September 19, 2024
ATLANTA, GA — Christian leaders from across the country arrived in Atlanta on Sunday to honor the late Charles Stanley, founder of Atlanta-based In Touch Ministries, calling him a friend, a dedicated pastor, an incredible Bible teacher, a humble servant, a giant in God’s service, and a great example for others to follow.
Stanley, longtime pastor of First Baptist Church in Atlanta and founder of In Touch Ministries, died Tuesday at 90.
“He was a champion of God’s word,” said North Carolina-based evangelist Franklin Graham, son of the late Billy Graham. “He studied the Word. He believed the Word. He kept the Word. He preached the Word. He defended the Word, and he fought for it.”
The day before Sunday’s legacy celebration, an estimated 10,000 people came to the church to pass by Stanley’s stately black coffin bedecked with dozens of red flowers. Many stopped and prayed a prayer of thanksgiving for the godly character and spiritual influence of the man who had invested 50 years of his life as pastor of Atlanta’s First Baptist Church and who had impacted the world for Christ through In Touch Ministries.
Philip Bowen, chief executive officer at In Touch Ministries, described Stanley as a truly great man.
“Some people sit on the front row and watch greatness; other people sit in the shadows and serve greatness, and that is what I have been doing,” Bowen told an overflow crowd at First Baptist, which included some of the biggest names in Christian music. “It has been the greatest honor of my life
Along with First Baptist’s 150-voice choir and orchestra, singers CeCe Winans performed as did the gospel groups Greater Vision and the Collingsworth Family.
Video messages were shown from notable Christian leaders Chuck Swindoll, founder of Insight for Living, Tony Evans, pastor of Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship in Dallas, Texas, Jim and Carol Cymbala of Brooklyn Tabernacle Church in New York City, and Robert Jeffress, pastor of First Baptist Church of Dallas, Texas.
Robert Morris, senior pastor of Gateway Church in the Dallas/Fort Worth area who has a television ministry that reaches into 190 countries, said Stanley inspired his broadcast outreach.
“We launched our television ministry 17 years ago because of Dr. Charles Stanley,” Morris said. “We are here tonight because we are the only people in the world who can grieve and rejoice at the same time.”
Former President Donald J. Trump, in a video prepared for the service, expressed his gratitude for Stanley and offered his condolences to those who loved him. Stanley had prayed for Trump inside the Oval Office while visting the White House.
"As he prayed for me and the nation, I knew God was hearing that prayer," Trump said.
David Jeremiah, pastor of Shadow Mountain Community Church near San Diego, Calif., had flown to Atlanta after his Sunday morning service. He described Stanley as a man of prayer and a pioneer in media ministry.
Jeremiah recalled the time he and Stanley sat together at an NCAA final four basketball game. Jeremiah said at one point he looked over at Stanley, and, instead of watching the game, he was praying.
“I am not sure he was paying a lot of attention to that game,” Jeremiah said. “He was so consumed about being a pastor and being the kind of man he should be.”
“He had a great sense of dignity,” Jeremiah said. “He brought dignity to the pulpit; and I so appreciated that.”
Anthony George, current pastor of First Baptist Atlanta, said Stanley built a strong church ministry here.
“Every day when I drive to this church and every Sunday when I stand in this holy place, I recognize that I am eating fruit from trees that Charles Stanley planted,” George said.
Jeffress recalled a question his predecessor at First Baptist, W. A. Criswell, would ask rhetorically:
“Why is it we don’t receive our rewards from Christ the moment we die?”
Criswell would answer: “Because our own work for Christ doesn’t end when we die. Like the ripples caused by casting a stone into a pond reverberating and reverberating, so our work for Christ continues long after we die.”
“That is so true of Dr. Stanley,” Jeffress said. “His influence for Christ’s kingdom will go on and on and on.”
