Humble Inspiration; "Twelve Ordinary Men".

I have recently started reading a book titled Twelve Ordinary Men by John MacArthur.  The back cover of this book states the following description:

"When you take a fresh look at the disciples, you'll be faced with a stunning fact: The men the Savior chose were ordinary.  Hopelessly human.  Remarkably unremarkable.  But they were available and obedient to the Master's call.

And, under Jesus' teaching and touch, they became a force that forever changed the world...The message of Twelve Ordinary Men is clear.  If Christ can accomplish His purposes through the lives of common men like these, imagine what He has in store for you!"

I have only read about twenty or so pages of this book....and those twenty or so pages are packed with  lines that I literally scribbled 'Amen!' beside.  Here is an excerpt from Twelve Ordinary Men that reminded me of these verses:

Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called.  Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were noble of birth.  But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.  God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things-and the things that are not- to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before Him.  It is because of Him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God-that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption.  Therefore, as it is written: "Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord."

1 Corinthians 1:26-31

Excerpt:

"So there are no intrinsically qualified people. God Himself must save sinners, sanctify them, and then transform them from unqualified into instruments He can use. The Twelve (apostles) were like the rest of us; they were selected from the unworthy and the unqualified. They were, like Elijah, men "with a nature like ours" (James 5:17). They did not rise to the highest usefulness because they were somehow different from us. Their transformations into vessels of honor was so\>lely the work of the Potter.

Many Christians become discouraged and disheartened when their spiritual life and witness suffer because of sin or failure. We tend to think we're worthless nobodies-left to ourselves, that would be true! But worthless nobodies are just the kind of people God uses...

Satan may even attempt to convince us that our shortcomings render us useless to God and to His church. But Christ's choice of the apostles testifies to the fact that God can use the unworthy and the unqualified...They turned the world upside down, these twelve (Acts 17:6). It was not because they had extraordinary talents, unusual intellectual abilities, powerful political influence, or some special social status. They turned the world upside down because God worked in them to do it.

God chooses the humble, the lowly, the meek, and the weak so that there's never any question about the source of power when their lives change the world.  It's not the man: it's the truth of God and the power of God in the Man. (We need to remind some preachers toady of this. It's not their cleverness or their personality. The power is in the Word-the truth that we preach-not in us.)" 
-John MacArthur, "Twelve Ordinary Men".