Wisdom Needed to Finish Well – Part I

Hebrews 12:1 says, "Since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us."

Charles Templeton ministered with Billy Graham. Together they were called, "The Gold Dust Twins." The two of them, along with Torrey Johnson, founded Youth for Christ. Charles and Billy Graham went on an evangelistic tour of Europe, preaching to large audiences in England, Scotland, Ireland, Sweden, and other places.

In 1946 the NAE, the National Association of Evangelicals, gave him the award: "Best Used of God." What a weird award and how did they determine who won?

In the 1950s Charles Templeton was given an opportunity to have weekly television programs on NBC and CBS. He preached in the United States to as many as 20,000 people per night across the country, and in youth rallies with thousands of young people. He became a church planter and pastor. He attended Princeton Seminary and had a week of gospel preaching at Yale University.

Then in 1957 Charles declared himself an agnostic. He rejected the Bible and Christ. He attributed his rejection to the reading of Thomas Paine. He left the ministry with $600 in his pocket, returned to Canada, and became a journalist. Then he became a politician, and almost became the Prime Minister of Canada. Only five years before his death, he wrote, Farewell to God: My Reasons for Rejecting the Christian Faith.

The part that surprised me the most about Charles isn't that he turned from the Lord, since many people turn from the Lord. The part that surprised me is he did it when he was older after serving the Lord for so man