April 23, 2010

'For Such a Time as This'

Franklin Graham is Honorary Chairman of 2010 National Day of Prayer...Army considers rescinding invitation to evangelist

By DAN ELLIOTT (AP) – 4 hours ago

DENVER — The Army is considering whether to rescind an invitation to evangelist Franklin Graham to appear at the Pentagon amid complaints about his description of Islam as evil, a military spokesman said Wednesday.
Graham, the son of famed evangelist Billy Graham, was to appear at the Pentagon on May 6 — the National Day of Prayer.
He said he will be a guest of the Pentagon and would speak only if he's still invited.
Army Col. Tom Collins said withdrawing the invitation "is on the table," but no decision has been made. He said Army brass will have the ultimate decision on whether to pull the invite.
The Military Religious Freedom Foundation raised the objection to the appearance, citing Graham's past remarks about Islam.
Mikey Weinstein, president of the foundation, said the invitation offended Muslim employees at the Pentagon. He said it would endanger American troops by stirring up Muslim extremists.
Collins said the invitation wasn't from the Pentagon but from the Colorado-based National Day of Prayer Task Force, which works with the Pentagon chaplain's office on the prayer event.
Collins said neither Army Secretary John McHugh nor Chief of Staff Gen. George W. Casey Jr. was aware of the invitation.
The task force organizes Christian events for the National Day of Prayer.
Task force chairwoman Shirley Dobson said in a written statement that U.S. leaders have called for a day of prayer during times of crisis since 1775 but the tradition is under attack.
"Enough is enough," said Dobson, wife of conservative Christian leader James Dobson. "We at the National Day of Prayer Task Force ask the American people to defend the right to pray in the Pentagon."
She called on President Barack Obama to appeal a ruling by a federal judge in Wisconsin last week that the National Day of Prayer was unconstitutional because it amounts to a call for religious action. The judge did not bar any observances until all appeals are exhausted.
Weinstein objected to the working relationship between the Pentagon chaplain's office and the task force, saying the chaplains have effectively endorsed the task force by using its materials and routinely inviting its honorary chairman to speak at the Pentagon.
Weinstein said that amounts to preferential treatment in violation of Defense Department rules.
Collins said the working relationship has been reviewed by Pentagon lawyers and passed legal scrutiny.
"We are an all-inclusive military. We hold observances throughout the year. This one happens to be a Christian-themed event," Collins said.
Graham is president and CEO of both Samaritan's Purse, a Christian international relief organization in Boone, N.C., and the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association in Charlotte.
After the 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States, Graham said Islam "is a very evil and wicked religion." In a later op-ed piece in The Wall Street Journal, Graham wrote that he did not believe Muslims were evil because of their faith, but "as a minister ... I believe it is my responsibility to speak out against the terrible deeds that are committed as a result of Islamic teaching."


Copyright © 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

Franklin Graham has been chosen to help lead this year’s national annual observance of intercession for our nation.

By Joy Allmond

The National Day of Prayer was signed into law as a national observance in 1952 by President Harry Truman. Since then, Americans from multiple backgrounds have been overcoming differences to join together and pray for our nation.

This year, as the 59th observance is marked on May 6, Franklin Graham will join Shirley Dobson, National Day of Prayer Chairman, in Washington, D.C. to urge people all over the United States to intercede on behalf of our country.

The mission of the National Day of Prayer is to communicate the need for personal repentance and prayer, mobilizing the Christian community to intercede for America and its leadership in the seven centers of power: Government, Military, Media, Business, Education, Church and Family.

“We have lost many of our freedoms in America because we have been asleep,” said Dobson. “I feel if we do not become involved and support the annual National Day of Prayer, we could end up forfeiting this freedom, too.”

On May 6, prayer events will take place all over the United States – at state capitols and county court houses, on the steps of city halls, and in schools, businesses, churches and homes. Those all over the country are urged to pause for a time during that day and gather with others to pray.

This year’s National Day of Prayer theme verse is Nahum 1:7, which reads, “The LORD is good, a refuge in times of trouble. He cares for those who trust in Him.”

To learn more about the National Day of Prayer, or to find events in your area, be sure to visit their Web site .

Prayer for the Nation
By Franklin Graham , 2010 Honorary Chairman

Lord,

We are thankful for the abundant blessings You have bestowed on America. Our forefathers looked to You as Protector, Provider, and the Promise of hope. But we have wandered far from that firm foundation. May we repent for turning our backs on Your faithfulness.

We pray that this great nation will be restored by Your forgiveness. From bondage, You grant freedom. Through Your own sacrifice, You offer salvation. From the state of despair, You offer peace.

From the bounties of Heaven, You have blessed – not because of our goodness – but by Your grace. You have given us freedom to worship You in spirit and in truth as Your holy Word instructs. May our lives honor You in word and deed. May our nation acknowledge that all good things come from the Father above.

President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed that our nation should set apart a day for national prayer to confess our sins and transgressions in sorrow, “yet with assured hope that genuine repentance will lead to mercy and pardon… announced in the Holy Scriptures and proven by all history, that those nations only are blessed whose God is the Lord.”

“We have vainly imagined in the deceitfulness of our own hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own… we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God who made us! It behooves us then… to confess our national sins and to pray for clemency and forgiveness.”

Help us to pray earnestly for our president and leaders who govern, that they will humble themselves and seek Your guidance so that everything we do will shine the light of Your glory in a darkened world.

May our prayers as a people and a nation be heard and blessed for such a time as this. We make this plea in faith, believing in the mighty name of Jesus our Lord.

Amen