I can’t begin to tell you how many times I heard these words from Dr. Charles Stanley. “Obey God and leave all the consequences to Him.”
He was a beloved follower of Jesus and someone that mentored me through many years as a young man. Some of those years represented the most difficult season of my life. I had the privilege of meeting Dr. Stanley when visiting First Baptist at the old church location on Peachtree in Atlanta. He was a gentle soul displaying kindness and concern for a young man in the middle of a crisis at the time. We sat in his office and talked, albeit briefly, his words and his heart made a tremendous impact. His teaching changed my life’s direction for good. Simply put, God spoke directly to me through his messages. I’m grieving this loss with many others as well.
My fondest memories were watching him preach with my elderly mother only a couple of years ago. She wouldn’t miss a broadcast for decades. Mom joined my father in heaven in August of 2021, at the ripe young age of 100. No doubt she’ll be waiting in line to greet Dr. Stanley face to face.
The Chapel Hour—renamed In Touch with Dr. Charles Stanley—went nationwide in 1978 after the Christian Broadcasting Network contacted Stanley, looking for a practical, Bible-teaching program for its new satellite distribution network. The broadcast grew from 16,000 local viewers to a nationwide audience in just one week. We were one of them.
During the 1980s, the In Touch program penetrated almost every major market in the United States, reaching more than 1 million households. At the time of his death, Stanley’s messages were heard in more than 127 languages around the world via radio, shortwave, the Messenger Lab project, or TV broadcasts. Stanley was the country’s longest-serving pastor with a continuous weekly broadcast program.
We shared a common passion for photography and the great outdoors. Stanley’s images from his personal travels fill the walls of In Touch Ministries’ Atlanta headquarters and inspire program viewers to explore the beauty of God’s creation.
But… as is true of all of us. Life moves quickly. Even at 90 years old, our time here on earth is just a blip on the radar screen of eternity. What we do with it counts the most.
My hope is that you join me in this claim:
“Life is worth nothing unless I use it for doing the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus—the work of telling others the Good News about God’s mighty kindness and love.” (Acts 20:24)
And that’s the Memo. Steve
