Charles Stanley Dies / Discernment Ministries Wonder About Impact It Will Have on Andy's Ministry

This is from the Dissenter website. Here's an article covering the death of Charles Stanley.

The headline says, Charles Stanley passes away at age 90. So I'm just going to read the article.

It says, Dr. Charles Stanley, a well -known pastor and televangelist, passed away on April 18th, 2023 at the age of 90.

He was the senior pastor of First Baptist Church of Atlanta, Georgia and the president of In Touch Ministries, a

Christian organization that produces radio and television programs, publishes books and magazines, and hosts conferences and seminars.

Dr. Stanley was born September 25th, 1932 in Dry Fork, Virginia.

He grew up in rural poverty, but his mother's faith and prayers had a profound impact on his life.

He became a Christian at the age of 12 and felt called to the ministry.

He graduated from the University of Richmond with a degree in political science and then earned a

Master of Divinity degree from Southwest Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas.

Dr. Stanley served as pastor at several churches before joining

First Baptist Church of Atlanta in 1969. So he became the senior pastor in 1971 and held the position until 2020 when he retired at the age of 88 due to health reasons.

During his tenure, the church grew from 1 ,000 members to over 15 ,000 and became one of the largest and most influential churches in the

United States. In addition to his pastoral work, Dr. Stanley was a prolific writer and speaker.

He authored more than 30 books, including The Blessing of Brokenness and How to Listen to God, as well as The Gift of Forgiveness.

He also hosted the television program In Touch with Charles Stanley, which aired on over 500 stations around the world and reached millions of viewers each week.

Dr. Stanley's message, at least far more so than his son, Andy, was centered on the gospel of Jesus Christ and the importance of a personal relationship with God.

He emphasized the power of prayer, the authority of the Bible, and the need for repentance and obedience.

His teachings were marked by clarity, simplicity, and a deep reverence for God.

Dr. Stanley's death has been mourned by many in the Christian community and beyond. He was a beloved pastor, teacher, and friend to countless people around the world.

His legacy will continue through the ministries he founded and the lives he touched. The In Touch Ministries website states that Dr.

Stanley's deepest desire was for everyone to know and experience an intimate relationship with Jesus Christ.

May his life and ministry inspire us all to seek God with all our hearts and live for him.

So that was the statement put out by his ministry and that article was from The Dissenter.

So that is an article just covering the facts of Charles Stanley's life and ministry and I would say the article painted him in a very favorable light and I think most people view him in a favorable light.

But you notice there was one statement that maybe was not as favorable but it was more directed towards his son

Andy and I think this really gets into the issue that we're going to face from here on out.

Everyone that listened to Charles Stanley, who loved Charles Stanley, can appreciate his years of ministry and what they learned from him.

But starting now, after the mourning is over, now what? Now what?

Because many would see that Andy Stanley is going to carry on his father's legacy.

But is that the case? And this is where I want to read the second article. So this is sort of the other side to the story.

This is also on the same website, The Dissenter. It says, Will the death of Charles Stanley open the floodgates of LGBTQ acceptance in evangelicalism?

So I'm going to read this article. It says, Today, longtime pastor and founder of InTouch Ministries, Charles Stanley passed away at 90.

Charles, who served as senior pastor of First Baptist Church in Atlanta, was no theological gatekeeper and he certainly was not without his problems.

We've written about many of them over the years right here at The Dissenter. However, Charles did appear to genuinely love his son

Andy and on many occasions vocalized his opposition to many of Andy's progressive views, albeit in a non -forceful way.

So I think, if I can just comment on this, it says that Charles Stanley was not a gatekeeper.

And I think I can say this for watching Charles Stanley enough over the years, that he was not a man who really,

I don't think he ever mentioned people by name. I remember there was one time he referred to the

Jehovah's Witnesses and you knew he was talking about the Jehovah's Witnesses and he was being critical of the

Jehovah's Witnesses, but I don't even think he named that group. So Charles Stanley wasn't one to name names and he was not really forceful against false teachers.

So here's the thing that this article is setting up. Charles Stanley was very conservative, very biblical.

His son Andy is more progressive and is not at all biblical.

So the article is asking the question, now that Charles Stanley is gone, will that open the floodgates of acceptance of gay marriage and everything into evangelicalism?

Because I guess what's implied, and we'll read the rest of the article, but it's implied that Charles Stanley acted as some sort of restraint against his son.

And now that Charles is gone, Andy is just going to come out full -blown with what he really thinks.

So let's continue reading. Charles Stanley was conservative. The article says his son

Andy is progressive, very progressive. If you followed us at all over the past several months, you're likely aware of just how progressive we've exposed him to be.

His church, which is North Point Community Church, and his ministry that oversaw the many sister churches under the

North Point umbrella has become a gathering place for homosexuals despite the fact that it was not highly publicized.

