<h3>Upcoming events</h3>
<?php // Get today's date in the right format
$todaysDate = date('m/d/Y H:i:s');
?>

<?php query_posts('showposts=4&category_name=events&meta_key=date&meta_compare=>=&meta_value=' . $todaysDate . '&orderby=meta_value&order=ASC'); ?>

<ul>
<?php if (have_posts()) : while (have_posts()) : the_post(); ?>

<?php $eventMeta = get_post_meta($post->ID, ‘date’, true);
$eventDate = strtotime($eventMeta);
$displayDate = date(‘F j, Y – g:i A’, $eventDate);
?>

<li>
    <span class="event-title"><?php echo get_post_meta($post->ID, "date", true); ?> <a href="<?php the_permalink(); ?>"><?php the_title(); ?></a></span> <span class="event-excerpt"><?php the_excerpt(); ?></span>
</li>
<?php endwhile; else: ?>
<li>Sorry, no upcoming events!</li>
<?php endif; ?>
<li><a href="http://tenthdems.org/calendar">More events</a></li>
</ul>
<?php wp_reset_query(); ?>
</li>