Cissie Graham Lynch:
00:00:00 This week is pretty special. It is my dad’s 70th birthday. I don’t know if he would think that’s too special. I think he’s glad to make it to 70. But for me, this year, I’m just so grateful. Many of you know that he has had tremendous health issues. He had open heart surgery that I’m so grateful for all those who prayed along our family and sent in their uh… prayers and just their thoughts. How grateful I am that he just really did well with that and then he had some other health issues. Then he got COVID with me. We were travelling and got it together so it’s just been one thing after another and how grateful I am to see him. The Lord’s renewing his strength and he’s back and he’s preaching. He went to the UK. He went to Rio uh… in Brazil and that God is just still using him in a mighty way so for me, this year is such a big celebration.
So, I’m just so grateful as a daughter and when I was in Samaritan’s Purse a few weeks ago, he was speaking to our summer interns and I wish I had had it recorded. I wish I had pulled out my phone to record what he said to them because what he said in those five minutes when he was talking to this generation who he said could be the future leaders in other ministries around the world, could be future leaders there at Samaritan’s Purse. He was sharing his heart of what he believed and what he challenged them. To believe that the Bible is the Word of God front to cover, that he might not understand it all but he believes it, that it is the authoritative Word of God. And that he challenged them in these cultural times that we are in to never back down from God’s truth. And I’ve learned that with um… my dad that he’s never compromised the Gospel of Jesus Christ and that he challenged that, that you’re gonna make tough decisions in this world and if that you didn’t believe in the authoritative Word of God, that everything He says, from different cultural issues from abortion to homosexual marriage, to whatever it is, that this ministry, Samaritan’s Purse or the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, is not a place for you to work ‘cause we’re gonna stand on the solid biblical foundation of God's Word. And he also taught them that, you know, we just don’t go do humanitarian work. He hates that word, humanitarian work. No, we’re there as an evangelistic association. We’re there to serve in the Lord’s Name and no matter where he’s gone in the world, he’s always gone in the Name of Jesus, and he’s never hidden that. And some people are like, “Oh, no, just get in the door of that country. Just get your foot in and start helping people, then you can share the Gospel.” No, my dad has always gone in not hiding what he’s there to do.
But as he was speaking to this young group of interns, I was looking out and just saying, “That’s my dad. That’s the Franklin Graham that the world sees. That’s the Franklin Graham we had at home as a dad and how grateful I am. So for his 70th birthday, for this episode, I wanna share a previous episode of when we really began Fearless so many of you might not have heard it, it’s one of the earliest episodes that I recorded what I’ve learned from my dad, Franklin Graham.
Hi, I’m Cissie Graham Lynch. Welcome to Fearless, helping you have a fearless faith in a compromising culture.
MUSIC TRANSITION
Cissie Graham Lynch:
00:03:38 Welcome back to Fearless, I am so glad you’re here with me. Here, on this podcast, I really want to help Christians find practical ways to stand up in their faith, be unapologetic, but with grace and truth, take a stand in this world that is forever compromising. You know, God did not give us a spirit of fear, but of power, love and sound mind. And over time, I’ve learned that fear doesn’t have an age category and it does not have a gender category, that we can experience fear in our faith at different stages in our life. But if I was to be honest, I really have never struggled with the fear of taking a stand in my faith. But that’s because I had a father who beautifully set that example before me, who takes a stand on tough subjects in our culture, who takes a stand when it’s unpopular to take a stand. And I’m thankful that I’ve had a dad that has lived a life unashamed of the gospel. And this episode, I am going to share with you the number one thing that my dad has taught me that has left the greatest impact on my life.
I think one of the questions I get the most for being Franklin Graham’s daughter is “What have you learned from your dad?” and there’s hands down one of the greatest things I’ve ever learned is to never be ashamed of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. If you know my dad and you’ve ever seen him in an interview on TV or his ministry, you know where he stands and its evangelism and it’s to never be ashamed of the Gospel. I’ll never forget, I was probably eight or nine years old and we’re at home and it’s just my dad and I at home. My dad’s sitting in his chair, I’m sitting on the couch and on TV we’re watching something maybe like 20/20, something late at night on the news and it was a pastor in the ‘90s, a very well-known pastor comes on TV and he was asked a tough question and he said, “You know what, reading the Bible is like eating fish. You don’t wanna get choked up on the little things, you don’t wanna get choked up on the bones, just get the meat and, you know, don’t worry about the rest of the stuff.” And I remember at eight or nine years old, I was like, “What?” ‘cause I knew even then, sometimes it’s the littlest things in Scripture that have the greatest meaning and I’ll never forget, my dad never said a word. My dad didn’t criticize that man in front of me. I’ve never heard my dad criticize another pastor but I remember looking across the room, at such a young age, and seeing the difference between this man who ran from giving, you know, a straightforward answer from God’s Word… he gave an answer that was pleasing to the ear, and he ran from this sit… situation, compromised the Gospel, and I remember thinking, “There’s my dad who would never run from an opportunity to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ ‘cause he’s unashamed of it” and my whole life, that example was set beautifully before me, whether it’s been in his organization of Samaritan’s Purse or whether that was later in life when he took over the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, the central focus is to never be ashamed of the Gospel and I believe when you’re not ashamed of the Gospel, that’s when God honors you, honors you in your life, honors you in your ministry, and look, I am not here to brag about my dad, it is not about Franklin Graham. I’m really talking about a daughter who’s just proud and who has learned from the example he has set before me ‘cause, you know, Romans 1:16 says, “For I’m not ashamed of the Gospel, for it’s the power of salvation” and I don’t really understand what’s so hard to understand about that in our church and sometimes… it’s the power of the Gospel that changes lives, that brings people to salvation. I think that’s a supernatural power. God just commands us to speak the Gospel, whether that’s a one-on-one conversation with a friend that you’ve been trying to share Jesus with, and sometimes we get nervous and we’re like, “Awe, I don’t know if I’ll say it correctly or if it’s gonna be beautiful or eloquent.” No, He commands you to share the Gospel and He will do the rest and I think sometimes that supernaturally that maybe when we just go out in obedience and we speak the Gospel into somebody’s life that He might interpret that beautifully into somebody else’s ears ‘cause He just wants our obedience in it because salvation’s a miracle and we’re not in the miracle business, only Jesus is in the miracle business and that miracle is what He did on the cross, where He died and three days later, rose again for you and me and I just… I see a church right now with uh… pastors or younger uh… influencers, you know, it’s not their witty illustration, it’s not their Instagram followers, it’s not how they dress, it’s not how many tattoos they have, that’re gonna bring people to know the Lord and there’s nothing wrong with those things. I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with that but when that becomes your focus and not the Gospel, that’s when we have a problem.
