Our destiny is directly tied to the
people in our lives. Based on Proverbs
13:20, there is an old adage that says,
“Show me your friends, and I will show
you your destiny.” We are designed
for God, and we are also designed
to need other people. Nobody be-
comes successful by himself or her-
self; all of us need the right people to
launch us into our destinies.
I believe that it is extremely import-
ant to discover our destiny. Paul says,
“I have fought the good fight, I have
finished the course, I have kept the
faith; in the future there is laid up for
me the crown of righteousness, which
the Lord, the righteous Judge, will
award me on that day…” (2 Timothy
4:7-8). God has given us specific as-
signments to complete in our lifetimes.
I did not have a vision for my life
when I was a broken young man. The
influence of godly people in my life
infused me with vision to be a world
changer. Kathy and I were saved
when I was 18 and she was 15 years
old. A few years later we moved up
to the Trinity Alps in northern Califor-
nia. We lived there a year without the
benefit of having a spiritual father
and mother living alongside us. I was
starving to be nurtured and felt lost. I
began to cry out for God to send me
a father.
I was working as a mechanic in a
repair shop at the time. One day while
I was lying on a creeper underneath a
green Jeep Wagoneer the Lord spoke
to me saying, “The man who owns this
Jeep will be your father.” I had been
praying fervently that day about the
void in my life, but I didn’t even know
the man who owned the Jeep.
When the customer came in to
pick up his vehicle I collected his mon-
ey and explained the work order to
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him. I was so nervous that I could feel
my heartbeat in my throat. He was
about twenty years older than me
and seemed very warm and loving. I
accompanied him to his car, still trying
to gather the courage to tell him what
God had said to me and hoping I
wouldn’t sound like a crazy person! He
got in the Jeep and rolled down his
window as I stumbled over my words.
Finally I blurted out, “God told me
that the man who owned this Jeep
would be my spiritual father!” (I was
choking back tears.) How awkward is
that?! To my great surprise he turned
off the engine and opened the door
of his truck. He stood up, wrapped his
arms around me and said, “I would
be honored to be your father!” This
man’s name is Bill Derryberry and he
has been my mentor for more than
40 years. His love and discipline have
changed my life. I am forever indebt-
ed to him! The love that Bill and I have
for each other has resulted in many
people being born into the Kingdom
through both Bill’s encouragement
in my own life and the contagious
nature of love when it is expressed
through someone.
A CALL TO FAMILY
We in the Church have given birth
to children and then left them father-
less and trying to survive on their own.
Jesus never intended for us to make
Christians but rather to make disciples.
The word disciple means “learner.”
The very nature of a disciple is that he
needs someone to teach him.
When the Church of Jesus be-
comes a family instead of a group
that gathers in a building, people
won’t just come to church, they will
become the church. It will no longer