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Tim LaHaye, the best-selling author who is best known for the Left Behind series that I’ve just concluded sharing with you, graduated to heaven early July 25th after suffering a stroke at the age of 90.
Tyndale House Publishers
Tim LaHaye
His family announced the news of his passing at a San Diego hospital on his ministry Facebook page early that morning.
On the eve of his death, ministry partners, fans, and friends urgently asked for prayer on social media, offering a wave of early tributes that spread through end-times prophecy circles and chapters of Concerned Women for America (CWA), the 600,000-member public policy organization founded by LaHaye’s wife, Beverly. Some circulated a statement by LaHaye’s daughter Linda: “He will not recover from this, he will soon be graduated to heaven.”
Reverend David Jeremiah, Tim LaHaye LaHaye’s successor at the San Diego church he led for 25 years (then named Scott Memorial Baptist Church, now named Shadow Mountain Community Church where Tim’s homegoing was celebrated), “Tim was one of the most godly men I have ever known. Almost every conversation I had with him ended with his praying with me and for me. He wrote me extended letters of appreciation for what God was doing in our church. We shared long lunches together talking about ministry and praying for our nation.
“When I look back over [his] life, I am reminded of Paul’s words concerning King David: ‘He served his own generation by the will of God’ (Acts 13:36),” stated Jeremiah, senior pastor of Shadow Mountain and founder of Turning Point. “Tim’s ministry will continue for many years through the books he wrote, the organizations he founded, and the people that he influenced. But I will miss him when I look out from my pulpit next Sunday.”
“Whose life hasn’t been affected in some way by this man?” wrote Prophecy Watchers, a two-year-old ministry based in Oklahoma City that announced the news of LaHaye’s stroke, describing him as a friend and supporter. “This is a great man of God and if the Lord takes him home, he leaves behind a wonderful legacy. In the words of Steve Green, ‘May all who come behind us find us faithful."”
“Thrilled as I am that he is where he has always wanted to be, his departure leaves a void in my soul I don’t expect to fill until I see him again,” stated Jerry B. Jenkins, who co-wrote the Left Behind books with LaHaye, in the obituary released by the LaHaye family. [Jenkins wrote a tribute for CT on “the Tim LaHaye I knew.”]
The founder and president of Tim LaHaye Ministries and founder of the PreTrib Research Center, LaHaye sold 62 million copies of the series with Jenkins. “In terms of its impact on Christianity, it’s probably greater than that of any other book in modern times, outside the Bible,” the late Jerry Falwell, a friend of LaHaye’s, told Time Magazine in 2005.
CT ranked Left Behind among the landmark titles that have shaped evangelicalism. LaHaye and Jenkins not only had readers rethinking the rapture, but also the potential popularity of Christian novels. “The book launched a series that launched a marketing empire that launched a new set of rules for Christian fiction. The series spent a total of 300 weeks—nearly as long as the Tribulation it dramatized—on TheNew York Times‘s bestseller list.”
The series, whose first title released 21 years ago this month, still sells in the six figures annually, according to Jenkins.
“Tim LaHaye’s history as a published author is intertwined with the entire history of Tyndale House,” stated Mark D. Taylor, chairman and CEO of Tyndale House Publishers. “His first book, Spirit-Controlled Temperament, was published 50 years ago in 1966. It was the very first book published by Tyndale House apart from the Living series of Bible paraphrases. And Tyndale’s highest-selling series of trade titles has been the Left Behind series. … Tim was a wonderful Bible teacher and pastor and an inspiration for our entire industry. We will miss him.”
“It was LaHaye’s idea to fictionalize an account of the Rapture and the Tribulation,” according to his bio on the official Left Behind website. It notes:
LaHaye originated the idea of a novel about the Second Coming. “Sitting on airplanes and watching the pilots,” he told People magazine, “I’d think to myself, ‘What if the Rapture occurred on an airplane?"” LaHaye looked for a co-writer for several years and was then introduced to Jerry B. Jenkins through their mutual agent, Rick Christian, president of the Colorado Springs literary agency, Alive Communications, who also negotiated the book deal.
