Kindred Spirits

There we sat in the living room of Dr. and Mrs. Paul Jackson. We had our coffee and some of us had warm cider. Our stomachs were full and we were discussing the video we just watched from the Willow Creek convention. Dr. Jackson is the full time pastor at Northbrook. He also teaches at Union University. Some of his students attend our SaLT group and they refer to him as Dr. Jackson or just Dr. J... I simply call him Paul. Anyhow, there he sat, on the livingroom floor, professor, pastor.......big galoot, teddy bear in his worn out sweats and socks. As for the rest of us, we were just as comfortable as we sat around the room with our shoes off reclined on the couch, in chairs or relaxed like pastor on the floor, sipping our drinks and having conversation. One small section of one huge Northbrook family.



This morning we had the most awesome time of worship together. We sang about the name of Jesus and read scriptures from all through the Bible that referred to the Name of God. We had all women doing the music this morning and we all took turns reading the scripture with music in the background. It was great! The message today was on the third commandment....not taking the name of God in vain. What an awesome message it was too!



Then tonight, as usual, our Northbrook family broke up into smaller groups in one another's homes and fellowshipped once again. I don't know what went on in the other groups but I truly felt the same presense of being with family tonight in that small group of about 10 or 15 people as I did in that large group of about 400 or so this morning. The only thing was that it was more intimate, more cozy, more at home. I was with my family. I felt a sense of comfort, and love that is only present when that One Spirit that Lives in Me joins me to another in whom He also lives. That Spirit is the Spirit of the Living God. Jesus.....Name Above All!