These churches are very friendly and inclusive and affirming to homosexuals and even offered programs and curriculums designed to train parents and others on how to become more affirming of their own children who come out as LGBTQ.

But as stated above, none of this was publicly known until the dissenter, protestia, and a handful of others exposed all of it.

Okay, so that's the statement. Charles was very conservative. Andy very progressive.

The article continues. It began when a video of Andy Stanley was published on Twitter saying that homosexuals who love

Jesus have more faith than many straight Christians in his church.

That video sparked a deep dive into his ministry and what we uncovered was nothing short of shocking, even for Andy Stanley.

Andy Stanley's ministry for years has been under the radar affirming homosexuals.

So they're doing this under under the radar. People don't realize it that Andy Stanley's ministry has been affirming homosexuals, baptizing them, allowing them to serve in his church, and training others to affirm them, and while refusing to call any of them to repentance and faith.

So how does this involve Charles Stanley? It seems as though Charles, Andy's father, was the only restraint on Andy keeping him from coming out completely as LGBTQ affirming.

Now obviously that's an opinion. I'm not, I don't know if that's the case or not because the videos that I saw of Charles Stanley, he was very much, he said he was proud of Andy and he seemed to endorse

Andy's ministry. Andy Stanley spoke at InTouch ministry conferences for years. So whether Charles acted as a restraint, the author of this article says yes, and of course time will tell.

It continues, while Charles was never forceful in his condemnation of Andy's views, he often spoke of how they would have private conversations and though they disagreed on much, they would find common ground.

And now that Charles has passed, there is likely no longer any restraint on Andy's apostasy.

Andy Stanley now has a clear path forward, and while it likely won't happen overnight, it is highly probable that over the next few years we will see

Andy's true colors come out. Andy Stanley, who has already, or who already rejects the biblical gospel and has written off the scriptures as having any authority over the lives and beliefs of Christians, Andy has a huge following, so this is a big deal.

Once Andy Stanley, the leader of evangelical apostasy, opens this can, his many clones and followers will all follow suit.

This would include people like Beth Moore, Russell Moore, the leadership at First Baptist Church Orlando, who has praised

Andy Stanley as one of the greatest theologians of our time, and so many others. It's hard to believe they said that Andy Stanley is one of the greatest theologians of our time, but that's what the article says.

I'm just reading it. So they end the article by saying, keep an eye out and watch what happens over the next several months to years.

I'm no prophet, but we all know what happens when God removes his hand of restraint against the wicked.

You only have to read Romans 1 to find out. It's fixing to get interesting.

So that's an article written, both articles I read were on the Dissenter website, so you can read them for yourself, but that's the prediction.

First article talking about Charles Stanley in his death and in how he, just a faithful ministry, although again there's, there are things, you know, to say that he had his critics and, you know, because he just passed away yesterday,

I don't want to get into any of that today out of respect for Charles Stanley, but I think the real issue going forward, as the second article mentioned, is what now?

What's going to happen next? What's going to happen with Andy? Because Charles, yes, Charles was very conservative and biblical.

Andy is very progressive and not biblical, and I think a lot of people just assume that Charles Stanley must have been just shocked and disappointed in the direction his son took.

I don't really think that's the case, because again, Andy Stanley spoke at InTouch conferences for years, and even

I think in 2021, there's a sit -down interview with Charles and Andy, and there they seem to be supporting one another, so, and I know you say, well, it's his son.

Of course he's going to support his son. Well, yes, you are going to love your child, but it doesn't necessarily mean you're going to endorse everything that they say and do, and Charles Stanley did seem to, at least to some degree, endorse

Andy Stanley. So time will tell. I think the direction of evangelical

Christianity, it's very clear. We've talked about this many times, even locally we've seen this, where a church will be considered evangelical or Bible -believing.

They have a biblical view of morality, believe the Ten Commandments, and then all of a sudden, you know, a new pastor comes in, and he kind of chips away at that, and after a few years, or maybe something happens, a relative comes out of the closet, and then, you know, the leadership brings the church in a different direction.

We're only going to see more of that. Why? Because, well, I mean, most people, they just go along with whatever society's doing, right?

The average person who's not being led by the Spirit, they're just conformed to this world. So if the world comes out and says that, hey, this is the next big thing, this is now the right thing to do, people just, you know how it is, people just go along with whatever.

So I expect to see more of that from Andy Stanley.

Will it happen in the next few months, where it's obvious that his dad did act as a restorer? I pray that's not the case, and I think we do need to be praying for those in North Point Church, those who follow

Andy Stanley. I've had people who, normally, I would think that they're pretty reliable, even other pastors who said,

Andy Stanley is amazing, he's solid, he's a solid Bible teacher, and it's like, well, you must not be listening very closely then, but we need to be praying for people who listen to these kind of popular mainstream pastors, because they really are being conformed to this world.

So time will tell, but these are the two articles covering the death of Pastor Charles Stanley at age 90.