Monday, September 15, 2003

September 15, 2003


9:32 PM Reformation and Revival Ministries and the Billy Graham Center are co-sponsoring Reformation 2003 on “Evangelism, The Church’s Mission in the New Century.” Speakers include Becky Pippert, Crawford Lorritts, John Armstrong and Steve Brown. The conference will be held at the Billy Graham Center on the campus of Wheaton College. I plan to attend this conference and I’m hoping for a large delegation from Calvary to join me. 9:31 PM Like father, like son? Mark has started his own blog. 9:27 PM Elisabeth Teiwes passed away early this morning. She was 91 years old and had been part of the Calvary family for almost 60 years. The funeral service will be Wednesday at 11:30 AM at Zimmerman-Ehringer Funeral Home, 7319 W. Madison Street in Forest Park. 9:49 AM Chuck Colson writes movingly about today’s 40th anniversary of the bombing of a black church in Birmingham, Alabama that left four African-American girls dead. Things are different four decades later. Colson’s conclusion is worth quoting:

Birmingham conquered racial hate and violence because black and white Christian congregations pulled together in unity, love, and hard work. They sought to heal the hurts of hate with the Gospel. And the good news is that if this can happen in Birmingham, Alabama–once a deeply segregated, violent steel town–it can happen anywhere.

9:41 AM Steve Beard pays tribute to legendary singer Johnny Cash who died last Friday. 9:40 AM Andy McQuitty is ticked off. 9:38 AM Quite a few visitors yesterday. I met two Moody students (Luke and Chris) whose parents attended the Word of Life conference in Lafayette over the weekend. 6:30 AM Excellent services yesterday. A packed house at the 10:30 service. Among the many highlights: Ben Mildenhall’s violin solo during the 9:15 prelude, Diane Ertner singing “Legacy,” Benjamin and Karen Nelson’s duet, “God and Money” Betty Nelson’s Scripture reading, beautiful music by the choir. Jane Jacob did a splendid job putting the Legacy Campaign in the proper spiritual context when she explained that this is a truly a “life and death” issue when you think that we are leaving a legacy for future generations. My personal favorite moment actually didn’t happen in any of the services. At 8:03 AM the first service was just beginning. I stepped outside to get some fresh air. Benjamin Nelson was standing in front of the church, making two cell phone calls at the same time. It was like one of those movies where business types are trying to talk into two phones at once. But Benjamin was not talking—only listening. When I looked at him, he smiled and said he was trying to get through to the Cubs to order playoff tickets. The phone lines opened at 8 AM and he was getting a busy signal. Don’t know if he ever got through or not. Unfortunately the Cubs lost yesterday so they now trail Houston by two games. I hope gets his tickets—and I hope he gets a chance to use them. 6:26 AM Denise Weller wrote the Living Sacrifices devotional for today based on Hebrews 13:38, “The world was not worthy of them.” Here’s an excerpt

We have the joy of knowing that … we will one day be reunited with the entire body of believers—from those who have gone on before to those who are yet to be. Together at last, we will become perfect in Christ.

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