Today, longtime pastor and founder of In Touch Ministries, Charles Stanley, passed away at 90. Charles, who served as senior pastor of First Baptist Church in Atlanta, was no theological gatekeeper and he certainly was not without his problems. We’ve written about many of them over the years right here at The Dissenter. However, Charles did appear to genuinely love his son Andy, and on many occasions, vocalized his opposition to many of Andy’s progressive views, albeit in a non-forceful way.

Charles Stanley was conservative, his son Andy, progressive—very progressive. If you’ve followed us at all over the last several months, you’re likely aware of just how progressive we’ve exposed him to be. His church, and his ministry that oversaw the many sister churches under his North Point umbrella, has become a gathering place for homosexuals despite the fact that it was not highly publicized. These churches are very friendly, inclusive, and affirming to homosexuals and even offered programs and curriculums designed to train parents and others on how to become more affirming to their own children who come out as LGBTQ.

But, as stated above, none of this was publicly known until The Dissenter, Protestia, and a handful of others exposed all of it.

It began when a video of Stanley was published on Twitter saying that homosexuals “who love Jesus” have more faith than many Christians in his church. That video sparked a deep dive into his ministry, and what we uncovered was nothing short of shocking—even for Andy Stanley. Andy Stanley’s ministry, for years, has been under the radar affirming homosexuals, baptizing them, allowing them to serve in the church, and training others to affirm them, all while refusing any call to repentance and faith.

So how does this involve Charles? It seems as though Charles, Andy’s father, was the only restraint on Andy keeping him from coming completely out as LGBTQ-affirming. While Charles was never forceful in his condemnation of Andy’s views, he often spoke of how they would have private conversations and though they disagreed on much, they would find common ground. And now that Charles has passed, there is likely no longer any restraint on Andy’s apostasy.

Andy Stanley now has a clear path forward, and while it likely won’t happen overnight, it is highly probable that over the next few years, we will see Andy’s true colors come out. Andy Stanley, who already rejects the biblical gospel and has written off the Scriptures as having any authority over the lives and beliefs of Christians, has a huge following, so this is a big deal. Once Andy Stanley, the leader of the Evangelical apostasy opens this can, his many clones and followers will all follow suit. This would include people like Beth Moore, Russell Moore, the leadership at First Baptist Church Orlando, who has praised Andy Stanley as one of the greatest theologians of our time, and so many others.

Keep an eye out and watch what happens over the next several months to years. I’m no prophet, but we all know what happens when God removes his hand of restraint against the wicked. You only have to read Romans 1 to find out. It’s fixing to get interesting.