Rev. Jerry Falwell is Dead

Wow.

LYNCHBURG, Va. (AP) – A Liberty University executive says the Rev. Jerry Falwell has died.

Falwell was hospitalized in “gravely serious” condition after being found unconscious Tuesday in his office at Liberty University, a school executive said earlier.

Ron Godwin, the university’s executive vice president, said Falwell, 73, was found unresponsive around 10:45 a.m. and taken to Lynchburg General Hospital. Godwin said he was not sure what caused the collapse, but he said Falwell “has a history of heart challenges.”

There are going to be a whole lot of people dancing on his grave in the next few weeks and I’ll be very sad to see it. Those folks will be talking about Falwell only as they saw him as political figure, which is very unfortunate.

Falwell was, without a doubt, one of the five most important pastors in the world. His radio and television show “The Old Time Gospel Hour” reached millions of people over the years and I have no doubt that there are tens of thousands of people to day who are Christians because of a Falwell radio or television broadcast. His time as pastor of Thomas Road Baptist Church allowed him to reach thousands more and, more importantly, to give Christians a solid and welcome church home for decades. He was instrumental in founding Liberty University, which has gone beyond being a small-time Baptist college, to become a national presence academically and athletically.

Rev. Falwell’s ministry was expansive and always faithful to the Bible. It would be difficult to give a higher complement to a minister.

More attention will be given to Falwell’s political advocacy, which is also fair. I rarely agreed with Falwell’s political stances. I have long believed that a pastor should be a pastor and leave the politics for the politicians. A pastor has plenty of work to do already. But that wasn’t Falwell’s way and, as much as I disagreed with his doing so, I admired that when he took a firm stand, he did so on solid Biblical grounds.

Of course, he also had a habit of shooting from the hip, which hurt him many times. He was prone to saying rash things for which he had to apologize. The apologize never got as much press as his initial statements (and they never do, do they?) which left him with a reputation I think was not entirely deserved. There were times (Larry Flynt and his comments after 9/11 are examples) when he forgot for a while what his job really was. He is, I’m quite sure, answering for his failings before The Almighty. I don’t feel the need to examine them in gory detail. Others will do that very eagerly.

We have lost a good soldier of the faith – not a perfect one, but one whose ministry will last for many years still. I wish his family and his church the best .

UPDATE: Man, it didn’t take long for the wild partying to start on the left. It’s rather sad that they didn’t show this much joy after we killed Zarqawi. They know who the real enemy is, though, right?

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Category: Gimme that Old Time Religion