I'm a bit late to the party. I wanted to post on Timothy Keller's passing, which occurred in May. I'm grateful for how God used him (unbeknownst to him) to minister to my life at a time when I was at a choice point regarding what I was going to believe. Right around the time I began attending the Evanston Vineyard, I purchased his book The Reason for God. It changed my thinking about God, about Jesus, and about the Christian faith. It helped grease the skids in my heart toward embracing the Vineyard not only as my church but also as my home, especially right at the beginning. I felt completely devoid of hope at that time in my life. In spite of the many low seasons I've had, it was quite rare that I found myself feeling this, and this was one of those times. What I don't think many know is how perilously close I came to choosing the other option. I was at Barnes and Noble (where I purchased Mr. Keller's book), and I was really considering buying a book that, although it wasn't titled The Reason Against God, it may as well have been. But I then saw his book and, even after having left the church and after a prolonged season of doubting God's realness, a part of me still wanted to believe that some of the most important things I learned as a child was true. This book -- and more importantly, God Himself -- did that for me. I will forever be grateful for Mr. Keller's faithfulness to his (and my) Lord in everything that he did.
A bit of a side note - I've been aware, especially in the last five or so years, about how many longstanding mainline churches have fallen away from the true faith, and about how this is something that has been common ever since the church first began. In my opinion, we are sadly now seeing how so many of the churches and ministries that were founded in the last major wave of revivals from the 1970s are falling away. However, the good news is that God is still at work, and He will use different churches, no matter how mainstream (or not), no matter how long (or short) they've been around. I work as a worship team associate for a Presbyterian church now, and I'm seeing God move in this church, which has been around for over 150 years. Prior to accepting this job, I previously had worked at Presbyterian Homes, either as a direct employee of or in connection with them as a contractor. I say all this because Mr. Keller was a Presbyterian minister. And yet, from what I've read and watched on YouTube about him, I'm convinced he was saved. As I was reflecting and praying, at one moment my thought was not of sadness or grief, but rather, "I'll see you soon" (directed at Mr. Keller). This is not to say that his Presbyterian association gave me reasons to doubt, but rather that, in spite of the aforementioned trends I've noticed of churches throughout history drifting away from the Lord, he could have been any denomination, and God could have still used him for the Kingdom of heaven. And use him He did.
I'm glad Mr. Keller is with Jesus, still kind of shocked that he passed away, but primarily grateful at how we briefly intersected in such a way that led me back to church, this time to stay. And to grow.
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