Seth Udinski, FISM News
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In the midst of rampant bad news in both the secular world and the church, the salvation of souls by the blood of Jesus Christ is the greatest news a Christian can hear. In the last two weeks, this happened in great numbers as many people repented of their sin and trusted in Christ after listening to the preaching of Rev. Franklin Graham, son of the legendary American pastor Billy Graham.
The younger Graham led a two-week long evangelistic outreach tour called “God Loves You,” running from Sept. 19 to Oct. 3. The tour is part of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (BGEA) which Franklin has led since taking over for his father in 2001. It followed the transnational highway Route 66 from Chicago to the Los Angeles region, with a combined 56,000 patrons attending throughout the eight city stops. The Christian rock band “Newsboys” came alongside Graham as he preached the gospel at each stop. According to reports from the association, over 5,000 attendees trusted in Christ as their Savior.
After the final event in San Bernardino, CA on Saturday, Graham said,
And tonight at the last stop in San Bernardino, I told the crowd that I’m not offering religion to anybody because religion can’t save your soul from Hell—only Jesus Christ can. I thank God for all those who responded to the invitation to come to Jesus Christ in repentance and put their faith and trust in Him. Join me in praying for them.
One of the verses on which Graham preached was Ephesians 2:8-9. The Lord clearly worked through Graham’s preaching on this verse, with its emphasis of justification by grace alone through faith alone. May it be an encouragement to all Christians, and a warm reminder from God for us to preach the gospel of grace to ourselves every day:
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.