Franklin Graham made quite an announcement the other day. First he explained his exasperation with the Republican Party when members of Congress passed the $1.1 trillion, pork-laden omnibus bill that failed to defund Planned Parenthood.

He said: “Shame on [Congress] for passing such a wasteful spending bill last week. And to top it off, funding Planned Parenthood! A Huffington Post article called it ‘a big win for Planned Parenthood.’ I call it a big loss for America. After all of the appalling facts revealed this year about Planned Parenthood, our representatives in Washington had a chance to put a stop to this, but they didn’t. There’s no question—taxpayers should not be paying for abortions! Abortion is murder in God’s eyes.”

To top it off, Franklin Graham said he is leaving the Republican party. He has now declared himself an independent. But there is more. He didn’t stop there. If he had, you might think he was calling for Christians to stop getting involved in politics. Actually, he said just the opposite.

He added: “Unless more godly men and women get in this process and change this wicked system, our country is in for trouble. I want to challenge Christians, even pastors, across the country to pray about running for office where they can have an impact. We need mayors, country commissioners, city council members, school board members who will uphold biblical values.”

This is a message many others are repeating. In the last few weeks, I have had guests in studio organizing prayer and political activity. Pastor Lewis Hogan has organized UnitedCry DC16 in which 30,000 pastors from around the country will gather in front the Lincoln Memorial on April 9, 2016 to pray. Ron Kelley shared how churches can start a Cultural Impact Team in their church to educate and mobilize members of the congregation.

I’m encouraged that Christians understand how important the next elections are and are mobilizing prayer and political activity to make a difference.