A man who "dedicated his life to sharing God’s Word with the world" has died at the age of 91.

Stuart Briscoe died on August 3 "of natural causes unexpectedly" according to a tweet from his son, Pete Briscoe. "For many of you, he was preacher, pastor, mentor or friend. To us, he was ‘Stu’, ‘Dad’ and ‘Poppa’ and we already miss him achingly."

Briscoe was born in England and preached his first sermon at 17. He would go on to preach thousands of sermons over the years. He and his wife Jill came to the United States in 1970 to minister at Elmbrook Church in Milwaukee, WI. Over the next 30 years, the church would grow dramatically from 300 members to an attendance of 7,000.

Over the course of his ministry, he wrote over 40 books, but he was best known for his broadcast ministry through his show called Telling The Truth. Stuart and Jill taught together through the ministry, which they began in 1971. It still broadcasts today on radio stations around the world.

"Stuart dedicated his life to sharing God’s Word with the world," his ministry says in a statement on its website. "And we’re so thankful to have learned from his steady fortitude to follow Jesus and his faithful commitment to love and serve people.

"Stuart would tell all of us grieving his passing not to make a big deal about it. Dying is merely an unavoidable end-product to having lived in this broken world, and for every believer, a means to eternal Life. What was important to Stuart was carrying on and finishing strong—saying yes to every appointment God had for him right up to his dying day. And Stuart did just that."

In a letter that he wrote eight years ago, to be published upon his death, Stuart says he was filled with gratitude for God's calling on his life.

"So, with untold gratitude to the Lord for allowing us to do what has been done and utter confidence that this ministry will carry on doing things God’s way as He continues to bring about surprise after surprise, I move on and look forward to you eventually catching up with me. And if we have time—in eternity!!—you can bring me up to date on what happened when I had left you to 'Keep calm and carry on.'"