By Diana Chandler
Baptist Press
The estimated 8,600 people gathered at the May 3 Nashville stop of the Decision America Tour 2016 with Franklin Graham was believed to be the largest crowd to date.
-Photo by Shawn Hendricks
NASHVILLE (BP) — Christians cannot restore America by rallying behind political parties, but must pray, vote, and engage in politics to uphold biblical principles, evangelist Franklin Graham told a crowd of about 8,600 gathered at noon on May 3 in front of the Tennessee State Capitol building in Nashville.
It was the largest crowd to date in his Decision American Tour 2016 with Franklin Graham — a series of sermons and prayer rallies at each capitol in the nation that began Jan. 5 in Des Moines, Iowa — and is scheduled to end Oct. 13 in Raleigh, N.C.
“Some may ask, ‘Franklin, what would your father have done?’ Well, I can tell you right now if my father were my age, and had the strength, he’d be doing exactly the same thing I believe,” said Billy Graham’s son. “My father said in 1952, I think it’s the duty of every individual Christian at election time to study the issues and the candidates and then go to the polls and vote.”
Franklin Graham’s sermon in front of the Nashville Capitol was one of 50 stops on his Decision America Tour 2016 with Franklin Graham.
-Photo by Diana Chandler
Franklin Graham, the eldest son of Billy and Ruth Graham and the president and CEO of Samaritan’s Purse and the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, evoked the words of his father as still pertinent today.
Graham led the crowd in targeted prayers of repentance for personal sins, the sins of the nation and the sins of our forefathers, and offered salvation to the lost.
He encouraged Christians to take back the country by running for public office, encouraging them to run and support Christian candidates.
“Ladies and gentlemen we need leaders in high places, we need leaders in public office who are not afraid or scared to honor almighty God,” Graham said. “America is being stripped of its biblical heritage and its God-given foundations.”
Too many leaders, Graham said, are more concerned with political correctness than biblical truth, and should be willing to stand on God’s Word in the marketplace.
“It’s time for Christians to take a stand and if they want to sue — bring it on, come on, sue us. But we’re not going to shut up, we’re not going to back up because Jesus said if they did that to me, they’re going to do that to you,” Graham said.
He encouraged Christians to vote not only in the presidential election, but also in local and state races.
“Take your communities back. The devil’s got them, let’s get them back. And it can be done by the Christians, because they’re more of us than there is of them. We just cannot afford to be silent anymore,” he said. “We may not have another opportunity as a nation like this again. So you’ve got to vote.”
Graham did not endorse a candidate nor promote a political party.
Jerry Drace
The tour is scheduled to end Oct. 13 in Raleigh, N.C. Prior to Nashville, the March 31 Sacramento, Calif., stop had attracted the largest crowd, according to the BGEA, with an estimated 7,500 gathered there.
Jerry Drace, a West Tennessee pastor and evangelist from Humboldt, served as the Tennessee director for the Decision America Tour.
The Nashville stop “met our expectations,” Drace told the Baptist and Reflector. Having 8,600 people attend was an “answer to prayer,” he added.
Drace also was excited to see different denominations represented at the rally and how churches responded by bringing large numbers of people. One church in Murfreesboro brought 800 people, he noted. Drace added that people from all over the state were represented as well as people from neighboring states.
He noted that his team worked hard for six months prior to the rally contacting more than 1,900 churches personally to encourage them to attend. “We had a great support team that made all this happen. They went the extra mile,” said Drace, pastor of Friendship Baptist Church, Friendship.
Dan Gant attended the rally with a group from Tulip Grove Baptist Church, Old Hickory. “The crowd was excited to hear music from Charlie Daniels and Franklin Graham’s challenge to the church to repent and ask God to forgive our sins and heal our land was accepted with brokenness and humility,” he said.
“We realized that God’s people must repent first if we expect God to answer our prayers and send a revival. The event was part solemn assembly and part motivational rally to get believers to be active in the political process. It was a very worthwhile gathering.”
— Lonnie Wilkey, editor of the Baptist and Reflector, contributed to this article.
