It was 1978.  I was 43 years old. I was standing on the platform in the end zone at Giant’s Stadium holding the microphone that had just been handed to me so I could introduce the Principal Speaker from our “Stream of Churches”.  

The crowd was huge… about 40,000 people (although I’ve heard numbers like 50,000 to 60,000 – always somebody out there wanting it to sound really really big)…   🙂

How do you explain the “rush” of that moment in the life of a wannabe big shot preacher… there is no explanation… so…what do you do Phil Wolff?  Do you keep it clean and just introduce the guy… or do you seize the moment… get clever… get the folks laughing so they will remember you?  Tell a story?  Scratch your ego a tad, maybe?

I am pleased to report that I kept it clean and gave a short, accurate introduction of the speaker,  for whom I still have the deepest respect.

I was convinced (back at that time) that the audible voice I heard was God’s encouragement for my handling the responsibility to introduce the speaker in an upright manner.  The voice said:  “It won’t be long before some young man will be introducing you to speak to 40,000 people”

It took me much too long a time to learn that God never says anything like that to anyone…  that is the kind of thing that Satan says to people who are trying to serve God… to fill them with pride and arrogance… to throw us off the track… to send us down a path the Lord has never called any of us to take.

That is only one illustration.  

The Lord will never tell us anything that will make us think more highly of ourselves than we ought to think.  My natural man loves to think God has called me to do great and wondrous things for Him.

Hmmmmmm…