Evangelist Franklin Graham preached from the steps outside the West Virginia Capitol building Thursday, urging a crowd of thousands to put God back in government.
Franklin, son of famed evangelist Billy Graham, encouraged the faithful to vote for Christians and run for public office.
"I'm not here to tell you who to vote for, but let's vote for candidates that stand for biblical truth, for biblical principles who are not going to compromise," Graham said. "Ladies and gentlemen, we need men and women in high places that honor God."
Graham's visit to West Virginia was the 22nd stop in his 50-state "Decision America Tour 2016." During the hour-long rally, the crowd prayed, sang hymns, cheered, waved Christian and American flags, pledged themselves to God and country, and twice texted their phone numbers to Graham's international ministry.
With West Virginia's primary election five days away, Graham said he wasn't going to tell anyone whom to vote for Tuesday.
"You may have to choose the best of the two heathens," said Graham. "You may have to hold your nose. But we have to vote."
Graham stressed that local elections are as important as state and national races.
"We need godly mayors across West Virginia," he said. "We need Christians in the city council across West Virginia. We need men and women Christians to run for school board."
County school board members select textbooks, approve curriculum and hire teachers, Graham said.
"There are some wicked school board members in this country, and they use the school boards to introduce filthy, wicked doctrines that are anti-God and anti-American," he said. "Christians can take the school boards back."
After asking people to hold hands in prayer, Graham rattled off what he called the "sins of America." His list included abortion ("the murder of children in their mother's womb") and same-sex marriage ("flaunting and celebrating this great sin against God").
Graham also railed against what he called a rise in secularism in the United States, saying secularism and communism were "one and the same" - both "godless forms of government."
"It has come into our statehouses," he said. "It has come into our communities. It has come inside our schools."
Graham blamed secularism for the removal of prayer and the Ten Commandments from schools.
"Let the students at least read them," he said. "We have shootings in schools. We have all kinds of things in schools, and kids don't even know right from wrong. If we had God's standards, maybe some of this stuff would have never happened."
Graham declared that the U.S. was "in trouble: spiritually, economically and politically."
"I have no hope in the Democratic party," he said. "I have no hope for the Republican Party. The only hope for this country is almighty God and the people of God."
Graham said the nation was founded on Christian principles and should adhere to them.
"I have people come to me and say, 'What about the Muslim faith?'" he said. "They want to come here, but if you come here, don't try to force us to accept your faith. This is a nation built on the God of the Bible."
Graham told the crowd that Christianity is "the only way to God."
"Mohammed didn't die for your sins," he said. "Buddha didn't die for your sins. There's only one, and that's the Lord, Jesus Christ."
Graham's message of prayer and politics resonated with those who came to see "Billy Graham's son" at the Capitol. Billy Graham, 97, has retired from active ministry. Graham's public relations staff estimated 4,200 attended, despite cold weather and a light drizzle. Many arrived by the busload.
"This kind of meeting is the only kind of thing that's going to save America," said Harry Linville, a retired mine inspector who traveled from Boone County to Charleston to see Graham. "The answer to all our problems isn't in the White House. It's in God's house."
Keith Casto, a Madison resident who took a day off from work Thursday, said he wanted to hear Graham's message on how to change things in a country that has "turned its back on God."
"Things are going wrong," said Casto, as a sprinkle of rain dampened his ball cap. "I want to leave this world better than I found it."
Reach Eric Eyre at ericeyre@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-4869 or follow @ericeyre on Twitter.