Lewis for his gift of sharing the Gospel and answering and entertaining even the harshest critics with smart and engaging commentary, Keller’s books routinely hit the bestseller lists. Considered by many to be a modern-day version of C.S. Previous pastors on the mission had failed – but the Kellers eventually grew Redeemer to a church with over 5,000 weekly attendees. Timothy and Kathy Keller first arrived in New York City in 1989, unlikely church planters who had spent the previous eight years pastoring a rural congregation in West Virginia. “We all get trees like that here in New York.” “Do you guys like our tree?” he asked without cracking a smile. Keller greeted his out-of-town guests by pointing to the iconic, giant lit Christmas tree behind him. Stepping inside a restaurant adjacent to Rockefeller Center on a cold December morning in 2019 to speak to a chapter of the New Canaan Society, Dr. He’s a man on a mission, and yet his quick, dry and wry wit reveals a warmth forged in a metropolitan setting. To meet Timothy Keller is to meet a man who chooses his words carefully – and who doesn’t waste the words he chooses. If not for the occasional tweet or reference to his rollercoaster health journey, a casual follower of the pastor may have even forgotten he’s navigating the treacherous and daunting disease.Īnd that very well may be just as the low-key, cerebral clergyman wants it to be. Keller has continued to write, teach and speak on a wide range of subjects with his trademark wisdom and insight. Retired from his duties as founding pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church, Dr. “I deeply appreciate prayer for my situation! But my main purpose in the last post was to show that having a God who in some ways is beyond our comprehension (esp regarding evil and suffering) is more of a spiritual strength than it is an intellectual problem.” He has plenty of good reasons for everything He does and allows that I cannot know, and therein is my hope and strength.”Īfter being inundated with promises of prayer and responses of concern, Dr.

“But it is endlessly comforting to have a God who is both infinitely more wise and more loving than I am. “I have Stage IV pancreatic cancer,” he tweeted. Timothy Keller, the beloved pastor and bestselling author, seemed to almost be reminding his followers on social media of the highly aggressive and notoriously deadly health diagnosis he received just over 18 months ago:

Tim keller fews