Tonight I went to my church “alma mater”, Calvary Chapel, to celebrate a very special 25th Anniversary Event; the birth of our local Christian Radio Station KWVE (The Wave of Living Water), 107.9 on our FM Dial.  Featured tonight was one of my favorite groups as a young Christian in the late 1970’s, Love Song (I still have the original vinyl album) and Evie Carlson whose song, “Oh Let the Son of God Enfold You…” acted as the theme song which preceded every bible study from Pastor Chuck Smith of Calvary Chapel.  

Pastor “Chuck” suffered a mild stroke just after Christmas this past year, but he is still preaching and he gave a brief but wonderfully simple Gospel message and altar call as Love Song sang the song they had written about Calvary Chapel when it was out in the middle of nowhere (hidden amongst the bean fields and orange groves) of Orange County and had only 225 members. (Calvary Chapel now boasts a membership of thousands locally as well as all over the world and has spawned little “Calvary Chapels” in every state as well as overseas.) 

As a young teenaged girl, I used to commute 50 miles each way every Saturday to hear the different Christian Groups perform (Love Song, The Archers, Kelly Willard, Second Chapter of Acts, Keith Green, Daniel Amos, Parable) and always left feeling like I had Jesus riding shotgun with me all the way home.  Fortunately for my poor Toyota Corolla, I was able to move to Orange County in 1979 and attend more frequently.  Back then, Calvary Chapel was considered the “Carnegie Hall” of Contemporary Christian Music.  I was more than just a spectator with the genre. When I was 21 I worked at the Christian version of  ”Rolling Stone Magazine” called Contemporary Christian Music Magazine and got to meet my favorite artist a year before he died, Keith Green.  I think I even talked to my future husband on the phone before we ever met when he called to find out why his subscription had gone missing.  

I owe much to Calvary Chapel. I went through the entire Old & New Testaments using tapes I checked out from their Tape Lending Library. Pastor Chuck (as well as Walter Martin and Chuck Missler) all gave me a very grounded (and thorough) education in the Bible for which I will be eternally grateful. 

Pastor Chuck is too humble to admit it, but I really think that he is a national treasure.  Though he has a congregation of “millions” he still took the time out of his busy schedule to review my book, The Victor, before it went into publication simply because I asked (when he didn’t even know me from Adam…or Eve in my case). The world is a much better place beause of him and his dedication to teaching the simple and whole Word of God without apology. 

Tags: Calvary Chapel, Chuck Missler, Evie, Keith Green, KWVE, Love Song, Pastor Chuck Smith, Walter Martin