ZIONSVILLE, Ind. (BP)–When Jon Elliff preached on faith from the first chapter of James, he not only had the Word of God to stand on but also a newfound measure of experience.
The 22-year-old son of Southern Baptist Convention President Tom Elliff was serving a brief interim pastorate at New Life Fellowship Baptist Church, Zionsville, Ind., when he shared the following verses on Sunday, Feb. 22:
“If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord” (James 1:5-7).
Elliff, a December graduate of Oklahoma Baptist University, likes to share how he and his friends used to discuss the types of churches they would like to start and the ministries they would like to initiate. Elliff’s dream: to start a church and lead it to growth and maturity.
The passage Elliff read in Zionsville would certainly indicate God is capable of using a young man to develop a church. But knowing it to be true and seeing it happen are two different things.
Just a few months ago, as Elliff was nearing college graduation, he had never given any thought to preaching in Indiana.
“I expected to go to Southwestern (Baptist Theological Seminary) in Fort Worth (Texas),” Elliff said. “I had friends there and thought that’s where I’d end up. But I left the door open to the Lord’s leadership.”
A feeling of not knowing for sure, however, prompted Elliff to make a trip to Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky.
“On the plane to Louisville, I began searching the Scripture and praying for a definite ‘yes’ or ‘no’ from God,” Elliff said. “It didn’t bother me to leave home. I honestly wanted to know God’s will.”
He got his answer: “Yes.” Elliff came away from Southern knowing God was leading him to Louisville and not much else, not where he would live or if he would be able to find a job.
Elliff nevertheless loaded his grey 1988 Nissan pickup, covered his belongings with a tarp and, not knowing the specifics concerning his move, set out on a trip from Del City, Okla., to Louisville that would add considerable mileage to the 146,000 on his odometer.
Soon after arriving in Louisville, God began to show him the answers to his questions on tuition, jobs and living quarters.
Ruth Klostermann, a lady who describes herself as “72 years young,” offered Elliff an upstairs room in her house. “When I asked her how much she would charge in rent she said, ‘Just whatever you can afford.'”
God provided.
Later in the week Elliff went to a Louisville mall to pick up a few things and decided to pick up job applications as well. “Most of the places had no work available,” Elliff said. But a manager at a men’s clothing store became immediately interested in Jon upon checking his application and scheduled an interview on the spot, during which Elliff said he could not work in the mornings or the weekends.
Good thing. The manager needed someone to work weekday evenings only.
Again, God provided.
With these matters laid to rest, Elliff could begin to focus on his school work and prepare for his ministry. He expected to go to school and perhaps pastor a small church near Louisville. He anticipated returning to Oklahoma to pastor and gain experience toward one day fulfilling his dream of starting a church.
But then God provided.
While settling into his new home and new job, Elliff received a telephone call from Carrol Fowler, director of missions for the State Convention of Baptists in Indiana.
“You want to start a church?” Fowler wanted to know. After praying about it, Elliff agreed.
“I had the feeling he’d fit better in a new work than he would in an existing one,” Fowler said of Elliff. “He is a dedicated young man, he has vision, he has a great background, and I believe God sent him here.”
Fowler introduced Elliff to the community of Center Grove just south of Indianapolis. It’s a nice neighborhood with good schools but no Southern Baptist church. Fowler wanted to change that and now Elliff has set out to do it.
“One thing that is necessary is to soak the area with prayer,” Elliff said. The pair began doing prayerwalks around the school and through the community. Then Elliff began to survey. He found most people either belonged to another church or had no interest whatsoever.
“It was frustrating,” Elliff said. “Then I asked God for encouragement. God showed me that I had been going to all these homes with lost people in them and hadn’t once shared the gospel. So I added a question to the end of my survey, ‘If you were to die tonight, do you know for certain that you would go to heaven?'”
The results began to change immediately. People started showing interest. Elliff was encouraged and began dusting off the ideas he had first considered in college while dreaming of starting a church.
“I envision a church with a spider web of ministries,” he said. “If a new person comes in to our church and can’t find a place of ministry in what we already have, then we’ll create a new ministry.
“I imagine a place that is always looking for a new way to evangelize, one that uses every resource for reaching the world for Christ.”
Did Elliff ever expect he would begin this soon?
“Never,” he said. “Never. But it’s exactly what I’ve dreamed of, to start a church. I figured it would happen 20 or 30 years down the road but God has said ‘now.'”
Which brings us back to young Elliff’s sermon at New Life Fellowship Baptist Church. Concerning God’s ability to provide for those who have faith that he will do so, it is important to understand the extent of God’s ability.
“Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think,” Elliff preached from Ephesians, “according to the power that worketh in us.”
Elliff kept referring to one part of that passage, “… above all that we ask or think …,” perhaps because he has seen that portion of God’s Word in action.
