Evangelist Franklin Graham warned Christians on Monday night to brace themselves for rough sailing ahead.
“I believe there’s a coming storm that we’re all going to [have to] be ready for,” he said, according to The Washington Times.
“It’s not going to be good. The world is deteriorating so quickly. It seems like every demon in hell has been turned loose.”
Graham, son of the late famed evangelist Billy Graham, was speaking to an audience of about 2,000 at the International Christian Media Convention hosted by the National Religious Broadcasters in Orlando, Florida, the Times reported.
He cautioned that a flood of “wokeness” threatens to silence Christian ministries and drown out the Gospel message.
For example, Graham warned that ministries that stay true to the biblical teachings about sin and salvation could find their invaluable data, such as donor records, abruptly canceled and wiped out by large corporations that control the cloud.
He pointed out that many conservative and Christian organizations have experienced such attacks in recent years, including the National Committee for Religious Freedom, which recently had its Chase bank accounts closed without warning.
Graham told the crowd to guard against being deceived, according to The Christian Post.
“We cannot be deceived and we can’t be fooled. We need to get ready and be prepared,” the 70-year-old evangelist said.
He said Christians are “living in a cancel culture that wants to destroy Christian organizations,” but he encouraged listeners to persevere in the truth.
“They want us to shut our mouths,” Graham said. “They don’t want to hear from us.”
One such driver of cancel culture is the LGBT agenda, the evangelist said, according to Fox News.
However, he said, the answer is to keep speaking the truth rather than avoiding conflict to spare anyone’s feelings.
“I love them enough to try to warn them this [way of life] is sin,” Graham said.
It was great to be in Orlando to share with those at the @NRBConvention tonight! My father @BillyGraham used radio and television to reach as many people as he could with the Gospel of Jesus Christ—and we’re still doing that today. #NRB2023 pic.twitter.com/MrbmiQNbFK
— Franklin Graham (@Franklin_Graham) May 23, 2023
“We cannot back up, we can’t retreat,” he said. “Don’t apologize for the Gospel — just declare it, just preach it.”
The NRB said the annual convention is “the largest nationally and internationally recognized event dedicated solely to assisting those in the field of Christian communications.”
Monday’s welcome address was delivered by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who told the audience he and his administration are “fighting back against the weaponization of government” against Christians, Fox News reported.
“We have a government targeting parents going to school board meetings,” the Republican said. “They will target pro-life activists. They will allow municipal workers to protest illegally in front of our Supreme Court justices’ homes.”
“And they are now, in the FBI, saying observant Catholics represent some type of threat in society,” he said.
Great chatting with Franklin Graham about fighting against the woke culture and the importance of family and faith. pic.twitter.com/0SyQ1IljbZ
— Ron DeSantis (@GovRonDeSantis) May 23, 2023
DeSantis added, “Make no mistake, weaponized government is one faction of society turning the reins of power against those people they don’t like. And the people that are in power now do not like people of faith.”
The governor encouraged the group by making reference to Ephesians 6:10, telling the audience, “Get ready, put on the full armor of God, stand firm in the truth and never ever back down.”
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.
