Pastor, best-selling author, Christian apologist, and servant of Christ – Pastor Timothy J. Keller passed away Friday, May 19, 2023.
Pastor Keller, founder of Redeemer Presbyterian Church, was a neo-Calvinest who’s masterful use of both reason and faith created best-selling books and powerful sermons that brought people to deeper levels of faith in Christ.
If you’ve never heard Pastor Keller preach, you can download many of his sermons free of charge at www.gospelinlife.com.
Pastor Keller Brought Together Rationality And Faith!
The New York Times, in an article published May 19th, said of Pastor Keller, “He defined a fully formed Christian as “somebody who finds Christianity both rationally and intellectually credible, but also emotionally and existentially true and satisfying.”
One of Pastor Keller’s sermons that this author found exceedingly beautiful and full of God’s LIGHT was the topic of DARKNESS that we encounter in life. Pastor Keller took a deep dive into Psalm 88, which looks at the darkness we can experience if we feel that God is hiding His face from us. The end of Psalm 88 does not end on a hopeful note …
Psalms 88:18
You have put lover and friend far from me, and my friends into darkness.
You have put lover and friend far from me, and my friends into darkness.
But Pastor Keller explained that revealed in this powerful sermon how a time of darkness can bring us closer to God. Keller stated that the difficulty of a time of darkness can provide the pressure to turn a lump of coal into a diamond.
Pastor Keller taught how Psalm 88 teaches a realism about Christianity. That realism: Jesus never promised that life would be a bed of roses for His followers.
In this sermon Pastor Keller explains that we are not to have a transactional relationship with God … meaning that we expect God to give us only good times as payment for our devotion to Him. Keller reminds us that even Christ suffered trials and tribulations and that we should expect the same.
But, Pastor Keller reassured that our suffering is relative and temporary and that it’s “nothing that Christ’s resurrection won’t cure.”
Pastor Keller wrote dozens of books that have been translated into 25 languages and sold approximately 25 million copies. Some of his popular books include:
+ The Prodigal God
+ The Meaning of Marriage
+ The Reason for God
+ The Freedom of Self Forgetfulness
+ Counterfeit Gods
Pastor Timothy J. Keller lived a life dedicated to Christ and to teaching others how to grow closer to Christ. His books, sermons, and the churches he founded will remain a legacy to his faith, dedication, and love of Christ.
