Charles Templeton was surging ahead in ministry . Converted at 21 , by 1946 the Canadian evangelist founded Youth for Christ . Billy Graham was hired as the organization's first full-time evangelist and he and Templeton toured Europe together .
A decade later , after a turn at Princeton Theological Seminary , and after wrestling with doubt , templeton began to identify as agnostic and his world would never be the same .
Colossians 2.8 says See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit according to human tradition , according to the elemental spirits of the world , and not according to Christ . Sometimes , for various reasons , people walk away from their faith . In the strictest definition of this , one becomes an apostate .
Sometimes a person goes on quietly about his or her life . Other times the effects are far-reaching . Joseph Stalin once studied for the priesthood . Then he read Karl Marx . It's often true that the people who are most passionate about sharing Christ can also sort of burn out . They run hot for a long time and then the bottom falls out .
We've all seen celebrities that claim to know God . Some even identify as Christian , but their lives are anything but . And this calls to mind the famous passage in Matthew 13 , 20 through 22 , in which the parable is given of seed being thrown onto various kinds of soil . Some of the seed which represents the gospel finds its way onto rocky ground or among weeds .
Those hearing the word at first are taken with it , but later abandon the faith . In the Old Testament , some good life lessons were given to the Israelites who struggled living among pagan nations . Jeremiah 10.2 says Thus says the Lord , learn not the way of the nations , nor be dismayed at the signs of the heavens , because the nations are dismayed at them .
The idea was to maintain spiritual purity so that the storms of life would not take away a person's faith . We're the same way today . If we aren't careful , the world can look too good Before long . We're looking in the rearview mirror at a faith that we once had . Let's pray . Let's pray , father , god .
Help us to always keep in mind the gift that Jesus gave us on the cross . Help us daily to meditate on your grace and the mercy for our lives , so that we can stay spiritually healthy . In Jesus' name , amen .