“Larry, I’m a pastor and I want to be like Billy Graham—preach the gospel!” many say. “I don’t want to get involved in politics.”
Graham did preach the gospel and much more. He told me personally, pointing to his Bible, “Stay in the book!”
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Remember: Graham was an evangelist, not a pastor whose primary responsibility is to feed the flock, preach “the whole counsel of God” (Acts 20:27b, NKJV) and equip the saints for works of service (Eph. 4:12), enabling us to fulfill our mandate to be “salting” society, holding back decay and not merely trying to avoid controversy.
He did both as God’s ambassador, announcing the gospel in addition to addressing the evils of his day: atheistic communism; segregation and racism (front-page headline in South Africa: “Billy Graham Calls Apartheid Sin!”); same-sex “marriage” and sexual immorality. He and his son Franklin placed a full-page statement in the Charlotte Observer exposing gay marriage and upholding biblical marriage between a man and a woman.
Charles Spurgeon
In the mid-1800s, Charles Spurgeon, known as the prince of preachers, was a master Bible teacher, believing in the sufficiency of Scripture to address all issues as he emphasized God’s sovereignty and called for repentance. I love his famous quote: “Bold-hearted men are always called mean-spirited by cowards!”
He spoke out firmly against slavery, causing his sermons to be burned in America. He said,
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