One of the greatest tools we have to not be ashamed, like how do we stand in this world and not be ashamed of the Gospel, how do we stand boldly, what does that look like and one of that is you’ve got to have the confidence and that confident… confidence comes with our knowledge, your knowledge of God’s Word. You always have to be prepared to give an answer when the world is coming against you. Um… Jesus set that example beautifully. The Pharisees and the Sadducees, they were always coming against Him, trying to pin Him in a corner with a tough uh… question and try to trip Him up. That’s what the world does to us today. The world’s always watching us Christians. They’re trying to trip us up and how do we stand confidently is to know God’s Word, to um… to know what He says about different topics, and I have had to learn that myself because there’s some topics that I stand very strongly on but I might not know what God’s Word has to say about that and I’ve had to challenge myself to know what I believe and why I believe it, to stand boldly before a world is to know what God’s Word says about it ‘cause it’s not what Cissie Graham thinks, it’s not what I’ve learned from my dad of what Franklin Graham thinks, it’s not what Billy Graham thinks. Now, I’m thankful for all of them to set a beautiful example of ministry and God’s love before me but I have to know what God says and what He believes on the subject and the matter to be able to stand boldly. I think it’s His Word that gives us that confidence that when we abide in Him, when on a daily basis we’re… we’re coming to Him and putting our life at the foot of the cross that He will help us stand boldly but He will.
You’re gonna have to make a choice in this world that we are forever compromising, in a world that is coming against us daily, especially here at home in the United States, its gonna get tougher and tougher. We have no idea what true persecution is like but we will. Our persecution’s coming in different ways. Are our kids gonna be able to stand confidently and boldly and unashamed at their schools, on the football fields, on the basketball courts, the corporate office you work in? They’re gonna come against you. They’re gonna tell you that you’re wrong, that you’re bigots, that God is not a God of love but the greatest thing is like I come back to saying we have to know what God’s Word says ‘cause He says we will be but we can hold um… our victory in His truth and His Word. Hebrews 13:8 says, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever,” and His Word does not change, and it’s amazing. You could read His Word since I was a little girl but every stage of life I’m in, I might read a Scripture differently and He has an answer for every part of our lives. Another example of my dad taking a bold stand was when he took a stand against Islam. Calling Islam evil. He has received many attacks, uh, throughout the years over those comments. He’s even received attacks from Christians on those comments. But he called it evil and he does because it’s a religion that’s contrary to the true gospel. And anything that stands against the true Gospel of Jesus Christ is evil. But what my dad has also taught me is that when you take a stand, you do it with compassion. Everything my dad has done, he’s done compassion through his work of Samaritan’s Purse and the humanitarian work he’s done around the world, especially in the Middle East and to the Muslim people. He has done it with compassion. I don’t know a man who has a greater heart for the people of the Middle East because he wants them to know the true love of Jesus Christ. And with that, and when you take a stand, maybe you would think it would be intimidating. Maybe where you are in life as you’re listening to this right now, you’re gonna have to take a stand in your business, whether you’re gonna have to take a stand in the classroom, whether it’s in the corporate world or in different meetings and you’re gonna have to take a stand and you say “I can’t do it!” because it’s lonely and it’s intimidating. I promise you, because I’ve watched my dad take a stand that God will honor you in whatever you do as long as you honor Him. And in those moments of uncertainty, Satan’s gonna plant those seeds of doubt, that he will strip everything away from you if you take a stand for Jesus. But I’ve watched a man who God has honored over the years who has taken stand after stand for the Gospel of Jesus Christ. That God will honor you for it. My dad, I’ll never forget one time at a conference, my dad said, “When you take a stand for Jesus in this world, you will be a stench in the world’s nose.” And he said, “Bring it on!” And I’ll use that as my, umm, as my encouragement that the world will hate us. But we will not back down when the world tries to push us down.
MUSIC TRANSITION
Cissie Graham Lynch:
00:14:11 Thank you for joining me on another episode of Fearless. Once again, I’m excited to celebrate my dad this week on July 14th. If my dad has ever inspired you, encouraged you through ministry, through Samaritan’s Purse or the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, I would encourage you, share that story on my social media, on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. I’m here with him in Alaska um… at Operation Heal Our Patriots, and I would love to share those stories with him today. Once again, thank you for joining another episode helping you have a fearless faith in a compromising culture.
CLOSING MUSIC
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