Charles Templeton

[Applause] join dr zach williams and flat creek baptist church as we dive deeper into god's word in this podcast titled new horizons today i want to share with you the story of a man named charles templeton now you may never have heard the name charles templeton he actually lived from the year 1915 to the year 2001 in 1936 charles templeton professed faith in the lord jesus christ and within one year became an evangelist beginning to travel and preach the gospel many thought that charles templeton would be the greatest evangelist who would ever live in 1945 he met another young evangelist by the name of billy graham charles templeton and billy graham began to minister together and preach across the world as a matter of fact in 1946 youth for christ held an evangelistic crusade in europe and it was headlined by charles templeton and billy graham and and if you were looking at the two individuals at that time the majority of people thought that charles templeton had great things in store and that billy graham would be more just a local evangelist but templeton he had all the prospects he had everything needed to be the great evangelist that god would use however in 1948 something happened in templeton's life his worldview began to go in a different direction and doubts began to creep in his heart nine years later 1957 charles templeton publicly declared that he was an agnostic in his final years of life he wrote a memoir entitled farewell to god my reasons for rejecting the christian faith in his book he says about billy graham that there was a time in his life where he and billy got into a heated debate over the questions that templeton was feeling in his heart at the time he went to billy graham and he said he said billy there's there's no way that you can really believe these things and be considered today an intellectual and billy graham said i believe the word of god charles templeton said to him billy you can't possibly believe the story of creation as opposed to evolution i mean science backs up evolution and only people who believe in the bible believe in a seven-day literal creation and billy graham said i believe it because the bible says it and charles templeton said billy why do you believe the bible the way you do and billy graham said it's because when i stand in the pulpit across the world when i stand and i say the bible says the word of god says there's power in the proclamation and i've seen the way that god moves and changes lives well after that moment billy graham and mr templeton their lives went in totally opposite directions of course billy graham became the the world-renowned evangelist leading millions upon millions of people to christ preached to over one billion people in his lifetime and even after his death his preaching ministry continues through the billy graham evangelistic association charles templeton went on to live a life of being an agnostic and it was in his final days that lee strobel who was writing a book entitled a case for faith went and sat down to interview charles templeton and the following is the discourse that the two of them had lee strobel said to charles templeton how do you assess this jesus strobel says that that at that moment the body language of charles templeton softened it was as if he felt relaxed and comfortable in talking about an old dear friend his voice which at times had displayed such a sharp and insistent edge now took on a melancholy and reflective tone his guard was down and he spoke in an unhurried pace and almost nostalgically carefully choosing his words as he talked about jesus templeton said he was the greatest human being who has ever lived jesus was a moral genius his ethical sense was unique he was the intrinsically wisest person who has ever lived and that i've ever encountered in my life or in my readings his commitment was total and it led to his own death much to the detriment of the world what could one say about him except that this was a form of greatness strobel says when he heard that come out of templeton's mouth he was taken back and he says back to temple and he said you sound like you really care about jesus well yes templeton said he is the most important thing in my life i know it may sound strange but i have to say i adore jesus everything good i know everything decent i know everything pure i know i learned from jesus yes yes and though just look at jesus he castigated people he was angry people don't think of him that way but they don't read the bible he had a righteous anger he cared for the oppressed and the exploited there's no question that he had the highest moral standard the least duplicity the greatest compassion of any human being in history there have been many other wonderful people but jesus is jesus just then he began to speak slowly and templeton said no no he is the most in my view he's the most important human being who has ever existed and strobel says that's when templeton uttered the words that broke his heart and that he will never forget templeton said if i may put it this way i miss him i miss jesus and with that tears flooded his eyes he turned his head he looked downward raising his left hand up to shield his face his shoulders began to bob as he wept templeton fought to compose himself and he he lost all control and he sighed deeply and he wiped away a tear and after a few more awkward moments he waved his hand dismissively and he said enough of that friends today i plead with you i urge with you take the bible at his word billy graham the great evangelist said when i stand on this book there's power and billy graham knew the lord jesus christ he walked with him he talked with him daily templeton at the end of his life said i miss him may that never be said about any of us when we die may they say that's a man who walked or that's a woman who walked and talked with jesus and had a real deep intimate relationship with him and friends it starts with a belief in the bible may god bless you we'll talk to you next time on new horizons [Music] [Music] [Music] you

Channel: Flat Creek Baptist Church

Views: 870

Rating: 5 out of 5

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Id: LO9A8rA1Lak

Length: 9min 30sec (570 seconds)

Published: Mon Feb 01 2021