“In all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make straight your paths.” —Proverbs 3:6
A bystander just passing by the Capitol grounds in Columbus, Ohio, on Thursday, might wonder, “What’s the big deal?”
It wasn’t a political rally. Also, why were so many people singing, holding hands, praying, and listening to Franklin Graham talk about God?
Because honoring God is likely a big deal to the estimated 7,900 people who came out to the 47th stop on the Decision America Tour, in Columbus, Ohio.
And as he’s done in nearly every state since January, Franklin Graham talked about why America has to put God first again and make His Son Jesus Christ our cornerstone:
“We’re here today because our nation is in trouble. We’re in trouble spiritually. We’re in trouble racially. We’re in trouble economically. We’re in trouble politically.
“Unless America turns back to God, repents of its sin and experiences a spiritual revival we will fail as a nation.”
Standing with Franklin Graham for God was a priority for Steven Lewis, a firefighter from Columbus, Ohio, and his wife Amy, who both took the day off work to come. Steven carried a gigantic American flag, believing what it stands for.
“The flag states who we are as a nation,” he said. “So much has been sacrificed for America.
“Our country’s moral standards are just rotting away,” he said. “ If we’re not devoting ourselves to prayer, showing respect that the Lord deserves, then I think we’re in trouble.”
Franklin Graham asked today’s crowd, “Can America be turned around?” And he told them, yes it can. “With God’s people it can be turned around when God’s people come and pray.”
In the packed crowd two friends, both veterans, proudly wore t-shirts that showed they were standing with God. Thirty-two- year-old Mitch Riffle’s shirt read, “I serve no man.”
Mitch served in the U.S. Marine Corps for four years and deployed to both Afghanistan and Iraq. It wasn’t until he nearly died from cancer that he found God and started serving Him.
“I never set out looking for Jesus so He came looking for me. He found me in a hospital bed. I yelled help and those nurses came running in and they asked what I needed. I said, ‘I wasn’t yelling for you.’”
Mitch said he was crying out for God to save him. “I felt a peace come over me,” he recounted.
He says God means everything to him now, and it’s why he came to Thursday’s rally. “I wouldn’t have missed it for the world,” he said.
Mitch’s friend, TJ Grembowski served in the Ohio Army National Guard Band, and is frustrated with how Americans are treating each other.
“We’re not talking to each other, we’re not loving each other. We’re not doing these things with the intent to actually help anybody other than ourselves.
“We have a selfish heart. God should be most important to us in America, in the world.”
“It breaks my heart to see people out there dying to protect us and we’re back here and we don’t even care about each other,” he said.
How do we make God #1 in America again? In Columbus, Franklin Graham said there’s only one way: to pray, vote, and engage. It’s the reason he’s rallied Christians in nearly every state, with only three remaining stops: Maryland, Virginia, and North Carolina.
“We still have freedom in this country. It may not last much longer. … So I want to encourage you to vote, and let’s vote not just for the Presidential election—I’m talking about vote for every election,” Franklin said.
If bystanders listened at all to Thursday’s rally, there’d probably be no question what it was about—standing up for God and honoring Him by praying and taking action.
As Franklin Graham told the sea of people gathered on the Capitol lawn, “We can live our faith 24/7 in the public, wherever we are.”
Do you want to get closer to God? Find out how.
