A forest in an acorn: are there acorns in your church?
April 13, 2004
 |
Have you ever sat back and dreamed about “possibilities?” Take just a moment and consider this statement: “There’s a forest in every acorn.” I believe it is true.
God has placed inside every acorn all the life and DNA messages needed to grow and build one oak tree. With enough God-given time, sun, water and soil, a tree’s roots and limbs will produce thousands of acorns annually for a century or more.
Amazingly, every one of these future acorns also has in it all the life and DNA messages needed to produce even more trees. Add some years and a whole forest of oak trees will come forth. All this from what God has built into just one acorn.
Have you ever stopped to think about the Kingdom potential that exists inside every Christian believer? Just like an acorn, there are unlimited possibilities. I believe God wants to grow a forest out of the spiritual DNA He has planted in you. Do you see acorns in your church? They are everywhere. And they come with all sorts of backgrounds and ages. Let me reflect on just two that I have seen God grow.
On Sunday night, Feb. 1, I preached at New Bethel Baptist Church near Pocahontas. After the service a nice looking Philippine gentleman named Daniel Delacruz approached me.
“I was trained to share my faith at an Evangelism Explosion (EE) clinic in the early 1980’s in Columbus, Ohio,” he said. “The instructor was a man from Texas by the name of David Clippard. Is it possible that you two are related?”
With a big smile I replied, “No, we are not related, I am the man!”
We had sort of a family reunion right there. It was good to renew our friendship. Dan told me that since our first meeting in Columbus, his 20-plus-year pilgrimage has taken him on an exciting soul-winning journey. He had started EE soul-winning training in every church that he and his wife, Sherry, have been members of since then. Only in eternity will we ever know how many people he has been responsible for training and bringing to Christ.
Dan has a Ph.D. in chemistry and his company is sending him to communist China for a couple of years to develop their business and products there. Guess what Dan is going to do while he is in China? Wow! The fruit that has sprung up from the life of Dan and Sherry Delacruz is amazing to think about.
Another spiritual acorn I have seen God grow is a gentleman by the name of Robert Smith. He and his wife, Debbie, were saved less than 10 years ago. He owned a trucking company. Debbie had been involved in witchcraft. So when Jesus saved them they got a double dose of grace!
Robert is now pastor of the First Baptist Church, Coolidge, Ariz. It is his third church in which he has served as pastor! He planted the other two and is watching Jesus resurrect FBC Coolidge from the ashes. This spiritual acorn has sprouted forests all around him since he was saved.
Our dream is to see 100 new churches started in Missouri every year for the next 10 years. This means a hundred new pastors are needed. In addition, we need 100’s more to replace the pastors we lose every year to retirement, death and other reasons. Where will these new pastors, staff and lay leadership come from? It is going to come from YOUR church and the fruit of your life! Don’t overlook anyone. God doesn’t.
Isn’t it amazing how God can use nobodies and turn them into great heroes of the faith? Think of Noah, a drunk. Abraham was “too old.” Isaac was a daydreamer. Jacob was a liar. Leah was ugly. Joseph was abused. Moses couldn’t talk. Gideon was afraid. Sampson was a womanizer. Rahab was a prostitute. Jeremiah and Timothy were too young. David had an affair and was a murderer. Elijah was suicidal. Isaiah preached naked. Jonah ran from God. Naomi was a widow. Job went bankrupt. John the Baptist ate bugs. Peter denied Christ. The Disciples fell asleep while praying. Martha worried about everything. Mary Magdalene was demon possessed. The Samaritan woman was divorced — more than once. Zaccheus was too small. Paul was too religious. Timothy had an ulcer. And Lazarus was dead.
God is waiting to use your full potential. The entire spiritual DNA message necessary to build a forest out of the acorn of your life is already in you. Now grow! Plant and nurture others to maturity. No more excuses!