“Writing the Left Behind novel series for him and traveling with him all over the country to promote it, I saw the softer side of a man known for strong opinions and polemic views,” stated Jenkins. “The Tim LaHaye I got to know had a pastor’s heart and lived to share his faith. He listened to and cared about everyone, regardless of age, gender, or social standing. If Tim was missing from the autograph table or the green room of a network television show, he was likely in a corner praying with someone he’d just met—from a reader to a part-time bookstore stock clerk to a TV network anchorman.”
Earlier this month, LaHaye publicly celebrated his 69th wedding anniversary with his wife. Time magazine labeled the pair “the Christian Power Couple” in 2005, listing them among the country’s most influential evangelicals. “[Beverly] has been my faithful partner in marriage, parenthood, ministry, and many things we never dreamed. We are still in love today!” he wrote. “God has been faithful to us and we continue to claim as our life verse, Proverbs 3:5 & 6, ‘Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths."”
He also founded two accredited Christian high schools, a school system of 10 Christian schools, San Diego Christian College (formerly Christian Heritage College), and assisted Dr. Henry Morris in the founding of the Institute for Creation Research, the nation’s foremost exponent of creationist materials.
LaHaye wrotee more than 60 non-fiction books on a wide range of subjects such as: family life, temperaments, sexual adjustment, Bible prophecy, the will of God, Jesus Christ, and secular humanism with over 14 million in print, some of which have been translated into 32 foreign languages. His writings are best noted for their easy-to-understand and scripturally based application of biblical principles that assist in facing and handling the challenges of life.
In his message honoring LaHaye, Jeremiah began by saying that there is a term that appears in the Old Testament 75 times in 70 passages: Man of God. Five people are given that title: Moses, Samuel, David, Elijah, and Elisha.
But in the New Testament, only one reference is found, and interestingly enough, it refers to a man named Tim.
1 Timothy 6:11 reads: “But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, and gentleness” — an apt description of LaHaye’s life, said Jeremiah.
He also noted that despite LaHaye selling over 90 million copies of his Left Behind book series, which he co-authored with Jerry Jenkins, the money and popularity that ensued never changed him.
“I knew Tim LaHaye before the Left Behind series and I knew him after and I couldn’t tell the difference,” Jeremiah shared.
LaHaye’s co-author of the end times series, Jerry Jenkins, recalled many memories he shared with the pastor/bestselling author and said it was an “unspeakable privilege” to have known LaHaye. Having seen LaHaye up-close-and-personal, Jenkins shared about a particularly strong memory he had of his writing partner. Jenkins said that during their travels if LaHaye suddenly disappeared, he could often be found somewhere praying with someone he just met.
Jenkins sprinkled many humorous anecdotes about LaHaye in his tribute, including how he was first introduced to LaHaye as “a bestselling nonfiction author with a great fiction idea, and you’re a novelist with no ideas,” which he recounted with a laugh.
He also shared about the time they were in Atlanta at a book signing event, and LaHaye had forgotten his hearing aid. A woman that got her book signed had returned 20 minutes later to buy an entire box of their books.
LaHaye said to her, “You’re back!”
She replied, “Yes, on my way home the Holy Spirit arrested me and told me to buy a box of books for my friends.”
Not having heard her correctly, LaHaye said, “What did you get arrested for, speeding?”
But Jenkins said he will remember LaHaye most as a soul-winner.
“He was way more interested in reports of who had come to faith than he was about any royalty check or bestseller list. And as thrilled as I am that he is now where he has always wanted to be, his departure leaves a void in my soul.”
Three of LaHaye’s grandsons and his two daughters, Lori and Linda, through tears, shared fond memories of “Pop.” All of them noted that sharing the good news of the Gospel was his greatest joy.
At the end of the service, Tim’s wife, Beverly LaHaye, gathered their entire family to share with each generation what she and LaHaye had been praying for them.
“I’m sure today, he’s looking forward to all 39 of you joining him in heaven one day, to spend eternity in the presence of our Savior, who gave his life for each one of you. He would not want any one of you to be left behind, and I say that with all sincerity,” she concluded.
Tim LaHaye Has Gone Home (Christianity Today)