Today's Gift

How to begin?

Hmmm....well, to start with, we church-hop (somewhat) during the summer months. Though devoted College Church members, (and have been for 29 years), last year, childless and usher-free, we decided to visit other churches in the area. After all, Wheaton has a plethora of churches, doncha know?

Our number one church to visit is Calvary in Oak Park. I was a member there when I was in nursing school (West Sub), and our favorite pastor of all time, Todd Wilson, is now the senior pastor there. So -- obviously first on our list. Uhhhh....Todd isn't preaching any of the weeks we are available to hop.

Last week we were in San Francisco -- the week before that we went to Wheaton Bible Church where we saw some dear friends we hadn't seen in ages.

This week was open. Where to go? Bob suggested Willow Creek. South Barrington is a LONG way away, but we could go to Willow Creek DuPage, which is about 10 minutes from our house, and where our dear friends, Jan & Chris Lutes attend. So -- maybe we would see someone we know. Yeah, Willow is a seeker church and they do the "11 words sung 7 times -- stand up and clap" rather than good traditional hymns which we love (and are used to), but HEY -- check out the website and Lee Strobel was speaking today! He's the author of one of my most favorite books, "A Case for Faith" and I was pumped. So was Bob. Church at 9:00.

I overdressed.

Shoulda known. Jeans were the order of the day. Or shorts, or capris, or....not dresses. Good thing I'm past that sort of embarrassment. (Yeah, you could tell because I posted about it, right?)

Anyway. Fast forward past the three "songs" I didn't know. (I am a "Great is Thy Faithfulness" and "It is Well With My Soul" sort of person).

Announcement:

"We are really sorry to say this, but due to some minor surgery that Lee had to have the beginning of the week, his doctors advised him not to fly, and at the last minute, we are going to substitute a video from our Leadership Summit 2010 from Jeff Manion, pastor of the Ada Bible Church in Ada, MI."

Great. Who is Jeff Manion, and where is Ada Michigan, and bummer.

We then listened to the best message we have ever heard, that we (both Bob and I) will remember and quote and refer to for the rest of our lives. If I could have had one wish, it would have been that Jill, Torrey, Chris, Tim & Annabel could have been sitting beside me.

"The Land Between" spoke to us as no other message has in -- years? Decades? I don't know when. Jeff was funny, articulate, and right on target. Loosely based on Numbers 11 (my eyes glaze over by the time I get to Numbers when doing a "read thru the Bible in 20 minutes or less", he talks about the desert time for the Israelites -- between Egypt and Canaan. And then talked about how we go through our own "land between" where things aren't going well...jobs lost, children straying, divorce, finances in the pits, bosses critical....all sorts of things. And, how this can actually lead to spiritual transformation depending on how we approach our "land between."

Anyway, I found that I could order the DVD -- got four of them -- one for each of us -- and then -- YAY!! Discovered his book on Amazon.com -- on Kindle -- for -- you won't believe this -- $2.99.

You can get the DVD of his message from www.willowcreek.com (go to leadership summit, 2010 under 'resources' and look for Jeff Manion). Or the CD -- slightly cheaper. Or get the book (it's only 194 pages) for your Kindle or in hard copy.

You won't be sorry.

It was God's gift to us today.