“Bringing the world into focus
through the lens of Scripture”
Koinonia House announces the death of its Founder and retired Board Chairman, Dr. Charles W. “Chuck” Missler. He was 83 years old, and passed away peacefully at his home in Reporoa, New Zealand. He was preceded in death by his wife Nancy and his two sons, Charles “Chip” and Mark. He is survived by two daughters, Lisa Bright and Meshell Missler, and eight grandchildren. Continue Reading →
A celebration of life service was held on June 2, 2018 at Candlelight Christian Fellowship in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho.
The funeral service was held at the River Lodge, Reporoa, New Zealand, on Saturday 16th June.
Over the past few years of working with Chuck Missler, people have asked me, “What will happen to Koinonia House when he is gone?” With Chuck’s official retirement announced more than two years ago, we at Koinonia House have been busily engaged in putting in place a structure that would serve this ministry for years to come. We have considered this pending phase by examining this process as revealed in Scripture and as attempted by other Christian organizations.
My dad taught me that life is an adventure. Dad opened the world to me through traveling or family ski trips. He was very adventurous… had his pilot’s license, scuba certified, skier, … Who moves to the other side of the world in their 70s? He loved jokes, pranks and treasure hunts: following various clues or maps to hidden destinations with a surprise treasure at the end of the journey. One Christmas, I had to find a bottle with a secret message buried on the beach at the Balboa Bay Club. Another year, my brother, Chip, had to go to the front desk of a fancy hotel and ask for an envelope for Gandalf (all the while my dad was giggling at our expressions).
Spiritually, these treasure hunts continued in his Bible studies. I thank him for instilling in me the unequivocal fact that the Bible is the inerrant, Divinely inspired Word of God.
My dad was a truly amazing man. He never strived for “normal” but rather he would leave no stone unturned when it came to pursuing adventures in life. He would often tell me about the time when he asked my mother to marry him. He told her, “I cannot promise you that life will be easy, but I can certainly promise you our lives will be full of adventure.” My mom and dad had a deep and life-lasting love for one another. They traveled the world together, lived in many different places, from the beach to the mountains, from the United States of America to New Zealand; and just as my father promised my mother on the day he asked her to marry him, they certainly did experience many adventures throughout their lives together.
Chuck once penned these words in a Personal Update article entitled “A Friendly Whisper: The Most Painful Sin”.
This is what he wrote:
True Friendship
“What is true friendship? A relationship that doesn’t require explanations. One that gives us the assurance of receiving the benefit of the doubt. A friend is one who is loyal and shuns any form of betrayal.”
In early May 2018, Koinonia House announced the death of Dr. Charles W. “Chuck” Missler, about the time that the Holy Bible: International Standard Version was being prepared for print publication.
Dr. Missler served on the board of directors of the ISV Foundation for about ten years, and personally contributed to the translation by the late Dr. Peter Flint of the ISV book of Isaiah from the Dead Sea Scrolls.
I first met Chuck in mid–1992, having been introduced to him by Doug Mahr, one of the original founders of the New Age Movement. Doug had come to know Jesus the Messiah, largely as a result of Dr. Chuck’s teaching ministry.
Chuck Missler has been one of the strong threads in the fabric of my spiritual wardrobe. Having been clothed in the righteousness of Christ and learning to “put on the new man” (Ephesians 4:24), I grew in my love and respect for Scripture by the example and teaching of Chuck Missler. I was saved in 1973 in a San Jose apartment after watching Billy Graham on an afternoon telecast. Soon thereafter, I moved back home to SoCal (Southern California) to get plugged into the only church I knew of at that time that was welcoming of young people, Calvary Chapel. Week after week I was nourished by the sound verse-by-verse bible teaching of pastor Chuck Smith, who took us through the entire Bible verse-by-verse and book-by-book. The messages were decidedly absent of junk food — no fluff, just straight up Scripture. We learned to view life through the lens of the scriptural text. While in the midst of pursuing a career in the medical field, someone handed me a set of cassette tapes by a guy named Chuck Missler. I thought I’d give them a listen.
Twenty-two years ago I was asked to come from California to Idaho in order to teach and lead worship at Koinonia House. Chuck was away leading a tour to Israel, and I would be the guest speaker. Shortly thereafter, I was asked to move my family to Coeur d’Alene and join the K-House staff.
At one point, Chuck asked me to begin teaching a Bible study on Thursday nights in the studio. With some hesitation, I agreed. I did not feel equipped to teach in a ministry that served the likes of those who followed the depth and style provided by Chuck Missler. At any rate, with encouragement from Chuck and Nancy, I began. To my surprise, Chuck and Nan attended the study, sat on the front row, and in a way only Chuck would do — took notes. Talk about intimidation — I could not have been more uncomfortable. Nonetheless, I taught, Chuck and Nancy listened, and invited others also.
I was sitting in my office when I received the news that Chuck had passed away. Although the news was not unexpected, a sadness settled on my heart. Then I looked up and saw a coffee cup that still holds my pens and miscellaneous paraphernalia. It is a deep blue cup emblazoned with the white Koinonia Institute spyglass logo and the words: Acts 17:11, “Turning Believers into Bereans.” I smiled as a flood of memories came to my conscious mind.
Chuck did indeed bring a generation of old and new Believers alike into a greater knowledge of the Scriptures. As we often joked, “Once you’ve attended a Chuck Missler course, you will never read the Bible or listen to a sermon in the same way again!”
Chuck was someone who really appreciated the details — however small — that point to how amazing our Creator and Redeemer is. Besides his love for the Word, Chuck never took himself too seriously. He was always reminding us of Acts 17:11 to be like the Bereans and to check for ourselves whether what he said was true. He also had a playful side that sometimes came across in the recordings. He loved to “mouth” like he was talking during the microphone checks before recording just to see if we were paying attention. As someone who enjoyed a good pun as much as the next guy, I think Chuck was impressed when he would discover the Holy Spirit using puns in the text of the Bible. He loved how real the Bible is. He said he loved how when we read of Jesus’ appearances after His Resurrection, but before His Ascension, it was always mentioned that He ate with them. That we can look forward to eating after we are resurrected.
The day before I got word that Chuck Missler had passed away I started a commentary by Chuck on the book of Ecclesiastes.
Writing this piece has been emotional for me, Chuck was my hero, mentor and my spiritual father. Like many of you I am grieving the loss of a great man but my heart is comforted knowing he is enjoying the incredible benefits of a life well lived at this moment in heaven.