One of the most misunderstood aspects of the Willow Creek Summit is how powerful it is on a personal spiritual level.
Today began with an amazing worship set that involved a quiet reflective media leading in to worship direction from Greg Ferguson. The intensity of the worship team was palpable despite the very off-putting limitations of the video format. Here at LifeCenter the worship is played at such a quiet level (about half of what the room requires) that you feel very much like a spectator. Very few people sing enthusiastically -- it just feels odd. However there were a few moments when the authentic attitude of worship from the leaders transcended the atmosphere of the room.
Following that we heard a powerful spiritual message on what it means to be stuck in "The Land in Between". Pastor Jeff Manion from Grand Rapids shared a dynamic message based on Numbers 11 and the story of the children of Israel as they wandered through the wilderness.
Most powerfully of all Bill Hybels came up at the end and led a great prayer time including worship songs, quiet moments and a challenge to dig deeper and commit or recommit our lives to God on a personal level.
The critics of Bill and Willow typically miss this aspect of his personal passion. I love it that even when teaching leadership to pastors and marketplace leaders Bill keeps challenging people to full devotion to Jesus.
I love that!
GHT
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