I’ve heard of you.

If this is inappropriate, excuse me up front:

I’ve been at a couple of lecture programs this week. They can be fun, I love being with my preaching friends, but they also can get monotonous. You can almost predict a conversation before it happens.

I think one of the things I love the most is getting to tell people “the Spring Meadows story”. Yesterday I was with a couple of guys who I don’t know that well and a fellow came up who I did not know at all.

When we were introduced he said: “Oh, I’ve heard of you and wanted to meet you. I keep hearing about all the stuff happening in Spring Hill.” And with that he stood back, and I could tell he was giving me the “once over”. And. And. And, he wasn’t too impressed. Frankly, I’m not either, at least most of the time. I could almost hear him thinking. “Hmmm...well, I hear good stuff is going on in that church...but, obviously it’s not him.” Sorta makes me chuckle.

I love it when folks hear “our story” and are amazed...then they hear me speak and are bewildered. A short, overweight, not too interesting, or insightful or intelligent guy and they wonder “what?”

Please don’t think this to be false humility designed to garner responses about how I sell myself short, etc. Anyone who knows me well would doubt either false humility (in fact my ego bugs me constantly) or selling myself short.

I was thinking about this phenomena the other day and a verse came to mind:

“...we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us” (2Co 4:7).

Part of the reason God is allowing a “jar of clay” like me to be a part of His Work is just to prove how He can do anything with nothing. Most preachers I’ve heard go off on the jars of clay aspect. I think it is this second phrase that is worthy of “wow”. Why use a: prone to sin, drop the ball, struggles to control his appetite, unspectacular, speech impeded, mess up to grow a church like this one? One reason, so no one would ever be tempted to think it is because of ME! To show the surpassing power belongs to God! To prove it is His Work.

“Dear God, please keep my ego out of Your Purpose. Let me never believe it is about me or my ability. Amen.”

HE > i.