I often laugh when I think about my life. I come from an unchurched family. Never went to church or prayed as a family. We never talked about Jesus. And I grew up as a compulsive stutterer. And now I’m a lead pastor, conference speaker for the last decade, I’ve worked for Fox TV in Charlotte, ESPN, and now I have a radio spot called Just Marinating that reaches 350,000 people per week.
God has done all this through a compulsive stutter. God takes the foolish things of this world to display His glory. I can take no credit for how God communicates through me. People often ask me how I did stop stuttering. And like a nine year-old in Sunday school class I say, “Jesus.”
Let me explain. When I first heard the Gospel, I was blown away that God loved me so much that He was executed in my place on the cross for my sin.Jesus won my heart at the cross! So upward I began to love Him. Then something began to happen inward.
For years, my self-image was so low. I had no confidence based on the pain of my past and the circumstances of my life. So, when people talked to me, I believed what I had to say was not important. But Jesus give me new spiritual glasses to see myself.
I reasoned, “If Jesus loved me enough to die for me, then I must be valuable. And my value was not determined by my actions, but by His perfect life on my behalf, His death on the cross in my place for my sin, and His resurrection.”
In short, I began to love being Dewey because Jesus loved Dewey. So inwardly, I began to love myself. This love was a humility creating love.
As the truth of Jesus’ love soaked in my soul, I reasoned, “If Jesus says 'I love you Dewey and you are valuable to me,' then what I say is important so I will speak once in mind before I speak out of my mouth.”
So outward, my speaking was transformed. As a result of the Gospel, my stuttering began to go away. I still stutter on occasion, especially when I'm tired. But here’s the deal: the Gospel is effective for every aspect of our life.
Pastor Derwin
