Jack Graham – Warren Throckmorton

Court Evangelicals Franklin and Jack Graham Stick With Trump as Trump Sticks With Putin

Jack Graham, pastor of Prestonwood Baptist Church in Plano, TX came out in support of Donald Trump’s acceptance of Vladimir Putin’s assurance that Russia didn’t meddle in the 2016 U.S. election. Trump said this in response to a question about who Trump believed: our intelligence community or Putin.

There are three kinds of leaders….Caretakers. Undertakers. Risk takers. @realDonaldTrump @POTUS is Risktaker. Thank you Mr President for seeking peace and prosperity for America and the world https://t.co/YB13KVTEXT

— Jack Graham (@jackngraham) July 16, 2018

Franklin Graham tweeted something similar earlier today.

In contrast, fellow Southern Baptist Russell Moore had this to say after the Helsinki press conference:

Vladimir Putin ruthlessly persecutes those who preach the gospel of Jesus Christ, holds orphans hostage from waiting families for his political purposes, murders dissidents and journalists, attacks democratic institutions and nations.

Morality is not relative.

— Russell Moore (@drmoore) July 16, 2018

Currently, Jack Graham is blocking followers who disagree with his tweet.

These tweets from the court evangelicals come from the White House talking points after today’s press conference.

WH sent out these talking points to surrogates. One line from the WH: “For over a year and half, the President has repeatedly said he believes the intelligence agencies when they said Russia interfered in American elections.” (Fact check: this is not believable after Helsinki) pic.twitter.com/qhMZSSacRa

— Jim Acosta (@Acosta) July 17, 2018

UPDATE: Add Eric Metaxas to this list:

Eric Metaxas defends Trump at Helsinki on his radio show right now: "There is nothing there…it was only a stumble." #ericmetaxas @EricMetaxasShow #courtevangelicals

— John Fea (@JohnFea1) July 17, 2018

The American Association of Christian Counselors Conference Features Court Evangelicals

The American Association of Christian Counselors hosts a regular conference in September which is often as much glitz as professional development. Contemporary Christian music artists sing (Mercy Me this year) and big name speakers speak (e.g., Eric Metaxas). There are also professional workshops and training sessions and materials to buy galore. Full disclosure, I have presented workshops at these conferences and once upon a time was on the AACC advisory board even though we rarely advised anyone about anything.
This year’s conference looks almost like a meeting of President Trump’s court evangelicals and religious defense team. Eric Metaxas is a keynoter and the leaders just added Jack Graham and Jay Sekulow. AACC owner Tim Clinton is right in the middle of the court in the image to the right.

See below for the Trump court evangelicals just added:

I got this information from an AACC member who is tired of how politically focused AACC has become. Although I don’t think a mass exodus is coming, I am hearing rumblings that at least some counselors have dropped membership and others are considering it.
I hope there will be a session on healthcare reform and the persistent demand of Republicans to drop basic benefits like mental health coverage which many of the AACC members rely on for their livelihood and their clients need to get treatment. I also hope there is a session on narcissism and that it is well attended.
Perhaps, Trump’s new Communications Director Anthony Scaramucci can give a session on clean communication and dealing with the press. Court evangelicals would just eat that up.

More Gospel for Asia Endorsements Missing

Once upon a time Prestonwood Baptist Church’s lead pastor Jack Graham endorsed K.P. Yohannan and Gospel for Asia. Now those endorsement pics and videos are missing. Other pastors who came to GFA via Graham (e.g., Rob Wilton) also are missing.
The current page is here.
As of about week ago, the bottom of the page looked like this:

Prestonwood Baptist Church has not responded to requests for comment about their current stance toward GFA.