It happened twenty years ago today.

November 17th, 1997.

I was working in my Promise Keepers office in Cedar Rapids, Iowa when one of the church secretaries stepped through the doorway with a shocked look on her face.

“Marty, we just got the news that John Wimber has passed away!”

My heart sunk. 

Just earlier that summer, I’d seen John in Ft. Wayne, Indiana. After his bout with throat cancer, Wimber had a very difficult time maintaining his rigorous travel schedule. As he spoke to the crowd, John occasionally would have to stop and spray a throat lubricant into his mouth so he could continue talking. The cancer treatments had taken away his body’s ability to make saliva, so the spray (John called it ‘pig spit’) allowed him to do the thing he most loved to do…talk with people about Jesus!

I’ll never forget all the good stuff that came into my life through the words and works of John Wimber. My blog-turned-paperback book, The Wisdom of Wimber: As I See It, is my attempt at putting into words the many Christ-centered truths John deposited into my life, and I dare say, countless thousands of other men and women who were looking for a simpler, more grassroots approach to following Jesus of Nazareth!

So here’s to you, John Wimber!

From one simple fat man from Cedar Rapids, Iowa to another simple fat man from Kirksville, Missouri, may I say that your life and ministry has impacted me like none other! Godspeed, John Wimber, Godspeed! 

Check out our popular 64-session blog series: The Wisdom of Wimber.

Check out our book that was birthed from our blog series: The Wisdom of Wimber: As I See It.

Also read a great overview of John’s impact as viewed from the Vineyard Churches – UK…click here.