"Well done, My good and faithful servant."
Let us be thankful for the very long time that God let him be among us. A lot of people came to Christ... and drew closer to Him... because of this man's seemingly tireless efforts. Dr. Charles Stanley truly had a servant's heart. I for one learned quite a lot from watching his In Touch weekly series on television.
I got to meet him once. It was January 2001, some friends and I went to a service at First Baptist Church of Atlanta. Stanley struck me as one of the kindest people I've ever encountered. He asked where was I from and I told him Reidsville, North Carolina.
"Oh I know where Reidsville is!" he replied. "That's right down the road from Danville!", where he grew up.
I asked him if he could sign my Bible and he did on the inside front page. Below his name he wrote "Isaiah 64:4". It reads as thus, from the New International Version:
Since ancient times no one has heard,
no ear has perceived,
no eye has seen any God besides you,
who acts on behalf of those who wait for him.
In hindsight, I should have taken that verse more to heart. I am thankful now though, that I get to appreciate it anew.
See you later Dr. Stanley.
EDIT 04/19/2023: my best friend since forever, Chad Austin, is managing editor of Biblical Recorder. He just published an excellent article about Dr. Stanley's early years, from his first devoting his life to Christ on through serving as pastor of several churches and becoming a teacher. It's a very inspiring read and I felt truly moved by it. Click here to read "Stanley's global ministry has deep, formative roots in NC".
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