ONE OUT OF TEN

Graham, Templeton and Clifford
In Christian life it’s not how you start that matters
It’s how you finish
One out of ten

Billy Graham came storming out of seemingly nowhere
To fill auditorium across America
Speaking to as many as thirty thousand people a night
Graham was hired as the first full time evangelist
For Youth for Christ and his reputation is a uniquely gifted
Preacher roared across America like a prairie fire
The rest of course is history

You’ve heard of Billy Graham
But what about Chuck Templeton
Or Bron Clifford, have you ever heard of them?
Billy Graham wasn’t only young preacher in 1945
Chuck Templeton and Bron Clifford were accomplishing
The same thing and more all three young men were in their midtwenties

One seminary president after hearing Chuck Templeton preach
One evening to an audience of thousand called him
The most gifted and talented young man in America today for preaching
Templeton and Graham were friends both ministered for Youth for Christ
Both were extraordinary preachers yet in those early years
Most observers would probably have put their money on Templeton

Bron Clifford was yet another gifted twenty five year old fireball
In 1945 many believe Clifford the most gifted and powerful preacher
The church had seen in centuries…Graham, Templeton and Clifford
All three came shooting out of the starting blocks like rockets
You’ve heard of Billy Graham so how come you’ve never heard
Of Chuck Templeton or Bron Clifford? Especially when they came out in ‘45

Just five years later
Templeton left the ministry to pursue a career
As a radio and television commentator and news paper columnist
He had decided he was no longer a believer in Christ
In the orthodox sense of the term

What about Clifford? By 1954 Clifford has lost
His family his ministry and his health…and then his life
Alcohol and financial irresponsibility had done him in
He wound up leaving his wife and their two Down’s syndrome children
At just thirty five years of age, this once great preacher died from
Cirrhosis of the liver in a run-down motel on the edge of Amarillo
His last job was selling used cars in the panhandle of Texas
He died as John Haggai put it “unwept, unhonored and unsung”

In 1945 three young men with extraordinary gifts
Were preaching the gospel to multiplied thousands
Across this nation within ten years only one of them was still on track for Christ
In Christian life it’s not how you start that matters it’s how you finish
One out of ten

For those of us in the ministry or about to go into ministry
Stay true to Jesus make sure that you keep your heart close to Jesus everyday
It’s a long way from here to where you’re going to
And satan in no hurry to get you over the years is been observe
That just one out of ten who start out in full time service for the Lord
At twenty one or sixty five

They’re shot down morally
They’re shot down with discouragement
They’re shot down with liberal theology
They get obsessed with making money
But for one reason or another nine out of ten fall out
In Christian life it’s not how you start that matters
It’s how you finish