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Breaking news: Monument removed
As 100 or so protesters prayed, restrained by city police and ordered by organizers not to rush the building, a moving crew hauled the 5,280-pound Ten Commandments monument out of Alabama's Judicial Building this morning. It took them about 90 minutes. More tomorrow.

Melvin Graham, farmer and lay evangelist, dies
One day before his 79th birthday, Melvin Graham, "Billy's country brother," died of cardiac arrest.

"Melvin was not only my brother, but was one of the closest and most loyal friends I ever had," Billy Graham said in a press release.

I had the opportunity to spend two days with Melvin last week. He was a great storyteller. He made people feel good. I never knew him to have a bad moment. My only suggestion to him was not to work so hard. I have never known a man to love work like he did.

Melvin was one of the best men in terms of personal life. He was a man of spiritual dedication and moral purity. He was generous with his time and money for the Kingdom of God, and assisted many needy people that no one ever knew about.

The third of four Graham children, Melvin followed in his parents' farming footsteps and served as a board member of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association from 1985 until 1999, when he became a board member emeritus. He also preached.

"He was very good-natured," evangelist Leighton Ford, who is married to Billy Graham's younger sister, told The Charlotte Observer. "But he had a serious side to him. He had a depth to him."

A memorial service is scheduled for tomorrow evening at Charlotte's Central Church of God. The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association has a audio of Melvin's testimony from Hour of Decision. The Luis Palau Association used to have a version of the testimony, as retold by Ford, but it's only available through Google's cache.

In related news, Billy and Ruth Graham celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary this month.

Sermon illustration alert!
Here's a The New York Times story all pastors will want to put in their notes: On Sunday, leaders of the Church of the Holy Cross in Midtown Manhattan noted that the congregation had been robbed—but in an odd way.

"They just decided, 'We're going to leave the cross and take Jesus,'" caretaker David St. James told the newspaper. "We don't know why they took just him. We figure if you want the whole crucifix, you take the whole crucifix."

That's America for you: they want Jesus without the cross.

Roy Moore's Ten Commandments fight—news and analysis:

• Ruling divides evangelical Christians | Evangelical Christians are divided over whether Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore's 5,280-pound granite monument bearing a replica of the Ten Commandments should remain in the rotunda of the Alabama Judicial Building (The Washington Times)
  
  
• Protesters turn to Pryor | Approximately 150 protesters supporting the Ten Commandments monument marched up Dexter Avenue past the Capitol to the State House and demanded Attorney General Bill Pryor's resignation Tuesday (Montgomery Advertiser)
  
  
• Pryor: Dismiss backers' lawsuit | Ala. Attorney General says court has no jurisdiction in the case (The Birmingham News)
  
  
• Moore violates GOP beliefs | Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore and his supporters have started violating Ronald Reagan's 11th commandment: Never speak ill of a fellow Republican (Associated Press)
  
  
• New effort made to halt removal of monument | Religious activists seek a federal restraining order to keep a display of the Ten Commandments. Alabama's attorney general is criticized (Los Angeles Times)
  
  

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August (Web-only) 2003, Vol. 47