In Touch Ministries

I would tend to think that both Dr. Stanley and Dr. D. James Kennedy gave a lot of thought and prayerfully sought the will of GObefore embarking on a ministery on a WORD FAITH NETWORK (TBN)

 

My wife likes to listen to him, says he teaches in a way easy to understand. I used to listen to him years ago & he seemed to be right in his teachings, then anyway. Course we all are gonna hear something out of someone we dissagree with once in awhile.
Me...I love to listen to Adrian Rogers, but can't pick him up down here.

 

Charles Stanley is generally sound in his teaching.

 

Charles Stanley is a pastor and teacher. I would not call him an evangelist. His services at First Baptist in Atlanta are recorded and broadcast all over the country. I think he's sound and enjoy his delivery.

 

Charles Stanley is one of the few men I would spend time listening to on TV or radio. He is generally sound in his teachings.

He was a Pentecostal before becoming a Southern Baptist. I agree with him on the eternal security doctrine but he goes to the extreme and says that a saved person can become an apostate or atheist. I disagree with him, someone who goes that far was probably never saved.

My pastor thinks Stanley books are shallow and not comprehensive on bible doctrines. I see Stanley as a good preacher but not a theologian like Charles Ryrie, John Walvoord or William MacDonald.

Also, many people have critized Stanley for continuing to be a pastor after he divorced his wife. Even his son Andy Stanley left the Atlanta church over this issue.

I hope my comments has been helpful.

 

I guess, then, that any pastor who has a child that has gotten into trouble should resign.

 

I find it real alarming too. Considering the fact that when I was about 14 our SBC church had a divorced pastor. Well, we used to enjoy going down to Atlanta and visiting Stanley's church.
At the time my dad was chairman of deacons. My dad was divorced when he was very young before he was saved.
You might call it providential or coincidence or what have you. At any rate my dad met with Dr. Stanley for a few moments after one of the services. My dad shared with him some of the problems at our church. At the time my dad was really struggling with the fact that he had been divorced and now he was a chairman of deacons following a divorced pastor. BTW, under that pastor's ministry our church that would hold about 600 was down to about 150.
I'll never forget what Dr. Stanley told my dad.
He said "Henry you might be the key to that whole situation. I encourage you to consider resigning from the deacon board".
Well, my dad did resign. He didn't bash the preacher or anything like that. He did read his resignation stating the fact that he was convicted that he should not be a deacon while being divorced. This left no grounds for the pastor to stand on. He resigned. We got hate mail , the pastor's grown son came out to our farm and cussed my dad out. All kinds of things happened.
Next year though we got a new preacher who was a hot preacher, a coservative SBC man. God turned our church upside down. We gained 100 members a year for 8 years in a row. We led NC SBC churches in baptisms several times in a row. That was about 20yrs ago. The church still runs about 1000.
BTW, that pastor who was divorced wound up being a tour guide with a christian touring outfit. Two years ago he divorced his second wife.
My dad isn't happy about that but it did give him a sense that he did the right thing. Which he always believed to begin with.
All that being said. I'm a minister age 37. Dr. Stanley has always been influence on me. It really kind of took me back that he kept his position as pastor. He kind of went against alot of what he has taught through the years through his sermons and books etc...
Whether you agree or disagree with divorced pastors with Dr. Stanley in particular it is like he did a 180. I think that kind of hurt his credability with certain people and within certain circles.
Dr. Stanley was so convinced about the situation concerning my dad then he up and does the exact opposite. I don't know about that?
I personally don't believe a divorced man should be a pastor. I don't care if he was divorced before he was saved or after.
From what I gather, initially Dr. Stanley was going to resign but his church begged him to stay so he finally did. Again, for a man who knows the Bible so well to make a decision based upon the consensus of his people is to me a paradox.
Who knows maybe his personal experiences have led him to be less dogmatic in that area? It would seem so.
I think he should give up his church and keep his
In Touch ministry going . I believe the bible teaches you can preach and be divorced just not pastor.
During my rough and rowdy years as a teen dealing with drugs etc... Dr. Stanley ministered to me greatly over the radio and on TV.
He is man, flesh and bone who will answer for his own ministry. I for one believe he is a very good student of the Word. He has helped me immensly on my christian journey.

 

Agreed.

 

I don't condemn them simply because their broadcasts are on TBN. Given that TBN's rates are extremely competitive, it's likely good use of very limited resources.

I respect both Dr Stanley and Dr Kennedy (though I don't approve of Kennedy's revisionist history and association with folks like David Barton), and don't think less of them just because they broadcast on TBN.