Greg Leis

In Dreams I Run

“For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.” - Philippians 1:6

I invited Jesus into my heart January 28, 1996…Super Bowl Sunday, Dallas versus Pittsburgh. I don’t even remember the game, but I think of every Super Bowl since then as my “birthday.” I started attending Calvary Chapel Grass Valley three months earlier in pursuit of a girl who fellowshipped at the church. I had hopes of getting to know her better and showing her what a religious person I was, even though I never went to any church and considered myself an agnostic. I did not see her at church that day, but God began speaking to my heart. It took three months before the walls crumbled and I came to a saving knowledge of our Lord. Salvation was not accompanied by a flash of light or a heavenly choir singing Handel’s Messiah, but rather a sense of confusion and recrimination. “How could I, a college educated agnostic - who saw Christianity as a televangelist in a polyester suit with big hair and a hand-held microphone - become a follower of Jesus?” But follow Him I did.

My walk was slow and stumbling for the first three years of my faith. Then in late February, 1999 I was diagnosed with a potentially fatal brain tumor. Throughout the waiting, the surgery, the recovery, I was able to feel and see God at work on me and through me. The operation took place March 22, 1999. A day after the surgery, recovering in ICU, I essentially died. God resurrected me, and from that point on it became clear that He had a purpose for me on this earth. I’m still in the process of discovering that purpose. But I’m searching with a new focus, a new commitment to serving the Father.

The surgery left me deaf in one ear, blind in one eye, unable to speak clearly, unable to swallow, and only able to walk with a slow, shuffling gait. At least once a day, I realize the vulnerability of my physical body and my total dependence on Him. Walking without falling, breathing, eating, even the smallest task I am able to do, I could not do but for His grace and mercy. The interesting thing is that I feel as if I’m far more useful to Him now than I ever was as a “whole” man. He’s allowing me to run the spiritual race, even though I can’t run anywhere else!

There is slow improvement in my condition, but my body will never return to “normal” until I go home to be with Jesus. I look forward to all that God has for me in this life as well as the great glory and perfect body that awaits me in the next. Once again I will be able to sing His praises with a strong, clear voice.

If you would like to contact Greg, he can be reached at gregleis@sbcglobal.net.

For the full account of Greg’s operation and recovery, his book, In Dreams I Run, is available at amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com, and publishamerica.com.