*It is very sad that Billy Joe Daugherty's life was cut short by cancer. I got saved at Victory Christian Center in Tulsa, and attended the church for six years. Billy Joe Daugherty was such a kind man, and my heart goes out to his family. He was a doer of the Word type of fellow. Although I left the church four years ago, and I do not share all of it's theology; I deeply feel the world lost a truly unique individual who loved God with all his heart. He never lost his passion to reach the lost, and help the poor in the community. Although he sometimes taught prosperity, he never appeared to be motivated by greed, nor lived a lavish lifestyle--he seemed very down to earth. He will always hold a special place in my heart and memory. An article about him is directly below:---------------------------------------------
Billy Joe Daugherty Dies Of Cancer
Founding Pastor Of Victory Christian Center Had Lymphoma
by AP
TULSA, Okla. -- The Rev. Billy Joe Daugherty, the founding pastor of Victory Christian Center, died Sunday after a short battle with lymphoma. He was 57.
Church officials announced the pastor's death during Sunday morning services. Associate pastor Bruce Edwards told the congregation that Daugherty "graduated into heaven" at 4:40 a.m.
Tests uncovered the cancer after Daugherty was hospitalized in October with a viral infection in his throat. A message on the church's Web site said Daugherty died of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma at the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston early Sunday morning.
"We don't sorrow as the world sorrows, as one without hope," Edwards told members of the church, some of whom gasped when Daugherty's death was announced. "We celebrate his life, but at the same time there is sorrow, there is grieving."
Many people sobbed as son-in-law Adam Sanders talked about Daugherty's final hours.
"We miss him, but he's with Jesus," he said. "His entire life was about one thing, loving God, and out of that love, he loved people. We will continue in his legacy, loving people."
Originally from Magnolia, Ark., Daugherty graduated from Oral Roberts University with a bachelor's degree in Christian education. He was a youth minister in the 1970s at Sheridan Christian Center, and became senior pastor at the church in 1976 when the pastor retired.
In 1980, he founded Victory Christian Center, which met in a former car dealership at one point. Membership bloomed. In 2007, the church moved into its current $32 million, 5,000-seat worship center.
Daugherty made national news in 2005, when a parishioner walked up to him during altar call and punched him in the face. As the man was escorted out of the facility, Daugherty, his face smeared with blood, continued the service, publicly forgiving the assailant and praying for him.
Daugherty later wrote a book about the experience, "Knocked Down But Not Out."
He was named interim president of Oral Roberts University in 2007 after president Richard Roberts resigned amid accusations of lavish spending at donors' expense and illegal involvement in a local political campaign.
Daugherty also founded Victory Christian School, Victory Bible Institute and Victory World Missions Training Center. His television show, Victory in Jesus, was televised throughout the United States. Daugherty and his wife, Sharon Daugherty, have written more than a dozen books.
Along with his wife, he is survived by his mother, Iru Daugherty, and four children. A memorial service is planned for Nov. 30.
