Charles Stanley’s Grandson Shares How His Grandfather Saved Him from Suicide

By admin On Apr 21, 2023

Following the recent death of prominent Baptist pastor Charles Stanley, his grandson is reflecting how his later grandfather’s words saved him from committing suicide.

Matt Brodersen, 29, the son of Stanley’s only daughter, Becky, and whose uncle is Atlanta megachurch pastor, Andy Stanley, recounted how he wanted to take his own life.

“A few years ago, while living in Los Angeles, I was struggling with drugs and alcohol and deep depression; I blew all of my inheritance money,” Brodersen told The Christian Post. “I was suicidal. I called my mom, and I said, ‘I’m not doing well. I’ve failed.’ I was thinking about killing myself.”

It was during that dark time, his grandfather called him and encouraged him to give his life to Jesus Christ.

“He said, ‘I don’t want to talk to you very long on the phone. I just want to ask you one question. ‘Why don’t you give Jesus another try?'” Broderson recounted. “I don’t remember exactly what happened after that, but it meant the world to me. I just started crying and crying and crying after that phone call, and I decided I didn’t want to die.”

While Stanley was best known for his role as senior pastor of First Baptist Atlanta and the founder of InTouch Ministries, he was simply “Gips” to Broderson.

“My grandfather was so genuine and authentic,” he said. “Every conversation I had with him, every phone call, were like little snippets of his sermons, not because he was preaching at me, but because that’s who he was. He was the real deal. Always meditating on God’s Word, always reading his Bible, always staying up to date on current news and thinking about it in relation to the Bible.”

Overall, Broderson says Stanley always encouraged him when he was struggling in his life.

“Whenever I was down in the dumps, my grandpa would call me,” he shared. “My mom would usually tell him, ‘Matthew’s not doing so well. Can you please give him a phone call?’ And my grandpa would call me, and he’d give me words of encouragement and pray for me over the phone. And then he would keep calling me constantly to check in on me. That really meant a lot to me. That kept me alive.”

Milton Quintanilla is a freelance writer and content creator. He is a contributing writer for Christian Headlines and the host of the For Your Soul Podcast, a podcast devoted to sound doctrine and biblical truth. He holds a Masters of Divinity from Alliance Theological Seminary.

Source