
And I just want to encourage the person listening that God loves you, He sees you. And if you've come to Christ and by His grace, then you have been brought on the side of the winning team, and you've been brought on the side to go and join in the force and to share the good news and to fight the good fight. And I'll give you a scripture, Stu. This is in 1 Thessalonians chapter 2, verse 4. I've been studying 1 Thessalonians with the man that disciples me, trainer, and he's been such a blessing to my life.
But we actually went over this verse today, and it says this: but just As we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not to please man, but to please God who tests our hearts. And it's such an encouraging scripture that, man, we've been approved by God. We've been entrusted. When you think about the word entrusted, it's like, man, what a responsibility, what an honor that God would allow us to carry the message of the gospel and steward it well and take it to the ends of the earth. And that starts with the person that's right in front of you.
And at the end of the day, man, we're not doing any of this to please man. One day we're not going to stand before man. We're going to stand before God. And God is the one who's testing our hearts and God wants to use us. And so I just want to challenge and encourage the person listening.
God loves you. He wants to use you. And it will be for his glory. And it will be eternal work for his glory. Such a good word.
Moms and dads, grandmoms and grandpops. I know you're weary of and leery of social media. But when I turned on the Instagram or I turned on the YouTube or I turn on even Even TikTok, of all things, I see Doug Elks, and it's just like a breath of fresh air. Amid a tsunami of nonsense and all kinds of bad stuff. Doug, what do you say to the folks out there about how they can find you, how their youngsters can hear your messages?
Of course, we love showcasing you on the Truth Network. We're going to do that more with your content. It's so rich, but how. How can folks find you and even support your ministry, man, just to send you a little donation to help you continue spreading the gospel? Stu, I appreciate it, man.
Every prayer means the world to us, people that feel led and called to support us as well. It's so helpful because at the end of the day, we just want to continue on in this work and travel the world and preach this good news of Jesus Christ. And, you know, my handles on Instagram are the same on every platform. It's at Doug Elks, D-O-U-G-E-L-K-S. And our website's very straightforward.
It's dougelks.com. And that's where people can go to support and join in the force and the fight with us. And it's an honor, man. We're so grateful. And we pray God keeps opening up doors for the gospel because we just want to serve and we want to do it all together.
Well, you cited 1 Thessalonians chapter 2. Give us a verse that. Maybe it was real close to your heart as you were just ordained for Christian ministry, which is a real neat milestone. You're having all these godly men praying over you. Kind of being sent out and having a also having a local church behind you.
That's so important, folks. We're not Lone Ranger Christians, we're not just. Cavalier. We have a, we're accountable and we're to have authority. Around us to support us, to hold us, to hold us accountable, to encourage us, to pray for us.
Doug, what's a verse that? is really an ordination verse.
Now that you are the Reverend Doug Elks, okay, give us a scripture as we get out of here that's maybe been near to your heart in that process that maybe even came up during the ceremony. Absolutely, man. You know, one of the things that the elders and the pastors that someone asked me to do during the moment I got to share during my ordination was they wanted me to share my testimony. And I think it's important to testify to the good news of God's grace and how he's changed your life. But I always like to refer back to the greater testimony, and that's the testimony of God.
And if you refer to 1 John chapter 5, and you can kind of go back and look through verses 9 through 13, you'll recognize that the testimony of God is that He gave us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. And whoever has the Son has life, and whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. And it's quite simple that we can know that when we know Jesus Christ, we have life, and that's found in verse 11 and 12. And I'm just so encouraged by that.
So I want everyone to be encouraged to share their testimony, share what God has done in your life, but ultimately point everything back to Jesus, which is the greatest testimony of God's love. Should come up.
