{"id":67171,"date":"2023-05-28T10:00:15","date_gmt":"2023-05-28T14:00:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/5-things-pastor-tim-keller-taught-me-before-he-passed-67171"},"modified":"2023-05-28T10:00:15","modified_gmt":"2023-05-28T14:00:15","slug":"5-things-pastor-tim-keller-taught-me-before-he-passed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/5-things-pastor-tim-keller-taught-me-before-he-passed-67171","title":{"rendered":"5 things Pastor Tim Keller taught me before he passed"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

How would you feel if someone spent two years talking with your closest friends and family members? What might they say about your childhood, your awkward teenage years, or your parenting choices?<\/p>\n

When I began my interviews in January 2021, I wasn\u2019t sure what I\u2019d learn about Tim Keller, the world-renowned preacher<\/a> who died Friday at age 72. I\u2019ve known him since 2007 and worked with him since 2010 through\u00a0The Gospel Coalition.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But if I was going to\u00a0trace the influences on his intellectual and spiritual formation, I needed to dig deeper. I needed to know the books, the people and events that helped him become one of the most influential Christian leaders<\/a> of the 21st century. I was grateful that he wanted me to speak with his longtime friends and encouraged them to speak freely.<\/p>\n

Especially these days, it\u2019s easy to be cynical about religious leaders. They don\u2019t always finish well, as Keller did. We\u2019ve seen too many examples of pastors who said one thing from behind the pulpit and another thing away from the cameras. It\u2019s safer to keep them at a distance, as a podcast voice or book author. Be careful when opening a closet door. After all, a skeleton might fall out.\u00a0<\/p>\n

REVISITING MY LAST PODCAST EPISODE WITH DR. TIMOTHY KELLER<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

From my earliest interview with his sister, I found that Tim Keller wasn\u2019t perfect. But I knew that already. He admitted to fear of man and aversion to conflict. I also found that the colleagues closest to him didn\u2019t idolize him. They knew too much of his strengths and weaknesses as a manager, as a father, as a friend. Yet somehow that knowledge increased their affections. They didn\u2019t venerate an image on a screen. They knew the real person, his family, and ultimately the God whose gift of grace precludes boasting (Eph. 2:9).\u00a0<\/p>\n

I learned that the best leaders don\u2019t aim for perfection. They lead the way in repentance, in turning away from the darkness of sin so they can walk in the light of freedom, thanks to the gospel of Jesus Christ.\u00a0<\/p>\n

I learned several other lessons from writing about Tim Keller in his only official biography, “Timothy Keller: His Spiritual and Intellectual Formation<\/a>.”<\/p>\n

You wouldn\u2019t have identified Tim Keller as most likely to succeed in his seminary class. He wasn\u2019t the most outspoken student. Professors didn\u2019t recognize him with awards. He got a C in his preaching class. Mentors didn\u2019t line up to take him under their wing. After seminary, he and his wife, Kathy, didn\u2019t know if they\u2019d find a ministry post, so they took the civil service exam to join the U.S. Postal Service.<\/p>\n

For the first half of his life, Tim Keller showed almost no familiarity with global, multicultural or urban ministry. And yet that\u2019s exactly what he became known for advancing in New York City through Redeemer Presbyterian Church and its extensive church-planting network around the world. He didn\u2019t publish his first New York Times bestselling book until he was 57 years old. But in less than a decade he published a small library of classic works on everything from prayer to suffering to marriage to evangelism.\u00a0<\/p>\n

EXAMPLE SET BY PERSECUTED CHRISTIANS IS BOTH \u2018INSPRING\u2019 AND \u2018CONVICTING,\u2019 SAYS PENNSYLVANIA EVANGELIST<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Ministry is a long game<\/a>, at least until Jesus returns. Don\u2019t give up on young leaders if they don\u2019t make the best first impression.<\/p>\n

Tim Keller was ordained in the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA), one of the most conservative, stalwart denominations in the United States. He was a conventional Reformed evangelical who teaches the inerrancy of Scripture, the penal substitutionary atonement of Jesus Christ, and justification by faith alone.<\/p>\n

He might have disagreed with New Testament scholar N. T. Wright about the Reformation. But he recommended Wright\u2019s landmark book on the resurrection of Jesus. He didn\u2019t reach all the same conclusions as the missiologist Lesslie Newbigin. But he still built on this work from a previous generation to\u00a0set an agenda for Western Christians in the 21st century.<\/p>\n

You don\u2019t have to agree with everything to learn something from anyone.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Twice in his leadership at Redeemer Presbyterian Church, Tim Keller needed to admit he had a problem. The church\u2019s growth and complexity outgrew his managerial skill. Not even his prodigious work ethic could save him. Twice he called on friends to serve as his executive pastor and lead the restless staff.\u00a0<\/p>\n

JESUS REPRESENTS THE HUMAN FACE OF GOD \u2013 AND HOW MUCH GOD LOVES US, SAYS MISSOURI PRIEST<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Just because you\u2019re gifted in preaching doesn\u2019t mean you\u2019ve gifted in administration. In the body of Christ, every part has its role (1 Cor. 12:12). The mouth isn\u2019t more important than the hands. The best leaders know when to let go and empower others to play their God-given roles.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not sure anyone ever extracted more from seminary than Tim Keller did. The books he read and lectures he heard set the trajectory of his entire life.<\/p>\n

Many leaders would be content with that foundation of learning. Not Keller. Even when he was publishing a bestselling apologetics book in 2008, he was rethinking his entire apologetic method in light of new reading. Even in his final days, he was sending his friends and colleagues new book recommendations.<\/p>\n

Keller\u2019s lifelong learning developed like rings on a tree. The core never changed. He just kept growing, kept adding layers.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The best teachers never stop learning.<\/p>\n

When I worked on the book, Tim Keller didn\u2019t know if he had one more day to live, or 10 more years to write books and mentor the rising generation of Christian leaders. That\u2019s life with pancreatic cancer. But then, none of us knows what tomorrow will bring, either (James 4:13-15).<\/p>\n

In the months after his diagnosis<\/a> in spring 2020, I noticed a change in Keller. He sounded lighter, like a burden had been lifted. And it had. Freed to focus on each day, and not look ahead to tomorrow\u2019s troubles, he enjoyed the company of his beloved wife, Kathy. He redoubled his efforts in prayer in search of deeper communion with God. While quarantined in his Roosevelt Island apartment, he caught up with far-flung friends.<\/p>\n

CLICK HERE TO GET THE OPINION NEWSLETTER<\/u><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

This life is the dress rehearsal for eternity, when we\u2019ll see God face to face. The day before he died, Tim Keller told his family, “I\u2019m thankful for the time God has given me, but I\u2019m ready to see Jesus. Send me home.”\u00a0<\/p>\n

That day will come for each of us, too, sooner or later, whether or not we\u2019re prepared. Keller taught me to shed the burdens of tomorrow and live today in light of eternity.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Source – https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/opinion\/5-things-pastor-tim-keller-taught-before-passed <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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