Roots And Branches

Day 111 (Written Sunday April 1) ~ The strength and health of a tree does not lie in its trunk, but in its roots. The roots anchor the tree, they feed the tree and they water the tree. Physically, the roots of my family tree are sunk deeply into the ground in Giles County, Tennessee. The first of my ancestors moved to what is now Lynnville, Tennessee before Tennessee was even a state. Since that time, my family has called Giles County home. Spiritually, the roots of my spiritual family tree grow under the Robertson Fork Church of Christ.
Robertson Fork was the first church of Christ in Giles County. It was originally a Baptist church, but over the course of a decade, “converted itself” so to speak. By the end of the 1830’s, they had become the Robertson Fork Church of Christ. My great, great, great, great grandfather was a member there when it was a Baptist church was baptized for the remission of his sins during the transition to the church of Christ. Over a 170 years later, my two sons mark the 9th consecutive generation of his descendant to become a Christian. The decision made by one man, so very long ago, had a domino effect that hasn’t stopped yet.
This morning I told this story to the congregation at the Robertson Fork Church of Christ during Bible class. My grandmother was baptized at that church too, when she was about 14 years old. I recently learned that one of my best friends (Jeremy James, who I grew up with at East Hill and graduated with, who preaches in Arlington, Tennessee at the church I preached for while a student at the Memphis School of Preaching) grandfather, actually baptized my grandmother. Although none of our family is still a member at Robertson Fork, our roots will always be there. And today I asked them to help support me as I try to spread out branches all over the world. Every Latin American that we baptize into Christ will be a new branch in our spiritual family tree. There will be Christians throughout Central and South America who will be supported, fed and watered by the roots that reach all the way back to Giles County, Tennessee.