When Franklin Graham was invited to offer a prayer at the inauguration of President George W. Bush in 2001 -- before he prayed, a fellow participant asked him if he intended to pray in the name of Jesus Christ -- Graham said, “Yes -- and you should do the same” -- Graham told him, "That's the only thing we've got."
-- and, sure enough, Graham ended his prayer with these words, “We pray this in the name of the Father, and of the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.”
-- within days, a lawsuit was filed against President Bush for Graham’s prayer, alleging that it was an unconstitutional endorsement of religion -- they were outraged that Graham invoked the name of Jesus -- Graham responded, "If you don't want someone to pray in Jesus' name, don't invite an evangelical minister."
More recently in the news there has been some controversy about one football player, Tim Tebow. A while back he took the opportunity to do what was right when he was afforded the chance -- During the BCS National Championship football game, Tim Tebow, the quarterback for the University of Florida, ran onto the field with John 3:16 inscribed on the black under his eyes.
-- every time the TV focused on Tebow, you could clearly see that Bible verse -- as a result of Tebow standing up for Jesus in such a bold way during the national championship, Google reported that the biblical reference subsequently became the most popular search item for the next several days -- because Tebow was not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ, thousands -- if not millions -- of people were exposed to the Gospel.-- what are the odds that we will ever have the chance to stand on the national stage like Tim Tebow?
--we still have the opportunity every day of our lives to speak the name of Christ to others.
-- when you have that opportunity this week, will you stand like Peter and John and boldly name the Name of Christ?
