Elsie and I were newly married, but I had not yet become a Christian. Somehow this love of my life convinced me to join her for the Sunday evening service at Moody Memorial Church in Chicago, IL. At my request, we sat in the back pew as far away from the pulpit as possible. While we were waiting for the service to start, I noticed a short, balding, moon-faced man greeting people in the pews and shaking their hands. The next thing I knew this same man tapped me on the shoulder from behind and extended his hand to me. In his inimitable voice he said, “Hello! Welcome to Moody Church. I’m Warren Wiersbe. Nice to have you here.” I thanked him and he moved on. I asked Elsie who that fellow was and she replied, “He’s the pastor of the church.” Oh my! He didn’t sound like a pastor. He had a normal speaking voice and not a special preacher voice. That was my first and only personal encounter with Dr. Warren Wiersbe. After I was saved, I often listened to him on WMBI radio. He was a marvelous expositor of God’s Word.
Warren W. Wiersbe was born May 16, 1929 in East Chicago, IL and went home to be with the Lord on May 2, 2019 in Lincoln, NE. His biography indicates that Warren was saved in 1945 during a Youth for Christ rally as he heard the preaching of Billy Graham. He attended several secular universities before transferring to Northern Baptist Seminary in Lombard, Illinois. While at Northern, he scored a “two-fer.” He not only graduated with a bachelor’s degree in theology but he met and married his wife, Betty.
His pastoral ministry included Central Baptist Church in East Chicago, IL, Calvary Baptist Church in Covington, KY, and Moody Memorial Church in Chicago, IL. His writing ministry was impressive. He wrote over 200 articles for Moody Monthly over a 40 year period. He wrote over 150 books including 50 books in the popular “BE” series (“Be Joyful,” “Be Faithful,” “Be Obedient,” etc.) Over four million copies of the “BE” series have been sold! Another little-known fact is Dr. Wiersbe had a personal theological library of over 10,000 books! Regarding his writing, Warren once said,
Writing to me is a ministry. I’m not an athlete, I’m not a mechanic. I can’t do so many of the things that successful men can do. But I can read and study and think and teach. This is a beautiful, wonderful gift from God. All I’m doing is using what he’s given to me to teach people, and to give glory to the Lord Jesus Christ.
Finally, there is his radio ministry which not only including Songs in the Night on Moody Radio, but also Back to the Bible broadcasts from Lincoln, NE.
If all that was not enough, Warren also taught Doctor of Ministry classes at both Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, IL and Dallas Theological Seminary in Dallas, TX. He served as general director for the Slavic Gospel Mission for six years. In 1995, Wiersbe became Writer in Residence at Cornerstone University in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and Distinguished Professor of Preaching at Grand Rapids Theological Seminary.
Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His godly ones (Psalm 116:15).
Irv