a tribute

Call Me Jerry: Students Remember Falwell

By George Thomas
CBN News

CWNews.com–-- Lynchburg, Va - While the mainstream media remembers Rev. Jerry Falwell as a polarizing figure for his comments in and out of the pulpit, students at the university he founded remember him not as a preacher, but as a friend.

A recent Liberty University newspaper headline said it all: Meet the family man, the prankster, and to many the real Dr. Falwell, affectionately known on campus as "Jerry."

One student recalled, "He would come to us and we could always go to him. And he really didn't want us to call him Dr. Falwell."

In a day and age where political correctness reigns supreme, Falwell was a man seemingly unafraid to speak his mind.

"He was a good example as well for us - the future generation - to stand up for what we think and believe and not worry about what the world has to say to us because we are not called to please the world, we were called to give glory to God," said one Liberty student.

Another student recalled, "He preached a sermon about asking boldly for things that you want so a friend of ours had a birthday the next week and he e-mailed Jerry and said 'will you take us all out for a steak dinner? And he did!"

And Falwell was not just concerned about the welfare of his students but about the soul of the nation.
"There are so many things, so many lives that he has touched so many people have been saved just because of one man and it didn't stop there," said one student. "He didn't just want one man he wanted everybody."

Throughout the night, students phoned in to the campus radio station to remember their beloved chancellor.

"Jerry Falwell was an amazing man and everything that he ever preached and that ever talked about - being a salt and light soldier and being a champion for Christ and having goals and leaving legacies - he always did. He's really going to be missed," said one caller.

And those listening in got the chance to hear one of his final proverbs on life.

Falwell said, "It is my very strong conviction that God's man is indestructible until he has finished the work God has called him to do."