Evangelist Billy Graham’s son, Franklin Graham, who earlier this year had all eight of his planned United Kingdom appearances canceled by the venues for calling homosexuality and gay marriage “sin”, is now facing similar backlash in Germany.
Christianheadlines.com reported on Tuesday that the evangelist was scheduled to bring the gospel to Germany at the Cologne Lanxess Arena on June 20. However, Sven Lehmann, a member of the country’s federal parliament, the Bundestag, sent an open letter to the venue ‘sabotaging’ the preacher’s visit.
Despite the backlash, UK’s Premier Christian News says several German churches support the Billy Graham Evangelist Association’s Festival of Hope and are calling the claims against Franklin Graham “defamatory.”
The Evangelical Free Church of Cologne said in a statement seen by Christianheadlines.com the intent of the gathering was solely to present the life-changing message of the gospel, which “resists radicalism and racism and works for justice and peace all over the world.”
Franklin Graham who also leads Samaritan’s Purse, which provides humanitarian and disaster relief around the globe, vowed in February to continue calling homosexuality “sin”, despite the cancellation of every date in his 2020 UK tour after protests.
The preacher filed suit against at least one of the venues in UK that canceled his tour stops.
In an interview with The Guardian newspaper, Graham said the venues were breaking signed contracts with the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (BGEA).
“We had contracts signed and, in some cases, deposits paid,” he said. “I haven’t broken any laws. We are being denied because of religious beliefs and our faith. It’s a freedom of religion issue and also a free speech issue.”
“I want to warn people of the consequences of sin,” he said. “I want to go from the north to the south, warning people of the consequences of sin and giving them an opportunity to repent and receive Christ by faith.”
Heinrich Derksen, director of the Bible Seminary in Bonn (Bornheim), was quoted as saying Graham “would never call for human rights to be restricted for homosexuals.”
More than 2,000 UK churches are supporting the Graham tour, according to World Net Daily.
