'Brother, you were one tick away from Heaven!'
Chuck Myers survives his third heart attack and teaches us about trusting the Lord.
Chuck Myers isn’t the kind of man who fades into the background. His life is marked by faith, resilience and an unshakable sense of purpose.
He’s a husband, father, pastor, mentor, and founder of multiple Christian ministries. And now he can add another title to his list: three-time heart attack survivor.
How many 60-year-old men can say that?
Chuck isn’t just a friend; he’s my closest friend. For years, we’ve worked together, co-founded a ministry, shared many meals, and even vacationed together.
Every day, without fail, we exchange texts and phone calls about life, ministry, and the all-important Wordle game of the day.
So, when I got a text from him at 7:45 a.m. last Friday, I wasn’t surprised. But this wasn’t an ordinary message.
“At the ER. Going back for an angiogram shortly. Woke up in the night with some chest pain. Came in around 4:00am. Ugh!”
Chuck’s history includes two heart attacks 13 years ago, and it’s not uncommon for him take a day off when he feels his chest tightening. So while I was concerned, I wasn’t panicked. I kept my response light.
“I’m so sorry. I’m praying now and I’ll get a prayer chain going. Just tell the nurses you need to do your Wordle before they incapacitate you with too many tests!”
Three hours later, another text came:
“I had 100% blockage and they put in three more stents. I have a total of six now. One more and I get the eighth free! I’m here at the hospital overnight and then we’ll see how things look tomorrow.”
He was resting at home by noon on Saturday and was “fine.” Quick action by Chuck and the doctors prevented major damage to his heart. The doctors told him to take it easy for a week. His only restriction? Don’t lift anything heavy.
But when he visited his doctor on Tuesday, the gravity of his condition became clear:
“Brother, you were one tick away from Heaven!” his doctor told him.
A little hyperbole, but still. One tick. That close.
“My doctor was reading my file while I was there and he stopped and said, ‘It’s a real good thing you went right in’ and interjected ‘wow!’ twice,” Chuck texted. “I didn’t realize it was THAT close!”
Later he texted: 'Do you know what’s cool? Once again I had complete peace. The Lord showed up!”
‘The presence of the Lord was right there’
This wasn’t the first time Chuck had felt God’s presence in such a tangible way. In 2011, during his first heart attack (his second happened later in 2011), he was walking alone on a steep trail at Hickory Cove Bible Camp, where he was the executive director.
Suddenly he felt intense pain in his chest and arm. He made it back to camp and called his wife, Ruth, to drive him to the hospital. But when he got dizzy and struggled to get to the car, they decided to call 911 — remembering that a friend had died when he tried to drive himself to the hospital while having a heart attack.
Chuck told me about the first heart attack:
“In the ambulance, I can’t even explain how real it was. The presence of the Lord was right there. I prayed that I could see my kids one more time, but I also had this overwhelming sensation that I wanted to go with the Lord.
“I wasn’t afraid to die. I wasn’t freaking out about what would happen if I did. I had a peace that is still hard to describe. I don’t want to say I was disappointed I didn’t die, but I wasn’t exactly elated to live, either. I just felt the real, real presence of the Lord.”
“I had peace about all of that. To this day is still amazes me.
“This time I didn’t feel it at that level, but I was very much at peace. If the Lord took me, he took me. I wasn’t freaking out over it. It was very comforting.
“They say that the Lord shows up when you need him to show up. I definitely felt that.”
Stephen, the first Christian martyr, felt something similar as he was stoned in Acts 7:54-60 after preaching the Gospel to the Sanhedrin (the highest Jewish court).
“But [Stephen], full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. And he said, ‘Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.’”
From wretch to a child of God
What makes Chuck’s faith so striking isn’t just the peace he has experienced in life-threatening moments. It’s the trajectory of his entire life.
In his late teens, Chuck hit rock bottom in Baltimore, living a wretched and degenerate life. But in a moment of deep conviction, he crawled back to God, sobbing and pleading for forgiveness.
He never forgot the weight of that moment, often tearing up decades later when reflecting on the grace that turned him from a sinner and enemy of God to a redeemed child of God.
Since then, Chuck’s life has been a testimony to transformation.
Chuck has spent his life weaving between two callings — work and ministry.
He’s held positions with large companies, often excelling in practical, hands-on roles. But no matter how far he ventured into the corporate world, ministry always pulled him back.
Over the years, he’s pastored small churches in Minnesota and North Carolina, and for a season, he directed a Bible camp in Taylorsville, North Carolina.
God introduced me to Chuck 24 years ago
God brought Chuck into my life in 2000. At the time, I owned a print shop in Minneapolis. Chuck, with his background as a press operator, was knocking on doors looking for work. He had an offer in Baltimore but wasn’t eager to uproot his young family.
That morning he told Ruth, “If I come up empty today, I’ll have to take the job in Baltimore.”
When Chuck walked into my shop, I wasn’t actively hiring. But I’d been mulling over the idea of bringing in a general manager to help oversee my growing business. Chuck and I hit it off immediately — our shared faith laid the foundation for an instant connection. By the end of the conversation, I knew I wanted him on my team.
Chuck worked with me for a few years, but ministry called again. He started his own company, eventually transitioning to the Bible camp role in North Carolina. Even as our lives diverged geographically, we stayed in close touch. I even helped with fundraising for the camp.
In 2014, life brought us back together. Anne and I moved to Charlotte for a job, and suddenly, Chuck and I were neighbors again. Our friendship picked up seamlessly.
Four years ago, Chuck and I launched a ministry called The India Pastors Project. We train Indian pastors in sound theology and practical ministry over Zoom. This approach allows us to keep costs low while reaching poor pastors who otherwise might not receive this kind of training.
Last week, Chuck was “one tick away from Heaven.” His experience reminds me how much is at stake — not just for his wife, children and 13 grandchildren, but for the countless lives he’s touched as a friend, mentor and spiritual leader.
Psalm 103:15–16 reminds us, “As for man, his days are like grass; he flourishes like a flower of the field; the wind passes over it, and it is gone, and its place knows it no more.”
Life in this world is fleeting, but eternity stretches endlessly before us. Chuck’s story reminds us of two vital truths: to work with urgency, knowing our days are never guaranteed, and to trust in the Lord when we face the unknown.
Inspirational writing such as yours and Chuck’s has a strong impact re the presence of our Lord and His care for us. It certainly does impact our mundane life that too frequently drowns out the huge presence of our Lord. He so wants us to listen!