I (along with about 500 million others!) get the mail from the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association with the latest news. I admire Rev. Billy Graham and also his son, Franklin. I have read and re-read Franklin Graham’s autobiography, Rebel With A Cause (Here it is if you want to order it! I recommend it! and it has some wonderful stories about how Franklin came to the Lord and is fully dedicated. He preaches and continues to run Samaritan’s Purse. I use the Billy Graham way for salvation so seekers can learn more about trust in Jesus and here it is!
I also admire cautiously the effort to encourage believers in Christ to vote their values in the election. While I think a pastor in the public eye should be cautious about politics, I will trust that Billy and Franklin Graham were led by the Spirit and acted with integrity. Here’s what my mailpiece said however:
The results of the recent election show a definite move toward secularism and a shift away from Christian values and biblical morality. In some states, same sex marriage was approved and marijuana was legalized. Unbelievably, whether it was apathy or indifference, there were millions of evangelical Christians who stayed at home and did not go to the polls. Had more Christians exercised their right and privilege to vote in this election, perhaps the outcomes on the national and state levels could have been quite different. (Emphasis added)
I am sure Rev. Franklin Graham is right but I wanted to confirm it from another source. Rev. Franklin Graham was reported to have said that a “majority” of evangelicals did not vote in 2012. There is some dispute about that:
In fact, white evangelicals/born-again Christians made up the same percentage of the electorate as they did in 2008 – 26%. They voted for Mitt Romney, a devout Mormon, by a wider margin than they did for Sen. John McCain four years ago.
And, they made up a larger share of the electorate in 2012 than in 2004, when the Christian Right supposedly fueled George W. Bush’s reelection. They also voted for Romney with the exact same margin as for Bush in 2004, 78%-21%.
But Franklin is right about less than half of the larger evangelical community did not vote and some believers voted for President Obama (which I think is a poor use of the gift we have in our nation to select our leaders!):
Not to mention, Obama won the 48 percent of the electorate that was Christian and not Protestant or Mormon — 50%-48% among Catholics (25% of the electorate) and 50%-49% of “Other Christians” (23% of the electorate).
***
So far, 123 million votes have been counted in this election – and that number will get higher by the millions as votes continue to be counted like in 2008. Evangelicals made up 26 percent of them, therefore, about 32 million evangelicals voted – less than half of their population.
But I only mention that to say: Maybe we do need revival in our land. In fact, I’d say it stronger: We need a Holy Ghost revival in the United States (and Western Europe, too) and my mailpiece (here‘s the web version of part of this mailpiece) from the BGEA says:
Because God is slow to anger and merciful to sinners, it is important that we do all we can to bring the message of repentance of sins and forgiveness through Christ to as many people as we can—and to do so with a real sense of urgency. We need to pray diligently for the lost, for revival in our own hearts and in churches, and for a turning of our nation to God.
***
I’m inviting you to be a part of this, starting right now. Every great evangelistic effort begins with prayer, is sustained with prayer, and ends with prayer. So I urge you to make a list of unsaved friends and family, then begin praying regularly for their openness to the Gospel and their salvation. What better Christmas gift could you give them?
Will my brothers and sister in Christ who read this blog covenant with God to pray for the lost? Pray their hearts be right. Pray that people will come with Jesus in their heart, with the holiness and the brokenness in their lives, sincerely seeking God’s face in their world today. Pray Pray PRAY! Pray for the President and other leaders:
“I would like to call on Christians in America to especially pray for our president and all those in authority. ‘…supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; For kings, and for all who are in authority: that we may live a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.’ (I Timothy 2:1-2 [KJV])” (Blogger’s note: The BGEA used a more modern translation of the same verse that I did not use for copyright reasons.)
But I also want you to see that revival can happen: It may be happening. In one of the world’s newest nations: The Republic of South Sudan Here’s the BGEA story about that:
When I was in South Sudan just a few weeks ago, I couldn’t help but notice the sharp contrast between what has been happening in America and what God is doing in this, the newest country in the world. I preached the Gospel to 100,000 people who stood in the hot African sun to listen to God’s Word.
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It is the church in South Sudan that is forming the backbone for the country’s future. Many government leaders and cabinet members are strong believers—some are even preachers. Church leaders are eager to have the preaching of the Gospel as a foundation of their emerging country.
We called our evangelistic Crusade in the capital city of Juba Hope for a New Nation. A jubilant 600-member choir, the largest Christian choir ever assembled in the Sudan, ignored the stifling heat and sang in worship to the Lord in both English and Arabic. Thousands—young and old—received the message of repentance and forgiveness and ran forward to make public professions of their faith in Jesus Christ.
A prominent local bishop summed up his thoughts on what had happened. “God has visited us. South Sudan is not going to be the same. The churches of this land are not going to be the same. God is blessing this nation. God is reigning in this nation. God is bringing hope to this nation. God’s Name will be exalted.”
Saved, sanctified leaders of nations are critical. But the people can remain in unbelief. If you are a follower of Christ, make every effort to live a holy and winsome life that will attract people to the God we believe in. Christ is the hope for a new nation but He helps old nations, too!
“Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people.” Proverbs 14:34 (KJV)
If you need to know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior and only hope for eternal life, go here!
Article written by: Elwood "Sandy" Sanders
About Elwood Sanders
Elwood "Sandy" Sanders is a Hanover attorney who is an Appellate Procedure Consultant for Lantagne Legal Printing and has written ten scholarly legal articles. Sandy was also Virginia's first Appellate Defender and also helped bring curling in VA! (None of these titles imply any endorsement of Sanders’ views)
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